Couch to 5k - the beginning

About a year ago, my husband and I decided to do the Couch to 5k program. It's basically a schedule for getting your butt off the couch and running. I used to run in high school (er... two decades ago, eek) and I would like to be in better shape, so it seemed like a great idea.

With lofty ambitions, we headed to the Running Room and bought ourselves some expensive fancy running shoes. And then... we stalled. Between moving three times between two provinces in the last year, and our daughter's busy transition from baby to toddler, we found a lot of excuses NOT to start.

But on Saturday night, we headed out on the trail near our house, with Mia in the Chariot. We're lucky to live right on the edge of Fish Creek Provincial Park (the fourth largest urban park in Canada), and half a minute from our doorstep is a beautiful trail right along the Bow River Valley, with views of the mountains and the Calgary skyline. The other day I was walking there with Mia and saw pheasants, a deer, and a flock of 25 pelicans! Beautiful.

Anyway, we did it. Day One of the Couch to 5k is under our belts. It was easy at first and hard at the end. But I am looking forward to it getting easier and easier.

Now if only it weren't 14 degrees (Celcius) and overcast/rainy today... I think I have to go anyway, and keep it up if I mean to do this, but OH, I hate being cold and wet.

Goodbye, Goodlife

We've been Goodlife Fitness members for years. I mean, I joined in 2001 - back when the bi-weekly rate was $16 (it's now $23, or $21 if you sign up during a sale). I was always a big advocate of the club, too. I loved their Les Mills classes. BodyFlow was my favourite - a mix of tai chi, pilates, and yoga. I brought several new members into the club myself with my glowing praise and enthusiasm for it.

Over the years I was thrilled to keep my locked-in member rate as prices increased. In 2007, I moved to a location that was fairly far from a club, and terminated my membership. What a mistake that was. I ended up missing it enough to make the 20 minute drive and re-signed soon after at a higher bi-weekly rate. It was not ideal to pay more than I had been, but I recognized that I'd cancelled my membership and was considered a new member.

Then my husband's company started a corporate partnership account with Goodlife. We got a great rate by going with the corporate plan. Knowing their tendency to increase rates, we asked the club before we switched to the corporate plan if we could return to our current rates should we leave the corporate plan. "Sure," they said, "No problem." And with that sorted - or so we thought - we went ahead with it.

And guess what? A year later, my husband has changed jobs and provinces, and we are no longer eligible for the corporate plan. Fair enough. But when we tried to switch back to our old rates, we were told that was not possible, despite what we'd been assured of before.

We went to the local club to talk about it. The staff member disappeared several times into an office to "call the district manager" and every time came back saying there was nothing they could do. If we wanted to stay at the club, we could pay the sale price (ending the next day - no pressure!) of $21 bi-weekly each.

One staff member enthused about the Jump Fitness child care at the gym, as she saw that we had Mia with us - I found that ironic considering my recent, first and LAST experience with that - read my review of Goodlife's Jump Fitness Child Care to see why!

We were happy and loyal members and felt like we had just been treated like dirt. Broken promises, what a disappointment.

So goodbye, Goodlife.

We're going to spend the summer (if it ever gets to Calgary - it snowed today!) outside exercising and making the most of the beautiful parks, lakes and mountains around us. And in the fall, we'll look for a new fitness club. Hopefully one that honours its promises and has some interest in keeping loyal members.

If there are any co-ed fitness clubs in the south of Calgary that are interested in a review, well, my husband and I would be happy to test out your facilities :)

Goodlife Fitness - Jump! Child Care Review

This is something I don't do very often - write a negative review. I had a really disturbing experience lately, though, and did provide the company ample opportunity to respond, which they did not. So I'd like to share here what happened in the spirit of a reminder to be alert and be thorough when you are choosing child care providers.

On February 27th, my friend and I visited the Canyon Meadows Goodlife Fitness Club (on Macleod Trail) in Calgary. She has two young daughters, a three year old (G.) and a one year old (H.), and I, of course, have a one year old daughter (Mia). She has taken G. to the Jump! center before and everything has been fine before, so we thought we'd try taking the babies for a half-hour test run. I'd never left Mia with a care facility before, so it was a little high-anxiety to begin with for me.

We arrived at the club at around 9:40 am. We checked in, settled the girls. G. went off to play, and H. was playing as well. I sat Mia in front of the bookshelf and she set to playing with the books. I said on my way out that Mia is "used to constant supervision" (my words exactly) - perhaps I was not clear enough and should have said that at her age, she NEEDS constant and attentive supervision as she has an avid curiosity about the world and no sense of danger. I guess I expected that child care providers would know that about one year olds. Mistake.

The child care center at the time of my check in had 9 children (the girl on the desk mentioned this as she had just done a count); at least one of these was an infant in a car seat, I would guess 5 children under 18 months and around 3 children under 6. There was one Goodlife staff member at the desk (in a Goodlife staff shirt), who remained at the desk for all the times I looked in with the exception I will mention later. There were two other adults that I saw in the Jump! center and on speaking with one of them she said she was the mother of one of the children and was "volunteering" (her word) there. Neither of these women were wearing Goodlife staff shirts so I believe they were not staff members per se.

My friend and I went to the change room for a couple minutes to stow our stuff in lockers, and then went to check through the window of the child care center. G. was playing happily, H. was playing at a child set of table and chairs, Mia was still looking at books.

My friend and I went to the elliptical trainers to warm up. The plan was 10 minutes of warm-up, check on the girls again, followed by the circuit and then to pick up the girls. We managed to get 9 minutes in on the elliptical trainers before the girl in the Goodlife shirt from the Jump! desk came out to us. She asked, "Are you H's mum?" to my friend, "She's had a boo-boo".

My friend and I rushed to follow her to the Jump center. H. was in one of the women's arms, screaming, with blood on her face. There were bloody baby wipes and tissues on the floor. On a closer look, H. had a gash in her forehead that was about 3/4" long and gaping open right down to the bone. They said H. had fallen against a wooden fence installed around the child play area. All three of the adults were gathered around her.

My friend took H., one of the volunteers (I will call her that, I am not certain of her status) told her to apply pressure and that they'd already tried an ice pack. The volunteer then applied two bandaids to H's forehead - catching her hair and her eyebrow in the adhesive (which later proved even more painful when they were removed to treat the wound). The volunteer told my friend to take her to the urgent care clinic and asked if she knew where it was. Another parent luckily was able to give her directions. I ran to get my friend's coat from her locker and she rushed off with H., leaving G. with me.

I remained in the Jump! center for the next hour or so while I waited for G.'s dad to come pick her up. I absolutely did not feel comfortable leaving the children in the care of the staff after what had happened and on seeing that my daughter was playing with inappropriate toys at that time (more on that later).

As a result of this injury, H. will have a permanent scar on her forehead. The wound was open long enough that it could not be stitched and had to be glued. Any mother knows that accidents happen, and you can't prevent every fall. However, I don't believe this situation was unavoidable.

Here are my concerns about this situation and what I saw afterwards:

• If there is a procedure in place for injuries, it was clearly not followed. Here is why I say this:
  

• using baby wipes on a would cannot possibly be standard procedure. They contain chemicals, alcohol and fragrances and are not designed for wound care. Completely inappropriate.
• The staff applied an ice pack *before* contacting the mother of this child, as there was no ice pack in sight when we got into the center yet they mentioned it had been used. How long after H. arrived at the center did the injury happen, and how long before they went to get her mother? 
• on that note, there were no first aid supplies visible either in the immediate situation or even in a first aid kit on a wall that I saw.
• One of the supervisors should have been dealing with the injured child, and the remaining adults should have continued to supervise the other children (!).

• The most basic first aid training for cuts indicates Rest, Elevation, Direct Pressure (RED). H.'s head was elevated, and they were attempting to apply direct pressure to stop the bleeding. This much was done. First aid training beyond the most basic would indicate checking responses and eyes for signs of concussion with a head wound. I did not witness anyone doing this nor did anyone mention it. I'm not sure how much beyond the basic first aid training is required for child care but a blow to the head hard enough to cut to the bone does raise concerns of concussion.
  
• The gash on H.'s forehead was such that it would have taken quite a blow against a sharp edge to create. My friend suspects that H. (a curious and active 13 month old) may have been standing on a chair to fall that hard against the rail.
  
• While the three adult supervisors were all gathered around H., nobody was supervising the other children at all. Additional children had arrived and I would guess there were 12-15 children there, all under 5.
• All the adults in the Jump! center made every effort to downplay the injury. Calling it a "boo-boo" was only the beginning. Even after my friend left with H., the women were telling me, "Oh, it didn't bleed that much", "Kids heal fast", and "It will probably only need one stitch" (as though a baby needing even "only" one stitch was okay!!)

Besides the horrifying injury to H., -

• My daughter Mia (just 12 months) was playing unsupervised with crayons and pencil crayons when I came into the room. At her age, crayons are a choking hazard. Children this age put everything in their mouths, and have teeth to bite off chunks of crayon. Another little boy about the same age was playing with crayons as well. Pencil crayons are equally inappropriate for unsupervised play: sharp, pointy sticks, easy to fall on for wobbly early walkers who like to stumble around gripping things and/or chewing on things.
  
• The older children were not separated at all from the younger children (infants were in car seats or in exersaucers in the front area, but any child who was walking was in the larger play area). The older children were playing roughly and running around the unsteady toddlers. The volunteers were reprimanding them but it was largely ineffective.
  
• The older children were also giving the younger ones age-inappropriate toys (again a lack of supervision). One of the children (about 4) gave my daughter a piece of construction paper while I was there with her, watching over her and the little boy playing with the crayons. After about 10 minutes of the two of them playing with the paper and beginning to rip it to pieces, one of the volunteers came over and said, "Oh, she has paper! Are you okay with that?". I had been sitting right there and watching the two children so they would not eat the paper, and I recognize that my presence probably made the supervisors less diligent, but all the same it took her that long to notice that these young children had something they shouldn't. This is another indication to me that there were simply not enough adults present.
  

My recommendations for this club are as follows (and I can't believe these things are not in place already):

• a maximum ratio of children to adults. There were only two floating "volunteers" and one girl sitting at a desk for 12-15 children under 5. To me this is not nearly enough adults to manage that many young children. 
• soft flooring (they had several of the workout mats laid out over linoleum, which covered maybe 30% of the flooring). Put in carpet, or if that's too hard to keep clean, put in those foam interlocking mats or another type of soft floor covering. 
• sharp corners should be cushioned if not removed. Crib bumpers or low mats could be put against the lower half of the rails where children might hurt themselves.
• maps to the nearest emergency rooms/urgent care clinics should be available in case of emergency to provide to parents.
• First aid supplies should be readily accessible and available in the Jump! center
• Older children should be separated from younger ones (eg 3-5 in one area, 1 & 2 in another, infants in another) and each should have independent and adequate supervision.
• The staff on duty at the Jump! center at the time we were there (Monday, February 26th between approximately 9:40 - 11:20) need further training in first aid and on procedure.

I had been anticipating a morning that would be stressful for me in leaving my daughter with strangers for the first time, but hoped and believed it would all work out fine and I would be able to use the Jump! child care for daytime workouts, which would be extremely convenient. I am disappointed and frankly distressed by our experience there yesterday.

I can say with certainty that after what I saw there that day neither I nor my friend will be leaving our children at the Jump! center and certainly will be telling our friends about our experience. This was extremely stressful and scary. A child care center must maintain consistent, diligent supervision and provide a safe environment for children and I feel that neither of these conditions were met on this occasion.

I sent the above information in its entirety to Goodlife, both to that specific club and to their social media contact. (I'd tweeted about our horrible experience and received a quick tweet back to email them about what happened.) I have had no response - not even to indicate receipt of my email.

I just want to be clear, I don't want anything from them personally. I'm not looking for some kind of kickback. What I would like to see is an admission that there are evidently problems with their child care - and some immediate measures to prevent future injuries (or worse).

My friend also spoke with the manager at that club on the phone and via email. (They didn't call her to follow up and make sure H. was okay - she called them.) The response she got was that they "take it seriously" and that they were allowing her to get out of her membership contract without paying buyout fees (she was so upset by the whole thing that she cancelled her membership at the club). Again no apology, no admission that there were any problems and nothing about what they were going to do to make sure that more diligent care was taken with both environment and staff.


I make no claims about any other Goodlife location's child care, and can only say that from my experience at this one, I will NEVER be leaving my daughter with them again.

Small changes

I'm trying to tidy things up around the blog a bit, and have added a new pages tab along the top. Now you can access giveaways (current and past, including winners), a little 'About Me' page, and a page for PR through the top tab.

Things are at a standstill in the backyard - well, everything's growing (not one plant casualty yet! fingers crossed), but the shed is in stasis as the weather's been rainy this week. We did find a patio set, which my husband assembled - love it! Super comfy and pretty stylish, and we got it on sale (yay!).

Last night we hit the gym for the first time in a while - we got loads of exercise, believe me, building that pergola and digging/planting the gardens. It felt good to get back to some yoga and pilates, though. Our gym has some really great fitness instructors.

Otherwise, things are pretty quiet around here. Oh, do enter the giveaway if you haven't yet - a gift certificate at Supplement Source can buy some pretty cool stuff (it's not all supplements!) - and I have TWO to give away!

Supplement Source.ca Review and DOUBLE GIVEAWAY!

***Giveaway closed - winners: Jennifer & Suzi!***

I have another great company to tell you about, and a giveaway as well for TWO lucky winners! Supplement Source.ca is a Canadian retailer of all kinds of performance supplements and fitness accessories (they have locations in London and Petawawa, as well as a head office and warehouse in Woodstock, Ontario).

As you know, this week the backyard has been our gym - weightlifting (hefting dirt, sod, trees, shrubs and wood), cardio (our backyard has a hill that we must go up and down a hundred times a day, yoga (okay, not exactly, but I have been doing the forward fold a lot while planting - and Cadbury has pitched in with downward dog), etc.

But regularly since March, my husband and I have been hitting the gym three to four times a a week. And it's really paid off - we've both gotten a lot more fit. He's lost weight (I haven't - but I'm there more to tone than lose weight) and we are both stronger, more healthy and have more energy.

I know to make the most of those gym workouts, a lot of people use supplements. SupplementSource.ca has everything from protein packed snacks, fat burner and muscle-boosting supplements, tanning and shine lotions for fitness competitors (not us any time soon!), and even superfruit Acai berry supplements. Personally I am sticking with my daily multivitamin and healthy eating but I know a lot of people use these to help their bodies along with building muscle and faster fat loss. If you are looking for a Canadian source, this is it! I do strongly recommend researching any supplement that you are considering - ask your doctor, look at several sources for information on what's in it. All supplements are not equal and may or may not be right for you!

SupplementSource.ca was kind enough to send an Athlete Armor DryWik shirt for my husband to try out. He's been wearing it to the gym and has found it to be great for wicking moisture and breathability during workouts. I think it looks great on him, too! Here he is on our way out to a fitness class!

They also sent along a sample of Ripped Freak Hybrid Fat Burner capsules for him to try. This is a capsule that "optimizes levels of the body's 2 most powerful fatburning hormones, epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline)". What makes this different from many other supplements is that you only take it once or twice a day. The 'hybrid' part means it's got natural ingredients that have been altered or synthesized to enhance their effects. To be perfectly honest I don't understand what it does, but supposedly it works!

The last sample was a tasty treat of protein-packed Chef Jay's Tri-O-Plex double chocolate chip cookies. They smell amazing and are soft and delicious! And guess what? Every order gets a sample of these! Yum!

Some of the other cool stuff that SupplementSource.ca has to offer -

• Grizzly lifting gloves for men and women - if you do any weight training at all (we do the BodyPump class at our gym which is group weight lifting), you will know these are a lifter's friend!
• the Acai 1000 that I mentioned - which is rich in antioxidants and apparently may even help with weight loss (I have read this, but as you know I'm not a nutritionist or doctor or anything like that - do your research if you are considering any supplement).
• Greens for you smoothie lovers
• Protein bars and other snacks (which I find great not only for a pre- or post-workout boost, but also great for keeping in my purse or in the car as 'emergency' snacks!)
  
• Skipping ropes (great for cardio!)
• Lots of lifting straps, belts, gloves, pads, etcetera - and I have to mention this Leather Head Harness - mainly because Dwight Schrute wore one in a recent episode of The Office and seeing it here cracked me up!

Okay, so who wants to win???!

SupplementSource.ca has generously offered two gift certificates to my readers! One lucky winner will be able to spend $50 any way they like on this great website. The second winner will be selected from entrants who sign up for their V.I.P. newsletter!

The giveaway: A $50 gift certificate AND a $25 gift certificate to SupplementSource.ca (two winners)!

How to enter: Head over to Supplement Source.ca and let me know what you'd put this towards, OR one thing that you learned there. Make sure I've got a way to contact you if you're the winner!

Extra entries (please leave an extra comment for each. If you already do any of these things, leave the comment - you do get the entry for it!):

• Follow me on Twitter (leave your Twitter name!)
• Tweet about this giveaway for ONE entry, this is not a daily! You can use this if you like:

  Win a $50 GC to SupplementSource at Emily's Latest. Gym & Fitness awesomeness! http://bit.ly/a5OQie @emilyisland 6/12
  

• Follow my blog (publicly) – 2 entries, leave 2 comments
• Add my blog button to your blog– 2 entries, leave 2 comments (please leave a link to your blog)
• Blog about this giveaway, linking back to this post and to Supplement Source.ca – 2 entries, leave 2 comments and please include a link to your post
• To enter for the BONUS gift certificate, sign up for the Supplement Source.ca V.I.P. Supersale Alerts (top left of their website) and be sure to let me know in a comment!
  

I will be verifying comments so please actually do the things you say you do ☺

Please be sure to include your email address if it’s not public in your blogger profile! Anonymous comments without a way to contact you will be rejected. Canadian or US mailing addresses only, please. Giveaway ends Saturday, June 12th at 11:59 EST. Winners will be drawn the next day, announced here, in a separate post and emailed!
(The bonus prize will be selected only from newsletter subscribers!)

Prize will be shipped by sponsor. We were sent a shirt and samples to review honestly, but I was not paid to write this.

Athletica.net Review and GIVEAWAY!

***This giveaway is closed. ***
Winner: Casey Aubut (confirmed)

Sometimes I just get lucky. And, hey, I'm not talking about that - I mean, once in a while I win a really sweet contest. A little while ago I won a giveaway over at Trying to Stay Calm for an Athletica gift certificate.

Remember how I recently signed up for a gym membership with my husband? I definitely needed some new yoga clothing, as all of mine was several years old, with faded colours and saggy knees. Shameful! I spent a long time shopping and ultimately decided on the awesome Classic Pant (Gym and Yoga Pants) in Stone Grey.

And I am really pleased with them. They are snug, but flexible enough for yoga and pilates. The fabric is smooth and comfy, a supplex-lycra-spandex mix that is breathable enough when you're really working, but not too cool during cool-down and meditation.

I also like the length - I'm an average height, I guess, at 5'6", but sometimes I find pants are too long so I trip over them. These have a nice length, just like in the picture on the Athletica website - they hit the floor at the back in bare feet, but aren't so long that they drag when I have shoes on. Here's me on the way to yoga. I know, grover arms! I'm working on it! -->

They have a hidden drawstring at the waist which I LOVE, since all the forward folds in yoga means pants with unstructured waistbands end up showing a little more at the back than I want to. I've worn them to yoga several times already, and never had an overshare at the back.

Of course, Athletica.net has a lot more than yoga pants (although there is a large selection of them). They have fitness and lounge wear for women and men, as well as casual clothing (check out the Camisole Flounce Dress - *love*). The selection of women's sportswear is particularly good. There's actually a big sale on right now - check it out for deals like the Lily Lotus pant for only $24.95 and the capri for only $19.95! If you do much shopping for quality fitness wear, you will know these are really good deals.

ps, the dog was desperate to be in the picture with me. He ended up walking through a whole pile of pictures before we finally got one without him. Okay, it was pretty cute (until the 5th or 6th time...!) I know it's because he's eager to be 'famous' on my blog! Here's an outtake!

ANYway, here is the fantastic news: Athletica has generously offered a gift certificate to one of my readers! One lucky winner will be able to spend it any way they like on this great website.

The giveaway: A $75 gift certificate to Athletica!

How to enter: Head over to Athletica and let me know what you'd put this towards, OR one thing that you learned there. Make sure I've got a way to contact you if you're the winner!

Extra entries (please leave an extra comment for each. If you already do any of these things, leave the comment - you do get the entry for it!):

• Subscribe via email to the Athletica newsletter (bottom right of their website) - 2 entries
  
• Follow me on Twitter (leave your Twitter name!)
• Tweet about this giveaway for ONE entry, this is not a daily! You can use this if you like:

  Win a $75 GC to Athletica.net at Emily's Latest. Yoga, casual & sportswear! @emilyisland http://bit.ly/dawxTh US/CAN 5/23
  

• Follow my blog (publicly) – 2 entries, leave 2 comments
• Add my blog button to your blog– 2 entries, leave 2 comments (please leave a link to your blog)
• Blog about this giveaway, linking back to this post and to Athletica – 2 entries, leave 2 comments and please include a link to your post
  

I will be verifying comments so please actually do the things you say you do ☺

Please be sure to include your email address if it’s not public in your blogger profile! Anonymous comments without a way to contact you will be rejected. Canadian or US mailing addresses only, please. Giveaway ends May 23rd at 11:59 EST. A winner will be drawn the next day, announced here, in a separate post and emailed!

Prize will be shipped by sponsor. Note for Canadian entrants: Athletica is not responsible for customs or duties that Canada may charge. For what it's worth, I was not charged any additional fees at the border on my order.

Kulae green yoga set at {Natural} Mommie

Today kicks off the Spring Giveaway at {Natural} Mommie! I'm excited! And the first giveaway prize is an eco-friendly yoga mat set (mat and bag - nice!) from Kulae. These mats are "100% biodegradeable eco yoga mat that has no PVC, no latex, no rubber (that means NO allergies)"! Wow. Ends March 28!