Thursday 31 July 2008

A chicken of sorts

In my email box on a daily basis, I receive a Newsletter from Rudy Hollywood of TriRudy, a daily publication mainly addressing Tri issues.

Hopefully, through osmosis, I'll really get the Tri bug and "just do it".

Better late than never, I certainly "feel the fear", but have yet to "do it anyway", so now I just have to put my goals into action;

"Achieving your Goals"

by Ronda Gates

There's a great holiday card at my local gift shop.

The front says, "Start your New Year's Resolution now."

Open the card and it reads, "Get out your eraser!!

I've this sense that everyone whose hands have lifted that card from the rack has shook his or her head, chuckled and thought, "I can relate." Nevertheless, I left with the same sense of optimism I believe those readers share. "This year it will be different. "

Because the past few years HAVE been different for me I have a new sense of optimism about achieving goals. Your commitment that "this time it will be different" can be a reality. You are motivated, you are committed. you are optimistic. You may also be afraid that your best intentions will be compromised by another relapse. If you've ever said, I already know what I need to do, I just haven't been able to do it," here are some specific techniques to keep your spark ignited:

SET GOALS (and OBJECTIVES)

Goal setting is the art that makes everything else possible. It adds aim to energy, focuses effort and, for some, structures time. Surveys show that people who plan ahead are much more successful over the long term than those who plunge in without knowing where they're going or how they'll get there. You wouldn't take a long road trip without a map so it makes good sense to have a compass (and road map) for your fitness objectives.

Goals Should Be Smart

S = Specific

Saying, "I'll go to exercise class," is not a specific goal. I have a clearer picture when I write, "Next week I will attend step class at 9:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."

M = Measurable

Set goals that are measurable in quality or quantity. Measuring body fat percentage, hip to waist ratio or journaling and record keeping of diet intake or workouts achieved or increases in heart rate reserve are powerful and motivating tools to assuring a new habit becomes a long term behavior. Instead, make plans for an individual workout that nurtures you. Many folks find they're more committed to measurable goals if they report to a friend or colleague willing to help monitor their progress.

A = Attainable

In the enthusiasm of the moment we often make promises that are difficult to keep when enthusiasm wanes. If you're looking for a magic bullet the chances are you'll end up shooting yourself in the foot. Realizing that change doesn't happen overnight will help you set realistic goals you can achieve. It's the SMALL changes that are the key to permanent lifestyle change. For example, if are trying to lose weight you should avoid the painful rebound of crash dieting by planning to lose no more than one or two pounds a week.

R = Realistic

Goals should reflective of your values and compatible with your lifestyle. If not they can be the source of distress. Success is about learning how to customize your activities to find the right fit for you. For example, if you don't enjoy working out with others it's unrealistic to join an aerobic exercise class. I enjoy being with people most of the time, but have learned that my new heart rate monitor based exercise program is much more fun when I stride out on my own where I can manage my pace without distraction and return with a sense of accomplishment in addition to the satisfaction of another completed workout.

T = Timely

It's not smart to plan too many changes at once-it's too threatening to your internal sense of balance. Before you begin be certain you can identify other areas of your life that might be stressful and prevent you from "doing what you want to do". For example, although a workout can be an important stress reducer if it makes your schedule more unmanageable you may have to postpone a new weight training program or fitness class until it's more in keeping with a balanced lifestyle.

Write Down Your Goals

It's important to put your goals in writing. Written goals are a tangible sign of a promise that you intend to keep. They can remind you of that promise when time is short or if other priorities become pressing. Written goals will also help you track your progress, make your accomplishments more obvious and help you identify problem areas that need more attention.

Sadly, only 5% of Americans write down goals and objectives, but 95% of those who do succeed. (A survey of Fortune 500 executives indicates that they may be successful because they write down their goals and objectives.

Identify Supporters And Saboteurs

Some of us can be the lone ranger, but most people need coaches, cheerleaders and people whose belief in and support of s reminds us of our commitment to change. The friendship and support of others will make it easier for you pass through the sometimes difficult transition from old to new behaviors. I know folks who have taken responsibility for themselves and embarked on a changed lifestyle only to discover that most beloved friends and family members feel they are being imposed upon. So, identify the people who will nurture you and help you maintain your well-being, as well as those (even your loved ones) who don't see your point of view. Those supporters will help you maintain your commitment during periods of stress.

Plan for the Unexpected

Lack of time is the most frequently mentioned reason for discontinuing a fitness program. Life is filled with surprises so include strategies that assure you will make time for maintaining your commitment in the face of changing schedules, unexpected mini-crisis and external forces like long meetings, extra traffic, changes in car pools--you know what I mean!!

Affirm Your Behavior

Affirmations are powerful. Many people find that repeating certain sayings to themselves helps them accept things. They discover they are programming their sub-conscious to new beliefs. Affirmations should be positive such as "I am," "I have" as opposed to "I would like" or "I will try". Remind yourself daily, "I am a healthy person making changes in my lifestyle so I can live in the most healthy way."

Reward Your Success

Set up a reward system so you can reward yourself for changed behaviors. Each of us have different values for measuring success. Yours should be structured to satisfy you, not others. That reward should make you hum from head to toe! Good examples include extra time for yourself with a favorite book, a manicure or pedicure, a trip with a special friend or relative or a class or lecture or play that stimulates your mind. Avoid rewards related to food and drink that may be sabotaging in the long run.

Negotiating the path to new behaviors can be fulfilling and rewarding if we can hang in there for the weeks to months necessary to make new behaviors lifestyle habits. Then you are ready to actualize new potentials.

We have all read information such as this before. I am actually a goal oriented person.

I make my list at the beginning of every year, no matter how big or small my goal maybe.

As I achieve my goal, I do not erase it!! I take a highlighter and stroke through it and write "victory" beside it.

So, when will I be striking through "Try-a-Tri" and scratching Victory beside it?

mmmm,

Heck, I even wrote down the date, heck, I even posted it on the blog.

But being the chicken that I am, I haven't given myself the swift kick in the ass that I need to get out of my comfort zone....

Soon, yes, sometime soon! cluck, cluck, cluck! *is this positive pessimism*?

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

Nitmos, Positive Pessimism, not for this chick, LMAO!!

On a positive note, good luck to Vickie who is competing at 70.3 Whirlpool Steelhead this weekend....have fun!!

Tuesday 29 July 2008

Margarita Madness!!

AKA Alice dropped by my site yesterday, thanks so much, don't be a stranger!

This morning, bright and early, I flip over to see what she has been up to and wham, there is a fabulous Margarita recipe that is just crying out to me.

No, I didn't make one for breakfast, but be sure this being our Civic Holiday long weekend coming up and me with a new blender....well, I can hear it whirling now!!!





Here's the recipe





For the MIX;

1 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup fresh lime juice

1 cup simple syrup (1/2 c sugar and 1/2 c water...on low heat until
sugar dissolves into water)

dash or two of salt


For the MARGARITA;

1 c mix

1 c really good tequila (AKA Alice uses Patron) I use Sauza, because that's what's in the cupboard.

1/2 c really good triple-sec or Cointreau

Shake w/ice (AKA uses a martini shaker) and pour over ice

Garnish with a lime wedge.



Back to reality, no holiday today, so I'd better hustle my butt off to work.

Life's fun if you don't weaken!

Lily

Monday 28 July 2008

Mondays, you gotta luv 'em

My old Iron Horse came out of its stall this weekend, only wasted, what, three or four months not riding, well better late than never.

It took me a couple of kilometres to reacquaint myself with shifting gears, front and back brakes, and riding on the right hand side of the road.


When running you face traffic and on the bike you "go with the flow". Wow, I didn't realise how much I miss not being on the bike, really!!!


So, I "tried" a little practice go for a Triathlon. Went for a little swim, hopped on the bike for tweleve km's and then ran for two. *note to self, you are NOT built to run in a speedo, let alone be seen in public with one on*

What a great feeling, an absolute stress release, I had a blast. Luckily I got back to the house just as the thunderstorm rolled through, so the rest of the day was spent inside, but those few hours were really what I needed. And yes, I wore my helmet when I was biking!

Our 14K run on Sunday was really hot, muggy and we were all having a bit of trouble catching our breath, so we slowed the pace down from 7:30 to almost an 8 minute km, so no one was having to struggle, it averaged out to our LSD pace in the end, so at least everyone was comfortable.

Again the heavens opened in the afternoon, what is with all this rain? And thunderstorms, holy hannah, we've had some beauties this summer!

Well, it's back to Monday, so I'm heading off to the office. Hope everyone had a GREAT weekend and that you'll have a good week.

Life's fun if you don't weaken,
Lily

*okay, you "real" cyclists are not allowed to laugh, no, you can't even giggle, guffaw nor make disparaging comments about the Iron Horse. Okay, I just thought I heard someone!!! *

Friday 25 July 2008

Tough Week, ever have one of those where....

...there is just way too much to try and get done, you look around at the office and at home only to see everything still to do?

So you end up sitting down to make a list, then use the list as a cocktail coaster, so absolutely nothing gets done?

That was my week!

Having just gone back to work from my staycation, trying to play catch up along with dealing with all the things at home, plus not getting my running in due to rain and thunderstorms all week, it was one tough week!! Luckily I had my blogging friends and my Woo Hoo friends to keep things simple and moving forward (well not the running part) and reinforcing that, yes, some of you are going through the very same thing this week!!! I'm calling it the Summer Time Blues.

Some of you know that when I first started in the blogging world I was so very fortunate to run across a start up blog group who had the vision of uniting runners from around the world. As far as I'm concerned, and luckily for me, they are the ones who lead me to all of you!!!

Of course you know I'm talking about Amy and Tom from the
Runners' Lounge!!!

What a coincidence I was having a tough week and their topic for the week was Tough Stuff!!

Well what a wonderful surprise for me during my tough week, to receive an invitation asking if I would agree to be a part of their "Tough Week", Open Mike.

Amy and Tom, you guys are life saver's!! I took a deep breath, thought about all of my fun running adventures and said "of course"!!! Please check out their wonderful, fun filled, knowledge and advice filled, running filled blogsite, it is just the very best and keeps getting better everyday! Thank YOU Amy and Tom for keeping it going for all of us to enjoy and to learn from! You are the VERY BEST!!!

Now that I've had a chance to re-group, this week was just a drop in the bucket of busy, busy, busy. It won't kill me to not get my running distances in, as a matter of fact, it has given my body time to relax and heal, making it stronger for this coming weekends running. Saturday, I'll put in a nice 10K around my home area and Sunday is a 14K in town with the Running Room group. Can you believe that we are getting closer and closer to the very first Canada Army Run? I'm really looking forward to that!!

Well, since I don't intend on boring you with day to day office crapola, I'll leave you with my poor attempt at a bathroom shot. (hey somebody should have cleaned that mirror)!

Trust me, this is by no means as "professional" as any of Marcy's shots. She's the bathroom shot Queen!!!!

Hope you enjoyed the montage set to music....it is fun and easy to do, just in case you find you have nothing to blog about! LMAO....

Life's fun if you don't weaken!

Lily

Friday 18 July 2008

This & That...

Okay, I come home from Utica, trundle off and get my haircut, the next thing I know Eva (the copy cat) Longoria runs out and gets the same style. Witch!!!

This is the last weekend before my holidays are kaput, it rained off and on all day.

So much for getting out on the bike. The rainy day however was put to good use, I ate, slept, read and watched some mindless T.V. Perfect!

This weekend is Lake Placid Ironman. Good luck to those participating. Friends of mine have gone down as volunteers as they have in previous years and really enjoy the whole weekend. I'm sure that one of these times they will go and actually challenge themselves to the Ironman!


Hopefully the weather will clear up for Saturday and Sunday....otherwise I'll have some soggy practice runs to contend with and I wanted to wear my new Saucony's.

I wore them on Thursday night and they are commmmffffyyyy! Plus they are Canadian Red and White! I've gone through three or four pair of Saucony's this season, yikes, Kaching!!!

With that in mind, I'm going to throw on a poll to see what you do with your old running shoes when you are done with them!

Have a great weekend!

Life's fun if you don't weaken.

Lily

Thursday 17 July 2008

Staycation, gardening, sweat and HILLS



Despite the threat of thunderstorms, timing glitches and port-a-pottie incidences (that was me). Everyone I've talked with had a blast at the 2008 Boilermaker and have already signed up for next year! Luckily I had my garmin with me, and I'm very happy to say my garmin time was 1:46:45, not bad for an old chick!



This week I'm on staycation (sans father), which allows me the freedom to basically do what the heck I want to do and when I want to do it!




Monday was our drive back from Utica and what a great ride it was....we stopped at little roadside shops and looked at chachka's till our eyes fell out and our wallets were empty. Well, not really but there were some really nice things. I picked up a really funky wire wrapped ring!

Tuesday, gah, haircut. Not quiet what I wanted, but hey, hair grows, then on to shop at the 50% off the 50% off , at Liz Claiborne's.....gotta love that. Back to the house for some R & R and some beverages....summer..........

Wednesday started with a long walk along the beach, ahhhh summer time, love it, then cutting the lawn...yikes, it was long, wet and full of bugs, this took over an hour and a half, I need a man servant. Wednesday night was the 20 minute challenge that the Running Room hosts every year. Anyone can sign up, go for a walk, a stroll, bring the kids, bring the dog, bring whom ever you want, just get out off the couch and participate in life. There were soooo many people it was truly amazing to see. However, for our Half Marathon group it was hills....remind me, never cut the lawn on hill night. I got it done but holy molly I was huffing and puffing like a freight train on the last hill.

Thursday where has the week gone?? So far I've been in the garden since 8:30, transplanting and pruning, covered in bug spray, sweat, dirt and grime and loving it!!! Tonight is the clinic night for the Half group, so I'll head into town later to run a steady pace with the group.

So, here I am, loving the weather, having some BEvERages, relaxing and heading to the beach....hope everyone is enjoying their week!!

Oh, did I mention I'm contemplating a 50K Ultra in 2009???

Life's fun if you don't weaken.

Lily

Monday 14 July 2008

It Rains, It Pours, and Chip Times are Ignored.....


The Good,

The Bad, NOT REALLY...

The Really Ugly
,

Drama wasn't hard to come by in Sunday's 31st running of the 15-kilometer Utica Boilermaker Road Race and a monumental timing snafu that will leave 2008's runners forever wondering exactly how fast they ran.
Headlines from the Observer - Dispatch read

"ALL IN THE TIMING"

yup, the chip system failed and two Ethiopians go off course....
(The lead runners nearly veered off course near the end of the race following the media van)

Okay, now for the good newwwwssss.. ' cause I hate negative!!!!

The Good

What a fun weekend. Our drive down to Utica was nice, relaxing and uneventful. Good weather, good roads and great company.

There was a longer line up / delay at the border crossing than usual, but we made it through after twenty minutes....Thelma and Louise on a road trip....we got to Utica and checked into the hotel and headed off to the Sports Expo thirty minutes before closing. Pretty much every exhibit had or was closing up, so we got our race kit and did a quick zoom around to see if there was anything exciting left to check out. Nope, most of the exhibitors had already shut down....

We were going to meet some running friends for dinner at
Delmonico's, (a fantastic Italian Restaurant on North Genesee), one of them being one of my friends who had just returned from the Comrades Run in South Africa and I wanted to hear all about his Ultra 90K race!! Dinner was as always FANTASTIC and as always too much food, too much fun, laughter, tall tales and news of the Comrades Run....unbelievable..check out the website!

After our meal and beverages, we headed back to the hotel to tuck in for the night.

Race Day,


The Bad. NOT REALLY ~


Glenda and I awoke to dark skies, heavy rain and a sigh from me saying "you know, if you don't want to go today it really won't break my heart!" I have to admit, my heart wasn't in it....but, being runners, we got ready, packed up and headed off. (I didn't bring the camera because it was just too wet)

We had learned from last year it is best to park the car near the finish line and hop on a courtesy bus to the start line. We exited the bus and immediately hit the port-a-pottie line...good job because the lines were starting to become really long and as you know, when you come out of the pottie you head right back into line.

Luckily the rain was subsiding and the clouds were disappearing ! At least enough to leave low hovering clouds...but no rain.

The run started off extremely slowly for me and I truly was uninspired...my breathing, cadence and mental attitude just wasn't there. Glenda was having the same issues..From the gun until we crossed the start line was about twelve minutes...luckily I was wearing my Garmin, however, I started it at the first mat, not the start mat..oh well, it is only seconds...

Around the 4k mark I looked over my left shoulder to see where Glenda was and to see if she was okay....she gave me the nod that all was well and we were both getting our running legs under us!

This is such an incredible race! The spectators truly make it!!! They are Unbelievable.

Every district is involved and compete for "the best district award"

The race was fantastic, even though it was hot, humid and overcast, there was no rain....


HOWEVER,

the chip timer failed..no one, not one single runner has a chip time!!! ONLY A GUN TIME!

I had my Garmin, luckily, so I know I had a PB....!!!!

THE UGLY...


okay, here it is, the ugly..
READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!!
what is it with port-a-potties? Can you guys or gals not aim??? I walked into the p-a-p, of course vision is limited, walking from outside in and I did what I had to do, upon the ceremonial wiping, I notice a bodily function smeared along the the seat of the john....okay, I've just SAT ON THIS!!! GAH!!!!

W.T.F., WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE LAST PERSON IN HERE???
smeared is all I can say....gah, now I have gag reflex to contend with....

I won't go into all the details but .....GROSS ME THE F*** ##@@@$$$k out, between wiping everything my "momma" gave me and slapping my hands across the wet grass after expulsion of the P-A-P , washing my hands with every available liquid from the water stations, water bottles and pouring water down my A$$, I just hope I don't end up with some communicable disease, 'cause if I do...you know that I didn't get a Kiss with it!!!

YIKES....


Back to the Good


What a fantastic time! The Monsoon rains and ear cracking thunderstorms unleashed themselves long after most had left the Saranac Brewerey party at the end of the race.

We are home now and I'm on Staycation....

If you ever have the opportunity to run The Utica Boilermaker, then let me tell you,

this is one of the best organised, the most locally supported, the most FUN and the most entertaining race to go to....


you just never know what you'll "run into"


Life's fun if you don't weaken....
Lily

Friday 11 July 2008

A musical ditty, no not P Diddy!!




Cramping in my legs,



was so exciting,



Cramping in my legs,



was un-invited,

Woke me from my dreams,


oh, what's a girl to do-ooooo?


Yes I woke up last night around 3 a.m. with a screaming pain in my right calf. Holy Hannah, my whole leg and foot were having major cramps and tremors....what the heck is that all about? I had to leap out of bed and try and get my foot flat on the cold floor, that seemed to fix it up, but today my calf is really sore.

Tell me you guys have had this at some point too!!

This week has been busy, crazy at work and yes I've been sitting way too long for hours on end.

I've been in a running funk and haven't been out since Sunday and yes, I'm eating bananas!

So Wassup??

Just thought I'd share this with you while I'm screamingly busy here at work....trying to get ready so I can leave the office without too much overload while I go on Staycation next week.

Life's fun if you don't weaken,
Lily

(wouldn't Frank Sinatra be proud of me using the "Stranger's in the Night" melody for this little ditty?)

Thursday 10 July 2008

Three More Sleeps!

Utica Boilermaker in three more sleeps. I wasn't getting too inspired until this morning when:

  • an excerpt from Jeff Galloway’s Marathon You Can Do It! (Shelter Publications, 2002), hit me in the face.

  • last years pictures, I went through them in a slide show ~ too cool.

  • there are only three more sleeps!!

Unbeknown to me, I was still suffering from post race let down!!

Who'd have thunk it!! It's been six weeks since the marathon and I've been running as a pace person for a Half Marathon clinic, but I have to admit, I was going through the motions and not "feeling the love". The feeling I was experiencing is exactly what was described in Jeff Galloway's excerpt I was reading...whew, I'm NORMAL, well, as normal as I get!

The pictures from last year are great and even though some of the Wooo Hooo's aren't going to be with us this year due to other commitments....we will be thinking of them, especially during the race.

Who could forget....







The Sports Expo....










~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the port-a-pot
ties
















~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

having lunch at Elwood's....

(which unfortunately burned down in December)











~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE HILL.....






















and








~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the PARTY at the end!















Okay, now I'm getting excited!

Three more sleeps....

Life's fun if you don't weaken,
Lily

ps, I intentionally left out some exciting photo's of the race so I wouldn't spoil it for any Utica newbies!!!

Monday 7 July 2008

7th Day of the 7th Month

Have I mentioned I LOVE summer?

Bring on the heat!!!

Today is our first day of above 30 degrees Celsius which is 85
°F , with a humidex of 91, so it does take a moment to adjust when you come out of an air conditioned office. My car has A/C but I keep forgetting about it because I never use it, even my house doesn't have it. So today I put on my Air and it took the whole driving time to cool off the car. It was just about right when I backed into my driveway. Oh well.

This week will be a little tough with running, but luckily my "sweat" system works really well and I have learned empathy and even sympathy for those who have trouble in the heat, after all, you guys listened to me whine and bitch about being cold all winter. So, yes, you do have my sympathy.


This week will be good training for the Utica Boilermaker which by every stretch of the imagination is stinking hot!!! The Boilermaker is sponsored by the Saranac Brewery and is one of the most fun, crazy, exhilarating 15K races I've ever done. The support of the community is awesome, last year one of the fellows in the recovery area told us the race was bigger than Christmas for the city of Utica and I believe him.



There was devastating news though, on May 29th of this year,
fire ripped through the breweries and even though they are having to rebuild the brewery, FX Brewery along with others in the area are totalling supporting Saranac.

FX is actually hosting this year's race, sort of co-anchoring with Saranac so the runner's would not be disappointed.

I'm not too sure of the change in the race route, but you can be certain, it won't dampen the spirit of the community, race officials and hosts of this year's
2008 Utica Boilermaker. All I know is there's BEvERages at the end of this race!!!

Oh, I'd better go and train for the post race function! Catch ya all later!!!!

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

Saturday 5 July 2008

Ahhhh, the Weekend!



The sun is just coming up over the Gatineau Hills and across the Ottawa River, I'm on my back deck drinking my coffee! It's not even 6am, but I love summer and don't want to miss a moment!

It's going to be a busy weekend, the usual stuff around the house to do. I just went through my T-shirt drawer and have a stack of them to send off to the Salvation Army.

For ten years I had an at home clothing business as a co-ordinator / Team Leader / Future Manager with Weekender Ladies Wear, which I retired from last year. It was a secondary job to supplement my income, I enjoyed it but it wasn't my passion.

Just recently I heard through the grapevine that the Company went bankrupt in a short two years when the new owners took over. It is truly sad that a well established Canadian owned company goes down the drain, do to improper management. Very sad. I feel badly for the ladies that were still selling the clothes. Today, I will officially rid myself of leftover stock, (Salvation Army) any and all paraphernalia and close off that segment of my life. Feels good to have made that decision.

Later on today I'll head up the valley to Fitzroy Harbour for their Habour Days weekend festival. Glenda and her large extended family are in the ball tournament, so I'll go to cheer them on, swill some suds and get sun burnt, dirty, dusty and happy!!!!

Shortly I'll head out for my run and yes Chris , the bike, my old Iron Pig is up and almost ready to go....

Tomorrow is our group 10K LSD, which makes me realise that next weekend is the Utica Boilermaker, yipppeeee......I love that race!!!

Any blogger's going to Utica??? Let me know! It is always a blast!!!

Have a great weekend everyone, oh and....


Lily is back on the payroll!!!
NO MICE!!!


Friday 4 July 2008

Wednesday 2 July 2008

Brought to you by the letter " M "

NO, these are NOT
Sex Toys,





Nor are these!!!




And NO,

I'm not a masochist!!

Definitely not a sadist!!!


What is all of this about you may ask.....???

Well, this post is brought to you by the letter M, MMMMMMMMM

Mice!!!!

I thought that I had it licked, well that Lily had licked the problem, yes literally, but alas, just like deer, when you see one, you know there are a herd, flock, gaggle, coven, pod. Whatever way you want to put it....there are always more than ONE!

There are MICE in my house!!!!

So, after work today I bought a couple of the old snap 'em traps and yup, before I got them all set up I'd snapped my fingers, my top, I had peanut butter in my hair and Lily had hightailed it out of the house because of all the "F" bombs that were falling!

I'll let you know how it all works out after I get back from my run tonight!!!

"I HATE MEESES TO PIECES"

Hanna Barbera,

The Huckleberry Hound Show from 1958 to 1962.

Pixie & Dixie


The pictures of traps are from the Antique Mouse & Rat Trap Gallery


Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

Wordless (Wordle) Wednesday

Tuesday 1 July 2008

A Mouse in the House ~ Part Deux & other long weekend stories.

What a great weekend!!!

Having worked extra hours to take Monday off, I am having an awesome weekend. Mind you, the rolling thunderstorms and loss of power some days are becoming a long lost memory as today is spectacular!

Canada Day, 141 years old!! I can still remember our Centennial celebrations....don't even go there with the comments, LOL.

The weekend was very busy but I'll cut to the chase, the Canada Day 10K race!



When I left the house this morning at 5:45A.M. yes, that it correct 5:45A.M., Lily was fast asleep after chasing the mouse around the house all night, sigh....not much sleep for this chick.



Glenda picked me up and off we went to collect Jen and Barb and then head downtown and over to Quebec to meet the rest of the gang at the bronze monument for the legendary Canadian Hockey great, Maurice, "The Rocket" Richard.

Bright and early and the best day weather wise of the whole weekend, we were ready to go!



We assembled for the start, and as always, a hug for everyone, well wishes for a great run and away we go, we always start together, but we run our own race and meet up at the end.

It was spectacular as we headed across the bridge towards Ontario, along a lot of the route we ran in April for our Marathon training. Beautiful vista's over the Ottawa River and a lot of undulating hills. The day was sunny and really warming up while we were running. Luckily we were in the shade along the river until we ran up a very large hill and headed along the parkway back towards the War Museum. (please see previous posts for pictures of this area).

As we headed back towards the downtown area, the police were cordoning off areas for the celebrations that were starting to take place in front of Parliament Hill. Downtown was already packed. The entertainment was beginning at 9am.

We headed back over the Chaudière Bridge to Quebec and finished up the run to thunderous applause from the spectators!!!

Awesome.

Today I felt great!!! I ran a steady race up hills and down, thanking the great above for this day!!

Chip time: 1:03:42!!!!

We waited for our friends to finish their race and headed off for breakfast! Yes it was only 9A.M.




It was a fantastic way to spend the morning with good friends, lots of laughter, a little exercise and of course the 'BLING'!

As for the Mouse in the House.

I came back from breakfast and Lily was up and awake. I went outside to read (in my NEW bathing suit).

Talk about timing. During the day I put a bell collar on Lily so I know where she is, she is very shy and often hides so I don't know where she is. So, I'm on the front deck and hear "the bell", in I go and dangling from her little Lily lips is the 'MOUSE'.

GOOD GIRL, you're back on the payroll!!

After a couple of attempts to catch the cat and the mouse, I'm successful! With my work gloves on, I take the mouse from Lily and this time I take it down the road to release it.....close up the doors, pour myself another cocktail and begin to write my story.....

Does it get any better than this??? Happy Canada Day!!!

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

Run for Canada 10K


Happy Canada Day!!