Thursday, September 26, 2013

Spartan Super!

On September 7th, I ran my biggest and most challenging race of the season... a 14 km Spartan Race. This race was located in Red Deer. Cheryl (my Spartan sister) and I, packed our bags and headed down Friday night! We checked into our hotel and then drove to the race sight... immediately we were both excited and nervous! I had been training extremely hard for this race! At the end of June, I started 6 weeks of one-on-one sessions with my trainer. He had me on a very difficult 7 week training program.
Weeks 1-4 were 2 running days (a 5 km sprint interval run, a 7 km run or a 9 km run) and 3 lifting days. Weeks 5-7 were 3 running days (alternating through the 3 distances) and 2 lifting days. This was a challenging program but golly.... it worked! I felt so strong and so prepared for the Spartan Race. My goal heading into it was to accomplish it in less than 2 hours. My final time was 1:27:32, which is 33 minutes under my goal! Not only that, I completed 2 obstacles that I failed at in the Edmonton race in June. Not only that, I was the 8th girl to finish in my heat, so I was certainly proud of that! I felt incredible during this race... fatigued, yes but not exhausted! It was SO much fun! Our trainer came down to support us and the rest of the people from Servus who ran the race! I am already looking forward to next year and the 3 distances we are aiming to accomplish: 5 km, 14 km and a 20 km, also known as the Spartan trifecta! CANNOT WAIT!

pre-race hotel shots

matching Spartan Sisters!

showing off our guns!

a little pre-race fuel... nothing like a 5 hour energy drink!

The Dream Team!

post race medal eating!

I rinsed off already... we did it!

post-race Cora's!

post-race blister! (I had one the exact same on my other foot, too)

Such an incredible experience!



Monday, September 23, 2013

Random Acts of Kindness

This weekend, I was the recipient of 2 very touching and heartfelt acts of kindness.
On Saturday while I was at a baby shower for my beautiful new niece, a very dear dear friend of mine who I love deeply and confide in regularly, dropped off a lovely card, and a wonderful gift. I've been struggling with a few things in life lately, and this card was so positive and uplifting and it reminded me that these times will pass and I'll get through them. Inside was some bath salts (that were used immediately as I LOVE baths) and a new Lulu tank, which I also used today in my workout! It's so cute and extra special that it was a gift. Thank you, my friend from the bottom of my heart for your love and generosity! You're the cats meow!

That evening, I decided to take Annie out for Pho... and by Annie I mean myself because there was no way she was going to eat salad rolls and beef lemongrass. At the restaurant, I recognized a young family that attends our church. I've never met either of them but recognize their kids from Sunday school. We chatted for a few minutes about our kids and that was that. When I went to pay my bill, this kind family had paid for my meal. How sweet is that? It warmed my heart!

I love these things... it inspires me to do this for others. These things (or notes or a coffee drop-off) can mean the world to others but if you don't do them, you'll never know. I know how touched I felt by these 2 kind acts. I want to Pay it Forward (sidenote: remember that movie... I was a bawling mess).