Success! And Summer Days

Well, our adventure to Hamilton was a success... we came home with a new running stroller! No excuses now... I signed up for a 5k for May 26th - a goal to get me out the door :)

The stroller's previous home was in Ancaster - a little town I had never been to before. Wikipedia says it is a "picturesque and historic community located on the Niagara escarpment, within the greater area of the city of Hamilton, Ontario." The area I saw was definitely picturesque... I bet it's gorgeous in the fall with all the colours! 

After an hour and a half drive out, I didn't think AJ would want to stay put for the drive home without a break, so we walked a little street of shops and found a library - a convenient place to hang out for a little guy who can't walk yet. He crawled around and played at the train table for awhile. There were lots of people to charm, so he was happy! :)

I uploaded the pictures from my phone for the past little while, and was reminded of the gorgeous 2 weeks of spring/summer we had recently. Watching AJ experience the warm outdoors is fun. He's a true little boy - finding every little rock and twig to taste... and immediately finding dirt to dig into - even if it's only between the slabs of concrete on a sidewalk! :)

Here are a few from those nice "summer" days:

AJ and I enjoyed wandering downtown one afternoon... we went through the Distillery District, got a coffee at Balzac's and played in the square ;) We strolled through St Lawrence Market and leisurely walked the waterfront while soaking in the sun and water. I love downtown! We met up with the Man of the house and had supper at The Old Spaghetti Factory before driving home in the twilight night. It was a perfect day!

I need to upload the pictures from my actual camera - I think they tell a better story of the fun day we had downtown. 

Oh, and at 9 1/2  months, AJ got his 7th tooth - top left next to the 2 middle teeth. THe 8th one (top right) is coming any day now. He seems to be a "tooth machine"!

Running Stroller Hopes

I'm so excited... I've been searching for a running stroller for a little while but good ones are SUPER expensive (even used ones), and... I already splurged on our regular stroller. After missing 2 Running Room strollers on Kijiji, I was getting discouraged... then this afternoon, this suddenly popped up!

Beautiful isn't it? ;)  I still have to see it in person on Saturday, but this Baby Jogger has never been used since her son preferred biking (he's obviously older than my 9 month old!) to sitting... it's a trusted brand name and far more serious a running stroller than I - a runner. It's been almost 2 years since I ran  but I have been craving it for awhile. But to go out after so long to "run" ... well, it wouldn't be called a "run" in reality. I need to work back up. My hopes and intent is that this beautiful beast will help.

So... am thinking about signing up for a 5K at the end of May. A flat course around a lake... seems like a good goal and doable. Won't be a fast 5k, but.... I think I should be able to get there. Who's with me? :)

But I'll wait until Saturday to make sure this doesn't fall through....

Oh, did I mention that I have to drive an hour and 20 minutes to get it?? Yes. To Hamilton.

Hope it's worth it. ;)

10K... my golden moment :)

I thought if I posted a picture of my achievement from  October 2009 that it might "kick me in the butt" to get out the door and get running... I had so much fun (and pain!) running the 10K Oasis Zoo Run at the Toronto Zoo this past fall... I did the 5k the year before, which in itself was a huge personal accomplishment... my "training" (REAL runners would laugh) was a little slow taking off, with a lot of knee pain... but finally by the end of August, I was starting to get some rhythm. But 10k?? I couldn't make it to 8k!! Kept hitting 7.54k... bam. The first time I crossed that 8k barrier, I went to 10.62K in 1 hour 11 minutes... I was in shock that I ran for over an hour.. haha That was Oct 5, 2009... my 10K race was Oct 17/09! So you see, I didn't run very many 10K's before my race, so it was still a big challenge to finish... but finish I did, in 1:03... in pain but so excited that I did it! :) :) And all the while my husband was in bed... ;) Some year I will get him on the course to at least cheer me on! :)