I Run in French

New direction!

2010-12-20T17:11:00.001-05:00

You cna find me at my new digs at : http://goofyby50.blogspot.com/

Words and what they mean

2010-09-14T19:06:00.003-04:00

I have an autistic child. He's 9 now and he's the most concentrated child you will ever meet. He can look at bugs for, well, ever and talk about what he saw for hours.

When he was 4 he didn't talk. He only had about 20 words he would use over and over. They didn't mean much, they were out of stories we read to him or TV shows he loved. We had many therapists we were seeing to help him out of this world of his and into ours. We speak French at home. My husband and I are both from French speaking parents but, for some insane reason, English was my prefered language growing up. We had English speaking neighbors (it was forbidden to talk to them as they were not Roman Catholic) but the little girl next door was my age and we both liked to skip rope. So we first started communicating with sign language and a little gibberish but easily moved to words and sentences and what do you know? I could speak English!

Well, fast forward about 30 years and here I am with this kid who won't talk. Suddenly It dawned on me, French is the language of therapies, school, demands and requests. Let's make English the language of fun and play and just fooling around. So here I am, on the floor with him trying to get him to engage in play (floortime) and I just blurt out : I'm a little tea pot short and stout, here is my handle and here is my spout. And I get this look of amazement and bewilderment, just like the look of a deer in headlights. Now I sing to him in French all the time, this is not the first time I sing to him. And he just says : ENCORE! (MORE) So I say : you want more song, yes? and he answers : YES! Sooooo. I admit, I created this monster. He now speaks English with his friends (he has friends!!! When he speaks English, he's much more concentrated and easier to understand, the sentences flow more and well, let's face it FART is much more fun than PET. And little boys whoever they are love farts.

And so does this mom.

No French lesson today. I didn't run in 2 weeks, my back has been in spasms and, well, I have to rest for now.

Hope you are all running strong, talk to you soon!

Heat wave!

2010-09-03T14:04:00.000-04:00

This is singular and almost unprecedented (well once in 1946) we’re experiencing a very brutal heat wave here in Montréal. Now, I know this is probably a walk in the park for most people living south of where I do but for us, well, were cooking. The temps have been hovering around 300 Celsius – 850 Fahrenheit with a heat index of 950 on most days this week. It’s very warm in the morning and in the evening also. We’re used to this in July for a week or two but not at this time of year. Heck, school started and they don’t have AC. The kids are hot and bothered and the teachers aren’t doing any better.

The weather lady says it will cool on Saturday and, truth be told, I can’t wait. I know I’m going to bite my lips this winter when it’s -350 Celsius but I’m just not a good runner in the heat. I’m slow, sweat buckets and I get really upset about my times.

AND, we have the Montréal Marathon on Sunday (I’m not running it this year) it supposed to be cooler; I sure hope so as I know a few people running in this event.
On the other hand, I found a real race to do the half marathon in the World Wide Festival of Races. This is the first time I’ll run a real race for the Festival! I’ll be going to Ottawa for the Ottawa Fall Colors Marathon, where I’ll be doing the half. I’m also planning on doing a race report. This is also a first for me.

Now, for our French course.
Can you say :

I’m hot! J’ai chaud!

I’m really hot! J’ai vraiment chaud!

I’m dying in this heat! Je crève de chaleur!

À la prochaine!

Long run thoughts

2010-08-31T18:21:00.002-04:00

While I was out on my long run on Sunday (I did 17.38 kms) my brain got a little fuzzy and thoughts that sound like this started bubbling to the surface: “You can’t do this, it’s too long, it’s too hot” “what were you thinking taking this route, it’s way to hilly” “Did you stop breathing, cause I can’t hear you” “AAHHHH come on, only 5 k to go, this won’t take more than 30 minutes” “Do you remember the time when everyone called you fat? Think they can run as far as you today?” “Now, what’s in the fridge that would make a good post-run recovery meal? Eggs… maybe, bread… naw, tomatoes, red ripe tomatoes and lettuce, yeah and cheese oooohhhh, now we’re going somewhere… Wait, do I have mayonnaise, ‘cause I can’t make a tomato sandwich without some…. (Here I’m mentally going over the contents of the fridge, pushing and tossing things to find the mayo in my imaginary fridge) BINGO! We have mayo!!!!
Oh this sandwich is going to be sooo gooood…

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t even see that I had passed my house and thus the 17.38 k. Now, this is becoming a favourite activity of mine on long runs. When I see that I have about 5 k to go, I start picking the mental fridge apart for something good to eat. Sometimes it works, well, most times it works. I love to run for food. Well, this should be the other way around actually, I love to eat therefore I run to keep the weight off.

Now, you ask, what’s with the title? Well, since I live in Montréal and speak French most of the time, I thought I could pepper in a little French here and there. Basically, I’ll end each post with the French translation of a few sentences I just wrote. Have fun practicing your French!

« AHHHH, allez, il ne reste que 5 kilomètres à faire, ça ne prendra même pas 30 minutes »(did you notice, even the quotations marks turn French)

« Des œufs, peut-être… du pain, non, pas vraiment… des tomates, des tomates juteuses et mûres à point et de la laitue, ah oui et du fromage, làààààààà on s’en va quelque part. Attends, est-ce que j’ai de la mayonnaise, je ne peux faire un sandwich aux tomates sans mayo »

À la prochaine!

AAhhhhhhh experts!

2009-07-21T15:19:00.003-04:00

I have been running for more than 5 years now and by no means am I an expert at running. I make mistakes, go out too fast, train too hard, hydrate badly and so on. I also know that when something hurts, give it 24 hours before you push the panic button. I like running. It's a simple way to keep in shape, escape your everyday life, make friends who like to talk running shoes and gear and running let's me eat dessert once in a while. I also learned that you can't run away from problems or issues but that you can resolve many of them on a run.

When my son was diagnosed "autistic", I started to run both to find some time to myself and to cry without upsetting my husband. I stopped crying kept on running and my son now talks and sings and does a whole lot of things the "experts" told me he could never do. This brings me to talk about my "experts" of running (mind you no one of them runs, but that's not keeping them from being experts!)

My first and best expert is the doorman in our building, mind you there are three but they share similarities that would blow your mind. We've been living in this building for over 4 years now and I have been out the door for my daily run for just as long. If I run out the door after the doorman started his day (or returning from a run just as he started his day) he always and I mean ALWAYS has a piece of advice for me: It's too cold, you'll freeze your lungs! It's too hot, you'll get overheated and collapse in the middle of the road! It's raining you'll catch your death! All three of them has some opinion about how running is going to kill me.

My second expert is the administrator of the building. I see her only on weekends which is a blessing : " Running is bad for your knees. I know someone who ran and one day she just couldn't get out of bed and hasn't walked since. No one know what happened but her doctor told her that nothing like that would have happened if she hadn't run all these years!" I get the same story or a variety of this story almost every weekend. The only way to get past her is to keep my earphones on and to bop to the music. But then I get the :"Earphones are bad for your ears, you'll lose your hearing!"

Last but not least is the barista at Starbucks. Mind you she's in her 20's cute but overweight and has trouble with her knees (I wonder why). Last week as I finished my run at Starbucks for a Soy Latte she tells me that she's scheduled for knee replacement surgery. I tell her that she's very young for such an operation and maybe, just maybe she should get a second opinion. (I'm not a fan of mainstream medicine) She then proceeds to tell me that it's because she ran track and field when she was in High school and her orthopedist said that she ruined her knees running. And of course now she believes it's her duty to talk every runner she meets out of running.

I've had a few things here and there over the years but nothing that kept me from running for more than 6 weeks. I'll talk about that in another post. I don't think I'll ever get these people to quiet down and I've learned to smile and nod as I chase another PR.

Just to let you know, I'm in my 40's, no spring chicken anymore. I thought growing older, people would stop giving me unsolicited advice.

Next post : My neighborhood, where I run and what I see.

Back to basics

2009-07-20T16:25:00.003-04:00

I haven't had a lot to say lately. After hurting my back way back in March and then feeling sorry for myself in March and April. I was also drinking way to much for my own good which makes for very sluggish mornings and postponed runs.

But, it's all behind me now and I'm back to running! I also registered for the Montreal Oasis Half marathon on September 13 ( I know it's 9 weeks away) then the Hypothermic Half on February 20. I'll also do the Nike half marathon in April and then, if all goes well, the Ottawa Marathon in May 2010.

So this is my short post of the day. Tomorrow, I'll talk about all the "running experts" around me.

Week three in training

2009-02-23T11:39:00.008-05:00

Well, just put week 3 of the 16 week marathon training behind me. It felt easy enough. I did 6k on Monday, 8k on Tuesday, nothing on Wednesday (I'll talk about it further i the blog), on Thursday, we trained at the track, inside, learned to do 800 repeats. Boy, I sure slept well that night. I took Friday off as I was feeling a little tight in my left IT band and did 16k on Saturday with Team in Training. I had a feeling it would take long but I didn't expect to run/walk with another girl for 2 hours and 16 minutes!

We started running together because we were the only 2 slower runners, the others were way ahead of us. We started out 4 but then one of the girls IT band started acting up and they decided to head home. So that left me runing with a very nice lady who has been running for 5 weeks. (OK, my mind goes, 5 weeks, she won't make it for 16k (10 miles) I'd better stick with her or she'll give up). Well, we stuck together, not talking much but just making sure I didn't get too far ahead and staying strong. I was so happy to see our coach running to meet us at mile 8, he always has a nice word and such positive energy. I got to pick up the pace a little, it was freezing!

I have always been a solitary runner. I have been running with my dogs for a while but they don't really count as "runnng buddies". I'm starting to like to run with people. I know it sounds strange but running has been my way of dealing with the harder sides of my life. Now, running is about helping others dealing with the harder sides of their lives. And I just can't think of a more difficult thing to deal with as cancer.

I'm happy about my training this week for another reason. We had to let go of some fine people where I work, 6 to be exact. That's a lot considering we are a company of 72 people. It was heartwrenching. People were crying, everyone was paranoid, scared to death to hear their superior calling them. It was all done in a half hour. It will take weeks for everyone to start having fun at work again. I'm happy I kept my job but sad about my friends losing theirs.

I'm writing this from home on Monday as I have a fever. I'm wondering if it's caused by the cold on Saturday, the flu, or just plain too many emotions. If it doesn't let up by tomorrow morning, I'll go see the doctor. Wouldn't want to miss too much training.

Love and hope

Weight issues

2009-02-17T11:19:00.002-05:00

OK, I'll admit it. I started to run to lose weight. Hated it at first. Lost the weight, got injured, stopped running... gained the weight back on. Sometimes this feels hopeless.

So, I started marathon training and Weight Watchers since I don't want to put on weight as I've seen some bloggers do during marathon training. My biggest worry is being hungry all the time. I love eating, so does my husband my son and my 2 dogs. We'd be lost without cheese. Now I'll have to learn to count and weigh and approximate and make good choices.

I've been on a lot of diets in the past. South beach, Atkins, Cabbage soup (don't even try that one) and diet pills. So many I just can't remember. I have lost and regained and lost and put it back on, well, too many times. Hey I want to lose 25 pounds. That's not too much to ask. It's not shinking down my whole body size or going under my healthy weight. I just want to get it over with!

What got me thinking was reading this : www.msteechur.com. This lady is amazing! I met her (virtualy) on the runners roundtable, a podcast, you can get it on ITunes, she was talking about her experience as a marathon maniac. Marathon maniac... this lady used to be so big and now she runs marathons. Well, that's it. If she can do it, so can I.

Running 6k at lunch, the weather is beautiful and I plan to listen to a podcast or two.

Love and hope

Last week's runs

2009-02-16T15:18:00.002-05:00

Well, here's last week's schedule. I ran 10k on Sunday, rested on Monday, ran 8k on tuesday, yoga on Wednesday, ran 6k on Thursday and nothing on Friday and Saturday (unknowingly ate some gluten, realised it too late so paid dearly for it) Did I mention I was allergic to gluten?

On Sunday I ran 13k. It was beautiful outside, a little on the nippy side but you could feel the sun's rays on my back making me a little too warm but it was soooo nice I even stayed on that path a while longer to bask in the sunlight. My only problem was that my water bottle became so cold that I almost choked when I took a sip. I coughed for the rest of the day but I still don't know if it's the cold water or maybe some smog as I live in the city and run very close to downtown.

This week I plan to do 6k tomorrow, 8k on Wednesday and then yoga at lunch, yoga on Thursday and then track (we're doing intervals, don't know what they are) and another 6k on Friday. I should do my long run with the TNT Montreal gang on Saturday, we have 16k planned. Just saw the route we'll be taking, it's going to be fun. Not too hilly but not too flat either. We'll run part of it downtown and the second part in a residential area, I like these runs that take me all over town.

I'm reading up on nutrition right now and I got the book "marathoning for mortals" from John Bingham (The Penguin). Everything seems to be so important. I guess I'll pick a few things to change and go from there.

I also plan to feed this blog more often, way more often and as soon as I figure out how to link my Buckeye outdoors training log on my blog, I'll be very happy. I can be very happy or very sad for the smallest things. For example, I got the most beautiful Valentine's day card from my 7 year old son it was quite a surprise as he is autistic and doesn't show much interest for "girl" things and since valentine is all in pink it must be a girl thing. Well, I got the most beautiful RED card with NO PINK! But what he wrote made me cry with joy and poor him, he thought I was sad. I told him that sometimes mommies cry when they are too happy. He looked at me very seriously and said : "That's wierd!" and left to play with his legos.

I'm still surfing on this wonderful feeling of joy and pure love. Just hope it can carry me through the rest of the winter.

Love and hope

Running with Bella

2009-02-10T14:15:00.003-05:00

This morning I did a 6k run with Bella. Bella is the second of my fabulous dogs. Our first dog is a Lab called Luna but she doesn't really like running. She whines and cries until she sees that we're heading back home. So, Luna goes walking with my darling husband and Bella comes running with me.

This dog is so funny. If there is a snow bank she has to climb on top and run there. If there is none, she will run in front of me, pulling until we pass 4k and then she let's up. She's only been running with me for 2 weeks now as she just turned 1 year old.

We both came home with frozen noses, her fur was frozen around her mouth and my eyelashes were sticking together. Heck, it was only -10C (14F) but it was very humid. It's really encouraging when you start noticing the sun going up in the sky at this time of year. Although we still have a long way to go before spring, the early light makes me believe spring's near.

I won't be running outside tomorrow as I have to drive my son to a Padovan therapy session at 8am. I'll run at the gym (Yuck!) during my lunch break. At least I have a few podcasts to listen to.

Please visit my Team in Training website at : http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?retistrationID=589824.

I know, it's in French, I'm working on the English page, it will be online in no time.

Feel free to donate (please, please, please...)

Have a fantastic day!

TNT Montréal

2009-02-09T13:57:00.004-05:00

I joined Team in Training in my hometown, Montréal, to run the Ottawa marathon on May 24, 2009. This is going to be my very first marathon but not my first experience at racing. I've completed a few races in the past years but never with much thought about setting a goal or a PR or anything in particular.

Of course, with no goal I pretty much got bored of running and sort of gave up for a while. Strangely, I'm a goal oriented person but for some reason, I was scared of setting goals for my running because I didn't want it to become another thing to get all worked up about. I think I also have a problem with fear of success or failure. Anyhow, I had no goal and quit running.

Six months ago, I re-started running seriously and started looking for an event I could participate in. Ottawa seemed nice, it's not far from home, I could easily pack up my son and husband and we could make a nice week-end out of it. But, I wanted more. I wanted to be able to make a difference while training for a marathon. I wanted to reach more than one goal. I wanted more, much more.

Let's go back in time for a second. In 2004, my beloved son was diagnosed with Autism. His father and I were devestated. I couldn't go on and slipped in a deep depression that took almost a year away from my life. After some therapy, I started going to lectures and meetings with other parents with autistic children. After one particularly difficult meeting where most of the mothers present were crying and talking about how unfair this was and how are we going to get through this, etc, etc, I had an "AHA!" moment. MY SON IS NOT DYING! He's alive and well, happy to be with us and learning every day. I will have my son with me for the rest of my life.

But some parents won't. Lukemia still kills too many children (and adults). As with any other cancer, research needs to be done. I wanted to be part of this. I wanted to do something for the children. I strongly believe that parent should not bury their children. I wouldn't be able to bare that and wanted to make a difference.

So here I am, after our first group long run last Saturday. The weather was beautiful, everyone was chatting along and 10k (6.21 miles) went by without even noticing, hey I even sprinted the last 2 blocks (I really had to go...).

This blog is my way of sharing my training, my fundraising, the fun and the frustrations of it all.

I hope you enjoy the run!