January Goals

As I mentioned in my 2011 in Review post, I'm going to make monthly goals this year rather than year long ones because I think it will work better for me.  It certainly has in the past, and my year long goals of 2011 did not go so well, and I don't know why I ever changed! 

Running and Fitness:

By the end of January, I will have built up my "long" run distance to 10K safely, and without risking injury, by focussing soley on distance and not on time and speed this month.

By running 4 times/week, and keeping my weekday runs at 5K, I will build on my weekend runs to reach 10K.  If I join Christine/Dream Big Runner's challenge, and I complete every planned training run, I will just make 100K for January.

I would love to add cross training and yoga to this, but if I accomplish this one goal, I will be happy for this month.  If I get a little cross training (hello, snowshoes) and yoga in there too, then that will just be icing on the cake!

Nutrition:

Keep a food journal this month.  Write down EVERYTHING.  Keep aiming for 7 fruits and veggies/day, even after HBBC is done.

Work/Life Balance:

While tracking food, I might as well track my hours worked.  When on site, take lieu time within ONE week.  Maintain 9-5 work hours with a flexible lunch time reserved for running.

Mind:

Finish my current book and read at least one of my Christmas books this month.

Earth:

Walk for small mid-week grocery items at least once/week.

The first 10 days of this month are going to be exceptionally busy for me at work, but I've done my best to prepare ahead workwise, and plan my running, meals and snacks in advance.  On the bright side, the busy-ness includes another trip to Whitehorse, and 9 hours on planes leaves a lot of time for reading!

2011 In Review

I haven't done a monthly review of my goals for this year since, um, March.  Oops!  Clearly, setting these year long goals isn't working for me and I'm going to make some changes for 2012.  Still, it's worth looking back to see how I did.

Running and Exercise:

Finish the Vancouver Marathon faster than I finished the Victoria Marathon. Well, I finished the Vancouver Marathon, but significantly slower than the Victoria Marathon.  Given my injury in February, I'm still disappointed with my time, and will eventually get redemption, but I am happy that I stuck with my training and completed my second marathon in 2011.

Run my third marathon in the fall.  Nope.  I needed a break, and I took one.

Run at least 1100 miles in 2011.  Nope.  I was on track until August, and then stopped training and even stopped running altogether for a little while.

Cross train at least 30 minutes once per week.  Nope.  I have done more corss training this year than in the past, and kept up my fitness with some cross training when I wasn't running.  Still lots of room for improvement!

Do at least 30 minutes of yoga once per week.  Nope.  I probably did yoga every other week.  I can do better.

Diet and Nutrition:

Eat fruit every day.  Almost.  I really don't love fruit, but I made sure I always had it in the house and usually either started my day with a banana, or finished it with an orange. 

Try at least 2 new recipes every month.  I wish I'd kept tracking this.  Going back to eating meat probably meant that I actually accomplished this! 

Eat at least 3 meals a day.  90% success.  Other than a short phase where I was calling a mini bag of popcorn "lunch", I did way better with this.  I think starting a food journal in January will keep me on track and be proof to myself that I'm eating better.

Don't drink coffee after noon. (I used to be good at this, but it's sneaking back in to my day!)  Done!  I have only rarely had an afternoon cup of coffee, and only occasionally a post-lunch cup of (caffeinated) tea.

Mind:

Read two books every month.  This year I know I read 8 books, and there are probably 1 or 2 more that I'm forgetting.  Poop.

Apply for school by March 1st.  No.  But I decided not to go back to school for what I thought I was going to go back to school for and have taken steps to figure out what is next for me.

Etudie le francais pour 90 minutes par semaine.  Merde.

The Earth:

Find a fulfilling, ongoing volunteer project (a few hours a month would be manageable).  I have volunteered at a few events in town, but have not commited to anything long term.  This is one that I want to have accomplished by the end of January, and I know where I want to volunteer, so it's just a matter of going in.

Continue to eat as locally and sustainably as possible (cut out prawns!)  Well, I started eating meat, but most of my meat comes closer to home than soy beans!  Still room for improvement here, but I am fairly conscious of this with most of my meals.

Start a small veggie garden in the spring.  Nope.  I didn't even grow tomatoes this year.  :(

In 2012, I'll be setting my goals month by month and even week by week.  This works better for me and it's what got me to my first marathon.  Going month to month, I keep my goals relevant to how I'm feeling and how I have been doing in the previous month.  Stay tuned for January's goals!

Making Time

Holy smokes!  It's been nearly a month since my last post.  I knew I hadn't been blogging much, but didn't realize it had been that long.  This month, I made a new rule for myself.  If I don't have time to run, I shouldn't have time to blog. If I didn't have time to run in the day, then in the evening, I should be doing something more productive than whining about not having time to run online.  The fact that I haven't posted since December 5th doesn't mean that I didn't run at all since then, but I definitlely haven't found as much time as I would have liked to get out the door.

Of course, it's not really having time, it's making time.  It's making the right choices in how I use my time.  This week, with Christmas over, and me off of work, there's nothing but time and no excuses!  It was easy to get out there today, even if the ice made it a little tricky to stay upright!  I admit, I have been making too many excuses lately, and though I have my motivation back, I've still been having trouble getting out the door because of the weather, work, Christmas shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking, etc.  None of these are good excuses/reasons not to run, I've just been putting all of that other stuff ahead of running, and then run out of time during the daylight, and then waste time on the couch in the evening.  (I have been sticking to daylight running because it has been very icy for the past 2 weeks).

I'm not making year long goals for 2012 (post coming soon!), but I am making a resolution:

Not enough time is not an excuse.

Though the days are shorter, and the weather colder, I am lucky enough to have a flexible work schedule and can (almost) always schedule my work around my running.  Some low days before Christmas and my jeans fitting more tightly tell me that it's time to make running a priority once again.

Techy Tuesday

Yes, it's time for another installment of Techy Tuesday! 

I am not the most technilogically literate person out there.  I've even been known to say that technology makes us less productive rather than more productive (and that could be a whole other post!) But that's not to say that I don't use technology, and sometimes even enjoy it! 

One example that I enjoy are iPhone apps.  Yes, there are a lot of time wasters out there, but there are also some great apps to help with your workouts. (Quick disclaimer:  Nobody asked me to review these apps, I'm just sharing my personal favourites and opinions).

I have:

Source

This app creates a training plan for you depending on your goal race distance, the intensity level you want for your training, number of miles you want to run in a week, etc.  Admittedly, I haven't used it to actually train for a race, but I do like playing with the numbers to get a plan for a random week of running.

Yesterday I used:



Source


I have the free version of Ab Workouts, and it doesn't really offer anything creative, but if you're having one of those days where you just want to get a quick workout in without anything too crazy, or you just need someone to count your sit ups for you, this is a good app.









Last week, while travelling, I put one of my favourite yoga apps to use.



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I really like this one because it has a TON of poses and modifications.  You can create and save your own routines, or pay a bit more to get routines through the app.  It's so handy to have yoga in app form when you can't make it to a class or carry your DVDs with you.  I use this mostly while travelling, but sometimes at home when I want to switch things up.







Last but not least, is my favourite workout app I've come across yet:



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Source

The Nike Training Club app gives tons of options, different types of workouts, and everything from beginner to advanced, 15 minutes to 60 minutes, with equipment and without.  I especially like the Ab Burner and Back Burner workouts, but love to try different ones all the time.  I also love that rewards come in the form of new workouts.  There's also video demonstrations of each move, as well as descriptions, and the option to set your workout to music on your iPhone/iPod.  I have never been a big fan of strenth-building, but this app gets me debating whether I want to run, or strength train, or just do both!  I love the quick workouts that I can do when I'm away for work without any weights or equipment, and the longer, cardio workouts when it's too cold or too snowy to run outside or get down my driveway to drive to the gym.  The best part?  Unlike a lot of other apps that give you a free partial version but require payment for the full, this app comes free with all the options you could possibly want (and you hardly notice that it's just one big advertisement!)

What's your favourite workout app?

Monday Mindset

I'm starting this week feeling:  schlumpy.


I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm a bit sleepy.

I'm not running as much as I would like, and I've been feeling a bit chubby.

I'm motivated to work out (and have been getting my 30 minutes a day), but am still feeling lazy when it comes to running.

And after being away from my office last week, I'm behind on work, which makes me feel disorganized and grumpy.

On the bright side, as I said, I have been working out or at least stretching/walking/strengthening every day since the start of the 30 for 60 Challenge, and I have been getting my 7 fruits and veggies every day of HBBC, except one.  For both challenges, I've had 2 off days, but I haven't let that get me totally off my game plan, and for that, I am thankful.  This is progress for me, because in the past, one off day has thrown me off my entire week, or plan, or, as we'll see when I do my year in review wrap up of my goals, an off day can set me off.  Completely.  So my 30 for 60 challenge has become 30 for 59.  I did not waste that entire day.  I was on my feet for most of it, doing a good, pre-holiday clean of the house, errands, and even some Christmas decorating, though I worked up a bit of a sweat vacuuming (our furnace either heats to 25C or not at all at the moment), I didn't work out, per se.  This week, I would like to get 4 cardio workouts in, whether they be running, elliptical, bike, or some other aerobic exercise.  It's time to step it up!

Carnivore Conflict

I started my vegetarian diet just to see how long I could go without eating meat.  It turns out the answer was 9 years.

9 years ago, while eating some Thanksgiving leftovers, I decided to challenge myself to see if I could go for a month as a vegetarian.  After a month, I just kept going.  At first, I would occasionally have intense cravings for hamburgers, which I quickly figured out was my body's way of telling me I needed more iron or protein, but soon, I found it pretty easy to stick to my veggie diet.  After the original motivation of the "challenge," I was turned off at the thought of eating flesh, and had fun learning new vegetarian recipes. 

While living in Asia, I adopted a flexitarian diet.  I avoided meat as much as possible, but if it was served to me, I ate it.  My friends in China did not understand why anyone would give up meat because to their families, it was a luxury.  I put cultural sensitivity ahead of my own beliefs, and ate what was put in front of me.  During this time, I also started giving more thought to the local food movement, and it was of some comfort that the meat I was eating was predominantly bought at local markets from local farmers.  (I tried to put China's track record on animal rights out of my head).

Aside from a brief stint trying to be vegan when I returned to Canada (I couldn't do it), I started a pescatarian diet about 3 years ago, because living in a small, northern town, there weren't many veggie options and I like variety and simplicity in my diet.  I was also able to get a fair amount of local fish, and started thinking more about where my food was coming from.

Last year, we got chickens.  With a coop in the back yard, I knew exactly what they were being fed, how much space they have to run around, and was able to stand by for moral support while they were being killed.  (Moral support going equally to the BF doing the killing and to the chicken in the cone).

There are a lot of protein sources available to vegetarians and vegans.  Lentils, beans and nuts work great without even touching soy, but I found that more and more I was picking up convenient, processed, simulated meat and I wasn't entirely comfortable with that.  Another advantage of living in a northern community, is people like to hunt.  It's easy to get some meat comes from an animal that lived a happy free life without hormones or antibiotics being pumped into it, eating it's natural diet that doesn't make it sick, and that didn't travel hundreds of miles to get to my plate.

Over the past few months, I've slowly eased my way back into a diet that includes meat.  I no longer can say that I'm vege/pescitarian.  But I'm not totally comfortable eating all kinds of meat, either.  I admit that I've recently had a McD's quarter pounder (just to remember what it tasted like), and tried a few of the BF's favourite dishes at a couple of restaurants, but I don't want to eat ALL meat, all the time.

Do you think about where your food comes from?  What about your meat?  Do you think about how much meat you eat?

21 Things

Tall Mom tagged me last week to share 21 things about myself.  I'm going to try to keep them original and new!  Here it goes:

1.  I love the book Charlotte's Web, but none of the movie versions.  I read it over and over as a kid and have been on the look out for a new (used) copy to re-read and replace my old one that is now missing pages.

2.  I recently started eating meat after 9 years of being vegetarian  (post coming soon).

3.  I have a B.Sc in Biology from McMaster University, but don't use it.  I also have a Grad. Dip. in Teaching and Learning from Christchurch College.

4.  I wish I liked to cook, but I really don't.  Fake it til you make it?  I do like looking at cookbooks, but almost always just choose the recipes that go with the pictures.

5.  I have been lucky enough to do a fair amount of travelling and have taken a lot of pictures but don't think I'm a particularly good photographer.  Sometimes I luck out and get a good one.  This is one of my favourites:

6.  I like math and numbers.  When I need to add figures, I prefer to use a pencil and paper over a calculator.

7.  I like to do crosswords.  The Toronto Star crossword is the perfect difficulty level for me when I lived in Ontario - tough enough that I don't finish it every day, but easy enough that I can often finish it and feel good.  I haven't found a good one in the papers in BC.

8.  December 21st is my favourite day of the year (it just gets brighter from there!)

9.  I am a rule-follower.  I am a horrible liar and I hate getting "in trouble."  I even feel a twinge of anxiety if I jaywalk!

10.  When I travel, I am frequently "randomly selected" for an extra search.  At one point it had happened on 5 flights in a row, and once for an extra search as I boarded the plane when I was moving to New Zealand for a year.  They went through each of my CDs one by one and made me turn my laptop on.  I connected through LA, and it was not long after 9/11 so it all made sense, and I'm happy to take extra safety precautions, I just wonder, why me?!

11.  I have suffered from insomnia in the past.  Lately, I've been playing Boggle on my iPhone to help me clear my head and fall to sleep.  3 games usually does it!

12.  I have been to all of the provinces and 2 of Canada's 3 territories.  I am currently on a personal mission to get to Iqaluit, Nunavut for a work trip.

13.  I have never smoked.  EVER.

14.  I almost never wear jewellery, but I love to look at it and will often buy a necklace or a bracelet while travelling as a souvenir because it is easy to pack. 

15.  Growing up I always wanted to go to Australia.  Whenever someone would ask, if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go, that was my answer, without really knowing why.  Now that I've been, my new answer is Peru.  I don't know why!  If I could go back to somewhere I have already been it would be Laos or India or France.

16.  I escaped deportation/jail in China because my boss' father knew the police chief and bribed him with cartons of cigarettes.  (There was a misunderstanding about my passport and visa).

17.  I don't like making phone calls to non-friends or calling anyone for the first time.  I hate calling to make appointments or inquiries or orders for pizza.  I will put these calls off for as long as I possibly can, and will get out of them if I can.

18.  I love ice cream.  LOVE.

19.  I am currently shopping for a new car!  I have been driving my current car since I was 17 (I'm 32).

20.  Je voudrais être bilingue.  My favourite french word is "pamplemousse"

21.  I am known for being extremely well-organized at work.  I am a planner, and like to have things ready to go well in advance of a presentation, workshop, or meeting, however, I never feel like I am organized enough and always feel that I have to rush at the last minute to complete the final detail.

I will tag the last people to comment around here:

Amanda @ Run to the Finish

Stefano The Black Knight

Laura - Live Well, Laugh Often, Run Much

Abbi @ Higher Miles

Christine @ Dream BIG Runner

Techy Tuesday

Over the past week, I've been setting up a Twitter and Facebook account for my blog.  Yes, it has taken me a week to figure it all out, and I'm still working on it! 

You can come "like" my Facebook Page, and you can follow me on Twitter @GetReadySetRun.

I'm not going to lie, I still don't really get all the #, and @ stuff, but I'll get there!  (Man, I feel old).

Monday's Mindset

This morning I woke up feeling:  Motivated.

What a great start to the week!  Between joining the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge, and the upcoming 30 for 60 challenge, and just being fed up with my own recent laziness, I'm ready for a comeback!

It's a cool morning and we've had a bit of snow, so I bundled up in my tights, headband, mitts, and jacket and wore my trail shoes for a little extra grip on the snow.  After a few runs broken with walk breaks over the last couple of weeks, I felt ready to try 5 K of running, without the walking.  I left the Garmin at home so as not to be frustrated by the slow numbers.  I didn't care about time, I just wanted to run, slow and steady and all the way around the loop.

Mission accomplished! 

To keep this motivation going, I'm going to be working on a flexible plan that lets me slowly build up my mileage to get back into a regular routine.  I'm going to keep running Garmin-free until I've got a few more runs under my belt/the roads are clear (because snow always slows me down anyway).

Have you signed up for a challenge over the holidays?

Canada Games Centre

This week I had the opportunity to work out at the Canada Games Centre in Whitehorse.  Keep in mind that Whitehorse has a population of less than 27 000 people and there are only just over 34 000 people in the entire territory, so it is pretty impressive that they have this awesome facility:

Source

I spent most of my time on the treadmill, but also made my way over to the indoor track, which circles the indoor soccer field and basketball court, before stretching out in the spacious gym.  I didn't make it to the pool, or the fitness class, but when I finished I spent some time watching the figure skaters on one of two ice rinks.

I just wish running on a different treadmill in a new gym had the same effect as running on a new route! 

Aikido

Thanks for the encouraging words on my last post.  I'm looking forward to my next run (tomorrow morning).

Today I had the opportunity to try Aikido, through work.  According to Wikipedia, Aikido is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on. This requires very little physical strength, as the aikidōka (aikido practitioner) "leads" the attacker's momentum using entering and turning movements. The techniques are completed with various throws or joint locks.

We wore all white, because we are not masters!  (Source)

We started with moving our joints, rolling our ankles, crunching the toes, bending the knees and swinging our arms to warm up before doing some gentle stretching.  After my plane ride back from Ontario yesterday, and a day of travel to get to Whitehorse today, this was a great start.  This was followed by practising kneeling, "the Japanese way," which built into standing, then rolling from a seated position, rolling to kneeling, rolling to standing, and rolling from standing.  Each move built on the next and soon we were rolling across the floor, then rolling over obstacles on the ground.  Though they were all moves that anyone could do, I tried to engage my abs to do each roll with control and make it a bit more of a work out.

After some time practising, we got to work in pairs to try some different moves that would allow you to easily bring an attacker to the ground.  This required a little more coordination than I readily possess, but after a few tries I was able to get it. 

I can't say that I have a passion for pursuing this or any other martial art, but it was a great class to try it out.  Almost everyone was a beginner, beginner, and the instructor did a great job of demonstrating and giving feedback and encouragement.

And did I mention that I was working while doing this?!  One of the youth I work with in Whitehorse had the opportunity to try it out recently and loved it so much that he wanted to introduce it to the others.  It was great to see them support his effort in organizing the evening, and his excitement in sharing Aikido with them.

Have you ever tried Aikido or any other martial art?

Day One

Here I am, back at the beginning.

This summer, after a disappointing marathon in the spring, and a crushing, so-close-it-hurts half marathon in June, I was not enjoying my runs.

The last run I went on that I liked, was on my birthday in mid-July.  After that, I was dragging myself out the door, counting down the minutes until it was over, and not feeling any better afterward.  I was either mad at myself for being lazy and not pushing myself or exhausted from working too hard.  That pesky hip injury from last winter started to kick in again, and my knee wasn't feeling great.  When we went to Alaska in August, I was happy for an excuse to take a break, but when we returned, I just didn't start again.

I used my hip as an excuse, but unlike in the past with injury, I was in no hurry to get back out there.  I think I ran twice in September.  In October I worked out a handful of times, and did a bit of yoga, but I was unmotivated to do much else.  I kept up following blogs, but didn't comment and didn't write my own because I didn't feel I had anything to say.  I watched A LOT of tv.  I ate A TON of halloween candy.  Still, the longer I went without running, the more I dreaded that first day out.

I was sure it was going to be hard, and I was going to be slow and out of breath.  Finally, this week, I ran, and here's how I did it:

New Shoes:  There's nothing like new shoes to put a new bounce in your step.  It wasn't quite time to get new shoes, but I will put screws into my last pair for slippery winter days and get a few more miles out of them yet.  Spending the money on new shoes made me feel that I had to use them!

New Route/Location:  I was in Gatineau, Quebec for work this week, so I brought my running gear.  A new route is a good distraction.  I also wasn't able to compare how fast used to run this route or how easy it used to be, because it was brand new.

Running Buddies:  I grabbed a couple of coworkers to run with me.  I warned them both that I was on the comeback trail and they were super supportive and let me call the shots.  They did most of the talking, which was another welcome distraction, and I was able to keep up without getting out of breath.  Every runner has been injured and come back at some point, and so they knew what I was going through.

No Pressure/No Garmin:  I didn't want to know how fast or slow I was going, so I left my Garmin at home.  My friend carried her iPhone and used MapMyRun but didn't tell me the outcome until the end.  I also originally planned to run 5 minutes, walk 1 minute, but ended up just running until I needed a walk break.  With lots of short hills we went about 25 minutes out before we took a 5 minute walk break and then headed for home with a slight short cut.  I was pleasantly surprised that we covered 8K in 50 minutes, including that walk break and about a 1.5K of trail.

It was not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be, and felt so good to get that first run out of the way.  I'm in Toronto until Monday and then in Whitehorse next week so I am looking forward to following up today's second run with a few more runs with different scenery and no pressure while I get myself back into the groove.

Three Things Thursday

1.  I love my job.  After laughter yoga on Tuesday night, I met another new group of youth on Thursday night.  They're activity of choice for our first meeting?  Cycle Fit at the Y.  I was stoked because I've never done a spinning class, and I've always wanted to try it.  With the limited running I've been doing, it was great to SWEAT for an hour, and even better, no hip or knee pain during or after and my legs felt great today.  AND even better than that, it was so great to see a group of young people so excited to work out and acknowledging their own accomplishment afterwards.  I love it!

2.  Tonight I met yet another group and the activity on tap was exercise for our brain - activities to practice our second language.  3 members organized a game for the whole group where questions were asked in French, and if you answered yes, you moved one space to the right.  If your answer was no, you stayed put.  So, if the person to your right said no and you said yes, you moved and sat on their lap.  Only the person on top of the pile could move in the next round, so at times we had 4 people sitting on top of eachother, but everyone was using their listening skills and helping with translation when needed.  Again, so great to see a group of youth laughing and smiling and enjoying learning.  (It's almost as if they didn't realize that's what they were doing).

3.  I have been dragging at work for a little while now, but a week like this was just what I needed.  It's weeks like this that make the tough ones worth while.  Now I remember why I do what I do.  :)

Laughter Yoga

Sometimes, my job is hard.  Sometimes, I deal with situations that are challenging, difficult, emotional, heart-tugging, anger-inducing, stressful or downright ridiculous.  Last night, my job took me to Laughter Yoga.

We have new groups of young people and last night was my first time meeting one of my groups for dinner and an activity.  Their activity of choice?  Laughter Yoga.

If you've never tried it, you should.  You will feel down right silly, and maybe even a little bit awkward at first, but I guarantee, that especially if you go with a friend, you will end up having a really good, belly laugh.

The idea behind laughter yoga is that when you laugh, you feel good.  There is science behind this, as when we laugh, we release hormones that make us feel better.  Apparently, our endocrine system doesn't know the difference between a real laugh and a fake laugh, so those feel-good chemicals start whirling around even when you let out a false chuckle.

Last night's session started with going around the circle with introductions and a silly laugh.  The only rule was that nobody laughs alone.  Sure enough, the fake giggles had turned into real laughs before we were a quarter of the way around the circle.

We did other activities that included mingling and making eye contact and greeting each other with a little laugh, circling the room with new dance moves, forming an inner and outer circle and turning opposite directions while laughing, forming two lines on opposite sides of the room and approaching each other laughing, and the grounding laugh, where you "ho, ho, ha, ha" in rhythm.  All was interspersed with brief deep breathing exercises, reminicent of the type of yoga you might be more familiar with.  To end, we did a laughter meditation, where everyone lied down, heads toward the centre of the circle, and started laughing.  This went on for several minutes, and as cheesy as it sounds, I found my laughter was uncontrollable, and a full body laugh.

If it sounds silly, that's because it is.  I mean, it's ridiculous really - a room of adults, moving around a room, laughing for no good reason.  But that's the point.  You can't help but laugh!

I've been to laughter yoga a few times, with a few different groups that I've worked with.  My experience has often been the same, one or two minutes of feeling awkward, followed by 45 minutes of hard laughter and a rush of energy afterwards.  I have been and felt that I really needed that laugh, that it had been a long time since I had laughed so hard.  Last night I realized that I have been laughing a lot lately, and that made me feel even better.  :)

If you're interested in learning more or finding laughter yoga near you, check out www.laughteryoga.org

Have you ever tried laughter yoga?  When is the last time you had a really good laugh?

Sunday Stroll

We had an invasion yesterday....to the chicken coop.

The BF had let the chickens out for some free run time on the grass, and I was periodically checking that they didn't get out on the road.  [Insert obvious joke here].  At some point, between my checks, the chicks disappeared.  There were feathers around the yard, and after a bit of searching, we found 3 of 9.  One in the bushes, and 2 in the neighbour's garden.  A 4th was spotted but was so skittish that we couldn't catch it.  The BF found the rooster, minus the head, left in the woods behind the yard.  We found another this morning in the garage (with all its parts).  That leaves 4 more, MIA.

Aside from losing 5 chickens (including my favourite), the downside of this is that the BF was intent on catching the wily fox who caught the chickens, so despite it being a BEAUTIFUL day, we had to cut our usual Sunday hike short, so he could be home in time to stalk the fox. 

For the record, I don't know what he plans to do if he catches that fox.  He's hiding in the garage with a shovel, and I'm not asking questions.

Despite cutting the hike short, we caught a glimpse of salmon fighting their way up the creek, and had a beautiful, if short, walk in the woods.

There are salmon in there!

Same same but different

Welcome to my new blog!  Well, it's still the same blog, but it's different. 

I started the blog when I decided to run my first marathon, and I continuted it as I trained for my second marathon, and when I started to train for my third.  But when I stopped training, my blog title seemed a little silly.  This doesn't mean I'll never run another marathon, but I want this space to be about more than marathon training.  So new title, new direction!

I'll still be writing about running, and getting ready for whatever race distance I choose to train for next, but also about yoga, cross training, strength training, hiking, yummy food, and rest and relaxation!

I have lots of ideas for upcoming posts, so stay tuned!

Yoga Mat For Sale

I haven't been posting much lately.  Work has been hectic and I'm trying to regain work-life balance.  I've been working on being more efficient during work hours (ie. no bloggy breaks), and then staying away from my laptop in pre and post work hours to stop me from straying from fun stuff back over to work stuff.

I do have some ideas for upcoming posts, so I will be back soon!  In the meantime, this came across my desk today.  You may have already seen it, but I think it's pretty funny!  It was actually forwarded by a colleague as a pick me up because of all of the stuff that's been going on.  I laughed outloud and I think you will too!

Yoga mat for sale. Used once. - $1 (Bellevue)

Yoga mat for sale. Used once at lunch hour class in December 2009. Usage timeline as follows:

11:45a
Register for hot yoga class. Infinite wisdom tells me to commit to 5 class package and purchase a yoga mat. I pay $89.74. Money well spent, I smugly confirm to myself.

11:55a
Open door to yoga room. A gush of hot dry air rushes through and past me. It smells of breath, sweat and hot. Take spot on floor in back of room next to cute blonde. We will date.

11:57a
I feel the need to be as near to naked as possible. This is a problem because of the hot blonde to my left and our pending courtship. She will not be pleased to learn that I need to lose 30 pounds before I propose to her.

11:58a
The shirt and sweats have to come off. I throw caution to the wind and decide to rely on my wit and conditioning to overcome any weight issues my fiancée may take issue with. This will take a lot of wit and conditioning.

11:59a
Begin small talk with my bride to be. She pretends to ignore me but I know how she can be. I allow her to concentrate and stare straight ahead and continue to pretend that I don't exist. As we finish sharing our special moment, I am suddenly aware of a sweat moustache that has formed below my nose. This must be from the all the whispering between us.

12:00p
Instructor enters the room and ascends her special podium at the front of the room. She is a slight, agitated Chinese woman. She introduces me to the class and everyone turns around to greet me just as I decide to aggressively adjust my penis and testes packed in my Under Armor. My bride is notably unfazed.

12:02p
Since I do have experience with Hot Yoga (4 sessions just 5 short years ago) I fully consider that I may be so outstanding and skilled that my instructor may call me out and ask me to guide the class. My wife will look on with a sparkle in her eye. We will make love after class.

12:10p
It is now up to 95 degrees in the room. We have been practicing deep breathing exercises for the last 8 minutes. This would not be a problem if we were all breathing actual, you know, oxygen. Instead, we are breathing each other's body odor, expelled carbon dioxide and other unmentionables. (Don't worry, I'll mention them later.)

12:26p
It is now 100 degrees and I take notice of the humidity, which is hovering at about 90%. I feel the familiar adorning stare of my bride and decide to look back at her. She appears to be nauseated. I then realize that I forgot to brush my teeth prior to attending this class. We bond.

12:33p
It is now 110 degrees and 95% humidity. I am now balancing on one leg with the other leg crossed over the other. My arms are intertwined and I am squatting. The last time I was in this position was 44 years ago in the womb, but I'm in this for the long haul. My wife looks slightly weathered dripping sweat and her eyeliner is streaming down her face. Well, "for better or worse" is what we committed to so we press on.

12:40p
The overweight Hispanic man two spots over has sweat running down his legs. At least I think its sweat. He is holding every position and has not had a sip of water since we walked in. He is making me look bad and I hate him.

12:44p
I consider that if anyone in this room farted that we would all certainly perish.

12:52p
It is now 140 degrees and 100% humidity. I am covered from head to toe in sweat. There is not a square millimeter on my body that is not slippery and sweaty. I am so slimy that I feel like a sea lion or a maybe sea eel. Not even a bear trap could hold me. The sweat is stinging my eyeballs and I can no longer see.

12:55p
This room stinks of asparagus, cloves, tuna and tacos. There is no food in the room. I realize that this is an amalgamation of the body odors of 30 people in a 140 degree room for the last 55 minutes. Seriously, enough with the asparagus, ok?

1:01p
140 degrees and 130% humidity. Look, bitch, I need my space here so don't get all pissy with me if I accidentally sprayed you with sweat as I flipped over. Seriously, is that where this relationship is going? Get over yourself. We need counseling and she needs to be medicated. Stat!

1:09p
150 degrees and cloudy. And hot. I can no longer move my limbs on my own. I have given up on attempting any of the commands this Chinese chick is yelling out at us. I will lay sedentary until the aid unit arrives. I will buy this building and then have it destroyed.
I lose consciousness.

1:15p
I have a headache and my wife is being a selfish bitch. I can't really breathe. All I can think about is holding a cup worth of hot sand in my mouth. I cannot remember what an ice cube is and cannot remember what snow looks like. I consider that my only escape might be a crab walk across 15 bodies and then out of the room. I am paralyzed, and may never walk again so the whole crab walk thing is pretty much out.

1:17p
I cannot move at all and cannot reach my water. Is breathing voluntary or involuntary? If it's voluntary, I am screwed. I stopped participating in the class 20 minutes ago. Hey, lady! I paid for this frickin class, ok?! You work for me! Stop yelling at everyone and just tell us a story or something. It's like juice and cracker time, ok?

1:20p
It is now 165 degrees and moisture is dripping from the ceiling. The towel that I am laying on is no longer providing any wicking or drying properties. It is actually placing additional sweat on me as I touch it. My towel reeks. I cannot identify the smell but no way can it be from me. Did someone spray some stank on my towel or something?

1:30p
Torture session is over. I wish hateful things upon the instructor. She graciously allows us to stay and 'cool down' in the room. It is 175 degrees. Who cools down in 175 degrees? A Komodo Dragon? My wife has left the room. Probably to throw up.

1:34p
My opportunity to escape has arrived. I roll over to my stomach and press up to my knees. It is warmer as I rise up from ground level - probably by 15 degrees. So let's conservatively say it's 190. I muster my final energy and slowly rise. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. Towards the door. Towards the door.

1:37p
The temperature in the lobby is 72 degrees. Both nipples stiffen to diamond strength and my penis begins to retract into my abdomen from the 100 degree temp swing. I can once again breathe though so I am pleased. I spot my future ex wife in the lobby. We had such a good thing going but I know that no measure of counseling will be able to unravel the day's turmoil and mental scaring.

1:47p
Arrive at Emerald City Smoothie and proceed to order a 32 oz beverage. 402 calories, 0 fat and 14 grams of protein -- effectively negating any caloric burn or benefit from the last 90 minutes. I finish it in 3 minutes and spend the next 2 hours writing this memoir.

3:47p
Create Craigslist ad while burning final 2 grams of protein from Smoothie and before the "shakes" consume my body.

4:29p
Note to self - check car for missing wet yoga towel in am.

Source

Ready to Run

My Garmin says my last run was August 4th.

Huh?

I know that was the weekend I decided to give up on my marathon, relax a little more this summer, and relished the sleep in on Saturday...and Sunday.  I know I spent 4 days of the following week on the road for work and though I wasn't running, I was running around like a crazy person getting ready for our trip.  Then there were those two weeks of vacationing, which included a lot of hiking, but not a lot of running besides from the camper to the drop toilets in the middle of the night.  Then there were 3 days in Whitehorse for work, where I tried to do about 2 weeks of work in 3 days.  And then...

Well, then I procrastinated.  I knew it had been long enough since my last good run, that my next run was not going to be a good one.  I was using every available excuse:  the weather, time, upset stomach, not drinking enough water, tiredness, coming down with a cold, hip pain...

Wait.

What?

How do you get a running injury when you haven't been running?

It started a few days into the trip to Alaska.  Not pain, really, but tightness.  A feeling.  I thought maybe I was just stiff from sitting in the car, but on a couple of our hikes that feeling kicked in a little more.  I went back to doing the physio exercises I was given back in February while we were on the road and I lacked internet to figure out anything else, but this is a different spot.

Today I was dying to get out to run (enough is enough), and though I should know better than to run through pain, I'd pretty well convinced myself that maybe running would make this pain go away, since it started when I wasn't running.  You get my logic, right?  Besides, it wasn't really pain.  It was a feeling.

I went at a comfortable pace and set my Garmin to 5 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking.  I didn't look at my pace at all, because I didn't want to push myself.  I just wanted to stay in a nice, comfortable zone on a nice, flat, 5K loop.

I could feel my hip throughout, and by about half way through, I could also feel my knee.  Not sharp pain, but not right, either.  Once I got home, I stretched well, but by part way through this afternoon, I could still feel my hip, even when I was sitting at my desk.

I tried to take pictures with my iPhone to show you where and how it hurts until I can get into physio, but they turned out like this:

When I lift my leg this high, the "feeling" kicks in right around the side of my pocket
(Ignore the mess in the background)

When I lift my leg as if to march on the spot, the "feeling" hits around this height, right at the bend of my hip, at the flexor

Ok, so really not very useful photos, but I thought they were funny. 

My mind is ready for running, but my body might need a little more convincing.  Foam rolling tonight and heading to the gym tomorrow to see what the eliptical and bike feel like....

No running, more photos.

Here's the rest of our trip!



The photo here was as close as we got to seeing Denali/Mt McKinley, but here I am at the viewpoint.

We climbed a mountain in Denali State Park for a better look - but we just got a view of rain clouds...

...and then the rain got closer, but we kept going up

...and got a rainbow view before we got POURED on (we never learn our lesson on this!)

An abanonned 3 story igloo

Still no mountain view, but a beautiful day in Denali National Park

Where there were also the nicest drop toilets of all time!

After a quick stop in Fairbanks, we were off on the Dalton Highway - as far north as you can go in North America!

We crossed the Arctic Circle!

And had lunch here. 

If you're passing through the Coldfoot Visitor's Centre, look for us in the new video - we were asked to drive by with our camper while two girls were setting up their tent in the background.

The trees just stopped as we went north.  (can't rotate)

But we got a great sunset before we stopped to camp...

And this view in the morning when we woke up before the mountains stopped too.

Then the tundtra got very flat...

Which made for easy wildlife viewing!

We even spotted wild muskoxen (those dark things).

Deadhorse was just a big industrial zone, so we turned around quickly so we had time to do another hike

Back to reality...we'd been out of the loop for so long, we didn't know why the flag was lowered when we got back to Kluane National Park (Jack Layton had died).

Overall, the trip was amazing!  We had a lot of rain, but it didn't stop us from getting out and doing lots of hikes.  We didn't have any set plans and enjoyed the freedom to just go where we wanted, when we wanted.  We were surprised by how little wildlife we saw, but seeing muskox, which are so weird and prehistoric looking, more than made up for it.  The photos of the Dalton Highway don't do it justice.  This was a breathtaking drive, but all we heard about it before we left was how tough of a road it would be.  While services are few and far between, the highway is paved more than half of the way, hard packed dirt the rest, and very well travelled by pipeline workers, trucks, government and hunters.  Though it was nice to get a break from all of the tourists in the south, there is no reason not to drive this highway and I don't know why more people don't do it!

Now it really is time to get back to reality - and running!

Alaska bound!

Heads up:  This is not a running post! 

After over a year without a break from work, the BF and I went on a 2 week road trip to Alaska.  I did bring my running shoes, but they only went on my feet when my hiking shoes got soaked.  I didn't run at all for 2 weeks (or the week before we left, or the week after we got home - eek), but we did a lot of hiking and walking and had a GREAT time.

Here's a little summary in pictures:

Bought some smoked salmon from these guys - grabbing them straight from the river in Moricetown, BC

Our first hike - over one of the original bridges on the Alaska Highway

Entering Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory

Who needs a campground when you can pull off the highway and wake up to this view?!

We made it!  (but I can't rotate the picture)

Our first stop across the border.  This town was "New Tokyo" until Japan bombed Alaska.

Another hike, and our first wildlife sighting: a beaver!

First glacier sighting!  Worthington Glacier

The sign said:  Caution: Proceed at your own risk.  The sign did not say not to proceed.

On the ferry from Valdez to Whittier (with views of the Columbia Glacier)

Exit Glacier near Seward - the glacier came this far in 1926

Up close at Exit Glacier

Muskox!  (At the wildlife preserve)

Identifying bear poop at the wildlife preserve

Traffic Jam in Alaska.  There was a fatal accident, so we just got out of line and went for a hike (traffic was stopped for 6 hours!)

Another hike in the rain...

...to another glacier!

As close as I got to running - there was a race in Anchorage!  I hadn't registered, or eaten, and food won.

Yummy, yummy beers at Glacier Brewhouse

The obligatory King Crab dinner

Uhh...

Heading north, we pulled in here.  Mike had everything - cars, antlers, Sarah Palin signs and...

A pickled hand?!

On that note...I'll break here!  More to come as we head to Denali National Park, Fairbanks, and chase down the Ice Road Truckers!