The 10K Route

You all know my motto is "You are stronger than you think you are." The reason I tell myself this all the time - and ask you to do the same - is it's true. My body continually surprises me with what it can do.

My 10K was this past Sunday and well, I did great! Smashed my goal of 1:45 and really proved to myself that when I want to, I can achieve a lot more than I think.

Chip time (each bib was outfitted with a timer): 1:35:09
Place: 123 (out of 262 entrants, 227 finishers)
Gender place: 84 (out of 167 female finishers)

This isn't bad, in my opinion, in a race that featured competitive walkers. It was also my first attempt at a 10K. I'm pretty pleased with these results. My only complaint was the timer at the finish line seemed to be off. When I crossed the finish line, the time I saw said 1:30:21. I was REALLY happy about that! So when I saw the chip times posted, I was a little disappointed. Still a good time, but not what I'd originally thought.

When Erich and I picked up my race kit the day before the race, they took one look at me and said "You might want the 2X. The shirts are fitting small." Excuse me? LOL! I registered for the women's XL and the guy was right; I ended up with a men's 2X, not the women's 2X (which is smaller). These were the tiniest, tightest, most unflattering shirts I've ever seen in my life. Like they wanted us to channel Lance Armstrong or something, in his yellow Tour de France jersey. Here's me before the race (ignore the desperate need for a tummy tuck):


It was cold on race day but the sun was shining. No rain, as was forecast. I swear....you'd think that as time goes on, advancing technology would enable weather forecasting to be more and more accurate. Erich and I both think the opposite is happening. You can truly have no faith in the forecast. Just wait and look outside. Don't make plans based on what the weather guy says!

The course was very hilly. After about the 4th hill, I grumbled "Jesus, who mapped this course out??" All I kept thinking was I had to do it all over again because the 10K was essentially two loops of the 5K.

Halfway point:


It took me 45 minutes to get to this point. To put that in perspective, it took me 47 minutes to do the Father's Day 5K in June...and I jogged for some of that. WTF? I was seriously surprised at my time. But I didn't think I could keep up the pace because of those hills.

But I did! Well, pretty much, anyway! I don't mind saying I was really proud of myself. As I crossed the finish line and they put that medal around my neck, I could see Erich there with the camera pointed at me, huge smile on his face. I went straight to him and got my hug & kiss. My husband rocks.

Finish line:


Red face, as usual:


My knees held up fine during the race, but it was a different story when I got home and the next day. I was pretty sore. Lots of ice and Tylenol Arthritis. Sunday night, I went to my coffee meeting that I wrote about in my last blog. I nearly fell asleep and had to leave early. Wiped out!

But by Tuesday, I was pretty much back to normal. My body bounces back quickly now and again...I am stronger than I think I am. It's very important to push yourself because trust me, you are capable of a lot if you just believe.

Our brains tell us lies, and if we listen, we cost ourselves surprises. - Andrew Zimmern

I have another 5K this Sunday, the CIBC Run for the Cure, an event that benefits the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. I did it last year and I have no doubt that I'll beat my time. Forecast is for rain and cold again. Suuureeeee. We'll see!

Final countdown

Tomorrow, I'll participate in my first 10K "race", Minds in Motion KW Walking Classic, a competitive walk that funds good shoes for people using exercise to recover from mental illness.

I feel ready for it. I've been training for eight weeks and while I have by no means been perfect, I've stuck to the schedule pretty well. My knees are "meh"....they're ok but it is what it is. For some reason, my right ankle started feeling wonky yesterday. So whatever that's all about. We'll see how it goes. But all in all, I'm feeling good about it.

The race starts at 9am. My poor husband will go with me at what is, for him, an UNGODLY early hour. He will wait for me in the cold and rain (yes, that is the weather forecast) all so he can take a picture of me crossing the finish line, give me a big hug and kiss, and tell me how proud he is of me. Pretty special.

So cross your fingers and toes for me that all goes well! I'm pretty excited!

Then next weekend, I will participate in my second CIBC Run for the Cure, a 5K event that benefits the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. I did the event last year. It was my first such undertaking and took me a little over an hour to finish. I injured my knee the night before so I always wondered if that had anything to do with what I considered a slow time. Next week, I'll find out for sure. It took me 45 minutes to do the Father's Day 5K, so I know I can do better than an hour.

It took me just under two hours to complete the dry run of the 10K that I did a couple Saturdays ago. Walking, mind you, no running allowed. People who run in the KW Walking Classic get disqualified, so I've been really trying to curb my desire to at least trot when the music on my mp3 player gets me going. So walking and stopping for crosswalks, traffic, strollers and dogs (not allowed on the route Sunday). I'm hoping to slash that two hours by at least 10 minutes.

In other news, I've been meaning to write a little about a new, local support group I joined. It's a very simple, casual group of people in various stages of their weight loss-surgery journeys getting together for coffee and our crazy version of fellowship. I gotta tell ya, I love these people. I haven't met one yet that I wouldn't want to take a road trip with!

The local support group is part of a larger network called the Community of Bariatric Patients of Southern Ontario. An overnight meet-and-greet is being held in Sarnia next month so everyone can get to know each other even better. I'd love to tell you I was attending but I'm not. Too short notice, most people have roommates already and it's too close to Halloween! I can't miss our annual viewing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show". LOL! Next year.

If there's a single regret I have about getting my surgery in Detroit instead of Ontario, it's that I missed out on things like this. I should've been with these people for 3 years, not 3 months. But oh well. I know about it now and I'm all in! As I've said many times before, support is so important.

The big week!

First off, be sure to tune in to the premiere episode of The Ricki Lake Show tomorrow, Monday, September 10, to check out the segment featuring Michelle Vicari - better known as the brains behind The World According to Eggface. I've featured her link on my blog since the beginning. She has helped so many people with her fabulous (!!) recipes and support. Now it's time to support her - and ALL of us!. First Beth on Nightline and now this. Good stuff.

Pretty big week coming up! Three concerts lined up. Madonna at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Wednesday; Loretta Lynn here in Kitchener at Centre in the Square on Thursday; then a quick overnighter to Flat Rock, Michigan with a few friends to see Bo (as in Bice. Are you paying attention?). Erich isn't going with me this time because I need to do this as cheaply as possible. He understands Bo is good for my soul and it will do me a world of good to see him and all my friends. I've seen Madonna once before but hey...it's Madonna! Very psyched about that! I grew up listening to Loretta Lynn. My mother's family is from southern Kentucky and I feel a certain kinship with her. I've lost count of the times I've seen "Coal Miner's Daughter". Her people are like my people. Seeing her is a bucket-list thing. Can't wait.

"Sons of Anarchy" season premier Tuesday. What, you don't watch that? Are you crazy? Here's a good reason why you should start. Happy viewing (click to enlarge):


Yesterday, as part of my 10K training, I did a dry run of the "race". Lately, I've been walking a lot outside because - one - I'd probably slit my wrists if I had to do more than a 5K on a treadmill and - two - the event will be outside so it's best to get acclimated to that environment. Twice I forgot to put on sunscreen and came home pretty tomato-y. I am a very white Irish girl and will redden after about 15 minutes in direct sunlight. Maybe I'm also a vampire. Who Knows What, right?

Anyway...no sunscreen needed yesterday! It was very dark and gloomy. And COLD! Windy! That sort of weather aggravates my knee arthritis and makes my head pound with sinus pressure. Did you hear that whining? Yeah, that was me. I loaded up on some drugs, put on a hooded windbreaker and went on my way. I did get rained on but it was all good. About 3/4 the way through it, the sun came out and it warmed up. And I did something new that I forgot I was able to.

I took off my jacket and tied the arms around my waist so I wouldn't have to carry it.

Now, if you've never been obese, you are probably thinking "So what?" Well, that's something morbidly obese people don't do. Because they can't. Personally, I haven't been able to do that since...elementary school, maybe? I don't know. I just know that whenever one of my friends tied a jacket around his or her waist, I slung mine over my forearm and wished I could do that. And yesterday, it took me a second before I realized I probably could now, and tried it. Such a small victory but it definitely made me smile and feel "normal".

In a cardiovascular sense, the 10K is not that tough. In a knee-and-lower-back pain sense, it's not. A visit to the chiropractor is in order before I do this for real. And even my knee braces didn't protect me from the need to ice them down this morning. The morning after...that's when the shit gets real, right? Yeah, I'm pretty sore this morning. Again with the drugs. But it's all good.