A giveaway for Champions... that is us!

Hey there, I found a blog that I have been following for a little bit now... Shut up and Run and it is a great running blog. Well, she had a Champion jacket and shorts sent to her by Champion (how does that happen??? I would love to have random companies sending me stuff) and she has a set to GIVEAWAY to US... go and check it out!

A picture share

A pic of my oldest as she begins to train for the western events of the year... you see I am a hockey mom in the winter, a swimming mom in the spring and a rodeo mom in the summer... the Fall is for me :P



Make it a great day!

couch to 5K - week three recap

Good morning fellow bloggers! I just finished up week three and today begins week four of the C25K program. I have given up on trying to catch up with the X (forgive me Tony) but right now I really want to learn to run while my joints are well enough to do it. I am feeling cautiously excited about increasing my running time from 9 minutes (in week 3) to 16 minutes this week. I am going to keep telling myself that I can and the result will be that I WILL. You just have to get your mind right and forget about your body trying to scream... and you just do it.

I should mention that my rheumatologist has re-prescribed prednizone again even though I am on Remicade. He was unhappy with the inflammation that is still in my joints and claims that I should not be feeling that... I wonder if I will ever find the recipe that will keep the inflammation away, but I am being patient.

So, here are the facts:

W3, D1: I was so scared of this run but I did a great job; however, I dropped the speed a bit too much and really didn't get the calorie burn that I was hoping for. I forgot to stop my HRM so it marked 418 BUT that was 30 minutes after my run. Avg HR was 121 and max was 171

W3, D2: I increased the speed a bit... took it back up to 5.6 and was breathing heavy but my head was not good that day neither. My average HR was 142 and my maximum HR was 176 for a calorie burn of 332

W3, D3: I decided to take it to the streets and ran to the second range of our town. I chose to take the gravel roads because it offered more cushion. The elevation was certainly not at 0 like the treadmill and it showed in my HR. My avg HR was 153 and my max was 179 for a calorie burn of 363. I should say that I saw two deer on my run and I have decided that although it is more challenging, I think that I like outdoor running more. I like the change of scenery, I like the fresh air and I like the feeling of "going somewhere" BUT I don't like that I am forced to pace myself... I have to learn that skill yet.

SO, that was my week of C25K and I am moving on to week four this week. I wonder how long it took all of you runners to see a difference in your running... am I really going to be a runner in 9 weeks? Can that happen? I hope so...

Make it a great day!

I did it, with grace I might add ;)

I did it, I DID IT! Week 3, day 1 is complete and I was able to run the three minutes and really had enough steam to keep it going but I followed the program and walked after the three minute run.

I did lower the speed to 5.4MPH because I was afraid that I couldn't do it... now tomorrow I am planning on increasing the speed to 5.6 and then on Saturday I will increase it again if I feel good. I can't explain how worried I was about the run - I was concerned that I was not able to go for three minutes and now I think that I may be able to go longer. I think that I can do this thing and I can actually see myself running that 5K!! For someone who has struggled with joint issues all of my life this is like a dream come true.

I don't think that the Shakeology Cleanse is meant to be done without Shakeology :P

Just a really quick update in case there are people praying for me to make it through the Cleanse... STOP PRAYING - I didn't make it past supper :P

I think that i will buy the Shakeology supply to last me through the cleanse because that may have been the problem. I should say that I felt perfectly full until I was cooking supper for my family... then it was more than my willpower could take not to eat the healthy and yummy supper that I lovingly prepared for my family. So, I chowed down with them and drank a green tea after the meal and felt more satisfied than I did all day. I COULD not, WOULD not ever be anorexic ... this chick loves food too much.

I felt nothing different during the day... no cleanse action with this chick and I wonder if it is because it was not Shakeology. I actually ended up retaining water... my ankles looked like CANKLES by the end of the day (for the record, it was before supper). Anyway, I am eating again today ... off to check out the prices of Shakeology.

Make it a great day!

C25K and Week 3 redo

Well, good Monday morning everyone! As I mentioned in a previous post week three of the X was a colossal fail so we decided to take two :) Yesterday we did Chest and Back and I have decided that I really do not like that routine. I used to hate it, during round one but I thought that I grew to appreciate all the push ups and chin ups... but i LIED to myself. I think that the reason I had a hard time getting on with week three is because of this DVD. Anyway, I got through the darn thing but my calorie count was low because I really wanted to be biking instead of doing chest and back. My heart wasn't in it and as such the calorie count was poor:

Calories: 326
AVG HR: 105
MAX HR: 153

Mr. Wonderful always makes himself sick with this video... and we have to take an extra break or two during which time I sit and wonder why I am doing these damn push ups that I struggle so much with.

SO, to get my head right I headed out, without the munchkins and without Mr. WOnderful and I went for my first real bike ride of the season. It was so nice with my IPod in my ears, toque on my head and layers of clothes on... I just kept biking. I ended up biking 18.72 Kilometers in 1 hour and 5 minutes with cold and strong East winds which affected my time. I was in a much better frame of mind when I got back from that run.

Calories: 692
Avg HR: 148
Max HR:167

Additionally, I finished up week 2 of Couch to 5K strong but that doesn't make me any less fearful of today's run... I am scared!!! I am scared of not being able to run for 3 minutes... or am I ready? I am taking Mr. Wonderful's Iphone and I am going to give it a shot. I am going to try and get out of my head and just run. Wish me luck ;)

Here is the breakdown for week 2

Day 1: 434
Day 2: 363
Day 3: 395

So overall it was an ok week. Didn't do what I set out to do but I think my brain needed the rest. I did start the Shakeology Cleanse today -minus Shakeology (using BSN) so I hope to see a move in the right direction on the scale this week. I will keep you posted.

My goals for this week:

Sucessfully complete week three of the X
Run my way through C25K - week 3
Keep my diet clean!!

Make it a great day! OOOhhhhhm and exercise YOUR RIGHT and VOTE today all you Canadians!!

Map my run... ok, bike ride :P

11.63 miles in 1 hour 5 minutes... good for 692 calories :P I love Sundays.. lots of time to play. I will update Monday with C25K and P90x...