Tuesday, July 28, 2015

I did it!

So I did it! I finally did it! I finally started to thaw out from Sunday’s Tely 10!! It would have been perfect running conditions if I wasn't so bloody cold! I purchased a pair of sleeves from Biped on Saturday in hopes that I would end up rolling them down around 3 or 4 kms’. Nope. No sir, that didn’t happen at all. I.was.so.cold. I thought I was running in November not July. But that is Newfoundland weather for you. This was my second Tely 10 and I took 7 minutes off my time from 2013, so I am happy for that, I ran it in 2:06.  I don’t run for time, I run for me. While we are talking about the Tely 10, congrats to everyone who ran it, pat yourself on the back because you deserve it! And thank you to all the volunteers and spectators along the route, especially the PRC clan on LeMarchant Road!


After the Tely we headed to the Gosse's for the annual after Tely party which is always full of surprises and so much fun. The race doesn't stop at the Tely line. No no. You see, at the Gosse's, it doesn't matter how sore you are, someone while talk you into a scooter race. Luckily, I have been able to talk or hide my way out of it because I would end up in a ditch and/or the ambulance would have to come get me. Thank you Andrew and Shelley for hosting yet another fabulous party and thank you for warming me up and sorry to the kid that thought I was Santa.


Now that the Tely is over I am going to call it quits. I lost the weight, the sugars are down. So I have accomplished what I set out for. Just kidding! Running is fun...when you don't hurt! Like I mentioned in previous posts, I sprained my knee in November. Sunday's run made my knee hurt again. While training, my knee didn't hurt too much but for some reason the running the Tely 10 really hurt. It could be because I was pushing myself or that I ended up getting frostbite. Who knows. I will make some physio appointments and be good again soon.  

My original plan for 2015 was to do the Huffin Puffin Half but that changed when I signed up for the Tely 10. And now that my knee is bad again and the Huffin Puffin is only 2 months away, I think I will put the half marathon on the back burner and do that one next year. Now, now, don't fret! I am going to run on a relay team again. I can't wait!

Even though my knee and the rest of my body is still hurting I decided to go running tonight. I know! Marc was surprised too! So who do I see in the parking lot but Shelley Gosse. It was a pleasant surprise. I was thinking, "to run with her or not to run with her." Well, we ran together and this happens! You see, most people will try and talk me out of my "fun" ideas but do you think Shelley would?? Nope, she is there ready, willing and holding the camera! That is why we get along so well!


July is almost over, so my blogging time is soon coming to an end, I hope you enjoyed them. Have fun and enjoy your run!

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Motivation

So for those who don’t know me or much about me, it took a huge leap out of my comfort zone to write this blog. Marc even thought it was strange for me to write the blog for July. Don’t get me wrong, I am not shy and I will ask or answer pretty much any question but I don’t like putting myself out there in the internet land.   

I have been a type 2 diabetic for a little over two years and I hate it. I just love pizza and chips way to much to be a diabetic. Really though! Ask Marc, I am a total carboholic.  Chips scream out my name when I walk into the grocery store.  Since being on Weight Watchers I choose the baked salt and vinegar chips, you know, the healthy ones!  In all seriousness, I have been tracking my food and working hard on exercising and eating better. 

I had a doctor’s appointment today to check on how the ol’ diabetes is treating me.  In January I was on three different drugs (this is the stuff I don’t like putting out in the internet world). Yes, you read right. THREE. I had to take 2 in the morning, 2 in the evening and then one injection (not insulin) before I went to bed. That is 5 in total, crazy right?! Well, when I started weight watchers my sugars were dangerously low.  A couple times before I went to bed I felt sick and took my sugars and they were 2.2! This is when the carb overload kicks in! Bring on the candy and fast!  This is when I decided to wean myself of one particular drug, the most expensive one.  I was starting to forget to take my meds daily but I was still checking my sugars, they were not bad. 

So back to my appointment, I thought for sure I was going to get in trouble for not taking all my meds. Disclaimer: DO NOT COME OFF YOUR MEDS UNLESS DIRECTED BY YOUR DOCTOR OR APPARENTLY ME.  I waited for my Dr. to go over my blood work and he was really pleased! He asked me about one drug I was on and I told him I didn’t mind it and all was good. He asked about another and I told him I was not taking it anymore. He was ok with that. My heart was starting to go back to normal. Then he asked about the drug I was taking two in the morning, two in the evening and I told him I was only taking one. He was surprised and said, “So you are only taking two pills a day?” I replied with a nervous smile and said, “Yes.”  I thought for sure I was going to get a lecture but I never! My Doctor was awesome and said, “Well it is working for you so keep it up.”  I was happy to hear! My AIC’s are exactly where he wants them and my fasting sugars have improved dramatically! So in 2.5 months I went from taking 5 meds a day to taking 2 meds a day. Pretty cool, hey!?

It might take a while to get motivated but it will happen. Once you see results, you will want to push yourself a little harder. I can honestly say I am motivated now. I enjoy running and I enjoy how I feel. I had a massage tonight and like I said in my last post, I was not missing this. My body hurts! I decided I was going to run there but it is only down the road so I ran around my subdivision and then down Topsail Road, I ended up running 4km.  I could have driven there but I chose to run there. Shout out to Debbie Cheeseman at the Mount Pearl Wellness Centre, she is simply awesome!

I forgot to mention that I bought two more pairs of Saucony Hurricanes sneakers! They were on sale. Enough said right!? I couldn’t decide what colour I wanted so I had to get both pairs. It is not like I won’t wear them! 


That is all for now, see you on the trails on Thursday!

Monday, July 13, 2015

I would rather run outside

First of all I would like to congratulate all the runners who finished the Mews 8km road race yesterday morning, especially my awesome husband Marc Alivio who had a time of 31.12!! He bought new sneakers that made him run faster as well! J  You can check out the pictures I took on the Paradise Running Club Facebook page. 

I didn’t get to run this weekend so I decided to run on the treadmill tonight! Man oh man! What was I even thinking? Melissa McCarthy’s movie Identity Thief couldn’t even get me through my run and I really like her, she is pretty funny! Whoever invented the dreadmill must have hated running outside. I did about 25 minutes and turned off Netflix and headed up stairs. I just couldn’t run any longer. I would much rather run outside, mostly because no matter how far I run, I will need to get back to my car.

It is funny how I plan my week around my running now.  Before I used to think of what excuses I could come up with so I didn’t have to run; now I am thinking about how I can get a run in no matter the distance.  I didn’t run this weekend, so I ran tonight. Tomorrow, I have a massage and nothing is going to make me cancel that so I plan on running there. A few weeks back I had a physio appointment for my knee and I got off work, got ready and ran from my house to Paradise Physio. It was 4 km but hey, who cares? I got to run.


I don’t care how far I run, I just like to run. It is making me healthy.  If anyone is sitting home and saying they can’t run, just try it, you may surprise yourself.  There is a difference in not running because you don’t like it and not running because you think you can’t. 

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Change of plans

I had my blog post all planned in my head for today but that suddenly changed.  I got up, got ready, huffed and puffed for a few minutes and then drove to Weight Watcher in The Village Mall. I got on the scale and had to do a double take!  I was down 1.4 pounds! You see, I had my blog post planned to explain why I was up again! Now, I am actually stuck for words which don’t happen very often.

I have been saying the last few weeks that I am going to hit a plateau soon, so I was preparing for my weight to go up or even stay the same. I do know that I have to start tracking ALL my food again and stop picking at food throughout the day! I have 26.9 more pounds to lose and I am going to do it! I have decided I am going back to eating my chicken and rice and hot sauce lunches! That’s right, I eat hot sauce with my rice, which is the only way I can eat it! And it is delicious!


So my grand total for my weight loss is 19.1 pounds! 

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Look what I can do!

I had another great run on this first day of summer!  Me and my Saucony sneakers are really getting along, I think this relationship is going to work out! We make each other so happy!  I was running along the trail and I looked at my watch and my pace was 6:50! I was like, what they hell is happening, this is awesome. Of course I can’t keep that pace (yet) but you know what? I got to run at that pace for a bit and that is fantastic.  I was listening to the song Stronger by Kanye while running and I thought that song (well at least the title) was pretty fitting today.

As I was running, I realized I was slowing down a bit.  Normally when I start to slow down my pace is about 9:00 or I get this -:--  time (just kidding) but lately when I look at my watch it is 7:30-8:00! Do you know what this means?? This means I am getting better at running and I am running faster than I realize! Yay me!  Now listen, I don’t run for time, I don’t run to compete with anyone, I run because it is making me healthy (remember, I have diabetes) and I have two beautiful little girls who look up to me.

Today was truly a day that I really wanted to stay home and not venture out for a run. I woke up with a headache that lasted all day, I was tired (as per usually) and I knew I didn’t drink enough water (probably why my headache lasted all day).  But it was such a nice day I had to take advantage of it. So I thought to myself that I would just run around Neil’s Pond just to say I got out for a run. I ran the inside trail of the pond and when I got close to the outside trail I thought, “Maybe I will just run to the road (close to Coffee Matters) and back.”  Then I got to the road and thought, well I came this far I might as well do some hill repeats.  So I ran to the road where everyone was doing hill repeats and kinda giggled inside and thought “no way” and ran past them and carried on down the road to the end of the cul de sac. As you can tell by now, I really don’t know the names of the streets I ran today! Anyway, I ended up running 6.3k when all I set out to do this evening was run around Neil’s Pond.  


Reach for the moon; even if you miss you’ll land among the stars!

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

It's all about my sneakers!

“Running just as fast as you can…” Now that some of you have that song stuck in your head and others have the image of a certain someone body surfing at the Christmas party, that is how I felt tonight. I had a really good run and felt really good in my new Saucony’s.  I. LOVE. THEM. I was running that fast that I felt like I was running with Marc. Just kidding, I can’t run that fast!

I ran 5 km’s tonight (I am actually still sore from running Sunday) and it felt really good, my first 3ish km’s I was running at a 7:00-7:10 pace!  This is really fast for me and I am pretty sure it was because of the Hurricane’s I had on my feet. They were so light and comfy and felt like I was running on clouds. And that is saying something because I ran around Octagon Pond and we all know how much I hate running around that pond. I couldn’t maintain that pace for the whole 5 km’s though because, well, because I got tired.  Did I mention that I love my new sneakers?!  


I had the choice to stay home and not run tonight, Marc wasn’t here telling me I should go run and the kids were with my parents.  I totally could have crawled in the bed and none would be the wiser!  I did choose to run but I think I was more excited to try out my sneakers.  Hey, do you think I could get Saucony to sponsor me? I am totally what they are looking for, right? I truly enjoy them, I have other stability sneakers and these are by far my favorite! 

Well, that's all for now folks, time for me to go to sleep!




Sunday, July 5, 2015

It's all about me!

Is it just me or does anyone else hate rolling out of bed and doing…anything? No, I am not depressed, I am just tired! It seems like every time it is my turn to get up early and go for a run it either rains or the kids want to sleep in! Seriously!  It’s true! But when Marc runs, the kids are up with the birds or not long after! Anyway, this is not about Marc, it’s about me!

So I turned off my alarm (finally), got ready and headed out for my run. I left my house in Mount Pearl and ran to the Tely 10 finish line and then preceded to Coffee Matters down town, for a grand total of 12.12km’s, thank you very much! Kiley, who already had 16 km’s in, ran the last bit with me and for the love of god never again! I only had to run around the corner to touch the Tely sign and then on to coffee Matters and my pace was much faster than ever! Mind you, Kiley was practically walking! But never mind Kiley, this is about me! (But thanks for buying me my tea!)

I have to say, I had a really good run this morning, just me and my music. Yada yada yada I know, I know I shouldn't run with my Ipod but I have to listen to music, it keeps me going. And when you get that one song that helps you get up that hill, or past that intersection, or one more KM, it feels good. Listen, I have tried to run music free, but for someone who runs slower than an elephant stuck in peanut butter I need something to keep me going.  I really do!

Now, for the people saying, “why not run with someone?” Well, because I end up running then stopping, running again, complaining, dancing and probably skipping! Isn’t that right, Shelley and Gina?? I even had someone stop the other day while we were at the intersection to see if I needed any music! And when I run with people they don’t appreciate my singing! I’m pretty sure I can rap just as well as Eminem, if not better.

My playlist gets me through my runs; I enjoy the “quiet time” and consider this my “me time”.  Don’t get me wrong, I also enjoy after the runs where we all have a chat and drink coffee/tea!  I know that the PRC'ers are always there waiting at the finish line ready to cheer me on (when I am running and not taking pictures). Like I said before, the group runs get me out of the house to run. If it wasn’t for the group I would probably be on the couch watching yet another episode of The Big Bang Theory. I love that show by the way!

So on a side note, I bought a new pair of Saucony sneakers today and I am very excited to try them out!


Well, that is enough about me for now, stayed tuned for my next run when I get to try out the new sneaks! 



Saturday, July 4, 2015

Too pee or not too pee, that is the question!

I didn’t run today but I did have to weigh in at Weight Watchers.  The last couple of days I have been debating whether I would weigh in or not because I knew I would be up, I even stayed in bed later this morning because I didn’t want to go.  Well I tell ya, there is this thing called guilt and it kicked in as I was getting comfy in my bed again! So I packed up my Weight Watchers support crew (Ava and Marisa), promised them Tim Hortons and headed to The Village. 

I got on the scale and kinda had my eyes closed because I thought for sure I would be up 2 pounds! GUESS WHAT?!?! I was only up 0.5 pounds! 0.5! That’s it! Sure, if I had to pee one more time before I left the house I might not have gained at all!


So the moral of my story is, always make sure you pee before you leave the house! 

Friday, July 3, 2015

Hi. My name is Renee Alivio and I like to run.

So, I decided I am going to write July’s blog to make sure I get my training in for the Tely 10!  :)

For those who don’t know me, my name is Renee Alivio, also known as Marc’s wife. Isn’t that right, Dan Bobbett?  I tried running back in 2011 shortly after having our first daughter but my body didn’t think that was a good decision AT ALL and had to stop. Not long after that attempt to run I got pregnant again, so I was off the hook! Our second daughter was born August 2012. Many PRC’ers know that I didn’t have the most pleasant pregnancies so running was not an option.  In both pregnancies my pubic bone separated, I could hardly walk let alone run.


Fast forward to March 2013, Marc convinced me to sign up for the Learn to Run program.   You will love it he said!  I. HATED. IT!

I remember running with Sharon Ralph doing 3 and 1’s and couldn’t even run 3 minutes without feeling like I was dying! I was for sure dying!  I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk, I wanted to stop and go home! But I didn’t stop, I kept going and I am a LTR graduate. Class of Winter 2013, thank you very much! 

Once I got the hang of things and could actually breathe while running, I actually started to like running. Yes, yes Marc, you were right. 

In my 2013 running season I completed LTR with PRC, found out I was a Diabetic (which sucks by the way), ran the Mews 8 km (came dead last), ran the Tely 10 (signed up when I was doing 7 and 1’s) and ran the last leg of the Huffin Puffin relay.  

So with everything that I did in 2013, made me not want to run as much. I think I did too much too quickly and my 2014 running season suffered.  I didn’t run much and I started to put on weight again.  

However, I did take more pictures so that is ok. It was nice to see my pictures being used for so many profile pictures. 

In November 2014, I was feeling like I wanted to get back to running again. I was feeling good and was enjoying my run. Then, my feet didn't want to work for a split second and I tell you, that split second is pretty important if you don't want to fall on a busy street in front of a busy Tim Hortons. That is all it takes, which caused me to fall about 4km’s into my 8km run. I got up and kept running/hobbled to Tim Hortons on Water Street.  It.hurt! It hurt a lot and I ruined a really comfortable pair of running pants! I couldn’t even fix them because the whole knee was gone!  I ended up spraining my knee and I am still being treated for it but it is getting better.

Part of my Tely training I decided to join Weight Watchers, this has helped me so much with my training because I have the weight of a Back Street Boy gone. I joined the end of April and within the first month I had 10 pounds gone! Crazy hey! Such a good feeling and an even better feeling for getting 2 free months of Weight Watchers because of it!  With Weight Watchers and running, I now have 18.4 pounds gone! I am not done with the weight loss though, I have another 30 pounds to go.


Running has helped me with bringing my sugars and weight down.  I now have to run with my meter and Gatorade because I can’t tell if my sugars are low. I finished running just Neil’s Pond one day and my sugars went from 9 (after eating a sandwich) to 3.2, didn’t even know, it is just a habit to always check my sugars before and after a run.  I am open to suggestions for any other diabetics that run.


Now that you know a little about me, I will update you on my running over the month of July!