Setting a Running Record on my Birthday

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….it would have been so easy to stay in bed

Today is my birthday. My husband brought me my morning coffee and my birthday present. When we were in Ireland we went to a beautiful shop in Dublin that sold hand made articles from local artisans. I left a big hint that anything in the store would make a wonderful birthday or anniversary gift and I promptly left the store. When I returned I noticed that K had made a purchase and some how he’s managed to keep it under wraps all this time. Normally he wants me to open my presents early.

Anyway he bought me a beautiful hand screened scarf. If it wasn’t so warm today I would have worn it right away but I’ll put it away for a cooler day. As I was drinking my coffee, K asked me if I wanted to have a lie in and forgo my run. It was so humid this morning that I decided that lying in bed would have been too uncomfortable so I got up and put on my running shoes.

Even though the humidity was high there was a nice cool breeze coming off the lake which helped make the run bearable. I never plan on how far I will run. I always play it by how my legs feel. K handed me the leash near the end of our normal route so that he could get a good last couple of kilometres in without worrying about the dog.

As he ran off in an alternate route I decided to follow him for part of the way. I realized that I could be setting a personal best if I kept going so I did. The total distance with walking and running wasn’t as far as I had hoped but the running distance was a non stop 5K. I have run 5K before but I’ve never done it without stopping to walk. Yeah me!

What a great way to start my birthday and it’s still only 10:00 in the morning. Time to shower and get up to school. Looking forward to ‘another’ celebratory dinner with the rest of my family tonight.

Back to Running and Back to Work

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….running is like riding a bike, once you start again it’s like you never stopped

On Sunday I started running again. I didn’t plan on it, it just happened.

My husband, Frances and I started on our usual morning walk but we barely left the house when my husband started to run. Frances kept putting on the brakes when she didn’t sense that I was right behind her so I started to run as well. And I kept running and running and didn’t stop until I hit the 4k mark.

We stopped at the Tim Horton’s in the park, where I bought a small coffee, asked for a cup of water and used the restroom. K wanted to run some more so I agreed to take the dog and the two of us walked the remaining 2k home. I was amazed that I was able to run so far after not running for about two months.

Today we started with a walk and started running at the entrance to Col. Sam Smith Park. Again, once I started running, it felt so natural and comfortable that I continued to run until we reached the point, turned around and ran all the way home. Another 4k of running and 1k of walking.

If someone had told me 18 months ago that I would become a runner I would have scoffed at them. I remember trying to run with my husband when I was in my 20s and put my back out. I was about 50 pounds lighter than I am now and I just couldn’t get into it. So why is it easier now? Shouldn’t it be harder? After all I’m 30 some years older and heavier.

I think the difference is that this time I started out slowly. Literally, I started with only running 50 metres on the first day and then going 100 metres the next. Slowly I added more distance and as the weight came off it became easier. The other difference is that I had a goal. I was coaching young girls to run and we were all training to do a 5k run. My goal was to finish the race and try to run half of it and walk the rest.

My first 5k wasn’t pretty but I did finish. I was exhausted, emotional and anxious about my health, all at the same time. When I realized that I wasn’t going to die from running, I continued to run periodically for the rest of that summer and in the fall I ran with the cross country team. It got easier and easier. During the winter, when running became too difficult my husband and I walked regularly in the evenings despite the cold and the record breaking amounts of snow that we encountered last winter.

I agreed to coach the girls at school again this spring and we worked toward completing another 5k race. This time I wanted to run the entire race without stopping and in under 45 minutes. It turned out to be a very warm day and I needed to stop 3 times, once for water and then again a couple of times to re-energize. Each time I walked I went for about 100 metres and then started to run again. I finished in 47 minutes and ran most of the 5k.

My plan was to run over the summer but for some reason it just didn’t happen. I did a lot of walking, especially when we were in Ireland and we continued to walk when I was in the city but for some reason when I went to the cottage I didn’t run at all and some days I didn’t walk very far either. As some of you know, we’ve had bears inhabit our island this year and even though I’ve never seen them I do know people who have. My biggest phobia in life is meeting up with a bear. I don’t know where that comes from because I’ve never had an encounter with a bear but I think the possibility of meeting a bear in the woods or on the beach kept me from wandering too far from the cottage.

This fall my goal is to run with the cross country team again and I think it’s time to search out another 5k race this fall. I started back to work today but I got in that run before I left for school. Next week it won’t be as easy to do that because I have to be at school earlier but I know in the first week back the gym teacher will start recruiting the students for this years cross country team. I’ll be right there with them at 7:45 every morning.

Wildflowers in T.O.

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..back to our morning walks

Today started out as an exceptionally beautiful day.

As hard as I try, I can’t keep up with my husband and the dog on our morning walks. I watched from a distance today and counted K’s steps and discovered that we both take the same amount of steps in the same amount of time but my stride is so much shorter, due to my shorter legs.

Frances runs twice as far as both of us but today she kept running back to me to make sure that I was okay. How sweet! I’m not upset that K walks ahead of me and he doesn’t worry about me. It works for both of us and so when I stop to take photographs I take my time to get that perfect shot and then continue on my way. Sometimes I run to catch up and occasionally K will stop at one of the benches and waits until Frances has one more swim and I come into view. Here are a few of the wildflowers that I observed on our walk this morning.

Getting Back to Normal

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….with fitness and eating

We did an incredible amount of walking when we were in Ireland but my eating patterns were out of whack for me. I rarely drink beer so when we went to pubs I would have a pint of cider. I would rarely drink more than one glass and half way into the trip I realized that I could order half pints. With most meals I ordered mineral water but occasionally I enjoyed a glass of wine and one evening my husband and I shared a bottle of wine that came with the meal.

We were hoping we would be able to have a few light meals in our hotel room and only eat out once a day. We quickly discovered, however, that our rooms did not come with bar fridges and we couldn’t keep anything cool. One evening in Westport we went into the local grocery store to buy some vegetables and fruit. We also bought a small bottle of salad dressing and some ham to put into our salad.

Earlier in the evening we stopped at a small cafe and enjoyed a platter of cheese and a few crackers and a glass of wine. After we brought our selection of veggies and fruit back to our room we discovered we weren’t as hungry as we thought we would be. We ate the raw vegetables and hummus.

What were we to do with the salad, ham and dressing that we purchased? I think I’ve mentioned this before but Ireland was going through a heat wave while we were there and the hotels don’t have air conditioning. Well it was a few degrees cooler outside the hotel than in the room so I opened the window on the second story and placed the perishable foods on the window ledge.

The next morning the ham was gone. When I looked down to the street I saw the ’empty’ ham container lying on the sidewalk. We’re not sure what got on the ledge but there were a lot of very large blackbirds in the area. Do they eat meat?

Today, before breakfast, my husband, Frances and I started up our usual 5 k walks again. Frances was in a bit of slump since coming home yesterday. I think she was missing her buddy, Lucy. Going for a walk to the lake was just what the doctor ordered. Frances was in a better mood after she had her swim and K and I were energized for the rest of the day.

Walking, Double Decker Buses, Grafton Street, Buskers,

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Mama Cormier

……and another full Irish breakfast and more walking

Today I slept till almost 8:00. I slept for at least nine hours. Heavenly! I might have slept longer but my husband woke me because he wanted to start our morning walk. I quickly got dressed and without a cup of tea or coffee to start my day (K had been up for two hours and was well hydrated) we started our hike to Phoenix Park.

We took a slightly longer route today and headed toward the area where herds of deer are often sighted. We saw signs that deer had been in the area, such as scat and fur that had been shed; however, it was pretty late and the park was already busy with walkers, runners, cyclists, dogs and crews setting up for the afternoon concert.

I was just about to say that we were too late to see deer when all of a sudden we spotted one in the distance. By the time we got our cameras ready the deer had already disappeared into the forest. We also came across a pond with a lot of ducks, many which were unfamiliar to us. One looked like a cross between. a black chicken and a white faced duck. A little girl came by with her grandfather and fed the ducks bread. I’m not sure how healthy it is for the birds but there certainly was a massive feeding frenzy. Ducks from all over the pond ascended on the shore where we stood.

As the morning wore on I started to feel the effects of being dehydrated and the lack of caffeine. I love to walk but I was really dragging myself during the last third of the walk. Just before we got home we picked up some water and bananas from the local Spar Store. That little bit of nourishment helped me to motor on. Once home we saw that we’d gone for close to three hours and we had walked at least 8 k.

I started this post yesterday. I had so many problems with the iPad that I put it aside and went to bed. Anyway I wanted to say that 8 k didn’t seem right when we regularly walk 5 k in one hour. Well sure enough when we went over the map again I discovered that I had missed a huge section of the walk. We had actually walked 9.5 k and with the time spent at the duck pond and stopping at the Spar this made more sense.

Later in the day we took the bus into the city centre and headed toward Grafton Street. This is a pedestrian mall that is always busy. It was particularly crowded yesterday because a football game had just ended and it was Sunday and sunny and warm. A sure fire recipe for swarms of people on this popular street.

We enjoyed numerous street performances but my favourite was a group of bearded musicians who played modern Irish music. Another busker played an electric guitar made out of a Castrol oil can. After enjoying the sights and sounds of Grafton Street we made our way to Bewley’s Cafe, an icon in Dublin, for some much needed refreshments.

All told we walked a total 15k Yesterday. Today we met up with our son B and met his girlfriend. More about that tomorrow.

Walking, Waves, Water Foul and Wildflowers

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..I got up early enough to join my husband and Frances for our daily 5k walk

As you can see I’m not at the cottage. I decided to go see my doctor yesterday (yes, he was working on Canada Day) and get the results from my blood work. I’m happy to report that all the major things were in the good range (cholesterol, sugar levels, etc.). So why am I not on my way to cottage today, you may ask?

Last night my friend, D, called my from Christian Island and told me that she and her husband were coming home today and going back next weekend. I decided that there was no big hurry to get up to the cottage, seeing that I would be mostly alone, so instead I’m going into school today to clean up my library/art office. I was going to go in next week but I think I’m going to be too busy getting ready for our trip to Ireland.

After a quick cup of coffee, the three of us headed out on our walk. I almost always take my camera with me and today was no exception. I love the macro function on the camera and it came in handy today as I got down nice and close to the tiny wildflowers that we pass on our walk. Part of my walk turned in a run today because every time I stopped to take a picture I had to run to catch up to K and Frances.

The morning started out a bit overcast and there was a slight wind. If you saw the waves on the lake you might have thought there were gail force winds but not so. A few metres inland the pond was as still as ice.

This last shot is my favourite. As I zoomed into the these mini thistles I didn’t notice the blur of activity that was taking place on the stems of these plants.

I’d better get to school before the morning completely disappears. Till later!

Happy Canada Day!

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..what am I doing today?

I’ll probably start my day with a long walk with my husband and our dog. On Sunday we walked for 5.1k, and the day before 4.9 k. Here are a few photos from Saturday’s hike through Col. Sam Smith Park.

I’m not sure what else the day holds for me. I had thought of driving to the cottage but I might wait until Tuesday when I can stop and pick up a few groceries on the way. Everything is pretty much closed today. Anyway it’s one in the morning and if I want to get up early for that walk I’d better be off to bed. Till later. Good Night!

It’s morning now and my post didn’t publish. Don’t know why. This is another problem that I frequently encounter. I’ll try again. By the way I think my husband went for the walk without me. Sigh!!!!!

Jumping for Joy

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….and raising a little cash and awareness for the Heart and Stroke Assoc.

Today was our Jump Rope for Heart event. This is my 14th year organizing this school wide jump-a-thon. Two weeks ago we had our kick off assembly and last week the pledge envelopes went home. The day almost runs itself.

Our office assistant and her husband set up their sound equipment and provided great music for the kids to jump to. Everyone gets involved from kindergarten to grade 5, teachers, assistants, student teachers and parent volunteers.

It turned out to be a great day. It was pretty warm but there was a nice breeze and the rain held off until later in the afternoon. The donations should start rolling in next week. As of 4:00 this afternoon about $2000. came back to school in the pledge envelopes. I have no idea how much money is being raised on-line but every year more and more families are using the on-line option to make their donations.

That’s one more thing I can cross off my to do list before the end of the school year. Tomorrow is the school Fun Fair and next Tuesday I’m taking the girls’ soccer team to the West Conference Finals. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Cheers!

Birds of Prey and Our First Farmers’ Market of the Season

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..a very spontaneous day

My husband and I rarely plan our weekends in advance. This morning when we woke up we decided to get an early start for our daily walk/run to the park. It was sunny but quite cool this morning so we layered up and put on cotton gloves. When we got about half a kilometre from the house we realized that we forgot to bring the poop bags so my husband headed back to the house and I tried to continue the walk with Frances. She would have none of it. She kept pulling back on the leash so I finally gave in and started walking back until we met up with K.

When we finally got to the rugby pitch there were people on the field, setting up for a game so we decided not to do our run and changed our route. Frances is great off leash when we run around the pitch because she just runs back and forth between the two of us. When we’re on the path she’s better on the leash which makes it more difficult for running so we both walked today.

Just before the pitch we came across this beautiful flowering tree in the middle of this very green patch of land. I loved the contrast of the mauve blossoms with the bright spring greens.

The route was a little longer and different from the one we normally take when we head out to the point. Today we had an unexpected surprise because a Spring Bird Festival was taking place along the route. There were dozens of bird watchers and numerous displays under canopies. One of the displays featured raptor birds prominently perched on the arms of their handlers. They were absolutely beautiful.

Once we were far away from the Bird Festival we let Frances off the leash so that she could go for a swim in the lake. After retrieving her tennis ball out of the lake several times she ran and ran and ran. She must have checked out every last little path along the route and went back into the water at different points for more swims.

On the way home our noses were assaulted by a very bad odour coming from Frances. We realized that somewhere on the walk she must have rolled in something disgusting. Once we got to the house K took her immediately to the backyard while I went inside and prepared buckets of warm water with doggy shampoo. She let us rub her down with the sudsy water and then stood perfectly still while we rinsed her with warm clear water. She was cooperative but you could tell she wasn’t happy.Our walk covered 6k.

Today was also the first day for the Junction Farmers’ Market. We were debating whether to ride our bikes or drive the car. After our walk K made us a wonderful breakfast of bacon and eggs and by the time we finished eating we didn’t have a lot of time left before the market was scheduled to close. Consequently we drove but we parked a fair distance from the market and we managed to add another kilometre to our walking distance.

The market was small but the vendors were very friendly and we picked up some fresh baby greens, honey, radishes and more plants for the garden. We’ve already lost one tomato plant. It was dug up and destroyed. We’re thinking it was a racoon. We’re replacing it with a zebra tomato plant and we’ve bought a couple of Jerusalem artichoke plants. A couple of vendors suggested spraying the plants with pepper. We’ll have to give it a try.

Later in the afternoon I went to Curry’s Art Store to buy a Gelli plate to try a new type of mono printing. I had checked out two different art stores when we were in the Junction this morning but neither store had heard of them. I’m looking forward to trying this technique and sharing my results with you.

Cheers!

Namaste

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. thank you Maureen Rae for your wonderful restorative yoga class

It was a calm yet productive day today. No early morning soccer practice, no meetings and no Girls on the Run. I had time this morning to work on my art lesson, clean up the stockroom, process some books, help students put some finishing touches on their art projects and take down some art work and return it to students and make room for new work.

It was treat day in the staffroom at first recess. Val makes great chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. I literally broke off a small piece of each just so I could have a taste. Sometimes that’s all I need and I’m satisfied.

The students in my art class were unusually attentive and engaged. I introduced my Picasso lesson to the entire class and then those students that were finished all their other projects started on their Picasso style portraits. The rest of them worked very hard to finish their stitching projects and/or the op art project they started last week. It’s amazing how much work they can produce when they’re focused and not socializing with their peers.

In the afternoon a shipment came in with all the skipping ropes and literature for our Jump Rope for Heart campaign. In past years I’ve always had my homeroom students help me organize and deliver the packages that get sent home. At the end of the day I sorted through all the boxes and bundled up the literature for each class and left it on the table in the staffroom for teachers to pick up and distribute to their students.

When I plan to go to yoga I always stay late at school on Wednesdays. After I organized the Jump Rope for Heart packages I spent some time organizing the library and my art supplies. When I finally left for yoga the skies opened wide and I got caught in a huge downpour on my way to the car. Of course today is the day that I parked in the last spot on the lot and I was soaked to the skin by the time I got to my car. My friend and colleague who goes to yoga with me left a minute after me and also got drenched.

We both go to Maureen Rae’s Yoga Studio on Dundas St. in west Toronto. I’ve been going to Maureen’s studio for about four years but V introduced me to restorative yoga two years ago. It’s so relaxing and every session focuses on different parts of your body. Maureen has a very soothing voice and talks you through and demonstrates every move. You are always encouraged to do what you can and to never push yourself beyond your comfort level.

: My attempt at a warrior’s pose.

Since I’ve lost over 30 pounds yoga has become even more enjoyable. Some of the moves, that I found difficult in the past because I couldn’t get my arms around my knees or I couldn’t bend because my stomach got in the way, are no longer a problem.

All in all, today was a great day. I stayed on track with my eating and I got back to yoga.

Cheers!