On my rest day I'd like to leave you with a quote by Matt Hoover, Season 2 Biggest Loser Winner, from the "Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now?" episode that I watched last night. He completed the Kona Ironman in October of this year, and while he missed the official cut off time by 3 minutes, his experience is incredibly inspiring.

"I look back over that race and it changed me; It made me realize that it's not about how much you weigh and it's not about what you've done in your past; it's about what you're doing. Our bodies they're amazing. I shouldn't have been able to do what I did that day but my body kept going. There's something about pushing yourself beyond your limits that people need to do once in their life. They need to take the chance one time and see what they really can do. And once you do it you're never the same."

Amen Matt! Thanks for the motivation!

Great day for a run- 6 degrees and sunny.

1 | 5:51
2 | 5:57
3 | 5:59
4 | 6:08
5 | 5:53
6 | 5:55
7 | 5:58
8 | 5:59
8.0 km | 47:39 | 5:57min/km

Today I changed things up and hit the POOL! Yeah, it's been a while. Amazingly I can still swim! I did a 1500m workout that looked like this (as far as I can remember ha) which took ~50 minutes.

100m w/u free
2 x 100m pull
100m kick
100m free
2 x 100m pull
100m kick
200m free
100m pull
100m free
100m kick
200m free

The swim felt good after a week of running! Being at home in PEI, apart from my Kurt Kenetic at Mark's house, has been a good opportunity for me to work on my two "weaknesses". I am excited to finally be adding some SPEED and HILLS to my running!! :) I have not been able to do this (without aggravating by ITB) since my ACL reconstructive surgery in December 2007. I am so excited for the 2010 race season and I don't even know what races I'm doing yet! Of course we will do the races in the maritimes but we are also planning a few destination races. Racing a Half Ironman in Hawaii sounds like a good way to celebrate my graduation from law school. ;)

Exciting things ahead!!

1km w/u + 4k tempo @ 5:00min/km + 1km c/d

1 | 5:56
2 | 4:51
3 | 5:00 + [30 seconds rest]
4 | 4:56 + [40 seconds rest]
5 | 4:57
6 | 6:27
6.0km | 33:19 | 5:26min/km

Merry Christmas! :)

Today my sister and I went for a Christmas morning run through Charlottetown. It was a beautiful morning and we ran by many other people out enjoying the crisp air and light snowfall.

I ran in the Saucony Arctic LX tights mom gave me for Christmas and I am loving them. I don't have many outdoor winter running tights since I usually chicken out in winter and resort to the treadmill. Not this year! I cancelled my gym membership and I'm going to brave the elements!

12km just a smidge too fast (I aim for 6:04min/km which is my aerobic pace from Daniel's Running Formula):

1 | 5:58
2 | 5:57
3 | 6:03
4 | 6:01
5 | 5:57
6 | 5:58
7 | 6:02
8 | 6:03
9 | 6:04
10| 6:05
11| 6:13
12| 6:03
12.0km | 1:12:33 | 6:02min/km

Hm. I had written a long winded post on my distaste of Apple's 3rd generation iPod and how I had to return mine because it ceases to function when sweat comes into contact with the headphone control (what's the point?) and how last night I discovered a new gem: the Sandisk Clip which is tiny and black and cute and has a SCREEN and then our new puppy, Sophie, caused a ruckus, my laptop dropped, the screen of death appeared, and foreign noises were emanating from my computer. It was dramatic. I lost my post. But the Dell Inspiron Gods must be wishing me a Merry Christmas becaused I rebooted and everything is seemingly fine. :)



Love it!! At $49.99 (Future Shop) for the 2GB there really is no comparison. I took it for a cruise on my run this afternoon and it worked like a charm. Extremely light weight and easy to control while running!

1 | 5:46
2 | 5:43
3 | 5:46
4 | 5:39
5 | 5:57
6 | 5:54
6.0km | 34:43 | 5:47min/km

I saw this quote and it grounded me. I sometimes get caught up in the competition and lose sight of the real competition- the one against myself.

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell."

-Buddha

10k at home in PEI! 2km w/u + 6 x 400m intervals w/ 600m rest + 2km c/d. (~60 min)

Yesterday: does shopping count?
Sunday: 75 min Spinervals core conditioning DVD
Saturday: Carmichael Training System Interval Workout w/ Mark (60 min)

Hm, not much to add here. A few rides here & there, some hills w/ Mark last week. Exams are finished on Friday which means life will go back to normal. Then it's time to plan the 2010 race season! :)

8km in ~48mins