Three Things Thursday

• Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour has been and gone.  What a fantastic time!!!  Hilly, hilly, HILLY!  If someone tells you that there are just some rolling hills, don't believe them, because a roller coaster has rolling hills too!!!  One hill I went down doing 52K per hour and on the up side I was down to 9K, there may have even been some swearing!  Fantastic weather on the Saturday ~ Sunday not so good what with monsoon rains, gale force winds and a temperature of 9C.   (a full report on that to follow).

Good friends, of course we never have any fun.  

Because there were so many of us riding, I didn't get the chance to see some of the Wooo Hooo's until we got to Kingston, but they had a great time and stories of their own to tell!!!

• Tuesday night was the second in the Beaver Chase Trail Run Series, I shaved almost a full minute off of last months race time.  Whoot!!!  Tonight is the second trail run with a group I joined.  Holy schnitzzzz they are fast and over rough terrain.  I hope I can keep up!!!

• Hopefully they will come to dig my well next week, I'm still hooked up to my neighbour's house via garden hose.   I'm on vacay this week and boy you just don't realise how much you depend upon clean, fresh, running water.   I had prepared  everything to make a nice vegetable soup and  realised I didn't have enough bottled water to put in the pot!!!!   So, I'm off to buy more water...

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

Blizzard has become a touring bike...

story to follow

Fast Friday Reflections

Thanks everyone for your kind words and encouragement regarding my health issues.  Day six of antibiotics, prednesone and two inhaler's, all is well (or should I say much better).

I have to say this health scare brought a few things to mind while I was struggling to breathe and being on my own:

• carry proper I.D.; *(see note below)
• make sure your personal information is up to date; (the hospital had my former significant other listed as the emergeny contact and I haven't talked to him in 10 years).
• if you are single (like me), make sure you have a friend or friends who are willing and able to make decisions on your behalf, just in case you are unable to;
• do not hestiate to contact 911, that is why they are there, you pay for it, use it.
  

Every since I started running a little more seriously and a lot more regularly and being the consumate worrier that I am, I looked into some sort of I.D. to either carry or wear.  For years now I have been receiving emails from Active.com. and basically saying to myself, ya, right nothing will happen to me.

Well, I truly believe things happen for a reason and while I was over at Mel's blog 2nd Chances, she had just posted about RoadID.  So I figured it was the survival gods giving me a sign to finally just get some I.D.  so;

*I just ordered one of the best products ever. It's called a Road ID - perhaps you've heard of it. If you haven't, go to their website and check it out. Road ID is a great product that could save your life someday.

When I ordered, they gave me a coupon that I could pass along to my friends. Here's the coupon number:

Coupon Number: ThanksLaurel587167

The coupon is good for $1 off any Road ID order placed by 01/10/2010. To order, simply go to RoadID.com or click the link below:
http://www.RoadID.com/

If you prefer, you can call them at 800-345-6335.

You can thank me later,

Oh by the way, their website is awesome, the customer service is outstanding, and the owners are very smart and good looking.  (They made me say that part, hehehehehe).

Have a great weekend everyone,

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

What's that old saying...?

...Friendships come and go, but true friendships always last?

Well, that has been the case for me, it's hard to believe, but it has been a month since this very thing came to fruition.

Let's start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start, (hey, why do I feel like I should burst into song and start singing "climb every mountain"). Oh for you younger generation that is a song from ???, yes, The Sound of Music).

Last winter I put myself on a very popular social networking website and lo and behold friend requests started coming in. One friend lead to another and then another. There were a few of us who had worked together so very long ago and far away, it was wonderful to catch up. Then I received a friend request from someone who I vaguely remembered, so I said YES....it turned out to be Jane the sister of a gal I had worked with in my past life with horses.

Sue and I worked together in the late 60's and early 70's (yes, I'm that old) at a very prestigious show stable by the name of Sam Son Farms in Oakville, Ontario, owned by the late Ernie Samuel.

Susan was a far better rider and horsewoman than me (still is), but we struck up a friendship. We had so many laughs, situations, parties and adventures, one of which included me driving with her to her home province of Nova Scotia when she needed to ship a horse down to her father's farm. Me being the tumble weed I have always been said "sure, I'll go"....

We drove and drove and finally made it their home farm late the next day in the afternoon, early evening. Susan's sister Jane and brother Scott, along with her Father, Lorne and Mother Shirley were waiting for our arrival. They were the family you'd always want to meet, upbeat, positive and very loving, caring and welcoming. Lorne's first words to me were "welcome to the Maritmes you Upper Canadian, now here is an initiation to the maritimes", with that he handed me a raw oyster with Tabasco sauce and said, "chuck it back". Well, I'm almost positive it chucked right back up within moments, but that memory is a little foggy.

Susan and I stayed for at least a week and toured around, it was great to see the maritimes with a native Nova Scotian, but like real life we had to get back to work. Susan was preparing Jim Day's horses for the Olympics and I was preparing horses for sale.

Life changes and I ended up leaving Sam Son Farms and travelled across Canada and the U.S showing horses and operating a show stable with a fellow who I thought would be a life partner and Susan and I lost touch....until this past winter.

Jane had found me on Facebook and we did an awful lot of catching up. At some point in time I mentioned that I had vacation coming up in July and early August and wouldn't it be fun if I threw my bike in the car and drove down for a visit. Well, one thing lead to another and I got an email saying "Pack your bags baby".

I was headed to Nova Scotia!!!

It turned out that I didn't have time to drive, but I found a cheap flight to Halifax on Porter Airlines, (which I would highly recommend) and off I went. It never occurred to me to be nervous, or worry about just throwing it out there, I had no qualms what so ever, how weird is that? I didn't even know if I'd remember what everyone looked like....but I did! Jane picked me up at the airport and off we went to Canning.

Susan operates an amazingly wonderful dressage show stable under the name of Fraser Equestrian Centre , just outside of Wolfville in Canning. What a gorgeous setting, right along New Minus, Bay of Fundy. Susan was teaching a lesson when we arrived, so it gave me a chance to throw my bags into my room and head down to the outdoor riding ring to watch some horse magic.

Our evening was planned out (as was most of my holiday), we were headed off to Ross Creek to the outdoor theatre to watch the musical adaptation of a 1928 book by Frank Parker Day, Rockbound.

It was a fabulous production, what an unbelievable location for outdoor theatre and if you have the desire, read the book, it is a little hard to get through due to the dialect, but none the less worth reading.

The next day after my run, I was in the barn or watching riding lessons or even brushing or patting a horse! No, that is not me, that is Jane brushing her dressage horse Kenny.

The weather was fantastic the whole time I was there, warm, hazy and with a breeze....

Have you ever been having such a great time that you just didn't take enough pictures? Everywhere we went, I had my camera with me, but just didn't take enough photo's.

I did take my camera out on one of my runs in the early morning hours, here is a shot of one of the farms I was privy to along the way.

It is hard to see but the Bay of Fundy is in the background of crops and cornfields.

A view from the front door of the farm. Nice huh? The sun is shining off the Bay of Fundy and reflecting off the car hoods.

There is so much more to write about so this little adventure will be continued...

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

When the stars align...

...it makes for the best weekend ever!

After many harried emails and phone calls the stars were beginning to align for the Toronto Scotiabank Half Marathon.

Friday morning Anne and I headed west to Toronto. We were excited to be on our way and the weather was holding its own, no rain and no blazing sun. Nice and comfortable, even with the five and a half hour drive nothing would dampen our spirits. We made our way in to Toronto before the looming rush hour traffic and were well ensconced in our hotel room by 3:30pm.

There were so many plans for the weekend, what with meeting Vickie and Jan, meeting with other blogger's, swimming, shopping, eating and oh, of course running, we decided to head out to the Sports Expo that was being held at the Toronto Convention Centre. Luckily we were able to walk down to the expo while taking in all the sights of a "booming metropolis". I even found a large pothole to fall into as I was walking down Bay Street just north of Dundas! My foot twisted just enough to cause me to almost fall to the ground plus there was immediate swelling and pain, "crap, I just got here and I'm already on the disabled list"....well, trust me, what I said wasn't quite that polite!!! Nothing was going to stop me from having an amazing weekend so we continued along our way as I hobbled and bobbled my way. In hindsight, all the walking was probably the best thing I could have done.

The Expo was not to disappoint, however, my favourite CWX brand of running wear was a no show! An empty booth, no where to be seen, Darn, I really wanted to get a couple of pair of running pants, one a capri style now that the cooler temperatures are headed our way and the other pair of winter running pants. Double DARN.

I did settle on a capri style of Saugoi pant which will be handy on the cooler fall days...CWX, you lost OUT! Anne and I completed the circuit (several times over) and were laden with free bee's, samples and purchases when we checked our watches and it was already after 7pm. We'd been there for hours!!

Toronto is such a busy city and with it being Friday night, a hockey game was on and Celine Dion was in town, the restaurants had over 40 minute wait lines. Luckily we scooted our way into Lone Star in no time flat for some fajitas and the mandatory Margarita's, a true athlete's meal!!!

We made it back to the Delta Chelsea Hotel and proceeded to go through our race bags. For being such a big race there really wasn't anything that stands out in my mind, which boils down to "it was a ho hum race bag". The rest of the evening was spent in the hot tub and pool while we waited for Vickie and Jan to arrive from the airport. We finally got to meet up after 10pm when they called and came to our room. Nothing like making a great first impression having just come out of the shower and being in our jammies....but we all hit it off immediately and chatted up a storm until after midnight.

Saturday was extremely busy right from the get go. My dad was eagerly awaiting our visit plus a highschool friend of mine whom I haven't seen in about 34 years was meeting us for lunch.

It was great to share stories, laughs, tears and we made a promise that we won't wait that long for our next visit!

We had to kickass to get back to downtown T.O. so we could meet up with the fellow blogger's.

As we arrived back at our hotel we had less than thirty minutes to spare. Vickie and Jan had just come back from their afternoon at the Sports Expo and were resting comfortably with their heating pads and their feet up. So Anne and I hoofed it down to the Toronto Convention Centre and we were right on time to meet with Marlene, Marci and Emily.

It was awesome to catch up with them and to be able to sit and chat face to face. How amazing is it when four virtual strangers can sit and talk non-stop for almost a full hour without a break in the conversation! We all had previous commitments, otherwise I'm sure we'd still be sitting there talking! Congratulations on your races ladies, you are ALL AMAZING and you are now MARATHONER'S!!!

You girls ROCK!

Thanks you guys, you are totally amazing!!

If you want to see how much fun we had trying to take this picture, just go to Marci's blog! Oh, thanks, I like my sandals too!

Anne and I left the Expo and headed off to meet with Vickie and Jan at Little Anthony's Italian Restaurant. It was exactly what we all needed to relax and catch up over a fabulous dinner and glass of wine. Open elegance is how this restaurant is described and the meal was out of this world.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to catch some shuteye so we'd be nice and fresh for the mornings race.

Sunday morning arrived and it was dark but not too cold. Rather balmy! Anne had brought two throw away sweatshirts which we had on, but doffed even before the start of the race.

We walked our way to the start mats, there were so many runner's, walkers and spectators it certainly took on a festive mood. Anne and Vickie were dancing to the music while Jan said her well wishes and dropped back so she wouldn't get too jostled in the crush of runner's as we hit the mats.

Have you ever taken three steps into a race and knew it was YOURS?

All I could think of was what one of the Wooo Hooo's said, "see what's in the tank" for this race and TNTCoach Ken said "What's in that tank? Just go balls out until you see stars."

Thanks guys, that is exactly what I needed to hear! When we hit the turn to go under the Gardiner Expressway and head to Lakeshore Blvd., my legs and feet were on their own, my brain was thinking back to all the memories I have of growing up in Toronto.

Memories of all the friends and family that have passed away, all the memories of being a kid and going to the Canadian National Exhibition, all the fun we had as young adults down by the Toronto waterfront.

Time flies when you're having fun! Next thing I know I'm running towards my marathon friend Henk (who was running the marathon in Toronto) and we were able to cross the 10K mat together! We had a quick exchange of "good luck" and I zoomed off (well as fast as I get, more like a thundering herd of turtles).

The race route is an out and back along the Lakeshore for the Half marathon runner's, so as I was headed back on the other side of the boulevard I got to see Henk again, Anne, Vickie and Jan who was totally hoofing it.

The bands that were set up along the run route were amazing! The spectators were out in droves and there was even a group of Canadian War Veteran's in full dress uniform out to cheer us on! They just lit a fire in me, those courageous men who so bravely fought for my freedom to be able to run as a free woman in the country I love! Another burst of energy and I flew along heading back towards the downtown core. There was a young man struggling his way along when I caught up to him, he was a new Canadian and was running without hydration nor gels. He was really struggling, so I walked with him for a little way and made sure he had the gel and water I gave him. I made him promise that at the next water stop he would get two cups of water and drink one and toss the other over the back of his neck. He promised me he would! (He probably told me that just to get the crazy old woman away from him LOL).

Running under the Gardiner Express threw my Garmin coordinates right out of the window, so I was running with my instincts, I knew where I was, but I was starting to get a little tired. When we turned up Bay Street you could hear the roar of the spectators and the race route at the end was marked with increments of 100 meters, so you knew you only had to go 500, 400, 300 until you came down to the final 100 meters! The official time clock read 2:33:46, but I knew that it had taken me over ten minutes to get to the start mat. Yes, I ran a personal best!! Toronto was my best Half Marathon ever!

When I crossed the mats I let out a huge sigh and thought to myself, wow, what a way to end the racing year!! 2:23:05, Not too bad for an old chick!!


We were channelled through an area to have our chips removed and I wanted to head back to see Anne and Vickie and Jan finish, but there were too many people, so I picked a nice spot in the sun to wait for them. One by one we were reunited with laughs and stories and aches and pains!

Navigating our way back to the hotel was a half marathon in itself. Jan had a huge icepack on her shoulder, we were in our mylar blankets still trying to get oranges and apples into us along with water! It was quite the parade!

Once we got back to the hotel after manipulating our way through closed streets and more potholes, Jan and Anne headed off (still with their mylar blankets) to find an Adult BEvERage store, more commonly known as the LCBO. They came back with red and white wine, which we poured into plastic cups and headed to the kiddie pool! (The adult pool facility was being serviced, silly hotel).

After our much enjoyed and needed time in the whirlpool, we made our way back to the room for more chit chat and plans for dinner at the exclusively expensive Hy's Steakhouse. Very old, very chichi, with a lot of Toronto Stock Exchange secrets!

We couldn't give up the evening so we headed back for one last cocktail of the evening and our last goodbyes. Jan and Vickie were up at the crack of dawn to catch their flight back to Grand Rapids and Anne and I were on the road heading back home on Monday morning.

What an amazing weekend! Thank you Emily, Marlene, Marci! It was a treat to meet you and congratulations on your AWESOME RACES!! You guys ROCK and you are MARATHONERS !!!

Jan and Vickie, what can I say other than you feel like I've known you both forever!!!

I can hardly wait until we spend another fantastic weekend partying and racing again!

Ottawa Marathon Weekend 2009, here we come!!

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

**sorry the report is so late, it has been one *beotch* of a week, reality bites!!!

***blogger actually kick this post out of the web yesterday afternoon, so I had to re-write it!

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

Sun burn, blood blister & Port-a-potties ~ oh my!

Well, I’m a Marathoner! WOOOO HOOOO!

You couldn’t have asked for a nicer race to lose your Marathon virginity to!

Let’s start at the beginning of the weekend. Friday afternoon my Woo Hooo running girlfriends and I went to the Sports Expo, which is just getting better every year. Though I must admit, I was disappointed with the Marathon Jacket, I do love the funky new race kit bags they gave out when you picked up your bib number and timing chip . . . tre chic.

We of course tried on everything imaginable, I ate my way through the various booths and of course learned and saw a ton of ‘new’ racing inventions . . . yes Bob, the Tiger Tail was there although I didn't get one! Yet.

After spending a wad of dough and many hours there, we headed off to carb load at a wonderful Italian Restaurant called Capone’s. We laughed and chatted and laughed some more as we ate our dinner and swilled down a glass or two of red wine . . . We always have such a blast when we get together.

Saturday for me was busier than I had anticipated but that was okay, however, I didn’t get the chance to go back downtown to watch my Woo Hooo girlfriends and families run the 10K race Saturday evening. The weather was warm and very windy, but they all had a great run.

Saturday evening I set my alarm clock for 4:15 a.m. and headed off to snooze-ville. Luckily, I woke up at 4:15 automatically because I had forgotten to re-set the volume on the alarm . . . that could have been a disaster! Woo Hooo Anne and Dean were at my place at 5:30 sharp, we loaded up the car and headed downtown.

The downtown area was already teeming with runners and well wishers by the time we parked the car and off we went to meet up with my five hour running friends, Jen and Shirley, Rick and Teena, by the time we were done with the port-a-potties, they had already played the National Anthem and the elites were off and running, which meant we had to haul ass to get to our respective corrals.

We had a chance for a quick high five and hugged all round and the gun went off and away we went.


No, I didn’t take my camera folks, there were just too many other things hanging off my belt as it was, but I do have pictures!

Anne and I headed off at a very comfortable pace, the day was bright, cool and very sunny. We could not have asked for a better race day. Truly the running gods were looking down upon us, in more ways than one!

The course took us past the Parliament Buildings, along Wellington to our War Museum then over the bridge to Quebec. This is the same route I described to you earlier so I won’t take too much time explaining it again. Heading back to Ontario over the bridge was exhilarating because we knew that we would be heading back to the throngs of spectators.

Once back to Ontario we were at the 10K plus mark and we were heading down into Rockcliffe.


As I headed up the hill, I saw my Phoenix Phenom’s standing there with a HUGE run LILY run sign!

How awesome is that?! Thanks so much my friends, you truly made my day!

As we were heading down toward the Prime Minister’s house, the elite runners were on their way back and past the 21K mark, they were flying....and so were their paparazzi, it was incredible to see the leading female fly by as I was trundling along, it was a magical moment for me.


On we went meeting up with runners that we knew along the way. With a quick pit stop, we were heading back toward downtown and the 21K mark.



When we got back to downtown Ottawa we turned left and headed down the canal, amongst a huge throng of spectators, so many so, they were choking up the race route plus the really fast half marathon runners were gaining on us. I headed over to the right-hand side of the road so the flying half’s could zip on by . . . even with doing that we were being jostled a lot by the speedy speedsters . . . one guy commented that why do they let "these old slow runners on the course," to which I replied, I’m doing the marathon chum, "leave a lung on the pavement if you wish, have a great race", aren’t I Ms. Sportsman of the Year?


I was trying to stay out of their way as well has hydrate and take my gels, I opened my pouch to get out a gel and got bumped causing all of my carb-booms to spill out onto the pavement. There were so many runners coming it would have been dangerous to try to retrieve them. Another live and learn while on the run, so to speak. Luckily I had tucked a couple of Vector Bars into my other pouch (told you I looked like a pack horse), so that was my saving grace to keep up my energy.

We finally got down along the canal to where the Half Marathon runners split off to continue along their route and we head down toward Hogs Back Falls. Off to my left I spotted a port-a-pottie tucked underneath one of the over passes, so I crossed over the roadways to, well, the obvious. Much to my surprise Anne was coming out of the pot, just as I reached for the door . . .


Once ensconced I couldn’t get out!

The door latch was stuck, oh crap, pardon the pun, I’m wasting time in the crapper!

Finally I got the freeking thing to open and I’m now looking out to the rest of the Half Marathon group and I can’t get back across the road to my route . . . well, after standing there for what seemed to be an eternity I dodged my way across through the Half runner’s and continued on my merry way. I could see Anne way a head of me at this point, I waved and kept on truck’n. The good thing about running with friends is that we start together but run our own race.

Anne was really settling into her zone and I was so happy for her. We were now heading into no man’s land, there were few to no spectator’s, lots of inclines and a few less water stations. We had to do some strange loop under an overpass and then up a huge hill, I could see quite a few of the runner’s slowing down to a walk. For me, it was perfect time to reflect upon all the training we had done, all the crappy weather we had run in, all the great friends we had made along the way and all the knowledge that was being put to the test. I was enjoying every moment! Sometimes it is just great to have to dig deep and reflect upon how lucky we are.

We were now heading toward the Experimental Farm and the Arboretum. Again we did a little loop through the Arboretum and then back out onto the road past Dow’s Lake and back along the other side of the canal.

You have to understand Ottawa is built around several water systems and is a lovely area with grand old homes with a lot of history, it is a spectacular location for a race with beautiful sights to take in as a runner and a spectator. You should run Ottawa sometime, you won’t be disappointed!

There were only about 6K to go when I, along with everyone else start to make their plan for the finish. Mine was to conserve a little energy so I could run in looking strong, upright and smiling. I met two very nice gentlemen who had the same plan, so we walked and ran together up to and over the Finish Line. Thank you so much for the wonderful company!

Upon crossing the finish line and having my chip removed, I headed into the recovery area, where I came upon several of the Running Room runners that I know quite well, we had our pictures taken and exchanged stories. Then I headed off to get some oranges and a recovery drink. Once I left the food tent I headed off to find my Woo Hooo friends, but found one of the gentlemen I ran the last 6K with.

We sat on the park bench and had a really nice conversation, he was headed off to get his medal engraved and I went on to meet my friends. Thanks Henk, hope we can run together again some time soon!!

When I came out of the recovery area, there they were, patiently waiting for me, all of my Woo Hooo friends with my tiara, a lovely bouquet of flowers and several congratulatory hugs, kisses and cards. What an outstanding day!

(Anne, me and Nancy (who ran the 1/2 marathon), just a few of the Woo Hoo Friends

The afternoon concluded with a big brunch at D’Arcy McGee’s with several BEvERages and of course a ton of laughs . . . tall tales, great renditions of the races and just being happy with a great group of friends.

I walked away with wonderful memories, great friends, old and new, a fantastic sunburn, a blood blister on one of my toes and a really funny port-a-pottie story. Does it get any better than this?

ING Marathon 2008 Memories!!!

Life’s fun if you don’t weaken,

Lily