Failure

Well, in a running sense, I am a failure.
I broke my blog-promise last night because I did not go for a run.
GASP.
I really wanted to go - I was even dressed to go! But I got into an argument with my roomate, and it was just more important to sort it out than go running.
I am also not going today, because it is very snowy and I don't feel like being cold tonight. There is plenty of time this weekend for a long and cold run :)


However, I am not a failure in other respects:

• I am a student leader on campus. I am part of VISA and AIESEC  and proud to be part of them.
• I am in my 3rd year of university and doing well so far.
• I have run 2 5ks, one 10k and one half marathon. I have signed up for two more 5ks and one half marathon this year.
• I have great roomies that want to do an Adventure Race with me!
• I am injury-free.
• I am super busy but make time to get in enough sleep :)
• I am healthy and haven't been sick in a long time.
• I volunteer a lot, so I feel connected to the community :)

Hehe, there's my list of awesome to make me feel better.

Dailymile

The point of this blog post is to make a promise to myself.


DM is saying I haven't run in a week.
But I played Kinect Sports (track & field - hurdles) a few days ago and my bum hurts. So I really want to count it as running.


This past week, each and every day I've thought about going for a run. I had even gone so far as to putting aside time for it. I felt bad each day I didn't get to go.


Here is my list of excuses:

Icy sidewalks

Busy Gym/Hate treadmills

No time

Too dark outside.

I think all those are fair things to consider as I like to run outside. I like to bundle up with double layers of everything, plan out my route on Google, make sure to carry a phone and ID. I even leave my route on my laptop in case anything happens and my room-mates need to find where I went.

But the biggest issue was the it's dark outside, or that the sidewalks are icy. Well I'm not afraid of the dark... and there isn't much ice out today.

I WILL go for a run tonight, after my Toastmasters meeting!!!

Hehe, and then I will finally be able to log into DM without feeling bad :)

Bloggerland

Today (yesterday) was a long, long day.
It started at 6am. It included a 40 minute freezing walk in the cold to waste time because I was too, too early for work this morning.
Today was MAKING POVERTY EVERYONE'S BUSINESS. It included the chance to listen to some amazing speeches and meet some awesome people within my community. I learned a lot and met some passionate people. I was a note-taker this morning and was able to listen in on the brainstorming process that goes on behind Poverty-reduction strategies from a non-profit point of view. There were some common themes and concerns with the process, but even business owners agree that taking little steps NOW can lead to a big change 5 years down the line. A Living Wage is one example.


Enough about my work :)


I didn't have much time between work and my 7pm meeting at school.
Calvin had said he didn't want to drive me out just yet (at around 5:30), so I took that as a sign I shouldn't head out. I changed out of running clothes and went into bum-vegetable mode.
A few minutes later he says he's ready to drive me. I had already decided to skip the run.
I went back and forth, vocalising my indecision to go for a run.
I then realised I had posted it on my blog, so I HAD to go out! :)


I ran 6.6km today, in about 45 mins (slow) but I got out there, felt great, and didn't let myself down! :)
I may go for a run tomorrow, but I think it's date night - next long run will definitely be Saturday.

Listy Tuesday

I am scrunched for time, so I will put everything in list form :)

- I really wanted to run for an hour today (or a 10k, whichever) but it was wet, dark and late by the time I got home from school. Maybe tomorrow!

- Room-mates went food shopping today. I got some yummy snacks for school and placement:

A coconut

Digestive Biscuits

celery, yoghurt and a huge bag of spinach to make green smoothies :)

granola bars in a value pack :D

- My room-mates emptied their Round Cat and counted around $150 in change, so we went out and got a Kinect.

- We also got Kinect Sports and have been playing Table Tennis, Athletics, Volleyball and Bowling. My arms hurt from the TT :)

- I'm note-taking for a special event tomorrow, so I have to get up at 6am. It is going to be a long day for me tomorrow:

7am Special Event

2pm Work

5pm Get home, have dinner

5:30pm Get dropped off 10k from school

6pm Run to school

7pm Toastmasters

9pm study for an hour

10pm bed

:)

Devonshire

It's another Sunday, the end of another week in 2011. It's going by pretty fast, don't you think??


We've started school and I'm just getting into the hang of things. I'm trying to sell some textbooks from last year to raise money for my current needed ones :)
I'm also trying to get into the hang of reading after being at work all day. I'm trying to balance reading time with exercise - maybe I'll eventually merge the two (perhaps I can start reading while biking....)


This week I totalled 2h 42 mins of exercise, but I feel great. I haven't been having much tummy issues, my legs aren't hurting, and I'm going to start next week well :)


This week:
I ran outside 3x
I did a 'long' run of (almost) 8k.
I did 1h 15 on the bike.
 And... it's almost not worth it to mention, but our house got a Kinect system, and the Kinect Sports game... so that could count. We've done some virtual bowling, athletics and ping-pong and it's a whole lot of fun!!

I think the biggest thing this week was the longish run. I haven't been out for a run in the day-time before. I had brought my sunglasses because it was pretty bright out. I had to take them off though, because they kept steaming up and I couldn't see much.

It felt good to be out there, and I felt like I was accomplishing something. We went out shopping and I ran home, so it was nice to see that my little legs CAN take me places :)
I listened to my Ipod the whole time, and the time FLEW by.
Despite the blister and a half I got today, I am so so happy I decided to do it, and look out for more long runs in the near future!

:)

Hot Bath

A hot bath is the perfect way to end a long day of classes, which is what I wanted to do last night.

After filling up the tub and getting in I thought that the water wasn't as warm as I'd like it to be.
Turn on the hot water... and out comes COLD water :(

We had somehow run out of hot water that day. It's been happening recently....

So I got out and boiled 3 pots of water on the stove. 3 more kettles of boiling water and a half hour later, I get back in the tub and it was near perfect :)

It was a very old-fashioned way to do it, but I did not want to give up the hot bath I'd thought about the whole day. :(


And in more recent news:
My bf made me food today when I got back from work (aka field placement) and I have eaten too much, so I can't spend the time between work and Toastmasters running, but instead I will be uncomfortable and read Group Work Theory instead :)

Perhaps a run will happen later!
----
Edit: I did go running! Yay! It was SO COLD out, but I got out there and now I'm sipping on some hot chocolate, which will hopefully soothe my frozen throat :)

2011 Races

I'm so excited!!!

First off, I've had the best work-out week ever, 3rd-9th Jan.
I worked out for a total of

6h 29

 which averages out to just under an hour a day. It's been a great start to the new year, and I can only see it getting better with the bike trainer downstairs, my re-found love of swimming, and living 5 mins from the school gym :)

[However, ever since my last bike - yesterday- my tummy has been in a lot of pain, and waves of pain come and go :( If I don't feel better by... Wednesday evening I'll go see a Dr]

I have signed up for my first few races of the new year!
The first is on Feb 13th, and it's a 5k trail run. It's my first ever trail race, and it's something I'll be able to cross off my always-wanted-to-try list :)
I'm skipping the 8k trail race this month because I'm not confident at that distance at the moment, especially in a trail setting. Perhaps next year!

And I've also signed up for the Forest City Road Race, which is in London, ON on May 1st.

This is pretty great, since my roomate is also doing it (and will probably finish twice as fast as me) and my boyfriend lives in London, so FREE ride and FREE accommodation. And perhaps 100% guaranteed cheerleaders at the race :)

Freeze Your Thorns Off 5K Race Report

I'm not sure if I've done a race report before.... but here goes!

5k -- 33min 10sec

I didn't take this race too seriously - in fact I only remembered it was happening last night, when Tricia and Adam were chatting about it on Twitter yesterday. I was very jealous that they were doing the FYTO5k together the same day, and then I realised what the letters stood for ha!

So I woke up this morning at 10am, and putzed around for a while. I ended up doing 50 mins on the bike in the basement while watching Easy A :)
Shortly after that, I went swimming for a half hour at the gym.
I watched half a Smallville episode and then took a 2h nap. I figured that with all the exercise, I really needed those healing hormones that are supposedly produced during naps :)

"You must above all take adequate rest. Paula will regularly have a two-hour afternoon nap. The pineal gland, which is just below the brain, releases natural hormone (HGH)—which is needed to build new muscle—into the body 30 minutes after going to sleep. Sleeping twice a day releases a second dose of HGH into the body."


I then watched the end of my Smallville episode while having a couple of snacks, waiting for my roommates to get ready.


I brought a few things to the gym with me:
my anti-bottle
some Quality Street chocolates

my Ipod
an apple
spare Tshirt to change into :)
(we had discussed bringing a camera to post an official race picture, but Mike M's Iphone was dead, and our other phones don't upload to the internet :( )
I set the treadmill to around a 10min mile, and slowed down and sped up a few times. There's not much to report during the actual run, except that I hated it... yet it also went by quite fast. I can't seem to look away from the screen that shows my distance, and it doesn't seem to change as fast as I'd like.
I had to hit the pause button twice: once to get a towel to wipe my face, and another time to tie my shoe lace (I forgot to double tie it).


My Ipod died about 2/3rds into the run, but running without it isn't too bad. I usually run without my ipod in races anyway.


My splits (according to my amazing watch) were:

10.07

11.15

11.42

38 - not accurate, since I turned watch off after I hopped off the treadmill.

10:40 average (based on ending time) which I'll take :)

I've also come up with a new years resolution - NO more treadmills in 2011!! I'll take running in the snow over tread time.... ;)

A+

I will just go ahead and give myself an A+ for today's events.

I woke up at 9:30am, after not sleeping very well last night (I was nervous about new classes starting).
I made a green smoothie with spinach leaves, soy milk, yogurt and frozen raspberries :)
I then made a couple of calls to change my volunteer shifts and organise our Winter event for VISA.
At around 11am, I left for school, having packed my laptop, snacks, a hot mug of tea and money for textbooks.

I sat through my first class (policy) and by the time our break was due (at around half-past noon) my stomach was RUMBLING. As in, people could hear it! I'm glad I had packed a veggie wrap :)
I also had a snack, which would have been perfect timing for my last class of the day, but it was cut short so I just went home to have dinner (which was couscous! :))

And now, at 6pm, after dinner and an episode of Modern Family, I am planning on doing my assigned readings. At 9pm, I'm going to the gym with Mike to go swimming for about an hour.

A+ for thinking ahead to pack snacks, because I have back-to-back classes for 6 hours.
A+ for using my time well, fitting in readings and gym time, as well as TV time :)
And maybe even an A for looking up used textbooks and only buying brand new ones when I have to (I'm taking a brand-new course offered at our uni, and it's a custom coursepack, so I can't find it anywhere else.)

pomegranate

Sitting with a bowl of this after my bike and shower :)

It's only Wednesday night, and I've already worked out for 2 hours this week! I'm really happy about it... but my bum isn't :(

On Monday I did a 6k run, which was allright but showed that I'm not as fit as I'd like to be; am not comfortable with extended time on my feet; have become unused to the cold air that marks a Canadian winter :(

But I'm working on it!

Tuesday (yesterday) was the first time I had tried my roomies new fluid bike trainer, and I love it! I did 40ish minutes and I was sweating so much my fingers were slipping from the handles! I had to go upstairs and change into a tank top rather than a shirt, and shorts rather than capris! Perhaps I should get a fan or something....

I just wanted to update the blog and let my readers (if you guys really exist :)) know that 2011 is off to a good start.... I'm hoping I can keep it that way! :)

McDonalds

I went for my very first run of the year tonight, at around 7:30pm.
It was a slow 6km walk run, but I'm glad I got it in. Fitness-wise I felt okay: my legs were strong after two weeks off, and my lungs were working well despite the cold air.

I had some stomach cramps half-way through, which sucked because I was at the very least 15 mins from home. I decided to walk it out, which was a great decision. I still felt weird the rest of the run, but I finished it off walk running 1:1 and felt okay.

I have decided to keep running this route for the next two weeks. I love being able to see where I start struggling, and how it gets further and further each time :) My goal for the end of January is to run this smoothly, and then work on distance. My half marathon is in FOUR MONTHS (May 1st) and I want to be prepared!

Oh, and the entry is named after McD's cos I ran past there and felt highly superior to the people in the drive-through because I may live longer than them :)


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