So, it's been an interesting year on the fitness front. My biggest goal for the year was to do the Calgary Ironman 70.3 and that did not happen. There are a variety of reasons for this, injury being first and foremost amoung them. After the Okanagan Half Marathon in 2009, it became rather apparent that I definitely had some problem with my foot. It turns out I had plantar fasciitis and a heel spur to go with it. This was very devastating to me as it elimated running from my repetoire for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately that killed any real motivation I had to keep at the fitness and things crumbled from there. I managed to gain about 25 pounds and just didn't care a whole lot.
In May, we ran the Mother's Day Run, only extra special for this year, my 4 year old son also ran the race. This is especially special as he's a preemie and the money raised was being donated to the NICU units in our city, to buy specific equipment that they needed or wanted. My sister-in-law and her fiance also ran with us. This is the first time that any family has participated with us!! And, how incredible to watch our 4-year-old finish his first ever 5km race. I was so proud of him and how he'd gone from this tiny baby fighting for his life to a spunky little 4-year old running serious races!!
I also did the Tri Diva Tri Triathlon in May. It was super chilly, but managed to finish my 250m swim, 9km bike and 2.5km bike despite minimal training. It was a fun event as I knew a few other people doing it and for many it was their first triathlon. I also did the Strathmore Women's Triathlon in August and it was a lot of fun. Again, I knew some people doing it, and it gave me the chance to continue to explore triathlon. I was not trained very well for the race, as I had done very little in the way of exercise leading up to it. The day before the race, I decided to use Jeremy's triathlon bike. It was a good decision on my part and I managed to do a nice good race in all three disciplines. Now if only I'd trained harder...
August was also Sebastian's second 5km race. And he even managed to shave a couple minutes off his time from his first race. It was fun, but running at a 4-year-old's pace does not exactly create a personal best. Perhaps I was using him as an excuse to not have to try harder? Hmmmmmm....
Well, something changed in me in August. After doing the Triathlon in Strathmore, I wanted to do better. I knew I could do better. I truly reached a turning point. I no longer wanted excuses and things began to change. First was exercise. It became a priority. I was not going to let any excuse prevent me from working out. I managed to exercise every day for the rest of the month. That made me happy. And, I started watching my eating. I used the Livestrong MyPlate to do this. It kept me very disciplined.
September brought on Melissa's Road Race. This was a 10km and one of my favourite races of the year. I knew I wasn't going to be as fast as I was the year before, but I put forth a good effort, and it was one of my better times at that race!! And for one of the first times ever, my husband beat me in a race, totally fair and square. I was very proud of him!! My reward that day for having exercised for a month every day, was to eat at the bison, and it was so worth every calorie!!
October was next with the Ambulance Chaser Run. This time, I ran with my sister and my son. Jeremy set out to do a personal best, and achieved that. Sebastian, Kim and I set out to finish a 5km. It was fun and we had glow sticks and enjoyed the race. Afterwards, there was Spolumbo's sausages to enjoy along with a playground for the little guys to play on (indoors). Sebastian was not the youngest to participate, another four year old claimed that honour, but there's a good chance he was the youngest one to have done the entire race on his own (no stroller rides for him!!).
The eating and exercise continued through November. At some point, the eating sort of drifted from it's discipline (I blame the holiday season for that!!). I've still kept at the exercise with complete dedication. It's now been more than four months of exercise every day and I have no plans to stop that anytime soon!!
The resolution run will be the way I finish off 2010. It's my plan to go run my little heart out... not sure that it will be a personal best (weather forecast is snow, and cold, and likely the route could be icy), but I know I'll finish strong!! And, what better way to send off 2010 and welcome 2011!!
Oh, and I almost forgot!! I completed my first AFLCA course, and I got accepted into Mount Royal University for the personal trainer certificate. Bring on the credentials to help others achieve their goals too!! Looking forward to that course starting in January!!
No comments:
Post a Comment