The big e-move
Over the past year, I have discovered a love for blogging about my running adventures that goes beyond keeping track of fundraising for my Team Diabetes events. I'm passionate about writing and about running, and since I want to combine them into one awesome something in my professional life, I've decided to commit to them for the long run (hehe) in my personal life. What that means, folks, is that my blog is moving to a new home that won't be focused on one fundraising run, but will incorporate all my life, tri, run and Team D adventures. I hope you'll follow me there. :)Come visit me in my new home, already.
Good use of time.
Today, while you were working, I:-had a happy, sunny awakening after 9 am
-made some eggwhites and a pb-banana wrap!
-researched xmas gift ideas online
-joined Tony for a little arms and abs action...and recovery drink of course
-did my bike training while watching one of my fave movies, Little Miss Sunshine
-ate again - salad & soynuts & soy burger
-caught up on some pop culture (oh interwebs, you suck me in and erase my time)
-hung out with the fish
Don't be jealous, I hope you will have holidays and relaxing time soon yourself, and that you will make the most of them too! I'm having a good mix of productivity/training/lazing this week. Maybe there's something to this 'funemployed' thing.
Money Monday
Yesterday was a $400 dollar day for me. Delightful, yes? I could really dig on this freelancing thing. Any other careers you can think of that can infrequently net you this much for a few hours work? (Anything that doesn't include public nudity, that is?) National Student Loans Centre, consider my account paid up for this month. Independence win.You may be wondering about the awesome effects in my pictures from yesterday? Well. If you would like to reproduce said effects, all you really need to do is take your iPhone in the pocket of your jacket on a blizzard run and the immediately try to use it in a warm apartment for photos. I'll dub it Fog FX.
Today's gonna-get-more-stuff-done soundtrack:
Something I love from a band I love who just keeps on keepin' on with the awesome moody and atmospheric but head-bobbin' catchy stuff.
Tony, my chest hurts today. But I am sold on the push-up bars. Actually, Tony, my legs still hurt from Friday. I am thanking you profusely and publicly for x-ing me.
Also, I know it's almost xmas, but would someone please put $5 in my Turkey fundraiser? I'm not discouraged I swear, but my mercury is frozen at 0. Cold thermometer. Won't you warm it up just a hair please? :)
How not to run in winter.
It was a cold and snowy December morning in Waterloo, Ontario. A running girl awoke, and, excited to complete her 14k training run, jumped out of bed to put on layers. She mapped out a route while eating some peanut butter on a banana, ran her headphone cord under her layers and put on her New Balance trainers. She checked the weather forecast, and added gloves, a hat and a scarf to the layers. The fresh snow piled up against the balcony doors and wrapping the landscape in white made her realize that today might be the perfect day for testing THE BOOTIES.
The booties were a parting gift to her from a colleague at her last job. They were too small for the avid winter biker who gave them to her, and until now, they'd sat unused in her hall closet. The booties were designed to wrap around other shoes: they were an all-weather MEC construction with a closed toe and top for wind and wetness protection, and an open bottom for traction. Today, perhaps they could protect this girl's running feet from the cold. She strapped them on.
Stepping out onto the sidewalk, she was full of optimism about how fantastic it would be to run through the snow while remaining snug, head to toe. She started running. She slid over wind-polished plowed sections while the wind whipped up snowflakes into her face. She lifted her knees high to conquer banks of unshoveled snow in her path. She felt like she had joined the ranks of the most elite, hardcore winter runners. Her iPod played victorious, conquering music.
After about 2k, she noticed that her legs were slowing down. She started to feel like her feet were made of lead. She tried to kick up her heels over snow drifts...and couldn't! The wind started to feel raw on her face and her route stretched out ahead of her, impossibly long. Another .5k and she started to feel a cold, creeping wetness. By 3k, she started to feel a growing numbness in her toes. She slowed down for several minutes of mental arguments with herself. "There is no try, only DO! Do this run!" "I am rapidly losing feeling in my extremities." "GO! GO HARD! Run for the win!!" "And get pneumonia instead of Starbucks?" Finally, reluctantly but resignedly, she turned around. She plodded home. It was much more of a dragging zombie shuffle than a run, but she swung her arms anyway for the sake of any audience she might have in passing cars or houses. At home, she peeled off the booties to discover that they had accumulated heaps of snow. In fact, the toe of each bootie was entirely filled with several inches of snow. And the running shoes she'd fought so hard to protect? Literally dripping, soaking wet.
And she learned that maybe, just maybe, she should run inside on a treadmill during a Canadian snowstorm.
Posted
from Waterloo, Canada
Inspiration from the internets!
Every now and again, a girl - especially a new blogger and new athlete - needs to look around and smell the proverbial roses. And there's a lot of awesome run-oriented blogs (written by non-celebrity, 'ordinary' folk) out there! So tonight I thought I'd share with you a few blogs that inspire me to be a better, runner, triathlete, human and blogger. :)
Blogs I love (aka people I'd like to be friends with):Some of these ladies are crazy fast and rack up crazy milage. Some focus on the run, others on the threesome (the PG multisport kind of course) and the others on the balance of life/food/athleticism. But they're all great writers with great voices and such interesting stories to tell. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do!
Also, an awesome tidbit passed on to me by my friend Trev: the endurance calculator! Want to know your ideal race pace? It's backed up by science - but who knew I had it in me to run a marathon that fast? Find your pace for your race, then see if you can meet it. That's my plan :)
Also, speaking of terrific plans, being friends with someone this in my near future:
Awwwwwh.
Swimming sensation.
That's not me quite yet. But hopefully one day soon...really! I have to say, yesterday's pool workout was one of my favorite workouts ever! I felt awesome in the water. Not only was I totally comfortable with my breathing, but I felt like my strokes were just working and that I was both fast and strong. Some of my favorite drills are the ones we do with flippers, because I really feel like some sort of super sea creature then, but yesterday I took koach's advice, and tried to swim with all the confidence and ease I have with the flippers - without the flippers. And I dunno how, but it worked! We did several other drills and the time just flew by, and it was great! (Thanks Koach & Mr. Smooth!)Workouts this week have also included a bike ride with the team, a snowy and festive run through Waterloo Park with the team, some running speed drills, lots of weights and core, and a long run. To complement the excellent workouts, I'm slowly inching towards having appropriate gear for all my activities. My most recent acquisitions are a tri suit (well, it actually won't arrive until February) and a team jacket (which will also be my first winter running jacket - as in, not a cotton zip-up or an adapted snowboard jacket! I'm getting that Saturday). Next up on my to purchase list: a wetsuit, clipless pedals and aerobars (and/or just a new bike, when I can afford it). Possibly my own set of flippers, and maybe a water bottle holder for my bike (because not everywhere can have the sweet set-up I do at home: accelerade & H20 within arm's reach on a tall table with my towel).
Last but not least, a fun video:
Have a happy weekend!!
No more neglect-a-blog
This face says it all.
I admit it, I'm a total fair weather blogger. I can put on my trainers in the cold, dark and damp and get out there, but sometimes I can't bring myself to write a post when those descriptors apply to life and not the weather. To be honest, I've always been the kind of person who hates to be idle. I can only take relaxing in small doses, and I love to have multiple projects on the go, love the feeling of rushing to and from things and checking items off my to-do list. I'm also a planning kind of person - planning epic adventures around running, planning how I can aggressively pay down my student debt, planning a jam-packed daily schedule in 15 minute intervals....you get the picture. Not working has thrown life into slow motion for me: less busy, less projects, and some serious derailments of my life plans. My planned busy life meant I was never bored, never had time for an overabundance of self-reflection and that I could count on paying my student loans on time while still saving up for the across-the-world running adventures that have rapidly become my lifeblood. Setting foot outside that lifestyle, comfortable for me, has definitely given me cause for pause and more. It's not all bad. I am totally grateful for the time and energy it's allowed me to channel into my training. In fact, that's what's been pulling me through. I can't tell you how much more I'm loving the pool now that I'm getting more competent in the water everyday. Having my bike trainer set up inside means that I can pedal my heart out...while singing my heart out watching Glee. And of course running, always my drug of choice for any ailment. Plus, I've used some of that spare time for a little cooking, some fundraising and freelancing too. It's not too tough for me to get focused on the positive...because the stuff that is positive is so very positive. For example, the highlight of my week: Triathlon Saturday!! This was an unplanned, non-sanctioned event that happened at 3 different locations and times on Saturday, but left me full of triathlawesome! In the morning, I participated in the Santa Shuffle 5k for the Salvation Army, and I really pushed myself to be the second girl and 7th person across the finish line. At noon, I swam for just over an hour with the team - mainly kick and pull drills, plus a new "shark" drill. My training schedule also called for some time on the bike, so after a brief refuel and rest, I hopped on my trainer. LOVED it. Every Saturday should be so fab. I think today's lesson is that life is what you make it, and I want to make mine great - like last Saturday great. And from time to time, greatness requires a refocusing of mental energy. I won't deny that I've had my struggles, but I choose not to let them define this time in my life."Triathlawesome"
Best word ever coined. An update in 3 happy parts: 1) Joining the Fighting Koalas = more than just win. I'm already feeling like it could be one of the best things I've ever done. Especially for my swim...and zone training. 2) Life upgrades! In several forms including house/home, technological advancement, and indoor cycle trainers.
Now this is triathlawesome!!
3) Reunited with the long run: ahhhhhhh. In my 15k loop today, I enjoyed honest-to-goodness countryside, a wee lake, sunshine...and being attacked by bird poo.
Posted
from Waterloo, Canada
Working on my childhood dream of being a mermaid.
This girl swam a kilometer last night!! :D Freestyle. Face in, no less. Doubled my half hour pool record too! Feeling pretty fab.After such a raging swimming success, I immediately joined The Fighting Koalas tri team. I am thrilled that I looked them up, and so psyched to become a better triathlete. I have a great feeling about 2011.
