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MEC Victoria Race THREE 2018
In front of the Hatley Castle on Royal Roads University Campus after I completed 10K with MEC Victoria Race THREE. This morning was my third 10K race and first time running without kids/running stroller. It turns out I can run nine minutes quicker without all the distractions from my kids. My last 10K race, 2018 Blueshore Financial Mothers Day Run took 1:12:37, probably because I stopped every couple kilometers to check on my kids. My goal for this run was +/-1:05:00 and I surprised myself when I completed the run in 1:03:44 (chipped time).
Okay guys, you should probably stop reading here because you might not want to hear what I have to say next. I totally leaked on the run. That’s right, I had a nice wet stain on my navy blue shorts and thank goodness I was wearing a longer shirt. But you know what? I don’t care, I’m going to own it because I’m a mother who gave birth to two children in less than two and a half years. So, yeah, I’m totally going to leak because things are not what they use to be down there and I’m terrible for doing my Kegels. Others ran past me with sweaty backs and soaked shorts from swass (sweaty ass) which made me feel better. Absolutely nothing wrong with that right?!
The 10K race route from my Garmin Vívoactive 3 Smartwatch. MEC Victoria Race THREE 2018 took place at Royal Roads in Colwood, BC (Greater Victoria). The area is known for the Hatley Castle and the Royal Roads University. If you want to read more about the Hatley Castle, click here. Movies such as Deadpool, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men 2 and many more have been filmed at the castle so it’s kind of a big deal. The race started along the lagoon which was such a nice spot other than how chilly it was. I didn’t want to take off my long-sleeved shirt and many other runners looked cold. I sucked it up and left my long-sleeved shirt in the car and ran in shorts and a tank. It didn’t take long for my body to warm up and the first half of the the run was sheltered from the breeze. Each kilometer was marked out along the way. The route was a mix of trail and road with 116m elevation gain (according to my Gamin Vívoactive 3 Smartwatch). There were aid stations every 2.5-3.0K through the race providing water and electrolytes.
There was plenty of parking when I arrived at 8:15AM (10K race started at 9:00AM) with $1.00/hour parking (except we were all lucky and received free parking because the machines weren’t working). The volunteers for the race were awesome and so were the pre-race and post-race snack and drinks provided by sponsors.
I paid $15 for the race which included a bib and 10% off all regular-priced MEC purchases (excludes clearance, markdown and Blundstone items) during in-store bib pick-up times. All you needed to do was show the cashier your bib to receive the discount. I was really impressed with the MEC race and I would highly recommend trying it out if you haven’t already. It was my first race with MEC and I plan on registering for more in the future!
Race Day Timing results from my last two races. Note: the 2018 Blueshore Financial Mothers Day Run – 10K was with a running stroller. -
2018 Global Running Day!
One of my running buddies Happy Global Running Day! Today is a worldwide celebration encouraging everyone to get out and move. Everyone has a different reason for running: de-stress, increase energy, weight loss, postpartum depression, staying fit, etc. Whatever the reason may be, it’s all about the individual and how running makes them feel. Did you know you can join a virtual race to celebrate Global Running Day between June 4 and June 10 at NYRR Virtual Global Running Day 1M? It’s free to sign up and to participate, you need a Strava account (which is also free).
Running has been an on and off activity for me. When I’m finally out and running, I love it and ask myself “why don’t I do this more often?” Finding time is one thing but if you think about it, we can all take 30 minutes to do something out of a 24-hour day. I am the queen of excuses when it comes to physical fitness for myself. However, reality had finally sunk in and I am no longer able to squeeze into my loose baggy shirts, I am no longer playing ice hockey 2-3 times a week and I am no longer a server at a restaurant which requires a ton of running around. Instead, I am 10 months postpartum with two children, married to a surgical resident who is always working, I eat when I remember to which means shoving junk food in my mouth when the kids are napping or distracted for a few minutes, and I can barely get myself and the kids dressed by 10:00AM. I am mentally and physically exhausted by the time the kids are in bed and the last thing I want to do is leave my partner who I haven’t seen all day to go out for a run. Plus, we all know the cleaning I shoved off to the side from earlier in the day for “later” is finally here and it isn’t going to clean itself. My life just over three years ago didn’t require two small children and a dog all under three years of age to depend on me.
My kids are finally napping in the stroller Thanks to my partner who was willing to support me through my stroller purchases (even though he thinks I’m crazy), I went out and purchased a multi-sport stroller, mainly used for running with the kids and dog during the day. I have my kids with me all the time so the stroller with my kids and dog are my running buddies who all deserve some recognition on Global Running Day. Sometimes my toddler is screaming and crying because she doesn’t want to be sitting strapped in a stroller and other times she is napping away next to my 10-month-old who is also napping (if I’m lucky). I don’t run all the time but I’m trying to get out more often with summer around the corner. We all start somewhere right? It has helped me with my mental health and energy levels which is why I plan to continue down this path. Also, my partner is working in Victoria, BC for the month of June so it’s a bit hard to stay indoors with the beautiful ocean view.
I would love to hear what motivates you to go out and run (walk or get out in general). If you don’t get outside, what’s stopping you?
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Family Day in BC!
It’s Family Day in BC! Growing up, my family and I were usually working so we never really had a day off all together for holidays like Family Day. Now with children, I want to make the most out of our holidays. It was so nice to have my husband off work this weekend. He has a friend working in the city for a month so he joined us for Family Day. For anyone interested in joining or renewing a membership with the Vancouver Aquarium, memberships are 25% off between February 10-12, 2018. I wish I knew memberships went on sale when we bought ours last year! We purchased a two-year membership and ours didn’t expire until December 2018. However, we didn’t completely miss out— it turns out we were able to renew our membership super early with the 25% off! We extended our membership by another 2 years which means our membership doesn’t expire until February 2021. Plus, a free guest pass each year (with family and adult memberships) and a bunch of other benefits. You can’t really go wrong as long as you go a couple times each year. Shockingly, when we went to the Aquarium on the weekend, it wasn’t as crazy as we were expecting. On the other hand, it may be because we arrived during the morning.
What I CAN say is going to Grouse Mountain on Family Day 45 minutes after it opens is a bad idea. Sometimes leaving early doesn’t quite happen (I think kids, a dog and two sleepy adults might have something to do with it). When we pulled up to the parking lot, it was PACKED! The only available parking spots were down the hill and it would’ve been a 10-15 minute walk up the hill. Plus my husband didn’t have his annual pass for the mountain yet so it would be another long wait in the admission line, which we saw out the door when we were trying to find a parking spot. We ended up going out for breakfast at White Spot (of course after I ate a breakfast sandwich meal from Timmy’s thinking I wouldn’t eat for hours). Here’s a few things I learned this weekend:
* Vancouver Aquarium memberships go on sale and since our renewal, we are good until we move away
* don’t go to Grouse Mountain on Family Day (unless you like crowds)
* if Grouse Mountain is on the agenda on a holiday, arrive at least 30 minutes early to be safe
* White Spot restaurant is very kid friendly
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Blake is TWO!
It has been two lovely years with my daughter and we look forward to many more. It is amazing how quickly time goes by when we’re constantly busy. My mother-in-law (MIL) flew in from Calgary this weekend to join us for Blake’s birthday. Since Blake’s birthday is on a Monday, we decided to dedicate the weekend to birthday festivities. I won’t bore you with the details but here’s a summary of what we did:
* went out for breakfast (twice!) and lunch
* splash in some muddy puddles at Spanish Banks and throw the ball for our dog, Loki
* gymnastics at TumbleTown
* swim lessons at Aquaventures
* baked Blake’s cake
* Blake and Sloane participated in a UBC study at the UBC Centre for Infant Cognition
Image by Tumblr We don’t go out to eat very often and those with young children probably understand (or those who have seen children meltdown in public). Knowing we went out THREE times to eat— I’m feeling pretty good! Please pardon me as I do my happy dance:
For parents who live in Vancouver and surrounding area who are interested in something to do with their children, participating in the Early Developmental Research Group at UBC is fun! It is an activity that doesn’t require weekly commitment, they receive degrees and prizes, plus you’re contributing to research. At age 2, Blake already has her Post Doctoral degree and Sloane with her Bachelor of Arts at 6 months! More information can be found on their website.
We decided to keep Blake’s birthday low key this year. From all the moving due to the flood in the summer to Christmas holidays in Calgary during December, we wanted a little break. Blake had a great birthday weekend and she was showered with practical presents. Maybe next year we’ll go a little more extravagant for her birthday. Keep in mind, we still have Sloane’s 1st birthday in July to look forward to.
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SeaWheeze Half Marathon 2018 registration
Within the 5 years of living in Vancouver, one of my goals is to run the SeaWheeze Half Marathon. The SeaWheeze Half Marathon is 21.1km (13.1 miles) around the city including the seawall. This year, they set up a non-guaranteed entry draw that opened on Thursday, January 25, 2018 10:00am PT until Friday, January 26, 2018 10:00am PT for 9,500 spots in the race. An email was sent out on Friday, January 26, 2018 4:00pm PT to randomly selected participants who had until Saturday, January 27, 2018 11:59pm PT to register for the race or their spot would be given away. This means those who didn’t receive an email may still get a chance! Emails will be sent out every other day at 4:00pm PT daily until all spots are claimed (according to their Facebook page).
In previous years, they would open registration at 10:00am PT and thousands of runners and individuals who didn’t want to miss out on the craze sat in front of their computers and crashed the site, refreshing their browsers and clicking register until they got onto the registration page (or the waiting room which is where it took you before the registration page). Yup, I was one of many last year and I got in! Unfortunately (and fortunately), I got pregnant and my due date was a week before the run so I obviously didn’t run. Here’s my second chance! The run costs $173CAD and here’s what you get:
* A finisher’s medal and gift
* Runner’s package
* Special edition SeaWheeze run shorts
* Training program
* Post-race brunch
* Water and fueling stations with aid
* A ticket to the SeaWheeze Sunset Festival
* Yoga with thousands of other yogisI know what you’re thinking, this is a super expensive race. It’s the experience that counts right? I’m excited! For those who didn’t get selected to register, you still have a chance and I wish you luck!
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The Great Climate Race
This morning, we completed our first 10k run/walk together at The Great Climate Race! The race was around the Stanley Park Seawall in Vancouver, BC and it was beautiful! We couldn’t have asked for a better day for this run/walk. I jogged most of the way with a few walking breaks every couple kilometres. We also stopped for a bathroom break 5k into the race. Below are some photos I snapped during our jog:
There were a total of 608 participants (some were virtual) in the race. Our official time was 1:14:01 and chip time was 1:12:21. I had no Personal Best (PB) goals for time in the race— I only wanted to complete it and we did! For jogging with a stroller, jogging 10k with absolutely no training, and starting second last because I had a stroller, I am extremely pleased with our results and I couldn’t care what place we got. It was all about having fun and participating. We look forward to doing it again next year!
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Movies for Mommies
Sample bag contents we received from Movies for Mommies. Movies for Mommies! Do I need to say more? Since Blake, we’ve gone to the movies a handful of times. What a great idea to start Movies for Mommies! This week, Bad Moms staring Mila Kunis was showing at the Dunbar Theatre in Vancouver. Movies run alternating Wednesdays at 11:30am at the Dunbar location. They also have showings at Vancity Theatre downtown on selected Wednesdays.
We got to the Dunbar Theatre around 11:15am and there was a line of 12 moms with babies ahead of us. The website says doors open at 10:30am, whereas the Facebook page says 11:00am. I’m not quite sure when the doors really opened but they didn’t start the show until everyone was in. When we walked in, we received a sample bag and ballot for a chance to win prizes.The theatre had plenty of space for strollers and it was very baby friendly! The movie sound was reduced (I brought ear muffs and didn’t need them), the lights were off (sleep, baby, sleep!), change tables, diapers, wipes, and bottle warmers were available. We overheard a person say the other week had an attendance of five moms. This week’s turn out was probably so busy because Bad Moms was playing. I mean, what mom doesn’t want to see this movie!?
Cost
I don’t go on Groupon much but for some reason I was browsing on the website the night before and found a Groupon deal for $16— one movie, one popcorn for two people at the Dunbar Theatre. On the Movies for Mommies website, tickets cost:
Adults $11.50 (2D) and $14.50 (3D)
Children (3-13) $8.00 (2D) and $11 (3D)
Babies (0-12 months) FREE
On the Movies for Mommies Facebook page, the cost says $9.75, which is how much my friend said she paid. Either way, I got a great deal off Groupon! For those ages 14+, I’m unsure on the cost but I would guess $9.75 or contact them and ask. Dads, friends, grandparents, caregivers, and others are all welcome to join!
Theatre Information
4555 Dunbar Street
Vancouver, BC V6S 2G7
(604) 222-29911181 Seymour Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2E8
(604) 683-3456