Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon--Spectator Report

As of yesterday, as I went for a wet and windy run, I was thinking it would take a miracle to get me to the race to cheer this morning!  At first, it was just going to be me heading into the city to cheer.  Then, I decided I would bring along the baby (he needs to learn to be a good spectator at a young age?).

By the time I woke up this morning, I decided that it should be a whole-family affair!  My costume had a matching piece for my husband, so why not drag  bring him along?  The boys are good at cheering, and they are accustomed to it.  It wasn't pouring rain--it was actually kind of sunny (at 7:00am) so we decided to do it!

In looking for costume bits and pieces (of course leaving this until the morning of the event is smart!) the boys discovered some of their old halloween costumes and wanted to dress up a little.  Oh, my, I think they're going to dress up too!!!

So, we drove away from the house, signs made, to our spot at the side of the Lakeshore.

It was cold.  Windy.  Cold.  And Early.

Here's a tip.  If you are going to dress up in silly halloween costumes for races, don't think, even for one minute, that the elite runners are going to look up, much less notice your catchy signs.  We were planted at about the 10km mark, and we were early enough to watch the lead men go by.  They are so focused on the race, that they didn't notice us:

The whole family, dressed-up!

Really, how could they not stop and take a look at everything that was going on!? I know, "records to break", "prize money", "first place", blah blah blah.

After not long, the runners started coming in big packs and we were in spectator heaven.  Er, not so heavenly when you are trying to scan the crowd for friends, but nice nonetheless.

We spotted a few friends, which was awesome.  It is so inspiring to see people dedicating themselves to a race like that.  Any length of race is great to watch.

Then your hands start to get numb from holding a sign in the wind :(

Our boys were Nemo.  They were supposed to be holding a sign that said "Just keep Swimming or Running" but they kind of ran around the whole time.  At least they were warm.  People loved the 2 little fishies though.

My husband and I dressed as Dorothy and the Scarecrow and held a sign that said, "Your Not in Kansas Anymore! Go Runners!"  Lots of people laughed, which was exactly what we were hoping for!

One guy thought I was "Wendy" from Wendy's.  Hmm.

All in all, a fun, inspiring day.  Especially my friend Cheri, who ran her very first half marathon in 2:02!!  I am so proud of her for doing such an amazing job.  I think it was even her first big race.  Wow, inspiring!! I wish I had a picture of her, but she buzzed past us so quickly that I just wasn't fast enough!


Happy Running, or warming up if you were out there in a dress and Ruby slippers like me ;)

Giving Thanks

So much to be thankful for.  Where do I begin?  I am going to write a list of the "micro" and the "macro" (in no particular order)...

- My three beautiful children have been sleeping in until almost 7am all week.  This is a big deal around here.  We had a long 2 years of mornings that began by 5:30am, so this "sleeping in" streak (however long it may last?) has been very welcome!

- Cuddles with the boys.  Yep, all three of them + me in a chair--sort of chaotic but worth the coziness!

All of my boys

- Our reverse-osmosis water tap.  I am a fan of tap water, and I drink so much water throughout the day.  Unfortunately the water in my town is seriously hard, so we have to use a water softener etc. to have 'normal' water. That tap of perfect drinking water gets a lot of use in our house!

- Skype.  A good friend lives a looong ways away, and I chatted with her via Skype this morning.  It was so nice to chat face-to-face (in spite of the crying baby I was shushing).  I remember going to Disney World as a kid, and in Epcot centre, seeing a display with a 'scene from the future' of someone talking via video.  It was sooo crazy.  Would Jetson's style phones ever really happen?  Yes, Yes!

- I know I have mentioned it here before, but my husband deserves some sort of award for his patience (with me and the boys!)  If it weren't for him, we would not be able to do many of the things we do as a family, and I certainly wouldn't be able to keep the running schedule I do!

- I am so thankful that I have the parents that I do.  Mentioning the word, "Grandma" around our house sends our kids into hysterics with excitement.  She is always ready to play with the kids, and I couldn't ask for a better person to chat to on the phone.  My dad is one of those guys that just knows how everything works, and how to fix/build/repair anything.  Our basement would still be just a skeleton of framing if it weren't for my dad, teaching my husband and I all of the ins and outs of drywall, tiling, electrical, etc.  I am so thankful for my parents and everything they do to help us and make us feel so lucky to have them in our lives!

- The Sun.  I swear I am not a fair-weather runner, but some days seeing that bright sun in the sky motivates me to get out there!  Even when I resent the sun's blazing heat in the summer, I still love it.  We have had some lovely days this past week, and I am trying to enjoy as much it as much as I can!

- The Jolly Jumper.  No, Oliver doesn't spend his entire day in the thing, but he loves to jump away while I unload the dishwasher, prep dinner, or tidy up.  If only I could come up with some way to keep the big brothers away from him in that thing.

My little jumper

Those are just a few of the things I am thankful for this year.  My am thankful to have such an amazing family around me every day.  I am thankful to have such great friends in my life.  That's what it is all about, right?

Happy Running!

You snooze, You lose.

Or, you don't even get a chance to start :(

I put off registering for a race (the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon) for no real reason.  Over a month ago, when I was initially planning on registering, I sat down and registered for 2 other races at the same time.  I thought it seemed a bit excessive to register for THREE races in one sitting, so the Scotiabank took a back burner.  It didn't occur to me that it might sell out until I went online the other day to find that it had!! :( Really?!

So, I will still go to the Toronto race as a spectator, but sadly I won't be lining up to race.  I was eager to redeem my half marathon after the Oakville Half/Sinus Woes of last weekend.  Ah, well. 

I am now going to sign up for the Angus Glen Half Marathon on November 6th.  My good friend/running buddy M will be running it too, so it will be nice to have company, and the loot bags/race shirts at Angus Glen are usually top-notch, so perhaps things will work out in my favour this time.

Soooo, getting my spectator's game on will be fun!  I had such a blast at the Goodlife Toronto Marathon last year cheering on my friend Vanessa (and anyone else that passed by).  Being October, a costume is definitely a must, so I should start planning now.
I will have to top last year...

I also held a sign that said "Lookin' Grape!"

Happy Running!