Goal Update

So it's been a couple weeks since I last posted anything, so I guess it's time for an update. There has been some good developments and some super not good ones too. 

I'll start with the good. I've been running a lot more often and for longer distances. On Wednesday I ran for a full hour! I took a few walking breaks but in the time I was able to run a distance of 9.05km! This is especially great because this means that I'm well on my way to my goals of running a 10k and 10 miler.
Speaking of which I signed up for some of my runs and decided on the rest of them. I'm running the  Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K Run/Walk on March 13th. Kristin, my trainer said that I should do a 5K first since I've never done a race before so I can get a feel for it. I picked this one because it's sponsored by Steamwhistle Breweries and you get a beer when you finish! That's enough reason for me!
I also signed up for my 10K which will be Desjardins General Insurance 10K, which is part of the Mississauga Marathon weekend. It is on the Saturday May 14th, so hopefully that will mean some awesome cool weather. Kristin will actually be running in it too. One of her other clients signed her up when she was signing up so that's be fun that I'll know someone running it. 
My next two races I haven't signed up for but I will be doing them. They are the Acura 10-Miler which will be happening sometime in July and, just for fun, I'm going to do the Waterfront Trail Double Crown on September 10th. I decided to do the Double Crown because it's the first race after my 26th Birthday and it's 13K.  That's half of how old I'll be turning and it's less than the 10-Miler so I should be ready for it.
I might do some more races depending on how everything goes. There's still on 5-mile race that I think sounds like fun but they have yet to release any kinda of 2011 information for it so I'll just have to wait on that one.
That's pretty much the biggest Goal related news I wanted to share. 
And now I guess I should get on with the bad. On January 15th my Dog, Max was put down. 

Max in better days

He had been having some health problems and in the week leading up to that point he had been taking a very bad turn. He started get some very large swelling in his lymph nodes and he was having some problems breathing. He also had no interest in eating, which for a Lab is always a bad sign. We took him to the Vet on Thursday to see if it was something that could be fixed (an Infection). Friday afternoon, the vet called us back and basically said that it was not an infection and therefore was probably Cancer. We decided to wait until Monday to do anything so we could have the weekend with him. That night I went out with Sylvie and Chino to (try) to see the Tim Burton exhibit at the TIFF Lightbox. When I got home that night he was lying in the front hallway. He was breathing heavily and could not get up. I tried to get him to eat out of my hand but he was not interested. 
Later that night my mom went downstairs and he had moved (somehow) to in front of the fireplace in the living room. She sat with him for a while and put a blanket on him but when she went to go back to bed he started crying. He didn't want to be alone. So she slept on the couch in the living room with him. That was basically it. That morning my mom woke me up and told me to cancel my PT session for that morning because we were going to go to put him down. We brought him to the Mississauga emergency Vet. They asked us if we wanted to be with him when they give him the shot, we said no. Now I kinda wish I did say yes. He was brought in to the room we were in so we could say Good bye and at that point I started crying. We all did. 
Max was a great dog. Honestly, the best dog I have ever had the opportunity to know. No other that I'll ever own in my life I think will be able to compare to him. I miss him still everyday. No more wet noses greeting me at the door. No more digging up rocks in the lake. No more sighs that I'm keeping him up with the light from my bedroom late at night. I can honestly say I feel like something is missing from me right now and it's been really hard to keep myself in control. I'm working on it though but I know I'll always love and miss my Max.

I've got to get in control though. I have races coming up and school is only going to start actually getting busy so I need to work on some things while I still have to mental energy for them. 

1. First off, Stop snacking so much. Now I know there's nothing wrong with snacks but I haven't been tracking them at all. I know all my little finger-fulls of soy nuts are not doing me any good. Thankfully, all the Chirstmas goodies are gone now so I just need to resist temptation or if I give in, be honest with myself and track it.
2. Stay at the gym longer. Last week, I had no patience or energy for the gym. I still ended up going 6 days but some days all I did was cardio or run. While, I forgive myself for just running on Wednesday when I ran for an hour, I need to put in more time. 
3. Also, I need to start challenging myself more. Today during my PT session, my whole body was literally shaking while doing chair pose. I almost cried, but I survived. Now I'm feeling it but I haven't felt it in a long while. In the words of Jillian Michaels, I need to stop "phoning in" my workouts. 

That's it for tonight. Early morning class tomorrow (Booo!) so I gotta sleep. But I'll leave with this picture of my legs that I can't get over. Taken by the lovely Sylvie on Anna's Birthday.

Seriously?

oxo