Two-fer Weekend: 5k on Saturday & 5k on Sunday

This was a busy weekend!

Saturday morning I ran a 5km race with 4 of my best girlfriends (wish you were there with us Angie!)

Karen & Cindy (first 5km race for both of them!), Corinne, Shauna and me!

This was the very first race I ran last year. This year was no personal best time, but I had fun (and I was faster than my time last year, so that kinda counts).

I kinda love the day-glo yellow shirts... they were ideal on an overcast morning!

Some of the girls from my Crossfit boot camp did the run as well! (for info on Crossfit training in East Hants, NS check out Core to Extremity Fitness!)

Me, Emily (it was her first 5km race!), Kristi and Jennifer

I'm so proud of all of us! We train and complain (okay, *I* complain) together but we are all working on bettering ourselves and our health so every achievement should be celebrated!

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Then Sunday morning I participated in an event called the IWK 5km Run in Memory of Jessica which is a fundraiser event where the monies raised goes toward the local children's hospital and helps babies and children in critical care.

This weekend, the annual fundraising telethon for the hospital took place and it was a banner year! I'm so glad I got to be a part of it! This year, the run raised $38,675 which formed part of the $6,270,346.07 total raised for 2015!!!

My cheering section was there to support me this morning... best mom ever!

The start of the race! I actually had a new personal achievement this morning even if it wasn't a personal best time overall. This morning I ran consistently without walking for a full half hour, one of these days I will finish the full 5k race in that half hour!

Seeing that finish line is such a motivator! I ended up running with a former coworker for a while near the end and when I said I saw my mom at the finish line she said "sprint for the finish!" and I took off! I'm so glad she was there to give me that final push. The picture my mom got of me in a sprint is one of my favourites...

Fully airborne!

Two weekends ago, I managed to give both ankles a lateral sprain and the left one is recovering quicker but both are pretty sore. When I finished running this morning I sat down and took my right shoe and sock off to asses the soreness... at which point a St. John Ambulance volunteer came over to check on me. She kindly scolded me for running and told me to go home and ice my ankles... I've been re-freezing some peas this afternoon :P

Mmmm peas...

I don't have a lot on the go this week, so I plan to rest the ankles as much as possible!

No pain, no gain right?!

** I AM A RUNNER BECAUSE I RUN **

I am a Runner because I Run

Super cute necklace from Etsy

A little over a year ago, an awesome friend convinced me to try running with her, despite my misgivings and repeated whining of "I don't run". And I enjoyed myself. It was challenging and sweaty, but I felt accomplished.

So I kept running. I signed up for my first race with my friend. The night before we ran, she texted me and said she was fighting a nasty cold and since she was flying to Europe for vacation the day after the scheduled run, she was going to put her health in first place and bow out of the run. So there I was by myself with no encouraging voice beside me, a little bit terrified but also encouraged. Some people just looked "fast". But there were ordinary looking folk too. People stretching, laughing, and checking watches.

I figured once the signal went to start, I'd leap around the race route like a fawn in the woods and follow the pack till it was all over with. My mantra was "someone's gotta come in last". But it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. I didn't come in last, and my finish time was respectable for a newbie. I've since done a few other timed races, always hoping to beat my own personal best time. Uplifted when I do, bummed when I don't. Some runs feel easy, while others are a struggle from start to finish.

I read this great piece tonight, and it seemed like something I needed to share to remind myself that I so long as I do my best given my capabilities and how I've trained, I should feel accomplished. I'm not fast. I'm not elite. But I put my feet to the pavement and go. I am a runner because I run.

I'm getting too old to party like this...

I planned on making a nice blog post this Sunday about something I made from my kitchen or my sewing machine. Instead, after I got home from my night away all I managed was showering and napping and watching NASCAR with He-of-the-good-ideas. I don't party much anymore and the combination of a late night and alcohol has left me with a tinge of a hangover reminiscent of days gone by. I doubt my tolerance is improving, I'm just better at pacing myself.

Last night I was out with a wonderful group of women for a Girls Night Out event hosted by the Pictou County chapter of the Canadian Progress Club. The theme of the night was "Little Black Dress" and we all dressed for the occassion in pretty black dresses and cute shoes. A few of us even stood out by wearing black bow-ties. It was a blast! I mean, the "adult entertainment" that was on stage was a bit more than we expected but the girls I was with made the night so much fun. I wish I was making a post that included pictures but I didn't bring my camera and I don't have any from the girls I was out with. If any that are publish-able come my way, I'll update this post.

Things learned:
- forgetting to take my lactose-intolerance pills can be very bad
- moonshine + peach jello = devestatingly yummy shooters
- Dr. Scholls Fast Flats are brilliant and every woman needs to know about them
- four male strippers shaking their packages on stage gets boring
- being the first people on the dance floor means you're here to party!
- Four women can push a taxi out of a snowbank at 1am like nobodys business

I met so many wonderful women last night, and I regrettably don't remember everyone's names but I would definately spend time with each and every one of them again. Thank you so much to all of you for being such a big part of my weekend!

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