Hello July...bye bye June!

Monthly Stats:


Running: 155km
Cycling: 129km
Bootcamp: 6hours


Not too shabby...I wish I had started to track my total KM's in December when I started the training for the half...lesson learned...

HAPPY CANADA DAY tomorrow!!!!



With glowing hearts....I am so fortunate to live in such an amazing and beautiful country...

Nuun Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to themanzoo!! They are on their way. Thank you so much to everyone for entering and Nuun for being so generous. Stand by for a CEP compression sock full review and giveaway.

First giveaway was a success...I appreciate everyone taking the time to leave comments and to become a "follower" of the blog.

Happy Running...!

It is Sticky out there...

The last week has been extra humid in Ontario...I thought we were going to have some thunderstorms yesterday morning and was wishing it just so that it could potentially break this humidity...we got some rain in the afternoon but it did not do much...It is currently 26 degrees out there but it feels like 35....I am thinking about going for a bike ride this evening but we will see..I might need to have a rest day...

Last week's Recap

Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: 6.8km Tempo
Wednesday: 10km Tempo
Thursday: Hour and a half bootcamp
Friday: 8km
Saturday: Rest Day (IT band has been acting up)
Sunday: Long Slow 13.25km

38km this week...not too shabby...I need to be getting on the bike a bit more with the MS bike ride coming up!

So far so good...trying to listen to my body and keep on top of all the IT band feelings...lots of stretching and strengthening last night as well as some icing...tonight I plan to roll and ice as well...

This week will be a similar week however Sunday I increase my distance to 16km! I am actually starting to look forward to these longer distances...crazy I know!

Don't forget about my Nuun giveaway....last day to enter...

Can you believe that by the end of this week we will be LESS than 100 Days! Crazy...somehow Chicago seemed so far away in February when I signed up...now it is so close yet there is so much training to happen!

Happy Running!

Nuun Review and My First GIVEAWAY!!!

Now let me tell you...this is not a big giveaway but it one that I Love (I almost feel like Oprah)...and really who doesn't love FREE stuff!

I have struggled for quite some time with finding a balance on my runs with gastro issues...Nuun active hydration has been the answer for me...after reading some blogs I began to see a lot of people were using the nuun with great results...I picked up a Try-Berry pack and have been hooked since...I have used it for tempo runs, mid-distance and longer distance runs...all with success! I like that it is sugar free...I love that it is easy to use...before if I ran out of sport drink I used to just be able to fill up with water from the city park fountains...now I can do that but add a Nuun tablet which is so easy to carry...I have noticed that I have more energy on runs, no cramps and actually look forward to my walk breaks so that I can hydrate!


What is Nuun?

It is an amazing tablet that you pop into your water and turns it into a complex electrolyte enhanced drink that is sugar free. It recharges your salts, it's refreshing, tasty (very light) and also more efficiently absorbed than water or other sports drinks. What makes the tablets so great is that they are easy to carry with you when you run they have a ton of flavours(lemon + lime, Tri-Berry, Banananuun, Kona-Kola, Citrus Fruits, and Orange Ginger).If you want to learn more go here: Nuun

It can be difficult to find in Canada right now but MEC carries Nuun as well if you are from London you can go to Novacs


Currently my two favourite flavours of Nuun are Lemon+ Lime and Tri-Berry...Sooo The lovely folks from Nuun have provided a tube of each to give to one lucky winner...What you have to do to enter...

1. Become a Follower of "The Road to Chicago" Leave me a comment to let me know or leave me one letting me know you already follow!...
2. Check out Nuun and leave me a comment about what flavour or other product you might like...
3. Bonus entry if you post the giveaway on your own blog!

Contest closes on Monday June 28, 2010 at midnight! Good luck!

Niagara on the Lake Bike Trip

Hi All,

We had a fabulous day on the trails...It was almost 30km each way...we stopped to take pictures, have snacks, lunch and enjoy certain look outs....I would encourage everyone to try the trail system in Niagara...so easy and it can take you quite far!


Hubby getting the bikes ready


The Hubby


Just before we set off on our little trip


Map of the Trail System


Such a beautiful day...The trail was filled with these lookout points


Almost there


The American Side of the Falls


Downtown Niagara Falls


The Amazing Horseshoe Falls...I have seen them tons of times...and I LOVE them...


There were a ton of tourists so hard to get pictures...the mist was so refreshing!


The Super cool wine barrel bike rack


Fort George


The Queen's Landing Hotel where we got married almost 7 months ago...It is so hard to believe that in my MOH's speech she said that she wanted to run Chicago and here we are in the midst of training...

So lucky to live in Ontario where in only a few hours we were able to experience this! Pure awesomeness!

Week in Review

Lots and Lots to discuss...

Monday: Day of Rest
Tuesday: 6km Tempo Run
Wednesday: 10km Tempo Run
Thursday: 10km Bike Ride and an Hour and a half Bootcamp
Friday: 6km Steady Run
Saturday: 13km Long Slow Run
Sunday: 57km Bike Ride


Running Total: 35.75km

Was a good week...I am REALLY looking forward to a rest day tomorrow...I plan on doing a lot of stretching and rolling of the IT band....As I write this I am noticing it is a little sore...

Niagara on the Lake: The Hubby surprised me with a trip to one of our favourite spots for a SUPER long bike ride...I am feeling more confident about the MS bike race now...but really tired...I will post a FULL RECAP with LOTS of pictures this week...As well I am hoping to get a couple more runs in with my CEP compression socks and do a full review of their product...

It will be a great week....

Please check out fellow a Fellow Chicago Blogger Lauren...She is super nice and has a great list of other bloggers who are running Chicago...


I am off to bed...legs...so tired....

Tough Week....but lots of lessons learned!

Hi all,



Ugh...ever have one of those weeks...I just don't feel like doing much of ANYTHING! I am feeling sluggish...so I am trying to combat that by:

1. Drinking Lots of Water
2. Scheduled healthy snacks throughout the day...healthy lunch that I have prepared at home..
3. Running whether I like it or not and accept that some weeks are going to be tough...
4. Do not focus on time or pace during these times...but focus on the mental part..."You can Do it!"


You know what? Tonight it was *starting* to work...I did not want to do the 10km and so far I have had a few under one hour...tonight I told myself that it didn't matter...just getting out there and running was the most important...I took it slow and steady and focused on my breathing and refrained from any negative self talk (the old running Lish could do LOTS of that...and would take breaks etc...) and it worked!!! I finished in 59:22 and was soooo happy that I did it...it ended up being somewhat comfortable by the end :)

This is something that I need to take with me on race days that maybe don't go as planned....slow down...relax...don't worry about time...in the long run it doesn't matter....what matter is that I started and I didn't quit...


Looking forward to a good sleep tonight....

Happy Wednesday!

Hot Diggity Dog!

Well apparently the hubby and I did just that tonight! Following an amazing day in Toronto with some family and friends we returned to do a 21km bike ride....Sweet....then on the way home we stopped by a new burger joint and had some dinner....This weekend was pretty much a write off food wise...I totally over indulged...and have been lately...This week I am going to start making some healthier choices...man with working out so much I am always pretty much hungry!

None the less...it is nights like these that I love...a GREAT ride with the hubby...a fun dinner and now we are off to relax our muscles in the hot tub....life is pretty great...





Foot Long! Who ordered the Foot Long???

PS. I ordered the "CHICAGO DOG" If it is related to Chicago then it MUST be good...right??

Wordless Wednesday

Love when my Runner's World comes in the mail...happy reading tonight!

The Bike Rack

I am super lucky and have the best Hubby in the world....one of his many talents includes bike maintenance and putting stuff together. He added a few new things to my bike...a mirror, bar ends and assembled the bike rack. Most importantly he taught me how to use it! So tonight I did just that for the first time all by myself (finally a break in the rain)...he was there of course just to make sure I did it right and give it a check over.

So nice to have such a supportive partner!

Here is the new bike rack! Voila!




I drove on over to my friend Bente's house and we did a 32km bike ride this evening...lots of hills, some good wind and most importantly I increased the KM's. My longest bike ride to date....It was a great time and I cannot wait to do it again!

Happy Cross-Training

Weekly Recap

Hi Folks,

This was a good week....today marks the "official" start to Chicago training...however I have been running with the Running Room Group.


Total KM's: 32 and One 90minute bootcamp...


All in all it was a good week....Next week looks very similar...hoping the rain can hold off...two weeks of rain is starting to get to me...I haven't been able to get out on the bike in a while!


Happy Running :)

Three Things Thursday....Bootcamp Edition

Hi All,


Some of us running girls have started a Bootcamp for 8 weeks on Thursday nights....


1. Apparently there are MANY muscles that I have not used in years....I am REALLY sore...

2. I actually like "Skipping" with a rope!

3. I am now starting to see the importance of X-Training


Night...Happy Training :)

Happy National Running Day

What are you planning on running today? I have a 10km in store for after work, however, I am a little worried as they are calling for Thunderstorms....we will see!

Bye Bye May...Hello June

Just wanted to report on my stats for May

123.km for Run
94.6km for Bike


Not too shabby....Pretty happy with that...It will be interesting when I begin to compare it to other months...This is the first time that I have started to track...

I am using two methods...

1. Runner's Diary (I got it in my Runner's World Magazine...Thought it might be helpful...as much as I love technology there is just something about writing it down on paper).









2. Daily Mile...I like that it does all the math for me!



I am off to my Marathon clinic at Running Room....a tempo 6km is in order...



Happy Running!