When To Say No

Today was originally planned to be a post recapping the Milk Series Bala Falls Sprint Triathlon that Kevin was to participate in.

Instead it has become a post about the decisions we a forced to make when faced with the dilemma of becoming sick or ill.

Yesterday Kevin, iyla, and my parent in laws all went to a ribfest in our local area. It wasn't long after it that Kevin started feeling off. He spoke about having the chills and soon after the sweats started too. The headache came next, with symptoms of being lethargy. He had a coffee to wake him up first which didn't work and then went for the Tylenol. Same result, no change. Last but not least he opted for the horrible tasting 'Buckleys' flu/fever medicine with the tagline..."It tastes awful, but it works!"(which funnily enough, Kev likes the flavour). Buckleys did the trick temporarily, Kevin's energy came back and he was getting organized for our 5am departure time the following morning. After packing lunches, organizing both Kaiser and iyla's bag, laying it all out ready to-go, we all went for an early bed at around 10pm.

2am came around and both Kevin and iyla were up...Kevin with the chills, and iyla with a hungry belly! Kev got up and put on enough clothes to fend off the coldest of winters...I could here his poor teeth chattering away. I came back after feeding iyla to find him in the fetal position curled up. So sad! I asked him what he wanted to do about his race and he said he would take some more Buckleys and make a decision closer to our leave time. 430am and my in laws were up to get ready, while Kevin had discarded his clothing and lay atop all the covers due to a heat flash. It was time for him to make a decision.

This is when the guilt gremlin (as I call it) came out. Kevin began feeling guilty about disappointing his family if he didn't compete. He didn't want to disappoint anyone. This would be the first time they'd see him race while also getting to visit Muskoka country!! Now no one in his family would be disappointed and I went on to stress this to him and how he knows we all care more about him and his health than anything else. He agreed after a bit more self debating with his ugly hairy gremlin and went to let his parents know.

In that moment of indecision, I could relate to a degree with this guilt. It brought me back to a marathon I ran after being sick for a full week before it. Only I decided to run and couldn't finish because of how sick and drained I was. I had only made things worse but at the time I couldn't get over how much training I had put in, thinking what a waste if I didn't race, and I had a goal I wanted to reach.

You just can't plan out everything and/or predict anything. I have friends that purposely only enter one race a year because they don't want to get injured before it, but at the end of the day there are things outside of our control. unfortunately, there may be a time when you are faced with what happened to Kevin. There is no right or wrong, strategy and planning can and will only take you so far.

So today instead of being in Bala we made today great by having an indoors game day. Settlers of Catan, Bananagrams, and Taboo. We even had our cheerleader to support each of us. At the end of the day we followed the ever famous quote, 'Carpe Diem'. We made the most out of today as a family and had, and are still, having a blast!

From Trail to Trailer

The seed was planted a few months earlier when Kevin and I started speaking about our Plans for our triathlon season with having a baby girl next year. One of us will race on the Saturday and the other will race on a Sunday.

We love that the milk triathlon series and suburu triathlon series brings us on the 400 North into cottage country, among other scenic locales. Unfortunately though after racing we don't have much time to enjoy the scenery as we'd like since we have to race home to get back to our boxer dog, Kaiser. In the past we've brought him once to our race in Orillia by finding a dog friendly hotel but its difficult to find these hotels and to be honest they aren't always the nicest. Knowing that we will now be going to these races two days in a row we don't want to have to go back and forth everyday we race.

Our next idea to solve for bringing Kaiser with us was to look into camping but now that we have Iyla we don't want to camp in a tent with our baby girl and dog. Neither of us are the most experienced of campers for starters!! The problem solving all went on hold until a month ago when Kevin and I were behind a car on the way to Guelph (for Kevin's tri) that was pulling a trailer tent (pop up trailer). I asked Kevin what it was that was getting pulled and he went on to explain to me many fond childhood memories he had of camping in one that his parents had. After he shared his experiences I looked it up on my phone and thought, hmmmm pretty cool. That was it for the time being, no connection to triathlons and Kaiser was made in our minds yet.

Creemore trail race rolled around on July 6th and Kevin took part in the 25k race. He did very well considering he had little to no sleep after getting home from a late soccer game the night before, early am feeding with Iyla and then us taking off early for the race. My Dad and Rose came to support and it was them who noticed many of the runners who camped up the night before and mentioned that we should have done so and it would be smart for next year. Kevin told them about his trailer tent experience and the connection was made. You can find great deals on trailer tents and it would allow our whole fam jam including Kaiser to come with and for us to explore more of Canada together. More affordable too than a hotel when you break down all the costs.

This mindset continued brewing and took another step this past week when we went to Cookstown to the KOA to visit and have lunch with my Dad and Rose where they have been keeping their RV for the past month. Once arriving at their site they presented brochures and pamphlets to us on travel trailers. Rose thought this might be a better idea for us than the trailer tent because many trailer tents don't have AC (which we need for Kaiser), they also can leak (not so great) and the washroom situation isn't as nice as the travel trailers. The Travel Trailer in the pamphlet looked ideal for us because it had a shower/tub...so great for bathing Iyla. We let all these new visions fester for now.

Today we went back out to see them with Kevin's parents who are across visiting. We had a great visit outside in the sun and delicious food off of the bbq.

My dad and Iyla

Bruce and Veronica visiting from Scotland

Rose cooking away

Kevin, Iyla and I with Kaiser in the background

While there we went to a nearby dealership that had all different trailers to look at. Including the particular Jayco model they had suggested. We got to see the one in the pamphlet that we had been looking at in the 17' option and fell in love! Iyla and future baby Souter (not yet!!) will have their own room, Kevin and I would have ours. There is a great sitting area with table that turns into a third bed, a kitchen, bathroom and plenty of storage. There is also an outside awning that creates a great outdoor set up too! The possibilities with the 'JAY FEATHER ULTRA LITE by Jayco' seem endless.

Here's what we see as possible:

• Travelling as a family to our triathlons (dog and all) this has become a big part of our lifestyle and one we'd like to share as a family
• Travelling to see more of Canada with Kaiser, there is so much to see in this great country of ours!
• Travelling through the US with Kaiser, be it races, traveling, camping, or all...the US is set up for year round travel
• We could bring friends/family with us, since it sleeps 6, it may be tight, but hey...it's camping!!
• It allows for flexibility and travel on a whim, we could set out for a night, weekend, or longer!

What's next...We don't want to buy new so we will be on the lookout for one that someone has purchased and hardly used or decided that it didn't fit their lifestyle. My dad and Rose will be looking for us while on their travels and checking different RV sites. We will also be going to an RV type show in Toronto in January. So if any of you know someone looking to sell their Travel Trailer...please let us know!

Sleeping Beauty

SLEEP! Everyone told me during my 9 months of pregnancy, "Take advantage of your sleep now before your baby comes because you wont sleep again ever the same". I listened to the advice and did sleep in when I could (I'm not a person that sleeps in to begin with so this was a new trained habit). Until having baby Iyla I didn't realize to the full extent why everyone stressed this advice so much.

Right now I'm averaging about 5 hours of broken sleep a day. I know I should be taking naps whenever Iyla sleeps, see the thing about that is that I don't do naps. I've never ever been a napper, so as much as I try to nap when Iyla does I just lie fully awake. That was until I learned that having her nuzzle into me helps put me to sleep at the same time as her. So we now have a mother daughter nap together in the afternoon.

I'm very blessed to be honest. My husband is super hands on and helpful and wants to do everything in his power to support her and I, especially since she depends on me for food. So what he has done since coming back from the hospital is take the 3am feed with her. He's a big napper and knows I've never been so he insists on this so that I can get some shut eye before her 6am feed. I pump ahead of time and he is able to give her the bottle then soothes her back to sleep with a song or story and his own great version of the swaddle.

Now with my training coming up and Kevin beginning his pre-season with the University Soccer Team he coaches, we will be moving things around and have created a plan. With coaching, when Kevin is in season (August-November) he works near 7 days a week. His unconventional weekly hours see him begin early afternoon and continue to late evening with practices, then weekends are matchdays. August is the exception where the team isn't in school yet so they will have two-a-days with meetings at night. All day!!!During pre-season (August) we are fortunate because Kevin's brother and girlfriend Carole are visiting from Scotland and can't wait to have their hands on deck to help with Iyla (thank goodness).

Once season begins (family is back in Scotland) I will be going to bed and putting Iyla to bed before Kevin gets home and he will be doing her late evening feeding. I will then get up to do her early morning one, whatever time that will be...she will decide. Then I will put her back to bed and head out for my early morning run while Kevin is at home with her. I've always ran early in the morning but this is a new early for me and as the weather gets cooler and the sun rises later I will probably even have to use my headlamp. At least I wont have to worry about moving for walkers, since I doubt many will be up at that time. I'm actually kind of curious to see who is up at that time and I already know I will feel great knowing my day has started with a run and it's all done before 6am ha.

Sleep Tight ...(as my dad said to me and I now say to Iyla) and Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite!

Family Matters

This past week I've spent quite a bit of time reflecting and organizing myself to begin my training on my quest to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The things I've now realized that will and can be a factor on my training and outcome include:

• Start time of training (I will be 4 weeks behind my typical marathon training plan to allow my body to heal
• Approval to start my training from the doctor (this determines my actual training start)
• New sleep schedule, with demands and unprepared demands of a new growing baby
• My bodies quickness to jump in fast to an intense training schedule

Because of the broad spectrum of factors in my training I came to the realization that I need to accept that my body may not jump back in quite as quickly as I'd like. For me to accept this I've learned from the past that I need to set more than just one goal on marathon race day (November 2nd). Setting more than one goal allows peace of mind and varied levels of accomplishment. 

The goals I have set for race day include:

1. Finish the race
2. Enjoy the race
3. PB (beat my previous time to hit a personal best)
4. Qualify for Boston

I decided after setting those goals that I wanted to have a back up plan if Boston wasn't in the cards, one that would and can still push my body to the limits. I knew that my plan after the marathon in November was to begin focusing on triathlons more, so I started looking up Half Ironmans. I found one the week before Boston Marathon in Haines City Florida (IRONMAN 70.3 Florida). Inside I got so excited about this the second I found it because it would be a massive jump for me to do an Ironman compared to the Try-A-Tri's I did last summer. I love challenges.

I shared this idea/plan with my husband Kev on Wednesday while my dad and step mom Rose were across visiting us and baby Iyla. During that sharing the idea caused so much energy and excitement between us all because it makes so much sense for our family. First Florida is where my dad and Rose go regularly during their RV travels, and as luck will have it they will potentially be staying only 17 miles away from where the race takes place.

This got the collective wheels turning. That would mean family support on race day, allowing both Kevin and I to accomplish our Half Ironman goal. How great to have ready made babysitters and support on the sidelines during a taxing yet rewarding challenge. It also fits because we can make a family vacation out of it...Road-Trip!!! Most campgrounds offer accommodations (such as RV, cabin and or chalet rentals) and many family and dog friendly amenities. This would then allow Kaiser our boxer dog to join in on the family fun. 

At the end of the day this idea turned into a surprisingly feasible opportunity and since plans are beginning to form. The plan is now to do the Half Ironman in April followed by the 2014 Boston Marathon a week later.

How excited am I :) 

Lets get running, oh better wait my two weeks. 

Visualizing for now.

Food For Thought And The Thought Of Food

Elements of ignorance are what I have in my relationship with the foods I can eat while going through my current state of breastfeeding.

Prior to having a baby or even being pregnant I had to make sure I was getting enough calories and nutrition in my body to have the energy needed for my workouts and living life how I saw fit. I would eat lots of carbs because I was burning so much calories on my runs, and I never thought twice about what I could eat. Meaning if I wanted ice cream, or maybe some gummy bears, I would have them because I knew I was doing enough exercise to burn it off. I'm not saying I ate tons of crap food, I enjoy my salads with my meals, my fish etc.

Once pregnant things changed when I found out my thyroid wasn't producing enough hormones for two. This meant I was told by the doctor to back off the carbs, starches, fruit higher in sugar like tropical fruit and eat more veggies and produce. With the support of my awesome husband we did a new grocery shop and loaded up on fruits and veggies like no other. I got back on track with my pregnancy weight gain and was feeling great...Still looking forward to my DQ once pregnancy was done but on track none the less.

Post baby and thyroid back to normal I went back to my well balanced diet. Eating plenty of spinach salad and enjoying my tea in the morning, my yogurt with marshmallows and chocolate chips in the afternoon, to later in the evening finding out I made a terrible error!! This mistake was found by a piercing cry from my newborn baby who kept me up all night, unable to express in words that her stomach/digestive system was in pain.

Goodbye spinach, goodbye caffinated tea, and goodbye chocolate chips and dairy. This is just a start of the things I have learned IYLA doesn't do well with. The majority of leafy greens are out, veggies, fruit like strawberries and pineapples, beans of any sort. I am now having to monitor my intake quite closely and test things out with the chance I might have a baby quite upset in the middle of the night. Not a risk that is very fun to take.

This might all go away as her digestive system develops but for now this is where I am at. It's bringing a whole new realm of questions to my mind for my upcoming training that starts in just over two weeks.

Typically my food is quite consistent during training mode:

• English muffin toasted with butter and peanut butter in the am before a long run
• Chocolate Raspberry GU Roctane gel that has 2x caffeine during my runs
• Chocolate Milk post run 

• Pasta Dinners with red sauce a couple days prior to long runs and/or racing 
• Spinach salad all the time
• Black bean burgers

As you can see all of the above will not and can not be part of my diet now currently, so I will need to think of modifications to make. Gels without caffeine, a different flavour than chocolate, post drink needs to be non-dairy, my breakfast needs to change the element of peanut butter.

You know what, I'm new and learning and welcome any feedback any of you moms out there have for me. I know it's not forever and it will take a bit of planning but I'm committed to the best health for myself and even more so, for IYLA.

Once training starts I will let you all know the modifications I have made and what I have found to work for both her and myself. 

Work Off The Baby Weight With The Baby Weight

As promised, below is my lower body workout I did while pregnant. I told you all I would send it to you unless the baby came, and as you all know SHE CAME. So I have given you the original workout and I have also added a section called BabyTime that focuses on substituting baby Iyla in for the weights. What a seamless and natural substitute for weights when coming back from having your baby because as your strength grows, so does the baby. Much like you would increase your weights as you gain proficiency.

I want to take the time to acknowledge my trainer, Brandon Crowe for creating the workout for me while in the last bit of my pregnancy. I can't wait to see what he creates for me next to get me ready for my first race back: 'Road2Hope Marathon' in November. If you haven't already checked out his facebook page, you can do so by clicking on his name above.

WORKOUT: Glutes/Calves/Hamstring Focus

Exercise 1:

Toes Elevated (on plate or rolled towel) Sumo Squat with Dumbbells in front of knees *watch for temp

Sets: 4
Reps: 12
Tempo: 6-0-2-0 (Perform exercise down for 6 seconds, immediately bring exercise up in 2 seconds, and repeat)
Rest: 40s
Comments: (These are comments from my trainer) Toes elevated, wide leg and dumbbells in front all hit your glutes more than quads.
Baby Time: I adjusted using weights for Iyla and since it was my first weight workout back I took out the elevation of toes for this round.

Exercise 2: Alternating Side Step Lunges (step 45 degrees to the side and then back) with dumbbells

Sets: 4
Reps: 10 one each side
Tempo: 3-0-1-0
Rest: 40s
Baby Time: Again I substituted Iyla in for the weights and I made sure to switch my hold with her to the opposite side after each set so that her weight was being evenly distributed during the workout.

Exercise 3: Stair Calve Raises - lightly hold the railing for guidance

Sets: 4

Reps: 40

Tempo: 2-0-2-0

Rest: 40s

Comments: This will be brutal. If you need mini breaks between your sets of 40 reps, rest as minimally as possible until you hit 40.

Baby Time: The first picture below shows just doing calve raises with two hands to hold baby Iyla. The pictures below show the option of having the support of the stair railing. What I like about the stair option is that when going down with the calve raises you can go below the starting point, giving the shins a nice stretch. 

The last 3 exercises I did without baby Iyla because I didn't feel comfortable holding her in the positions tackled below. 

Exercise 4: Hip Extensions with the upper back on couch/bench and feet on floor with dumbbells held above hips/thighs

Sets: 4

Reps: 10

Tempo: 4-0-1-4

Rest: 40s

Comments: 4 seconds on the way down, 1 second on the way up, 4 second contraction at the top squeezing your glutes maximally

Exercise 5: Hip Extensions with feet/heels on couch/bench. No weight

Sets: 4

Reps: 15

Tempo: 4-0-1-4

Rest: 40s

Exercise 6: Abs: Front Plank 30s on and 30s off for 5 minutes

Enjoy!

Blisters 2 Bliss

Happy Sunday All!

Over the past week and weekend I've had common questions sent my way with regards to obstacles seen when beginning running and how to fix, solve and or rid the obstacles.

I want to take the time to acknowledge all of you out there who have started running. It can be a daunting process! But lacing up, getting out there and doing it - is the first step. 

Now for the newbie runners, be warned there are some things that can come with the sport that have affected us all at some point or other. I'm going to do my best in this post to share these problems, symptoms, causes, effects and my own remedies for them (please remember I am no doctor and this is my personal opinion). 

Problem: BLISTERS

Symptom: Fluid filled bumps that resemble bubbles on the upper layers of skin

Cause: Rubbing/friction due to shoes and or socks against skin. Other things that can cause the blistering from running can include an increase in pace, running for long periods in damp or wet socks, and an increase in temperature may lead to swelling and increased moisture.

Effect: Temporary pain when running till blister heals. Might disturb running gate or pattern, creating a new realm of issues. If blister splits or opens, infection could follow. 

Remedy: I've always gone a half size up in my running shoes to account for the swelling that takes place. I do recommend when starting to go to a proper running store to buy your shoes and get fitted. Great stores for this include: The Running Room, and Running Free. Before long runs and races I also use BodyGlide (its like a deodorant stick made to put on susceptible areas to prevent chafing) on areas parts that are more prone to blistering (ends of toes, and backs of heels).

Problem: BLACK/PURPLE TOENAILS or NO TOENAIL

Symptom: Toenails are bruised (pooling of blood around or beneath toenail), discoloured! sensitive to touch, can leak fluid, and you may sense a pulsing or throbbing in toe.

Cause: Stubbing it while running. Your shoes may be too tight. Running a lot of downhills can jam toes forward causing more friction against top of shoe, and increased pounding over longer distances.

Effect: Can cause extra sensitivity but generally from those I've spoken to, it's not too painful, and certainly manageable. 

Remedy: Shoes with a larger toe box, BodyGlyde, and if you want to drain the blood you can use a disinfected needle to make a hole but this will not help the problem. Note* A bruised and damaged toenail will in all probability die and fall off after a few weeks to be replaced by a new nail growing beneath.

Thank-you Kevin for showing us your bruised toes after Creemore Vertical Challenge (happened due to snug footwear, and many downhill pounding).

Problem: CHAFING

Symptom: Rash/bleeding/friction burn from rubbing/friction most commonly seen underarms, between thighs and for men typically seen around nipples (sorry guys!).

Cause: Friction of skin on product, and or skin against skin. Can also be caused due to wet or moist clothing irritating the skin.

Effect: Soreness that can get so uncomfortable that you may need to stop and or bite the bullet to continue your run. Bloody nipples cause severe discomfort and slight embarrassment (once again, sorry guys!)

Remedy: BodyGlyde (hopefully many of you now see how valuable this product is and have already decided to go out and buy it tomorrow), petroleum jelly, nip guards, and BandAids. What you wear is also a big element of chafing. Clothes that are made with technical fabrics and are designed to wick away sweat will dry quickly, eliminating moisture and reducing chafing. 

A must have in the toolkit for any runner of any level and ability

Problem: HOT SPOTS

Symptom: Extreme heat (burning pain) in a pocket area of your foot or toes, most commonly found on the ball of the foot.

Cause: Occurs when you're not evenly distributing your weight through your foot, so the ball of your foot takes more of the load during the workout. 

Effect: Modified run pattern, causing lack of technique and symmetry. 

Remedy: Tape the hot spot prior to running. Wear a sock that allows proper ventilation in those areas. Consider new shoes that are properly fitted to suit your own foot pattern.

Problem: UNFAMILIAR BOWEL MOVEMENT

Symptom: Sudden urge to hit a restroom, lot's of stomach movement and/or cramping. Unsure of what will happen if you don't stop. 

Cause: Increase of distance, change in diet, eating too close to a run, overeating, spicy food, and/or trying new fuels and liquids while on route.

Effect: Sore stomach, interruption of run, and discomfort. 

Remedy: Watch/track what you eat and keep a consistency before your long runs. For instance I know my body now and that I need to stay away from sausage/red meat and anything with mild spices at least two days before a long run. 

Problem: BURN OUT

Symptom: Out of breath, exhausted mentally and physically. Drained!

Cause: Going out too fast too soon with a lack of pacing. In a race it can be due to the momentum around you with other runners going so quickly out of the gate. Keep in mind the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare! Slow and steady wins the race!! 

Effect: Lose motivation and enjoyment. Struggle to last on runs, and experience a lack of energy to finish strong on a run/race. 

Remedy: Wear a watch and stick to the pace planned and/or create a pace plan (You may need to play around with this to find one that works for you). Run with a partner and/or at a talking pace. 

Please be sure to consult a doctor if you have any concerns and/or your problems persist.

The Waiting Game

The waiting game is what I'm currently playing right now and what I will continue to do for the next 3 weeks and 3 days.

'What is she talking about?' you may ask, especially if you are a male (sorry for the judgement) and or haven't gone down the pregnancy route before. 

After having a child, 6 weeks is the amount of time that patients must wait before engaging in certain physical activity such as running, sex and higher impact activity. 

The why for this is because internally your body needs to heal after the 9 months and labour it's just been through. Just as my doctor stated, I feel great now, as if I could run but running this soon could cause damage. 

When doing my own research I found the following things that can happen if starting too early:

Abdominal muscle separation can happen during labour, with postpartum exercise too early you can risk abdominal muscle damage...See this link at baby center for more information.

Your adrenal glands have the possibility of being tapped out to empty if exercising too soon, throwing off the healing process of the rest of the body. See Family Education website for more info.

Also at family education website I learned that joints can still be loose post pregnancy like they were during pregnancy causing greater chance of injuring yourself. 

I'm sure there is many other things that could happen too and from other running moms that I've spoken too they have all warned me not too run too early due to internal damage so I'm going to follow their advice and wait to get my run on till I hit my 6 weeks and see my dr for my post partum checkup. Better safe than sorry, I want to run for the remainder of my life and I don't want to ruin that by starting too soon.

Some wise words that I have heard from my mom, my friend Delynn and other wise women in my own words is, The body takes 9 months to nurture and create a baby, it takes another 9 months for the body to fully get back too normal.

What I will do that is safe, approved exercise prior to running:

• Walking daily with my daughter Iyla and boxer dog Kaiser daily
• I will start my weight program beginning next week, using Iyla with some of the exercises (a post will follow on how she is involved) 
• Eliptical
• Stretching
• Kegels too

This was our first walk on June 26th

The Spectator

Over the weekend I found myself as 'The Spectator' as my husband ran 'The Creemore Vertical Challenge' 25k. It's not like I haven't watched him run his races before but what was new this time was that our daughter Iyla joined me on the sidelines.

I'm a whole new type of Spector now. One that needs to take care of our bundle of joy, let my body heal and be that support system for my hubby.To be honest in the past I haven't been the best 'Spectator' because I like being involved in the action at hand.

Creemore is where Kevin and I started our trail racing last year. Before learning of our pregnancy my goal was to do my first ultra this year at it. The ultra would've been a 50k distance. At Creemore it means doing the 25k route twice. 2014 is when I will now make this goal happen.

With Iyla now being two weeks old and breastfed it was a full on planning and process to prepare for this trip to watch Kev race. We are on a pretty consistent feeding schedule and she's taken to it quite well and we didn't want to mess it up. One car stop in a parking lot, after being bottle fed, to burp Iyla and one more at Tim Horton's to wake us up before we arrived. Kev got his bib and loot and thanks to Iyla's stroller and me spectating we could put whatever things Kev didn't want for racing on the stroller...no bag checks!!! Another big win was the fact that I could take race photos for our memories and we didn't have to rely on others doing so.

My 10k MARATHON

Race: Shoppers Drug Mart Run For Women

Website: Run for Women

When: Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 

Distance: 10k, 5k or Girls 1k (12 & under)

Cost: $60-$70

Aid Stations: 3 water stations

Start Time: 10k 8:30am

Race Kit: Event t-shirt, granola bar, fruit flavoured water

Race Awards: Finishers bracelet

Winning Womens Time: 41mins by Nathalie Vigeant

My time: 51min 05 seconds

My placement: 22nd out of 303 runners

Pace: 5min 07 seconds per km

Pre-Race:

I registered for this race very last minute, the day before. Fortunately for me there was no limit with the amount of those racing. I took this last minute route because of my ever approaching pregnancy due date. Feeling really good the day before I went to Unionville's Running Room to register because the online registration was closed. 

My mom, dog (Kaiser), husband Kevin and I arrived at the race 45minutes early. Unionville is a quaint community with beautiful shops on their main street and we took advantage of this time by enjoying a nice drink just outside Starbucks. 

Race Play by Play:

Right before the start of the race the sun came out just as women started to line up. No one seemed in a rush to begin and or line up so I got a great spot up front. Its not often I find myself at the very front of the start line, quite weird and motivating for the future. 

Once the gun went, we were all off. I started off at an 8min/mile pace to begin with lot's of adrenaline running through me. The course was beautiful as it took twists and turns through trails and many trees. Runners were quite chatty and supportive on route, I was given much cheering from women who noticed my pregnancy and even more cheering from those that I passed during the race. 

During the race my body felt better than ever and I feel this was probably a result of being on maternity leave for a week hence not on my feet as much. I felt I could run even faster than I was going but didn't want to push it. The only thing I found difficult was in knowing where I was on the course. There were km markers but they didn't go in order so the only way I knew how far I had gone was thanks to my trusty Forerunner Garmin watch. 

During the last km Kevin jumped into the race with me to see how I was doing. This gave me an extra boost to finish strong and to keep up my pace. In the last 400m I passed my mom with Kaiser who wanted to jump into the run with me, unfortunately dogs aren't allowed in this race. Through the finish I went and I came in at 51mins, a pregnancy personal best for my 10k. As soon as I finished the rain started and we decided to take off to get ready for my nephew, Kai's first birthday. At the birthday my body felt sore like it normally does after running 10k's while pregnant. I was happy to relax the rest of the day. 

Fast forward 11.5 hours after the 10k and my race started back up!!! Kevin and I were at home watching a movie when what I thought were Braxton Hicks started. I was excited to experience them because I hadn't up to that point and thought in that moment our daughter might actually come on her due date of July 4th. Then what I thought were Braxton Hicks began happening every 4-5minutes...Meaning these were no braxton hicks BUT actual contractions! Kevin and I hit the road for the hospital for 10pm. 

At the hospital we learned that I was 3 cm dilated and it could still be a few days, the nurse said I hadn't dropped yet either so I had the option to walk around at the hospital and hang out for a few hours and they would check me again and or go home to try to get some sleep till contractions were at the point I couldn't handle them. Because I was feeling good during the contractions and could talk, Kev and I went home after stopping at Shoppers Drug Mart on the way to buy some gravol and extra strength tylenol. Earlier in the day my sisters friends had given me some tips from their midwives/natural deliveries of taking 2 gravol and 2 extra strength tylenol during the early stage of contractions to help sleep through them. Kev ran into Shoppers while I decided to walk around outside the car. In that short time period I started having contractions only 1-2mins apart and too difficult for me to handle on my feet that I had to sit back down. 

We decided to still head home and try to sleep, between the shaking post contractions and the contractions I got NO SLEEP. Kev tried to comfort me and could between contractions but once they started I did not want to be touched and we decided to head back to the hospital. 

Now it was 1am! I was told I was 3.5cm dilated and that my cervix had thinned and I was staying at the hospital. 3.5 THAT'S ALL....In my head I couldn't fathom that. They felt 100x worse than they did a few hours earlier. I was now "hitting the wall"  and not sure if I could have the natural birth (no drugs)  that I desired. I let Kev know how I was feeling and that I was thinking I might need an epidural. At this point we were in a waiting area/exam room and I was off the monitors so that I could move or walk around as desired during contractions. I couldn't walk as planned and although I was taking the contractions one at a time I finally decided I wanted the epidural. Kev went to let the nurse know and in the meantime I had a contraction so bad I had to push...It just happened naturally. The nurse came to speak to me and prep me for the epidural when I told her to stop because I would have to push for a contraction that was coming. She told me I shouldn't be pushing and did a quick check and realized that I was not only crowning but I was now fully dilated and there was no time for an epidural. 

Kev wasn't back yet from hitting up the restroom and came back to an empty room while I had been rushed into a delivery room with 5 nurses and no doctor. As they were prepping me to push Kev came running in and they put him to work right away too. So much for my stomach needing to drop! This baby girl wanted out. The pushing actually felt so much better than the contractions and I felt as if I was able to get to an end goal and my "Hitting the Wall" was over! Around 5 contractions later we welcomed IYLA SKYE into our world. She was 7.2 lbs and healthy!