Who doesn’t love a photo card?

Do you send out Christmas cards to your family and friends?  I love getting photo cards in the mail (my aunt sends one every year) and I’ve sent a few myself out in the past.  In fact, this was our card last year, courtesy of Shutterfly.The quality of the card is amazing.  The picture is vivid and bright and the cardstock is thick and great quality.  As someone who spent a lot of time thinking about paper quality for wedding projects I know what I’m talking about.

With so many gorgeous wedding pictures to use, how about sending a gorgeous holiday card like this to our family and friends?Or this one, that shows our first look in frame by frame detail?Or how about this card that has a few more pictures to show what else the Husband and I have been up to this year besides getting married?Or maybe my mom and dad would love an awesome picture mug to drink their coffee out of every morning?  (Because seriously, how cute is my niece, aka their granddaughter?)So if you are looking for some fun and unique holiday cards, Christmas cards, gifts or even calendars go check out Shutterfly!

If you are a blogger and you’d like a chance at 25 holiday cards courtesy of Shutterfly, then go here to register by November 11th.

Boxing Day Dizzy Run

I am so thankful that I chose to travel on December 23rd. The weather in this neck of the woods has been insane. I was at work on Monday watching the number of delays and cancellations pile up for flights headed out of Calgary. Tuesday was by far a much smoother travel day. Both of my flights were delayed but it was essentially a pretty uneventful trip. On Wednesday I was scheduled to do my 35 km run. I had picked up a pair of Yak Trax in Calgary before I left on Tuesday and I was all set to use them. When I got up and went to grab breakfast this was the sight that greeted me:
It was gloomy, dismal, and the snow falling was insane. I quickly realized that a run was just not going to happen. The snow got worse in the morning so I wound up being pretty thankful that I had chosen to abandon my long run. It was supposed to be my last long run before the marathon. I'll just have to hope that my 20 miler back on December 7th will have to be good enough for the Disney marathon on the 11th. I'm not questioning whether I've gotten a good long run in, but this has wound up being on really long taper...

Anyhow, I finally got out for my first run of the week today. The snow had stopped falling and I was getting a certain amount of cabin fever. I had a 45 minute run on the schedule. I didn't head out until about 11 am and all I'd had for breakfast was some coffee cake and a muffin. Not entirely substantial I guess... Given all the snow I strapped on the Yak Trax.
They felt awesome to run in. I avoided some of the freshly shovelled sidewalks so that I could run on the packed snow instead. I didn't notice that it altered my gait at all. And there was some pretty significant snow to run in:As I reached a point in the road where I had to decide whether to go left or right I noticed that I felt really dizzy when I stopped. My heart rate wasn't even in zone 1, but wow I felt really...not...good. Must have been my choice of coffee cake for breakfast. I called it quits 30 minutes in. I'll give it another shot tomorrow, so here's hoping that things are a bit more successful!

Christmas Comes Early!

Yesterday I posted that I got a fabulous stocking stuff from nuun in the mail. I loved trying out their u hydration line. It has some funkier flavours, but still offers the same electrolyte benefits of nuun, but with some added vitamins. So far I've only tried out the lemon chai flavour, but I really liked it! It was refreshing, and the herbal chai flavour helped to settle my stomach after downing my Gu. I can't wait to try the tangerine ginger and goji berry green tea flavours.

This morning I got an e-mail from Endurance Sports Bar to let me know that I won their Challenge #3! I successfully answered the question - what shoe did the winner of this year's Ironman World Championship wear? And yup, Chrissie Wellington wears Brooks! I won a $25 gift certificate to my choice of three online retailers, and I jumped at the opportunity to get a gift certificate to SwimOutlet.com. Hello sushi suit! I can't wait to pick this up from my friend Greg in Orlando in January. Thanks ESB!!


And finally, as a little present to me I decided to go for a new iPod. I'm a little behind the times technology-wise... While the new nano looks like one very cool device I jumped at the chance to get a 3rd generation nano at a steal of a price from Apple. I have a shuffle which works great for the gym or spinning at home, but I wanted this one for work so that I could have a bigger library of tunes to listen to over the day.

Well folks, keep your fingers crossed for me. I'm scheduled to be heading to Kelowna tomorrow afternoon. I'm flying via Vancouver because I really wanted to be there before the 24th, but price-wise it meant taking a non-direct flight. Vancouver has been pummeled with winter storms and I watched the cancelled flights between Calgary and Vancouver pile up today. I'm hoping that tomorrow things are a bit smoother since *apparently* the snow is supposed to stop. I'm just hoping I make it out tomorrow afternoon...

A Mental Shift

Yesterday was Victoria Day - a holiday Monday! And for the first time that weekend I slept in and it was glorious. I was supposed to go out for a ride but just as I was strapping on my shoes I got a call that the weather downtown looked pretty suspicious so the ride was cancelled. I have to say I was really disappointed at not being able to ride. The weather was still fine in my neighborhood so I ran upstairs, swapped the cycling shorts out for running shorts and went for my 3 miler. The run was amazing. I'm starting to see pace improvements which makes me very happy. In fact, I even powered up some hills faster than I was going on the flats. Hurrah! Afterwards the weather was still looking okay, but I was hungry....so the opportunity to spend some quality time on a patio won out. Driving to the restaurant I looked longingly at all those happy cyclists on the road. I was envious...

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This morning I got up way early to get a run in before heading to work. I was planning on driving in because I had to haul clothes and breakfast in with me, and somehow I wasn't sure I wanted to carry all of that in a backpack. I had 5 miles planned but decided to cut it short because:

1. No matter how early I get up, I still waste time getting out the door, so I got going about 15 minutes later than I planned.
2. I have a feeling there will be some bonus mileage at boot camp tonight that may get me closer to 5 miles. And if I'm short I'll tack some extra mileage on when I run tomorrow.
3. The temperature felt so nice while I was running. And today is supposed to be the one day this week that it doesn't rain... So I changed my mind and decided I needed to get to the Park & Ride at Edworthy and bike the rest of the way in.

I'm finding that my attitude towards the bike is shifting. I've always enjoyed riding (although I didn't ride for years...), but now I want more. I'm starting to feel the same way about biking that I do about running - I want to do it, and I have to do it. I bought a pair of *ahem* kind of expensive Pearl Izumi shorts because they have the most amazing padding in them and well, let's be honest, I look good in them! If I weren't such a clutz getting on and off my bike I'd probably be looking at clips and shoes in earnest. And aside from all that, I love that I'm feeling healthy and athletic right now. It's definitely a good feeling.

Running in Margaret River and heading home

Well, finally home...but not for long. On January 1 we loaded up the rental vehicle with all of our luggage and drove south to Margaret River - one of the best wine producing regions in Western Australia. There was a great trail run a short walk from our hotel - the Ten Mile Brook Cycle-Walk trail. I ventured out and ran twice - 6.3 miles one day, 3.1 miles the next. The trail is 15 km round trip, and while I would have loved to run the entire thing (apparently there is a dam and some other great scenery at the end) there were some time constraints so that never happened. There were maps of the trail posted a few times along the way, and the trail was pretty well marked with options to veer off on other paths. There is even a summer and winter option for the trail in case of high waters.

It looked as though a forest fire had been through here at some point, whether it was intentional burning or not I wasn't sure. It made for some interesting looking trees along the way. I also spotted (and heard) a few kookaburras and parrots.

They were definitely pretty runs, and I was really happy that they both felt remarkably good. No pain at all, which made me happy given my somewhat disastrous outings in Perth. We were in Margaret River for a couple of days and had some amazing wine. If you ever spot bottles from Evans & Tate, Madfish, Leeuwin, Voyager, Vasse Felix....I highly recommend trying them. They have some good stuff and export to the US and Canada. We drove back to Perth on Friday, then flew out at 8:30 am on Saturday to Singapore. I got to hang around the Singapore airport for a few hours and this is probably one of the best airports to have a layover in. They have tons of computers available with free internet access, and several of these massaging boot things called the iSqueeze. I boarded my flight for LAX at 4:15 pm on Saturday, flew for about 14 hours before landing at 2:30 pm...still on Saturday. I cleared immigration, picked up my luggage then dropped it off again with TSA, then caught my next flight out to Vancouver. I cleared immigration there, but discovered that one of my bags (sadly the one with the wine in it) somehow didn't make it to Vancouver. After filing a lost baggage report I ran across the airport to Air Canada to find out if there was any way of getting back to Calgary before my 10 am flight on Sunday. Luckily (for me anyway) the last flight out of the night was delayed an hour so I was able to get a seat on standby and was in Calgary at 2 am on Sunday. Talk about a long day... Luckily the missing suitcase made it in by Sunday afternoon (with wine intact, phew). Now I'm home for a few days before leaving for Orlando to run the Goofy Challenge this weekend. This weekend.......yikes!

One last run for 2007

It is hard to believe 2007 is almost over. It is 6:13 pm on December 31st here. I made it out for one final run before the end of the year this morning. 9.33 miles around the Swan River near downtown Perth. I started out at about 7:30 am and the sun was already up in the cloudless sky, but a good breeze helped to cool things off. The first 30 minutes of this run was awful....again... My shins were bothering me quite a bit. Thankfully after that 30 minute period things started to improve and my running felt natural again. Phew! I'm sure the copious amounts of fish and chips and wine that I've been consuming have been a part of why these runs feel so terrible to begin with. The pathway around the river was quite busy, but mostly with cyclists as opposed to runners. I saw some amazing birds out there - pelicans, brightly colored parrots, lots of black swans... It was a beautiful run. I took a ton of pictures, but here are a few of some of the scenery.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year, and all the best in 2008. Cheers everyone!

No running to report...

...After my terribly bad run the other day I decided to head out for a swim yesterday instead. It was still reasonably early (about 7ish) and it was still somewhat cool out so I had the pool to myself. It felt really good. We've been touring around the wineries in Swan Valley for the last few days and eating some pretty fabulous food. I tried kangaroo (which didn't taste too different from any other game meat), Wagyu beef, and have eaten copious amounts of fish and chips. After a late night catching up with some family friends (and continuing along that suspicious hydration plan) I opted to take today as a rest day. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get a run in, either around Fremantle or maybe down in Perth. It is hard to believe that tomorrow is the final day of 2007....

That would be the kangaroo...

A stonker in Fremantle

Greetings from sweltering Perth, AU. I probably shouldn't mention this, but it was 44 deg C (111 deg F) when we arrived on the 26th. It was the hottest Boxing Day on record in Perth. Since then it has cooled down to 32 deg C (90 deg F), but for a girl who is used to hovering around the freezing mark at this point in time this is quite the change.

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We spent the 27th on a wine cruise along the Swan River which was a pretty nice relaxing way to spend the day. It probably doesn't make for the best hydration plan....but oh well. I got up around 6 am today (the 28th) so that I could head out for a run near where we are staying in Fremantle (a town about 30 minutes outside of downtown Perth). As soon as I started I had a feeling it wasn't going to be a great run...things were hurting, specifically my knees all the way down to my ankles. It almost felt like it was time to retire my shoes except these runners only have about 100 miles on them so that is way too early. Well, while the run didn't feel great it certainly was pretty (and luckily it wasn't too hot yet either). 3.1 miles done.

I saw this kookaburra just at the end of the run, making his signature noise. Very cool!

Singapore and Starbucks

The morning of December 24th I headed out along Orchard Road for a run. I started at the big Starbucks cup. As I ran along I started to notice just how many Starbucks coffee shops along the way I was seeing, so I decided to photo them and count them....I hit Tanglin Mall and turned around here.
Back up Orchard Road - Starbucks #3.
While this isn't a Starbucks I didn't realize that there was still a Hard Rock Cafe in this town.
Just in case you aren't sure how this whole taxi stand queue thing works....
Interesting recycle bins, eh?
Starbucks #4.
Turnaround point #2 along Orchard Road.
Starbucks #5.
Starbucks #6.
Starbucks #7.
Starbucks #8.
Starbucks #9.
Total distance for the run - just over 4 miles - so 9 Starbucks in a 2 mile stretch along Orchard Road. These folks must really need their caffeine! I squeezed in another 4 miler today as well. Wow....the humidity here is something else so that makes these runs feel a bit tougher. Tomorrow we leave for Perth where it is crazy hot so we'll see how the running goes there. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Gone, but not for long

Well folks, I am officially on vacation. I fly to LA tonight, then hop a plane to Singapore Friday night. I'll be there for Christmas, then on Boxing Day I am heading south to Perth, AU. I'm hoping to get some great runs in, and hopefully I'll be able to check in here too. Have a great holiday everyone!

Friday's run amongst the Christmas lights redux

Friday was part one of my longest mileage weekend ever - 10 miles. I finished up work and decided to run near downtown. I picked out a route that stayed mostly to busy areas since it was going to be getting dark while I was out there. I hit the Bow River pathway, crossed over to the north side of the river, and ran up the hill at the Calgary Curling Club to McHugh Bluff. I caught this amazing view of downtown at the top of the bluff. I decided to run along Crescent Road - a swanky neighborhood with houses that all have this terrific view to downtown and the mountains. Apparently this is a good area for Christmas lights so I was looking forward to the back part of my run when it would be dark.

I passed this monster house here - you should see it on Google Earth....room for five cars in the garage. I think the fellow that lives here used to complain about the Bikini Boot Camp classes that would be held at the park right next door. Maybe because none of us were working out in bikinis?

I decided to run from Crescent Road up to Confederation Park - the site of the Lions Festival of Lights. I couldn't find anything on the internet about what time the lights actually turned on at, but I assumed the lights would be on when it got dark. Imagine my disappointment when I run past the park and see the sign that the lights are on daily from 7 pm to midnight (I think). These were the only lights I did see on....

Confederation Park was my turnaround point so it was time to head back towards downtown. The run was going by pretty quickly and it was feeling pretty easy...

There were some nice lights on around Crescent Road. I almost think I enjoyed just looking at the houses more, but it was really pretty out there.

After the 10 miles were done it was time to grab some food, head home and shower, then head off to a Christmas party. 20 miles coming up on Saturday morning...