3 days until Toronto marathon :-)

3 days to go and I am getting more and more nervous and excited at the same time!!  At this stage before the Paris marathon back in April I did not have these same nerves and excitement as I was really just hoping for a miracle that my injured sacroiliac joint would allow me to finish. This time around the build-up has been great. A few niggles here and there and a lot of physical therapy visits to get active release done but overall a solid gradual build-up. Thanks Ian Babe and Arthur Cuenco. My tune up race was the Edmonton half marathon on August. This race went really well and I was very happy to run 1:11.50 - my new pb :-) This race was a good confidence builder. I felt strong during the race and recovered well afterwards.

I have been really enjoying the long runs and tempos and challenging my body to run faster than I have before. It has been good to in this build up to increase my tempos to 70 minutes. I feel I am stronger. During the weekly tempo run I have had great support from Gabriel and Lucas. Gabriel rides along on his bike handing me my water and gu and Lucas is attached in his bicycle trailer :-) I think Lucas finds it very comfortable as he pretty much sleeps for the 70 minutes :-)

It has been great working with my coach Ian Babe. Even though he is New Zealand we keep close contact through Skype and he knows me and how my body works very well. He has a lot of knowledge about running and training and life in general which I have found very helpful.

I have been enjoying the taper and my body has really appreciated the cut back in mileage. In the last few weeks before the taper it seemed as if every day some part of my body was tight or a little sore. Always very worrisome. I am very relieved that I did not get injured in this build up. I started carbo-loading today. I have been doing a lot of research over the last few months about carbo-loading and there is so much information and so many different ideas. As everyone is so different it is hard to write a blue print for the perfect nutrition plan although this would be great if it existed. I have been practicing in training so I believe m y nutrition is sound.I have been using the taper as a time to visualize and focus for the race. 

In the past I have always made the mistake of going out too fast and then not being able to hang with the pace at the end. On Sunday my goal is to run an even race from the start and hit all of my km splits. I will post an update after the race to let you all know how it goes.

Lucas has been great during all of this marathon training. He is growing up way too fast. He is walking everywhere now and even trying to run sometimes. Maybe he can help me with my tempos in the next buildup :-)

To end this post I want to say a huge thank you to Mizuno and Arnold Tse, coach Ian Babe, physical therapist Arthur Cuenco, coach of Ottawa Athletic Racing Team Ken Parker, the Ottawa Athletic Club and of course Gabriel and Lucas. Your support has been wonderful and very much appreciated!!

Finally an update . . . .

My last blog was 2 weeks before I gave birth to Lucas. Now Lucas is 11 months old. So much has happened since I last wrote on my blog. In this post I will share with you my experience of trying to qualify for the Olympics.

Before we found out that I was pregnant my goal was to qualify for the London Olympics. When we found out I was not sure if I would still be able to try and achieve this goal. However I decided with my coach Ian Babe that I would attempt to qualify. From end of November to the end of March Lucas, Gabriel and I went to New Zealand to escape the Canadian winter so I could train effectively. After Lucas was born the plan was to come back very slowly and I did a lot of cross training with water running and elliptical. I started to run again about one month after Lucas was born and slowly added mileage and intensity week by week. Early on I had an issue with my hip where I had to take about five weeks off and do cross training. After that my buildup was solid and I was in the best shape I have ever been in. I got up to running about 160km on land and then another five to six hours in the pool.

The Paris Marathon on April 15 2011 was the marathon I chose to try and qualify. Six weeks before this I ran my personal best time for the half marathon in Wellington, New Zealand running 1:13.20.  This race gave me confidence that I could run my personal best. However 3 weeks before the Paris marathon I injured my sacroiliac joint. I tried everything I could to get it right from physiotherapy to acupuncture to sacroiliac joint injections. Through all this I tried to remain positive and cross trained very intensely to stay in shape. Unfortunately my joint did not come right. I did try to run the Paris marathon in the hope that the joint would come right.  In the beginning I felt good but by 20km I was in excruciating pain and I had to pull out.

Lucas exploring Paris while I was racing the marathon. So lucky to have this little guy :-)

I was very dissapointed and still am but I am now looking forward to future races. My goal now is to qualify for the World Championships marathon next year in Moscow and long term the 2016 Olympics marathon. At this stage I am looking at running the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront marathon on October 14 to use as a qualifying race for the World Championships. I have to see how the buildup goes after coming off the injury and then decide if I race in October. So far the buildup has been good. I ran Emilie's run which is a 5km road race on June 23 where I ran my personal best time of 16.08. I am really enjoying running and am excited to push myself hard to see how far I can get.

Photo of me crossing the finish line at Emilie's 5km run

Before I finish this update I have to say a big thank-you to my coach Ian Babe and Mizuno for all their support throughout this journey. Not to mention my husband Gabriel and my little man Lucas.

My two favourite boys :-) Te Amo x

Below are some photos from the past year.

Lucas 2 months old

Lucas 6 months old and Great Grandma

Lucas 11 months old

My training grounds while in New Zealand and water stop

13 days to go . . .

I can't believe that in 2 weeks our Little One will be here!!! The 9 months have gone by so quickly, however since the 8 month mark it seems to be taking ages. I guess I am just so excited for the baby to arrive.

My training up until last week was running once per day, however I have now switched over to swimming laps in the pool. My right foot started to feel very tight while running and decided not to risk getting injured. Being in the water feels great and much better on the joints. I think all of the extra weight started to annoy my feet :-) I think Little One likes swimming as I can feel the baby moving around the whole time.

Gabriel's Mum came to stay with us from Brazil for 4 months which is great. It will be a big help having someone experienced with little babies. She does not speak English and I can't speak Portuguese although I am trying to learn. It is fun to try communicating :-) and it is definitely helping my Portuguese.

Below is my updated weight chart and a few more photos of the growing baby bump and a photo with Eurides (Gabriel's Mum). Hopefully the next time I write on my blog we will have our Little One.

Until next time Happy Running :-)

7 months done and only 2 to go :-)

Not long now and our Little One will be here. We are starting to look at strollers, car seats, cribs etc and are a little overwhelmed by all the choices. I am still running everyday but incorporating some swimming and aqua running as well. Some days the running is great and I feel pretty good but other days I struggle to do 6km and have to walk/run. So each day I start the run and just see how the body is feeling and go from there. The belly is getting bigger and I am finding my balance is not quite as good. I tried to do the elliptical a few times but I think I get motion sickness from doing it as I always feel very nauseated. Also sometimes when I run.


We have decided that we will go back to New Zealand from December until April. Gabriel can take parental leave which is great so we will be able to spend a lot to time together as a family. Also by going back to New Zealand we can miss the Ottawa winter and I will be able to train for the marathon more effectively. It will be great to run back at home as there are so many wonderful places to train. Lots of hills which will definitely help build up my strength and beautiful scenery all around.

I have put my updated weight chart below and also some pics of the baby bump at 7 months :-)

Until next time Happy Running!!

6 months today :-)

Today marks 6 months of being pregnant! The 3 month countdown begins . . .

Running has been feeling harder the last two weeks due to the increase in weight and the baby's position. It feels as though Little One is sitting very low and it is becoming quite uncomfortable when I run. Also my bladder is not allowing me to go to long without needing to stop. However it still is great just to be out running even though it is not fast. Winter is finally leaving Ottawa and for the first time I was running in shorts yesterday so even more motivation to get out and run :-) Finally the snow and ice has gone. I will start to substitute some of my runs with cross training. Either swimming or elliptical. I tried biking last week and this was terribly painful so biking is off the list of activities for a while.

The doctors appointments have gone well and Little One weighs about 1 1/4 lbs :-) It feels as though the baby weighs more though especially when I am trying to run!!

I have put my updated weight chart below and a picture of the growing baby bump :-) Now I am up 15lbs and definitely noticing a difference.




Until next time happy running everyone!!

19 Weeks - Nearly half way :-)

I can't believe that the first half of my pregnancy is nearly done. The weeks are just flying by. Little one is now 19 weeks and approximately 15cm. I think I can feel the baby moving however it is hard to describe what it feels like. It kind of feels like gas or bubbles. I am looking forward to the first kick :-)

I am still managing to run between 60-90 minutes per day :-) It feels great to be out running. I am running pretty slowly now in comparison to what I was before and not doing any hard workouts or extremely long runs. It is quite nice just to enjoy running without the pressure of having to perform. However in saying this I really do miss training hard. Watching races and seeing results from races really makes me miss competing. However I am taking this break from the heavy training and enjoying being pregnant. It is definitely making me hungry to get back in shape and compete well after the baby is born!!

Below I have put the updated weight chart. I have not put on to much weight since the last blog. My weight seems to have stayed pretty stable for the last few weeks. However I am expecting this to change pretty soon :-)

16 Weeks and growing:-)

The baby is now 16 weeks and approx 10 cm but feels much bigger than that to me. Already my clothes are getting too tight and I have noticed that during running the extra weight is definitely slowing me down. Before pregnancy I was 113lbs and now 16 weeks in I am 125lb. I am wondering how I am going to be feeling running at 140lbs and over . . . . I am sure that sometime during the pregnancy I will have to alternate between cross training and running.

However the weight gain is making me excited as it means that Little One is growing :-) I am really looking forward to feeling that first kick :-) and the baby moving. I should not have too much longer to wait.

I thought it would be interesting to chart my weight gain and see if there are any patterns. Below is the chart so far. . . .

Also I wanted to say a big thank you to Mizuno for their continuous support of great apparel and shoes. I am not sure how I would have survived running in the Ottawa winter without their wonderful clothing. Especially their breath-thermo line.

I will leave you with a photo of the baby bump . . . .