What Now?

Well it's been a week since we got back from Ottawa and 10 days since we ran our Half.  I bet you are all wondering where this blog will go from here and if we will keep it up.  We have discussed this and initially we started the blog to keep ourselves accountable for running but we have decided to keep it going to keep you (our 2 faithful readers) abreast of what work out programs we are following (among other things).  We still have some running on the schedule as we are signed up for the 1^st annual BLT trail run on Oct 25, 2014.  This run is a 5k run so it's something we can manage AND we each have a co-worker signed up to run their first 5k!!  :)

After a complete week of rest we have started back on another type of workout schedule.  We will be following the 3 month Jillian Michaels Body Revolution work outs program. 

It's easier for you to turn your computer around than it is for us to rotate this picture.

These workouts are 30 minute videos and there are 3 phases (3 months).  During each phase the workouts progressively get harder.  There are 12 videos in total and the first two weeks you do video 1 & 2, the next two weeks 3 & 4 etc.  There are also two cardio days in there and for now we will be running on those cardio days instead of doing the cardio videos.  Here is a look at our schedule for October.  Sunday may become a rest day once Zumba is over.  (Take notice that tonight is our first run night).  We have done this program before and it works.  But we suppose everything works when you stick with a plan.

Also, with this program we are each trying a different meal plan.  Twin 1 is trying out the Jillian Micheals meal plan (as mentioned in previous posts) and Twin 2 is trying out Weight Watchers.  Weigh day is every Friday.  We will also be keeping track of our measurements  because with strength training it's more about lost inches than lost weight as muscle weighs more than fat (that's the rumour anyway).  Every week we will weigh in and every 4 weeks we will measure inches. 

As the videos are a 3 month program this will take us right up to Christmas.  CHRISTMAS??!!!! 

Fun/Free Day

This morning, like every other morning, we rose bright and early as we had a tour of the Supreme Court of Canada booked for 0930 and we had to be there for 0915 (yes we are talking army time).  We wanted to “sleep in” for an extra minute so we decided to try the hotel room coffee.  It wasn’t too bad but we sure couldn’t wait for Starbucks after the tour.  

This building amazes us along with Parliament because from the outside this building is H.U.G.E!  We couldn’t wait to see inside.   We could tour these two buildings every time we go to Ottawa but there are many other places we would like to visit in Ottawa as well so we can now mark this one off the list.  

We arrived and went through the security and then wandered around the lobby while we waited.  This place is all marble and it’s impressive to say the least.  The tour guide arrived (we believe they are law students or something along those lines).  We went into the Federal Court of Canada and he talked about what happens there and gave us the rundown of how the levels of the court system work and how cases get to that level.  Twin 2 put on a robe and sat in the Judge’s chair.  

Then we went into the Supreme Court of Canada courtroom where all 9 Justices sit and where cases are televised from.  This one is also impressive.  We could not take any pictures in here but it’s basically the same as the first court room only bigger.  

If you are interested in what we learnt you can always book a tour with them from Monday – Friday.  This is the first time we’ve been in Ottawa on a weekday and had a chance to take the tour.  It is only half an hour but to see the inside of the building is impressive.  We would love to see the whole building but they will only show you so much.  To go back and watch a case sometime would be amazing.  

http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/home-accueil/index-eng.aspx

After the tour we went to Starbucks as Twin 1 had coupons for coffee and breakfast sandwiches which were both very good.  We then went back to the hotel to figure out what to do for the rest of the day.  We originally planned to hit up the Rideau mall but we noticed on Saturday all the good stores were gone and what’s left is too expensive for us.   We looked in a tour book and decided to take a bus trip to another mall.  The front desk told us that it would be easier and cheaper to take a bus as opposed to a cab so we did.  There was a bus station right outside our hotel and we googled what bus to take and off we went.  We asked another lady at the stop just to make sure we would be getting on the right bus. We got on and it announces what stop they will be stopping at next which is great and they seem to stop at “stations” rather than just along the street like the Metro does….or the one we went on anyway which was mostly downtown and highway.  

We made it to the mall and we headed to Winners because we thought the Ottawa Winners would be way better than the Halifax ones…we were incorrect.  It sucked. So we walked around the mall and there wasn’t much there either.  Needless to say neither of us bought anything but it was a day out when we had nothing else planned. 

We headed back to the bus station and thought we were waiting on the right side to head back down town but we asked again and the lady told us we had to go over two more bus stations so we finally made it to the right one and had a pleasant ride back to downtown.  We were a little confused when we got off the bus and started walking one way but quickly figured out we were going the wrong way so turned around and found the hotel.

When we arrived back we packed up our suitcases as we had an early morning to the airport.  Twin 1 then texted her long lost friend whom she hasn’t seen in 13 years and tried to figure out if we wanted to go out to eat, or for coffee or just hang out.  In the end we decided to just hang out.  Before she came over we cooked up some pasta for supper and mixed it with our left over salad dressing as we were too cheap to buy pasta sauce.  It was good but could have used a bit more dressing :)

The friend came over and we had a great long chat about what’s been happening in each others lives, had some good laughs and talked about plans for the future.  A good time was had by all and hopefully we won’t wait another 13 years to see each other again.

To bed for an early travelling day on Tuesday.