.Commitment

Hey blog? Did ya miss me?

It's been awhile since I've blogged and really my only excuse is that life happened. My little dude turned 14 months old today. Every day I take a moment to sit and just stare at him and thank God for all of my blessings. I am truly blessed and so lucky!

After a bit of a lull in workouts due to some after hours work commitments (and me just having a hard time waking up in the morning), I've gotten back on track. I've continued to lead a group every week to do stairs for an hour at lunch time once a week, and I'm starting to notice results! My goal is to make it all the way up the 202 stairs without walking and after the last time I made it up 3/4 of the way almost every time! Even doing this once a week has made a difference and it's definitely inspired me to continue to lead this project every week!

I also joined our company running club last week, and wow was I in for a run for my money! I already knew that some of the people running were faster than me (as they mentioned the last time they ran they ran about 10.5K in an hour), but it ended being a great learning experience. I ended up running 7.26K at a 6:12/K pace - which is quite a bit faster than my average running speed. I actually ran 5K in 30:29 - which makes that my fastest 5K...EVER! It made me get to thinking that maybe I'm not pushing myself quite hard enough when I go for runs on my own. If that pace is do-able for 7.26K, maybe it could be do-able for 10! My goal eventually is to get my 10K time under an hour and as luck would have it, I actually have a 10K run booked for this weekend! I plan to do a couple more runs before the big race so we'll see if I can push myself a little harder during training and really kill it this weekend.

On top of running and stairs, I also joined the Blitz Conditioning's outdoor bootcamp! I absolutely love bootcamp, and working out outdoors (despite the fact that all the fluff in the air is making my allergies crazy) is one of my favourite things to do! Unfortunately our first class happened to fall on I'm pretty sure the hottest day of the year which made it a little bit tough, but we powered through and I drank a lot of water! Props to my cousin Adriana for signing up with me so I always have a work out buddy!

Now that our house is on the market, we've been doing some extra budgeting and I started meal planning again! Confession: I hadn't meal planned since my blog post back in March!! Here is myplan for the week:

Monday: Dill Pickle Soup - this actually turned out delicious and was even a big hit for my son!

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken - substituting pineapple sauce because I could not find any teriyaki sauce that didn't have soy in it.

Wednesday: Cheeseburger Gnocchi - we had this last week and it was so delicious I'm making it again!

Thursday: Cabbage Roll Soup - this sounds amazing!

Friday: Leftovers or take out

I find that when I meal plan I spend less on groceries as I only buy what I need for the week! I also find it's a lot easier to follow my plan if I prep the night before. Last night I cut up the potatoes, carrots and pickles and through them in a giant freezer bag with the chicken stock and spices. Then when I got home from work today I took it out of the fridge and threw it straight in the pot - which was very helpful and made things easy while I was dealing with a baby toddling around and wanting attention. What are your favourite recipes? If you are looking for some new ones, check out my Pinterest page - I have a section specifically for recipes I've tried and loved!

That's all for now! I've been going to bed late for almost two weeks now so I don't know what's wrong with my body clock. I need more sleep!

xo

-Dianne

PS: I've been thinking more and more about following a pace bunny for the Edmonton 1/2 Marathon and the more I think about it, the more I'm going to do it. I think my problem is I usually start out faster in races because I'm feeling really good, but as I keep going I start to taper off. Maybe this will teach me some planning and have me run a more consistent pace throughout. I officially registered for the race (along with the Canada Day Road Race which is one of my favourites to run every year), so I'm getting really pumped for this summer!

PPS: I started selling Epicure! Don't worry, Stella & Dot is still my main squeeze, but I decided to take the plunge as I absolutely LOVE their products! Feel free to check out the product here - I have an online party open right now until May 21! Happy shopping!

.Planning

I miss running.

I really need a winter activity! Every year I say that, and every year I don't find one. I guess this year is a little different because my little man is keeping me pretty busy!

I've recently starting going to Blitz Conditioning for their early morning 6AM HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) work outs and they have been great! I've gone once a week three weeks in a row now and this week I stepped it up a notch and went twice. I'm scheduled to go twice next week too! I'm thankful to have my cousin Adriana who's been coming with me in the mornings and motivating me to show up (because my goodness is it hard to get up at 4:50AM!)

It occurred to me the other day that my first run of the year is on March 6. That's like... six weeks away. AH! Since I'm a whimp and don't run in the snow, I'm going to have to find an indoor running track in the next week or two. Thankfully this one is a 5K so I'm going to slowly start back into training again in early February.

I've recently started taking Kendrick to gymnastics drop in at North Edmonton Gymnastics Club and he is loving it! He likes to hang on the bars, jump with Mommy into the foam pit, bounce on the trampoline, and pretty much climb anything he can. I've actually had to barricade my fireplace off because he's a climbing machine! He figured out stairs last month too. I can't wait to enroll him in classes when he's 18 months old!

My maternity leave is over in five weeks. I am feeling very conflicted! On one hand I am excited to go back to work and catch up on what I've missed this past year. I've brought Kendrick to visit my co-workers quite a few times this year, but I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again on a regular basis. I'm also excited to wear all the new work clothes I bought on Boxing Day! :) On the other hand, I am going to miss seeing Kendrick all day, every day! Maternity leave has been an absolute blast! I've made new mommy friends (which is pretty awesome considering I'm one of those girls that doesn't have a ton of close female friends) and Kendrick and I have gone on quite a few adventures! Most weeks we are out and about doing something fun at least 4-5 times and I'm loving every minute of it! Even though I know it means life is going to change drastically, I'm silently hoping that he takes his first steps before I go back so I don't feel like I missed out on that milestone. He's pretty close right now as he cruises along the furniture, so you never know!

After putting Kendrick to bed at 7:15PM tonight, I did some cleaning and straightening out of my house. Usually I put away all the toys (as usually my living room looks like a toy tornado hit it during the day) and get some cleaning done before I relax and de-stress before heading to bed. I realized today though when I go back to work, that doesn't leave me a lot of time with the little guy between the time I get home from work and the time he goes to bed! So I've decided to really start looking into meal planning. It may be time to start a new Pinterest board! I want to plan my meals for the week in advance, get the groceries each weekend, and then get them ready in freezer bags so that when I get home from work, it's as easy as putting everything in a pot or taking it out of the slow cooker! This will allow more family time and some healthier meals too! Although it doesn't seem like a tough task, it does seem a little daunting to be that organized every week. Does anyone out there meal plan and have any tips?

xo

-Dianne

PS: Stella & Dot is giving us Stylists a chance to earn a trip to Costa Rica! Considering we don't have a big vacation planned this year, I'd really LOVE to go! You can help me get there by shopping my website, hosting a trunk show, or joining my team and becoming a Stylist! Feel free to comment below or tweet me if any of these interest you! :)

PPS: I'm starting to make a dent on some of my 2016 goals! My new hobby is HIIT training, and I'm quite enjoying it! I haven't really made a dent on my debt yet, but will start that as soon as I start making a regular pay cheque again back at work! We did do a date night this January while Kendrick had a sleepover, and have one planned for February already which is exciting! I'm also 24 days in to #365DaysOfGratitude, and it's also going well! I'm not sure if I'll get to blog three times this month, but I shall certainly strive for February! Overall, I think it's a good start!

.Goals

Oh hello, blog.  Nice to see you again!

Let's go back to October. The Vancouver Rock n Roll Half Marathon was a lot of fun! It was a little hilly but it just reminded me that I really have to work on hill training more often. My official time was 2:34:37, which is less than a minute slower than my personal best. Considering the hills and how my training slowed down as I was gearing up for our trip to Australia, I was perfectly satisfied with that! It was also nice to have my husband, Kendrick and my cousin Julia cheering me on at the finish line. The only weird thing is my Nike Running app went a little wonky during the run! I'm not sure if it was because of the sea level changes, but my app's GPS had me running a good 2KM farther than the 21.1KM when I finished. I'd like to think that the 1/2 marathon route was measured properly so I'm not sure why there was this issue. It makes me wonder how accurate the GPS actually is even when I'm running in Edmonton? It was off when I did the Canada Day 15KM race too.

After running the race at 8AM, that night at 11:30PM we left for Australia to visit my sister in law and brother in law! Kendrick did pretty awesome considering it was a 16 hour flight to Sydney. He's now been on 12 planes so far in his almost 10 month life, and for the most part he's been an absolute rock star! I'm so very happy that he seems to love travelling as much as his Mommy. 

Spending a month in another country with an eight month old is definitely an adventure! While we were there he got three more teeth, and learned to army crawl, crawl, pull himself to standing and go from his tummy to sitting up! Although hitting all these milestones was awesome, it made the flight home a little challenging because our little love bug didn't want to sit still! In the future if I was travelling with a baby I would definitely go before they are mobile or when they are old enough to be entertained by a movie or iPad. Overall though the trip was amazing. We got to spend some quality time with family, and Kendrick got to do some amazing things! My highlight was taking a giant boat out for a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef and going snorkelling. I bought medication to help with sea sickness (which I didn't know I had until our trip to Jamaica in 2013) which made the boat ride fantastic! I look forward to going back one day - maybe if/when there is a baby #2!

We've now entered winter (which is my favourite season), but unfortunately winter means I become a little bit of a lazy-bug. Running is my jam, but as soon as the snow and ice come I stop. I don't want to take the chance of falling or injuring myself, and well let's face it: I'm a whimp. I've hit a little bit of a winter rut. I have just over two months left of maternity leave and I'd like to take one more class with Kendrick before I go back to work, so that will be nice. I decided that next week I'm going to try out Blitz Conditioning. They have a 6AM HIIT class (High Intensity Interval Training) that may work perfect as Brian can be home with Kendrick and I'll be home on time for him to get ready for work. The only problem is, 6AM is EARLY! I'm still not sleeping that great (and I still don't have an answer as to why) so I'd have to try my best to go to bed as soon as Kendrick goes to bed to maximize my sleep so I'm not a zombie at the work out. I'm a measly two pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight and seven away from my goal weight so ideally I'd like to hit that goal before I go back to work in March! I still have some passes to Moksha Yoga too that I need to use up. It's been years since I've gone and I miss it!

Speaking of back to work, I'm getting a little anxious when I think about it. I am looking forward to spending time with my co-workers and going back into the work world but it's hard for me to imagine being away from my little dude for 8-9 hours a day, five days a week! I feel like there will be tears. Does it get easier?

Looking ahead, it's hard to believe it will be 2016 by the end of this week! I usually make some sort of resolutions but I find that I don't always keep them. To be honest I don't even remember what mine were from last year! In my blog post from December 28 last year, I talked about planning some vacations and we ended up going on 3/4 I had planned. Likely in 2016 there won't be as much travel as Australia was expensive (but so worth it), but I still have some ideas on how to get out of town for at least a mini get away every once and awhile. I'm going to write my goals for 2016 down so I can hold myself accountable!

2016 Goals

~ Hit my goal weight and maintain it (give or take five pounds)

~ Pay down debt and be in a better position to start 2017

~ Date night once a month where Kendrick goes on a sleepover

~ Save $2000 towards a 2017 vacation

~ Start #365DaysOfGratitude & post at least one thing every day that I'm grateful for

~ Take up a new hobby

~ Blog at least three times a month

~ Run all 7 MEC runs (you can buy the value pack by clicking here) and complete at least one half marathon - obtain a new personal best!

I feel like if I can accomplish all of these I'll be not only a better person, but I'll go into 2017 with a fresh, positive outlook! What are your goals for 2016?

xo

-Dianne

PS: I need to do some baking! We went to State & Main for brunch this past weekend and Brian had banana bread french toast. It was amazing, and definitely do-able. Now I'm inspired and want to try it... Kendrick is starting to eat more finger foods and he already likes bananas so I think this would go well! Now to scour Pinterest for the perfect recipe...

PPS: Stella & Dot is having a fabulous sale! Check it out - www.stelladot.com/DianneCK. If you find you like everything, consider hosting a trunk show in January so you can earn some bling for free. :)

.Yawn

I realized that it's been a lot longer than I thought since I ran last; nine days ago yesterday to be exact. Oopsie. I didn't mean to take a nine day break but between being busy, preparing for our trip, and being flat out tired it just didn't happen. I'm still learning to juggle life with a baby!

We just got back from Vegas on Saturday from Stella & Dot's national conference (Hoopla) and it went really well. Not only was the conference really good and very informative, but Kendrick was an absolute rock star. On the flight there I took people's advice and had his soother in for landing and take off and he didn't fuss at all. He just sat in my lap and stared at me! :) On the way home he was a little fussier as the flight was during his bed time (will try not to make that mistake again), but when he went to asleep he stayed asleep and we managed to get him home and in bed without him fully waking up! During the sessions he either slept or played with his toys, and when he got fussy and I picked him up, the people behind me made faces at him and he giggled and smiled. I couldn't have asked for a more well-behaved baby and now it's given me a lot of food for thought for when we travel to Australia in the fall!

So after doing a bunch of research I have decided that I'm going to purchase a Fitbit. I had one of the very first ones that clipped onto your pants and to be honest I didn't like it. But that was quite a few years ago and I think I'm ready to give it another chance. That being said, I'm not sure which one to buy! I thought I was pretty set on the Fitbit Charge HR however now I'm considering the Fitbit Surge. I really wanted something that has a heart rate monitor built right in, but that also tracks my sleep (for the past year or so, even before I got pregnant, I have been having problems sleeping for long periods of time). The big differences between the two are that you can get text messages on the Surge (doesn't really matter to me), change a song on your music (good, but really not a big deal to me), track multiple sports and the big one: GPS. As much as I love my Nike running app, it's not really meant for walking so when I use it for walks it brings down my average pace. It's not the end of the world, but I use that pace to figure out approximate KMs when I'm on a time limit. It would also be beneficial when I'm on vacation or running outside of Canada. The Nike app would cost me a lot to use data and I wouldn't be using it on hikes or other walks. Of course, there's also the $120 price difference ($179.99 VS $299.99). So many decisions! I still have some time to think about it as in either case I would want the blue or tangerine colors (basic black is way too boring) which haven't been released yet. Feel free to comment below if you have a preference one way or another, I'd love to hear feedback!

Speaking of sleeping terribly, I think it's time to make a trip to the doctor and the naturopath. I am a terrible sleeper. I am tired all day but when night time comes I find it really difficult to fall asleep and I wake up multiple times a night. These are the nights I should be sleeping because Kendrick has been sleeping through the night for about two months now! It's starting to really affect me so I'm going to see if I can figure out something. What are your tips for falling asleep at night?

xo

-Dianne

PS: Product Review: Yurbuds - $27 - Sport Chek

I have been looking for new ear buds as I find regular ones don't stay in my ears and I'm constantly re-adjusting them. I had ones that went around my ears but mid-run they would start to hurt so I was in the market for some new ones. I went to Sport Chek on the weekend and was looking at some $80 fancy ear buds when one of the workers came over and told me about Yurbuds and said one of his coworkers swore by them. It says "Guaranteed to Never Fall Out" right on the box, so I thought I'd give them a shot. 

As it turns out, they are awesome! I ran with them for the first time today and they were super comfortable and honestly didn't move, even though it was quite windy. I didn't have to re-adjust them once! I am very impressed and at a $29.99 price point they were worth every penny. They also sell sets for $40 and $50 but I couldn't see much of a difference other than the accessories so I decided on these ones. They also say they are specially made for women and have two sizes. Two thumbs up!

PPS: I know a few new mommies so I wanted to post some of my tips for air travel with a baby! I was very lucky that Kendrick was so good, but there were a few things that really helped me!

- Pay extra for the "plus" seats. On Westjet they are $50 and you get extra legroom, your first & second bag checked in free, and free food and drinks. Since you'd be paying $25 anyways for your bag, this is a no-brainer. If possible, also book seats A&C or D&F so there's a chance that no one will sit in between you! That extra seat is a bonus.

- You're probably going to bring more than you need. I packed way too many diapers, outfits and formula. But you just never know and it's better to be safe than sorry!

- Feed or give baby a soother during landing and take off. It helps pop their little ears!

- If you can help it, don't fly in the evening. I had to wash bottles and pump in the airport because we checked out of our hotel at 10:30AM and didn't leave until 8:30PM! If given the choice I would fly in the morning or afternoon

- Check with your airline but you should be allowed to take a diaper bag along with your own carry on and personal item. I kept all baby stuff in the diaper bag along with extra outfits, food and diapers. You never know when there will be a delay! You are allowed to take formula and breast milk through customs, just take it out for security so they can scan it.

- I found people around me were really helpful! If he started getting fussy the people behind me or beside me would make faces at him and he'd smile and giggle. It was a big help!

- Don't be afraid to ask for help. I find that hard sometimes but people (especially the flight attendants) will be happy to hold your baby for a moment while you get organized!

.Whoa

I'm a teeny bit sidelined at the moment. 

Throughout my pregnancy I had back pain. I won't lie, it was pretty annoying. I figured it was because of the extra 50lbs I gained and I think part of it was, but it came back after I had Kendrick and has been really bugging me in the last week or so. On Monday my back was so sore that I could barely lift him up, so I knew I had to go see someone. It's very discouraging to get injured when you feel like you haven't been doing a lot, so I was a little bit frustrated when I booked my physio appointment for today.

Thankfully, after my appointment it doesn't seem to be too bad. They told me likely some things were moved out of place when I was pregnant and when I gave birth so I need to strengthen my core muscles and that should help. I still have to be careful training my abs and core because of the c-section, but the exercises he gave me to do seem like they'll be ok. He said yoga is good, stretching is good, walking is good, and running is...well...maybe I should wait a bit. Ug. He said to keep an eye on it and run when my back starts to feel better, as he said it is a good sign that it's feeling much better than at the beginning of the week but I have to be careful as it could become chronic. Considering my half marathon training program for the Edmonton Half starts on Monday, I'm going to take it easy this weekend and hope for the best!

I forgot to mention in my last post that a few weeks ago a crazy idea creeped into my head. I wondered if maybe, just maybe, I should consider training for a full marathon. Part of me felt really inspired and motivated and the other part said "ARE YOU NUTS?!"

In the last few years as I've been training for half marathons, I had previously decided that I wouldn't train for a full marathon until I could get my personal best under two hours and 30 minutes. I got about 1/3 of the way through the training program for the Edmonton Half last year before I realized that I was pregnant, and I was on pace to smash (yes, smash is the right word) my personal best by about 10-20 minutes, which would have gotten me close to or under the 2:30 mark. I also told myself that I wouldn't train for one until I could run a half and not feel like I wanted to die. The last half marathon I did I finished confident and hit my personal best of 2:43, but my body felt like it was going to fall apart. Although my lungs were good, my body was extremely sore and fatigued and it really gave me something to think about. 

So I started to think about running a full this winter and before baby #2 becomes a thought. Running in the winter is not an option for a whimp like me because it's way too cold in Edmonton to run (for me anyways) so I started to look online to see if there are any races that weren't too far away but in a better climate. It looks like we are going to head to Australia this November so we haven't planned any other vacations. I ended up finding the Rock n Roll Arizona which is in January of next year. I'll still be on maternity leave and usually you can find cheap flights to Phoenix; not to mention that the temperature there at that time of year won't be too hot for running! Of course money doesn't grow on trees either...I'm going to use the Edmonton Half in August and the Vancouver Rock n Roll Half in October as trial runs and potentially start a marathon training program after the race in October and make the decision later on this year. I got some support on Facebook from a couple of my mom friends who ran marathons within a year of having their first kids, so it gives me some hope that it is do-able!

Unfortunately I've fallen off the smoothie train a little bit and haven't had that many smoothies this past week. I will get better next week when I start running again! I found it harder than I thought to get up and run after Kendrick gets up around 5ish so I didn't get to that either, but I'm going to have to come up with some sort of plan before Monday as I have to get in 4-5 runs a week! I'm remaining positive that I can do this. 

xo

-Dianne

PS: My aunt told me about these sites called Ebates and Ebates Canada where you earn a small percentage of your purchase back when you shop at a bunch of retailers online. I checked it out and signed up and made my first purchase at Vista Print as I needed some new business cards. I got 90 cents back on my $35 purchase. If you do a lot of shopping you'll want to sign up. It takes seconds and some sites have some really good deals. Check them out by clicking on the Ebates links above!