Mother’s Day 2011

Happy Mother’s Day!

Sadly I was not able to travel down to Melbourne this year to spend time with my mum for Mothers Day like I did last year.

I did – however – get to spend the day with the other lovely ladies in my life – my mother in law, sister in law and niece.

And, while last year I held a mother’s day breakfast for my mum in Melbourne, this year I started the day with some exercise.

A 10km run for the Mother’s Day Classic to be exact.

This charity event brought people down to the lake by the thousands, and it was truly so wonderful see so many smiling faces out raising funds for breast cancer research.

It was quite clear that some people were running for fun or for a fitness challenge, while others were running in tribute of loved ones affected and even lost by breast cancer.

Me?  Well I was running in celebration of my mother in law’s victorious battle with breast cancer not once, not twice….but three times!!!

But don't be fooled by the blues skies….it was freezing!!!

I arrived at the race start keen to get moving. Actually, now I think about it, I think the chilly weather helped my speed (ie. run faster = get warmer).

The course consisted of two 5km laps around Lake Burley Griffin. Despite the crowds, there was not too much congestion, and after the start gun sounded I was able to set into a comfortable rhythm early.

Straight away I knew this was going to be a fast race. My legs felt great, the kilometres were ticking by, and I felt strong.

Coming into this event, I had a secret goal of finishing around 55 minutes. I haven’t done a lot of 10km races so I wasn't really sure whether I would meet this goal, but knowing the course was relatively flat, hell I was going to give it a try!

And when I crossed the finish line and saw my time…

I could not wipe the smile off my face!

52:40 (chip time) / 52:45 (watch time) which equals a new PR by 3:15…booo ya!

But the fun didn’t stop there, having finished the run I then met up with Mr BBB and his family to complete the 5km charity walk. We followed the same loop as the run course, and slowly made our way around the lake taking in the sunshine and enjoying the Canberra sights.

      

With 15kms done, I was starving, so once we had finished the walk it was time to head home, warm up, and have some lunch together. On the menu…

homemade leek and potato soup (recipe to follow), topped with chives, parsley and shaved parmesan.

With spelt toast on the side.

The perfect way to warm up after a chilly morning run!

It didn't stop there though. No, lunch soon turned into afternoon tea …

And out came this tower of treats….

 
Level 1 – strawberries

 

level 2 – gluten free berry / chocolate biscuits…

 

And level 3 – my favourites – homemade coconut and pineapple friands…

Recipe to follow…

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Day 18 - MOVE it, TONE it, DRINK it

• MOVE it – Run 10km / Walk 5km
• TONE it – Sit ups 140
• DRINK it – 2L

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What about you? How did you spend Mother’s Day?

Happy Baking :)