My trip part 2 lots of pics!

Before I get to my trip...I want to thank my GENIUS friend Emz for helping me solve the mystery of why people could not comment on my blog. 

Also I got a few questions about my diet and the restriction I have I did talk about it on a post a while ago it is right here
http://journeytoahalfmaraton.blogspot.com/2010/11/could-you-eat-same-thing-every-day.html

The short story is...my gallbladder was not working, I had surgery to have it removed.  It had been misdiagnosed for a while and I developed GERD because of it.  Some people are lucky and go back to a normal diet after surgery, some like me not so much.  I cannot eat FAT and anything spicy or acidic.  No alcohol either.  So a lot of good stuff is a big no no for me.  If I eat it, I get sick.  For several days.  No food is worth it so far.  I tried.  So I eat pretty much the same thing every single day.  It sucks but some people have it a lot worst then me and have to eat ensure all the time.  That diet made me loose a lot of weight,  I did need to loose weight but not 70 lbs!

I went running yesterday, 6 miles outside.  It felt a lot better then running inside and my sore throat is gone, I just cough now.  Today I had to rest, the kids gym is closed on Sunday and Bill left for the week this morning.  I called these trips vacation and he insist on calling them work trip.  Whatever.

GO MAVERICKS!!!!!!
Now only need the Canucks to win the Stanley Cup! (That is HOCKEY Chris)

Tomororw I officially start training for my next Half Marathon: The Disneyland Half Marathon!
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My trip part 2.

I thought I would show my family.  They don't read my blog but I am sure they are OK with this!!!

Bill is my Mom's favorite...don't tell the others!!

The whole family on my side,
last time we were all together was 3 yrs ago.

 

With my nieces, the older one is my God Daughter
she is 13 and 5'8" (!) and the younger one is 10.



That is my brother.  Who do you think is older?



My brother got the boys proper Hockey T-Shirts. 
We are ready for the return of the Quebec Nordiques!



In town, this is La Porte St Jean (St-John Gate) one of 4 gates to the fortifications of the city.



This is in front of a candy store, that bike is all candy!

Shirt they were selling in town..

In front of the Chateau Frontenac, nicest hotel in Québec.
It is 118 years old

Séminaire de Québec:
 Private school where I coached for several years.
This building is 156 yrs old.

Inside a Cafe where we had lunch

Half way

I am at the half point of my training plan.  This is is going by faster then the first time.
I had a pretty good week.  I am improving on pace and I ran a tempo run outside and it turned out to be easier then doing it on the treadmill.  I ran  8 miles for my long run.  Last time I did 8 miles was when I trained for my 1st half so it was in January.  Saturday I ran my 8 miles 9 minutes faster then I did in January.  That makes me feel really good about my training.  Also I tried a new fuel and it works for me.  So I am optimistic that my second half marathon will be better then my first and not just in terms of time.

WEEK 6
Mon: 4 miles: 4 miles
Tue: stretch and strength + XT: 30 min elliptical and 15 min bike.  Core workout.
Wed: 3 miles: 3 miles tempo
Thu: Speedwork: tempo 40 min yikes!: Speedwork 7x400m: 5 miles total.
Fri: REST: REST
Sat: XT or 3 miles: 8 miles
Sun: 8 miles: 3 miles
total: 23 miles.

WEEK 7: **Spring Break, I have to change the regular order of my workouts because kids are home, luckily Bill took Mon and Tue off so I was able to run outside! 

Mon: 3 miles: 3 miles
Tue: 4.5 miles: 4.5 miles
Wed: stretch and strength + XT:
Thu: Speedwork:  8x400m:
Fri: REST:
Sat: XT or 3 miles:
Sun: 9 miles: 

Disneyland Half Marathon is sold out already.  Good thing I signed up early.

Yesterday I got an email about THE BEACH CITIES CHALLENGE.

The Beach Cities Challenge is a race series that includes three Southern California marathons – the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach, the Orange County Marathon, and the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon. Runners who complete any combination of half or full marathons in all three events consecutively will receive a special Beach Cities Challenge Medal.

I am already doing the OC and Long Beach one and I had planned on doing Surf City instead of Carlsbad for 2012 so I am in for this Challenge!  A fancy medal is nice but I would prefer a discount on registration fees or a technical shirt. 

Looking forward to Thursday...

This is the shirt I wish I could be wearing:

 

THE CATS ARE GOING DOWN....and will cry like little kittens....meow, meow

GO DUKE!

Peace of mind

Just got back from seeing the Good Doc.  Got the results of my last screening and the tumor did NOT grow.  I am happy.  Every time I go for the results I secretly hope he will say: "It is gone!" but I will take it is not growing.  We do this again in August, until then I have peace of mind as far as that goes.  It is not easy to know that I have a tumor on my kidney and I don't know if it is the bad kind..you know the kind that start with a C.  They cannot do a biopsy on these kind of tumor, too risky.  OK enough of the depressing stuff.

To CELEBRATE good news my friends have a drink or buy expensive shoes or go to a spa, me I signed up for not one but TWO HALF MARATHONS!

First one May 1, 2011 and second one September 4th, 2011.   Also today my new shoes arrived, one day free delivery! I like that! I cannot wait to try them tomorrow.

Today I ran 3 miles temp0-kind of...I am not sure if I am doing this tempo thing right.  I was at the gym, so I had to distract myself with the people at the gym...today we had 2 guys working out with their winter coats on (I live in Southern California, it is NOT cold here) and winter hats.  I don't get it.  Also one gal wearing FLIP FLOPS on the treadmill...trying to run at speed 3.0 ...really? That should not even be allowed!  I wish I could take pictures of all these weirdos for you but I am way too shy!!!