We're in Ontario now. Dd's wedding was Saturday and it was absolutely perfect! I ran to her cabin and then back to ours three days before the wedding. It's 13km each way, but I walked the last km so got in a 25km run. The last 3km were tough, but I was really happy to have finished. I like having runs were I have a goal of where to get to and then I have no choice but to get home. I can't remember when I last posted here - we've been so busy - but I have been managing to get in one long run each week and at least a couple of shorter runs. My sister and I ran 12km together yesterday morning. I haven't had a chance to workout at all - or rather, I'm horrible at working out if there is anything preventing me from it. I tried one morning, but there was nowhere to hang my TRX and then I half-heartedly did some push-ups and some planking and then I gave up.

Just a quick hello here. I’m in a campground at L’Anse aux Meadows (ancient Viking settlement in Newfoundland) and have a bit of WiFi and about two minutes before we’re ready to leave again. I’m in the road for all of July. I plan to get all my runs in and to get at least one strength training session done each week. I don’t have much with me - just my TRX and a mat, but I can do push ups and maybe some pull-ups if there’s any playground equipment. I had an amazing run at Gros Morne National Park. Looking forward to running in Nova Scotia tomorrow. Ok - it’s tomorrow. My post didn’t load in time to post it yesterday. I’m in Nova Scotia now but drove all day and it’s super hot. No running today. Maybe super early tomorrow. Am going to find something cold to drink.

@Monica_in_Switzerland - You know, I wasn't thinking optimal performance. I guess because I already know I'm a slow and steady runner I have never thought about things like fuelling in order to optimize my speed ? @soror - 20 push-ups is a huge accomplishment! Someday... I can't believe how long it took for me to work my way slowly down to the point where I was able to do push-ups on the floor. I'm not at 20 yet, but I'm making progress. @wintermom - I hear you're in for some really hot weather? Is that why you're playing at night or is it just a convenient time? I am losing my mind right now. i probably shouldn't be on the computer, but I wanted to just sit and have a coffee for five minutes. We're just getting the final bits out of the house and we'll be staying at a campground tonight. My group run was cancelled on Tuesday, the email I got was, "Given that it is blowing a gale, raining sideways and freezing out, prime weather to get a chill and cold, the run THIS MORNING, is cancelled." It was horrible out. 4 degrees (39F). The cool part about this week was the gym on Wednesday. It was my last session which was kind of sad, but I had been working towards a benching goal. I did 90lbs for three sets of 5 reps and then I reminded my trainer that I had wanted to do 100 with him before I left. So, he had me do one rep at 95 and that was fine, but when he added the rest of the weight I couldn't get it up. I took a break, went back to it feeling very determined - and still couldn't get it up. So my trainer said to take five minutes and really visualize it. I did that, went back to the bar and it went up no problem. I couldn't believe the difference! I left the gym feeling both physically and mentally stronger ? This morning I didn't set my alarm but told myself I'd get up and run if I was awake - I was up until midnight last night doing house stuff but I still ended up waking up at 5:30 this morning so I went for my last group run. My legs were pretty tired from the gym the day before and we were doing hills so it was a challenge, but I'm so glad I went. I had planned to run 20km tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I want to do that now. I may revise my training plan a bit. Anyone have any thoughts on recovery? I find it hard to balance strength training and running. I did a bunch of deadlifts and rear leg elevated split squats with 30lbs a hand on Wednesday so it was no wonder my legs weren't wanting to run today. It will be interesting to see if my running gets easier over our 6 week trip as I won't be doing any strength training.

I've never had anyone other than my GP do a pap smear. He has posters in his waiting room that talk about the importance of regular pap smears, so I guess he probably does a lot of them.

With keto and fasting, you may not need to fuel at all. I ran my half in February fasted and I felt amazing. I started out a bit conservative - it takes me about 6km to really warm up and I was worried about going out too fast and then not finishing strong. By the last third of the race I was passing all kinds of people and feeling like I could have run forever.

That's what I'm worried about. I have a half-marathon coming up in October and I'd like to finish it at the same time or better than I did when I ran a half last February. I'll get up early to try and get my runs in before it gets too warm out. I may have to think about brining water, too.

Absolutely! I am so looking forward to that. I'm a little concerned for the short-term acclimation this summer. Normally, I guess people would have a spring season to slowly go from winter conditions to summer conditions. There hasn't been a huge temperature difference here so I just wondering how my body will react to a fairly drastic difference in temps. I've only had one run here so far where I was comfortable in a tank top and shorts. And one where I was comfortable in a t-shirt. Otherwise, it's been cold enough that I've needed long sleeves and pants and often gloves. Today it was 6C, but there was a northern wind blowing and my weather app said it felt like 2C, which was pretty accurate. I just looked at Ottawa and it looks like this week it's ranging from 26 to 35! That's a big difference from what I'm used to running in! I just don't want to have to alter my training plan too much ?

Went out for what was supposed to be a 45 minute run this morning, but I somehow paused the Runkeeper app so I had no idea how long I'd gone or for how long. I was running a new route, too, so really didn't know how long it was. I ended up running 10km by the time I stopped - thankful for my Health app on my phone - at least it was keeping track! It was cool out again today so I was in a long sleeved shirt and long pants. People were out walking in winter hats and coats. I think it's going to be tough for me to go from this to running in much hotter weather.

I try to eat potassium rich foods. Beachgal posted a great list. I eat a lot of avocado. When I'm fasting, I dissolve 1/4 tsp of NoSalt in a shot of pickle juice twice a day. 1/4 tsp of Nosalt has 650mg of potassium. You could try adding Nosalt to your food. It's a safe way of getting in extra potassium. I don't think I have any issues getting enough calcium, but I think it would be interesting to know how much I'm actually getting. I eat a lot of green veggies like broccoli and cabbage. I eat some nuts, but not a ton. I eat a lot of cheese and also some heavy cream. When I eat canned salmon, it's the kind with the bones - wow - I just checked and it looks like a can of salmon is good for 97% of your daily calcium needs and also has 1480mg of potassium!

I knew I'd get good advice here.

Good idea! I was wondering what, if anything to say if he mentions it in person. That's perfect. I did send an email saying I'd received an email from him by mistake and he sent one back saying he'd accidentally pocket-emailed. So, hopefully he doesn't say anything when I see him in person, but at least I know what to say if he does!

Every time you talk about tennis it makes me with I had learned. Maybe I'll sign up for some tennis lessons when we move.

So just a quick, "I think you sent this to me by mistake." And then I can pretend it never happened?

We have a contractor building a fence and doing some tile work at our new house. I sent him an e-transfer the other day - I've never actually met the guy as dh is at the new house and I'm still at the old house. Anyway, today I get a reply to my e-transfer email that was clearly written for the contractor's wife. It's very personal and it seems as though they are going through some stuff. I'm guessing he'll figure out that he sent that to me and not to his wife. So, do I reply to the email and say that he sent it to the wrong person? Do I ignore it and hope he doesn't realize what happened? What do I do when I meet the guy in person? Awkward...

I want to have breakfast at your house! Today was my long run with my running group. 12.3km. It's funny how workouts can impact runs. Last week, I ran just over 18km and felt fantastic. Today my legs felt like cement - but, yesterday afternoon I was in the gym doing a bunch of leg stuff so I guess that's why. I had a heck of a time keeping up with the group and was so done by the time we reached the end.

I'm curious about the not growing until 17 or so. My 18 year old has always been small. He's still not taller than I am - I'm 5'6" and my dh is about 5'8" - so we're not terribly tall people, either, but I did think ds had a shot at being taller than me. When did your late grower stop growing? And about how much did he grow in his last growth spurt?

My dh wants me to workout with him and try without a trainer for a while. Dh was very into weight lifting while in university and would like to get back into it. So I'll give it a shot with dh and see how that goes, but I really do need to figure out a program. I just know nothing at all. I'll read the book and hopefully learn a lot and then figure out if I want to try designing my own program according to that book or whether I want something more explicitly laid out for me. I'd love to understand the rationale behind how to progress at the gym.

Well, that just gave me another reason to stick to the half-marathon distance. @soror That is weird with all the kids falling ill like that. I hope you can avoid it and that you enjoy your forced day at home. I completely forgot to go for my 6am group run yesterday morning! The movers had come the day before and didn't leave until 9pm. I think I was pretty frazzled, so I set my alarm for 7 so I could get the kids ready for exams and I went to sleep. I didn't even think about the run until about 7:30am. Luckily, my trainer has a group in the evening as well, so I just went with the evening group. I left early and did 20 minutes on my own before I met up with the group. We were doing stairs, so had a 15 minute run to the stairs and then ran back once we were done. I'm at the gym today. Only three more scheduled gym sessions before I leave. I am so sad to be leaving my trainer. Has anyone heard of this book? Practical Programming for Strength Training It was recommended by someone I follow online who really seems to know his stuff. I bought the Kindle version and plan to read it on my trip.

My boys don't eat very much, comparatively. My 18 year old got home from studying at a friend's house yesterday and said he was starving. We're in the middle of a move, so meals are weird right now. Anyway, I warmed up some chicken and broccoli soup and made two turkey and cheese sandwiches on small buns (smaller than a hamburger bun) and served it with potato wedges from the night before (maybe 1/2 a potato worth?). He looked at all the food and said it was way too much. He ended up just taking one sandwich and the potatoes. I fed the soup and another sandwich to his 16 year old for dinner. Ds (18) has said I try to feed him like he's six feet tall. He is on the smaller side - about 5'5" probably, maybe 5'6". He's never been a big eater. My 16 year old is taller (maybe 5'8"?) and eats more than his brother, but his meal sizes are still regular portions. If we have burgers he'll have one burger and salad, not two burgers. He often has an extra meal - either after school or later at night, usually leftovers from dinner or soup or something like that. My 12 year old has always eaten like a bird. He's on the tall side of average for his age and he eats very small portions. At breakfast I can usually get him to eat one piece of toast with peanut butter and a piece of fruit or a very small serving of yogurt. By dinner he just isn't hungry and I'm seriously lucky if I can get him to take five bites. But, they aren't super active, either. They're indoor boys ? One of them walks a lot. Another likes to ride his bike around and takes the dog for walks. The older two were on the ultimate frisbee team at school this year. That's about the extent of their athleticism. Maybe if they were more active they'd eat more? I guess I'll just be thankful for the reasonable grocery bill.

@Monica_in_Switzerland I think I'm going to have a rough transition into reality when we leave here in two weeks and I have to run in the heat. It's been cool here - so I've been running in tights, long sleeved shirts, and, often, a light jacket. @Mamaraby - I feel like I need to read a bunch of running books now. I read a bit about the Maffetone method, but my heart rate runs high - I can run forever at about 159, which is almost 90% max heart rate using the standard 220 calculations and is *way* above the MAF recommendation of 140. Maybe I *really* need the MAF method ? Thanks for explaining your training. I wish I knew enough to figure things out on my own. For the last year I've been part of a running group and our trainer sends out weekly plans and then we run three times a week together (one with a focus on speed, one on hills, and one long run).

When I was growing up we moved a fair bit - about every two years. My mom was married to my step-dad for some of these moves and he wouldn't sleep until the last picture was put up on the wall. Everything had to be unpacked and put away before he would stop. I actually don't remember this vividly - I remember being unpacked right away, but I don't think I pulled any all-nighers myself ? My mom still talks about it - I think it was a bit traumatizing for her. Dh is somewhat similar in that he likes to get the job done right away. He's not the kind of guy who can take six months to do a home reno. Same with unpacking - basically everyone should be pitching in until the job is done. I think it took us a few days to unpack last time we moved. I have movers taking away all of my stuff right now - we'll be in our new house by August 12 and will hopefully get unpacked and settled quickly. I think the whole feeling like you live there thing is different depending on the house. With our current house, we completely renovated it before moving in and there were so many aspects of it that were just right for us that we felt like it was home the minute we moved in. Feeling at home in the neighbourhood or city is different. It usually takes me a lot longer.

Nothing like some new clothes to spur on a workout!

Wow - marathon training! I'd love to hear more about your training plan. I can't say I really enjoy the hills or speed training - though I do like stair workouts - long runs are definitely my favourite. I ran 18km on the weekend and it was awesome. Gym last night was really good. Nothing like a hard workout after a stressful day. I don't normally go to the gym in the evening, but between kid exams and the packers being at the house, I had to schedule my gym time later. Walking lunges with 30lb dumbbells in each hand just about killed me. Also did dumbbell bench press, shoulder press with 25lb dumbbells, TRX rows, chin-ups with my foot in the elastic band thing, and that hamstring exercise where I'm in a bridge with my heels on the big weight and I have to push it away and bring it back. It's hard to believe I spent an entire hour doing just six exercises... Movers come to take everything away today. And I've got a rest day scheduled. I'll probably take the dog out for a walk this evening once everything is done.

I've seen this, too. Maybe not to the same extent, but there certainly seems to be a lot of junk served in church - especially in children's ministry. I think maybe it goes along with the "make church fun" thing. Like, if kids are eating candy or even animal crackers and juice, that they'll like church and want to keep going. I don't think anyone's thinking deeply about it, but I think we should be thinking about it. Is anyone asking, how can we honour God with our food choices? Is our body a temple, and, if so, what are we allowing to enter into it? Are our snacks going to allow us to concentrate on what we're learning or are they going to distract us and cause a big roller coaster of blood sugar levels?