Wordless Wednesday - Spring in Alberta

That snow pile is about 8 foot tall.  Hopefully it all melts before next winter.

Lots of posts to come, been working on them just no time to edit :)

Rescued by a Wet Nose in the Night

I have two dogs, Basil and Kasper (West Highland Terriers) who are the closest thing I have to children.  I adore them both and they are my best little buddies (don't worry Ryan, you are my best big buddy).  Basil is nearly six and Kasper is nearly five and they both live the life let me tell you.  They go to doggie daycare regularly, have sleepovers at their grandparents, get walks galore, eat like kings and want for nothing.  They are very well behaved, for the most part, and are my constant companions.  When at home they pretty much follow me everywhere I go.  I have to close the bathroom door when I shower to stop Kasper from hopping in (he actually did do that once).  I live alone and always thought I would be the type of person who would never let a dog sleep with me.  I grew up a country girl and our dogs slept outside.  Well those little men weazelled their way into my heart and yes I let them sleep with me.  Even when Ryan stays over they cuddle up between us.  Bad habit but tough to break now.  Plus I secretly like having them cuddle up to me when I am alone.

Anyway, last night I was very glad that I let them sleep with me.  I had been to the gym after work and did 30 minutes of weights followed by an intense coached 70 minute spin.  The kind of workout where I felt half dead when I was done.  I ate a good meal when I got home at 8:30pm and was conservative on my meal bolus.  At 10:50pm I was ready to turn out the lights and my blood sugar was resting at a slightly high 10.0.  This is pretty typical for me after a hard workout and I was comfortable going to sleep as I only had .55 units of insulin on board.  

I was dead to the world when I felt a little wet nose pushing on my cheek.  In a total haze I pushed the nose away and fell back asleep.  Seconds later the nose was back and this time was pecking at my face.  It was enough to raise me out of my sleep.  I awoke to Kasper staring at me and I was drenched in sweat.  As I always do when I am low, I insisted on checking my sugars (why do we do this??  its makes no sense whatsoever).  After fumbling with my meter I had a 2.2 staring back at me.  Rolled over and had a juice box in me within seconds.  As I lay there shivering and shaking waiting for the sugar to hit my system Kasper sat next to my head with his paw on my chest.  Once I felt like I was coming back I stumbled down to the kitchen and ate a banana to get me through the night.  Back to bed and felt safe to sleep again.  Kasper cuddled right back up to me unaware of how grateful I was for his actions.  Not sure how he knew something was wrong, maybe my body temperature or my sweating.  Does not matter now, the thing is he knew something was wrong and persisted to wake me.  I have heard many stories about people who have animals who wake them from low blood sugars and can attest that it does happen!  

Interesting to note that Basil slept through the entire thing however, lol.

(That is Kasper in the front)

February 2013 Training Wrap-Up

Hard to believe that another month has gone by!  The month of February was a great month for me training wise.  I got a bit more running and swimming in and also managed some quality time (for me) on the bike.  I have increased my resistance during spinning and am starting to feel the results.  My legs are getting much stronger and my running form and speed is improving.  I have actually enjoyed the strength work I have been doing. As a bonus I have dropped 3 pounds and don't have much more to go now to get to my ideal weight.

Hours of training = 36.5 hours

Spin x 12 = 250.5 km's

Run x 6 = 76.3 km's

Swim x 3 = 8,250m

Row x 6 = 18.3 km's

Weights/tabbatta/kinesis/kickboxing/core= 10.5 hours

Rest days = 4

The month of March started off well today with a 10.9km run.  I hope to get more running in now that the weather is starting to turn while still getting good mileage on the bike and in the pool.  I am almost done my kinesis class and to be honest won't be sad when it is over.  The class has too many people in it therefore we end up doing more cardio than strength and strength is the reason I signed up in the first place. 

I also registered for Melissa's in September in Banff.  I am doing the 22km race and am excited already!  This is one of my favorite races to do.  I hope to get a half marathon under my belt before then.  Looking back to where I was this time last year I have come a long way and could not be more pleased!