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There are only a few more days until the Army Run!! Yaaaaaay! So far the weather is looking a bit cool and wet, but oh well, better than hot and humid!  If it does rain, Max and P will not be racing, but I am going regardless. I had contacts ordered so that I don’t have to run blind like I did last time I ran on a wet day (rain runs + glasses do not mix!)

Anyways, I’ve participated in the Army Run for a few years now – but this is my first half-marathon. The course is pretty familiar to me – the only parts I haven’t been on yet are the Gatineau and Sussex Drive sections, everything else I’ve done in one race or another. I’m aiming to finish, no time in mind. I just don’t want to get injured! If I have to go from 10-1′s to 9-2′s by the end, so be it!

Since I am familiar with the race, here are some tips if this is your first Army Run!

Tip #1 – Do NOT go get your race pack right when the pick-up opens. I made this mistake last year and spent over an hour in line (while 7 months pregnant). Everyone was on lunch at the time. It sucked! Go later on!

Tip #2 – Take the OC Transpo if you can. Parking downtown is nuts on a race weekend, so plan accordingly. There is also parking available at Ottawa U and on King Edward – but you will have to walk for a bit (this sounds stupid as I write it…but you never know).

Tip #3 – If the weather looks like it will be even a tad bit warm – do NOT wear the black tech shirt they give you – you will be super hot! As always, remember to wear a running outfit that you have tested out – distance run races are NOT the place to try out new gear

Tip #4 – If you have never been to one of the big Ottawa races before – plan on a ‘finder spot’ if you have family waiting. The race area can be very overwhelming and one could get lost easily. One spot that we have used before is the middle point of the Laurier Bridge.

Tip #5 – Another Ottawa race tip from all the races I’ve done – when you are done and trying to get your medal/dog tags – don’t stop at the first person you see, there are more down the line! Same goes for the food! Keep movin! *just keep swimming, just keep swimming”

Any Army Run tips that you have???

11 years ago today I was playing a game of softball with my Grade 13 Phys Ed class. I remember hitting a home run and having a great time. Halfway through the class our gym teacher called us over into a huddle. He told us that he had something very serious to tell us, that the United States of America was under attack and that the World Trade Centre Buildings were gone.

I’m not exactly sure what period I had Phys Ed or if I even went to English class (I might have skipped), but I remember hopping on a bus home to watch the TV with my Mom who was home at the time. This was a time before Twitter, Facebook or even Smart phones. There was no such thing as Wireless and all we had at that time to catch up on our news was the TV (which our school did not really have). So, I went home.

I watched TV at home for a bit. Again, I cannot really remember what was on or what was said, but everyone was freaking out. I returned to school for the afternoon. We didn’t do anything. My writer’s craft teacher simply talked to us. Nothing else.

I don’t remember anything else from the day. I probably watched quite a bit of CNN and other news networks.

Today 11 years later, I reflect on what was the saddest, most terrifying day of recent history.

September 11, 2001 – always remember, never forget. 

Please note that this post is not-sponsored in any way by The Nordik. I was not compensated for my visit (I wish!). These opinions are my own are more geared towards information sharing than reviewing.

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Since we put Max into daycare this week even though we are not officially starting work until next Tuesday, I figured that we could have some ‘parents free time’ on Tuesday. I decided a couple of weeks ago that a visit to the Nordik spa was in order. I haven’t been to the Nordik in quite some time since you cannot go while pregnant and the baths are not quite ‘baby friendly’. So off we went!

The Nordik is a Nordik-bath inspired spa located in Chelsea, Quebec (just north of Gatineau in Gatineau Park). It is a very popular place to go and is open year round. Not only are the baths an option, but they also have massages, facials and other spa treatments available. A restaurant is also on hand where wearing a bathrobe to lunch/dinner is perfectly fine.

When you first walk into the Nordik, the smell of eucalyptus hits you. I love that smell! You are given a locker with two towers and once changed you can head to the baths. There is a way that you are supposed to experience the baths. Essentially it is a hot room (steam or sauna), followed by a quick dip in the polar bath or temperate pool, then followed by relaxation in your choice or room (indoors or out – with music, fire or nothing at all. The hot and relaxation parts are supposed to take about 10-15 minutes each (I can sometimes only stand the steam room for 5 minutes though). The cold section can be very brief. Given that I have been to the Nordik in both the winter and summer – the polar bath/waterfall is much more of a shock to the system in the winter! The idea behind the baths is that you are to open your pores and sweat out toxins in the hot rooms, which you then rinse off in the cold water (which also closes your pores). The whole process takes 45 minutes – 1 hour and you are advised to spend at least two hours at the spa.

There are also some hot tubs on hand. These are not part of the Scandinavian spa experience, but are just as fun! They are building some new sections of the Nordik with new pools and saunas. Listed in the advertisement was something called an infinity pool – not sure what that is, but it looks interesting! New additions since I’ve been there are updated facilities in the reception room and a new ‘beach’ relaxation area.

I have never gone to the Nordik without a trip to the restaurant. They have a selection of wines, beers and other beverages, and a medium-sized menu. On the menu is a selection of tapas, sandwiches, salads, a pizza and quiche choice, some meat/fish dishes as well. There are also cheese plates with a selection of fine cheese to nibble on. As stated, wearing your bath robe is totally fine in the restaurant (you will be one of the few in clothes if you don’t wear your robe).

When going to the Nordik for the first time, you need to remember a few things: flipflops, a bottle of water, reading material and a bath robe. The bath robe isn’t a total must in the summer – but highly recommended for the winter. The Nordik is mostly outdoors, so going from room to room gets a bit chilly! If you wear glasses like I do, you might want to bring a small pouch/bag to carry your glasses in while you go into the steam room.

As you may have figured, the Nordik is not for children. So this is a good opportunity for a ‘parents night out’, or ladies night. We went for a staff-ladies night last year (I just went for dinner) and P and I have been a few times. Hours are form 9am-10pm and massages/treatments need to be booked in advance. The price for the baths is $45 (treatment prices vary). It is a little pricey – but it is money well spent in my opinion!

If you live in the Ottawa area and haven’t been – go! If you are coming to visit, you should put it on your itinerary! It does get a little busy on weekends and on holidays, but you should definitely visit soon!

This week is running has been pretty good. I went for a 9.5K long run on Sunday. Lots of people were out and about and the weather was near perfect. I slowed down my pace significantly and if it were not for wanting to be back in about an hour, I would have gone for 10K. My legs didn’t hurt and neither did my ankle.

On Tuesday I did a Tempo Run with Max in tow. Tempo runs with the Chariot = not really ‘fast’ tempo times, but I still picked it up a notch in order to get my heart rate up. The sucky thing? My Garmin died at 1.5K. I do know my KM markings very well on my typical running route, but I cannot estimate times very well. Unfortunately with a tempo run, timing is important. So I just guesstimated and went on my way. I did 4K with the first and last 500m as a warm up and cool down.

Monday we just went for a walk and ran into the ‘Coach to 5K’ Running Room Group. They were doing great! I saw them again when I went for a walk with Max on Wednesday night. I was supposed to do a Hills workout on Wednesday but P was out and taking the Chariot up a hill is a one way ticket to some ankle pain. So it was a no go.

Running is going well again. I am not really under any pain while running, which means the new shoes/inserts are working. I am also not focusing on getting faster, but building a longer base. There is no reason why I need to be ‘smokin fast’ for the half, so why risk an injury with 2 months to go?

In a related thought – I think I finally have enough tech-shirts to last me a whole week of running, yay!!

Have a great weekend!

The Canada Track and Field Olympic Trials happened over the weekend. It was fun to watch a few athletes that I know of/seen race (Christian Brennan, Bridget Hayes). But I was really looking forward to watching the sprints and the hurdles most of all.

The sprints when by. Loved Justyn Warner’s face when he won his 100m final. He will be representing Canada in the 100m and the 4x100m (which is brother is part of as well!). The longer distance track races were intense as well – Those 800m runners are insane!

The big race of Saturday evening’s races was the 100m Women’s Hurdles. It was already hyped up because of Perdita Felicien and Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. Priscilla won the bronze in Bejing and Perdita had that infamous trip on the first hurdle in Athens. Priscilla gave birth in September and had limited training time. The other big thing was that 6 of the 8 runners in the final had already met the qualifying standard, meaning that the first three finishers would qualify for the Olympics.

If you haven’t watched the race, watch it here first.

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So….Perdita false started. The new Athletics Canada rule is: you false start, you are out. Previously it was one false start and the entire field is charged, next false start is out no matter what. When watching it again, it appears that something clicked in the crowd (camera?) and that might have set her off. She protested the false start and ran anyways. The decision was made very quick that her disqualification would stand and she would not be on the Olympic Track Team.

Priscilla on the other hand had a catastrophic trip on the 7th hurdle on her trail leg. She clipped it bad enough that she stumbled into another lane, which is an automatic disqualification. I think she knew and it appears that she ‘shut down’ after that. Sad thing was that she was in the lead right until that moment. Disappointing!

Now, some people are saying that they both made the qualifying time, so they should be able to go. I think this might have been a possibility if there were not 4 other women who had met the QT. That is how these races go. Even happens on the road to OFSAA. Someone could be ranked really high and something goes wrong and they no longer qualify. All my jumpers could have qualified for OFSAA if they jumped at their near season’s best – but they didn’t, so no matter what their season looked like, they are out.

I am not a fan of the no-false start rule. I am also not a fan of people making lots of noise before a start, especially sounds that resemble starting guns. It is not like sprinters have a second to get their act together when the gun goes off. As someone who has screwed up a start from time to time – one slip up = you are not winning that race. They are on edge and heavily concentrated. That and starting blocks are not comfortable!

I’m disappointed for sure. But it happens. Looking forward to watching the Olympics at the end of the month!!!

Holy Baloney it is Thursday! Actually it is still Wednesday as I wrote this entry last night since today will be hectic on my end….Anyways…

1) East Ottawa Track Meet today!

I am expecting that most of my kids will go on to National Capital’s next week. I am also hoping for at least two awards given to my athletes for points awarded by placing high up (Alexia and Nathan should get 1st or 2nd in all their events). I am a bit worried that I will have one cranky baby since Max will be with me until 3:30. Which always reminds me to remind P to meet us at the Long Jump Pit (we are the officiating team for the Boy’s LJ).

2) Random Pet Peeve:

One of my pet peeves while watching TV shows or movies are actors who ‘play’ stringed instruments rather badly. Basically it is the bowing that pisses me off the most. But sometimes the fingering (get your mind outta the gutter) is awful as well. I know most of you would have no idea, but it really bothers me. One movie that did it well was Hiliary and Jackie, and the TV show Parenthood just had a cellist and she looked like she knew what she was doing/probably was an actual cellist.

3) Iced Coffee

I didn’t used to like iced coffee. Now I am getting in to it rather than drinking hot coffee. Thank you McD’s for having iced coffee for $1 for the entire summer……

It was a fantastic day for a run on Saturday. I headed off to the Aviation Museum here in Ottawa for Somersault’s Mother’s Day Run. Traditionally the event is held at Place d’Orleans, but was moved for logistical reasons. That kinda sucks for me, as I live literally across the fence from the starting line and the race route is my usual running route. BUT, the Aviation Museum run is familiar to me as well, since I bike ride there all the time and Emilie’s Run follows the same route. Knowing this, I knew that I would fly through the first KM, as it is very much downhill for the first 1.5KM (follows a kind of on-ramp road).

I met up with my friend from school who has also gotten back into running after having a baby almost a year ago. I said to her that I would probably zoom for the first KM, but shut it down and she would probably catch up. We positioned ourselves at the mid-point in the crowd to the side as I did have the Chariot with me. On that note: WHERE WERE THE OTHER STROLLERS? Last year there were tons…this year I was the only one. Not like I didn’t see tons of Chariots and BOB’s…they were there! Just not racing. This is one of the few races where it is totally A-OK to bring baby-tot around.

So the gun went and I started down the small hill. Benefits of running with chariot: Downhills are super fun and fast. I did the first KM in 5:20, and then ‘shut it down’ at the 1.5 mark once the road leveled out. I completed KM 2 in 5:52 which is more of my pace. I felt really good at this portion of the race as the road was nice and flat. No sidewalk bumps here. I saw the turn-around and water station and booked it around the corner. It took some maneuvering to not run into people. I think I clipped one lady’s shoe though…oppsies. Took a cup of water and slowed to a walk just to get a few gulps down and off I went again. Looking at my watch, I was just over 14 minutes and thought, hmm chariot PB is probably going to happen (under 32:55). The next two KM’s were at 6:27 and 6:28 as I slowed it right down to my average Chariot pace. I also started experiencing some wind: con of chariot; WIND SUCKS. I ended up tailing behind this group of soccer girls and their coach who were going at a decent pace.

The last KM was a bit brutal. So you know how the first KM was down…well I had to go up half of that hill. Not fun with the chariot! Not only did I have wind, but I had to push the stroller + 14 lbs of baby. My friend caught up to me at this point as well and we had a quick chat. We ran together for the last KM until she reached ahead a bit. I also started following these two other ladies as well and made myself keep up with them. At this point, I looked at my watch and figured I wouldn’t get a sub-30, but would for sure hit my chariot PB even if I slowed down to crawl, but I kept going. I caught back up with my friend and started to do the finishing ‘square’ around the parking lot. As soon as I hit the parking lot, I booked it. I had no idea what my time was and when I turned to the finish chute, I saw 29:50. So I booked it more. I may have almost taken out a guy and almost flipped the chariot….opps.

As I approaching the finish the annoucer goes “heeeyy, that baby doesn’t have a bib!” Funny! My finishing time:

29:58. 

SUB-30 FOR THE WIN!!!! (ok, I didn’t win…but still)

My friend finished at 30:08 which is really good for her first race back! We got our bananas and water and then walked back to the cars.

I come back to this course at the end of June. I will be aiming for a big PB at this one. I really think I can go a bit faster as I wasn’t too terribly tired at the end. Because I will not be pushing the chariot, I won’t be ‘banking time’ to get through KM’s 3&4 (especially 4). I also need to start booking it a bit faster as I could have held that 3:45 pace for a bit longer. I usually start picking it up at 800m to go, so I need to try and do that again, not picking it up at 300m to go.

Next Race in two weeks: Ottawa Run Weekend 10K

Goal: I’m going to chase that 60 minute pace bunny.

I am feeling pretty good at the 6:00 pace time. However, I NEED to do some more long runs in the next two weeks. Tomorrow it is looking like I will only have time for maybe a speed workout in the morning, but I might scratch that and do a long run in the evening.