National Running Day!

(let's pretend we celebrate this nationally here in Canada too, shall we?)

i recently watched this little gem:

i've been reflecting on my running journey since i started last July.

less than 9 months ago, i couldn't run back to my car in a parking lot without losing my breath.
fast forward to a week and a half ago:
i just finished my first 10k!

i signed up in the fall to do the Ottawa Race Weekend 10k.
i trained in the fall, (and then took a little break due to the ridiculousness that was the Ottawa winter),
and then picked up my training in April.

i am so proud of what i have accomplished.

my sister caught this picture of me in the sea of 12,000(!) runners.

{can you spot me?}

i was able to finish in 1:05:41.

a personal best!

then, this past weekend, i did a mud hero with 9 other co-workers.

so so so so fun!

the mud hero was definitely the more fun of the two (to be expected i suppose),
but the sense of accomplishment i felt when i crossed the finish line of that 10k?

amazing.

i have become addicted:
.to running.
.to the running community in ottawa.
.to racing.

it's wonderful and exciting and inspiring.

i am a runner and an athlete.



and i am a proud big sister!!
my sister ran the marathon the day after me.
some words to describe what it looked like to see those marathoners come around the 38km mark:

crazy . alarming . emotional . disturbing . inspiring . motivational . frightening

{here she is pre-race}

{i have medal envy!}

Thankful Thursday

ahem.

excuse my little absence. no real reasons. just life ;)

thankful this day for family, a lovely Christmas, a new year and good friends.

thankful for this past year:

-old friends with renewed friendships (or first "real" friendships)
-watching Meggie and Isla become closer and enjoy their sisterhood and friendship
-growing closer to Thom, seeing our friendship and love get stronger and tackle more
-my wonderful job and co-workers
-new friendship with a "destined-to-be-friends" friend
-becoming a runner
-losing 30 lbs (say what!?!)


life is grand!

a little secret

 i've been keeping a little secret around here... it feels big to me.  very big.
(it's not a baby)

i have recently taken up running... if you know me, you may gasp and/or snort with laughter.

i pretty much pledged to never run.

never ever ever.

if (and that sometimes has been a very big IF) i was going to do any physical activity, it was going to be a sneaky trick, as in it would be something that was fun and made me feel
like i wasn't exercising. like snowboarding, or wakeboarding or canoeing or maybe (maybe) going on a hike.

but running? no no no not ever.

 
then for some reason* in the past few months i started thinking about that "never ever never never never running"and i thought- maybe?

so i went all crazy town and decided to sign up for the color run, then i discovered that if you ran as a team, you could save $5, and me being just the little bit ridiculous that i
am, somehow i ended up being the captain of this team... oh my.

i downloaded an 8 weeks to 5K app on my iphone and finally mustered up the gusto to try it out on July 7th. Go me!

{after my first training run}

July 8th i trip over our computer cord, jam my toe so badly that i can't walk and end up needing an x-ray to make sure it isn't broken.

amazing, this is my real life.

so running gets put on hold for a few weeks.

then i started again. I have been going for a few weeks now and i find the first little run a bit daunting and then i get into it. it feels good, it feels fun, it makes me feel strong.
two weeks ago, for the first time, i did more running than walking.

{some post running pics... getting easier to smile after each run}

i am very very proud of me.

i also ran that color run two sundays ago, i didn't run the whole thing, but we ran at least half of it.
i also had miss Isla in a stroller, she wanted to be a part of the "big mess" run after she saw the promo video.
 

it made me feel like a real "true" runner.
i really and truly am enjoying my new found running legs and i am excited as to where they will take me :)

garden harvest!

oh man, my garden has started producing and i love it!!

this is where we started at the beginning of July...

now my lettuce:

and my beans, my delicious delicious beans!

i have been harvesting about a handful almost every night.

they are my delicious crunchy chip alternative

:) 

i'm linking up this week with Outside, At Home

the blog of two sisters who i love love love.

resolution update

back in January i resolved a few things to happen over this year.

here is the updated list:

1-to finally stop biting my nails for good -- disgusting habit, even more so when you are a nurse. blech.
update: well, they aren't being bitten, it's been about 2 months i think, but i go back to work next week, so we'll see if they last til then!!

2-to go outside with the girls in the winter! -- this is tricky for me, i don't like being cold and it seems like a 
tremendous amount of work to bundle up 2 littles when i don't want to be outside in the first place!
update: we went out a bit. proof: 

on this day Isla refused to let Megan sit on her lap

so she sat on Megan, then as we were coming home, the sled tipped, Isla barely fell out but cried like she was dying, and poor little Meggie basically did a starfish face plant into the snow, a poor little old man walking down the street jumped over about 3 snow banks and almost fell down to try and pick her up, small babies stuck face down in the snow i guess are a little alarming! anyway, when i picked Megan up she just blinked at me. This is a pretty accurate demonstration of first-born vs. second-born. 

just a little snow this winter

3-to get back into cloth diapering -- i was a cloth fiend with Isla, and i had a pretty decent start with Megan, but kind of fell off for awhile (mostly they get cleaned and then live on top of the dryer for weeks at a time!)
update: after a few fits and starts, we've been back on full time with Megan when she's not at daycare and with Isla during naps.  Yay!

4-to sew some things -- really i just want to sew, anything at all. 
update: sewed some amazing bunting for a friend's little nursery, and started a quilt! oh, and made some little face or bum cloths, hurray!

5-to read 40 books this year -- as mentioned here.
update: just finished my 13th, i would probably be further on if it weren't for the longest most disappointing finally give up JK Rowling book. 

secret resolutions

does anyone else do this?

it feels similar to when i make a list and have some things i can cross off right away.

ie today's list could be:

- get Isla ready for daycare
- feed Megan
- blog
- get dressed
- look at paint for Isla's room
- tidy
- maybe go to the Restore or Ikea


you know... it looks like i've accomplished something already today

(which frankly speaking, getting one girl off to her day of fun 

and feeding the other one is an accomplishment!)

anyway, where was this going?

oh right, secret resolutions.

well, it kind of goes with the whole resolution of getting out more with the girls (which isn't so easy to keep with -30 celsius windchill... this doesn't mix with newborns---or with me)

but i also wanted to resolve to get out more on my own.

i had been tossing around the idea of cross country skiing

my family did it a lot when i was little, but it's not something i've really done seriously in probably 20 years.

so a couple of weeks ago Maryann and i went to look at used skis at Trailhead... apparently they only sell them at the end of their rental season--which makes sense, but is a bit of a bummer.

so with lots of giggling and a poor young sales man (who was so nice and unfazed -mostly- by our giddyness) we proceeded to try out and by brand new equipment!  

and on Monday night we did our first real ski.

we went to Gatineau and skied into a little cabin for a dinner.

Emma got us all together, Annie picked the route, Maryann provided the car and i drove.

it was so so so so nice.  and i was so happy.

and not entirely too sore the next day...

just my fingers, elbows and left big toe.  i have no idea why.

so secret new year's resolution was to start cross country skiing.

check.

ps. 

apparently skis are fit based on weight now and not height. this was a sad discovery, 

however our lovely little salesman showed us the first pair of skis which were between 100 and 130 pounds 

and said "this is probably right"

Oh Pat... you've obviously helped ladies purchase their first skis before ;)

Day 13: something i'm proud of

this is the thing i am proud of: my body.

i had, for quite some time, not been a huge fan of my body.

it wasn't the way it looked in high school (duh.)

none of my clothes seemed to fit anymore (some were from high school, can i say 'duh' again?)

it didn't let me eat anything i wanted to (the way i could in high school-are we seeing a pattern here?)

so apparently i was in some high school warp where i assumed that my 5'7" frame should be at 28 years old the same 100 lbs it was at 17.

why do we do this?

here is where my pride comes in:

my body gave life!

i am in awe that my body grew a little miracle from teeny tiny cells to a big 8lb 9oz baby girl and then birthed her out!

seriously, i am an amazing amazing woman.

my body has done me proud.

i am more so in awe of my body this day than i have ever been before. 

anytime i feel like it doesn't look like it did when it was 100lbs, i first say, 

'kate, you wrestled in high school and cut crazy weight-not healthy. secondly, you are not 17 years old and your body will look different, and thirdly and most importantly, your body did an amazing task. give it and yourself some hip hip hoorays and some love and grace!"

and so i do.

wee ways of life

One of my favourite things about motherhood is the fact that I get the privilege of helping Isla set herself up for a long life of health and success.

With all the decisions that I make for her, I find myself asking, ‘is this establishing a good habit or a bad habit? Is this setting my daughter up for success or failure’?

For example, we have started brushing Isla’s teeth. She only has 2 and I have read that it is ok to use a cloth on them for now, but I figure, why not get her used to having her teeth brushed? Thom or I spend some time brushing her teeth and then we give her a turn to do her own toothbrushing. And let me say, she loves her little toothbrush! I also try to have her in the bathroom with me while I am brushing my teeth in the morning.

This is just one example of all the things that I see as setting Isla up for success. As a child, I hated brushing my teeth, I would run the tap for the amount of time I was supposed to be brushing my teeth, but not really brush them, and I definitely paid for it later in cavities. Boo to the hoo. I am hoping to help Isla avoid some of these things.

I am going to do a little blog series called: ‘wee ways of life’ detailing the healthy routines and habits that we are starting our little Isla on. She may only be 7 months old, but I feel like if we can start early we can help her to learn to make her own healthy choices in the future.

While making healthy decisions for Isla is an obvious choice for me, I never expected that it would change my own bad habits. Because I do see myself as Isla’s number one influence, I think that I need to be on board with my own healthy lifestyle. I have not always been the healthiest. I love the McDonald’s drive thru (a fairly secret shame of mine!) and my transportation rule has pretty much been ‘why walk when you can drive’. I would start up the car for a 5 block trip. I can’t expect Isla to simply make different choices because I tell her she should, not only is that impractical to explain that to a baby, it can probably go without saying that the better lesson is 'do as I do', and not 'do as I say'.

With that said, we are changing things around here for the better. Some have been quick changes, and some have been a bit more gradual.

So, along with the 'wee ways of life' series, I will also be starting another series called: ‘healthy me!’ about how my life is changing as well.

I’d love any healthy parenting tips or advice that anyone out there has to contribute.

What kinds of habits you have started with your kids?