Merry Christmas & Happy New Years Eve!

Yes my Merry Christmas to everyone is very belated, so sorry but it has been a hard Christmas here this year.

It all started the week before Christmas, I got a cold and was miserable, then hubby got it, then I got the stomach flu, then DD got the stomach flu, and now DD has had a high fever for 3 days....yup not a good holiday for us.

I have also been having huge Christmas withdrawal this year. See last year we skipped Christmas. Skipped the hectic shopping season, skipped the frantic cooking and baking season, skipped the family get togethers that nobody wants to do, yes we skipped Christmas!
So what did we do? We got ourselves on a cruise ship and ACTUALLY ENJOYED THE HOLIDAYS! HELLO isn't that what the holidays are for? Seriously I have friends and family that think we were nuts to SKIP Christmas and be away from family and friends for the Christmas holidays. Well to those people, I was VERY HAPPY away from all that and all of you. Sorry its true. So this year we were here, we were sick, we dreaded the get togethers, we spent way too much time in the kitchen. Guess what........I am in the mist of booking a cruise for next Christmas, sorry but no more Christmas's at home. New Christmas tradition for us.......BE AWAY!

So last year we spent 6 days on Celebrity Century during Christmas and then we spent a few days after in Fort Lauderdale enjoying the beach....still white stuff, just not cold white stuff....LOL

Here is a great pic of myself and my DD waiting for the evening show on the cruise to start:
Me chillin' on the cruises deck!

My family enjoying the Christmas cruise and the fabulous decorations.

One of the ports was in the Cayman Islands and we had a fabulous excursion. We visited a turtle farm and got to hold and see these amazing animals. My daughter was in heaven. She loves turtles, we have two at home, so for her to witness so many and hold the babies, she LOVED it. Yup best Christmas ever. We also swam with stingrays and WOW what amazing creatures.

So that was last year and this year I was very disappointed that we did not have more of those memories made this year. Even though my daughter got to open a bunch of toys and books this year, I would rather her have the experiences of swimming with stingrays, holding baby turtles, having fun and meeting new friends at the kids club on board (she loved the kids club). So on Dec 27th I called the travel agent to start booking our next years Christmas cruise. I will let you all know the details when its finalized!

Okay so Christmas wasn't all that bad. I have a fabulous hubby that knows excatly what I like. But again, I would rather not get any "stuff" and spend the week away....okay enoough of that;)

So back to my gifts.....what runner would not be happy with this:

Two pairs of runners, I so needed a new pair. So I got NB and Asics, love them both!

Now what girl does not like diamonds? I have always wanted black diamonds and guess what hubby bought me:

Its gorgeous but I need to go get it sized.

Lastly what does every kitchen need?

OMG I love this. I had a stand mixer years ago that broke and it got replaced with a hand held mixer, and I just never got around to getting a new stand mixer. I love this. I have already made icing (for DD's gingerbread house) and pizza dough. Its so easy and quick. I can just see all the healthy treats I will be making with this.

So that is my Christmas in a nut shell. Not the best, not the worst but next year will be fabulous!

Has anyone else skipped Christmas?

2010 Race Awards

Well its been an interesting week at this household. I was sick starting Monday with a cold, luckily not the flu but just that sick feeling of being tired and runny nose and sore throat. So I decided to not workout at all to preserve my strength, relax, drink lots of hot lemon tea, lots of toast (not sure why but toast always makes me feel better) and take my herbals. By Friday I was feeling better. So Friday I did some weights at home, just easy stuff to get me back into it and not overdo it since I do not want to be sick at Christmas. But hubby is now sick. Luckily our daughter didn't get it (yet).

Aneta at My Running Bucket, had a great post, 2010 Race Awards so I thought I would steal the idea and rate my 2010 races.

The first award is: Race With The Toughest Course
The winner is: Mercedes 10K

This was my first EVER race. I trained for just over a month and I ran my first race, the Mercedes 10K. I had no idea what to expect. I had only watched running in the Olympics and this was nothing like that. I was soooo NERVOUS! It was also a very cold and rainy day which did not help matters. See all the umbrellas in the picture below!

But I did it and I am so glad I did!

Next award: Race With The Best Course

The Winner Is: Desjardin 10K part of the Mississauga Marathon Weekend

The race started down by the lake and travelled through parks along the lake. It was so nice and relaxing going through the trees in the forest. It ended at a park which was filled with picnic tables where you can relax and watch the entertainment. A very enjoyable race!

Next award: The Funnest Race

The Winner Is: Barrie Canada Day 5K

Even though I didn't necessarily appreciate how unorganized this race was, it was a fun race since it had a theme. My daughter also ran a 1K and both her and I dressed up in our Canada Day shirts and tattoos to make this race more fun!

Next Award: The Most Inspirational Race

The Winner Is: Niagara Falls International Half Marathon

When I went to pick up my race kit a few days before the actual race, I was lucky enough to meet Silvia Ruegger. She was super nice and took the time to talk to me and my daughter, even gave my daughter encouraging words to work hard to fulfill her dreams. It was such an inspirational moment so I knew that the actual race was going to be fantastic!

Next Award: The Most Scenic Race

The Winner Is: Niagara Falls International Half Marathon

We started this race by the lake and travelled all along the lake and ended at the Falls. It was GORGEOUS! No other words for it!

Last & Most Important Award: The Race I Am Most Proud Of

The Winner Is: Scotiabank Waterfront Half Marathon

How could I not be proud of my very first half marathon! I also ran it with a sub 2.....I was soooo happy. It was a fabulous course on a fabulous day in a fabulous city......I am so happy I ran it and I am very PROUD of myself!

Wow that was fun! I love going back and reading my race recaps. I am so looking forward to my race schedule for 2011. I also can't wait for my second annual Race Awards next year!

Feeling More Like Myself....Thank You Workouts

Yes very good news! I am feeling more like myself and my migraines have been gone since Monday. I need to thank my workouts. As I mentioned in my previous blog I did a hard 6 mile run on Monday so Tuesday I decided to just do 3 miles but did a full body weights workout at the gym......I love weights, I think its my favourite, yes even more than running. Wednesday it was very cold and snowy out, here is what my drive to my daughters school looked like:

Yes that looks very cold and actually I saw a man running in this freezing white stuff that day....CRAZY....I just can't get my head around that. But again I HATE THE COLD so that may be the issue! So Wednesday I really did not feel like heading out into this white stuff again to hit the gym so I did a full body weights at home. Here is what I did:

Lower Body:
Squat w/t Weights 10 x 3
Walking Lunges w/t Weights 12 x 3
Plie Squat w/t Weights 10 x 3

Upper Body:
Bent Over Straight Arm PullBack 10 x 3
Lateral Raise 10 x 3
Dual Arm Bent Over Row 10 x 3
Cross Chest Curl 10 x 3
Upright Row 10 x 3
Dumbbell Curls 10 x 2
Alternating Dumbbell Curls 10 x 2
Cross Bench PullOver 10 x 2
Dumbbell Flat Bench Press 20 x 2

Situps: (variation) 20 x 20

It was a great weights workout, I felt great after it.

Then Wednesday night was my daughters Christmas Concert and she was only one of four to play a certain song on her recorder. She was so happy to be one of the best players to get that honour and we are so proud of her, she did fabulously. She played 4 songs on her recorder, sang 3 songs and did one dance. It was a great evening. Here is a pic of us by our Christmas tree when we got back that evening:

Today I hit the gym and I wanted to get in 6 miles but only did 4....I started to feel my ankle starting to ache and I did not want to continue. I thought I did a great 4 miles so I better stop while I was ahead. I did also a lower body workout:

Leg Press 10 x 3
Leg Extension 20 x 4
Hip Adductor 10 x 3
Hip Abductor 10 x 3
Calf Lifts 10 x 3
Plate Loaded Leg Extensions 10 x 3

It was a great workout minus the ankle pain but again it felt great. I think I am getting back to normal....back to ME!

Just Not Myself, Need To Re-Focus

I am not sure what is going on with me. I have not been able to focus on running lately. I can blame it on the cold winter weather, I can blame it on all the paperwork I have thanks to the new season, I can blame it on the fa-la-la-la-la Christmas season, I can blame it on alot of things but I think I just need to blame it one ME! I am just not motivated. I should be since I have the Disney Princess Half Marathon in less than 3 months.




But I just haven't been myself. To add to it I have been having terrible migraines again. I found that my migraines got alot better since I started running but lately I have been running minimal and my migraines have been really bad. It must be all those endorphins being released that is helping my migraines! So yesterday I decided I can't keep going on like this and today I turned over a new leaf. I NEED to get running again and I NEED to get rid of these migraines. So what did I do early this morning, yup, off to the gym and I ran 6 very hard miles as I watched the snow storm outside. Yes those were 6 hard miles but I know it will just get better! Today is the start of a new ME! Has anyone else been through this? Was it easy to get back to your regular schedule?

So if I haven't been running what have I been doing? Par taking in the fa-la-la-lala season ofcourse. I took my daughter to go see Santa at the mall. She loved it and she looked so pretty:

I even dressed up our dog for some festive fun......LOL


Even though I haven't been myself and I haven't been doing my regular workouts I have been still eating right, I don't think that will ever change. I love all healthy foods and have no interest in junky foods.....well except cheesecake.....I LOVE CHEESECAKE! The other night I made hubby and I a special dinner that was delicious. It started with buying these:

And I turned it into this:

It was delicious! Unfortunately my daughter does not like shellfish (loves other fish just not shellfish) so I made her a separate dish. I can't wait to make this dish again since I am a big Lobster fan, right after Crab...yummy! Anyone else in love with shellsfish?