From Fit to Ripped?!

This weeks training schedule

2011-08-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

Here is this weeks "Drop back" training schedule where I pull back my miles in order to build them up for the last 4 weeks of training before the Bellingham Bay marathon!

Monday August 22nd: 4 x 1 mile repeats in 7:30 with a 3:30 recovery (DREAD!!)

Tuesday August 23rd: 5 mile recovery run

Wednesday August 24th: 10 km tempo run at 8 minute mile pace

Thursday August 25th: 5 mile recovery run

Friday August 26th: Heavy weights and plyometrics workout

Saturday August 27th: Long run- 15 miles (25 kilometers)

Sunday August 28th: Rest Day!

This weeks training schedule

2011-08-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Oh, I know, I know... it's been way too long since I have last wrote to you all. But it's summer time and I've been out enjoying the sun... so cut me some slack! I promise that this week you'll get a nice juicy blog entry but until then I have this weeks schedule to tide you over.

Monday August 15th: Track workout: 8 X 400 meter repeats. 400m repeats in 1:45 and 400m recovery in 2:00-2:10.

Tuesday August 16th: 11 sets of the stairs (5500 stairs) and an upper body and core workout

Wednesday August 17th: Steady state 10km run at 9 minute mile pace

Thursday August 18th: 4 mile tempo run at an 8 minute mile pace

Friday August 19th: Heavy weights workout including plyometrics

Saturday August 20th: 30 kilometer (19 mile) run at 8:45 minute mile pace

Sunday August 21st: Rest day!

Ragnar Relay: Northwest Passage

2011-07-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

So here I am on the Monday afternoon after completing the Ragnar Relay: Northwest Passage, this past weekend and I'm unable to move. I'm literally sitting here as if I don't have legs. The remotes waaaay over there so I will watch whatever comes on next. The computer runs out of batteries so I guess I'll have to wait for tomorrow to finish my work. My kitchen is not conveniently located on my couch, so whats for lunch? Nothing.

Yep, that's exactly how it's playing out today.

But you know what makes it a million times worth it? Well, the fact that we not only raced Ragnar unbelievably well, we actually destroyed it. That's right. We WON the Open Female Division. And I am unbelievably proud of myself and of our team for the dedication it took to come in first.

So here's how it all went down. My dear friend Linda Wong asked me months ago if I would be interested in running the Ragnar Relay: Northwest Passage, a 200 mile (321 KM) relay that runs all day, all night and through the next day with no sleep, until your team crosses the finish line. I went to the Ragnar website and read through the synopses. My immediate reaction was no, absolutely not. Abort friendship! This broads crazy! But then as I thought about what I have accomplished this year in my personal life as well as my athletic life I called her back and committed myself to being a part of the team. She assured me that we would have fun and that I didn't have to stress about it, which I took to mean that we weren't trying to win the damn thing, only running it for the experience.
Boy was I wrong.

These ladies were in it to win it.

I showed up to the race on Friday morning in Blaine, Washington and took a look at our team. If this wasn't the fittest bunch of ladies I've ever seen then I'm not sure who is. The women were tight, toned, fit and fast. I stuck out like a sore thumb being the tallest and definitely the curviest woman on the team. As the women prepared their gear, 3 running outfits, a couple pairs of shoes, racing glasses, compression socks, race belts, gels, electrolytes, hats, headlamps and everything else, I started to get nervous. I don't have all the pro gear, I've never competed in anything like this race before and I certainly have never competed on a national level like a few of the women on the team. I sat down to look over my legs of the race. I would be running legs 2 at 12:45pm, leg 14 at 9:30pm and leg 26 at 5:00am and the anticipated times that I was supposed to complete my legs in look difficult, really difficult. My first leg was labeled "Hard" and would send me on a partial uphill battle with a very strong head wind for 7 miles (just over 10km) as I ran through Birch Bay and handed my baton over to Linda as she headed out for leg 3. Leg 14 was were I got a bit of a break, running 3 and a half miles on a mostly downgrade slope. After that I would be finishing up early in the morning on a 3 mile course with a steep incline that leveled out near the end and then it would all be over for me as I watched my team continued to complete their legs. In total I was running a bit over a half marathon length but I was warned that the distance would feel 3 or 4 times as long because of the lack of sleep and lack of food over the 24 hours. I just really didn't want to let the team down.

So as I saw Maureen running like a cheetah up the exchange chute to pass off the baton to me I focused my energy on not thinking about the pain, but instead thinking about how well I was doing. I'm certainly not the fastest runner in the world but when your legs are 17 feet long, you know that your basic stride will take you were you want to go faster than most. Before the start of the race the ladies were telling me about "Kills", when you pass people on your leg of the race, therefore getting closer and closer to that first placed title. So as the half way point was nearing I saw my first victim about 70 feet in front of me. I'm so glad I saw that man because beating him was the only thing able to take my mind off the fact that my breathing sounded like Darth Vader and that I was sure I was going I was going to die. So I took him down and then continued to worry about how far behind me he was for the remainder of the run. Great incentive to move faster!

So as the night went on and our team continued to knock time off of our "anticipated" finish times, I realized just how exhausted I was getting. The race doesn't supply you with any food or drink except for water, there is no place to shower or clean up, and there is no area to rest unless you brought a sleeping bag and you're fine with sleeping in between 2 trees, which I'm clearly not. So as van number 1 finished their first legs and van number 2 took over we parked in a parking lot and tried to get some shut eye. It was virtually impossible. I put my seat back, curled my legs up and put my feet inside the glove box to find a "comfy" position. I slept for a total of 14 minutes and then before we knew it it was round 2.

The next 2 legs went down in a blur. We were all tired, hungry and it was pitch black which meant we ran with the extra weight of safety vests, head lamps, back lights and flashlights all while continuing to pass other runners and beat our own predicted times. As my last leg started at 5am I was exhausted, I wasn't sure I would be able to finish it, let alone do it in 25 minutes, but I wasn't about to fail now. I started up the steep incline and it felt like I was walking, and not power walking mind you, I'm talking walking like a 90 year old with a cane and a couple of bad hips. Thats when I glanced up and saw that the sun was starting to rise. I was enjoying the moment watching the navy sky turn orange as a rooster let out a huge caw that made my heart skip a beat... that's when I snapped out of airy-fairy land and saw a woman less than 30 feet ahead of me on the hill. She must have been there the whole time but I wasn't able to see her in the darkness. I decided at that moment that I was going to finish this leg strong. I raced up the hill using my glutes to power me through and then as I crested the hill I just let 'er go. I passed 8 people on that leg of the race, congratulating them all on a job well done as I made them eat my dust. I came in just under 24 minutes and realized that I had ran that leg at a fierce 4:48/km. I was elated.
By the time van 1's legs were finished we were all spent. We headed to the showers and had a big meal while we waited for Tina-Louise to run over the finish line. All I wanted at that point was a bed. Any shape, form or size, as long as I could stretch my legs out and close my eyes.

Saturday, just before noon, we got word that Tina-Louise was on her way, that she had hit the 1 mile to go marker. We all waited by the finish line so we could run across together and sure enough, a few minutes later she came barrelling around the corner like a bat out of hell. We crossed the finish line at 11:52am making us the 1st open female team to finish, the first Canadian team to finish and the 16th overall (out of 300 teams) team to finish the race. I was really proud of myself, not only did I keep up with these phenomenal women but I helped to take 3 minutes off of our predicted finish time as well as I gathered up a total of 16 kills. The event was a testament of will and courage and I am so honoured to have been able to run it with such a fabulous group of talented women. The Ragnar website states that this is a race that you will be bragging about for life. I'm certain it is... As long as I can get out of this barcalounger.

Tina-Louise Harris, Katheryn Duff, Me, Julie Bertrand, Jeanne Kim, Mica Donnelly, Jodie Lightfoot
Lara Duke, Rene McKibbin, Maureen Curtin, Anna Schachner, Linda Wong

Maureen passing me some water as I ran my first leg

Best medal ever! It's a bottle opener!

The question mark says it all.

This weeks training schedule

2011-07-18T00:07:00.000-07:00

Here is this weeks training schedule. 10 week countdown for the Bellingham Bay marathon has started and I'm excited to dive into it this week!

Monday July 18th: 12 x 200m track workout. 200m repeats in 45-50 seconds with a 200m recovery run in 65-70 seconds.

Tuesday July 19th: Stairs workout (try to improve on my current record of 3,800 stairs touched in 35 minutes) as well as a core and upper body weights workout.

Wednesday July 20th: Steady state 10km run at a slow 9:30/mile pace

Thursday July 21st: Double workout. Morning: 10km tempo run at a 8:00/mile pace Evening: Minimalist run clinic which will include a hill workout and running drills

Friday July 22nd: Heavy weights and plyometric workout, then I head down to the RAGNAR RELAY in Washington to run 3 legs of the 36 hour relay race with 10 other women!

Saturday July 23rd: 14 mile long run at Marathon Pace + 45 seconds (about a 9:00/mile pace) Which is split up into 3 seperate legs.

Sunday July 24th: Rest day

Here we go again

2011-07-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

As my Birthday came and went last week I was able to spend a bit of time reflecting back on the year that has just passed. I've been so lucky in so many ways, great friends and family, wonderful job, and now a true passion for running and fitness has changed everything yet again to make each day even more stellar than the last. I'm so blessed that way, that I was able to discover something that gets me out of bed in the morning with a smile on my face, ready to face the day.

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I've latched on to strength and conditioning coach, Curb Ivanic, of Core Running like a bad case of the mumps. At this point he couldn't get rid of me even if he tried. I not only enjoy his clinics but I can feel myself becoming a more competent runner and that's the whole name of the game, right?

So Curb and I sat down for a meeting yesterday to discuss my brand new strategy for the Bellingham Bay marathon. As he so politely put it "It's within reach, but you're really going to have to work very hard at it. You're going to need to learn to love the track." Love the track? LOVE the track? Ice cream, my family, tequila... these are things I love. The track? It doesn't even register a blip on the love meter. In fact it's no where near the meter, it's somewhere over there in the same heap as cleaning toilets, breaking your leg or getting mugged. Not fun, not easy. NOT love.

But he's right, although love will never be the word I will use when describing track workouts, I am fully committed to having a torrid, passionate affair with the track. The ups and down will be there, the hate will penetrate deep as I attempt yet another 200m repeat but the lust for how it makes me feel post workout will be great and fulfilling. No track one-night-stand for me. I'm in for the long haul and although I will never (Ever. Lets get that clear) love the track, I'm in 100%. And that's a lot of percentage.

So needless to say, with my schedule worked out, I am pumped to get my fitness on. 2 weeks ago I was feeling the most out of shape I've been in a year, struggling through a 10km and carrying a few extras lbs. 2 weeks later I feel like a machine. Incredible what the human body can do. I haven't missed a workout in 2 weeks and not only am I feeling fitter and more capable, I'm feeling in charge and in power of my workouts instead of the other way around.

Last night I went to my minimalist running camp and we were doing hill drills on the Spanish Banks hill. For those of you who are not familiar, lucky you. For those of you who are familiar, you feel my pain, no doubt. I was nervous after my last (unfit Kelly) minimalist camp that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the fit men and women that surrounded me but I was pleasantly surprised at how well I managed and how quickly I'm picking up the techniques that Curb and Adam are teaching. As I fully dedicate myself back to training I'm excited to see what the next 11 weeks will bring in terms of speed and stamina; all injury free, of course, thanks to Curb.

My new program will consist of 3 main runs per week. 1 track workout, 1 tempo run and 1 long run dispersed amongst 2 strength training workouts, 1 easy/recovery run and (yuk!) a stairs workout. I'll start posting my weekly workouts again and keep you up to date on my progress for the next marathon. My main goal is to feel superiorly fit going in to Bellingham. It's going to be a struggle every step of the way but then again, what wonderful things in life aren't? (well, probably a lot... but just go with me on this).
See you out there on the pavement!

Thanks for reading!

Scotiabank Half Marahton

2011-06-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

We all know that I've taken the past 2 months off training and that I'm feeling a bit out of shape. I wanted to run the Scotiabank Half Marathon on Sunday to get a better idea of what I've got left in the tank from the BMO Marathon and to better gage what level to start my training at for my next marathon.

So on Friday I headed down to the Runners Expo to pick up my race packet with my Tech T-shirt and my timing chip. When I got there it was quite busy and the half Marathon and 5km lines ups were set up perpendicular to each other so, as you can imagine, people were getting a bit mixed up and crossing paths. As I nestled into my spot in the 1/2 Marathon line a man leans over to me from the 5km line and says "The 5k line is over here".
I look to my right and left. There's no one else beside me or behind me.

"Huh?"
"The 5k line is over here"

Now here is where, if this were a movie, I would imagine myself reaching out to slap that sonofabitch across the face all the while telling him that I could run circles around him the whole time he's running his stupid 5k and STILL run my half marathon in a better time than he could.
But this is not a movie.
And I don't think 5k's are stupid.
And I am not a mean person. Obviously :-)

So instead I just looked at him dead pan and said "I'm in the correct line. Please stop bothering me".
The nerve!

So Sunday morning I woke up at 5am, ate my oatmeal and banana and worked out my run timing and strategy. I was going to be running with my friends Linda and Tavis, my pacer from the BMO Marathon, and I knew he would need to know what kind of time I was predicting to finish in. As I thought of how my fitness was lacking, how I was a few pounds over my ideal running weight, how I hadn't had one solid training day in 2 months and how my personal best on this specific course was 2 hours and 4 minutes, I decided to shoot for a course personal best. I wasn't going to "race" the course too hard since I didn't want to hurt myself after not being geared up properly so I figured if I cruised it at a solid 9 minute mile pace then I could finish in 2 hours and feel great about crushing my PB by 4 minutes.

So as Tavis, Linda and I started out on our run I was feeling calm and at ease, a feeling I can truly say I have never felt at the start of a race before. There was no nerves and no wobbly stomach. I looked at Sunday as just another training run. I started to get into the groove around kilometer 6. I was feeling good, my legs were fresh and my pace was steady. At km 10 Tavis announced that if I stayed on pace I was going to break my course personal best for sure and at that point I was feeling fantastic. The first half of the Scotia race is fairly easy with lots of flats or downgrades and very little uphill. The second half, however, is way harder, with the majority of the last 10kms on an uphill incline. I knew it would be hard to keep pace on the uphills but I was feeling so great at that point of the race that it didn't phase me.

We started our climbs and before I knew it we were 19 km's in and the end was just around the corner. The race was breezy for me, I just kept saying how amazing I felt, how easy my body was handling the run. I felt like I was hammering those hills at a great pace and as we came up Burrard street bridge I was passing dozens of people on the incline. I felt unstoppable. As we approached the finish line I looked up to see that not only was I about to crush my previous course record, I was about to SMASH it by 8 minutes.

I cruised a run 8 minutes faster than I raced it the last time.

I was in shock. Still am I think. It was a phenomenal run and at this point in my running life I think I can say it was my best race yet. I'm so stoked to start my serious training this week and I'm delighted to see that I don't have to start from scratch. If my body can do what it did yesterday with ease then the road ahead is going to be filled with long runs, tempo runs, gruelling track workouts and... Boston Qualifiers.

I'll keep you posted.
Thanks for reading!

Minimalist running camp

2011-06-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

As my last blog post states, I've been in a fitness funk. After you finish a marathon it's imperative that you take a good chunk of time off to recover your body completely before you start to train full throttle for your next race. It's been a month and a half now since I finished the BMO Vancouver marathon and had my tonsils removed and although I have been exercising daily and running 4 or 5 days a week, I haven't been "training". So as I was working out my new 14 week training program yesterday I was getting more and more excited to dive right into it.

Last night I headed out to my first Minimalist Running Camp put on by Curb Ivanic of Core Running and Adam Janke of Active Orthopaedic. Curb is the running specific coach who is a minimalist pro and Adam is a certified Pedorthist, a specialist in assessing lower-limb skeletal alignment, movement patterns, general foot function and how the feet interact with the rest of the body. As you all know, I've been a huge fan of Curbs since I took my first running clinic with him in February. Curb is not only a sensational coach and well rounded runner but he has the masters degrees and finishers medals to back up the fact that he understands a runners body and he understands running. I find it refreshing to listen to him talk about his personal workouts and what he does to keep his body injury free and in tip top shape, something that I, and every other runner I know, strives for.

In the past years Curb has taken a serious interest in minimalist or "natural" running. With the thousands of questions being thrown at him regularly about how to go about starting a minimalist program he decided to team up with Adam and his team at Active Orthopaedic to bring us a new running clinic focused on transitioning into minimalist running shoes. As you may or may not be familiar with, minimalist running has been around for literally millions of years. Even 50 years ago they ran in thin and unsupported shoes and over those past 50 years the shoe companies have built up shoes to protect the foot and create stability, therefore changing the way that most people run- landing on their heels instead of their forefoot because the heel is so padded in the shoes. But we have seen an increase in running related injuries over the past 50 years also. Minimalist running forces you to change your stride and gait because without a padded shoe you would never willingly land on your heel. Natural running (landing on your forefoot while taking shorter steps) is not something to be taken lightly. We have been so conditioned to land on our heels that the transition to minimalist footwear has to be done slowly and it is important to listen to your body.

I have been working out in my Nike Free's (Nike's version of the minimalist shoe) for some time now but it wasn't until yesterday that I actually ran in them for longer than 2 or 3 km's. It's so interesting to wake up this morning and feel all these brand new muscles in my lower body, especially in my ankles and lower calves, that I didn't even know I had. I'm very excited to see what this clinic will do to further progress my running. I'll be training with Curb and Adam every Thursday night as well as I will be incorporating one short minimalist run (3 miles or less) a week into my routine. As I build up those muscles I will slowly transition into lighter and more natural shoes- but that will take time for sure.

I'll continue to update you all on how this clinic goes for me as I think it's super fascinating to watch as my body mechanics slowly shift to make me a more versatile and efficient runner. If you have any interest in getting your own Pedorthic assessment done I would highly recommend you give Adam a call at Active Orthopaedic and set up an appointment. You'll be astonished at what you learn about your lower half!

Now I'm off to pick up my race package for the Scotia Half Marathon on Sunday. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading!

Let's try something new.

2011-06-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

What happens when you've been blogging about yourself almost everyday for the past 8 months straight?

You get bored of reading about your own life.

I've received a massive amount of emails asking where I've been and why I haven't been blogging. I wish there was some super romantic story to tell you all, about how I've been whisked away into never never land with Prince Charming and there was no computer on our gorgeous deserted island but alas it's just me getting bored with the same old, same old.

Those of you who have been following me for the past 8 months know that I've tried a million new things on this journey and I have been so excited to write about each and every experience about a nano second after it was complete. But as I look back at the past month there hasn't been a whole lot of thrills happening in the world of Kelly when it comes to my exercise routine. Instead I've been holding strong in my training as I prepare for an upcoming half marathon on June 26th. But who wants to read about me going for yet another 10km run? Not me.

I figured it's time for a shake up.

So I've gone ahead and purchase a one month unlimited pass to Tantra Fitness to inject a bit of fun into my results oriented, but sometimes boring, routine. With classes named Girlicious, Sexy Flexy and Lap Dance, I'm certain Tantra Fitness will have the desired effect I'm looking for... and if it doesn't then there is something terribly wrong with me!

I've also decided to change my running routine ever so slightly to incorporate one day a week of minimalist running. I've signed up to start the Core Running Clinics Minimalist Running camp that will help me further progress in my technique. I have taken clinics with Core Running before and have been more than thrilled with the results I've gotten. I'm excited to try the whole minimalist trend to see if I can better improve my strength and most importantly to see if I can become even more efficient with my stride.

I'll keep you posted on all of the new and exciting things I have coming my way. I have a feeling that I'll be back in front of the computer harassing you with the outcomes of each of these new ventures just as soon as I rush in the door each day. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading!

Inspiration and leader?

2011-05-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

I have to start first with an apology for not writing for the past few weeks. It's been a weird month for me. As you all know, after the elation of training and completing my first marathon I went in for some surgery to have my tonsils removed. Spending 2 full weeks in bed with no solid foods took everything out of me.

Last week I started to train again and I have to admit, I thought it would have been 1000 times easier than it was. I went out for a slow and steady 5km last Monday and only made it 3. Tuesday I went down to the elliptical and spent 30 minutes huffing and puffing as if it was my first ever cardio session. Wednesday I tried for that 5k once again and got burnt out after 4. I was defeated and upset and to be honest with you, I felt like packing it all in. Ever been there? In a spot that you thought you had moved past months, years, even decades ago? I've spent a lot of my life building myself to be a person of strength and determination. A winner, not a quitter, but last week was brutal for me. Saturday morning came and I had a 10km planned with my running buddies Randi and Shawna. I warned them that my body wasn't cooperating the way I had thought it would and they assured me that we would ease into the run and work at my speed. In the 6 months that I have been training with them I haven't had to take a walk break once. 40km? no problem. Until Saturday. I lasted 8kms and I was in utter misery the entire time. With my pride somewhere down near my running shoes, and my head hanging just as low, I needed to give my head a shake. I just didn't realize it yet.

I headed in to see Nikos because I knew that if anybody would be able to get my body back to feeling limber and strong it was him. He spent quite a bit of time working on my legs and by the time I left his table and his "Magic Hands" I was feeling a lot better then I was on Saturday morning. So today I wanted to attempt a 10km again. This time I wasn't hoping for anything but a basic sweat session but of course I was nervous that my body and mind would still reject one of the only things I have ever truly loved doing: Running. And then came the message in my inbox.

Hi Kelly

I'm wondering if you would be interested in helping me out with an assignment that I have at school on "leadership". Basically, you need to choose a person who you believe is a "leader" and ask them questions about their leadership style. I want to shy away from the corporate CEO that is typically interviewed for this assignment, and interview someone that is an inspiration and true leader for many others.

You've gone through so much over the past 10 months and so many people look up to you. What do you say??

I reread that message 4 or 5 times. A leader? Me? Not possible.
This message, coming from a woman that I have met only once or twice, completely turned me around. I took a moment to remember all of the hundreds of personal messages that have been sent to me over the past months showing the support and encouragement of complete strangers, people taking time out of their day to write me and tell me that they have been reading and that they are interested in my story. It got me thinking, certainly I don't think of myself as a 'leader' but I know that people are out there cheering me on. No one is waiting for me to fail. In fact, I now realize that there are always going to be people out there that believe in me more than I believe in myself at times and I am so ridiculously grateful that I have been able to share this experience with all of you. I owe it to myself and to you to make sure that nothing stands in the way of all the major things I want to accomplish on this journey.

So as I headed out for my run this morning I was feeling unstoppable. Not only did I complete the 10km with ease and agility but I also had 50 minutes to think of all the people who inspired me and lead me to the spot I'm in today. I also had time to realize that yes, in fact, I am a leader, the leader of my own life... and it's a damn great one!

Thank you to all of you for being a part of it!
Kelly

The aftermath

2011-05-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

Recovery week after you run a marathon is supposed to be relaxed and stress free. Helping you restore your depleted muscles, ignite your passion for running yet again and let you reflect on the amazing triumph that you have just accomplished. For some the post race days are spent with the feet up, icing the knee's with a beer in hand and no doubt sporting the finishers medal for all to see. For others the post run recovery week will consist of a few 3 mile jogs to keep the legs from getting stiff and to help move the body into the next round of training. For Kelly, however, things were a bit different. I chose to spend my recovery week holed up in a hospital bed after they so viciously shanked my tonsils out of my neck and left me for dead. Without my medal around my neck... or a beer in my hand, might I add.

At the time I thought it was a brilliant idea, schedule the surgery for right after the race and I would be forced to recover properly from the run as well as I would have the TIME to lie around and get better. The Dr. explained to me that they normally don't remove adults tonsils anymore as the surgery takes a ridiculously long time to heal and for most people the tonsils are the first line of defense against infection and disease. For me, however, the tonsils were my worst nightmare, causing me pain and frustration, hospitalization and antibiotics on an almost monthly basis and I knew that if I wanted to take my training seriously then I had to have them removed.

When I remove tonsillitis from the equation I like to think that I am one of the healthiest people I know. I eat healthy the mojority of the time, I focus on eating tons of veggies and minimal meat, I don't smoke, drink or do drugs and I lift weights, stretch and do cardio 6 or 7 days a week, not to mention that my endurance is obviously outstanding (what, what! sub 4 hour marathoner!). So when the Dr. told me that recovery would be 10 days in bed and 14 days until I was feeling myself again I thought that for sure he was talking about the obese old men who were getting their tonsils removed because they snore too loud from the years of smoking and heavy fat that is making it hard for them to breathe. I was certain that I would spend a couple of days in the hospital, hop out of bed and hit the seawall for a recovery jog.

Boy was I wrong.

Here I am writing you 8 days after the surgery feeling like garbage. I haven't left the house since I returned from the hospital. The only movement from my body has been walking from my bed to the couch and back and it STILL feels like shards of glass at the back of my throat every time I take a sip of water, so you can understand that solid food has yet to make a comeback in my life. It's the shits, the pits, the dumps. Whatever way you put it it still sucks.

So what have I been doing to keep myself motivated to put those runners on the second I'm feeling better? I have gone ahead and signed up for my next 3 big races and, on top of that, I have been researching new training techniques with my coaches and looking forward to blowing the Boston Qualifier out of the water on September 25th at the Bellingham Bay Marathon. I'll keep you posted on all the different training that I'll be trying for the Bellingham Marathon as well as how everything goes for the fast approaching Scotia Bank Half Marathon and the very exciting Ragnar Relay!

Hopefully I'll bust through this 2 inch x 2 inch box of horrible, cruel pain in the next couple of days and then I can finally get back into what I love doing. Until then I will be sitting on the couch enjoying (UGG) some ice chips.

Thanks for reading!

THE BMO VANCOUVER MARATHON. 26.2 MILES: COMPLETE.

2011-05-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I completed my first ever full Marathon, a 42.2 kilometer race that takes you through a mind trip so incredible and so devastating all at once that you would be a fool not to be proud of every moment that got you to the start line and every single foot step that got you to the finish line.
That's what I'm going to write about in this blog post. The race and the 65,576 steps that I took on my feet yesterday morning in the 3 hours and 52 minutes that I was out on the pavement in the gorgeous Vancouver sun.

I woke up from an unusually good sleep at 6am yesterday and I was feeling good. My race gear was layed out in front of me, my breakfast was in the crock pot that I prepared the night before, my IPod was charged and my body was feeling good. Randi and I were running the race together in the hopes of securing ourselves a Boston Marathon qualifying time. Since signing up for this race and so loudly displaying my attempts at qualifying for Boston on my first ever marathon I have had some amazing people show their support and I've had a lot of people tell me it just can't be done. When you look at the statistics you realize that the naysayers might be right. The average woman runs a full marathon in 5 hours and 6 minutes. The average first time marathoner (regardless of gender) runs their first marathon in 5 hours 23 minutes. But guess what negative Nelly's... I'm not average. And I never will be.

So Randi and I enlisted my friend Tavis (multiple marathon finisher and Ironman Tri-athlete) to pace us for the first 10kms. The first 10ks are where 90% of all marathoners make their worst mistake. They let the crowd and adrenaline dictate their pace instead of going out slow as molasses, having everybody pass you and then reeling them back in as the race proceeds. We ran the first 10km in a very modest 50 minutes and we were feeling great. Tavis took off to grab his bike and Randi and I sunk into the next kilometers ahead.

As we approached km 17 I saw my sister Morgan and her boyfriend Anthony standing at the sidelines cheering us on. As I read the posters my sister had written "Boston won't know what hit it" and "Boston Tea Party, today at 3:39:00" I felt excited and enthusiastic for the miles to come. At that point we started our entry into Stanly Park. Randi and I cruised through kms 17 to 21 like it was a regular Sunday jog, even though we were cruising at a very solid 8 minute mile (5 minute km) pace. That's when we saw the half way marker. I was excited and emotional, Randi and I both looked at our watches at the same time. 1 hour and 49 minutes. Holy shit. We were going to qualify for Boston. We were on track, in fact we were a minute ahead of schedule. If we were able to keep up this pace until the end then a 3:39 finish was ours for the taking.

And that's when things changed. Pipeline road was ahead of us and the ascent began. Pipeline wasn't the steepest hill on the course but it was the longest for sure and popping up directly after you have just finished a half marathon makes it feel all the more frustrating. We dug in and ran it with all of our guts but we just weren't able to keep our pace steady. As we ascended I saw Tavis at the bottom of the hill. He was riding his bike along the course to help us organize our splits and keep us on pace. He said we needed to pick it up at this point because we had lost some ground. We rounded Lost Lagoon and headed down Beach avenue and everything I had been feeling up until that point in the race started to deplete. I felt delirious. As Randi continued on in front of me like a bat out of hell, I had started to hit the "wall" as every marathoner knows all too well. I have listened to Pod casts, watched movies, read interviews and asked questions, every marathoner has said in a very important and serious tone "You will hit the wall and you will go to a very dark place. It's is absolutely not a matter of if but a matter of when. It's up to you and your sheer will power to push the thoughts away."

As I approached kilometer 27 by myself, Randi long gone, I knew my sister would be just up the street ready to do my fuel exchange. She was going to hand me my new bottles of electrolyte drinks as well as some gel energy fuel and some Advil. I also knew that Shawna was going to be a few feet behind her ready to jump into the race and pace me for the remaining 15 kms. I saw my sister and I felt like I was in a haze. I don't remember much of the exchange except that I wasn't smiling and I wasn't happy to be replacing my 2 empty bottles with 2 full bottles adding an extra 1.5 lbs to my body. I threw my bottles at her, grabbed the new ones and forgot to get the rest of my fuel and Advil. That's when Shawna jumped in. She could tell I was in the depths of despair so she started talking to me, telling me stories. I wasn't reacting all that much but as a multiple marathon finisher and Ironwoman herself, she understood what I needed at that point. I needed my brain to stop telling me to stop.

We headed up the Burrard street bridge hill on our way to Cornwall st. and I wanted to quit. I wanted to quit so bad that I was surprised my body hadn't stopped moving yet. As Shawna told me stories of school and travel my brain was telling me to quit, my brain was yelling at me to fake and injury, to start walking to just wave the white flag and be done with the whole thing. But I didn't. I couldn't. How do you put 5 months of your life into something and not see it through to completion? Not me. I was going to finish this damn thing if it was the last thing I would do.

And that's when I saw my Mom.

I think crying would be an understatement. I balled like a baby. Just when the world was getting dark and scary my Mom showed up with a huge sign that read GO KELLY GO, RUN KELLY RUN. That was it, that was all I needed to get out of the depths and back into the race. So as we headed past the km 29 marker on our way to Jericho Beach I was feeling good. I was amazingly surprised that my body felt phenomenal and my brain was back in a positive place. From km 29 to 33 I had some spectacular friends pop out with their encouraging words and there ultra awesome cowbells. Ingrid and Noelle von Beckmann, Carol Glancy and Lisa Sherba all came out through that hard uphill stretch to support me on my journey and I could have not been more grateful. Thank you guys!

As I mentioned before this part of the race is gruelling, its an undulating out and back course filled with short but intense uphill and downhill spots and at this point, with less than 10 kms to go, my body felt like it was starting to break down on me. I felt it slowly start to creep in and then it hit me like a tonne of bricks. My legs felt like concrete, my once powerful arm swings were all over the place and my mid section was getting wobbly. I was headed back into the area of the brain that I was so drastically afraid of. Until I saw my Dad. A breath of relief escaped me when I heard him yell, Go Kel! You're looking good! And that was it. That was what I needed to push me through to the other side. Along that horrible stretch I saw my Dad, my step Mom Linda Ambrose, my step-sister Sarah Ambrose, my Mom again (4 times!!), my step Dad John Watkins and my friend Doreen Copeland. I was feeling recharged. That's when we caught up to Randi as she was deep into her dark place. I reminded her of how far she had come and no matter if we qualify for Boston or not, she was going to run a personal best on this course for sure and that in itself was an unbelievable accomplishment.

I checked my watch and realized that I was approaching km 37. At km 37 I was going to know for sure if I was going to be able to qualify for Boston or not. It was a this point in the race that it would be highly unlikely for me to be able to make up lost time so if I hit the 37km mark at 3:10 or faster I was golden, all I had to do was maintain the pace. If I hit km 37 at 3:11 or slower I would settle into the rest of the race knowing that I gave it my all and that I was only 5 kms from the finish line. I might not qualify but I was sure as hell going to finish. I looked at my watch. 3:16. I wasn't going to qualify.

And that's when my aunts Vicki Trerise and Nancy Richler popped up (again!!) and helped to carry me through the last 5 kms. I heard them say how proud they were of me as I ran by them and I couldn't help but get a bit emotional. As I rounded the corner near the Maritime Museum I noticed a man collapse, his legs were jelly and he couldn't get up. There were several more people walking, sitting on the side of the road or stretching against a telephone pole. I saw 7 people pee their pants and another horribly sad woman shit her pants. The physical stress and mental delusion of running 42.2 kilometers is more than the body would ever want to take.

As I headed over the Burrard Bridge again to make our decent into downtown I told Shawna I was going to need some music to get me over the climb. I put on my IPod full blast and Eminems voice filled my speakers as he rapped the song "Til I collapse".
"'Cause sometimes you feel tired, feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up. But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse. Left, Right, Left. Left, Right, Left"

With less than 1 kilometer to go my Mom, Step Dad John, and Doreen were there cheering me on. Tavis came out to give me a high five and then I was alone in the finish chute. Shawna branched off to let me finish this race by myself. Thousands of people were screaming and cheering, posters flying, cowbells ringing and there on the side lines amongst the thousands of well wishers were some of my best friends on the planet. Mar Andersons, Mike Shea, Erin Sheinberg, Michela Andreana, Nicola Walter, Anthony Moffat and my gorgeous sister Morgan Trerise holding a sign that read "My sister ran 26.2 miles today. What did yours do?" Their cheers and screaming made me want to dig as deep as I could and finish the race strong. I looked up and saw my time on the clock. 3 hours and 52 minutes. I was in hysterics. Not only did I finish the race in under 4 hours but I was over an hour faster than the 'average' first time marathon runner and only 12 minutes off the Boston qualifying time. Later I learned that I finished in the top 1/3 of the entire race and 44th in my age group!

I'll be running my second marathon on September 25th and this time the Boston qualifier is mine.

"Pain is temporary, pride is forever" and I could not be any more proud of myself for the work I put in and the outcome that I, alone, achieved.

A very special Thank you to my team over the last 5 months. Chris Cole, The Run Inn, Nike, Nikos at the MicroStretching clinic, Curb Ivanic and the Core Running clinic, Rick at Body Energy Club, Nathan and the team at Studeo 55, Randi Elphick, Shawna Mann and of course my family and friends. Love you all, there is no chance that I would have been able to do it without you, your expertise, your knowledge, and your devotion to my cause. Thank you for believing in me.

The Dreaded Taper

2011-04-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

I have been forced to take my taper week to the extreme.

Last week while I was out for a nice breezy 10k run I twisted my ankle on some loose stones and have been nursing the stupid thing ever since. I went to the Dr. and the physio as well as Nikos at the MicroStretching clinic and they all said the same thing. If I want to run this marathon on May 1st I better stay off my ankle and ice, ice, ice the hell out of it.

So for the past week, when I should have been indulging in fabulous short runs, I was off work and off my leg for hours upon hours at a time. Rest, ice, compress, elevate, repeat. Repeat, Repeat. REPEAT.
I was getting so frustrated that I couldn't stand the thought of another day without a run but I knew the only way to make sure that May 1st comes without a hitch was to rest it. So rest I did.

There are so many injuries that can creep up in a runners life that I have to admit that when I look at how lucky I am to even be able to get to the start line on May 1st I have to give myself and my team credit for making sure that I kept my body and mind strong and injury free. That's why this last minute hiccup has been a knife to the back for me. I've trained hard for 5 full months and to get something like this show up 10 days out from a very important milestone in my life annoys me to no end... but I have to believe that everything happens how it's supposed to happen in life. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned about not pushing myself so hard that I crack, which is something I might have done in the past. After all it's a sprained ankle that I needed to take a week off for not a broken foot, snapped IT band or anything else much much worse. At least I still get to run my race.

And run that race I will.

Today was my first day back in a week. Shawna and I headed out for a nice and easy 9km run and I have to admit that I felt like jumping around like a fat kid on an extreme sugar high at a birthday party. I felt strong and in control and it was an absolute pleasure to have my running shoes on, running out in the rain with Shawna. I'm back baby!

I'm back... and I'm READY!

5 DAYS!!!!

The home stretch

2011-04-18T15:38:00.000-07:00

So here we are 12 days out from the Vancouver Marathon, the day that has consumed my life for 4 months. The home stretch. Normally I would be over the moon, excited to be finishing up such a huge accomplishment but in this instance I am nervous.

I have spent the majority of the past 4 months putting 100% into my training. Hills, tempo, long runs, track workouts it's all been there and my times have improved drastically but I still get that pit of the stomach churning when I think about the race. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Not only is it my first ever marathon but I'm trying to qualify for the hardest marathon in North America to qualify for. And it hasn't been easy.

Yesterday I watched the Sun Runners pass over the Cambie Bridge and over the finish line which just happens to be located right outside my front door. I didn't run the Sun Run because it wasn't in my training program but it was truly inspiring to see the men pass the line in an unbelievable 27 minutes with the woman not far behind them. But do you know what was the most inspiring to me? 2 years ago I could not have run 10k at all, a year ago it would have taken me over an hour and now I would be able to bang one out in roughly 45 minutes. As I watched 50,000 runners from all walks of life crossing the finish line 45 mins, an hour or even 2 hours into the race I realized that every single one of these 50,000 people put the effort in to train for the race. Regardless of their time goals they all set out with one goal in mind. Finish the race.

So although the goal on May 1st is to qualify for Boston, I have decided that what I'm most proud of on this journey so far is that I have put in 100%. There aren't a lot of other things I can say I put my all into but this past 4 months have seen all of my blood, sweat and tears. Some days were amazing, some not so good but to feel as powerful in my own life as I do right now is a pretty sensational reward.

So now as I taper my miles down for the big race I will be focusing on getting the proper nutrition into my body, lots of time spent in the gym working on my core strength, a few short and sweet runs and most importantly I have got myself a whole bunch of new gear from The Run Inn in Kerrisdale. I have spent the past week really working in my new Nike Vomero's and I'm always amazed at how well my times are when I'm running in new, lightly tread shoes that still have their full support. So Thanks Chris for getting me all geared up for the big race! Tomorrow I'll head over to the MicroStretching Clinic with Nikos so that he can work out any last minute tension and ensure that I feel limber for the race. I also went down to visit Rick at Body Energy Club last week to get a refill on my nutritional supplements and race fuel. You guys are all an integral part of the team and I really appreciate all of your expertise.

SO I feel like all the preparation is there, the time was put in, the hard work was displayed and now it's all up to fate. I trust in my training and that's all I can do.

12 DAYS!!!

Thanks for reading!

There's a new coach in town

2011-04-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

Many of you have heard me refer to Curb in passing or on previous blog posts. I've been fortunate enough to have been involved in his Core Running Clinic through the Run Inn this past winter and I learned so much valuable information.

Over the past 5 months I have grown accustom to random people offering me advice on my training, my injuries or my nutritional habits and although I appreciate every bodies information, the only people I care to listen to whole hardily are people who have been in my shoes. People who have ran marathons, Ultra marathons, Iron Man's, Triathlons etc. Curb is one of those men. Curb is an Ultra Marathon runner with years and years of running experience and a Masters degree in Exercise Science to back up the techniques he teaches to his hundreds of followers.

After taking Curbs Clinic at the Run Inn and learning so much about the mechanics of running and how I can make myself a more efficient runner I decided that I wanted some one on one time with Curb and his expertise. So I signed up for a one on one running assessment with Curb and my God did I learn a lot. I thought at this point in the game that I would have all the basics down pat but that isn't necessarily the case.

Curb started by having me run on the treadmill for about 15-20 minutes. I ran at a comfortable pace that I could easily continue at for an hour to an hour and a half. He video taped my feet, hips and shoulders from every angle and then we started going over some basic alignment exercises. Curb discovered that my right hip turns out slightly and my left hip turns in and he gave me 2 very quick exercises to do to align them properly. I was absolutely astounded that with the 2 exercises, right then and there, I was able to align my hip bones. It was almost like a miracle to me. I have suffered with this problem my entire life, I was born severely pigeon toed and as a child I was in boots and bars/leg braces as well as in and out of the foot/knee/leg specialists for years. Curb taught me how to help cure my life long challenge in under 2 minutes. Unfreakingbelievable!

From there he put me through some simple exercises and then some not so simple (or rigorous, as he called them) exercises to take a look at the strength in my core. In running the core is made up of 3 different sections- your abs, back and hips. I'm well aware that my core strength is atrocious (or worse, but I can't think of a worse word!) and today was proof that no matter how much time I seem to devote in the gym, I have to be doing something wrong. It just isn't progressing the way it should be at this stage of the game.

Apparently I was right. As Curb assessed the situation I could tell he was concerned with my strength. With the amount I exercise, I should be able to do certain exercises with ease. I shouldn't look like I have seen the ghost of Christmas Past .12 seconds into a side plank with my eyes bulging out of my head and my hips shaking like a leaf. Curb walked me through some exercises that he thought would significantly change my routine and my strength and I was absolutely shocked at how much I felt the exercises in my glutes and hips today when I woke up. I haven't been that (good) sore from a weights workout in ages, especially not in my glutes (sculpted ass, here I come!)

All in all I am so impressed by the assessment and Curbs knowledge of how my body works while I'm running. I feel confident in my new exercises and the information that I have been given will be put into my routine asap to make sure that everything comes together on race day.

If you're new to running, have a reoccurring injury or are just generally interested in furthering your love for running, like me, then I suggest you check out Curbs Core Running Clinic or get in for a one on one assessment to see what kind of changes he can make to steer your running in the right direction!
Thank you Curb!

Curb on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Core-Running/124687850887593?ref=ts
Curb's Website- http://www.corerunning.com/index.html

The ladies who run

2011-04-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

Instead of the ladies who lunch we are the ladies who run.

For those of you who have been following along on my journey you know just how close I am to hitting a major milestone in my life. Training, running and generally devoting every ounce of my spare time to the BMO VANCOUVER MARATHON.

I don't remember ever having so much passion for anything else in my life thus far. Not necessarily a passion for running or fitness, that's not it at all, it's a new found pride in myself, my abilities and my determination. I remember on November 1st, at the start of this crazy roller coaster I made a comment about my father and how I knew I must have some of that get-you-to-the-Olympics kind of drive deep down inside me. I was right. It's taken some time to harness the grit but it's here and I finally feel like everything is going to work out in my favour. I've put the work in and now as I taper down my miles for the next 3 weeks I have to trust that my work was good enough to get me to Boston. If it's not then I'll try again on another race but until the outcome is confirmed I'm going to go ahead and believe that Boston is mine.

And I'm going to wake up on May 1st and eat 42 kilometers for breakfast.

With a smile on my face.

I want to take a minute to thank all of you for the amazing out pour of support. With over 600 supporters on Twitter and Facebook and thousands more readers of the blog, I have been tweeted, personal messaged and hollered at by people who love me as well as complete strangers. I can't tell you how much it means to me to see and hear your support. It pushes me through tough workouts and mental blocks and when I imagine all of my friends, family and F2R readers cheering me on at the 26.2 mile marker I can say that the only way I was able to do it was because of the positive feedback. So thank you to everyone who has reached out to me. It never goes unnoticed.

This is a picture of the ladies who run on Saturday morning. Stevie and Shawna left Randi and I at various points throughout the morning as they have a different training schedule than we do. But I wanted to make a special mention to Randi and Shawna, I couldn't have done it without you girls. The support you have shown has been unwavering and the miles we have torn up together have been some of the best memories of the path so far.

Stevie, Randi, myself and Shawna headed out for a 3 hour run in in Vancouver.

Thank you for reading!

A rude awakening

2011-04-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday after my 32km long run/race I felt some pain in my left hip which proceeded to get more painful as the day went on. I decided to "listen to my body" and take the past few days off of my hard training. The scariest part of this injury is that I am less than 25 days away from running the race I have been training for for the past 5 months. The last thing I wanted to do was take some time off but I knew that if I didn't take the time this week there would be a good possibility that I would not be running the big race on May 1st.

Not an option.

So I took 4 full days off. Apparently my appetite didn't get the memo.
I ate and ate and ate as if I was burning 2000 calories a day but considering that I wasn't, this was a supremely bad move on my part. I woke up yesterday feeling sluggish and tired, which hasn't happened to me in months, and I could figure out why. Then it hit me, I have probably gained an L.B. (or 3!) and with no exercise for 4 days I was going through some sort of epic fitness withdrawal. I'm now used to pushing my body 6 days a week and with all of this time off my body felt stagnant and old. Not exactly what I'm trying to achieve here at From Fit to Ripped.

So last night after shooting a commercial all day I headed to the track to get back into my routine with Coach Chris. He had me run 10 sets of 400m sprints. Oh. My. God.

Not only did I feel like I might faint from exhaustion but I could feel every ounce of the pound or two that had crept onto my body in the past week. I felt heavy and uncoordinated and I got a pretty serious wake up call. Normally I would run a 400m (1 lap) sprint at about 1 minute 27 seconds and last night my first lap out of the gate was 1 minute 37 seconds. I couldn't believe it. I can't let things slip like this, especially so close to the finish line. Never again!

So from now on I'll be watching the morsels that touch my lips and I'll be making sure that everything that I'm doing/eating/drinking is healthy for me and my body and that there is nothing that will pop up that may derail my training.
22 days. The Vancouver Marathon just got all too real.

Thanks for reading!

11 km warm up, 10 km tempo and a 11 km cool down??!!

2011-04-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

I usually don't write much about my long runs, as they tend to be boring and uneventful. Keeping at the same pace for hours on end while I cover most of Vancouver on foot is a huge accomplishment for me. Every week as I add on distance and time, I break new and exciting personal records but although it's life changing for me, it's usually not 'blog-post-exciting'. Last week was a bit different.

A month or so back I committed to run a 10km race on Saturday April 2nd with my friend Shawna to help support something that is important to her- The Run for Rural medicine. I was excited to run the race and since Shawna has been such a huge and unconditional supporter of what I'm trying to do in my life right now I thought it was only fitting that I be there for her in this instance.

I took a look at my calendar on Monday of last week and realized that not only did I have to "race" this 10km race on Saturday but I was also scheduled to run a 32km training run at my "long, slow run" pace... which is certainly not what I would run a 10km race at. I wasn't sure what to do. I consulted one of my coaches and he suggested that I run to the race, run the race and then run home. Sounded simple enough to me. I put the itinerary into map my run and with a little tweaking on the route I figured out a perfect path that led me right to the start line and then back home again in exactly 32kms. I was stoked.

Saturday morning came around and I started out on my adventure alone. I made my way from Yaletown around Science World and then with a few maneuvers and lengthy detours I ended up at Jericho beach at 9:45am. The race didn't start until 10 so I wasn't quite sure what to do. Should I keep running around in circles for the next 15 minutes? Should I stretch out? I ended up running around for about 10 minutes and then walking around talking to people for the next few minutes. As the seconds clicked by and I realized that this wasn't going to be a "big race" like I have ran in the past (there were less than 200 participants) I started to get worried. If I run the whole 10k at my long, slow run pace then I would surely come in last, but seeing as I had already run 16km and had another 6 to make my way back home it would be stupid for me to think I could go out at my usual "tempo run" pace and be able to uphold it for the entire 10km. I was getting nervous. The last thing I wanted to do was come in last, but I also didn't want to destroy my legs for the final 45 minutes of this 3 hour run.

I stood at the start line with people looking at me, their eyes lingering on my fuel belt as I'm sure they were thinking, 'wow, I can't believe that girl brought a fuel belt with her! For a 10 k run!'. I wanted to grab a microphone and make an announcement "Excuse me everyone. I have already run 16kms today. By the time I finish this race I will have finished a half marathon and then I will run home. Please do not judge me and my fuel belt." But instead I stood there waiting for the whistle to blow.

The whistle blew and we were off! I decided the second that whistle blew that I would not be coming in last in this race. No chance. So I ran the damn thing, not outrageously hard but hard enough so that my time wasn't horrible and when I crossed the finish line I had a decent number of people behind me to make me feel good enough about my abilities to run home and smoke those 32 kms.

But that's not exactly how it ended. Do we all remember Shawna? She's the one who I think should be sponsored by a jet fuel company as she runs as fast as lightning and doesn't seem to break a sweat while she smashes records and passes everybody in every race. OK, so now that you remember her you will guess that she won the award for the second fastest female in the race, and since I was running the last 6k home with her, I finished the race and then we waited until she could collect her prize. I think it was this wait time that really did me in. My body was done, finished, caput. But I still had to run home.

The run was hideous. The worst 6kms of my life. I was messy, all over the place, I couldn't keep my rhythm and I felt like my body had packed it in back there at the finish line when I had completed the race. It was telling me to stop. I slowed down to a crawl, poor Shawna was probably ready to sprint out another 50km but she humoured me as we crossed over Burrard bridge and I had to stop for a walk break. It was a disaster. But I finished it. And I learned my lesson, there are certain runs developed by the professionals for a reason. Going forward a Tempo run will stay a Tempo run and a Long, Slow run is and always will be a Long. Slooooooow. Run.

Thanks for reading!

What happens if I never walk again?!

2011-03-31T23:40:00.000-07:00

Ya, ya, OK, OK. I get it. I'm over exaggerating, being a drama-queen diva... but in all seriousness after I finished the stairs on Tuesday I felt like I would need a cane. For the rest of my life.
For. The. Rest. Of. My. Life.

The stairs started out as a way to significantly sculpt my ass, but the workout soon turned ugly (I'm talking Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men ugly). Sure, I had re-read my previous post on my attempt at the stairs in November but I felt like I went a bit easy on them the first time around. "They suck and they always will" was how I described them and apparently the stairs are a lot like child birth. You don't actually remember how horrible the whole process is until you're back in the saddle again.

I knew I wanted to beat my stair count from November by at least 100 stairs and considering all the effort I have been so diligently putting into my workouts I expected that it wouldn't be too hard of a challenge. When it came down to it, it wasn't so difficult to squash my previous count which was 1421 steps up and 1421 down. This time I did (a whopping!!) 1928 stairs up and 1928 stairs down and it took just 33 minutes, as we had done in November. That's an extra 507 stairs and a very good indication of where my cardio fitness is at these days (like He-Man style if you hadn't already caught that).

But then there was the next morning. I couldn't walk. Not only could I not walk, but I literally fell when I got out of bed. With every step I took it felt as though my calves were being torn, or more accurately, ripped from behind my knees and my quads would have rather had me pee myself all day then to allow me to sit down to go to the washroom. And this was after just 24 hours... we all know that 48 hours is when the pain of lactic acid really sets in. It was agonizing.

So whats a girl to do? The only person I know of that can save me from this hell, and help me not to lose momentum in my runs from muscles fatigue, is Nikos at MicroStretching. I would have ran to his clinic if I could have, but instead I slooooowly walked there, propelling one leg after the other out to the side of my body as to make sure not to bend any part of my leg- the knee, the hip, the ankles... nothing was safe from the wrath of the stairs. Nikos spent a full hour stretching me into oblivion. He literally has the hands of a God. I knew I would still feel the lactic acid soreness the next morning when I woke up but at least I would be able to move around and bend my joints without feeling like a Saber Tooth tiger had taken a gnaw on my lower half. Nikos stretches the body in a very specific and scientific way. Making sure to hold each mild stretch for a minute at a time and then repeating the whole circuit twice more. One of the things I love most about lying on his table is that he doesn't allow you to use your muscles for the whole hour that you're there. He moves your body around for you, so not only is he regenerating your muscles but you're getting the most relaxing part of your week in as well. Thanks Nikos. Seriously. I woke up feeling pretty good. So good, in fact, that I headed out for a 10k run. Probably not the smartest thing to do after the whole ordeal, but hey- who's going to do it for me if I don't do it myself? Nobody.
And that's just the way I like it.

1 month exactly until the Vancouver Marathon. Full. Steam. Ahead.

Micro Stretching from Micro FC on Vimeo.

Thanks for reading!

March 28th to April 3rd training schedule

2011-03-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

With only a month to go until the big race I have a couple more weeks of hard workouts before I start to tapper my mileage and effort in order to preserve myself for race day. Here is what I have to look forward to this week!

Monday March 28th: 10 km run focusing on hill training- include the Burrard Bridge at least twice in the run.

Tuesday March 29th: The stairs! (read about my last battle with the stairs by clicking on the link) I'll be heading back to North Vancouver with Rob tomorrow morning to get as many sets of those brutal stairs in as I can! A great workout to help strengthen my glutes and calves. I'll follow the stairs with a full body weights workout focusing on my core and glutes. I will spend the afternoon on Nikos' table getting stretched until it all feels flexible and pliable and then the evening will be spent at the track working with Curb on my efficient running strategies.

Wednesday March 30th: 10 km run

Thursday March 31st: Cross training on the bike for an hour and then a full body weights workout focusing on my upper body and core.

Friday April 1st: Active rest day- either some time on the bike or some time in the pool

Saturday April 2nd: I'm running in the "Run For Rural Medicine" 10km race on Saturday but my training calls for a 33 km run. So whats a girl to do? I'll run from downtown to the start line at Jericho Beach, then compete in the 10 km race and then keep on running back home after I cross the finish line! When it's all said and done I will have racked up a nice 33 kms without even knowing it. Check out the race if you're looking for a fun event to run in while helping out a great cause.

Sunday April 3rd: Rest Day! (YAY!)

Curb's clinic at The Run Inn

2011-03-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

I always like to take a few minutes to share with you things that I find that have helped me along the way in my training. Curb's Clinic is one of those things.

I heard about Curb through one of my friends who has done all of her marathon training through The Run Inn. The Run Inn has many different clinics available, most of which I take part in, but Curb's Core Clinic is quite a bit different from your usual marathon training. Curb is an Ultra runner (known in the running world as a crazy person!) who has a Masters in Exercise Science and has spent the past 11 years working with hundreds of runners and triathletes to streamline their individual performance and help them to move more efficiently.

I'm certainly not a pretty runner, I got my body from my father after all, which means I have a huge stride and a ridiculously high arch, both of which will wreak havoc on your body if you don't use them properly. Curb was touted as the man who would be able to analyse my gait and help me be the best possible runner I can be. And it's true. Each class focuses on a different "exaggerated drill" to help train your body to use different muscles for different parts of your run so that you move more efficiently and don't waist your energy. With Curb's help over the past month I have learned to shorten my stride and pull my arms back in a longer range and his analysis has seemed to be great for my body, my knee has much less stress on it now and I seem to be running at a quick and effective pace.

As I said above, each coaching session we go through numerous "exaggerated drills" which means we extend the action until it looks downright silly so that the body can get used to the new and unusual movements. With drills called "flipper feet", "gum scraping" and "high knees" you know that you can't look cool doing them but they work, and they work well. Each drill has a unique purpose, whether it be to help with your foot strike, with hills or help to propel you forward faster. As you include the more subtle movements, learned from each exaggerated drill, into each run you can certainly notice that your stride is becoming much more skillful. As we focused on hill drills yesterday Curb was quick to point out that most of us were pulling ourselves up the hill with the help of our quads when, in fact, the most powerful way to charge the hill and have the most energy left for the rest of your run is to use your glutes to push through each step and power you up and over. One of the students who has ran in dozens of races and has been running for dozens of years had an break through when she realized that all these years she had been tackling the hills wrong. With her new technique she was able to get over the hills with much less effort then she ever had before and she was in awe of the fact that it was a simple as being told her way wasn't necessarily the best way.

It's a pretty interesting course and I suggest anyone interested in learning more about running or someone who wants to streamline their technique to drop in or call The Run Inn to book your spot in Curb's next clinic. You won't be sorry.

Here are a few shots of the drills.

Warming up with some dynamic stretching

Working on the "Bounding" drill

Curb giving us an example of the Bounding Drill

March 21st to March 27th Training schedule

2011-03-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to this week of intense training. I feel like I've been a bit out of my groove after spending some time down in Phoenix so I'm excited for the week ahead to bring some structure back into my calendar. Here is my weeks training schedule.

Monday the 21st: Full body gym workout with weights and 30 minute run on the treadmill.

Tuesday the 22nd: 3 mile run and a weights workout focusing on my lower body, specifically my hips and glutes then I head to the track to do my drills with Curb's Clinic, working on my overall technique, gait, foot strike and arm swing efficiency.

Wednesday the 23rd: 10km run at 45 seconds per mile faster than race pace.

Thursday the 24th: Track workout with Coach Chris and The Run Inn team. Our workout this week will be 15x 40/20's which I haven't included in my workout in quite a while. This workout is a hard hitter for my VO2 max. 15 reps of 40 seconds at an all out sprint and 20 seconds of recovery. The workout is quick and absolutely brutal... but it works!

Friday the 25th: Active rest day. I'm either going to spend some time on the bike or in the pool.

Saturday the 26th: 28 km run.

Sunday the 27th: Rest Day!

Do you need a coach?

2011-03-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here we are in the middle of March, four and a half months into the biggest personal journey I have ever embarked on. It's been an absolute challenge in every single way, Every. Single. Day. But the most unbelievable turn-around has been made and I look forward to each obstacle that comes up to see exactly how I will attack that obstacle differently than I have in the past.

Life just keeps getting better for me. The momentum is there and I firmly believe that I put it there myself. I work on getting up each morning and making sure that each day I attempt to live life at a 10 out of 10. Every aspect of my entire life needs the same dedication and focus as my career or my fitness goals or my social life. If you drop the ball on any of these aspects, then you're not living the life of your dreams. It's just not possible and I came to that realization this week.

I had the chance to sit down with Chad Williams who is a personal trainer and personal coach who works with his clients predominately online to help them realize their own potential. You are probably asking the same question as me, "How does he coach you online?" Well the answer is simple. He knows that we all know how to lose weight and get fit. We work out and watch our caloric intake (duh!). It's the mental and emotional state around that whole concept that has 90% of the population lacking the personal motivation they need to succeed in their own lives, whether it be in fitness, nutrition or any other area of their life. Chad just happens to focus on fitness and nutrition because it seems this is where most people feel like it's OK to drop the ball, when in fact, in my opinion, this is the most important part of your day. everyday. Chad works with you to find out why the motivation is lacking and why you have thought it was OK to let it be that way. By figuring this out you'll soar ahead in all aspects of your life. It's pretty much a guarantee.

I've started to notice the strength, character and extreme confidence I have achieved in all areas of my life because of the strength, character and confidence I put into my workouts and health goals each and every day. I've found that sweet spot, and all it took was believing that I could do it. And by 'IT' I mean anything. Why not start today? Why not control every aspect of your own life instead of flourishing in some areas and letting other areas slide by the wayside?

While talking with Chad I realized how far I have come. I remember being 150% mortified posting my "before" photos on November 1st. When March 1st rolled around and it was time to put up my 4 month progress photos I was excited. Excited to see just how strong my body was getting. I didn't care about the measurements or the muffin top, all I cared about was that every day I put 100% into my workout and I really wanted to see what 10 out of 10 effort in the gym and in my runners would look like in a photo. I'm now happy to share those results with all of you.

I urge you to check out Chad's website. It's interesting and his blog is great for a little push in the right direction.

Thanks for reading!

Arizona

2011-03-11T16:31:00.000-08:00

Today, as I lie out on the patio of my friend Marci's home in Arizona, I had the opportunity to think about the life I live and how absolutely blessed I am to be able to do the things I love on a regular, everyday basis. I realize I've worked hard my entire life to get to where I want to be in my career as well as my personal life, but it's times like this when you truly understand how wonderful it is to have had the people you love come into your life.

A week ago I was running in the freezing cold Vancouver snow and today I'm basking in the sun with one of my most special friends. Arizona has been great for me. I've had the chance to train on the steaming hot asphalt as well as go for hikes up Camelback Mountain and a trip or 2 to the gym. It's a 3 hour flight and yet I feel a world away from Vancouver and the responsibilities of home. I've been to Arizona a few times now and I keep getting whisked away by the area every time I get to visit; sun, heat, great dancing and great people. What's not to love? A few days ago I tried my first ever Grapple, an apple that tastes exactly like a grape (mind blowing, I know) and with produce like avocado's and blood oranges in season all the time, my lunch time salads make me eager for my greens.

On Wednesday I somehow talked my friend Dave into hiking with me up Camelback Mountain. "I've never really hiked before" he said to me. "don't worry, I'm a pro... it'll be a cinch" Says the overly cocky Kelly. Boy was I wrong. As we started the assent I couldn't believe how 1.2 miles could seem like 15 miles when you're walking at a 90 degree angle uphill, having to use your hands and knees to get yourself up and over the rocks. In the 25 degree heat, no less. I'm certain that they mis-labeled the "hike" as it would have been more appropriately called mountain climbing (where was my pick and harness when I needed it?). Coming down was the hardest part, and although I would love to tell you that we owned that mountain, the end result was quite the opposite. No need for details but lets just say there was cuts, bruises, tons of blood and the odd F-word or 2 shouted at a decibel that was certain to be echoed through Phoenix and all the surrounding suburbs. Sorry kids, my bad.
Here is a shot of the start of the trail. It continued like this until we reached the summit... except the higher you climbed, the less wall there was to keep you from falling off the edge!

Trail Length: 1.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,264 feet
Summit: 2,704 feet
Difficulty: Strenuous
Open: Sunrise to sunset

The view from the top makes it all worthwhile!

Month Four: Complete

2011-03-04T14:30:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I have been on this amazing journey for 4 months already. It feels like just yesterday that I was sitting on the couch imagining what my life would be like if I took back the reins and went all-out for something I'm passionate about. Now, 4 months later, I'm having a hard time believing that in all actuality I am now an athlete. What a word. Athlete. I just wanted to say it again. Since when did a "rest day" mean I head out for a 4 mile run? 4 miles would have been a workout 4 months ago! I train hard everyday for that title and I'm proud of my personal growth- both physically and mentally.

If you have been following me for the full 4 months you know that at this point in the journey I am no longer trying to lose weight or inches, now it's all about endurance and strength. My body continues to change in the terms of tightening up all over and becoming much stronger but I can really see the difference when I head out to run 25kms in the snow and I finish the run feeling on top of the world, like I could have gone much further. This, to me, is the golden ticket.

So this month I didn't lose any weight but do you know what I did lose? I lost whatever of my old self image was still hanging around. I've always been a confident woman, believing in my own ability's at work and at play, but I have always had insecurities and self doubt. This journey has given me a glimpse into what life can be like when you truly love yourself and what you're about. I've found a new sense of freedom, independence and most importantly my confidence in my body and my brain is through the roof. There is nothing like running for 3 hours to really get to know yourself and your limits. The charge I get is unparalleled.

So I have posted some photos in the Photo section up top (I apologize in advance for my lack of skin pigment), and listed my measurements under the Progress heading. Even though the changes are very small physically, just know that the changes inside are huge... and I'm eating like a pro sumo wrestler in order to stay this size and power me through my (insanely tough!) workouts. Just one of the many perks to this new lifestyle!

Thanks for reading!

This weeks training schedule

2011-02-28T20:54:00.000-08:00

Monday February 28th: 3 mile run and a leg workout in the gym

Tuesday March 1st: Cross training on the bike and a full body weights workout followed by MicroStretching with Nikos

Wednesday March 2nd: 10km run at 30 seconds faster than race pace

Thursday March 3rd: Track workout with Coach Chris- 3 sets 400/800/400 on 3-5 minutes (brutal!)

Friday March 4th: Rest day

Saturday March 5th: 30 km long run

Sunday March 6th: Recover, recover, recover!

Track workout

2011-02-24T22:50:00.000-08:00

All of you here in Vancouver are aware of the extreme cold spell that has been upon us for the past few days. Yesterday as I finished my 10km run I was certain parts of my body were left on the seawall behind me as I couldn't even attempt to feel my appendages until I crawled through my front door and jumped into a steaming hot shower.

Tonight was worse.

It's official. I absolutely hate the build-up for evening workouts. I literally spend the entire day thinking about the fact that I have to perform on the track on legs that have been standing for 8 hours and on a belly that is full of lunch-time fare, in 1mm thick spandex pants no less! It's never as bad as I make it out to be in my mind, in fact once I get to the track I feel super stoked for the workout, but I would much prefer to get up at 5am and run for days than to hit the track at 7pm and run for minutes. Seriously. But it's part of the process and I will do whatever Coach Chris tells me to do because it's obviously working.

I'll admit that once I get into the workout I feel like I thrive on the competitive spirit and the community camaraderie. The Run Inn Clinics usually have a huge turn out on Thursday nights but as we rounded the troops tonight it was obvious that the weather would be a factor in attendance. About 15 of us headed to the track and Coach explained the workout. We did 6 reps of 800m sprints- 12 laps total, 2 laps at a time with a 1 minute recovery between each set. The workout was brutal, as expected, but I was excited to be the top finishing woman and second finisher over-all. Of course the group would tell you that it wasn't a contest (whatever!) but in all honesty it thrills me to come in first and get regular assurance that I have picked a sport that I am actually good at. I would loose my confidence in qualifying for Boston if I were coming in last on track workouts, so tonight I feel proud.

Going to the track is a pretty interesting experience. As you approach the track on your warm up run, you jog through the pitch black streets of Kerrisdale and then as you arrive at the track it's like a scene from a motivational, inspiring sports movie (minus the marching band and the rabid fans). On the field in the middle there are no less than 50 kids playing soccer on a few different teams. On the back straight you see the serious athletes, 5 or 6 of Vancouver's most promising sprinters run the straight at lightening fast speeds and you can't help but check out their impressive quads and glutes as they whiz by (if you happen to be named Kelly you were mostly looking at their glutes). Interspersed elsewhere along the outside lanes of the track are numerous running clinic groups doing numerous different track workouts- sprints, 400's, 800's ladders, pyramids, intervals and everything in between. It's pretty sensational to get wrapped up in the kinship of it all. I mean lets get serious... it's -4 with a windchill that "feels like -10" and I can vouch for the fact that it takes a good amount of personal motivation to get your ass to the track.

Thanks for reading, I'm off to the hot tub to defrost!

Back in the saddle

2011-02-21T16:30:00.000-08:00

So as the title reads, I'm back in the saddle. Strep throat is healed, knee is feeling better and recovery week is OVER. Thank Heavens. I'll be easing back into it this week but I'm really, really, looking forward to lacing up my sneakers and getting my butt into some spandex!

Here is my training schedule for this week:

Monday February 21st: 20 minutes of hill walking, 30 minute lower body strength workout to help support my knee problems. MicroStretching with Nikos to keep everything feeling limber and a Dr.'s appointment to talk about getting these tonsils removed!

Tuesday Februaury 22nd: 1 hour of cross training on the bike and a light upper body weights routine and then I'm heading to the track to run drills with Curbs Core Clinic at the Run Inn.

Wednesday February 23rd: 10km run at 30 seconds per mile faster than race pace

Thursday Februaury 24th: Track workout with Chris: 2 sets of 3 x 800m on 5 minutes.

Friday February 25th: Active rest day- possibly a 3 mile jog or a swim

Saturday Februaury 26th: 24km long run

Sunday February 27th: Full rest day

Doing my weighted squats today

Recovery, Recovery, Recovery

2011-02-17T17:54:00.000-08:00

So I'm finally getting the idea of this recovery thing. Apparently if you don't back down every once in a while then your body will do it for you. I'm no stranger to this idea, but for some reason my full-steam-ahead outlook hasn't had a minute to realize my body needs relaxation and not just when it's forced upon me by illness. When I first started this process I visited my family Dr. and picked up quite a few books and e-columns to learn as much as I could about getting to where I wanted to be. The consensus was always the same. Endurance athletes will get sick more over the course of a year than any other type of athlete for 2 reasons. 1. They break down there immune systems on an everyday basis and 2. They don't leave much recovery time to help it build back up. Athletes that focus on building muscle and short bursts of intensity feel it in their muscles and are therefore more inclined to take a 24 hour rest period between hard workouts. Endurance athletes have to cover an obscene amount of miles each week and because of the repeated motion, their muscles don't necessarily advise them to knock it off after every workout.

So where do I fit in? Good question. Am I an endurance athlete?? Well apparently the answer is yes. With 2 half marathon distances covered in the past 2 weeks and another 20km long run coming up on Saturday, combined with the other 4 days a week that I spend on the pavement or in the gym, it seems that yes, I am certainly training like an athlete. And as my team says to me "It's time to start thinking like one". So I woke up on Monday morning after my half marathon with Strep Throat- or as Coach Chris called it "Step Throat" haha, very funny, I get it, I push myself too hard, I'm running too much. In a month I have been sick a total of 2 weeks and it's only going to keep happening unless I go about it the right way. Thank heavens for my team of gurus or this would be a sticky situation but I'm very clear as to the path I'm taking from here on out. Recover properly and get better. No ifs ands or buts about it.

So this week I visited every recovery specialist on the From Fit To Ripped team. I started out on Monday morning by visiting my MicroStretching therapist Nikos. He worked on stretching my knee's, quads, hips and hamstrings so that my body recovered rapidly after my intense workout the day before. I always am amazed at how absolutely refreshed and pain free I feel after leaving my sessions with Nikos. I'm convinced he has magic hands. I get off the table with a pep in my step and not an ache to be recognised. I continue his stretching at home every night before bed and I have seen a huge difference in my performance because of him. If you're in any sort of body pain, I would check him out and see what he can do for you. A friend recommended him and I couldn't be more grateful.

Doing one of Nikos' MicroStretching techniques

Tuesday night I headed to The Run Inn to check out their Core Running Clinic taught by running specialist Curb Ivanic. Curb meets with the group once a week and talks about all the fundamentals of running for an injury free sport. He works with you to tweak your stride, gait, foot strike and arm swing to make sure that your body is moving ideally to get the best efficiency out of your run and to make sure your body doesn't start to break down from bad form or over compensations- Obviously something I need. Badly.
It's absolutely fascinating. I was enthralled by the whole process. Of course I wasn't able to participate in the drills but watching the other runners of every shape and size move across the track with what seemed like twinkle toes was pretty outstanding. I can't wait to see what he can help me with next week!

My Body Energy Club arsenal

And last but not least I headed back to Body Energy Club this afternoon to talk a bit more to Rick about making sure my energy levels are up for my next long run this Saturday and to make sure that once I kick this sickness, I'm not going to see it again anytime soon. He advised me on using Gu Gels which are an extremely fast acting energy source that feels like you have stuck an IV of caffeine and sugar straight into your veins. For endurance athletes it's absolutely key to replace your carbs, glycogen and electrolytes while exercising or you'll fade fast and your energy will be pulled from your muscles instead of your carb/fat stores like you want them too. This is something I have lacked during my training routine. In the past I would easily go out for a 2 hour run with just a banana in my system. Now I realize that fueling myself an hour into my workout will help me feel stronger and faster and it will help improve my times and strength during races. Rick also got me onto Udo's oil which is said to help athletes build endurance (by 42% no less!) as well as help with muscle recovery and is a potent anti-inflammatory. All things I need right now. I'll be incorporating these new items into my daily pill allotment which I wrote about last week. A multivitamin, vitamin D, vitamin C, Omega Oils, and Glutamine. Once the sickness is fully healed I'm pretty sure I should be unstoppable!

Thanks for reading!

30 Day Challenge complete: IN SARAH'S WORDS

2011-02-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

30-day challenge and my first 12 lbs

This 30-day challenge has been an amazing growing experience from the first day when I met with Nathan to discuss my goals. He made it very clear to me that if I truly wanted to see any changes I needed to be fully immersed in the process. There isn’t going to be a quick fix here. It was going to take time and a lot of effort on my part. I had to give it a 10/10 effort – an 8/10 would not be sufficient. This was going to be a whole new experience for me because I’ve never been 100% committed my health before. I would always find an excuse or a reason as to why I couldn’t give it my all. It’s like I had my excuses all lined up for when I don’t lose the weight. The thought of giving a 10/10 effort felt empowering yet scary at the same time. For the first time in my life I felt like I was in complete control of my health and weight. I was finally ready to take on that responsibility. This time there will be no excuses.

IT WAS NOT EASY!! The first week I was totally amped, ready to dive into all the workouts. I even told Nathan I would do anything even if it meant doing 2 workouts a day. The commitment that I made to myself to really take ownership of my health and weight energized me through the first week and a half. Waking up and going in for my workouts was easy. Studeo 55 is like no other gym that I’ve ever worked out at. All the staff members were extremely supportive and helped me out whenever I went to any of the classes or even when I was just going in to do cardio. Everyone at the gym was working towards their own goals which made the gym have great energy.

I lost 4 lbs after week 1 and had lost a total of 7 by the end of week 2. I found the change in eating and the cutting out of processed foods to have made a huge difference in how I was feeling in my body. Even though I was feeling great it wasn’t always easy to stick to the plan. Some days I would wake up feeling grumpy and my body would be tired – the last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym. I would think of every reason not to go or push it off until later. This is where I found going to classes helped me a lot. I looked at the classes as my date with the gym. Classes added a social element to working out that I needed. It’s nice to have company and support when you are feeling less then 100% and you know that getting a workout in would make you feel better.

Over the last 30 days I would say the workouts that were the most rewarding were the ones I did on the days that I didn’t even want to get out of bed in the morning or when all I wanted to do was stay cuddled up on my couch. Because I had made a commitment to myself to live everyday as close to a 10/10 as possible I would ask myself if staying on the couch was helping me get closer to achieving my goals. As the reasons and excused were flowing threw my head I would look up and see my goal weight that I had taped on my door and bookshelf. 135. Seeing the number always brought me back to my goal and the commitment I needed to have. I could hear Nathan’s voice in my head going “If you want to see any changes an 8/10 is not going to get the job done” I found the reminder extremely helpful, painful but helpful. Feeling all grumped up I’d force myself to go to the gym. Workouts on days like those were the most rewarding. It always amazes me how much better I feel after I’m done a workout especially on the days that going to the gym is the last thing I want to do. On some of these days I would end up feeling so amped and alive that I end up wanting to come back and hit up a group class.

What I’ve learned the most through this challenge is that in order to make change happen I have to trust in the process and the journey and not be fixated on the outcome. I didn’t think I was so fixated on the number on the scale until the 3rd weigh in. I had only lost ¾ of a lb during week 3. This was a bit discouraging because I was hoping to get big numbers like the 2 previous weeks. I was discouraged for about half an hour and then reminded myself that even though I was doing a 30 day challenge I don’t have to reach my weight loss goal by the end of the 30 days nor would it be healthy to lose all that weight in a short period of time. I reminded myself to really focus on the journey and enjoy the process. Feeling healthy and strong was the most important thing. What the scale reads isn’t so important as long as I stay disciplined and do the work that I need to do.
I want to thank Studeo 55 for giving me the opportunity to work out in such a beautiful facility. The staff has been fantastic and supportive and I can’t thank Nathan enough for all his support and guidance.
I’d also like to thank Kelly for being such a huge inspiration. Girl, your energy is amazing. I can’t wait to see you qualify for Boston!

This weeks training schedule

2011-02-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

Here is this weeks training schedule brought to you by popular demand!

Monday February 7th: Final weigh in for the 30 day challenge at Studeo 55, then MicroStretching with Nikos to fix my knee and prepare my whole body for the marathon. My workout is my usual 15x40/20's on the track. Then, to top it all off I'm getting some fitness photos taken of me! :-)

Tuesday February 8th: Cross Train. I'll be doing an intense full body weight workout focusing on squats and lunges and some time on the bike.

Wednesday February 9th: 10km run at a minute faster than last week!

Thursday February 10th: The Run Inn run clinic- 12x 400 on 3 minutes- I'll be writing about this workout when I finish it on Thursday

Friday February 11th: Active rest day. I'll do an 8 km hill run and a light upper body weight routine

Saturday February 12th: Rest day

Sunday February 13th: "First Half" Half Marathon!

Long run

2011-02-08T00:06:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I see people I haven't seen in awhile they comment that they love the blog for the same reason they love me. Apparently I live a life that resembles a comedy of errors. Err (insert head scratch).
Oh, who am I kidding? Of course they're right!

Sometimes I wonder if I could ever just walk to the store or go to work without something funny, weird or straight up bizarre happening to me on the way. I'm full of stories of crazy things that come about when I least expect it. Like the homeless man who proposed (with a ring made of grass!) on my run one morning, or the time a lady turned her sprinkler on while I was running by in my white shirt and had to endure a 30 minute wet t-shirt contest (but hey, at least I won!) or what about the time that I made a stupid game-play decision to lick my dry lips right in front of a large group of construction workers... after the claps subsided I decided the only thing to do was take a bow. Oh the horror!

Yes, weird things happen to me and Saturday morning was no different.
Friday night I looked at my training schedule and realized that Saturday morning I was running a half marathon. EEK! How had I not realized earlier? I texted Randi and Shawna, my regular Saturday morning gal pals, and reminded them of this fact. They seemed indifferent. Of course they did, considering Shawna eats marathoners for breakfast and Randi runs Half's in her sleep. Machines I tell you. They are machines! Well, we all know that I am not a machine. 3 months ago I was a lazy couch potato and a half marathon is a big deal to me. Running one, FOR FUN, on a random Saturday morning is an even bigger deal for me.

So I woke up 40 minutes prior to our meeting time and went to the fridge for some carbs to fuel my run and what glared back at me from the bright light inside the fridge? Nothing. Yep, you heard me. Nothing. There was literally not one thing that I could put in my mouth to fuel 2 hours of running at an 8 minute mile pace. I panicked. Panicked! I started throwing things around, looking in cupboards, I might have even yelled a bit. My sister told me to calm the eff down but what was I supposed to do? The girls would be here in 28 minutes! 28 minutes! So I did what any other totally delusional, distraught and generally ridiculous half marathoner (love that!) would do, I grabbed whole wheat flour, half a mashed banana from the day before, cinnamon, and some egg whites and I made a rue. Yep. 17 minutes until they arrived and I was making what resembled a flour stew, but much grosser due to the brown bananas. I mixed it all together and then threw it on the grill. In my mind I was making pancakes. On the plate it looked a little more like something a dog would eat, but hey, at least I had some food. I put the fork in my mouth. Gross. GROSS! Just then the phone went off. They would be there in 5 minutes.

So as we started our 21 km run 5 minutes later, I confessed to the girls of my morning... and the fact that not only was the half cooked/half mush stew only about 1/4 of the way down my esophagus, but that there may need to be some sort of puke break along our route as well. They laughed at me as I hung my head in shame (and made a mental note to pick up some food!).

So, believe it or not, the mush digested itself perfectly, the run was fabulous (with the exception of a pain in my right knee at kilometer 19) and I am delighted to say that yes, indeed, I am a comedy of errors. And do you know what? I'm damn proud of it! Thanks for reading!

Blah

2011-02-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

What are some of your coaches favourite sayings?

"Train smart not hard", "Listen to your body", "Quality over quantity". Ya, ya, ya. If you are anything like me you feel like you've got it, you know it, you're on top of the world. Until, of course, you're not.

I wasn't feeling 100% when I started my day on Monday, I felt congested and my lungs felt heavy but that all went to the wayside when I came in to Studeo 55 for my weigh in. I was ecstatic with my results. So instead of "listening to my body" I went out to the track and beat my personal best for the mile. Was it a big mistake? That I'm not sure of but I can tell you now that 2 days later I feel like garbage. I took my coaches advice and missed my workout yesterday, which was quite honestly one of the hardest things for me to do. I felt like this time ticker---> yes, THAT ticker to the right, was slowly eating away at my sanity. Tick. You're not going to qualify if you miss a workout. Tick. You're not even going to finish the race if you miss a workout. Tick. Tick. TICK!

So I headed out to the only place I thought that could help me get my immune system back to 100% in the quickest time possible. Body Energy Club. For years I have been hearing about Body Energy Club and the expertise that the staff have for all of your nutrition/supplement questions. I thought it was about time that I start getting everything my body needs to perform like an athlete. I went in and talked to Rick who set me up with a full athletes package. He explained in great detail what happens to my body as I break it down in my 6 days a week training regime. I walked out of the shop with an increased knowledge of the things my body needs to grow strength, become faster and of course to stay healthy 365 days a year. Rick made it quite clear that as a person who is training like an athlete 6 days a week I need a much different supplementation program than, say, the weekend warrior or the 3 day a week elliptical lover. I totally agree with him. So I left with a huge bag that consisted of a protein powder to take right after my workouts, ideally within 30 minutes, to feed the muscles and initiate growth. An L-glutamine supplement which I will mix with my protein that will help with muscle recovery and will support my immune system as well as digestive health. I picked up some Vitamin D which I will be taking in a high dose to help with regular maintenance of my bones as well as helping with my immune system. 1200mg of Vitamin C per day will keep my insides healthy and will fight free radicals and oxidative stress and last but not least I picked up some Omega fish oils which everyone has been talking about these days. Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids help to support cardiovascular health and brain function and will make you feel better all around. I started the supplementation routine yesterday and I felt better already when I woke up this morning. However, I'm pretty sure it's time to give my stubborn head a shake.

I still felt sneezy and coughy this morning but I figured what harm could a run do? After all, I took yesterday off. Right? So I must be all better. Right? Wrong. I headed out on what I thought would be a magical morning 10km. The sun is out, the air is brisk and there's Kelly horking up a lung like the old men I saw on the streets of Beijing. At 2.8km I realized, for the first time I might add, that my coach is always going to be right when it comes to training (damn it!). I need to listen to my (really aggravating) body. So I stopped, turned around a walked the 3km home. I was sad, like really sad, when I got back inside. I went through the whole poor me thing for a minute and then I realized that there is really nothing more I can do about it at this point. I have decided, wait for it... wait for it... to relax today. That's right, I'm staying in bed, snuggling up and hoping against all get out that this mother of a cold sees the effort I am making to let it have it's glory and hopefully it will decide to bugger the eff off. STAT!

Thanks for reading!

3 month weigh in

2011-02-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

I'm officially in the best mood ever! The sun is shining, I have the day off and... drum roll please!!!... I'm down a few pounds and inches! And I beat my personal best for the mile today! Seriously I'm naming this day "February 1st, 2011. The day the heavens opened up and gave me a high five". Finally I can look at the numbers and feel like my ridiculously hard work is paying off ten fold.

Check out the Progress page and the Photos page at the top to see my weigh in stats, and here is my weeks training schedule.

Monday January 31st: MicroStretching with Nikos and then 15x 40/20's

Tuesday February 1st: Cross Training: I'm going to try Studeo 55's ballet and Pilate's fusion class

Wednesday February 2nd: 10km run at 30-45 seconds faster than race pace. I might check out Lululemon Robson street Run Club as well, they meet at 6:30pm for a 10km run.

Thursday February 3rd: Pyramid- 400/800/1200- 1200/800/400's

Friday February 4th: Cross Training, focusing on my hips and glutes

Saturday February 5th: Long run, 21 kilometers

Sunday February 6th: REST DAY! YAY!

Maintenance week

2011-01-31T20:25:00.000-08:00

Last week was my first maintenance week on the "Boston or Bust" training schedule. Essentially I spend 3 weeks building up my endurance and then do one week at a slightly lighter exertion level. The week was fabulous. My 15x40/20's were right where I needed them to be, my cross training focused on my hips and glutes, my 10km was as fast as ever, I ran a wicked 17km on the weekend that felt breezy and I tried Yasso 800's for the first time.

Yasso 800's http://tinyurl.com/qrlbu are a set of repeats that help you predict your marathon running time. For example, Bart Yasso says that if you can run 10x 800's (2 laps of the track) in 3:30 each, you will run a 3 hour 30 minute marathon, if you run your 10x 800's in 2:45 each, you will run your marathon in 2 hours 45 minutes. Of course I was a bit skeptical of the workout but the science to back it up is all over the Internet so we have decided to incorporate them into my training routine. I started with 4 repeats at 3:39 each for the 800 meter distance and I'm not going to lie, I felt like keeling over and dying a slow death after the workout was done. And that was only 4 reps. I can only imagine what 10 will feel like. But that's all in the future. For now, I'm just glad I was able to run 4 at my Boston qualifying time... lets hope I can run 10 no problem over the course of my training.

Over the past 4 weeks I have been through some ups and downs but one thing is for sure. My absolute, deep seated love for running and fitness is growing every single day, every single hour. There hasn't been any workouts that I haven't looked forward to. Not one.

The thing I love about running is the sense of community that runners have. The guy who waves to you as you pass in the morning on a long run, the woman with the stroller gives you a nod as she is getting her pre-baby shape back, and the old Chinese man on the track says good morning as he shuffles along for 10 laps.
As I started my 15x 40/20's on the track last week, I noticed a man in running tights and a sparkly blue top. I couldn't help but chuckle. I mean seriously, he was wearing sequins. To the track. To run in. Have you pictured it yet? Good, because it's too good not to. I started my warm up and I was laughing to myself. I mean, I can get dolled up with the best of them but as much as I racked my brain, I don't think I have ever worn a shirt that had so much razzle-dazzle that it could actually burn a hole in your retinas if you looked directly at it. Turns out he was warming up too and once he started the meat and potatoes of his workout he thrashed me. If the 2 of us had been duking it out in a boxing ring he would have had a first round, one-hit knock out. He was killer on his feet, the stride was perfect, the gait was gorgeous and the foot strike looked amazing. It was at that moment that I realized that I had chosen a sport that appealed to all types. Everyone can run or jog, our bodies were made for it after all, and I felt proud to be sharing the same track as cross-dresser-Joe and to be a part of a group that is so vast in members... as crazy as some of them are. You just have to have respect for a man in a sequin shirt, running sprints on a high school track. Right? That, or you have to call the cops.

That brings me to the recovery and regeneration aspect of my training. I put a call out last week to all of my friends to suggest some physiotherapists or someone to help me with my right knee pain. My friend Kevin suggested that I make a trip to see Nikos Apostolopoulos who is the inventor of MicroStretching http://www.microstretching.com/ a specialized soft tissue stretching technique that focuses on relaxing the nervous system so that you can decrease inflammation without the creation of pain like many other stretching routines. I went in for an hour with Nikos today for my first session and I was interested in the whole procedure. He moved my body this way and that way like I was a vegetable and although it didn't feel like a whole lot while he was working on me, I felt incredibly mobile and loose when he was finished with me. I felt like my range of motion was increased and when I went out for my workout this afternoon, my knee had significantly less pain than it did on Saturday. Very interesting stuff. I encourage you to check out his site and give him a call if you are looking for anything to supplement your routine, especially if you have an injury or chronic pain.
Thanks for reading!

January 24th to January 30th training schedule

2011-01-25T11:35:00.000-08:00

Monday January 24th: 8:00am weigh-in at Studeo 55 and then 15x 40/20's (15 intervals where I hit my red line for 40 seconds and then recover for 20 seconds. No rest.) One mile warm up, one mile cool down.

Tuesday January 25th: Cross training at Studeo 55

Wednesday January 26th: 10km run at 35-45 seconds faster per mile than race pace

Thursday January 27th: Yasso 800's. My first attempt at the incredible workout. Check it out if you haven't heard of the Yasso's before! http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-624-0,00.html

Friday January 28th: Active rest day. I'll go to Studeo 55 for a light workout

Saturday January 29th: 16km run at race pace.

Sunday January 30th: REST DAY! YAY!

Truth Serum

2011-01-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

Last week was a hard week for me. Not in the terms of the workouts but mentally I felt knocked down. I had one of the 30 day challenge participants leave the challenge and I took it personally, really personally. When Nathan shared the news with me I was devastated and then angry and I ended the weekend feeling like I was depleted emotionally with all the time I had spent thinking about why this happened and what I could have done to help her achieve her goals. This morning I sat down with Nathan for the Monday morning weigh-in and he gave me a bit of a pep talk.

Thank God for that pep talk.

He explained to me that 80 percent of a process like this is mental. Sure you can show up, do the work and see some results but unless you are truthful with yourself and you actually want to put in 100%, your results will only show what you have put into it. Sarah, the other participant, made an amazing comment, she said that the hardest part of this process has been living every aspect of her life at a 10 out of 10 on the dedication meter. But it is also the most fulfilling. Sarah has done tremendously on her personal journey so far. Committing to herself and to Nathan in a way that she should be ridiculously proud of. Not only has she lost pounds and inches but she seems genuinely happy with herself and her ability to look deeper into this process than to just show up and go through the motions. She is setting herself up for success and I couldn't be more excited for her. Nathan said that it just goes to show that 3 people can get access to the exact same tools and expertise and all 3 will get what they want out of it. No 2 paths will be alike. Quite a profound statement in my books.

So I stepped on the scale today for my first weigh-in since starting the challenge. I lost nothing. 80% of me expected those results, since I haven't been in "lose weight" mode but as a woman, the other 20% of me wished there was a few pounds left out there on the pavement. As Nathan saw the slight disappointment in my eyes he reminded me that yes, my blog is named 'From Fit To Ripped' but that these 4 months of this particular journey are not about becoming a bean pole, they are about qualifying for Boston and training like an athlete. He even went so far as to say that I might even preform better if I gained 3 lbs of fat.
Not. Going. To. Happen. But I do appreciate the sentiment : ) I guess I just needed a reminder than strength, speed and stamina don't come easily and the fact that I'm growing in all of those aspects makes this 2 week weigh-in a success. The new motto Nathan gave me? From Mediocre to Extraordinary. It may just become my life's motto.

We all go through these vast ups and downs and it seems that the only person we can really count on to change the outcome of the results is ourselves but it obviously helps to have a team of people around you that will help you see the light. Today I feel empowered to go further and reach higher for my goals and as cheesy as it sounds, I'm feel back on top.

10 out of 10 from here on out.

http://www.studeo55.ca/

This weeks training schedule

2011-01-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

I thought I would start to include my weekly training schedule for everybody to see. Feel free to offer any advice as you see fit!

Monday January 17th- 15 x 40/20 interval training. Work on hitting my red line early and maintaining my sprint pace for 15 reps. Start with a warm up of 1 mile slow jog, do the 15 reps of 40 seconds on, 20 seconds recovery and then finish with a 1 mile cool down. 10 minutes of stretching.

Tuesday January 18th- Cross Training at Studeo 55 with Nathan. Just your regular all over ass kicking, putting special focus on glutes, hips and core

Wednesday January 19th- 10 km run at about 30- 45 seconds per mile faster than my Marathon goal pace. 10 minutes of stretching.

Thursday January 20th- Track workout with Chris for strength and speed. 3 sets- 400-800-400m (full recovery on 400m, half recovery on 800m) 20 minutes of stretching..

Friday January 21st- Active rest day. I'll be visiting Nathan at Studeo 55 for another full body torture, no cardio. 10 minutes of stretching.

Saturday January 22nd- Long run. I'll be running 17 kms at my Marathon goal pace, I should finish my 17 kms in an hour and 29 minutes. 20 minutes of stretching.

Sunday January 23rd- much deserved full rest day

I'm focused on the goal

2011-01-17T21:19:00.000-08:00

I honestly feel like I have never been so focused on anything in my entire life. Qualifying for Boston and becoming an athlete is so exciting for me that I finally had what Oprah calls an "ah ha" moment. The moment in which you realize why your doing something and why it matters so much to you. I have recognized the importance of staying on track and I have made sure that living my dream is much more appealing than anything else that could come up as an excuse. Up until a week ago I could have told you that I was certainly giving this project 100%, but now I can say with confidence that I can see the goal and I will do everything in my power to make sure it happens. 100%, 150%... whatever it takes.

Last Thursday I headed over to the Run Inn (http://www.runinn.com/) in Kerrisdale to take part in their Thursday night clinic. My coach Chris introduced me to Martin, the "fast group" run leader and told me to stick with him for the duration of the hill workout. We jogged over to the figure 8 hill loop near Prince of Whales school and did our dynamic stretching and then set up for an intense 20 minute hill circuit. The goal was to finish as many laps of the route as possible in 20 minutes and then we would jog back to the Run Inn. Everyone set their watches and then... bang!... Martin was gone like a bat out of hell. Seriously, he took off with smoke on his heels and the smell of burnt rubber lingering for the rest of the 30 runners. I sprinted after him like Marion Jones on steroids and found myself in a nice pace of about 7 minutes per mile for the duration of the 20 minutes. As I finished the first lap I could here Santa Claus creeping up on me. It turns out it was just some kid with change in his pocket. But seriously kid? Change in your pocket? On a hill run? How annoying can you be? So, I let him pass me (ok, ok, I didn't let him pass me, he passed me because he was faster. Period.)

That was it. That was the moment when I really realized that no matter how many times I have tried to tell myself and other people that I'm not competitive it's just not true. I am as competitive as Tonya Harding with a metal baton circa 1994. Who knew? I have tried my whole life to push that aggressive behavior so far down that it never showed but now I'm learning to embrace the fact that being competitive in sport and life can work to my advantage. I'm in it to win it. Why should it be any other way?
So needless to say, I ran the hill workout aggressively and ended up coming in 3rd out of 30 and was the first woman over the finish line. Although I'm sure if you asked the other 29 people in the group they would tell you that it wasn't a race (liars!).

Friday was my "Active Rest" day. The day where I don't run but I do (apparently, according to my trainer) work my core as if it deserves a serious smack-down beating. I went to meet Nathan at Studeo 55 (http://www.studeo55.ca/) for my core and conditioning personal training session. He made it clear to me that I would spend the next 4 months twisting and turning my mid section like a belly dancer on speed to make sure that my trunk is fully able to stabilize itself while I spend so much time pounding the pavement. The exercises we did were subtle but intense and I could really feel them deep through my abs the next couple of days. He also spent time working my glutes and hips in order to make sure I get some force and grit behind my movements along with that stability. I really like working out with a trainer, it makes you much more accountable for your exercises and I really appreciate Nathan's insight, he's a wealth of information.

On Saturday I headed out for my first long run of my training program. Chris has me running my long runs at my Marathon goal pace, which is not particularly slow, if you remember my goal (hello Boston!). The reason he has me running at pace instead of the normal LSR (long, slow run) is because he wants my body to become accustomed to the feeling of my pace and always revert back to it in times of need. I finished my 14 km run feeling amazing. The run felt easy (ish) and I felt light on my feet, making me excited for this Saturday and the 17kms that are underlined in red on my calendar. I only hope that when I get into the 40km range I can still say the run felt easy. I doubt that's going to happen but at least I have an amazing team helping to make sure that even though it might not be easy, at least it won't feel painful!

After my 15 x 40/20's today (see my last post), I'm feeling beat and I am headed to bed super early for my training session at Studeo 55 tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Body Composition

2011-01-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

This week has started with a bang. I have my team of trainers and coaches lined up to take me where I need to go. I am feeling super positive about the rigorous training regime I'll be putting my body through for the next 4 months in order to qualify for Boston.

On Tuesday I met with my running coach Chris from the Run Inn (http://www.runinn.com/) and he put me through a workout that he so affectionately calls "The Weapon". Needless to say I was nervous showing up to the track, which just happened to be my old stomping grounds, Point Grey High school. I got there at 8:40am and started my basic warm up, 5 laps around the track at a nice a slow pace of around 10 minutes per mile. Chris showed up at 9am and broke down the workout for me. I was to run a sprint at about 8 out of 10 on the exertion meter for 40 seconds and then recover with 10 seconds of walking and 10 seconds of jogging and then repeat the whole process 15 times. Essentially it's like Tabata for runners(http://tinyurl.com/6c3t374). The intense workout helps to increase the athletes V02 Max (how efficiently the person uses oxygen) and in turn makes for a much more well-oiled machine. As I said before, I was nervous, and I had every right to be. I'm not a particularly "fast" runner, I have spent a lot of time building up the capacity to run long distances but up until recently I didn't know the importance of high intensity interval training.
I started out strong, maybe a bit to strong, by the end of the first lap I wasn't sure I could do 2 more of these, let alone another 14. It felt a bit like I was drowning, the lungs flood with oxygen and you can't seem to get it in or out fast enough. I was literally one step away from putting my hands on my knees, bending over, waving to Chris with my middle finger and then heading out to IHOP to get myself some pancakes... and that was after 40 seconds. But we all know that I have way too much pride to let one bloody round defeat me, so I did the workout, the whole workout. 15 minutes has never felt so unbelievably punishing before, but today as I sit here 2 days later I actually feel stronger and my breathing felt easier when I was out on a 10km run yesterday. I will be incorporating "The Weapon" or the "Ball Buster", as I now so affectionately call it, into my regular running training on Monday's. I'm looking forward to seeing how much easier my other runs feel in comparison to this monster.

Yesterday was another day filled with valuable information that I can't wait to share with you guys. I went into Studeo 55 and had a full body composition done. Darren, the resident "Kinesiology nerd" met me at 8am and we went through an hour of testing together. The testing is to help myself and my trainers understand how to best utilize my body in the gym and on the track to make sure I don't get injured but that I do get strong enough to reach my huge (but attainable!) goals. So he had me do different strength exercises on each side of my body, poke and prodded me as if I were some science experiment (oh wait... I am), and then took some photos. What Darren discovered is that I have sufficient stability on my left side but not enough mobility, and the exact opposite for my right side. This would explain why one side of my body sits higher than the other, why I am pigeon toed on my left foot and why one side is quite obviously stronger than the other. Over the course of this training, Nathan will be working me through a program to help stabilize my body and work to increase strength on one side and mobility on the other. Through this thorough training I'll be able to see a difference in my stride and how powerfully I move forward. I can't wait to see what they have me doing. Nathan also has me submitting a food log every night before I go to bed. This is the first time I have ever done one and I can't believe how accountable it makes you for every morsel you put past your lips. I'm a healthy eater to begin with but this journal has me buckle down and get it right. Here are my entries from the last 2 days.

January 11^th, 2011
*I home make all of my meals*

*8am: 1 cup oatmeal, 2 tbsp raisins
*2 glasses water
*10:30am: 1 cup skim milk and one scoop protein powder
*1:30pm: 1 whole wheat pita, ½ cup spinach, ½ tomato, 4 small chickpea falafel balls, 1 tbsp feta cheese and 3 tbsp homemade tzatziki (plain fat free yogurt, cucumber and fresh garlic)
*1 glass of water
*6:00pm Salmon cake- canned salmon, tomato, onion, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, quinoa, egg, feta cheese baked together and 2 cups of green salad with olive oil and balsamic
*1 glass of water
*8:45pm Mandarin orange and one spoon of natural peanut butter
*glass of water

January 12^th,
*6:45am 2 glasses of water
*1 slice whole wheat flax bread and 2 tbsp peanut butter
*2 glasses of water
*11:00am ½ cup Kashi Go Lean cereal and ½ cup fiber 1 original cereal ¾ cup skim milk
*12:45 Phytoberry Antioxidant powder mixed with 1 cup water
*2:00pm left over salmon cake and 2 cups salad with oil and vinegar
*4:00pm mandarin orange
*6:30pm 1 ½ cups Home made chili - Black beans, kidney beans, onion, mushroom, zucchini, tomato's
*Glass of water
*9:15pm apple
Tonight I am off to the track again to do interval training with Coach Chris where I will meeting him at the Run Inn at the shop 6:30 , 10 min Jog over to the track followed by a 5 min Dynamic stretch, then we are doing 2 sets of 3 x 800m repeats, followed by a jog back to the shop. Should be a good workout. Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading

Qualify for Boston, Qualify for Boston, Qualify for Boston

2011-01-11T19:26:00.000-08:00

No matter how many times I say it and no matter how many times I imagine it, it still terrifies me to think of qualifying for one of the hardest Marathons in the world. I mean, seriously! 3 months ago I was sitting on my couch eating potato chips watching people do what I am about to attempt. Marathons are not an easy feat and according to my research, less than 1% of the world has ever completed a full marathon, less than .5% have ever completed Boston. Anybody can sign up to compete in most international marathons but Boston (and it's notoriously hilly terrain!) needs to be qualified for on a certified course. I have 4 months to train and one of my coaches said to me today "You're trying to qualify for Boston right out of the gate?... That is a HUGE goal". Yes, I know this. And yes, I am stupid enough to whole heartily believe that I will, in fact, qualify for the sub 3 hour 40 minute qualifying time. It's just going to take 100% of my effort, all of my resources and every ounce of my determination. Am I ready to give it all to Boston? Hell. Yes.

This week has been extraordinary for me. I have compiled a team of absolutely incredible coaches and trainers to help me get to the next stage of athleticism and the next few months are looking so bright, I can't help but feel pumped. My running Coach is named Chris and he and his team at the Run Inn (http://www.runinn.com/) will be taking care of all my running needs. Supplying me with the information, and schedules I need to get my ass in Boston shape. As you all know, I buy ALL of my gear at the Run Inn. I love the staff and the knowledge that the employees have about shoe fit, foot strike, running etc. is amazing. I have a dear friend who has competed in many marathons and many Ironmans in her life. She used the Run Inn Clinics for her last marathon and beat her personal best by minutes. That's all the information I needed to get Chris and the Run Inn guys and gals on my team. Chris put together a great training schedule for me that I started yesterday. 4 days of running (intervals, tempo runs, and a long run), 1 day of running theory to work on my foot strike, gait and stride and 1 day of cross training per week. This schedule will also include a few days a week of double workouts, where I will be at Studeo 55 working on strength and core training.

You all know I am involved in the 30 Day Challenge at Studeo 55 and today I had my first meeting with Nathan, the owner and founder of the gym (http://www.studeo55.ca/). Nathan is awesome and I can't express how grateful I am to the Studeo 55 guys for getting on my side and really understanding what it is that I am trying to accomplish this year. My goals are a bit different than the ladies who won the contest. I'm not looking to shed a specific amount of weight in the next 30 days (although that would be a wonderful cherry on top!) but instead I'm looking to get stronger and faster and, of course, ultimately destroy the BMO Vancouver Marathon in 3:39. Nathan is taking this challenge very seriously and will be working with Chris at the Run Inn to come up with a very suitable plan that will build my strength, endurance and pace all in a safe way that will keep me from getting injured. He has labeled me a "Science Experiment" because of my very aggressive goal and I would like to think that that's the first time anyone has ever called me that before... but (hanging my head in shame) I'm going to assume that it's not. I can't wait to see what's in store for me!

I'll be posting my workout schedule this week as well as my nutritional goals for this month. Thanks for reading!

Meet Sarah!

2011-01-10T21:26:00.000-08:00

Our first Studeo 55 and From Fit To Ripped contest winner, Sarah, has a story that many women may relate to. Check out the introduction that she has written in her own words.

Growing up I always struggled with weight and body issues. Even though I played competitive sports it seemed like my weight was something I always had a hard time controlling. 2 years ago I had some health issues and when I went to the doctor to see what was going on I found out that I had PCOS. PCOS is a hormone disorder affecting 6-10% of woman in their reproductive age. At that time my doctor told me to go on a high estrogen pill to help regulate my hormones and deal with the symptoms and also recommended that I try to lose 10% of my body weight (~15lbs). I found no matter what I tried to do I had a hard time losing weight and keeping it off. I would work out super hard and lose 5lbs but as soon as I stopped I would gain it all back. A couple of months ago I decided I eventually wanted to go off of the pill because it was just dealing with the symptoms but not really getting down to the root of the problem. I decided to go to a naturopath who specialized in hormone imbalance to see if she could help me out. She was extremely informative and told me one of the major reasons that I was having difficulty losing weight was because women who have PCOS also have higher then normal blood glucose levels and insulin resistance. This helped explain why I struggled losing weight all this time.
I’m really excited to take part in this 30 day challenge because I need help creating new eating and work out patterns that can help me get my body back on track. It’s proven that with the right diet and exercise women with PCOS can help reverse some of the imbalances in their bodies. I’m super exited to take control of the disorder and see what I can do to help myself. I know Studeo 55 has the expertise to guide me along my journey and I’ll really looking forward to the challenge. I’m hoping to lose 10 lbs in the next 30 days but more importantly feel healthy and happy in my body. This next 30 days will help me build a healthy eating and exercise routine that I can maintain once the challenge is over. I see this as more then a 30 day challenge but a change in lifestyle. My long term goal is to get down to 135lbs (lose 21lbs).

Measurements: January 10th, 2011
Height - 5 '3
Weight - 156 lbs
BMI - 27.6
Bust - 39"
Waist - 33.5"
Belly Button - 35.75"

Hips - 41"

Challenges

2011-01-06T18:33:00.000-08:00

I want to take a minute to congratulate Miss Sarah and Miss Angela, the winners of the Studeo 55 and From Fit To Ripped 30 Day Challenge. They both have very interesting stories that I will be sharing with you when I meet them both next week. I look forward to hearing their point of view on Studeo 55 and the training and nutrition programs designed by the one and only Nathan (owner and founder of Studeo 55). I'm also excited to workout with the ladies as much as I can over the next 30 days as I'm sure we can all teach each other a lot. This is a really special opportunity for the women, as well as myself, and I hope that they are as excited (and motivated!) as I am to reap all the rewards that this personal challenge will bring.
http://www.studeo55.ca/

And now on to a new challenge that I started yesterday. My friends Randi and Matt began a contest with themselves to see if they could run 1000 km's in 52 weeks. I know that this is a ton of running but I wanted to take it one step further and change the distance markers from kilometers to miles. I decided to make it into a public challenge on the Nike+ website so that my readers and our friends could join in the journey and see if they can beat my distance! It's just for bragging rights but lets be honest, first one to 1000 miles will be the hero of all hero's in this event... and I want the title. BAD.
If you train with Nike+ and are up for a great battle then check out this link http://tinyurl.com/28ygl96 and sign up to run yourself into the ground!
Now let's hit the pavement! Thanks for reading.

Month Two: Thank God It's Over.

2011-01-03T16:16:00.000-08:00

As the title states, I'm so glad the month of December is finito. For me the last month of the year signifies the caterpillar turning in to the butterfly and allows me to shed the last 365 days and start fresh with new resolve and full forced determination.

If you have been following along then you know that the first 3 weeks of December were great for me. I was in the workout zone, feeling good and energised and then I took a pretty serious hit on December 23rd. Food, booze, more food and a 4 day sedentary lifestyle made for a very challenging mountain in the road to my success. I have analysed those few days more than I would like to admit. Why did I let myself get out of control? Why did I WANT to get out of control? The answers to your own personal questions are never easy- especially when you have the opportunity to lie to yourself, but I made the point of getting deep and trying to figure it out so that is doesn't happen again. Onward and upward.

So now it is January 3rd and I have been back in the saddle for a week now. I feel great, powerful and enthusiastic for the next 10 months ahead. I'm ready to put December and my questionable decisions behind me and focus on myself, my health and my fitness for 2011. I registered for the BMO Vancouver Marathon and I now have a very new and very clear goal for the first 4 months of this year. I not only want to finish the Marathon, but I also want to train hard and smart in order to run at a pace that I can be proud of. Wish me luck!

So that brings us to the January 1st weigh in. It didn't go so well. I didn't lose any weight (but thankfully I didn't gain any either!) and with only 1 inch lost (in my waist) I would say that month 2 of this journey is a bit of a thorn in my side. There is no need for me to post any new photos in the Progress report because my body looks the same and weighs the same (hangs head in shame). The silver lining??!! I ran my fastest mile yesterday and I am super excited to see that even though my downward holiday spiral threw me for a loop, I was still able to make huge strides in my aerobic ability, knocking a full 45 seconds off my best ever mile time. I ran it in 6:33 and I am now sure that by November of next year you will be looking at a sub 6 minute miler!

For those of you interested in our Studeo 55 contest winners, the 2 people have been chosen but as Studeo 55 is re-doing their class schedule at the moment, the actual 30 days will not start until around the 10th of January, running until the 10th of February (just in time for Valentines :-). You will be the first to hear all about our 2 winners in the next week.

Thanks for reading!
Happy New Year!

Making a comeback!

2010-12-28T08:16:00.000-08:00

As I re-read my post from yesterday I got a nervous feeling in my stomach. I thought there was a possibility that all of this blogging, fitness and healthy eating was over my head. I felt like I might have let some people down. That's when I took a moment to realize what I have been working so hard to accomplish these last 2 months and how proud of myself I am. So what if I fall off the wagon (brutally hard). That certainly doesn't define me and I now realize that I had the option to go off course and then start back on the right track again but I used the holidays as an excuse to not hold myself accountable for my mistakes. Well I have decided that enough is enough in that department. I want to be healthy and I want to be fit, and most importantly I want to be happy and the only way that I KNOW works for me is to eat delicious whole foods to fuel my high energy, daily workouts. And it doesn't hurt to laugh about it all either.

So today after the self wallowing was over I remembered back to Amazing-Ab's-Hannah and how just looking at her ab's got me motivated, not to mention the fact that she is a real ball buster and the workout was ridiculously intense. I grabbed my sneakers and headed out to do her Urban Bod class at Studeo 55. When I entered the gym and saw their motto on the wall "Abandon Mediocrity" I felt like a fool for ever letting it slip out of my grasp in the first place, but I'm human after all. I shed all that poor me crap and got excited to abandon my mediocrity and kick it into high gear!

I started with 30 minutes of running at 6.5mph on the treadmill and then hopped in to the classroom. My first day back after 4 days off was hard and Hannah didn't make it easy on me. We focused on arms and shoulders and of course she threw in some ab and glute work as well. The class is full of like 50 million repetitions of the same exercise with light weights. After your done your bicep curls you can't actually believe that 5lbs could make you ache so deeply, but with Hannah's non-stop class you don't have more than 5 seconds to think about the pain before it's on to the next, equally brutal, bicep exercise. And just in case you were wondering, the whole time you're working your arms and shoulders you are doing squats. I'm sure if I counted I would have done somewhere in the range of 300 or so squats today. If I can stand tomorrow it will be a miracle. Leaving the gym I felt 100% back to my old pre-holiday self. Hannah was exactly what I needed today to see the light at the end of the food-coma tunnel.

The push I required was administered and I am feeling like taking on the world with my bare fists would be an easy feat for me right now. I'm excited for this week and all the high intensity training that I have scheduled for myself. I hope that you are all feeling the way that I am, and if you're not then I highly recommend that you find yourself a Hannah and ask her to kick your butt the way you need it kicked. Remember, January 1st is just another day. Why not start now?
Only 3 days left to enter the contest at the top of the page!

Thanks for reading!

A fork in the road...

2010-12-27T10:38:00.000-08:00

And in my mouth.

OK, OK, OK. I know we are all feeling the same way today. Our stomachs ache from consumption, our heads pound from too much booze and the doom and gloom of the looming New Year have put some of us in a bit of a dark hole. I'm no different.

I was doing so well for the first 3 weeks of December. Sure I was indulging, but with the cookies and chocolate came spinach and tofu and lots of time in my runners. That was until December 23rd rolled around. On the 23rd I had 6 different rendezvous with 6 of my favourite people and I wasn't to show up empty handed, right? So I baked as I normally would and I also ate... as I normally would. Everybody got homemade cupcakes and cookies... some extra special people got homemade candies or a cake and each item was personally taste tested by moi. Did I need to test 5000 calories worth of sweets? No. Could I stop myself? No. After the baking was finished and consumed I headed to Whistler for Christmas with my Dad and step family. Although the fare was a bit healthier than your traditional Christmas cooking, the portion sizes were not. I ate so much that I actually looked pregnant. For. Serious. I woke up on Christmas morning with what I thought was an ulcer or at the very least some sort of gut rot. I made a promise to myself that morning that I would absolutely NOT indulge until I couldn't see straight again. What did I do for breakfast? I put a hefty serving of my sister Sarah's Wife Saver on my plate (for those of you not familiar, that's french toast covered in eggs, bacon and cheese) and then proceeded to help myself to round 2. Couldn't. See. Straight. Then we headed to Mom's to do it all over again.
Why do I go to the trouble of making promises to myself if I know I won't keep them? This is a character flaw that I'm going to work on in 2011.

With that day finished I took a look at my schedule and shook my head. How is anyone supposed to keep their routine up when the days are jam packed with trips to Whistler, holiday shopping, Christmas dinner with friends, visitors from out of town, Christmas morning, drives from Whistler to White Rock and delivery of about 600 boxes of chocolates? I found it impossible... and I write a fitness Blog for pete's sake!

4 days of not working out combined with 4 days of eating like Chris Farley can put anyone into a place of regret. With 2011 right around the corner I have to make sure that today is the day I make the conscious effort to get back on track. I weigh in for you guys in 5 days and as nervous as I am that I gained weight over the holidays, I'm more nervous that I have fallen off the wagon and that getting back on will take some pretty serious will power. So today I'll be heading up to Studeo 55 for a butt kick and hopefully by the end of my workout I'll be feeling like myself again.

I have been so excited to see all the entries to the Studeo 55 and From Fit To Ripped 30 day challenge contest! But I'm sure that some of you are in the same boat as me right now. Maybe you rolled yourself to work today or maybe you have the next week off and you plan on gorging on delicious delectables. Either way you know that January 1st in right there, you can almost feel it. Go ahead and check out the Contest link at the top of this page and if you haven't already sent in your entry go ahead and take a few minutes to fill it out. You only have 4 days left to enter and what better gift to yourself then the gift of health and fitness? I hope you make the effort.

Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!

Bagged

2010-12-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas is just around the corner and I'm not going to lie, it's been more difficult then I thought it would be to stay on the right track. With gingerbread, chocolates and more wine than the French countryside has, all at my disposal 24 hours a day, this holiday season could have been a pretty serious disaster on the waist line like it has in years past (circa 1982 through 2009). This year is different, of course, because by reading this, you are holding me accountable to my health and wellness. I have made allowances for treats here and there but I have put a full focus on not letting anything stand in the way of my everyday workouts. Not gingerbread, not chocolate and not wine (although this one has been the toughest to run off in the morning). I've made a point of getting my butt out the door right when I get up each day so that I don't have a chance to let the heavy calories and liquid heaven pull me back to the warm bed... and so far it's been working but I guess we won't find out just how well it's been working until I weigh in on January 1st.

Last week I decided that a great way to shock myself into staying at the height of motivation would be to try a new and challenging workout at Studeo 55, since we all know I am obsessed with that place. I took a look at the schedule and did the old eyes-closed-finger-on-the-map way of picking and landed on the "Bagged" class. My shoulders hunched and I looked down at the ground in defeat. The only thing going through my mind?? OH. NO.

Bagged is a boxing class that devotes half the time to 3 minute boxing drills on the bag and the other half of the class is wrestling-style agility drills and core/ab work. So basically abs and arms, my 2 weakest body parts. Great, just great.

So here's how it went down. Tell me this... as a woman, what could possibly be more intimidating then walking into a cage (yes an actual cage) filled with a dozen or so boxing bags, boxing gloves, speed bags and, of course, big sweaty men ready to punch things?? The answer is nothing, unless you have an teacher like John. John is the instructor of all the boxing, mixed martial arts, and kick boxing classes at Studeo 55 (check out his wicked credentials at http://www.clubdojo.com/). He holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Sabaki karate and with over 22 years of martial arts experience he is just generally Bad Ass. So obviously he's more than qualified to teach an outstanding boxing class but what took it to the next level was his personality. He's a riot, and not only with his non-stop commentary about you and your workout but he also has no problem belting out a Britney Spears tune when the mood strikes. I was worried walking into his class that I wouldn't get what he was trying to teach me. After all, the most physically aggressive thing I have ever done was throw a remote control at my sisters head and that was followed by me crying and begging her not to tell my Dad. John made it easy to understand and fun to follow but don't get the wrong idea of him, if John thought for one minute that you weren't giving it 100% he would let you know about it. I'm willing to work hard on every level and John is willing to put 100% of his effort into teaching you, so I'm happy to say a great relationship was born and I can't wait to try all the other classes that he teaches.

John took an hour before the class to teach me the basics one on one. I learned how to jab, cross, hook and kick a guy in the balls. All things that might be helpful in a dark alley sometime past midnight. But when he put the boxing pads in front of his face and asked me to right hook him while saying "Show me what you'd do if a guy asked for your number in a club", I got confused... Punch the guy? No chance! I never get men asking for my number... It would be like a Christmas miracle or something... I'd have to give him my number! So we had to go back to the dark alley scenario, much more plausible that way.

As we went through the basics and then John took me through some wrestling and Jiu Jitsu techniques I could really start to feel how good of a workout this was going to be. Little did I know that he was being easy on me for the intro lesson. As I walked into the cage for the actual Bagged class I went around introducing myself to all the men (and a couple of buff girls) as I normally would. I'm pretty sure they were thinking "Who the hell is this broad? and how the heck does she suppose those arms are going to withstand 30 minutes of punching a 120 lbs bag?" The workout was gruesome. Cross jabs and hooks followed by deep squats, sit ups, and back extensions and an all-out pounding of the bag. After that we had to hoist a medicine ball across a room and sprint after it, like 50 times! When I thought I couldn't get any more tired we had 3 sets of agility partner exercises and then we finished the whole thing off with numerous sets of ab and core drills. ugg. Well friends... I would like to report that not only did this broad kick some serious ass on the bag but I was also the last man standing when it came to the core workout. Not bad, not bad. At. All. (you better be clapping)

I ran home from Studeo after the session was finished and was super pumped with adrenaline for hours afterwards. I can't believe I was ever intimidated to enter into the class, considering that now it will be in regular rotation in my workout schedule. I'm pretty sure my arms and abs ached for a good 2 million hours post class and I haven't had that kind of amped up feeling in a very long time. Not to mention the fact that every last person in the class had the kind of ripped arms that I would actually PAY for. If you have any reservations about trying a boxing/MMA class give John a call. He's like a super hero in slit-up-to-there shorts and if you're lucky he might just sing you a Katy Perry song.

Interview with Norm Trerise: The final Installment

2010-12-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

If you haven't yet read part one and two of this series about my Dad, Norm Trerise and his fight to make the 1968 Olympic Team, check out the 2 previous posts; Interview with Norm Trerise and Interview with Norm Trerise Part 2.

With Mexico City at 7200 ft., my Dad knew he would need to acclimatize before he arrived ready to race for the 1968 Olympics. The University of Oregon arranged for a month of training in Las Alamos, New Mexico, 3 weeks in Flagstaff, Arizona and 3 weeks in Mexico City before the huge Race. He spent the better part of those 3 months training by himself with no coach, just a couple of team mates and a program written in Oregon. He trained everyday using a program of one hard day followed by one easy day and felt ready and eager as the day fast approached.

On his easy days my Dad would head out in the morning to the track to run 6 x 100m intervals, 2 easy, 2 medium and 2 hard. At lunch time he would go for a 3 mile run and then in the evening he would repeat his morning workout again. On his hard training days he would start the morning off with the same 6 x 100m intervals, 2 easy, 2 medium and 2 hard, do the same 3 mile run in the afternoon but he would finish the third workout of the day off with a very gruelling 2 miles of intervals at, or better, than his race pace for 8 x 400m. Sundays would be kept for a long run, around 14 or 15 miles at a 6 minute mile pace. The 2 training tips that my father learned from Bill Bowerman and passed along to me were; 1. The secret to running well is to not do regular massive workouts but to make sure you include rest days or “easy” training days and 2. Consistency is key.

Now, in the year 2010 we have access to all the best information on fitness, strength and nutrition and I think we take it for granted. While training for the Olympics my Dad never lifted a single weight or watched what he ate- at all! Imagine running a sub 4 minute mile, being the second man in Canada to ever garner such an unbelievable distinction and hold that Canadian record for 8 years, all while eating cookies, ice cream and drinking beer. In fact, Bowerman’s favourite saying was “A hungry Tiger fights best”, encouraging the boys to eat their breakfast but then to starve for the rest of the day until after the race. It would be literally unheard of for an Olympic athlete in the present times to be eating so poorly and not hitting the weight room for cross training. I can only imagine what my Dad’s and all of his competitors times might have been like if they new what we know now about the best training methods and nutritional information. Fascinating really.

Now there have been a lot more athletes that have been able to say that they have run a mile in under 4 minutes because, of course, with knowledge comes power. We now know all about training our muscles, fuelling our bodies with protein and complex carbs and cross training for best results but to think that at that time, in the 1960’s, there were only a handful of men able to accomplish this amazing feat it pretty spectacular. I mean, seriously, the average man runs at a pace between 6 miles an hour and 11 miles an hour. In order to run a mile in under 4 minutes you have to sprint 4 full laps around the track at 15 miles per hour, the ENTIRE time. Most people can’t sprint 15 mph for 20 seconds let alone 4 minutes!

The Summer Olympics started in October of 1968 and my Dad was excited for the first heat. He performed very well in his first run and at 3:47 for the 1500m‘s, the race was actually quite quick for the incredibly high altitude. After the run Norm was feeling like it was taking much longer than anticipated to recover and that’s when he made the mistake that might or might not have cost him his chance at Olympic Gold. He decided to go into the athletes tent and get himself a deep tissue leg massage, his first ever, and when he lined up for the semi-final race he was devastated to find his legs felt like jello. He couldn’t find them through the whole race and consequently he didn’t finish with a medal but the footage of the incredible 1500m Olympic finals is truly amazing. Take a look and see Kip Keino of Kenya take Gold with a serious fight, at minute 2:30 in the video, from one of the greatest runners of all time, Jim Ryun. http://tinyurl.com/6jvpjm

My Dad went on to compete in the prestigious Common Wealth Games as well as the Pan Pacific Games, among other incredible races around the world but after a horrible injury he was removed from running for a few years. When his foot healed, my Dad decided to start training again to see if, at the age of 33, he could once again qualify for the Canadian Olympic Team to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. During his training he was sure he had what it took, even with 12 years between his first Olympics and his second attempt, he was still running at the same pace he ran at at the age of 21 and he was feeling great about qualifying. That’s when Canada, along with a few other countries, boycotted the Moscow Olympics and our athletes were unable to compete. My Dad decided at that point to end his running career and started coaching the Vancouver Olympic Club distance runners from 1980 until 1988. My sister and I have fond memories of the track as we spent a lot of time on the field while my Dad coached some of Vancouver’s greatest runners while we watched from the sidelines. As you all know, I have always been very proud of my Dad for all of his amazing accomplishments but when I look at each piece of the puzzle that make up his history and all of the true grit, pain and all out determination that went into making himself one of the fastest men on earth, I can’t help but think about how much I want to be like him when I grow up. Thanks Dad, I have said it before and I’ll say it again, you are a true inspiration.

Enter to win 30 days free at Studeo 55!

2010-12-14T22:52:00.000-08:00

Today I went in for a workout at Studeo 55 and before I had taken 5 steps in the door I had been greeted by name by 4 different employee's. I really love this place, not only for the obvious fact that they have kick ass workouts and make fitness intense and fun but also for the reason stated above. They are a nice team of people who actually care about your goals whether they be to run a marathon, bench 250lbs or lose 100lbs. So that's why I decided to approach the Studeo 55 team and see if there was a way we could have some of my readers get a chance to workout at the top notch facilities. We came up with what I think is an AWESOME CONTEST, just for my readers! All of my From Fit To Ripped readers have the opportunity to win a complete 30 day full-access pass to Studeo 55. Along with the 30 day pass that gets you unlimited access to classes like kickboxing, pilates, tabata, yoga and crossfit to name a small few, you will also get a full body composition test and session with a personal trainer and nutritionist both of whom will make you a complete workout/nutrition schedule for you to follow for the next 30 days. So whether you're a man who wants to try MMA style fight classes or crossfit for the first time, or if you're a woman who wants to learn how to navigate the weight room or take group fitness classes, you'll fit in at Studeo 55 perfectly. 2 of my readers, of varying fitness abilities, will be picked by the Studeo guys to join the 30 day event with me. I'll blog about the whole process and you'll make huge strides in accomplishing your goals, whatever they may be. http://www.studeo55.ca/

Here's how the contest works.
Send us a paragraph or 2 telling us a bit about you and your story; give us an idea about why you think you deserve to be chosen for the 30 Day Challenge. Send your story to fromfittoripped@gmail.com and it will be forwarded directly to the Studeo 55 team. The contest is open now, December 15th, 2010, until December 31st, 2010. The 30 day challenge will start on January 1st, 2011 and run until January 31st, 2011.

Good luck to you all and I'll see the 2 winners in January!
Thanks for reading!

Hunting Season

2010-12-12T00:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I went hunting. Obviously I don't mean NRA-gun-toting-eat-meat-for-dinner-hang-the-head-on-the-mantle kind of hunting, I mean hunting as in my version of Fartlek. Fartlek is a workout invented by the gorgeous people of Sweden to develop your natural running ability and to help you perform better on race day. The word Fartlek means "speed play" but instead of specific time or distance measurements like intervals, Fartlek is a much more unstructured workout where you vary your pace and energy output on any type of time frame you want. Most Fartlek workouts last around 45 minutes and it may look a little something like this... you might do 3 minutes and 12 seconds at a pace of 6.6 followed by 5 minutes and 43 seconds at a pace of 5.2, add in different running, jogging or walking sequences and some hills and sprints and you have a full Fartlek workout that improves your speed and endurance, without any sort of monotony.

But lets be honest. Who wants to do a workout called Fartlek? Not me. So instead I decided to make my own speed play workout. A few months back I was telling a friend about my invention and he came up with the name Hunting. Which I much prefer.

So here's how it works in my (un-Swedish) world. Start out with a pre-set distance, yesterday I did around 10 kms, and then you can begin the hunt. Finish a 5 minute warm up jog then hit the mean streets of your city for a full-on hunting session. You work on stalking your "pray" and then you overtake them with an accelerated pace or a sprint. Basically it just looks like you're passing people on the sidewalk, but in your mind (mine is apparently bizarre) you are removing them from your path. For my version to really benefit me I won't let any pedestrian go unnoticed. No man, woman or child is left in my path. I'll even take out old men with canes and I'm not going to lie, I actually feel real excitement as I stride by those 80 year olds on my sneakers. It's sick really, but hey, it's also fun as hell!

Next time you start out for your run, give it a shot. If you see anybody in front of you, increase you pace until you have passed them then recover with a minute or 2 of a slower pace and then load up the gun again, so to speak, so you can work on your next victim. I don't want to creep you out too much so I won't divulge much information about my points system but lets just say if you're a woman and you pass a male runner then you should be hearing Vegas-style bells ringing all around you as if you have just hit the million dollar jackpot. The old man with a cane? What the hell, give yourself a point, you deserve it. Make your own points system and work on beating your last score on every Hunting trip.

I've used this workout during races too, when you get to the point where the only thing you can think about it how much further you have to go, try clearing those thoughts and work on passing people and leaving them in your wake. You'll be amazed at how much faster your pace is and how much quicker the run goes.

On yesterdays Hunting trip I decided to add the Burrard street Bridge into my run so that I got a good half mile hill incorporated into the Hunt. As I was starting up the incline I noticed a woman running about halfway up the path, knowing how much effort it would take to catch her I decided that if I passed her I would award myself 10 points BUT if I over took her before the crest of the bridge I would get 20 points. So I dug in, drove the knees, pumped the arms and I sprinted my absolute hardest until I took her down just before I felt my hips readjust to the downhill decent. A big smile on my face, I glided by 7 more people on my hunt, gathering myself quite a few extra points. I was feeling pumped as I was finishing up my run when I saw one last victim. As I passed the lady jogging with a stroller I felt like turning around, running backwards with my arms in the air and yelling "Take that, kid!"

Thanks for reading!

Tabata

2010-12-09T09:25:00.000-08:00

Tabata training is said to be the most intense interval training available to us today. Invented by Dr. Izumi Tabata and his team of fitness researchers at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan, this workout has been proven to boost more aerobic and anaerobic capacity in the body then an hour long steady state endurance exercise such as running. Therefore melting fat in as little as 4 minutes. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has long been touted as the greatest fat blaster know to man, and this Tabata Protocol just might be considered the Everest of HIIT.

Today I went to Studeo 55 http://studeo55.ca/ to try out my first ever Tabata class. Mike, the instructor of this punishment, err... I mean class, was the Studeo 55 proclaimed "King of Fun" so as nervous as I was I was also really looking forward to the experience. I started with a 3 mile warm up jog before I got into class but as warm as I was I could never be prepared for this kind of torture. Mike had us start with the warm up, 5 sprints up and down the "Green room" but that's not all, we had a tennis ball and a hockey stick to control to make sure our brains were working just as hard as out bodies were.
Then we started the Tabata.

Tabata can be done with any piece of equipment in your gym or home including nothing but your body weight. In the short video above, you can see that the trainer uses just body weight to get the 4 different exercises for the intervals. Mike had us use body weight, cardio equipment, and the TRX apparatus. The key to Tabata training is absolutely following the very specific time constraints. You do 20 seconds at your absolute max, essentially a 10 out of 10 on the "holy shit, that's hard!" scale and then 10 seconds of complete rest. Not 19 seconds and 15 seconds. Follow the science people. 20 on 10 off. Then you repeat the process with the exact same exercise for anywhere from 4 to 8 times. So typically you only do 4 exercises and the whole workout takes you about 16 minutes.

Mike started us out on the rowing machine where we went as fast and as hard as we possibly could for 20 seconds then stopped all movement for 10 seconds. Repeated 8 times. Next we went to the TRX apparatus and did as many elevated back rows as we possibly could in 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest then repeat 8 times. After the TRX we hit the mat for mountain climbers, the bain of my existence, for a total of 8 reps. We finished with 5 reps of sprints and then a light cool down jog. The whole workout with warm up and cool down took no longer then 30 minutes but the intensity was ferocious.

After today's workout I have decided that so far, on this journey, Tabata is my favourite new workout that I have tried. I'm going to incorporate it into my weekly workouts and see what it will do for my body in terms of fat burning and muscle mass. I included the video up top so you could see what a basic Tabata workout might look like, of course the trainer doesn't do the entire amount of sets in the video but you get the general idea. Try is out and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

Royal Studeo Treatment

2010-12-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I headed to Studeo 55 http://studeo55.ca/ for my first ever personal training session. Some of you might find it hard to believe that on this path to health and fitness I have never met with a personal trainer, but it's true. I have always been a solo exerciser, preferring to be in my own head focusing on my own goals rather than having someone there along side me.... but I might have turned a corner on that thought.

As you all know I prefer to jump out of bed and jump into my workout, usually leaving the house between 6 and 9am. So when Jay at Studeo 55 told me they could set me up with a great trainer at 3pm I was a bit worried about how my day would go down. I'll be honest by the time 3pm rolled around I was feeling a bit lethargic, having eaten lunch at 1pm and having not gotten any exercise in the morning, I really had to rally myself to get it to 100%. I was introduced to Omari, my trainer, and the first thing that went through my mind was they must have some sort of prerequisite to work there, seriously, every man is ruggedly handsome and... (wait for it)... nice (what a concept!). Omari is soft spoken and not at all what I had anticipated a trainer to be like. We see on TV the trainers that yell and scream to get you to work harder but Omari was not aggressive at all and actually very polite, he makes you want to work harder because he's so damn sweet, not because you're scared of him. I don't know what he's like with his male clients but I really appreciated the approach and didn't feel self conscious at all.

With a background in Soccer (he played for a few international teams) and Track and Field (sprinting) Omari took me through agility training and whole body conditioning as well as weight training and sprints. The best part of this experience was the fact that I would never in a million years do agility training in a workout by myself. He had me running figure 8's, jumping over hurdles and hopping one footed over cones. I worked up a serious sweat within minutes and I was excited to be introduced to new and challenging exercises. As we progressed through the workout I was pushed to my limits and realized that I was stronger then I thought I was. As Omari loaded up 55lbs on the seated back row I made a comment about how I thought it might be too heavy, turns out it wasn't. Had I been on my own I would have loaded up 30lbs and not pushed myself the way he had pushed me.

Then we headed over to the chin up bars.
I told him that I can't do chin ups and that the only time in my entire life that I have done one I was being completely supported by the incredible hulk and even that was ridiculously hard for me. He told me to give it a try. I literally didn't move a centimeter. Not one single centimeter. I basically laughed out loud at his facial expression as he tried to be encouraging when I'm sure he was really thinking, 'What. The. Hell. how can she not even do one pull up!' So instead he modified it by using the TRX apparatus. Also quite embarrassing because, in fact, I couldn't do that either. Yes, I'm serious.
*Note to self: Kelly, do you think it's time to start working harder at your upper body strength? GEEZ!

After my workout with Omari, Jay who is the client liaison for Studeo 55 hooked me up with what I would like to call the Royal Studeo Treatment. They escorted me to their infrared Sauna where I sat for 30 minutes sweating and relaxing off all those chin ups. I have done a bit of research on the Infrared Sauna and I am thoroughly impressed with the claims. Apparently the sauna helps with weight loss, cellulite, improves your immune system, strength and vitality as well as detoxifies your body and gives you energy among other things. So basically it does everything under the sun while you just sit there. If you have an opportunity to try one out, take it. I felt wonderful afterwards.

After my infrared Sauna I was taken to the Registered Massage Therapy (RMT) table and given a one hour RMT massage. I thought maybe it would feel much like a regular relaxation massage that you get at a spa but I was pleasantly surprised that that wasn't the case. Alison, the RMT, worked on my entire body but put special attention into the areas where I get super tight because of my running. She worked under my shoulder blades, hips and glutes and today when I woke up I could really feel a difference in my flexibility, which is pretty miraculous. This is something that I would be interested in incorporating into my routine.

Today I'm back at Studeo 55 http://studeo55.ca/ for a Tabata class run by Mike and I am just hoping I can keep up after yesterday's personal Training session! I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for reading!

Change of direction

2010-12-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

Most of you know that this year is all about change, personal progress and motivation for me but as much as I want all of those things, sometimes it's scary to make such huge differences in your daily routine. These past 2 days have been full of new and exciting changes and I am thrilled to get to share them with you.

As you know I have been running for the past 2 years and I'm now certain that the reason I hit that horrible plateau is because of lack of change. No new courses, no new inclines, no new speeds. With the introduction of sprints and hill training I have busted through my plateau (about frigging time!) and made noticeable gains but I have still shied away from changing my routes for my long runs. Something just feels safe about running the same speed and the same path day after day. I no longer want to play it safe. Safe is for wimps!

So yesterday I changed my route and not only did I have to use my brain to keep me focused on the course but I added in another hill and a couple more kilometers. It was a great experiment that went incredibly well... but that's not all. Imagine my whole hearted delight when I realized that my new direction takes me by not one, but 2 (yes, 2!!) fire halls. As I rounded the corner on Nicola street I noticed 4 firemen working on the engine of the fire truck and honestly if there had been someone walking in the opposite direction to me I would have made them high five me. So with an extra pep in my step and a smile on my face I took on the hill from Denman to Thurlow with ease and headed down Smithe on my decent home. As I hit Hamilton, what do you know? Surprise! There's another fire hall... OK, OK, you got me. It wasn't a surprise, in fact I purposely run by this fire station almost every day... there may even be a fireman (or 2) that know me by name, but I'm getting off track. The point is change it up every once in a while and not only will you get a dynamite workout but you might also get some nice (and life saving, might I add!) eye candy. And who doesn't want that?

And that brings us to today. Studeo 55 http://studeo55.ca/. Most of us have heard of this gym or have seen the huge sign high atop the downtown core on Alberni and Thurlow. I have been hearing about Studeo 55 for a few years now and all the hype was positive albeit the consensus was that it was Hard. Core. You might have heard the same thing. This gym takes it's training seriously, specializing in MMA, boxing, and Crossfit among other techniques. With Olympic athletes, football players and a lot of Vancouver's elite athletes using the facilities I was a bit nervous for my session today. Honestly I didn't have anything to worry about. Not only was everyone extremely welcoming but I could tell just by walking in that this place was going to help my goals move in the right direction.

Studeo 55 gives a feeling of a "man's gym" where the house music is cranked loud, the equipment is big and the mostly male clients don't hold back with their grunts and groans. No complaints here. I like the atmosphere and I like that they don't pussy foot around. The gym is results driven and that is exactly why I'm there, to see results. I decided to ease myself into the Studeo 55 lifestyle by taking a group class called Urban Bod run by Hannah. Ease myself in? Not. The. Case. Not only was I not eased in but Hannah thoroughly kicked my ass. I loved every minute of it. She's tough but incredibly upbeat and I'm not going to lie, the fact that she looks like a Victoria's Secret model but with WAY better abs is more inspiration than I would like to admit to. No, I'm not exaggerating. If I took my gaze off her 6 pack at all during the hour long class, it was only to grab a towel to soak up the layer of salt I was basting my body in.

So Hannah worked us into a tizzy and when you thought you couldn't handle any more she threw in another exercise (or 4) until that specific muscle would rather kill it's self then go through with another rep. When the class was over I sat on the floor catching my breath, staring at the ground through the drips of sweat rolling over my brow onto my cheek.
Through that pain comes strength and I can't wait to do it all again tomorrow.
http://studeo55.ca/

Thanks for reading!

Urban Bod Instructor, Hannah.

Running Sprints

2010-12-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

I am always reading new information on training techniques that are taking over the industry. One of the constant cardio techniques that is always being touted as amazing, not just for strength but also for weight loss, is sprinting. I recently took on sprinting as a way to build better leg strength, faster run times and to help me lose fat but I hadn't really researched it properly until now.

Steady state cardio, where you move at the same pace for the duration of your workout (usually 30- 60 minutes) is good for your endurance but you won't be recruiting fast twitch muscle fibers or activating human growth hormones, which are needed to gain muscle. Most experts advise you to incorporate both steady state cardio as well as interval training to see the most benefits in your body and your workout. Over the past month I have started to use both workouts as regular tools in my regime and I am impressed with how much easier a steady state run feels now, and with how much stronger my legs are. My cardio schedule looks something like this. Monday, Steady (8kms). Tuesday Sprints. Wednesday, Cross Train (elliptical or walking on incline- 60 mins). Thursday, Steady (8 kms). Friday Sprints. Saturday, long run (10-14 kms). Sunday off.

I'm working on a sprint program that involves 40 minutes on the treadmill or outside with a good stop watch to keep track of your intervals. I warm up with a 10 minute jog and then work on going absolutely all out (around 10-10.6 mph for me) for 60 seconds and then recovering with a very slow (5.5 mph) jog for 60 seconds. The first 3 or 4 sprints feel hard on the lungs but somewhat doable, after that the next 8 feel like hell. Complete and utter misery. Your glutes and quads feel like they are going to fall right off your body and your heart beats so hard that you can see it pounding out of your chest but weirdly enough you can actually feel yourself getting stronger while you're doing this workout. I cool down with a 5 minute jog (and usually give myself a pat on the back for not dying) and then stretch out for a good 10 minutes. This 45 minute workout burns close to 750 calories for me at my height and weight and that is phenomenal when you hold it against a steady state run which would burn around 500 calories for me in 45 minutes with the warm up and cool down included.

I use the Nike+ IPOD system that I got from The Run Inn http://www.runinn.com/. Every time you reach a new milestone, whether it be your fastest mile, your longest distance or your highest amount of calories burned, Lance Armstrong or Paula Radcliffe (she was running all through her pregnancy up until the day before she gave birth!) come into your ear via the Nike+ system and congratulate you on your job well done. I'm not going to lie, when I hear Lance tell me how wicked awesome I am I feel like gloating to every person I meet on the street. Once, embarrassingly enough, I actually skipped home after Paula gave me the 'ol "hear-hear!". I aim to get Lance or Paula as my personal cheerleaders as often as possible, and the only way to make sure that happens is to make sure I run every run with a purpose. Try it if you haven't already, it might just change the way your daily workout unfolds and if it doesn't well then at least you have something to focus your efforts on.
Oh and Nike, if you're reading, I totally LOVE the Nike+ but here's a suggestion. Keep Lance and Paula but add in someone else like, say, Brad Pitt or Clive Owen and have him tell me how hot I looked on my last run. I can guarantee you that I will smash through my goals EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Just a thought.

If you haven't tried interval training I suggest you give it a shot, you'll see a difference in your performance for sure. If you're just starting out then go for a less intense time frame, more like 25 or 30 minutes and before you know it you'll be burning fat like you never knew you could. Thanks for reading!

Month One. Done.

2010-12-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

One month down, eleven to go.

Some of you are aware that this whole journey to health actually started about 2 years ago for me and I feel like it's important to share my story on a deeper level with those who are struggling with weight loss or have struggled in the past. 4 years ago I was a stereotype. I was about to marry my high school sweetheart, I was unhappy, unmotivated and underwhelmed by everything that life was handing me. I decided to make the hardest decision of my life and leave my 10 year relationship. It was the most frightening experience but I knew I needed to make the most of it. I determined that the best way to get to know myself fully would be to travel the world and gain the life experience that I craved. But it wasn't that easy. For 365 days I was traveling through 3rd world and developing countries where I didn't speak the language, I found myself in extremely frightening situations and although I learned more in that year then I could have ever imagined, I felt scared and emotionally drained a lot of the time. I ended up gaining 43 lbs and feeling miserable, the exact opposite of what I had hoped for. When I arrived back in Canada it had finally hit me. I realized that there was nobody that was going to go out and do all the scary things for me, there wasn't always going to be someone there to protect me and shelter me from real life so I might as well focus on myself and see what kind of woman I can mold myself into. It took me about 7 months to lose the 43 lbs I had gained and it took me twice as long to overhaul my diet but for all the ridiculously tough times, it has been worth every second. Over the past 2 years I have seen my confidence, intelligence and inner strength grow into something I am proud of today.

So the first month of this new path is done and I woke up this morning nervous and excited to see where it has taken me in terms of my weight loss and measurements. I have avoided the scale for an entire 30 days, which was enormously hard, and when I pulled it out today I didn't know what to expect. I have been working out hard for the past month and I'm certain I have taken my workouts to a new level. Trying unfamiliar exercises like the Power Vibe classes, boot camp, yoga and functional training have improved my strength for sure but did it help me lose fat? I understand by looking at my body's natural build that I don't have much poundage to lose, and I'm really not looking to shed too much weight over the next year, but I am looking to change my over all body composition. I want to turn my fat into muscle and bust this plateau that I have been stuck on for some time now.

Yesterday I decided it was time to track my progress on running a mile. I warmed up by taking a slow 15 minute jog and then using a stop watch to time myself, I ran one mile at my fastest pace. I ended up finishing in 7:14. I think that is a fairly good time for not having trained on short distances but as I get stronger and focus more on my running I would like to see if I can move that number down into the sub 7 minute range. It would be kind of cool to have my Dad time me for my last progress report next year on November 1st and hopefully we will have lots to celebrate!

So, lets get to the good part. I hopped on the scale this morning and was ecstatic to see that my weight was at 144 lbs. I literally jumped up and down in a frenzied state and actually hugged my scale as if I was one of those unbearable teenagers screaming in hysteria at a Justin Bieber concert. I looked in the bathroom mirror and shook my head as I told myself, out loud no less, to back away from the scale. I put it down and realized that not only was I 4 lbs lighter (YAY) but that I should probably also seek help for my outrageously demented way of patting myself on the back. Anyone know if Riverview Hospital has any beds available?

I measured myself as well and with a total of 4.5 inches lost I am feeling like I'm making good strides in the right direction but I think for month 2 it's time to focus on nutrition. Take a look at the Progress page at the top to see my exact measurements and click on Photos to see the before photo's of me at my heaviest weight, 187 lbs, as well as today's photo's.

Needless to say I was pretty pumped to get into my workout this morning after all this excitement. I headed down to the gym for a day of cross training. I did 30 minutes of walking at a speed of 4.3 on a 10% incline and then I completed the below shoulder workout.

Set 1. Lateral Shoulder lifts sitting on the ball- 12 reps
          Anterior (front) Shoulder lifts standing- 10 reps
          Repeat for a total of 3 sets then 10 push ups

Set 2. Arnold Press while sitting on the ball- 12 reps
          Bent-over rear delt flye- 12 reps
          Repeat for a total of 3 sets then 10 push ups

Set 3. Seated Shoulder press- 12 reps
          90 degree arm lift- 10 reps
Then I exhaust the shoulders with a really light weight and multiple reps of the W Shoulder press. I try to squeeze out around 30 reps or until my shoulders can't hold the perfect form any longer. It aches!

This month I have signed up for a trial at both Studeo 55 as well as Exhale Studio so I'll be sure to keep you posted as I try all the new and challenging workouts! Thanks for reading!

Dad, avert your eyes!

2010-11-28T22:19:00.000-08:00

Well it's official, 2 more days until I have to weigh in and see how my progress has moved forward in the past 30 days. I'm a tiny bit nervous but mostly I am excited because as hard as these first 30 days were, they were also absolutely life changing. The people that have come forward to help me on my quest, the support of all my friends, family and complete strangers from around the world, and the start of this journey have all been amazing. I find myself learning new and interesting things about myself daily; some good, some great and some so ugly that it would be appalling for me to share with you... well maybe not appalling but I would certainly need to hang my head in shame while you all had a good belly laugh at me, so instead I'll keep those discoveries to share at a later date.

The one thing that I have always believed that I had was self confidence, and although I still think that belief is true, this month took me to a whole new level. I am stronger, fitter and healthier than ever before (and WAY funnier, if you ask me ;-) and that has made for some sensational self-fulfilling prophesies which I will be talking about as the weeks go on. So after a very good paced 8km run on Saturday morning (8km- 38:42, pace 4:52) I headed out to obtain my one month reward.

As you all know I hired the fantastic Angela Hubbard http://www.angelahubbard.com/ to shoot some photos of me as a treat to myself for enduring this past month of determination as well as to encourage me to feel fun, free and sexy in my own skin. I had one of the best experiences of my life and I want to thank Angela for making me feel like a million bucks the entire time. She's a true star. Look her up and get one of these sessions done for yourself... you will not be disappointed. Due to the nature of these very personal photos I will only be sharing a few of the shots with you.

I hope you like them and thanks for reading!

Scatter Brain

2010-11-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of those mornings where you get out of bed and nothing is coming naturally to you? It takes 15 minutes to brush your teeth, your breakfast gets cold because you got caught up doing something else and you get to the gym missing an essential piece of equipment. Today was this day for me. I'm just so glad no one was around to see me turn into a fire breathing dragon. I would say 9 times out of 10 I am super organised and run on a pretty tight schedule but last night I decided that I wanted to sleep in today- for the first time in months. I'm not usually a person who sleeps late and I have no problem jumping out of bed for my workouts at 6 or 7am but I didn't have to go to work until late today so I decided, what the heck? I'll sleep late!

I woke up at 9:48am, I looked at the clock and almost broke an ankle scrambling to get out of my bed, in my daze I thought I had over slept. As I went about my usual business I started to realize everything was off. I just couldn't make anything happen in real time, I felt like I was in one of those stupid dream sequences from a movie, the part that I always fast forward on my PVR. I headed down to the gym forgetting my water bottle and cursing myself under my breath for being so flaky.

Friday is my favourite workout of the week, my arm workout, and even in my fog I was excited to bump up my dumbbell weight to ensure further gains. In the middle of my workout, all of a sudden, I got my groove back. My focus became clear and the intensity of my usual lifting routine fell back into place.

The fire breathing dragon was gone and in it's place was Peppy Kelly, those who have met me in my Peppy state might refer to me as annoying but I prefer to say that I am just brightly optimistic. So now instead of cursing, I spent my 90 second rest time between sets dancing to Madonna circa 1986. I finished my arm workout and hit the mat for an intense ab and core routine that included stability ball work, medicine balls and weighted crunches. I was feeling great at that point so I decided to spend some time trying to master the Tracy Anderson treadmill workout that I posted a couple of weeks ago. I figured with all the core strength work I had been doing that I would have made some good gains in the balance department and I was right, I didn't wobble about so much and the 45 minutes went by quickly. I'm happy (and mildly grossed out) to say that I'm certain I left about 6 gallons of sweat on the floor. That workout is beast.

To check out my arm workout for today refer back to "Got Guns?", I used the same routine but because I added more weight I cut down the reps by 2. Here was the ab/core workout I completed today.

Full sit ups on the ball- 15 reps
Crunches on the ball- 15 reps
oblique crunches on the ball- 15 each side
plank- 30 seconds
plank with hands on the ball- 30 seconds
side plank- 30 seconds each side
wood chop with 10lbs medicine ball- 10 on each side
torso rotation with 10lbs dumbbell- 10 on each side

Go through the entire list once and then repeat for 2 giant sets. You'll be burning in all the right spots.

Refer to "Feel the burn" to see the Tracy Anderson workout in action. Thanks for reading!

Reward

2010-11-24T22:46:00.000-08:00

I'm excited that month one of my 12 month journey is nearing the end. This month has been tough and a huge challenge for me but I wouldn't have changed any of it. Although I haven't weighed myself since November 1st I can feel that I have tightened up. My clothes are feeling looser and I am feeling more confident with my strength and conditioning. Next month I have tonnes on the agenda including new workouts, personal training sessions and, of course, lots of running!

I wanted to make sure that I took time to reward myself at the end of this month because I really feel like my effort levels have been better then ever and I want to continue on this positive path. I went through a whole list of rewards that would get me excited to get up for my runs each morning in this stupid freezing weather and would make me push out those last 2 painful reps when I'm wanting to quit on the weight stack. I thought about new running gear, gym memberships and even new books but I wanted something more exciting than that, so... drum roll please... I decided on a boudoir style photo shoot.

No big surprise here, I love documenting my life, whether it be this blog or photographs, I always make sure that the moments are caught on paper or on film so that 50 years from now I can look back on what I have attempted and what I have achieved and recognize those who were with me through it all. Angela Hubbard of Hubbard Photography (http://www.angelahubbard.com/) is a phenomenal rock star photographer who's amazing images have graced the pages of international music and fashion magazines. As Angela was on staff at Rolling Stone Magazine for years, she has shot the likes of David Bowie, Madonna and KISS, to name just a small few. Who better to take these photo's of me than Angela? I mean seriously, I want to feel (and look!) like a rock star and she's the one to make it happen.

I'll be sure to press it extra hard these last few days before my shoot and report back on how it went (and depending on how risque the session gets, you might even get a visual). Either way, I'll be posting my new measurements and a one month photo on the 1st. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading!

"I'm pretty sure my hands are going to fall off"

2010-11-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

So as you might remember, yesterday morning was the Fall Classic 10km race that myself and my 3 friends signed up for. I woke up hoping the snow would have melted and that, miraculously, the sun would be shining. Well that was obviously some ridiculously wishful thinking. It was so cold (-9 with the wind chill) that I swear I could see my breath inside my apartment. I pulled on all my new winter running gear; brand new sweat wicking tights, my Nike running top and of course my new zip up jacket. As I was getting ready I was skeptical that only 2 thin layers on top would keep me sufficiently warm but it turns out that was all I needed, they were fantastic and I am so happy that Chris at the Run Inn suggested them. http://www.runinn.com/. The importance of stellar running gear was lost on me for such a long time, I'm glad my eyes were finally opened. If I had been wearing cotton I would have been freezing and would have been layered up, which would have made for an uncomfortable run. Check out the picture at the bottom of the page of my friend Matt and his hilarious Fall Classic ensemble. He put his running pants in the dryer and for that no-no he paid the price by looking like a dolt and possibly contracting gangrene of the ankles.

As we waited at the start line we joked about Shawna and her unnatural ability to run at break-neck speeds. Honestly, she should have a sponsor and I wouldn't suggest any sporting manufacturer either- that's for athletes. Shawna is not an athlete, she is a machine, so I would suggest she should get a fuel company to sponsor her, that way she can easily fill up her jet pack at the beginning of each race. As we took off from the start line she yelled "See you later" and just like that she was gone. She came in top 5 in our age group and in the spirit of friendly competition, I would like to point out that I wasn't that far behind her. I think I came in 3000th.

Randi and I started together at a pretty good pace but it was incredibly difficult to get warmed up. I was finally feeling like myself at about the 4km mark but as I referred back to my Nike+ pacing system http://www.nikeplus.com/ I realized that I had lost a couple of minutes in the first 4km that would be hard to make up in this weather. I wasn't trying for a personal best, but obviously whenever you go out for a race you want to run with a purpose. I would have been very happy with my performance in this weather if I was able to hold onto my regular 10km time of about 46 minutes, but that didn't look like it would be the case. As we rounded the corner on the highway in UBC we started running along side a field that was currently being used by a rugby team for practise. I noticed as we passed the rugby players that a few people had passed me and I was in shock to see that when I referenced my current pace I had actually unconsciously slowed down to watch the boys in short shorts. I laughed out loud when I realized, but hey, What's a girl to do... right? Right?

We came up to the finish line and I was feeling pretty beat. The cold on my lungs and the ice on the ground made for a very tiring race. I crossed the finish line at 49:06, a whole 3 minutes slower than my usual time. Randi took one look at me and asked if I was OK. Apparently it was so cold that my lip had started to bleed and it looked like I had run face first into one of those rugby players (I wish) and as I spent the entire rest of the day coughing uncontrollably, I was certain that the race had given me tuberculosis. Would I run it again next year? Heck yes, but next year I am going to make sure to slap on the chap stick and put on some blinders to keep my focus intact!

This morning I headed to the gym in my new Nike Free shoes. The shoes were everything they were said to be- lightweight, breathable, movable and they really did feel like a sock the entire time I was wearing them. I wouldn't run in them with my foot shape but I think they are a great gym shoe. I warmed up today with 30 minutes walking at 4.5 at an incline of 5 and then I completed this Chest and Back workout.

Chest:
Set 1. Dumbbell Fly on the ball- 12 reps
          Dumbbell chest press on the ball (up your weight)- 10 reps
          Repeat for a total of 3 sets then do 10 push ups
Set 2. Dumbbell pull over on the ball- 10 reps
          Incline dumbbell press on the bench (set to 45*)- 10 reps
          Repeat for a total of 3 sets then do 10 push ups

Back:
Set 1. Dumbbell bent over row- 12 reps per arm
          Dumbbell straight arm pull back- 10 reps
          Repeat for a total of 3 sets then do 10 close handed push ups
Set 2. Wide-grip lat pull down on the machine- 12 reps
          Seated row on the machine- 10 reps
          Repeat for a total of 3 sets then do 10 close grip push ups
Set 3. Plank- hold for a minimum of 30 seconds adding time as you get stronger.
          Back extensions on the stability ball- 12 reps
          Repeat for a total of 3 sets then do as many regular push ups as you can

Remember to stretch and Thank you for reading!

Matt and his stylish short pants Randi (left), Shawna (right) and I

New Gear!

2010-11-20T22:53:00.000-08:00

As the snow flakes were falling this morning in Vancouver and the temperature dropped below 0 degrees, I looked outside to see a couple of runners sailing past on the seawall outside my apartment. At first I was in shock... I wouldn't run in this weather! But then I remembered that I am running in the Fall Classic 10km race tomorrow (http://www.fallclassicrun.com/) and not only will it be cold but I'm pretty sure it will be down right miserable.

I realized it is time to get my gear up to par, otherwise I'll keep thinking those runners out there in the snow are nut-jobs instead of getting out there on these cold winter mornings and secretly hoping others will look at me like I'm the weirdo. I headed over to the Run Inn in Kerrisdale (http://www.runinn.com/) where I always buy my runners. I've gone to many of the bigger athletic stores in the past (you know which ones I'm talking about) and I have never once been blown away by the service. That's not the case at the Run Inn. Every time I have gone in I have received the help I need by an actual shoe specialist, not just some 15 year old acne-faced teen who's only qualification is the fact that he holds a key to the back stock room. I'm a runner and as any runner or active person knows, it's not what your shoe looks like that matters, it's how it performs or your particular foot.

The Run Inn uses the Brannock fitting device to accurately measure your foot length and shape so that the specialist can suggest the best shoe for your foot and running style. The best part? They let you take the shoe out for a spin so you can see exactly how it runs.

I have a "strong foot" (thank you, thank you. I will take it as a compliment) with a very high arch and I run from my mid sole. I need a shoe that hugs around my arch and comfort is key for me as I run long distances. I was introduced to the Nike Vomero's and I absolutely love the shoe. I'm almost certain that it makes me faster and I feel like the foot is enveloped in clouds as the run goes on, never painful and never heavy. But, of course, running shoes are meant for running and since I spend so much time in the gym as well as on the pavement, I thought it was time I invested in some good cross training shoes as well. As Chris at the Run Inn explained the differences between the shoes to me, I realized how important it is to have 2 (or more!) different shoes for your different exercises. Runners are meant to propel you forward and trainers are great for side to side motions and help to anchor you during plyo, balance and weight bearing exercises. For the gym I decided on the new Nike Free shoe. The shoe is meant to bend and move with the foot like a sock would. It's super light weight and will eventually help to strengthen my feet so that running fast will come easier. I'm looking forward to trying them out and reporting back to you all next week.

So as I mentioned earlier, I am running the Fall Classic tomorrow morning, bright (or not so bright) and early. I have enlisted a couple of my incredibly fit girlfriends to join in on the fun. Randi and I run a similar pace so I look forward to running the race along side her. Shawna (also known as Freak-of-Nature) will probably be finished the race before I even cross the start line, so although we will arrive together, I'm certain she will have already cooled down, had her breakfast, showered, gone to work, come home from work and will be back waiting at the finish line for when Randi and I decided to complete the minus 3 degree, bone-chilling race. Who knows, Shawna might even run the half marathon "for fun" just so she doesn't have to wait around for me as I slug down the course behind her. I'll be sure to tell you all about it tomorrow, complete with photos!

Here is a shot of the new Vomero that I'll be training in for my marathon. Wicked shoe. Wicked Store. http://www.runinn.com/

Interview with Norm Trerise Part 2

2010-11-18T22:31:00.000-08:00

If you haven’t read the first part of this interview, check out the blog post titled Interview with Norm Trerise; otherwise read on and enjoy!

My Dad didn’t get a full scholarship offer from University of Oregon but he knew that he needed to attend U of O. With world records, the 2 best milers in the USA, and a world renowned coach that was getting more men to the Olympics than any other school, it was obvious that my Dad (overachiever that he is) needed to be a part of that legacy. Lloyd Swindells, the coach at the Vancouver Olympic Club got in touch with Bowerman at U of O and Bowerman asked that my father write him a letter requesting admission. My Dad wrote the letter (I can only imagine the ass kissing that occured on that piece of paper!) and was offered a partial scholarship. With 100% certainty, he says that it was absolutely the right thing to do.

In Norms freshman year he was running the 800m and the mile and wasn’t having a great season, he was getting lost in the group and wasn’t sure where to go with his running career. As my Dad moved into his sophomore year he started running in the 2 mile and 3 mile races and discovered that at under 14 minutes for a 3 mile run, he was finishing well and he settled into the longer distances. In Halifax that summer Norm headed to the Canadian National meet where he competed in the mile and won with a great time of 4:07, against some very steep competition. That was the moment my Dad decided he was going to make the 1968 Olympic team and that’s also when things went a bit off side. Norm headed to Toronto to compete for a chance to be on a Canadian Team that was headed to Scandinavia to compete and ended up dropping out of the race halfway through because of humidity, he just couldn't breathe. His dreams of the Olympics were crushed and he headed back to Vancouver feeling like he should have been on that team, traveling around Europe, gaining race experience. When he got back to Vancouver he just couldn’t shake the fact that he should have been in that group and he decided that he had to prove it to everybody- Had the humidity not forced him to drop out he might have dominated that race. He sat down with his father and told him that he had decided not to work through the summer, but instead he wanted to train. Hard.

My Dad called Bill Delenger, University of Oregon's other track coach and told him of his plans. Bill said he would make my Dad a training schedule but that he would no longer be running the 3 mile race. He would be running the mile. That summer my Dad trained 3 times a day. Everyday. Running morning, noon and night for 3 months my Dad was incredibly determined to make sure the world new what kind of athlete he really was. He headed to Victoria and competed against Dave Baily, the first man in Canada to run a sub 4 minute mile. Baily beat my Dad in a 4:05 minute mile and at that point my Dad knew he could do it. With a little more training and a rabbit hired for the next race, he knew he could run a sub 4 minute mile.

A race was set up specifically for my father on UBC soil. Everyone knew he could do it, he just had to prove it. In order to make it to the Olympic trials my Dad had to beat the Olympic Standard for the 1500m, which at the time was 3:42 (they don’t race the mile in the Olympics). They hired a rabbit to pace my Dad for a fast and furious race and as he rounded the bend and took on the straight away the crowd went wild… he knew he had done it. My Father crossed the finish line in 3:39.6, not only smashing the Olympic standard of 3:42, but setting a new Canadian Record which he held for 8 years!

He was off to Toronto in August 1968 to compete in the Olympic Trials. He knew from his previous devastating Toronto race that he needed to arrive early and acclimatize to the humidity (no one wants frizzy hair, right?), so that is exactly what he did. He arrived at the track on race day and he felt an interesting buzz in the air. Everybody in the stadium, including all of his competition, knew he was going to win the race that day. And he knew it too. He was the one to beat and as he took off from the start line he felt that no one could touch him, everything that he had worked so hard for was about to pay off. All the runners were keying off him and no body was making any moves. He sailed over the finish line in first place with 30 yards between him and the second place finisher. With a huge smile on his face and his head held high, he did it.

At the age of 21 Norm Trerise was going to the Olympics.

A chin up? Really?

2010-11-17T16:40:00.000-08:00

Willingly enduring 90 minutes of ball-busting torture, all before daybreak, is usually not part of my regular Wednesday routine. But then again, what has my regular Wednesday routine done for me lately? Not much of anything... so I was willing to cheat on it. My friend Lisa asked me to join her on "Buddy day" for her group training or "bootcamp" class. I was hesitant at first, I mean 5:30am? Really? In the rain? Really? Against better judgement I signed on... and I'm seriously glad I did. http://www.vancouvercrosstraining.com/

Coach Manning set the rules up at the start. He wasn't my friend, he would call me by my last name (good luck remembering it!), I would refer to him as Coach and there would be no profanities. If I broke the rules then the whole class had to do 10 burpee's, the pressure was on. I'm pretty sure I muttered the F word to myself about 1 million times during this crash course in animosity but none the less, I loved Coaches style from the get-go. A man who treated the class, women and men alike, as equals and wasn't there to be your pal, but to show your body what it was made of in a fun and very effective way. That's pure Awesome.

We started the morning with a slow warm up jog and some dynamic stretches and then got into the nitty gritty. Coach wants to make sure that your body never gets a chance to get used to the routine, so if you check out the website, you'll see that over the last 90 days (he posts each workout) he hasn't repeated the same workout twice.

This whole workout was done on a soccer field near Spanish Banks in the pouring rain (just thought I'd tell you again). We started by breaking the running drills up in to 1/4's. 1/4 of the field right-side shuffle, 1/4 of the field left-side shuffle, 1/4 of the field backwards running and the remaining 1/4 was an all-out sprint to the finish. After repeating that 10 times (10 times!) I was feeling pretty good, I was actually able to hold my own against the 2 other women and 2 men in the class- and even came in first a few times. From there we headed over to the goal post and did some upper back work. Hanging from the post we worked on moving our scapula down our backs and engaging them. We finished that set with push up pluses, and frog squats, 12 reps each, X3. We headed back to the field and we completed the same sprint drills another 10 times, this time working on improving our pace. Back to the post we did spider man push ups and prisoner squats X3 and chin ups. Yes. Chin ups. Not only have I never ever done a chin up before, but I honestly thought that I would be cool to go the next 60 years of my life never even attempting one. Since I didn't want to talk back to coach I decided to just go for it. I was hoisted up to the bar and presto! A chin up- 12 actually- and then 24 and by the time the 3rd set was finished I had completed 36 chin ups. OK, OK, OK. You know there is NO chance I did this alone, and even though I had an Arnold Schwarzenegger (circa 1970's) sized man holding my legs up the entire time, I'm going to take this one and keep it for myself. 36 pull ups bitches. Beat that.

After all the exercises and 20 running drills we got down on the soaked turf and started the ab workout. It was meant to be 4 minutes of core work without any rest. We all know that ab's are not quite my specialty (yet!) but I put in my best effort and although I put my legs down a few times to rest I'm certain when I join Coach Manning and his crew next time, I'll be good to go for all 4! We finished up with some full body stretches and then I headed home to soak in the hot tub. All before 7:30am.

All in all I had a tremendous workout in the company of some great people. I loved the style of the workout and I felt like I got a ton out of it. Check out the website and get involved if you're interested in a challenging workout that will push your limits and make you proud of yourself afterwards, I'll be joining again for sure. Thanks Coach!
http://vancouvercrosstraining.com/

The time has come

2010-11-16T13:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my second class at Power Vibe Fitness (http://www.powervibe.ca/ ). I stepped outside in the pouring rain and headed to the Power Vibe studio which is located under the Granville Bridge on Kinghorne Mews, about a 2 mile run from my house. After getting absolutely drenched with rain I got into class warmed up and ready to work hard. I had Eddy as my instructor and he was fantastic. He hadn't worked with anyone in the class before so he started us out slow to see what we were made of. Once he realized that we were all fairly fit he pushed us to the max. It's hard enough doing all of these exercises standing on solid ground but once you involve the power plate, you feel the workout in places you didn't know you had muscles. He had us doing lunges with one foot on the vibrating power plate and one foot on a bosu balance ball, squats being held for 45 seconds while the power plate zzzzzzzzz'd away and dozens upon dozens of ab exercises.

I have always known that core strength is what I have been lacking and it's what's holding me back from really harnessing my power but for some reason I have always shied away from focusing on the core in the gym. Sure I do planks and crunches every once in a while, but over the last 2 years I have never really included ab routines into my weekly workouts. They're hard and painful and because of the layer of chunk lying over top of them, I never see results. Well, Eddy proved to me yesterday that it's about freaking time that I step up my core game. I literally could not do another rep of leg lifts by the time the next set started and I was embarrassed. Thoroughly. My core performance was abominable. For serious. I woke up today feeling like I had gotten into a bar fight with a bouncer on Granville street. I actually looked in the mirror for bruises, but alas, it was only my trunks way of telling me that the time has come. No more excuses. If I want to run further, jump higher and lift heavier I have to put in the midsection work, no ifs ands or buts. *Accompanied by a loud sigh.

And here comes the big news. I have decided my next big goal for myself will be the BMO Vancouver Marathon on May 1st, 2011. 26 miles or 42 kilometers of running will be a difficult feat, but I'm excited for the adventure and the training which I will start in January. Until then I will keep up the basic runs and gym workouts and keep you posted on my progress! Thanks for reading!

Interview with Norm Trerise

2010-11-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

As I started this interview with my father, Norm Trerise, I fully intended to have it be more of a question and answer type of session, basing my questions around what goes into training for the Olympics, nutrition in the 60’s and 70’s and the type of perseverance that is required to commit your life to sport. What I got was much more interesting; 3 hours of his athletic biography and an in depth look at what goes into finding your sport, the training and dedication that you and your supporters put into the cause and why he thinks the sport of track and field has lost it’s lustre in British Columbia. I was enthralled by his story, some of it I have known for years, some of it I learned when I took on running as my sport, and some of it was brand new to me. Any way you cut it, it’s pretty spectacular to be able to hear about something from a professionals point of view and spectacular becomes an understatement when that person goes into the category of one of Best in the World. I have decided to break this post up into a 3 part series as I want it to get the focus it deserves. I’ll talk about Norm finding his way in the sport, about his University years and his training programs and post 3 will focus on the Olympics and the races thereafter.

My Dad made it clear from minute one that what he believes sets apart an athlete from a top level competitor comes down to a 4 simple things 1. You find the right sport 2. You have the right coach 3. You have the talent and 4, the number that really sets someone apart, is how you respond to competition. Pretty accurate and pretty simple it appears. I asked about dedication and determination… “Well that’s obvious” he responded. I suppose he’s right.

When my Dad was 13 he tried many sports, Basketball (sucked), baseball (sucked), soccer (sucked) and was feeling a bit discouraged until his PE teacher, Rob McEwen, suggested that he try out cross country running. Nobody ran in those days, certainly not for exercise and so my Dad decided to join the team but was unprepared for the first race because he hadn’t trained. His first race was the ¾ mile and he came in last, his second race was a mile and he came in last, third race? Last. But Mr. McEwen had devised a system to get kids out running before school started, which he called the Century Club. For every morning you came to run with him, you got yourself a gold star on the wall (wow… a gold star eh? I’ll tell you, that certainly wouldn’t get me out of bed in the morning). My Dad started running 4 mornings a week and by the time of his first race at the Brockton Oval, he was in good shape, beating most of the older kids and feeling encouraged to push harder.

At that point McEwen suggested that my Dad go to the Vancouver Olympic Club to see their coach, Lloyd Swindells, to see if he could whip him into shape. And he did. By the spring of that year my Dad was the 5^th fastest ½ miler in the city. And he was 16. All it took was one man seeing the importance of athleticism in youth and recognizing the talent of an otherwise awkward teen (you know it‘s the truth Pop's) to send my Dad on an amazing journey of physical endurance and mental strength and a kind of determination that many of us may never get to experience.

The Vancouver Olympic Club had a great tradition of Excellence and had many elite athletes there when my Dad first started training with them. At that point he wasn't someone who was going to the Olympics or even 1^st in his age group but with the devotion of his father, his coach and, of course, his own determination, it was obvious to everyone he had talent. At this point he was the 4th fastest in the city.

He settled in on the very intense 800m race- essentially a 2 lap sprint. On his first race he puked his guts out after he finished in 2 minutes 5 seconds. As he trained he kept chipping away at the time and within a year (grade 11) he had an astonishing breakthrough and finished the 800m in 1:56. At this time Norm was the 2^nd fastest 800m runner in the province.

Around the same time Track and Field News (http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/) was hosting a competition called the Postal Race which is a 3 mile race run by as many team mates as you want and when the race is finished you submit your team's 5 fastest times. My Dad’s team, with 3 high school kids on it, finished 1st. Beating out dozens of university teams they were published in Track and Field news and that’s when North America started to take notice of Norm Trerise. The full scholarship offers poured in from Colorado State, Washington State and University of New Mexico but my Dad had no interest in those schools. He wanted University of Oregon and He wanted Bowerman.

The next part of this interview will be posted in a few days, focusing on Norm's time at University of Oregon under Oregon's legendary coach and cofounder of Nike, Bill Bowerman. As well, I will explain the brutal workouts that took him from a great runner to a sub 4 minute miler and Olympian.

Thanks for reading!

Feel the burn

2010-11-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

Coming off two rest days I woke up yesterday morning pumped to get active. My friend Tonya and I started at my gym with a Tracy Anderson Treadmill workout
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP6ZswxBLfY - this is the only video I could find of someone actually doing the workout, skip to about 1:05 in the video). Tonya warned me that I would feel completely ridiculous, and uncoordinated but that I would feel the burn right away. She was right, especially about looking ridiculous. We did 35 minutes of skipping, sashays, walking backwards on an incline and pretty much everything else that would make you look like an idiot and make you feel even worse... BUT I was sweating like a pig the whole time, and who really cares what the George Clooney look-a-like on the treadmill beside me thinks... right? . I'll be using this workout again for sure, but maybe next time I'll wait until Mr. Clooney has finished his gym time in order to avoid further embarrassment.

From the treadmill we headed over to Power Vibe Fitness ( http://powervibe.ca/ ) where we got signed up for a 2 week trial. I really had no idea what I was in for but I was excited to try something new. Apparently all the pro athletes and Hollywood heavy hitters are using power plates to make their workouts more effective and to ignite a deeper burn in their muscles, and I want that! Yesterday was our tutorial session and as I walked into the studio for the first time I felt a bit intimidated. There are 7 power plates lined up along mirrored walls. The power plates are huge machines that vibrate at 25 to 50 times per second as you do sets of static or weight bearing exercises on top of them. The sensation is bizarre when you first step on the plate, your brain seems to just buzz around in your skull and all of my jiggly parts were vibrating at warp speed (note to self: not a good first date) but once you get the hang of it, it's very challenging and you can tell from the first set that you're getting a phenomenal workout. Power Vibe has numerous classes including toning, performance, cardio, Pilate's and "extreme" for those that want to take their fitness to yet another level. They say that the classes do for you in 25 minutes (the length of the entire class) what a traditional workout would do in an hour. I'm sold. I woke up this morning and every muscle in my body knew it had been worked out yesterday... even my ears felt worked out. No joke. I can't wait to go back on Monday. Check them out if you're interested in upping your game, you'll be glad you did! http://powervibe.ca/

So that was yesterday... and today? Today the blog Guest Stars my gorgeous friend Carol and her equally gorgeous brother Rob. On Wednesday Carol invited me to "run stairs" with her and her brother like they do every Saturday at 8am. Of course I said yes, not fully understanding what kind of workout I was committing to. Running? check! Stairs? (doesn't seem so hard) Check! Boy was I wrong. We headed out to North Van on this wet and dreary morning and I was given advice as to how to take on these stairs with gusto but still be able to use my legs the next day. OK, I get it, it's going to be hard. SO. HARD. There are 203 steep stairs on the way up and 203 on the way down. I "ran" the 406 step circuit 7 times (I use quotations because I'm lying to you. I walked. Slowly). 1421 steps up and 1421 steps down. The only consolation was that as Rob lapped me like 6 times I got to check out his butt, and for that I can't complain. I'll be joining them again on any given Saturday and I have faith that my running times will get faster and my quads will develop some good strength but I do not have any unrealistic expectations of the stairs themselves. They suck and they always will.
Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow!

Tag me IN!

2010-11-12T00:35:00.000-08:00

Is there anything worse then being forced to sit this one out and watch from the sidelines? For me the answer is no. I came down with Strep throat yesterday (YES. AGAIN.) and after spending some time with the Dr. I came to the conclusion that I would have to take a day or 2 off. So that's what I (reluctantly) did. As I sat on my couch yesterday and read all of my fitness focused magazines and watched the Biggest Loser on PVR I realized just how important my health is to me. Cancer, heart disease, arthritis or numerous other health defects affect most, if not all, of the more mature adults in my immediate family. They didn't have access to all of the health and fitness information that I have today and I intend to use all this information that I educate myself with to my advantage. Today a friend of mine, who is a personal trainer, tried to tell me how important rest days are in a workout program, I don't know that I was fully listening to him until I realized the truth about myself. I'm not an athlete, this is not my career (although I wish it was!) and as much as I want to be out there being active 24/7 the truth is that my job requires me to stand on my feet for 6 or 8 hours at a time and after my 2 hour workout sometimes it's simply best to just rest. According to my Dr. I haven't given my body enough time to recover between hard workouts and that is why I have been sick twice in the past 3 weeks. This idea of one or 2 softer workout days is going to be a hard one for me to fully accept but I think in the long run it will make me a healthier and better adjusted athlete so I'm going to give 'er the 'ol College try and see if resting up will help me see gains in my training in the future.
I'll let you know!

The splits

2010-11-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

On Monday night I grabbed my friend Suzanne and we headed over to West Coast Hot Yoga to get bendy. We decided on the 8pm 1 hour class because, try as I might, there is no forgetting last weeks 90 minute ass kicking. Our instructor started the class out with the most fabulous quote of the week "It's going to get really hot in here, so a positive attitude is a must". Good words to live by. So as we got into our first pose of the evening I realized that this class would be totally different than the last class, well, not so much realized but was told by Hot-Stuff-Instructor that instead of the regular structure of hot yoga, we were going to be practising Vinyasa yoga. Vinyasa is known for helping to build strength in the body, focusing on upper body, abdominals and glutes. AHHHH! I just came to stretch! So for the next hour I found myself lunging, squatting, and generally hating life, until our instructor told us the next pose would be the splits. The splits! That's on my list! I was so excited to give it try, I figured if I was going to be able to do the splits, this 40* room would be my best bet. I took a moment to watch as the the entire room sunk lower and lower into their stretch and then I decided to try it for myself. Here goes nothing! And I was right, there went nothing. While the entire class was in the full splits or hovering within an inch or 2 off the ground, my body was so upright that my head was actually closer to the ceiling than my groin to the floor. Turns out this yoga business, for me anyways, is more about learning how to handle myself in times of extreme embarrassment than it is about anything else. It's a shame really, I was hoping I could just knock the splits off the 'ol list but apparently I'll be practising for years to come.

Yesterday was my regular cardio day and I decided to do a nice steady 10km, indoors. I never run indoors, ever, but the rain was coming down hard and I could see the tree's outside my window about to blow away Wizard-of-Oz style, so I decided to get to know my treadmill a bit better. I now remember why I hate to run indoors. The treadmill is boring. How is it that 10kms out in the sun feels light and easy and 10kms on a treadmill feels long and dreadful? I ended up running a bit slower than my usual time because, of course, you can't just run at your own pace, you have to pre-set the pace. First stop today? Getting some good outdoor running gear!
Thanks for reading!

An Inspiration

2010-11-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

Monday is by far my favourite day of the week to workout. Coming off a rest day on Sunday, I wake up on Monday full of energy and ready to take on the day. Normally I would complete a 40 minute steady state run and my favourite chest and back workout but today I decided to change it up a bit and go harder.

Some of you know about my Dad, Norm Trerise, competing in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City in the 1500 meter race, but most of you don't know the details of his running career. I will be sitting down with him this week for a full interview and I will work on posting it on my next Sunday rest day. I woke up today thinking about the determination and all-out grit that is required of an athlete of that caliber and that is why I decided to change up my workout. I'm going to let you (and my Dad!) in on a little secret. I have spent my entire life avoiding and removing myself from situations where I would have to be compared to my father. In my eyes he is the ultimate in bravery and drive and I have always felt that it would be easier to just ignore the fact that greatness is "in my genes" and go on with putting in enough effort to be average but never really achieving the kind of magnitude that I know is inside of me.

My father was the second (2nd!!) man in Canada to run a mile in under 4 minutes. 77th man in the world. On June 5th, 1970, 2 days after his 23rd Birthday, he raced against one of the most famous runners of all time, Steve Prefontaine, along with 5 other stellar Milers. 4 men crossed the finish line in under 4 minutes- 3:59.1 in my fathers case. Check out this photo of the 1969 University of Oregon cross country team.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehappyrower/4017224829/

Every sports professional that I talk to, whether it was my school gym teacher, Physio Therapist or the sales person at the store that I buy my running shoes at, seems to know who my Dad is and every last one of them has told me it's in my genes. Up until recently I was certain I didn't want to be compared to my dad... now after 28 years, I have decided to change my mind (I'm a woman, it's what we do!). I know that kind of determination is in me and although I know it will be a long and winding journey to harness it, I have decided that I would much prefer to try my absolute best and come up short then to sit on the side lines and watch it all go by. Of course I'm not trying to be an Olympic athlete, or anything even close to that distinction, but I want to make sure that I spend this year learning how to be fearless and do all that I do with guts and conviction- in athletics as well as my everyday life.

Thank you Dad. You're an inspiration.

So this morning I decided that I would do a little side project. I am going to run my fastest mile this week and then as I train and get stronger this year, I will check in to see how much progress I am making in whittling down my Personal Best for the Mile. I'll keep you posted the whole way through!

Today, instead of my usual steady state run I did 30 minutes (3 miles) of sprints. I completed a slow 10 minute warm up and then did 1 minute intervals going between 6 miles/hour and 10 miles/hour for 25 minutes. After the 12th and final sprint I was bagged. I finished with a 10 minute cool down then headed to the gym. I completed this chest and back workout.

Super set 1: Dumbbell fly on the ball
                   Dumbbell chest press on the ball
Do back to back and then rest for 45 secs. Repeat for a total of 3 sets

Super set 2: Dumbbell pullover on ball
                   Incline dumbbell press on bench set to 45*
Do back to back then rest for 45 secs. Repeat for a total of 3 sets

Super set 3: Dead lift
                   Wide grip lat pull down on the machine
Do back to back then rest for 45 secs. Repeat for a total of 3 sets

Super set 4: Bent over dumbbell row
                   Shoulder width, underhand, lat pull down on the machine
Do back to back then rest for 45 secs. Repeat for a total of 3 sets

Tonight I'll be heading over to West Coast Yoga to stretch my body after this intense workout. As always I love your feedback, thanks so much for reading!

Calories!

2010-11-07T22:47:00.000-08:00

Because today was my rest day, I decided to do some research into nutrition and calorie consumption to help me along my path to athleticism. I found a very informative website to help calculate BMI, BMR's and any other B's that might need to be calculated in order to better understand your body and it's needs. Here is the site link http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ Check it out if you have a few minutes, it's super interesting.

The Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories your body would burn if you just stayed in bed all day. I like this number. A lot. I mean, seriously! My body just burns the crap out of 1491 calories while I just lie there, all lazy like? Dreamy! After I calculated my BMR I clicked on the Harris Benedict Formula http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/ which calculates exactly how many calories I need to consume everyday to maintain my weight (no thank you) and how many calories I need to consume in order to lose weight (Yes please!). So according to Mr. Benedict, if I plan to be "very active" read: hard exercise 5 or 6 days a week, then I will need around 2600 calories to maintain my current weight and around 2000 calories a day to see a 1lb loss per week. This, my friends, is stellar news because I like to eat. Tonnes and tonnes of food. I have had dozens of people make comments about my eating habits in the past. The ex boyfriend that told me I ate like a linebacker didn't last too long, and neither did the first date that said I "put it away like his 250lbs brother". Worst was the friend who watched me eat a burrito the size of my entire torso, when I was finished he shook his head and said "not sexy Kelly, not sexy At. All." Portion control is really my only problem, sure I like to indulge now and again but I am of the mind that food is fuel and my body needs as much nutrients I can get, so my plate is always full of veggies, whole grains, lean meats and heart healthy fats.

It's those damn portions.
They get me every time.

So this week I am going to focus all of my eating energy on consuming my required calories to get me through my workouts, but instead of 3 big meals I am going to try 6 smaller ones and see how it works out for me. Next time someone serves me a 80lbs burrito I'll ask them to put half away for later.
See, it's working already!

It's getting real

2010-11-07T00:44:00.000-07:00

It's been 6 days since I wrote my first blog post and man how things have progressed! I am in awe at the amount of support and encouragement I have been receiving. With over 1200 hits in less than a week and well over 80 personal messages sent from friends and subscribers, this project has gotten real. Like, super real.

When I first set out on this journey, not one week ago, I assumed my close friends and family members might be interested in my written documentary, but my thoughts were that it would end there. That hasn't been the case and I couldn't be more shocked- in the best possible way. This blog is holding me accountable for my everyday actions and it's an interesting internal discovery to watch it all play out on the computer screen.

Many people have been asking what my big goals to achieve at the end of this project will be. Will it be a marathon? A Triathlon? An Ironman? (haha, ya right!) Or possibly a fitness competition?
When I started this blog the 2 things I had on my "list of things to accomplish in the next 365 days" were 1.Get flexible enough to do the splits and 2. Be able to do a push up. You know that I'm joking but quite honestly my actual list still looks a bit "underachiever" compared to your suggestions so I will have to spend some time reevaluating!

You'll be the first to know when I have figured out my future aspirations. Until then, I'll keep trying new and challenging adventures and I promise to keep you in the loop. Thanks for reading!

Got Guns?

2010-11-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

No.
No, I don't have guns and truthfully it's a bit of a sore subject for me. It's bad enough having to watch my sister's biceps pop every time she so much as lifts a finger but I have what my friend Doreen refers to as "Celtic arms"- arms that stay the same width no matter how many bicep curls and tricep dips I do. Would I kill for a ridiculous set of cut upper arms?
Yes, actually, I think I would.
I have put in good efforts on arm days in the past but when the results didn't come I put my effort elsewhere and now I am left with a strong and competent lower half and a feeble and fleshy upper half. My arm strength in dismal. Like really dismal.
Do a push-up you say? Sorry pal, no can do. That would involve 2 biceps, 2 triceps and stellar pecs (Have those!) to complete and I am missing the 2 main ingredients.
So what do I have to do to work towards a goal of being able to get down and give you 20? I consulted Oxygen magazine ( http://www.oxygenmag.com/ ) to help me "sculpt my sexiest arms" and was amazed at how hard the drop set routine was. With 3 tricep exercises and 3 bicep exercises the workout looks quick and easy but once you add in drop sets the fatigue sets in quickly. Along with a 50 minute run, here is the routine that I completed today, from this months Oxygen Magazine.
Triceps:
1. Skull Crusher
2. Overhead cable rope extension
3. Tricep cable press down

Biceps:
1. EZ bar curl
2. Hammer curl with rope
3. Wide grip cable curl

To do a drop set you choose a weight that is challenging but not the absolute heaviest you can lift. Do one set with this weight (8 to 10 reps) then drop the weight by 10 to 15%, then immediately do another set, trying to complete as many reps as you possibly can until you can no longer lift with proper form. Beginners (that's me) end here, more advanced lifters will then drop the weight another 10 to 15% and immediately do another set until complete fatigue. Brutal!

Lynn Loop!

2010-11-04T23:39:00.000-07:00

After a nice long walk in the sun this morning, I hopped in Tonya's car and we headed to North Vancouver to do a trail run called the Lynn Loop. To my delight I was in for a nice surprise... the trail was hard! At 5.2km's I assumed the run would be short and quick but I hadn't taken into account the fact that half of the course was uphill covered in rocks, mud and tree roots, and the last half was steep downhill finishing in a flat trail covered in loose gravel. I would love to tell you that I dominated that trail.
I didn't.
Not only did I NOT dominate the trail but I'm pretty sure with all the violent thrashing of my limbs it looked like I was having a seizure. My stabilizers worked overtime to keep me from nose diving into a fallen tree or freezing cold creek and my arms, which should have been pumping forward and back, spent most of the 5km's flailing about as if I were drowning in a raging river. Ridiculous really, but entertaining none the less.

But other than the cut on my leg (head falls in shame) I came away unscathed and pretty excited to do it all over again. I'm so used to running the same path all the time that I could probably do it with my eyes closed. Forwards and backwards. This experience, although unsightly to those around me, made me realize that to run, control your body and think at the same time makes for quite a different workout- and I loved every minute of it!
I can't wait to see what's next.

I also, against better judgement, have posted some "before" photos up at the top of the page for anybody who is interested. Thanks for reading!

Operation Great-Gams!

2010-11-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

So last night I headed down to Westcoast Hot Yoga ( http://www.westcoasthotyoga.com/ ) to do my first ever 90 (90!) minute hot yoga session. The instructor warned us newbies to the 90 minute class that it would be challenging and intense... and she was right. The room is set to 40 degree's and the instructor takes you through 2 breathing exercises and 26 postures over the course of the hour and a half. I've been an on again off again yoga goer for quite a few years now but for some reason I have never been able to fully commit to the practice. When I look back at past attempts I realize that my focus for yoga has been all wrong. I was looking for bullet proof abs and a rock hard backside but I had never made any sort of efforts to use yoga as a tool to quiet my mind and increase my mental strength. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't have some mind blowing revelation while sweating like a donkey in the presence of 20 ridiculously hard-bodied yogi's but I did finally start seeing the light- for a total of about 10 minutes. The other 80 minutes were spent cursing my instructor when she said "great, now 5 more deep breaths", checking out Superman and his biceps that had been chiseled, no doubt, by Michelangelo himself and don't think I didn't notice Miss Short-shorts get so low in her chair pose that it made me look like I traded my chair in for a bar stool. But, alas, I think I made some progress... and that is what the name of this game is all about. So, Namaste to that!

And that brings us to Operation Great-Gams! Wednesday is the day I usually wake up in a fret about my workout. My least favourite and most favourite workout of the week. Why? I'll tell you. It's legs and butt day. Enough said? Didn't think so.
For the past 2 years I have pushed myself harder on Great-Gams days than any other day of the week for 2 reasons. 1. With all of those huge muscles it's by far the hardest and most exhausting workout of my week and 2. I have seen the most gains and the biggest results from this targeted day. So Thursday comes and I am usually not able to walk properly and I have, in the past, shed a tear or 2 while whittling those get-away sticks but it has been worth every second because not only can my legs run for miles and miles but I can also say that I am proud of my efforts and I love the definition.

Here is my OGG routine for today.
Standard squats- 30 reps
Reverse lunge with a front kick- 15 per side
Leg press on the machine- 12 reps
Hamstring curls on the ball- 15 reps
Calf raise on the machine- 15 reps
I do these exercises in one giant set, rest for 2 minutes then repeat for a total of 3 sets.

After the legs I do a short glutes workout that looks like this
Donkey kicks- 20 reps per side
Fire hydrant lift- 15 reps per side
weighted bridge lift- 20 reps
Rest for 1 minute between sets then repeat for a total of 3 sets.

After this workout today, I hopped on the treadmill and did 30 minutes at a speed of 4.2 and an incline of 10%. Another successful Great-Gams Operation. Thank God it's over.

It starts!

2010-11-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today is a day that makes you excited to be a runner in Vancouver. The sun is shining, the air is crisp and most importantly... it's not raining! I decided to do the 10km loop from the Underwear Affair race that I completed in July. The loop takes me from my house in Yaletown, around Science world, past Granville Island, over the Burrard bridge and then back to Yaletown via the seawall. I've run this loop quite a few times but today was different. Today I had to blog about it. Yikes.

As usual I was flying high until I reached the Burrard bridge, about 24 minutes into my run. Feeling good about the incline until about a quarter of the way up, after that my brain started to play tricks on me. when did they lengthen the bridge? Seriously! They lengthened the bridge! Oh God... should I just jump and save myself the misery?! So I did the only thing I could do, I put on the Rocky theme song so loud I could have busted an ear drum and I dug in- drive up those knee's!

I was happy with my finish- 10km's: 46 minutes 58 seconds Pace: 4.41/Km

While I was on my run I came to the conclusion that if I really want to be honest about this whole process then I would need to share the most intimate details about (SCARY!) my weight and measurements. As woman, we place so much importance on the numbers and I'm ready to throw it out the window in order to go further with my goals. So check out the "Progress" page if you are interested in my start info. I'll be updating it on the 1st of each month.

Tonight I'm heading to Westcoast Hot Yoga ( http://www.westcoasthotyoga.com/ ) to do a 90 minute session (from hell, I'm sure!) but hopefully I'll be feeling extra bendy for tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Welcome to my Blog!

2010-11-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

Here we are on November 1^st, the day that usually puts me into 5 months of hibernation mode. This year I have decided to go against my usual comfort (and fat jeans!) and start the Blog project that I have been interested in creating for some time now. The idea came about recently when I was filling out a fitness questionnaire in the Dr's office. The questions came to one of 3 conclusions; sedentary, active or athlete. My answers landed me in the middle category and it got me to thinking, what would it take to put me into the category of an athlete? Is it strength? Conditioning? Lower BMI? Dedication?

I’ve had the same old routine for 2 years now. I run 6 or 7 days a week and I lift weights 3 days a week, but if I’m totally honest with myself then it’s obvious that the routine works at maintaining my health and shape but it hasn’t evolved enough to really see changes in my body or my fitness level. It’s pretty average and stale, and who the hell wants to be average? Not me! So it brings me here. I have no idea who, if anybody, will have any interest in following along on my journey but I think this blog (and the fact that I’m putting it all out there to be judged) might be the only way to fully commit myself to this year ahead.

Here is my plan. The next 365 days will be spent working on improving myself in any way I can. Fitness, nutrition, over-all health etc. I want to try new things and put myself in situations that make me uncomfortable (like this damn blog!) to see why I have allowed myself to put in just enough effort to squeak by when I really should be pushing myself to evolve every single day. I’m not looking for huge physical changes or daily epiphanies but at my age it will be excellent to get to know myself and my limits a whole lot better. I’ll write about new exercises, fun dance classes, tasty recipes, painful programs, setbacks and triumphs and I promise to be honest and open about the whole thing (ahhhhh!).

I’m lucky to have surrounded myself with extremely knowledgeable and helpful people, including Olympic athletes, nutritionists, personal trainers, Dr’s, Iron men and women and marathon runners to name just a small few, and I plan to use them and their sought after advice to my advantage- I only hope they don’t start screening my calls for the next year!

So what will it take to turn this woman into an athlete? To take me from fit to ripped, as they say? This I don’t know the answer to (yet!) but I am willing to give it my all and lay it all out there for everyone to see. I welcome all the feedback you can offer- the positive, the negative and everything in between. Thanks for reading!
Kelly