Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for the Running Mom

It is that time of year again – Mother’s Day! Are you looking for the perfect gift for your Mom or Baby-Mama? Does she enjoy running? Well here are some gift ideas for you:

Gift 1: Reflective Jacket

We are getting close to that time of year that runs tend to happen in the early morning or in the evening. It is crucial that if you go out for a run at dusk that you wear proper reflective clothing so that cars and other moving objects (bikes, skateboarders) can see you. Why not surprise Mom with a new reflective jacket in her favorite colour? Running Room has a great selection of running reflective jackets in a variety of hues.

2. A sparkle running skirt

Why not? Everyone needs a good running skirt in a fun pattern. Check out this selection at Etsy. This skirt is from RockCitySkirts, but there are other varieties including tutus and costume ideas for running the Disney Princess Half (or any women’s race)

3. Athletic Sweater

Usually the running type like good quality athletic sweaters – LuLuLemon is always a sure bet. One brand that I am a fan of is Albion Fit. I have a Albion Fit Signature Hoodie and love it. It is comfy, lightweight and looks great.

4. Basket full of Running Goodies

Grab a nice basket, or even a new sports bag and fill it with everything a runner needs: headbands, athletic socks, GU gels, Compression socks, tech shirts – whatever! You can easily fill a nice bag/basket with items found at Running Room, MEC, or any other sports store.

Some suggestions:

- Sweaty Bands Headband

- Pro Compression Socks

- Nuun Hydration Tablets

- Gu Gels

- Running Room Socks

5. Time for a long run

A simple, affordable solution to a Mother’s Day for your running Mom – a chance to go on a long run at any location nearby, uninterrupted at any time of the day. Allow Mom to go whenever she feels like it essentially, no questions asked. When Mom returns, have her favorite post-run meal on hand with a cool, crisp glass of water.

Do you have any suggestions to add?

I will be running the Day Before Mother’s Day race in Ottawa on Saturday – let me know if you will be racing as well. So far I know a number of Moms who will be running the 5K race!

By Rebecca|Random|7 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday = a really nice day!

Shorts!!!!

By Rebecca|Random|1 Comment

Jeep Woes

Remember a couple of weeks ago when my Honda Civic broke down? Well, it was finally fixed yesterday (Thank you school shop!) – however, another vehicle issue arose as soon as I got home:

The jeep is currently unsafe to drive

Huh?

That is right – the jeep is currently sitting its sorry ass in the driveway as there is a broken leaf spring – a leaf spring is used in the suspension of the jeep and this particular leaf spring is part of a lift kit that was put on the jeep last year. There are three large pieces of metal that make up the leaf spring system and the bottom piece snapped right off. So when did this happen? When I was backing out of my driveway, I heard a clang clang on the road, and saw the piece of metal on the ground. The cut point of the piece that feel was all rusted, so who knows how long I’ve been driving with it on the verge of failing. It appears that more of it broke off yesterday and now the broken part is right over the axel. The dangerous part is that the rest of the springs could fail and I could really damage the car – damage enough of it to basically destroy the jeep.

Broken leaf spring

what it is supposed to look like – ew rust

So – no jeep for the time being. P is supposed to phone the company who we purchased the lift kit from today to see what can be done. There is no big reason why a very clean break should have happened – we haven’t been off roading, and I drive like a Grandma.

I am pretty annoyed as this is another car concern. We were planning on buying a new car in the summer using my summer school income, so after yesterday’s events I really took a look at some new cars and the financing packages available. We will not be leasing (P drives 100Km back and forth to work every day). If I get another job contract for the fall, we will really start car shopping. P says no – but we do kind of want a more reliable car.

So there goes another car that needs to be fixed. But I guess this is what happens when you own cars that are 10+ years old……

By Rebecca|Random|4 Comments

Sunday Funday Photos

Fantastic weather here in Ottawa today!

The whole neighbourhood was outside gearing up their backyards and patios for summer! Max played outside almost all day.

He played so much, he was hungry. Therefore he helped himself to a light snack:

What did you do today?

Was the weather great where you live?

What is your patio drink of choice?

By Rebecca|Max, Random|4 Comments

Tuesday Tidbits

Hi all!

It is another Track Tuesday! Tuesdays = morning and evening track practices (different groups though). Morning was relaxing, while evening was not. Actually practice was fairly chaotic. But that happens sometimes. After track this evening I went on a short 3K run. I do not run in the dark, so there is limited time to get out there and attempt a decent run before the light is gone. I managed to have a fairly steady run, holding at a 5:36 per KM pace. This is the pace I need to stay in to PB on my 5K – We will see if I can hold it for 5K or not. I’m very comfortable at the 6:00 zone – so trying to break it has been a struggle. So – my strategy is to start at the beginning and build my way back up to 5K going a bit faster than my usual pace. Not sure if this will actually work, but we will try!

I have the Ottawa Race Weekend 10K in 34 or so days – yikes! Although I know I can “jog” that distance – I’m very uncertain that I can do 6:00 KM’s for the whole race (I’m not even going to attempt the 5:35 pace). I’m hoping to start running longer than 5K long runs on Sundays again.

So for Tuesday’s post this week – I figured that I would give you 5 tidbit pieces of info about moi!

Tidbit #1 – I do not do my own taxes.

It is tax season and as usual I have no clue. Prior to marrying P, my Mom did my taxes – and the first year that we were married we used a computer software program. Now, P has to submit an American tax return (we have a rental property), and the first time we attempted to figure out the taxes was a nightmare. So – now we have a fancy dancy accountant that plugs in our numbers for both.

Tidbit #2 – My Events in track and field

When I ran track, my events were the 100m, 100m hurdles and the 400m hurdles. Sometimes I dabbled with the 200m and 400m, but in my system you could only compete in three individual events – my strongest were the above mentioned three. I also ran in the 4x100m relay

Tidbit #3 – I hate ironing and dry cleaning

I just simply won’t do it. This is probably what results in the inability to dress myself in anything really professional. My suit jacket has been sitting in the “dirty-dry clean pile” since November. Ironing is just annoying. Usually, if something has a crease in it, I stick the item of clothing in the dryer to freshen it up a bit and then put it immediately on.

Tidbit #4 – I only own sports watches

I have a Timex regular sports watch and a Garmin. I have no fancy watches at all. The Timex watch is my “everyday” watch and I really only wear it during track season. Otherwise, I have no use for a watch – I always have my phone on me.

Hello pretty Garmin

Tidbit #5 – I drink my tea black

No cream, no milk, no sugar – all of those = yuck. However, I do like flavoured teas, like DavidsTea – plain ol’tea is a tad bit boring for me..

Tell me something about you – something unique or unusual

How do you like your tea?

What style do you possess? If any…..

By Rebecca|Random, running|14 Comments

Evening Stroll in the Park

It seems that spring is finally here in Ottawa!

After dinner, Max and I went to the park for a little play time before bed. We did this almost every night last year – but it was more of a stroll and a round in the swings than actual play time. Now that Max can walk he can play all he wants. However, his version of playing in the park = throwing sand, so that trip was short lived. We ended up playing more in our backyard than the park.

I am having some really annoying Mac + wifi issues tonight (it isn’t the wifi – it is totally my Mac/Mountain Lion being ridiculous). I’ve literally had to turn the wifi button on my Mac on and off 10 times to try and write this post. So this is it for tonight

Did you have a nice day where you live?

What is your favorite springtime/summer treat?

Do you wear sandals at work?

By Rebecca|Random|6 Comments

Three Things Thursday – Car issues edition

Happy Thursday!

This week’s edition of Three Things Thursday: Car Issues

1. Stupid Car

Meet Mr. Blue, the Honda Civic. This is our crap car that P uses to drive 100Km every day in. It is a crap car, but a fairly reliable car in the past two years, until recently. This evening while I was driving Mr. Blue to my track meeting (which I missed – crap…) the car decided to die on me in the middle of a busy intersection. I was stopped and it just went kapoot – I didn’t stall it (this is the manual transmission car) – it just died. P came and tried to get it going, but it just kept dying (and it sounded awful!). So we had a tow truck take it home and we are charging the battery (which is new by the way) to see if that is the problem (I don’t think it is…but anyways). So yes – that is round two of “rebecca’s car dies in traffic”.

2. Interesting

While waiting for P – a number of people stopped to help me. Thanks to the Young Driver’s instructor who helped me get the car to a much safer location at the side of the road. After he left (he had to go), about 8 or so other drivers asked if I needed help. Funny – they were all male. Not a single female drive asked if I needed help. A bunch of kids stared at me too…..

3. Check Engine Light

In other car news – the check engine light came on in the jeep – I’ve never seen that come on before, ever! Apparently it is the catalytic converter – wooooo???

By Rebecca|Random|6 Comments

National Women’s Show + Max Video

I do not normally go to “shows”, but I was given a ticket to the National Women’s show at the Ottawa Convention Centre, so this morning I went to check it out. The Women’s show is all about Food, Fashion and Fun – featuring hundreds of exhibits and a few extras. I only spent an hour or so at the show (the boys were at MEC trying to find Max a bike helmet) – so I really only took a look at the exhibit booths. They had everything from food booths (hummus, Kawartha Dairy, Starbucks Refreshers) to fashion (I stayed away from Stella and Dot), medical care, beauty solutions (stayed away from Smashbox) and *cough* other things (I ran away). I went with zero dollars and with limited time, so I didn’t talk to too many people. It seemed like a good show – the price of admission was $14 – which came with a nice goodie bag and tons of free samples (like going to a Costco on Sunday!).

Afterwards I met M and P at Byward Market, and we went home. P had to do some things for his parents, while Max and I stayed behind. Max took a nap, while I cleaned out his high chair and other various Max messes. After his nap we went for a short 2.5K run – at least that is what I thought it was in terms of distance. I have changed my running routes a bit for a change, and to stay away from this one hill while running with the chariot. I am a bit unsure of the distances going the opposite way and I had a major Garmin Fail. The usual route I take – I am fully away of almost every marker from 1K-8K, so other than timing, I don’t really “need” a watch. I am taking it slow with the chariot right now. I am trying to go a bit faster, so I am slowly increasing my distance each week.

For some Sunday Fun – here is a video of Max….screaming….yay?

By Rebecca|Random|1 Comment

Another Winter Storm…

Everyone in Southern and Eastern Ontario is having another winter-weather day. A winter storm filled with snow, ice pellets and freezing rain has caused more headaches today. When I was driving to work this morning, I could see visible sections of ice on the road below me. Even the snow plows thought the winter was over and replaced the plow shovel on the front with the summer street cleaner brushes (whoops). Figures that the snow was almost gone from my backyard too.

Oh well – hopefully the snow will melt over the course of the week considering the weather people have said it will be raining for the next few days. The transportation authority cancelled school buses today – so of course there are only a handful of students here. This was helpful as I had to run a bunch of reports and actually managed to complete all of that.

Friday Bloggers Spotlight

I mainly follow blogs that involve running and eating food – surprisngly there are many people out there who enjoy running and eating food all the time! Seems to go hand in hand – many are also new parents. I try to read everyone’s blogs on a daily basis using google reader (for now…). In a “BlogSmarter” twitter chat the other night, we were discussing why we read certain blogs and not others. For me, good writing and personality visible in one’s writing are what really pull me to certain blogs.

You can find most of my most read blogs on my blog roll (let me know if you want to be added). But here are a selection of 5 bloggers for this week’s blogger focus. Please email/twitter message me if you want to be listed next week

1. The Mayhem of Maven

This blogger (Maven) is absolutely hiliarous. Her blog posts (she write occasionally, is not a daily blogger) really do make me laugh out loud. Her writing is very smart and she really puts humour into every day issues.

2. Rebecca Roams

She is my name-twin – yay! Her twitter handle is RebeccaRoams, while I am RebeccaRuns . She is from Florida and writes about her races and food

3. Now I Run

Stephanie lives in Arizona and recently discovered her love for running. She recently completed her first marathon, is a teacher, and now blogs about it all

4. My Neon Running Shoes

Elizabeth and her family have recently been writing about her story – which involves a topic that I see way too often in the students I teach. She is Mom to a very cute little boy, runs, and has recently been told she will be a speaker at the Healthy Living Summit!

5. Running with Spoons

Amanda likes her cereal and isn’t afraid to tell the world about it. She writes really well and takes beautiful pictures. She shares her disappointment with a lack of chobani and Chipotle grill in Canada with me.

So – Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a great weekend planned!

What blogs do you read? Do you have any suggestions?

What do you look for in a blog?

Do you have Chobani where you are from?

By Rebecca|Random|2 Comments

Three Things Thursday: Funny Picture Edition!

Happy Thursday!

It was the Ontario Literacy Test today – which means I was running around like a crazy person for 5 hours. I also had to miss a track meet today because of it – I was a sad panda Good news is the small group that went did well! The test went well too – to celebrate the end of another literacy test season, I ate a Wendy’s cheeseburger on the way home. YUM