Running on Caramel ~ A candid lifestyle blog by a 30-something working Mom who loves to run…and eat caramel.

How to Plan in the Midst of Uncertainty

May 30, 2021

I don’t know about you, but the pandemic is really putting a cramp in my planning style. Trying to figure out how to plan in the midst of uncertainty is really tough!

When I had my first child almost six years ago, we did a lot of go-with-the-flow. When he was hungry, we fed him! If he was tired, we put him down to bed. Slowly it evolved and we started to plan around nap time and bed time so that we’d have a happy baby! When I had my second child, routine was even more important. And then when the pandemic happened, surprisingly it became even more important! I started to structure my day around entertaining the kids, working, building my own brand, meal planning and making sure the housework got done. It felt pretty good but it was exhausting.

The one thing I’m struggling with is not being able to plan too far out. I love having a vacation to look forward to, and am anxious to book a trip to Disneyland for my family (when it’s safe to travel again) to visit the happiest place on earth! It doesn’t even seem like we can plan a few weeks in advance right now because the landscape can change so quickly!

In light of this, I’ve put together some tips on how to plan in the midst of uncertainty:

Have a Plan B (and C, and D, etc)

Last fall when it slowly started to sink in that I wouldn’t be running the Disneyworld Marathon, I made a list of other races I’d be interested in running. In the past six months that list has changed a few times, but I’ve picked a race! It’s driving distance from me so I don’t have to worry about traveling internationally. Although it’s looking positive right now, if somehow the race doesn’t go through I have a back up plan so I can run anyways. Having a back up plan (or two, or three) will leave you less stressed if your original plan falls through.

Start to think about the little details

Even if it’s hard to plan something like a vacation right now because you can’t book anything, you can plan the little things around it. You can check flights, look at hotels (and their cancellation policies), look at restaurants in the area, etc. Having these little details done before booking will make things much easier when you’re able to finally book! When you can book, double check the cancellation policies before you confirm.

Plan for the worst, hope for the best

This isn’t meant to sound negative, however my suggestion is to plan for the worst case scenario first. This way you can be pleasantly surprised if things change for the better. If you only plan for the best case scenario, you could potentially be setting yourself up for disappointment. Having multiple plans for multiple scenarios will help cover all your bases and allow you to adapt if need be!

Know that this too, shall pass

Knowing that eventually we’ll get out of this pandemic rut provides me some solace when I’m sad about how this last year has gone. The last 16 months have been a great lesson in showing you never really know what could happen – so you need to be able to adapt! So book that trip if it makes you happy (just make sure it’s refundable).

What kinds of things are you looking forward to for the remainder of the year? Do you have any tips on how to plan in the midst of uncertainty? I’d love to hear about them!

Stay safe,

Why You Should Still Make New Year’s Resolutions

December 31, 2020

Hot take: I still believe in New Year’s resolutions.

I’m sure we’ve all heard it. What’s the point of making a New Year’s resolution? You’re just going to break it a few days in. Because you have a whole year to do it, you’re going to procrastinate. Most people never actually complete them and then end up being upset about it. Why should I bother?

I’m sure we can all agree that 2020 has been quite the year. As a natural planner, this year has been extremely tough for me. It’s hard to plan ANYTHING when you don’t know when things will open up again or when things will go back to “normal” (especially when you like to plan things like half marathons with lots of people and trips to Disneyworld!). Everything seems so up in the air right now.

That being said, we are starting 2021 in a different position than 2020. at the end of 2019 we didn’t realize how much of an impact COVID would have on the world. But now as we near the end of 2020 we do have an idea what at least the beginning of 2021 will be like. And we can only go up from here, right?

Here are some tips on how to make some New Year’s resolutions that you’ll actually stick to this year:

Take the Time to Brainstorm

A crisp white sheet of paper, a new page in your planner and some coloured pens and markers go a long way. Try and sit in a place with lots of natural light, and really think about the things you want to accomplish this year. We now know how are lives are affected by the pandemic, and we can start to plan things accordingly.

Don’t be Vague

Saying “I want to work out more” or “I want to eat less takeout” is asking for trouble. Technically if you don’t work out at all and then you work out once on January 1st, you’ll have completed your resolution. Will that bring you joy? I like to think of my resolutions as goals – so make sure they are S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound). By giving yourself an end-date (which doesn’t have to be December 31), it gives you something to strive for. For example, one of my running goals this year is to run 700 KM before December 31, 2021.

Write Them Down

When I used to study for exams in university, I found that writing my own notes would help me remember more than just reading the text book. Writing down your resolutions makes them real. You are likely to hold yourself more accountable if you write it down because then you can refer back to it later.

Post Them Where You Can See Them

Once you write down your new year’s resolutions, post them somewhere that you can see them every day. By seeing your resolutions in front of you, you are more likely to hold yourself accountable and keep motivated. This year, on top of my resolutions I decided to create an inspiration board and hung it on the wall where I can see it every day!

Tell a Friend

Having someone cheer you on can help you reach your resolutions if you start to lose sight of the end goal. Have them do regular check-ins to see how you’re doing.

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy using the beginning of every week, month and year as an opportunity to start fresh. If I’ve had a bad day, I know that there’s always a new day tomorrow and a good night’s sleep usually helps.

We have to give ourselves some grace, as none of us have been anything like this before. So let’s start 2021 on a positive note, shall we? What are your New Year’s resolutions and goals for 2021? I’d love to hear them!

Stay safe, and happy holidays from my family to yours.

7 Tips to Help You Get Motivated for a Virtual Race

October 20, 2020

COVID-19 has certainly made 2020 an interesting year hasn’t it? Before COVID, I had signed up for a 10K, a 15K and two half marathons. All four cancelled, and two of them went virtual. How do you get motivated for a virtual race?

As a gymnast growing up, I loved competing! I loved the adrenaline rush of people watching, and lived for that moment of “sticking” my routine. My heart would beat so fast but I just couldn’t get enough! Although I coached for many years, it never brought me the same joy as being out there on the floor.

I feel the same way about races. I love being squished in the corals with all the other racers and seeing what they are doing to get psyched for the race. Hearing “O Canada” and the gun going off to signify the start of the race gets my adrenaline pumping. I love running by all the people clapping and cheering and filming as you run by. And of course, I love the feeling of accomplishment I get when I cross that finish line. It’s part of my “Why” that keeps me going!

All those things motivate me when I’m training for a race! I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to prepare for a virtual race, when so much was missing. When I started training for my first half marathon this year, COVID has just started to hit Edmonton and I was worried there was a chance it would be cancelled. I decided to train anyways and hope for the best! When the race got cancelled and went virtual, I decided to continue. I won’t lie, it was hard. But I found the following 7 tips helped me get motivated for all the virtual races I did this year.

Pick a virtual race that gives you some swag

Confession: I am motivated by medals. Maybe it’s my gymnastics competition background, but I love receiving a medal at the end of each race. I once ran a half marathon where I didn’t get a medal at the end and it felt so wrong. Now I make sure any race I sign up for has a medal!

One of my races that turned virtual still offered the race shirt and some perks for running the virtual race. I also found a couple other virtual to sign up for as the year went on! They may not send out your medal/swag until after the official race date so you can submit your proof of time, but it sure feels good to get something for all of your hard work!

A few of the virtual race medals I’ve earned this year.

Share your goal with others

Who doesn’t love moral support? Tell others about your race so they can help you get psyched for it! For both races my husband and my kids set up a makeshift finish line on our driveway. After I ran across the “finish line” they awarded me my medal, gave me a piece of fruit and a bottle of water! And of course all of the hugs. After my second race, some of my coworkers made me a video telling me how proud they were of me! It really made me feel good after running all those kilometres.

Find a training plan and stick to it

There are many free and paid training plans out there to help you reach your running goals. I found it nice to have a training plan to log all of my runs as it helps you to see your progress! Most of the time, I have used the training programs through the Nike Running app. They are fully customizable – you put in how many days a week you can train, how many kilometres you generally run in a week, and what your average pace is and it caters the plan to you. I just completed the half marathon plan in June, and started the marathon one in August before my marathon in January got cancelled. I also adjust the long runs depending on how I’m feeling that week (sometimes, I go longer or shorter than the plan suggests).

You can also check out RunDisney, Another Mother Runner, and Run To the Finish for other training programs!

Prepare like you would for a live race

Just because you are doing a virtual race, doesn’t mean you should prepare differently. Before both of my virtual half marathons, I put my clothes out the night before, woke up an hour before I had to go to eat my usual race day breakfast, and made sure my playlist was set & downloaded before I left. I didn’t eat anything new the few days before race day, and I didn’t wear anything new – similar to if I was running an in-person race. Doing these things really helped my motivation level!

Plan your route in advance

For most of my weekly runs I wing it. I have a few trusted routes that I know well and I alter them a little bit depending on how far I need to go that week. But for my half marathon, I wanted to make sure that I had a good route! So a few days before the race I took my bike out and biked the route so I could mentally prepare where to go. It really helped, and now I know I can expand from there when I need to go longer for marathon training runs.

Finding a beautiful path just makes me feel good as I run through it! Picture was taken in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Have a good playlist

Since you’ll be missing the crowd, the pump-up groups and the noise of an in-person race, make sure you have a good playlist! I often change up my playlist every few months. Plan to have a long enough list to cover your expected time with an extra 10-15 minutes worth of songs just in case! I usually take a bunch of songs from my old playlists that I like, and then add tunes that I’ve heard on the radio lately (I use Shazam to save them on my phone), or search for artists I like and go through their discography to find new tunes. I also put out the ask on social media for ideas from my friends!

Stay positive

Living in the midst of a pandemic can definitely bring some negative thoughts every once and awhile. It’s hard to see the positive when we’ve gone through so much these last six months. I view running as my escape fro the real world – when I go out there I daydream, brainstorm, and enjoy the fresh air while listening to my favourite tunes. I smile or wave to every runner I run by and most of the time they do the same back. Rarely do I come home from a run not feeling in a good mood. Keeping that positivity will definitely help you get through a virtual race, and all the runs in between!

Running virtual races challenge your mental toughness, but should give you the same kind of sense of accomplishment as in-person races. One day we’ll get back to those in-person races but for the time being, we may as well enjoy what we do have. Although not the same, virtual races have filled some of the void that was missing this year with no in-person races. Fingers crossed we can get back to those in 2021!

What about you? Do you get motivated by virtual races or do you prefer in-person? Would love to hear from you!

What it’s Really Like to Work from Home with Young Kids

May 17, 2020

If you would have told me there was going to be a global pandemic in January I probably wouldn’t have believed you.

66 days ago, most of the major sports leagues all decided to suspend play, which directly affected my job. 64 days ago our government opted to close daycares as cases of COVID-19 in our province slowly started to rise. 63 days ago I began the journey of working at home with our two young kids.

While it seems everyone on social media without kids is taking up new hobbies, deep cleaning their houses, and binge-watching everything on Netflix; I’m here looking at my disaster of a house and wondering how the heck I’m going to keep up. I do appreciate all the extra time with my kids, but man I have never been more exhausted!

Let me give you a glimpse into life right now, and what it’s really like to work from home with young kids…

Days are long

My husband and I are fortunate that we both still have jobs. They are allowing us to be flexible to work around our kids which is really great. My first day working from home while my husband was still at the office did not go well. Every time I needed to take a conference call, the kids acted out. My youngest child didn’t nap well and I got nothing done because one or both of them were stuck to me. My husband came home and I cried. I had no idea how I was going to do this!

Letterboard with the words "Parenting during a pandemic kind of means less time to get more done.

We ended up settling on splitting the days in half – one of us work in the mornings and the other works in the afternoon. Then we spend half the day with the kids. The person who’s with the kids in the afternoon decides on dinner for the evening and prepares it. We all eat dinner together and when we put the kids to bed, we both go back to work. It makes for a long day, but we’ve found our groove and it’s working for us!

The house is a constant disaster

My kids literally empty their toy bins every single day. Even though the living room is littered with toys, there seems to be only one that they fight over. When the kids were at daycare, they wasn’t enough time before breakfast or after dinner to make a big mess. After dinner I’d straighten out the house and make the living room look presentable for the next day. Now that everyone is home 24/7, I rarely have the energy to pick up and put everything away. Yes, I know the kids should be putting it away and sometimes they do! But they take so long that sometimes I feel like it’s easier to just do it myself…but then get too tired to actually do it.

It’s harder to find time for self care

In January I wrote a blog post about a working mom’s guide to work/life balance. Since working from home, I have been finding it a little harder to take my own advice! I was very busy at work between January and March, so I didn’t take any vacation days for me. Now that I’m at home, it’s pretty much impossible to get much alone time. I am having trouble figuring out my priorities and deciding what to get done!

Macbook and planner sitting on a bed — There are many times I bring my laptop and planner into bed with the goal of getting some work done but I just don’t have the energy to do it.

On the weekends, my husband and I have started to discuss what we each want to accomplish, and then give each other the time to do so. This has definitely helped!

The kids are acting out more

It must be hard being a kid during this pandemic. You leave daycare on a Friday and don’t go back. There’s no hugging grandma, your friends, or getting to spend time with anyone other than Mom and Dad. You want to play every second of the day but Mom and Dad are exhausted and/or working and may not be able to always give you one on one attention. And you don’t understand why you can’t go to the playground, the swimming pool, or why your last hockey practice was cancelled.

Thankfully our five year old seems to have a basic understanding. Our two year old however definitely doesn’t understand social distancing. The kids are getting a little stir-crazy and there have been more tantrums than normal. It is mentally draining! My husband and I have really had to focus on the fact that they don’t know how to express our emotions like we do. There are times we want to be grumpy too!

Screen time has gone up

I can’t help it, screen time has gone up. My kids rarely get the iPad but the TV is on cartoons all day. Thank goodness our television provider is letting us go over our internet because we’ve been watching a ton of Netflix and Disney+! My 5 year old also gets an hour or so of video games a week which allows my husband to get his work done and me to have an hour here and there in peace and quiet while my two year old naps. At least the kids like some educational shows like Superwhy!

There is a silver lining…

Don’t worry, there are good things that have come out of being at home more often!

We are still following our routine (mostly)

Our 2 year old still (mostly) naps at the same time as he would normally, and the kids are still going to bed around the same time. We let them sleep as long as they want in the mornings, but they are still usually up before 7. We eat all of our meals together and the kids get a snack between meals like they do at daycare.

We’ve come up with some fun new family activities

Every night we have a dance party in my five year old’s room, and we rotate who gets to pick the song. We’ve even created our own dance moves! On Sundays the kids wear pj’s all day, and we’ve had some movie afternoons complete with popcorn! On Easter Sunday, since we couldn’t get together with family we made a fancy dinner and all wore onesies!

We’ve upped our meal planning/meal prepping game

Before the pandemic happened, we had been doing many small grocery shops to grab stuff for dinners. We had a deep freeze full of items that we weren’t taking a look at because dinners were so rushed. Now that we are trying not to go out when we don’t have to, we keep lists on the fridge for all the places we usually shop, and mark down things we need as we need them. We only go to the grocery store when the list gets full. Daily, we now go into the freezer and take out something for dinner and use what we already have in our fridge. Our kids are trying new dinners (which sometimes goes over well and sometimes doesn’t) and it is easier to go longer without going to the grocery store.

Taco night spread with guacamole, veggies, pico di gallo and ground beef — Taco night is always a hit at our house. The kids always eat a ton of tacos!

We love seeing our kids grow

Our two year old’s vocabulary was always pretty good, but we’ve really seen it flourish in the last couple months. The kid talks non-stop! Our five year old is also a pretty smart cookie. He has a fantastic imagination and he’s definitely getting better at negotiating when he wants something…ha!

Of course, this is only my experience and I can’t speak for everyone. In the end, it’s definitely a challenge but there are some positives to take out of the last two months. Spending more time with our kids is a blessing and they make us laugh every day. Not to mention if you asked them if they were having fun with Mom and Dad, I think they’d say yes! I give major props to teachers, daycare staff and stay at home parents – you guys are all awesome!

If you know a parent that’s been home with their kids for two months, make sure you check in on them! Or drop off some wine at their door, or come over for a social distanced visit when the kids go to bed. I can almost guarantee you they’ll appreciate it! And maybe try not to mention that you’re bored… 🙂

Have you had to work from home with young kids since the pandemic started? How are you managing? Would love to hear your tips for getting through this! We’re all in this together.

A Working Mom’s Guide to Life/Work Balance

January 24, 2020

Life/work balance is so important, but not made a priority by many working Mom’s. Being a Mommy is the best, but having a successful career and being a working Mom is also important to me! Trying to find a balance can be tough sometimes!

I went back to work just under a year after I had my oldest son. As Canadians, we are fortunate to get so much time paid time off after having a baby! Although it started off tough, I did ok. My son’s daycare had a webcam, so I was able to check in on him anytime I wanted during the day. I also got promoted to a new job that was just starting out, so the first few months I was able to ease back in.

The second time around I came back after just over a year, and during a really busy time so the first few months were a bit of a struggle. Trying to get both kids out of the house can be a little stressful and both were usually tired and/or grumpy by the time we got home. I was stressed, gained weight and I didn’t take enough “Me Time“.

Never has “Me Time” become so important until I became a Mom. Some days I’m still all over the place, but I feel like I’m in a much better place than I was after the first few months after maternity leave! So I wanted to provide some tips on what’s kept me sane and what’s allowed me to find some balance! Here’s my idea of a working Mom’s guide to life/work balance:

Make a plan!

With our first, we did a lot of “go with the flow”. He slept through the night early, and we adjusted his bed time the longer he slept in the morning. I’ve found with two, it’s much harder to be like that! Our second is on much more of a routine when it comes to naps and bed time, so I’ve found it’s easiest to follow suit.

My favourite thing to do is to spend some time on Sunday evening when the kids go to bed to do some weekly planning. I also spend my Monday lunch-hour doing the same thing! I take out my calendar in my planner, take a look at the week ahead and plan out my lunch hours at work, lunches & dinners for the week, and when I’m going to work out.

A Working Mom's Guide to Life/Work Balance — Planning 2020 with my Plum Paper Planner!

We do the grocery shopping based on the week’s needs, which helps us not overspend on things we don’t use very often. Sometimes, we save the shopping for Customer Appreciation Day or Blue Friday at Sobeys, as we’re all about collecting those Air Miles! We also do a monthly trip to Costco for our staple items! This helps us eat healthier & avoid stress over food during the week!

Stock your fridge with healthy options

This is a big one for me. I stress eat and eat when I’m bored by habit, and it’s terrible! If I don’t meal prep the night before, I find myself stressed on what we’re going to eat for dinner. I find if I stock my fridge and my pantry with healthy options, I am less likely to eat badly! If I do keep things like chips in the house, I portion out exactly one serving to have as my snack. This way, I’m still indulging but not eating the whole bag. I buy things with less salt & less fat when I can, so I can still enjoy a slightly healthier version of my treats!

Find something you love!

Since I went back to work and stopped breastfeeding, I have been struggling with my body image & weight. Some of the baby weight I lost ended up sneaking back on and it was making me feel uncomfortable. It was also slowing down my running pace, which was leaving me quite frustrated. I don’t like to run in the winter, so I needed a winter sport! So I decided to make a change and joined a CrossFit gym, Black Tusk Athletics, last summer! Their owners are great and I found enjoyment in a sport that 10 years ago had really turned me off. I bought a 10-class pass so I don’t feel stressed about going a specific amount of days per month.

I also bought a 10 class pass for barre at Studio B Fitness YEG after really enjoying it when I went to a free class last year. During the spring, summer and fall months I’ll still be focusing on my running, but I’m adding in Crossfit and barre when it’s too cold outside.

Do yoga

This year I went to get back into doing yoga 2-3 times a month. There are two types of yoga that I absolutely love – hot Metta Yoga and yoga nidra. I have passes for Metta Yoga that don’t expire! They even offer kids classes so my oldest can do yoga with other kids while I take my class! Yoga is so good for you mind and your skin, so this is a win-win situation for me.

Take some alone time

As much as I love doing work out classes and yoga, I also really enjoy my alone time. This means time completely alone, where I can do what I want, when I want. I have a lot of vacation days at work, so I often use days every month to take a staycation. I clean the house, do errands, check things off my to do list, get my nails done, take a bath, or seriously do nothing and relax on the couch and watch TV. This is my time to de-stress and de-compress and enjoy the silence and peacefulness of my alone time.

When my kids get older and start sleeping in a little longer, my plan is to get up an hour early to get in some “Me Time” before the the day begins. On the weekend, my husband and I also chat about what’s going on and who’s taking the kids to their activities – and then we plan out some time for our priorities and make sure that we can work everything in.

Take a mom-cation

I cannot recommend this enough! Taking a mom-cation either by yourself or with girlfriends is something that I make a priority every year. Last year we went to Vegas! This year we’re going to Banff (and I’m going to run the Banff Half Marathon). It is so great to get that time to reconnect with your friends and enjoy a stress free little vacation while you’re at it!

It’s important to note that although this is ideal, it doesn’t happen all the time. Life happens! But I DO know that I feel less stressed and much better when I follow these steps! So I do my best to do them often!

What things do you do to give yourself life/work balance? Feel free to share your comments below! I’d love to read them.