Garden time

The past two weeks, Alyssa and I have gotten the garden dug up. soil, compost, and fetilizer in place. I did most of the labour lol 90% of it and i don't mind at all. The shape and plan has come together nicely. So today we went to Tarra green house and picked up some herbs, flowers, and veggies for the backyard.
The weather was perfect, full sun and a light breeze. We placed what we had in the areas where we wanted and began to dig and space our plants evenly and tried to complement each herb and veggies and flowers together. It looks pretty sharp i must say, over the next few weeks we will add a few more flowers and such to make it the way we envision it.
Alyssa is officially a green thumb, i knew she would like it.

Hot Yoga and a lot of sweat

Tonight Alyssa and I decided to experience hot yoga together. She had gone earlier in the week with a few girlfriends and enjoyed it quite a bit. We talked about it Thursday night and I thought it would be a great experience to go with her and get in a good workout together.
 This hot yoga was something let me tell you ahha, i was sweating buckets within minutes amongst the fellow yogies lol and i felt pretty good. Alyssa had her mat and towel and i was beside her with mine, i kept looking over, sweat all dripping from my body mouthing the words holy crap, im done, f- me, and a few more. In all i will say for anyone who hasn't experience this, it is great for the mind body and soul. I felt refreshed and peaceful afterward.

I think we will do this again very soon and incorporate it into our work outs more often.

From here on out

Hi there folks, its been a while since I or Alyssa posted a comment. I took a few weeks off training and have had the occasional run since the Mercedes 10k run. I am thinking that I would like to run in the the 15 k bread and honey race in Mississauga June 6th. Alyssa and I will still be doing the occasional run and training together just not as much, she is working towards here goal of training and competing  in UFE halloween Mayhem.
Until then keep checking back for updated news.

Mercedes 10k Done

It's Tuesday a couple days after the race and im feeling quite sore, my lower back, torso and legs are in pain.
 I accomplished my goal and Im quite happy with the outcome. The morning got off to a good start, i was up at 6:30, i had a warm shower, changed and had my ritual coffee and banana with toast. Alyssa was with me along with her father Brian, he too participated in the 10k run. Race time was 8:30 am and the weather was dreary, with wind and rain, you gotta love it lol. I must say I wasn't as nervous this time around compared to the Frosty 5 k run. All the training, 9 weeks in total and commitment prepared me well enough to do this race. I had great support from Alyssa and family/friends. I started off near the front with Brian and ran past Alyssa so she could take pics, my pace was pretty good for the first few k, i didn't go out to fast but I went out strong and steady.
I kept up with Brian for a bit but i just wanted to run my own race. The wind was tough along the lake shore but i kept up and at times i was alone from the pack and other runners caught up and made a little pack with me.
 With the race more than half done, i picked up the pace a little and finished strong, no cramping or shortness of breath. I did the best I could and i enjoyed myself. I cross the finish line with a time of 46.19 seconds, so i set my goal of under 55minutes from day one. I will take a few days rest and plan for my next race.

Long run with Reid

Well today's adventure set me on a course of 11.3km, through the scenic country side of burlington just beyond the city outskirts. I took Reid with me today and it was a nice day to have someone come along for the journey. Alyssa had a workout to do so taking Reid made the run a little interesting and fun. The weather was great, the sun was out, a tad bit of wind and the scenery was great, rolling hills, a river, woods, and some old farm houses.
Along the way Reid kept up and had some witty comments and a cheeky smile the whole way, i started out pretty slow and had a cramp 3 quarters of the way into the run lol, not good but over time it went away. I am sure it was from the 6 pancakes Alyssa and I made for breakfast ahah, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
 I was happy with my run and i look forward to the upcoming race next week, when i reached the top of the side road and just in the distance i saw the plaza so i sprinted for home, Reid was right behind me keeping up, 1hr38 seconds of effort.

Side by Side with a bike

This evening Alyssa and we decided to go out for a run/bike ride. I didn't feel up to running but she pushed me and encouraged me to get it done and I'm glad it's over with lol. The weather has been rainy and gloomy all day until around 5pm-6pm and it cleared, once the rain had passed I made up my mind, well we did.
It's always nice having her with me, she encourages me and helps me with directions lol. She was quite content on the bike listening to her mp3 player and signing along. I finished with a time of 25:51 and a little over 5.5 kms, the run was race pace style so I feel pretty good about the coming weeks before the race.
Until our next adventure...

The Longest yard

It's a little past noon on an Easter sunday and I'm very satisfied with my run and sweating like crazy lol. The weather is just beautiful today, hardly any wind, clear skies and the temperature is 18 degrees C.
Today's run was 8km; I just finished at 8.11k. I started out at a good pace, not to fast down the country road. I passed a few orchards, old homes and E.D. smiths where they make jams, ketchups, and other spreads. Halfway through the run, my legs felt a little heavy but I kept on going, not having Alyssa beside me is hard and quite the change but i know she's with me in spirit and I look forward to a run with her soon. I finished with a time of 39 min 35 seconds so I think I will be in good shape to get around 50 min for the 10k or just under that would be a goal I would like to accomplish.

Mount Nemo

Early this afternoon we decided to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather along with some beautiful scenery atop Mount Nemo. We drove out and parked along the side road and accessed the Bruce Trail around 2:30 pm. The sun was out the temperature was around 25 degrees, I'm not complaining about that it was great. We hiked up to the top of the escarpment, talking, laughed and pointing out the small details the forest provides such as different types of birds, butterfly's, trees, farming scenery, golf courses and different vistas through out our hike (not true... NAZAIRE pointed out the small details in the forest lol, the only thing I spotted was a rock climbers rope). The terrain was rocky, up and down, there were many fishers and crevices, some steep and short I wouldn't want to get stuck in some. I really enjoyed the hike with Alyssa, we both worked up a sweat, we stopped several times through the hike to hydrate and to take in the views. We plan on doing more hikes in the coming weeks and into the summer months. In all I think we walked around 6k and roughly 2hrs and 15 minutes.

Back in the pool

Tonight was a cross training day, so we decided to go for another swim at the Waterdown YMCA.
Again Alyssa was spoiled because she had access to a pool where she was staying. It was a good swim, we slowly dragged are butts over to the Y and started off slow and steady. I definitely felt better this time around swimming and I took less breaks than the previous outing. Breast strokes, free style, back strokes and body board flutter kick. We were in there for 35 min total, not as much as our program wants but it was better than nothing and the pool was closing at a certain time and we were late on arrival lol.
Im very happy were back together working as a team and enjoying it.
Until our next post.

First day back

Today is the first run Alyssa and I have had together since her week long trip in Palm Springs.
The weather was pretty good, not too cold and a little overcast, Alyssa sure was spoiled with the weather in California and me on the other hand so so ahha. Our reunion was great, I was so happy to see her pull into the driveway and give her a hug and kiss. Our run was a 6.4km but we ended up at 6.13km because I calculated wrong on the map my run web site, still we managed it in less than 39 minutes going at a normal pace and not overexerting. I am just glad were back to our running routine and on track for the Mercedes Benz 10 k challenge.

Some days just HURT...

This run I must admit, though I would rather not, was a real struggle for me (Alyssa). Before we even ran my stomach felt a little off and I felt a little nauseous, not to mention I didn't get much sleep the night before. We started running, I felt so heavy and very quickly I got a bad side stitch, I tried to push through it but it persisted and I had to tell Nazaire that we needed to stop for a minute. So we stopped in someones driveway and waited for a minute as I tried to just breath and get rid of the pain. Jeez, I can't even tell you how mad I was at myself for even having to stop at all... the only other time I had ever even stopped in our training so far was during the killer hill we ran once and even that I limited to 30 seconds. Anyways, after our brief stop I felt better the pain was gone so we started to run again. After not in 30 seconds of running again the stitch came back, ugh. I pushed and kept running for as long as I could and then we had to stop for our second 1 minute break. We started running again and we were nearing Nazaire's street which we were supposed to run past... I can't even tell you how bad I just wanted to give up and head down his street home. I seriously considered it for a few minutes, but I knew I couldn't or I would feel like crap about myself and beat myself up for it. So, as we were running past I just pretended it wasn't there and kept running. We stopped one last time during the run then I held on til we got back to his house and even sprinted a little at the end to try and make up for how bad I felt about having to stop lol. Unlike me Nazaire seemed to feel pretty strong on today's run... although later at Winners he kept whining about how sore he was lol. Hopefully Saturday's run will go a little more smoothly.

My little fish

Today was our first day of cross training so we decided to mix it up and head over to the Waterdown YMCA to do some laps in the pool. I think it's a good idea to work all the muscles and to try something other than a run, however with that said, I hadn't been in lap pool in years. I struggled a bit, but I enjoyed the breast stroke and backstroke; those are my favorites. Alyssa, on the other hand, was like a fish in her own backyard pond; she got stronger and stronger as the minutes went on. We were in there for 59 minutes, had a pretty good workout, and she still didn't want to stop and leave but they were closing the pool. We then capped off the workout with a few minutes in the sauna. I will sleep great tonight and tomorrow we're back at it with a run.

Training day 1 for the Mercedes-Benz 10k!

Alyssa and I started out late in the afternoon/evening; the weather was a beautiful for a run. We were excited to start our first day of training for the 10k, I think because it's a new challenge and we are coming off a high from our 5k race over the weekend. This run was our longest to date at 5.34k and we both ran at a good pace. Alyssa was running well and breathing much better than on race day probably because I wasn't yapping in her ear. It's good when you can get in the zone and focus. My legs were tired and a little burnt out from giving it at the race, but I pushed through it and enjoyed the run none the less. Now on to our cross training day tomorrow; we will see how it goes.

More Race Day Photos

Race Day: Mission Accomplished, 28:13 !

 

Nazaire: 28:12      11/21 in his age group    111/202 out of the males   174/586 overall

Alyssa:   28:13      4/11 in her age group     65/384 out of the females    176/586 overall

Nazaire's Account of the Day: 
Well 9 weeks is officially done; I'm so happy we completed and competed in this 5k race. I must say my nerves were shot before the race and just waiting at the starting line calming my body and all the chills. Alyssa had to go to the bathroom so she went to the porta poty and was almost late for the start. I was freaking out and killing time with her parents. But when I saw her with minutes to spare I was ready and relaxed, no nervousness. The horn went and away we went off in a heap of bodies. Alyssa set the pace and I felt fine the whole way; my breathing was good and my strides were confident. I felt happy with my race and I'm very proud of Alyssa for pushing me along the way and bringing out the competitor in me. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences that I have had. I look forward to our next race and adventure. Way to go babe. I love you.

Alyssa's Account of the Day:
Let me just start by stating a couple well known race day laws; what ever can go long, will go wrong and expect the unexpected. Last night and today definitely fit with these quotes. First off, last night Nazaire got an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night. He came into his room to find the words "KILL" taped on the door, floor, and bed. And, then about an hour later was awoken by Reid in a mask taping his arm to the bed post with hockey tape; he had to cut his way out with an swiss army knife. I think Reid was inspired from watching Paranormal Activity the day before, and their "Stepbrother" relationship encouraged it as well. Oh did I mention, Fabio was also posted on the door lol.

This morning we woke up good, ate, and headed out the door. You could tell Nazaire was on edge though; he gave one person the finger and freaked out on another girl who was crossing the road without looking. Then as we were getting off the highway, in a rush to get to the mall to catch the shuttle in time, their was an accident at the exit. Needless to say that didn't help the anxiety. Despite the small road bump, we got to the mall in time and on the shuttle pretty quick. However, the problems weren't over yet; I then go to pin on the bib and realize that the safety pins I placed in my arm pocket are missing and I forgot my sunglasses, DOH! So, I called up my Mom quickly and asked her to bring 'em. Then the rest was just a waiting game at city hall.

Nearing the race I was dying to go to the washroom and we headed outside thinking the line up at the porta potties would be shorter then the LOOONG women's line inside. Not the case... the line up was HUGE... longer than the lines you see at Wonderland. Regardless though I figured I had to wait it out, I mean I had to pee like a race horse! So, after a long, long wait I get to the front little bit where you have to take a chance and pick a line. I thought I picked a pretty good one until I saw that out of our line's two porta potties one guy hadn't come out for a good twenty minutes. Of course, when I was at the front of the line that guy decided to come out... you can all tell how well that went down. After that ordeal, feeling nice and relieved, I ran down to the Start line where Nazaire was a little frazzled waiting for me. We got in the corral of bodies and awaited the sound of the starting gun. All I remember was them counting down the time from 3 minutes and thinking, "Wow, that was the fastest 3 minutes ever!" We started and I felt good at first, however, that quickly changed. At around 2k I felt a major cramp coming on, ack I rarely get those! And, that baby stayed with me for the rest of the race, I also couldn't get into a good groove and zone out like I usually do. But, it was still a great race and we beat our goal! Next stop, the Mercedes-Benz 10K. Bring it on!

Butterflies...

Today is Saturday, the day before the race! This afternoon Nazaire and I headed down to the Travelodge to pick up our bibs, timing chips, Frosty 5k shirts, and race kit. The place was a total zoo! After finishing up that we went to a few places here and there looking for more blister bandaids and such. Out of that excursion came two great things; we got some awesome pictures of the sky at sunset (see below) and Nazaire found some great running tight. The running tights are pretty good; we found them at Walmart for $13, can't beat that! He says its awesome, feels really light and like a super hero lol. After that we headed back to my house to relax a bit, eat some dinner, and get all dolled up for a celebratory treat at Demetres. It was great; we ordered this fantastic strawberry-waffle-ice cream dessert that was absolutely delicious. Then we got back home and we're heading to bed shortly. Now let's see if we feel like little kids trying to fall asleep for Christmas, I hope not!

Last run before the race

I cant believe 9 weeks has come and gone, and that we are here with the race day only a couple days away.
I think it's quite an accomplishment that we stuck it out and did it together as a team. We set two goals: to run under 30 minutes and to go over 100k in our training. So far we've crossed one off the list, over 100k done in training, yippee.

Todays run was just after sunset, a lil windy but not too chilly. I had some major cramps and Alyssa felt like she was going to be sick, what great timming lol. Never the less we pushed on through it, worked up a good sweat, and when we got to the house our time was great, 30:18 for 5.14k which Alyssa estimates puts  us at at 5:54 pace. We will definitely break 30 minutes, now it's just a matter of by how much.

P.s. We forgot to mention Alyssa was accepted to Ryerson for psychology last Friday!

Going Crazie....

It was an eventful run today; Alyssa, Elena, Reid and I all took part on this sunny run. What a nice day to get out, the weather was beautiful. Alyssa and I just have one more run to go before the frosty, yay! Reid came along on his bike, singing and swerving alongside the street; it was good to see him out there. Elena has taken a liking to the training and has impressed the both of us finishing 5.14k just a few minutes after us, I hope she sticks with it. Alyssa and I ran at a good pace, we wanted to break the 30 min barrier for a 5k and we just did by a bit at 30:59 for 5.14k. So, we have our goal set for friday and on sunday's race to come in below 30 minutes and I feel comfortable and confident we will.

A side note, after the run we did P90X's Ab Ripper X with Elena. Then later that night we went and saw the movie The Crazies. It was awesome! Highly recommend.

Alone at last...

Today marked a first for us, our first run without each other. Between school, Elena and I wanting to go shopping, etc. getting to Nazaire's house and doing everything that needed to be done just wasn't possible. So, we had to do the unthinkable and run alone, gasp lol. Wait, actually I should rephrase that... Nazaire had to run alone, I got to run with Elena. However, we did both plan it out so we were running during the same time, so I guess technically we ran together... just in different locations. As for the weather though, wow, it was gorgeous! So warm that I just wore a long sleeve tech shirt, my tights, and a very thin wind breaker... and even that was too much. It was really cool; the sun was out and I just thought to myself while running, "it feels like spring," and then smiled. Unfortunately, one downside to this lovely weather was the massive puddles. One was completely unavoidable and was a little deeper then it looked leaving me with a soaking wet foot. Then that soaking wet foot turned into a blister, ouch, first one for me during our 9 weeks of training. Regardless of the blister, I ran 5.14km in 32:35 minutes; finally running 5km was a great feeling. However, now that I know running 5km's is a reality I'll be on to pushing myself and stressing out about going faster. Oh the joys of being a perfectionist!

The Wild Bunch

Last night was a very late night for Elena and myself, a 5am late night to be precise. We worked out, whipped up a storm cooking, we socialized, and laughed a lot; typical Alyssa and Elena hijinks. Needless to say we didn't wake up too early, but when we did I picked up Nazaire, made some pasta, and then we headed out for our run. Today we had some extra people on our run: Reid and Elena. Reid didn't run the loop with us, but he did what he could. Elena kept up with us for 3.66 km which was great; I was impressed and proud. And, we finished up week 8 with a 4.61 km run. I feel very confident about the Frosty 5K, we will definitely be able to run it comfortable.

Oh and Nazaire surprised me with some beautiful gerbera flowers for our 5 month anniversary. :-)

We've got a visitor...

I will make this post, it's me Nazaire; Alyssa has nothing to say for this post. Hmm... I think she would because she smoked me in this run. The weather was windy and I certainly was not feeling this run, I just concentrated on my breathing. All week I have had an upset stomach so I just did what I could. Today I met Elena, Alyssa's best friend from Winnipeg. I can tell their best friends you can just sense it, it's really nice. Anyways, we're heading out to best buy and then the mall, see ya later!

Running in a winter wonderland + Frosty

Today upon finishing school I headed over to Nazaire's so we could go see the mantinee of Shutter Island. Seriously, what a great time and day to go. There were maybe 10 other people in the theater, and since it was Telus Tuesday we each got a free popcorn and drink out of the deal! The movie was great... lots of twists and turns, slow at times, but overall I'd definitely recommend it. Leo did a great job and played the character perfectly.

After the movie it was starting to get dark so we headed out for our run. I wasn't looking forward to it thanks to the nice dump of snow we got from the little blizzard the day before, but it was actually quite warm outside. We ran one of our usual Stoney Creek loops except in the opposite direction which we had never done on that route. It was a great run for me... the for me the first half of the run I paced myself, then at the half way point I speed up and just zoned out. For a good portion of the last third of our run I was maybe a few feet to a meter in front of Nazaire. I felt bad, I don't like leaving him behind, but I was just zoning right out and felt great running at a faster pace. I still would look for his shadow and listen for his steps to make sure he was okay and not too far behind. And, it still felt nice to know he was with me. Also, we set to first times... first 28 minute straight run of our program and longest run yet at 4.47 km; not a bad way to start week 8.

Once the run was done Nazaire decided to take advantage of the sticky packing snow perfect for making a snowman, and made a masterpiece. :-)

A Sunny Sunday Run

Today me and Nazaire went out for the last run of week 7, and wow what a nice day for it! The weather is sunny and warm; I didn't even have to wear a jacket, mitts, or headband. We ran throughout my area... it was a route we had done before, but we ran it backwards to switch it up. We also were running it in daylight which is a change. Usually we end up running at night, not because we want to (well I kind of what to lol... I enjoy running at night, you can't see where your going, it feels like it goes by faster), but more because it ends up being the time running is possible for us. Regardless of the change, however, I struggled. I felt a good deal of pain in the medial posterior aspect of my patella (thank you exercise science ;-) ). I slowed down and pushed through it though. We also ran by a man with his young son, and when the man saw Nazaire's Montreal Canadiens hat he commented that he liked it. Nazaire said, "ya me too... much better than the Leafs!" and the man agreed. We also ran by a lot of groups of families; it is a amazing how few people will move out of the way and give you a bit of space even though they do see you coming. Another spotting we made today is a big Cooper's hawk, and we even caught a great snap shoot of it. Off to eat and then cheer on Team Canada at 7:40. GO CANADA!!!

Bueler!

Early morning Saturday and we're on the couch watching Ferris Bueler's day off; one of Reid's favorites. Tonight's run was really good; we both ran strong, but not too fast or too slow, it was a good pace. Alyssa said it was her best run to date and I think she's right. I kept up step for step till the end and she bolted away for the finish. She's crazy, she all out sprinted for the last minute, I kept up as best I could. Also, Alyssa said her average heart rate was the lowest it's been... 145. We are  exactly two weeks away from accomplishing our goal of a 5km and we're well on target.

P.s. Reid got his braces today!

In the 4's

This evening I headed to Alyssa's because she wasn't feeling up to driving. She's been really tired lately and had a lot of history homework, so I headed down to keep up with our program. The snow was coming down, not hard but steady in light flakes, and there was a tad bit of wind. I felt pretty good running and from the past few days; I feel like I'm on a roll. I ran 16km Saturday from my place to Joseph Brant Hospital and we ran 4km on Monday. Alyssa was tired, the wind was cold to her, but not me... maybe because I have a beard now lol. None the less, we kept up with chatting and we pushed along just fine. Another 4km run so were looking good for the Frosty 5K in a few weeks. Well that's all for now... I'm going to watch more olympics.

Jog, Jog, Sprint!

Today's run was the first run in a little over a week. For me it was mentally tough to get back into the swing of things, for Nazaire it was much easier (he did run 16km earlier this week). The weather was really nice, minimal wind. In fact, halfway through the run I was feeling so warm I had to ditch my gloves and unzip my jacket a bit. We completed this run in the Stoney Creek area and it was our first 25 minute straight run; the following weeks before the Frosty 5K will consists of only 25 and 30 minute runs. Like I said for me it was a mentally tough run, I was just trying to zone out for most of it until the last 3 minutes (those are always the easiest for me). The last  minute I just sprinted and left Nazaire in the dust, I had picked a spot that I wanted to finish at and I went for it. Plus, I really enjoy finishing strong... it feels great. It was also great that it was our longest run yet, 4.1K... we'll definitely have a great race in a few weeks!

Valentine's Day in Pictures.