Joyeux Noel!!!

Ho Ho Ho!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I want to welcome the new followers who came over from the Run Like a Mother's blog following my guest post yesterday.  (You can read it here.) I do want to thank everyone who left a comment on that post or on my blog yesterday.  I was very overwhelmed by the response I got.  A lot of the comments made me cry.  I don't discuss my post partum depressions (had it with both kids) on this blog often...I don't even know if I ever mentioned it before.  For this specific post the question was "Why I run" and I wanted to give the most honest answer. 

I also want to thank Nelly over at Nelly on the Run for including me on his "Runners of the Year" list. If you don't follow Nelly you should.  He is the most thoughtful blogger, every week he goes out of his way to give the "Nelly Shououts" to people who had something great happening in their running life.

Like many of you, I am writing a 2011 review of my running year.  I will have that up in a few days.  It is fun to look back on all that has happened this year.

I love this time of year because we get REAL mail!  Every year I send a lot of Christmas cards to my family and friends.  I participated in 3 cards exchanges, 2 from running blogs and 1 with the Keith Urban fan club.  I taped the cards on a white paper and I put that on the walls!

Tomorrow going for 9 miles and Sunday will take the day off.  Back on the treadmill on Monday!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas!

JOYEUX NOEL A TOUS!

GRATEFUL

This was supposed to be my Merry Christmas post...but it will have to wait until tomorrow!

Today I need to thank a few people....

First Cassandra from Running for Three.
She was my Secret Santa this year!
Yesterday, I received this awesome t-shirt:

Yes I know what you are all thinking: She did spoil me!

I love love it!!!!

THANK YOU CASSANDRA!

Thank you Jill for leading the Secret Santa Exchange!

Next, we have Kim the running skirt expert!

Yesterday, I posted on her Facebook wall to ask what skirt she likes best.  She is a tall gal like me and I am looking for a running skirt but not any running skirt. Her response was a whole POST on running skirts! Running Skirt Analysis !!! Now that is an answer!  If you are looking to get a running skirt go visit her blog she knows a thing or 13 on the subject....(yep she has 13 skirts!)

Last but most definitely not least...I have the huge honor of being featured on the Another mother runner blog today.  The Run like a Mother gals!  You know the ones who wrote the yellow running bible for moms...

Last summer they started a series called WHY I RUN.

They invited mothers who are runners to write a personal essay on why they run.

Today my essay is up on their blog.

You can find it here.

Writing it was not difficult, I know why I run.

Sending it to Dimity made me a little nervous..I realized that if they actually post it, lots of people will READ it.   Yesterday, I got a tweet from Dimity that said :"You are up next sister!"  Now I was really nervous.  They had really great runners featured during the summer..like Beth and Terzah..now me?  I got up this morning, made coffee and turn on the lap top.  In my inbox I had several messages from comments people had left on the post where my essay is.  People are so kind.  I am so thankful that they picked me for this and I am thankful to everyone who read my essay and left a comment.  So if you are one of them I thank you.  It is scary to put everything out there like that but I am glad I did it.

Ok now I got to to run 5 miles and I am way behind schedule and the Santa Ana winds are back so I got to head to the gym and have a date with the treadmil!

She tagged me...

EMZ tagged me for this post.
The mission, should you accept it, is to list seven nice things you can say about U of A places you will go in 2012.

U of A? Never heard of them... Oh wait... yes now I kind of remember....the kittens who made me cry last year.....................

I am over it.

Ok so 7 places I will go in 2012 :

1. I will go to Huntington Beach in February and run 13.1 miles to get this

2. I will go Hollywood in April for another 13.1 miles this time with Ryan Reynolds...well he does not know it yet..details details...

3. I will go to this place I hope: Quebec city, my hometown that I miss every day still.

4. I will go to Santa Monica in January to see Ovo Le Cirque du Soleil. 

5. I will go to Long Beach in October for redemption and erase the bad memories I have from this year's LB race.  I am already registered for this one.

6. I will go to Pasadena to see the floats from the Rose Parade on January 2nd.

7. I will go Venice Beach on January 15 for my 30th race and my 6th half marathon.

and now I will go get those 2 guys at school!!!!

That is the beautiful tree we have at our outdoor shopping center.

And the Winner is....

MOI!!!!!
I won a free entry to the 13.1 Los Angeles Race!
Thank you to Becca over at See Becca try to tri!
I am so happy!
I did not have a race on the calendar for January.
This Half Marathon is January 15, 2012...4 days after I will turn 26 again.
Check out the pretty cool spinning medal they have for the finisher:

I need to figure out how to adjust my training plan.  This race will come 5 weeks after the Holiday Half that I ran last week and 3 weeks before Surf City.  I am not used to have that many races close to each other and those are also all Half Marathons. 

This week coming off my super Holiday Half Marathon PR Race...-yes I had to plug the PR again: I am milking this one- I did this not knowing I would do the January Half Marathon.

Mon: Rest, My quads were hurting pretty bad thanks to the hills.

Tue: Painful 3 miles on the TM.

Wed: 3 miles outside much better.

Thu: 3 miles in the wind...legs almost back to 100%.

Fri: REST

Sat: 3 miles on TM.

Sun: 8 miles. It went pretty good, 10:15 pace, for me that is good for that distance.

Total: 20 miles.

My plan is to stick to 5-6 days of training and do this for the 4 Long Runs I will have: 8-9-10-11 miles.  I usually run 6 days a week but between now and the next race we have Christmas and the New Year and the boys home.  So I may have a couple of weeks of 5 days of running and just cut one of the shorter runs out.  Next week, I will have to do the 9 miles on Christmas Eve because Christmas is at my house.  So for the Los Angeles race I think I am OK with what to do but what do I do for the 3 weeks between that one and Surf City? One of those week will be post race and one will be taper....

I am thinking this for the long runs:

01-15-12: Los Angeles Half Marathon: 13.1 miles

01-22-12: LR 8 or 10 miles ???

01-29-12: LR 10 or 11 miles ??

02-05-12: Surf City

If you have experience in back to back Half Marathons and you have advices for me I am open to it! :)

Do I pick one race to "Race" and the other to have fun?

They both have course along the ocean..I know it sucks for me and both look similar as far as elevation goes.

After all that I think I will qualify for the first level of Half Fanatic...not sure.

This will be 3 Half Marathons on 57 days.

We had some family pics taken a couple weeks ago because well all the ones we had I looked like this:

Now we have these new ones! The first one is my favorite!



Race Pictures and WINNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Want to know 2 things that make me HAPPY today?
1. I am DONE Christmas shopping.
2. I am DONE wrapping all the gifts.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

The pictures from the Holiday Half Marathon are online.  First we have this set.  I would not buy any but the one I like best is the one where I am kind of waving to the photographer dude.  The first one was taken right after the start, I still have my throw away shirt is my hand, looking for a good place to leave it.

Then we have a second set of Caro collapsing at the end.  They managed to snap 9 pictures of my very shaky finish.  I think this is what I would look like if I would finish a race drunk!

And now drum rolll.......
The winners of my Milestone Jewelry GIVEAWAY are

AND

Congratulations Kim and Marcia!!

These were the 2 beautiful items that Melody sent me for this Giveaway

1. Running Milestones Melody Necklace
2.Christmas Ornament-Runner Girl Red

The truth is that I would like to keep them both for myself!! Ha! Ha!
But I won't of course.  So how to decide who gets what?
First one of you who comments here and tell me their first choice gets it.
Fair enough?
Also please email me with all your info so I can mail your gifts asap!

Thank you to everyone who entered!
Thank you to Melody for providing the items for this giveaway!

Make sure to visit Milestone Jewelry for special gifts for the athletes in your lives.
Use this 10% off coupon code for my followers: CanadaRunner

Last Chance!!!!

Oh this is a busy week...10 days until Christmas!
I don't like to do anything last minute.  In school, I was the kind of student who started the assignments the day I received them as opposed to the majority of my friends who would start the night before it was due.... I am a planner.  I used to get paid to plan production for pretty big food manufacturing plans.  So all this to say that the shopping is done.  The gifts for my family were shipped last week.  The cards are mailed, I am part of 2 bloggers card exchanges this year and also Jill's Secret Santa exchange.  My gift left last week.  I keep checking the blog of the person I got to see if he or she got it and so far nothing.  Those exchanges are fun, it made me read new blogs and find some interesting people.  I have wrapped 90% of the gifts.  The Christmas tree is up and so are the decorations! I even made cookies...well made is a strong word here..I put dough in the oven.

I want to thank you for the nice comments following my last race. 
This is the new equation for a Caro PR:

Cool weather + Hard course + Thinking there is no way to PR + Sleeping at home the night before the race - Going to a Keith Urban concert the night before = Half Marathon PR!

Out of the 5 Half Marathons I ran this year, this one was the only one where I slept in my own bed the night before and was not hit 3234 times by Jonathan.

I need to figure out a way to not be so sick towards the end of half marathons.  Dehydration is no fun.  I sure wish my stomach would tolerate more than just plain water.  I will increase the quantity of salt tablets I take in my next long runs and see if that helps.

I took Monday off, my quads were hurting pretty bad after all those hills.  Tuesday, I went for 3 miles, it was painful..but I am glad I did it because Wednesday I was at 80% for another 3 miles and today was back to normal for 3 miles.  Tomorrow is rest day.  This weekend I will go for one short run and one long run.  Next half is Surf City in less than 2 mos!

Today is the LAST DAY to enter my Milestone Jewelry Giveaway~
If you did not enter go here!

10% off coupon code for my followers: use code: CanadaRunner

LA Holiday Half Marathon Race Recap

Ho Ho Ho!!!!I am still in shock at how this one went down.  I swear I have been checking the race results at least 20 times to make sure they are not changing.  Still the same this morning, it was not a dream.

OK so this was half marathon #5 for me.  17th and last race for this year.
The weather was COLD..no no not just California cold, cold for real: 41 degrees.  Bill dropped me as close to the entry of the Fairplex as possible and I walked to the start alone.  We had decided that it was best for Bill and the kids to skip the start and just find a spot along the course to see me.  I got really cold while waiting for a mandatory bathroom (real ones! A+) and for the start. 

There were a lot of kids running that race, they were from this great group called Student Running LA.  The mission of Students Run LA is to challenge at-risk secondary students to experience the benefits of goal-setting, character development, adult mentoring and improved health by providing them with a truly life-changing experience: The training for and completion of the Honda LA Marathon. You can check their website here.

OK back to my race.  This course was HARD.  The most difficult I have ran so far.  Very HILLY.  Not just rolling hills.  The first 2 miles and the last 2 were flat.  That's it.  I had seen the elevation chart, I knew it would be hard.  I told Bill I would not PR and that I hoped to finish between 2:30 and 2:45 and I said if I go over 2:45 I will be in the worst mood and you may want to get a hotel room to avoid being around me!!! 

First 2 miles were on the Fairplex ground (home of the Los Angeles county Fair), to exit we ran on the drag race track, that was pretty cool, they had a band there.  That is where I saw the kids the first time. I am in the white hat, in the middle.

After that we ran near an airport and headed towards Bonelli Park.  That is where all the hills were.  For me, running hills is hard.  My strategy was keep steady pace for the rolling ones and run-walk the big ones, that's when I drank. I carried my own water and I skipped all the water stations.  They had plenty of those along course for those who needed them.  I looked at my Garmin at mile 6 and I realized that I was way ahead of what I thought would be my split there.  I started thinking that maybe I could break 2:30 after all.  That gave me a huge boost.  I still had hills ahead, I knew that around 7 or 8 there would be a big one.  I kept telling myself just get to 11 after that you are good to go. At mile 10 I started to feel tired and showing signs of dehydration.  I knew I was headed towards trouble, I tried drinking NUUN..that gave me major Acid Reflux....I tried water...that was a little better but I was close to getting a pukie....I  was also on my way to getting a PR.  I knew it would be close and now I wanted to get it.  I started to think of numbers...how much could I afford to suck and still get my PR.  That is how bad I was feeling.  At mile 12 a huge surprise: Bill and the kids! I had no clue they would be there, I told Bill to be at the finish NO MATTER WHAT.  When I saw them there I thought the finish line was too crowded.  People were lined up for the last mile.  THAT was so nice!

I look like a giant next to the others!

As soon as I turned the corner....I had to stop....I got sick..I did not want the kids to see me like that.  (They didn't)

One more mile to go.  I had almost nothing left.  Thank God for the people cheering on the runners! And at the finish there they were: Bill and the boys!!! I was just about the walk when I saw them and no way I am walking in front of my kids.

I crossed the finish...(that is not my time...I started at the back of the pack)

And then... I collapsed

Some guy came just in time to catch me and put me in a wheel chair. AGAIN. 

Major DEHYDRATION.

I did not stay in it long.  Bill came to get me and I went to get a banana and water.

I looked at my GARMIN, I never stopped it. CRAP.

Bill said "You did great you crossed way before 2:30!"...I wanted to know if I had crossed before 2:26 xx.  My PR was 2:26:39.  I would have to wait to see the results online later.

I was feeling like crap.  Darn stomach.  I had lost a lot of salt again.  I did take salt tablets during the race but my NUUN bottles were still almost full.  Not good.  My water bottle was empty. See the salt on my face...hard to see I guess...but near the nose..on the freckles..

I got a pretty snowflake medal!

I was so cold there...good thing I had packed some clothes to change...in this very stylish outfit..that's right Life is Good pj pants with Canadian flags!

They had this really cool trains exhibit there

We went back home, I was not feeling good at all.  Could not eat for at least 6 hours.  I had to lay down for 2 hours.  When I got up I went to look for the results....and they were up...
I started looking for my name around 2:25xx hoping to see it there...no
Then I looked around 2:26, still no, 2:27.still no.  On the picture Bill took the clock says 2:27xx so I thought they don't have my results, I did not touch the mat...
I typed my bib # to look it up and I saw that I did touch the mat. 
2:24:05.  That is my time.  2 min 34 sec PR.  I could not believe it.  It made all the pain and feeling like crap so worth it. 

Merry Running Christmas to me!
I am so happy, saved my best race of the year for last!

Still time to enter my GIVEAWAY

Also had to include this......
EMZ: Look what I got today:
Sports Illustrated: Best Magazine ever....clearly they can recognize GREATNESS

LA Holiday 1 Mile Kids Race

Today was the 1 mile Penguin Waddle Kids Race at the Holiday Half Marathon.  We went to the Expo first to pick up the kids bibs and my race packet for tomorrow. No line, nice people working there, all A+.  Expo was pretty small.  A few booths outside, just a couple of vendors so we did not spend a lot of time there.  We watched the end of the 5K race and waited for the kids race to start.  It was a lot warmer than I thought I was going to be...made me change my mind about what I will wear tomorrow.

This is the kids before we left the house this morning!

 We took a couple of fun pics at the Race Expo

This is me waiting at the start of the kids race, Bill took it from pretty far when he was waiting with the kids for their wave to move up.

 All the pictures from the start are terrible.  Bill tried to get some  but people kept passing in front of him so we don't see the kids in any of them. Booooo
This was a one mile race, the first one for Jonathan.  I was a little worried and I had asked Will to stay with his little brother.  I think he stayed with him for 0.25 mile.  Here is Will coming to the finish.  He did 9:04.  He is the one in red with his arms up.

Jonathan was only about 12 seconds behind Will! He had a good finish!

There's something we don't usually see: a smile from the Angry Runner..!!!!!!!!!!

 Just like in Long Beach, this kids race was super organized.  The kids loved it.  The medals are really cute.  We will be back for this one for sure!

Will even won a $20 gift certificate for Dicks Sporting Goods!

DID YOU ENTER MY GIVEAWAY?

YES? GREAT!!!

NO? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

GO HERE!

OK Time for bed, HILLY Half Marathon in the morning!