Provincial 'C' Championship (11 and under)

Over the past weekend, my daughter competed in the Ontario speed skating 'C' Championships for skaters aged 11 and under. This competition was held at the River Oaks Recreation Centre in Oakville, which meant a little bit of driving for us. For the record, the arena is a very nice facility, with good size dressing rooms, much bigger than our club is accustomed to. I just wished they hadn't put the teams that traveled the farthest  in the change room the farthest from the line-up area. Nothing like adding to the journey! :)

This meet marked her 3rd and last competition of the season. Early in the season, she managed to place 3rd in a meet, winning a bronze medal, while at her last meet, she was fighting the flu and didn't fair so well on the ice.

Coming into the weekend, she was hoping the win a medal. We talked on our long drive up about what to expect this weekend, and to aim for PB's more than medals. I also explained that she would be racing against only girls her age, and that there were 4-5 girls who had posted faster 400m times than her best time, making it a challenge to finish in the top 3.

During her warm-up on the first day, I could tell right away she was going to have a good weekend skating. Her form looked good and she was skating faster than most of the kids on the ice. In her first race, a 400m, she had a good start and skated hard through all 4 laps. She posted a new PB, beating her old time by 5s, but unfortunately finished 2nd, 5 seconds behind the leader. The good news was her time was fast enough to get her into the 'A' finals, but the bad news was that she was the 5th seed. In that race, she didn't have a great start, as she was starting from the far outside lane, and could never catch up to the 4 other girls, essentially finishing 5th. She was also 1s slower than her heat time. She wasn't upset, but I think she realize there that finishing in the top 3 would be difficult.

Coming around the 4th corner

In her second race, a 100m, she finished 2nd in her heat, this time she came up 0.25 seconds short of making the 'A' finals. In the 'B' finals she improved her time a bit, but finished 2nd, leaving her behind in top 5 points. As we went home that evening, she asked if she had a chance of winning a medal. I explained to her that it would be very difficult to win a medal, but if she could make both 'A' finals in her last 2 races, she had a good chance of finishing in the top 5 and receiving a ribbon.

On day 2, her warm-up looked good, but you could tell she was a little more tired than the day before. In her first race of that day, a 200m, she had a good race but finished 3rd in her heat, 0.04 seconds behind the other girl. That time is so small, that I don't believe the time keepers could say definitely which of the 2 skaters finished ahead. When the rankings came out for the 'A' finals, she missed the 5th spot, losing to the girl who edged her out in her heat. Leading up to her 'B' final, I told her that if she finished first, she would have a chance of making the 'A' finals for the last race of the day, and possibly win a ribbon.

Here's the race. She's the skater on the inside part of the track.

If the above video does not work, here is a link to a shared drive where I have uploaded it.
As you can see, she wanted to make the 'A' finals for the last race, which she did.

In the last race, a 500m, the top 6 skaters, based on points, raced in the 'A' finals to give everyone a chance to move up in the ranks. I informed her that if she was going to win a ribbon, she had to do better than 4th, while beating both the currently ranked 4th and 5th place girls. She had a good start and as all the skaters came around the 2nd corner, 2 of the girls fell down, leaving it to a 4 girl race. My daughter stayed in 3rd place the remainder of the way, finishing 1 second from 2nd and 0.3 seconds ahead of 4th. It would come down to where everybody was ranked going into the race to see if she managed enough points to reach 5th place. At this point, I informed her that even if she didn't win a ribbon, she set Personal Best in all the distances she raced over the weekend and that was a very big accomplishment. This made her somewhat happy.

When it came time to the medal ceremony, the moment of truth came out and she finished in 6th place, meaning no ribbon for her. You could see the disappointment on her face, but you could also see the desire to do better. As we drove home that evening, we talked about creating an off-ice training plan for the summer so that next year she could be faster against the girls who are bigger than her and have a better chance of winning a medal/ribbon.

Glad to see she wants to keep getting better.

Last meet of the season

Last weekend marked the last meet that speed skating daughter will compete in for the 2011-2012 season. She has decided that she does not want to participate in the Masters & Regional Championships to be held March 31-April 1 in Kitchener. I would like to attend to see how it works and how she would end up ranking, but I'm not going to push her.

That being said, we did attend the Silver #13 (E) Ability meet in Gloucester this past weekend. As I expected, she moved up a level to compete against "faster" skaters. With the new OSSA track rules in place, all skaters in the Juvenile and below categories skated the 100m track (as oppose to the 111m track). This meant that new distances would be skated. 111m races turned into 100m races, 222m became 200m and 333m became 400m. In the older groups, several kids skated 800m races, along with 500m and 400m. Overall, PB's would be set as nobody had skated many of the distances set up for the meet.

In my daughter's 1st race (200m), she did ok, but ended up finishing 3rd (out of 4). That left her out of the 'A' finals for that distance, and I knew right there that there would be no 2nd medal (the points drop off quickly the farther down the list you finish). In the 'B' finals, she had a good start and was in 2nd place heading into the 3rd corner. Unfortunately the leader fell and took out several of the track markers that ended under speed skating daughter's skate as she did a crossover, causing her to fall. She ended up in last place for that final, only to be moved up 1 spot due to another skater being DQ'd (for skating inside the track). 9th place did not get her a ribbon, leaving her a little sad, especially since her friend finished 7th and received a ribbon.

In her 2nd distance (100m), she finished last in her heat and ended up in the 'C' finals. In that final, she skated faster than her prelim race, but ended finishing 2nd (10th overall). Again no ribbon and very little points. With little points gained throughout her 'finals', she was placed in the 'B' 400m Super final (seeding was based on accumulated points). At this point, the coach came up to her and said that if she wanted a ribbon, she needed to finish top 2 in a distance she had never skated before. She wasn't too optimistic about it, but she had a great start, managed to take the lead early and never looked back, finishing 1st in the 'B' final (7th overall). She received a ribbon, which made her super happy (making the day a success). When I saw her time, it turned out to be the same time as when she skated her best 333m earlier in the season. That meant she skated 67m farther in the same amount of time (I'd say she's getting faster). I then did the conversion and it turned out that in comparison, she would have skated a 333m race in 59 seconds, essentially breaking the "1 minute" barrier that many of the kids strive for at an early age. I'll have to talk to the coach and see if she is required to bring in cupcakes as a celebratory gesture for breaking the 1 minute barrier, which is something the club has implemented.

Speed skating daughter leading the pack in the 400m race

One proud... moment

Today was our speed skating club's yearly ability meet, that speed skating daughter was registered for. The way that she has been skating since learning how to do her crossovers, my wife and I figured she would skate some PB's. That meant, the whole family HAD to come out to watch her skate. It turned out that both my parents, and my in-laws made the 1 hr trip to watch. Right from the first race where she took the lead at the start and didn't give it up until the race was over, we knew she would do well. In the finals of that distance (222m), she finished 2nd overall. That meant she would receive a 2nd place ribbon, which made her smile from ear-to-ear. At that point, I mentioned to her that if she did well in the next distance (111m), she might have enough overall points to win a medal (top 3 in each group). That motivated her and again she finished 1st in her preliminary heat. In the finals she started strong and only lost in the last 3 m of the race. Another 2nd place ribbon for the distance and a 2nd place medal overall.

The interesting thing about this is that we went to watch this meet last year and speed skating daughter said then that she really wanted to try speed skating. That is some great progress to go from never doing it to finishing 2nd overall (in her age category) in 1 year.

Today was a very proud day for speed skating daughter (and mommy & daddy). Can't wait to see what other meets have in store for her.

Here's a few other pics from the day.

All it takes is time... and practice

I’m not sure if I already mentioned it, but before the snow fell, I built a small rink for my kids in my backyard. By small I mean, 19’ x 40’. With the cold weather now upon us, they have been out on it several times, and all 3 keep asking to go out, even in -25o C weather.

Because of the rink, speed skating daughter learnt to do crossovers using hockey skates, only son has gone from barely walking on the ice, to full on strides and glides and oldest daughter states that she can now do crossovers using her figure skates even though I figured she could already do them (she argues no). So all 3 have become better in a short amount of time. That, in my opinion, makes building a backyard rink a HUGE SUCCESS!

Last night, at speed skating daughter’s first practice since before Christmas, she was able to do crossovers using her speed skates and now realized that she can maintain a good pace on the turns. With over 1 month before the club’s official meet, she has plenty of time to become better at doing crossovers and improve her 333m, 222m, and 111m times. Time will tell.

If only son continues at this pace of improvement, I will sign him up for the try-it-before-registering speed skating sessions, as he mentions he wants to do speed skating like his older sister. That means, I could have 2 kids, and possibly my Dad and myself, registered at the club next season. I hope they give family discounts. :)


 
BTW, that is me, speed skating daughter (bottom), only son (on knees) and speed skating daughter’s friend on the ice, with family dog just off the ice. Oldest daughter was away on a sleep over that night.

A star is born

Last night was my children's school Christmas Nutcracker play. My oldest daughter had the lead, while my other 2 children had minor roles. One being a fairy, while the other was a mouse. Even though the 2 youngest had no lines, just actions to perform, they were all excited to be part of the play.

This play marked the first time that the school has done anything for Christmas in many years, and to my surprise, people came out in full force to see the presentation. So many people showed up that they had to pull out extra chairs for them to sit on. That is always a good thing.

The play started right on time, and everything went extremely well. Between each set, while they changed the background, various students sang Christmas songs. Overall, the play, and singing, lasted nearly 1 hour, making it an enjoyable evening for all.

My daughter, who had the most lines in the play, performed exceptionally well, with no mistakes. My other 2 were all smiles when their parts came up. The joy I felt seeing all of them on stage was wonderful, and my oldest daughter seemed to bask in the fact that she was the star of the show.

Maybe this is the beginning of a new path for her.

Well that changes everything

(crying)Mommy, my tummy hurts.
wife: Did you go to the bathroom?
Yes, and it still hurts.
me: Go try again, you might have more.
I’m bleeding.
wife: That happens.
Not there...

That was roughly my wife and I’s conversation with our 9½ year old daughter at roughly 3am this morning. At that point we were both up.

She had woken us up about an hour before with complaints of pain and we thought we “fixed” the issue by suggesting the bathroom. The second time, just before she said the bleeding part, I started to think that THAT could be the issue. My wife went with her in the bathroom and did the best she can to explain the situation, half asleep, at 3am in the morning.

We both knew that our little girl was growing up faster than we wanted, but before 10 seems young. I know for girls, there is no exact time as to when their bodies start changing, and I’ve heard stories of some starting as young as 8, but deep down you hope your daughter’s body can hold off until she’s a little older, say 25. :)

For my daughter, questions are now going to be asked, and hopefully my wife can answer them (I know I sure can't). I wish her well on this journey into womanhood and I will do my best to help her get through it (as much as a father can). There will be painful days, and there will be wonderful days. But starting today, I/we have to stop treating her like a little girl, but a blossoming young woman.

I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

Another meet

Spent Saturday past at another speed skating meet with my daughter. Here’s a recap of what happened.

This meet was organized differently than our previous meet. Instead of ladder format, the kids would skate 2 separate distances (222m and 111m), bracketed by age, and randomly put into skating groups. The winner of each skating group, followed by a few other skaters (based on best time posted) would skate in the age bracket’s ‘A’ final, with the remaining skaters skating in the the ‘B’ and ‘C’ finals. Each skater would receive points based on where they finished, and both race point totals added together to finalize a ranking for the day. This meant, depending on how she would finish, she had an opportunity to winner some awards. A little motivation for her.

The day started off early as her group was the first to be on the ice. Her first race was the 222m (or 2 laps) and as soon as the gun went off, she fell. She managed to get up quickly and still posted a decent time, finishing 7th overall for her age bracket. This meant she would not skate in the ‘A’ finals. In the ‘B’ final they had 6 skaters (normally there is only 4) and right at the first corner, several of the skaters became tangled and my daughter fell (along with 2 other skaters). It took her a few extra seconds to get back up and she ended up finishing next to last in the group, 10th overall. At the time we were not aware that ribbons were given out to the top 8 finishers. We only found out later when her skating friend from our club (coach’s daughter) ended up finishing 8th overall and she received a ribbon. You could see a little disappointment on my daughters face, so I mentioned if she skated well (and didn’t fall) in her next race, she would have a chance to receive a ribbon.

After lunch, the kids went out for the 111m (1 lap) race. This time she had a good result, finishing 2nd in her group, 7th overall. That left her in the ‘B’ final, but this time, the ‘B’ final only had 4 skaters (with 4 in the ‘A’ final), guaranteeing her a top 8 finish and a ribbon (so I figured). Her friend was also in the same ‘B’ final. She was happy with the thought that she might win a ribbon, but she also commented on how she wanted to beat her friend, since her friend now held the advantage 3 to 2. One thing that really stood out for me between the first 111m race and the finals was that both girls were really interested in watching the older kids skate. During the morning break, both girls wanted to colour and play, but not in the afternoon. To me, that is a sign of someone who wants to learn and become better. I then mentioned to both girls, that they should watch how the older kids do their crossovers, and how it makes them faster. Need to keep planting the seed.

The ‘B’ finals went smoothly for all skaters and my daughter ended up finishing 7th, with a time slightly slower than her previous race. Her friend finished 8th, making their little competition tied again. Overall, she was happy with her results, other than falling, and she came home (early than our other meet) with a ribbon that listed her name, finishing position, and time. Winning something is always a huge encouragement to do better, especially when her friend won 2 ribbons to her 1.

On a side note, my daughter ended up finishing 9th overall (out of 11) for the day, based on the points she received from her 222m race and her 111m race, while her friend finished 8th. Everybody starts off somewhere, now to see if she can improve.

Thoughts on my 1st speed skating meet

Several weeks ago, my speed skating daughter attended her first meet (competition). Here is the story about that momentous event. Hey, who knows, my daughter could one day skate for Team Canada and having a record of her first time is good. Besides, I’m a proud parent, so why not tell her story to the world.

My original plan for her this year was to wait until the club had their meet (February 2012) before she would compete. IMO, this would allow her 5 months to become a better skater before dealing with the competitive side of the sport. After 2 months of seeing her greatly improve, hearing from other skaters and parents on how this particular meet was an excellent choice for a skater’s first competition, and asking her if should would like to try it out, she/we decided to register for it. Things never go as planned. As it turned out, 35 other skaters from our club would also be attending, so there would be plenty of familiar faces there, making it easier for her (and us).

A quick note about the meet. The fact that many people considered this meet to be an excellent first meet is that it is a ladder meet. This means that no matter your age, you are seeded based on your best time submitted. After each race, skaters are re-seeded accordingly. This allows skaters to feel like with each race, they have a chance to finish first, since the other kids in the race finished their last race with a similar time as their own.

Although she wanted to go to the meet, it was scheduled for the same weekend as her birthday, and she really wanted a birthday party. This meant that we had to work things around so that she could go and still have the party. It also meant that the party would not turn into a sleep-over like she had hoped, which was disappointing for her while making me happier (I’m sorry, as a father, having your house invaded by 7 little girls for a whole night is not high up on my enjoyment list). After all birthday plans were finalized, all that was left was to plan for the meet.

With the meet location almost 2 hrs away from where we live (remember our club is 1hr from our home), we decided to go up the night before and stay in a hotel, so to not have an over-tired little girl at her first meet. Before deciding to stay over night, I had talked to several parents about what they have done in the past. Several commented that the meets their kids didn’t perform well at were the ones they had to wake up early and drive a long time to get there. Not that I think my daughter is a top caliber speed skater and having her a little tired might make the difference between finishing 1st overall or not, it was just easier than dealing with a grumpy little girl at 5 am and later on in the day. Those of us with kids know that there is a line that they all pass at some point in the day that turns adorable well-behaved children into grumpy-crying-rude-we-should-have-stopped-having-kids-before-you creatures. I love my kids, but there are days that I don’t really LIKE them. So a hotel was booked.

On the day of the race we arrived at the rink at 7:30am. To our surprise, we were not the first from our club, not even close. Once the coach came into the change room, she announced the warm-up schedule. Being that my daughter is a) young, b) not fast and c) all races went by fastest to slowest, she was put in the last warm-up group. That gave us over 1 hour before she would go on the ice. For those of you who don’t already know, most rink’s change rooms are not too big. Add to the fact that there were 36 skaters from our club in one room, ranging from the youngest skaters to the masters group, throw in the fact that there were parents there helping their kids out, the room was over full. This meant that we had to plan our getting dressed accordingly, and once the racing started, things would clear up a bit.

Nearly 3 hours into the meet (includes arriving and practice time), my daughter was stepping on the ice for her first race. Leading up to the start I kept reminding her to have fun and try her best. I also told her that if she fell, get up and keep racing until the whistle went. I think I was more nervous than she was. One good thing about this race was that her coach’s daughter was in her group and competing with her. This gave her someone to stand and sit beside (read: talk to) on the bench when getting in-place for the race. My daughter’s first race went off nicely. She didn’t fall and she managed to finished 2nd (out of 4). She also had a Personal Best time. Yes, I know this was her first official race, meaning no matter what time she had, it would be considered a PB, but her time was nearly 3 seconds faster than when the club tested her (which was the time we submitted for this meet). She came off the ice all smiles, and I was there to greet her, all smiles. Success!

With nearly 160 skaters participating in the meet, we found out that it would be a while before she would race again. If anyone has ever been to the Cataraqui Community Center, you know how cold it is. It seems that when the center was being built, nobody took into consideration that people may want to sit in the stands and watch, and those people would like to feel a little warmth. Because of this lack of thinking, the heaters were installed too close to the ice, and they couldn't be turned on or the ice near the boards would melt. That meant those sticking around and watching the races would have to endure being cold (very cold). The change rooms were very warm, but you couldn’t see the races from there. We decided to hang out in our vehicle between races, let her relax away from the others while playing with some toys she brought, have some “healthy” snacks, and stay warm.

Nearly 2 hours later and she was getting back on the ice for her 2nd race. Again, the coach’s daughter was in her group, and these 2 little girls we starting to become BFF’s. Even though they practice together twice a week, there isn’t much time to chit-chat on the ice, so friendships really aren’t built. Spend a whole day together in the change room and on the ice, friendships begin to blossom. For her 2nd race, they added a 5th skater to the group and this time though, she didn’t have as good of a race with her falling several times and finishing last. Albeit she seemed disappointed with her finish, she still came off the ice smiling and commenting on how she fell. I mentioned that I liked how after she fell she got right back up and kept going. Focus on the positive.

Her 3rd race was better than her second, as she didn’t fall, but her time was not as fast as her first. You could tell that the day was starting to wear on her, but her spirits were still up (thankfully). She raced against her BFF again and finished behind her for the 2nd time, with her friend having a PB on that race. Now, competitiveness is a healthy part of life and although the 2 girls weren’t saying much, their eyes lit up when I mentioned that my daughter was down 2-1 over the 3 races to her friend. Now I’m wasn’t there to cause problems or to say that I think my daughter is better than her friend, but giving them both a little incentive to skate a little faster is good.

Knowing that there would only be 1 more race and that my daughter had celebrated her birthday the day before the meet, my wife and I had brought in a cake to share with all the club. It also turned out that there were 4 other club members who were celebrating their birthday in November, so this became a club celebration.

Either it was knowing that it the last race for the day, or the sugar rush she got from the cake, or the fact that she was racing her friend again and wanted to beat her, my daughter came out strong. She was leading the group as she started her 3rd and final lap. Unfortunately, right around the start line, she had a little fall allowing 2 skaters to pass her and ended up finishing 3rd, still ahead of her friend. She came off the ice saying how she was leading and was close to winning the race, but wasn’t upset that she fell. Although the times weren’t posted immediately, I later found out that with the fall, her time was a little slower than her PB set earlier, so we will never know if she could have beaten it. I did tell her that she had a chance to beat it and to skate like that at her next event and she would get a new PB. Give her something to strive for.

As the day ended, she wanted to go to the awards ceremony, not because she thought she would win, but to see what it was like. With this type of meet, awards are given out based on how much a skater has improved since the previous year’s results. They then brake the skaters into groups based on birth month. It make sense and really favours the younger kids, as they are the ones who make great improvements (with their times) from year to year. As expected, my daughter did not win her month, since she hadn’t competed the year before, but 4 other club members did win their respective months, making this a successful meet for out club. All in all, 25 skaters from our club finished the day with new PB’s, with 4 skaters officially braking the 60 seconds barrier in the 333 m races, and 1 skater going under 60 seconds in the 500 m races. Well done to all.

After doing a little shopping (my daughter had birthday money to spend) and having some supper, we finally embarked on the 2 hr drive home, arriving later than my daughter’s typical bed time. She did fall asleep as we were getting close. Expected after the eventful day she just had. For the record, mom and dad were also very tired and didn’t stay up much later.

Sometimes Parents can give good advice

Last week, my oldest daughter came home talking about the Nutcracker play their school will be hosting before Christmas. She mentioned how she wanted to be in it, so we signed the approval form and off she went.

Upon arriving home after her first rehearsal, she said she wanted to try out for either the role of Clara or the Sugar Plum Fairy. Both roles are fairly important to the play, so I expected several students to try out. Keep in mind, this play is open to all the students from Grade 3 to Grade 8, with my daughter currently in Grade 4.

That evening after supper and homework, I mentioned to my oldest daughter that she should start practicing her lines, if she wanted to get the part. She thought it was a good idea and proceeded to read all her lines several times over. During this time, her younger siblings were watching some TV and she asked if she could also go watch. I said sure, but if she wanted the main role, she should practice more. After thinking about it for a few minutes, she returned to her bedroom and kept reading.

As the kids were settling for bed, I spoke to both my daughters at the same. I said to them that people who are really good at things, like singing, acting, skating, etc, try really hard at becoming really good at things. I told them that if they practiced hard enough they could become really good at something. They seem to understand what I was telling them, but with a 9 and 7 year old, you never know.

The next day, my oldest daughter had her audition and came home all excited as she was given the role of Clara (her 1st choice). She said that she was the only one who tried to memorize her lines out of the 5 girls that tried out. I think it really sunk in that because she worked at learning her lines, she got the part.

On a side note, I think my speed skating daughter is also getting the significance of trying hard to become better. Over the past few speed skating lessons, on the times that I had to stay a bit longer to either speak with someone, or sharpen our skates, my daughter has taken it upon herself to run up and down the stairs. She has seen the bigger kids do it, while she is on the ice, and has put the two together in hopes that it will help her out.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 50

And it wasn't a good one. It was too hot at lunch, so I decided to go for a run after supper. Well it's still hot and I don't do well with after supper runs.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	walked last k	not great
Distance	6 km	3 km	total: 294 km
Pace	6:48	8:15	not good
Average HR	under 153	133	not good
Max HR	180	152	not good
Calories Burned		333	total: 36469

The way things are going, I'm not feeling confident in my ability to complete the half marathon. Not sure how to get out of this feeling in time for the run.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 49

Made it out today, and this time I took my son in the stroller and my daughters lead on their bikes.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	walked 2 mins	not great
Distance	6 km	6 km	total: 291 km
Pace	6:48	6:59	close
Average HR	under 153	144	OK
Max HR	180	161	high
Calories Burned		749	total: 36136

Right from the start, I was feeling the run. I ended up walking 1min at 20 mins and 31 mins. It was also very hot and with the dead air coming back, the sweat was pouring off of me.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 36

Made it out for my LSD run today. Last night, my wife and I attended a family member's stag, so it turned to be a much later night than anticipated, and a few "pops" were consumed. That all meant, that this morning, I was a little more tired than I was planning. The good thing is that my daughters and my buddy joined me on this run, which we cut short by 4k that we will make up next week.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	10:1s	ok
Distance	16 km	12 km	total: 207.6 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	7:04	good
Average HR	149-167	141	OK
Max HR	180	154	OK
Calories Burned		1478	total: 25863

Overall, the run was good and my pace and HR were better than expected. I'm glad I made it out.

Nice little workout

Decided, with my son and wife having a nap, to take my girls out on their bike while I roller bladed. It was the first time this year that I have been on my blades this season.

We ended up going for a little over 10km and we did it in about 53 mins plus a few breaks. Overall it felt good, and now that my youngest daughter is on 2 wheels (no more training wheels), she can really go fast. That left my oldest a little tired as her younger sister kept pushing her to go faster. Fun times.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 5

Went out for my LSD run today but between the fact that I hadn't been up for long enough and it was very warm out there, it wasn't a good run. The only good thing about this run is that my daughters came with me on their bikes, so at least they got some exercise.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	various walking	not good
Distance	9 Km	6.3 Km	total: 23.3 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	7:31	not good
Average HR	149-167	153	OK
Max HR	180	163	OK
Calories Burned		748	total: 2757

And then I walked the rest back

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	walking	not good
Distance	9 Km	1.6 Km	total: 24.9 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	9:36	not good
Average HR	149-167	143	not good
Max HR	180	153	OK
Calories Burned		145	total: 2902

Even if I combined my numbers, they weren't good. I know it happens sometimes, but recently my runs have not been good. I didn't think taking a few weeks off after my last half would have this much effect on me. Or maybe it's the fact that I have added a few pounds over the past week. Whatever it is, it needs to change back so that my runs can become enjoyable again.

1st run...

... since the Half Marathon (NCHM) and it was OK. I went out with my daughters on their bikes and did 5k. My pace wasn't fast and there was a few times that I had to stop to either help one of my girls, or we were at a traffic light. All in all, it was a decent run, but it won't be counting towards my training for the Army Run Half as I won't run again until next Sunday.

NCHM Challenge - Run # 54

Made it out today and this time I took both my daughters with me, on their bikes.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	OK
Distance	6 Km	6 Km	total: 304.26 km
Pace	7:19	6:54	great
Average HR	137-148	145	OK
Max HR	180	177	little high
Calories Burned		721	total: 37618

Numbers are within ranges and my pace is getting faster.

NCHM Challenge - Run # 51

Went out today and did tomorrow's LSD run because tomorrow I'm going Wild Garlic picking and that is a full day affair and there may be some alcohol consumed. So instead of skipping tomorrow's long run and doing a short run today, I changed today's run to tomorrow's distance. Makes sense? I also took my oldest daughter with me on her bike, which is the longest she's gone for a bike ride.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	10:1	OK
Distance	12 Km	12.06 Km	total: 284.56 km
Pace	7:19	7:18	great
Average HR	137-148	148	good
Max HR	180	161	good
Calories Burned		1445	total: 35211

I set my watch to do 8 10:1s and these are the results I ended up with. During those intervals I did 1 hr and 20 minutes of running, where I ran 11.3k, and I walked 8 mins for 762 m. Overall, it was a good run.

Happy Birthday Little Lady

My oldest daughter turned 8 years old today and I would like to wish her a very Happy Birthday. Mommy and Daddy love you very much.

Happy Birthday Little Lady

My youngest daughter turned 5 years old today and I would like to wish her a very Happy Birthday. Mommy and Daddy love you very much.