today and tomorrow..

Good morning everyone!

It is a lovely Thursday, don't you think? I certainly do.

I think I do feel better when I run in the mornings. Clearly.

I got up and made myself go out for a run. Trying to complete a second day of the week 3 training. I am still slightly concerned that even though I am following the plan, it won't be enough and I won't be able to do the 5k. But I guess I will re-evaluate at the end of August and not worry about it now.

The run went rather well I think! If you look at the blog post from 2 days ago it outlines the session.

I have to tell you one sad story, though :( I ran past this guy who is a freakin' speed walker apparently in a suit! I was nearing the end of the 3 minute run and ran past him and thought I got quite a distance past him, but not enough! Shortly thereafter, while I'm panting and walking, this guy zooms past me. Who walks that fast just normally?! Honestly. I was kind of embarrassed that he had caughtup to me and passed me in such a short span of time.

Ah well.

Again this morning no cheese or ketchup with my eggs. It's so hard not to glob ketchup onto everything. It's so delicious!

Just thinking about ketchup makes me randomly think of KFC. Mm.

So again I have no lunch, but I still have some healthy snacks leftover from yesterday so I am good to go!

Oh, I also did more lunges and squats this morning. My knees don't love it, but it's not bad - yet!

And! You will all be happy to know that my shin splints are much improved! I am stretching my shins more and that is helping immensely. I do it during the run after it starts hurting a bit, though. That's ok, right? Then as I keep going it gets better. So yay :)

As I mentioned yesterday, I am going up to Ottawa to Mike's cottage for a few days and am going to try to run at some point tomorrow. But we will be hiking up a mountain also! Not quite mountain climbing, but I can ease into that.

I just want to thank you guys for all the support :) I love youz!

Shyn, Chow, & Charles - I look forward to going rock climbing!

Also! Chow - I looked up those Yak Trax things. They were only ~30$, I think. That's pretty reasonable! It should be good times.

In other news, this girl I know is running a triathlon in August! I am very fascinated!

I had been thinking lately of what I would do after this 5k. Well, first, I think a 10k is in order, but after that I wondered if a half-marathon was in my future.

But now I have another option! Rebecca (the girl doing the triathlon) told me the reason she chose to do one is because running longer than 10k gets really boring for her. I can see that. I still don't understand how people can run for hours on end.

So perhaps one day maybe next year or the year after? How fun!

let's get some perspective here, shall we?

Now. About this morning. Again, I didn't run. BUT, as the title says, let's get some perspective!

I will run tomorrow and Friday to make up for the lack of running today and Monday. Also, I will be going to Ottawa where there will be lots of hiking done!

Most importantly, last night we had fajitas for dinner. Though I bought cheese and grated it for Mike, I did not partake! That's right. I sat there and saw it looking all delicious, but did not have any! If that's not willpower, I don't know what is. I have to tell you - fajitas without cheese are just not as good! Though it was still pretty good.

I'm trying to get to the stage where I don't need it. There was a time I didn't eat cheese, whipped cream, sour cream or mayo. But then I had some and it snowballed! However, at the time, I didn't feel like my food was lacking in any way. I just have to get back to that point!

In addition to the cheese, I am trying to eliminate or limit ketchup, too. So, you will be happy to know, I did not have any ketchup with my egg this morning! Nor did I have any when I went out for breakfast with Denise last Sunday! When I had eggs florentine with only a wee bit of hollandaise sauce. I am trying to rediscover foods and flavour sans ketchup.

Furthermore, I brought snacks for the day! I have cottage cheese, blueberries, an apple, an orange, and an orange pepper! Admittedly, I don't have a lunch, but I can't do everything, people!

And now I have to go up the 18th floor (I'm on the 9th) and will take the stairs.

I don't know if you all know the story about me and the stairs here, but since this post is so short, I will tell you!

Back in March/April-ish, Mount Sinai put on a Stairs Challenge. This was to promote healthy lifestyles as well as decrease congestion in our elevators since half of them are always down for construction. This was a competition whereby you formed a team of 4 and counted the flights you took on a daily basis - at home and at work.

Apparently, our team was quite competitive - at the start, anyways. It lasted for 6 weeks and the first week we really went nuts. We were taking the stairs all the time. We even did extra team walks! We would start on the 9th, go up to the 18th, go down to the 1st floor, then back up to 9. We started doing these almost every day.

We did not win.

We did come in 4th or 5th though out of ~18-20 teams?

After suffering a bitter defeat (which raised a few questions such as - when did these other employees get any work done if they were always in the stairwell?!) and after having spent so much time in the dreary stairwell, I began to harbor an extreme dislike for them. Therefore, since then, I have pretty much avoided the stairs. I mean, if I am going up or down a couple flights I will take them, but since the end of the Challenge, I have not once taken the stairs up from the main floor.

One of our team members, recently came by suggesting we re-commence our team walks again. Not to quite the same extreme, but just up to the top and back down to the 9th.

He made me realize - I think I'm ready to get back in the water again. I mean, into the stairwell.

So, in addition to the running and other things I'm doing, I am going to try re-incorporating the stairs back into my life. Starting right now since I have to go up to 18 for a legitimate work reason. Though, I am stalling a bit by stopping to write this blog first :D

Okok, enough lollygagging!

That's kind of a gross word. Am I choking on a lollipop?

Anyways. I'm off to the stairwell. :)

that slippery, slippery slope..

Yesterday morning was a tad rough for me - for no good reason, though. Perhaps simply that it was Monday. For some reason, I just could not get out of bed in the morning and could only come up with rationalization after rationalization as to why I shouldn't go running.

My laziness won out, I'm sorry to admit. I think I was too ashamed to write about that yesterday so I also didn't post! Monday was dismal, indeed!

I finally dragged myself out of bed and told myself that I would run in the evening instead. I did not do that either. However, my one good excuse is that I had to study for my final that is this evening.

Soooo, this morning rolls around. I was this close to not getting out of bed again. I told myself that I stayed up late studying (11:30pm :P) and that I needed to get to work early so I could leave early and study more before the exam. I told myself that I already missed one day so it was ok and that for sure I would run tonight after the exam and that everything would be fine. Then I told myself it was already 7:30am so by the time I got out and running and back and showered I would be super late getting to work (knowing full well that I am late every other day for work).

Then I remembered the 5k. And thought about how embarrassed I would be if the day came and I couldn't do it. I thought about how I would be letting myself down and that I always give up on things and that for this I should finally stick to something. It's good for my heart, my health, etc.

So that finally got me out of bed. Phew. I have to tell you - convincing myself to get out of bed was a milestone at this stage was quite the feat. Usually when I want to quit something, I check out mentally right away, and then it's over. But not this time!

I started the third week of the Couch to 5K training session.

5-minute warmup walk
*90-second run
90-second walk
3-minute run
3-minute walk

repeat from *

I started the run thinking I wouldn't be able to do it (I was still sort of trying to give up, I think). But I persevered and I know it doesn't seem like much work, but I'm still proud of myself!

I take pleasure in the little things :)

I am trying to focus on the sense of pride and accomplishment I will feel once I am able to run 5k successfully. Again, I know this may seem like a piddly run for some people, but I don't care! I had to start somewhere.

Maybe next year I'll try a half-marathon. O.o Ok, ok, let's not get ahead of myself! I'll do this 5k and then see what's what.

Although, I think I mentioned in a previous comment that I want to try mountain climbing! Once I start something, I get really ambitious and want to try it all.

I think in the fall (after the 5k) someone (*cough* Shyn?) should take me rock climbing :)

Questions:

1. What will I do in the winter if I can't run in the morning outside? What are some other (cheap/free) options?
2. How hard is rock climbing exactly? How expensive?
3. What else can I try? There are so many things I haven't done! :)

Lessons Learned:

1. The later I go running in the morning, the hotter it gets! It is kind of ridiculous. Around 7am it is still cool-ish. By 7:45am it is starting to get really toasty! When I actually leave for work at *cough* 8:45am, it is positively roasting. It's weird how as the sun rises, it gets hotter, eh?
2. I like to dream big and revel in all tiny accomplishments.
3. I have more willpower than I previously thought I did.

Oh! I forgot to tell you all about my weekend! On Saturday, Mike and I biked into High Park (to the restaurant :D) and biked around a wee bit. This included a monstrously big hill (maybe just to mine own eyes) that almost killed me. Brutal. Then went home. It wasn't very long, but it was something!

On Sunday, I met up with Denise and we walked from Coxwell/Danforth to Queen and somewhere west of Leslie. We got rained on :( But luckily it stopped when we were done breakfast so we could walk back. That was nice! Ok, that is all. I just wanted to share that despite not going to the beach and playing volleyball, I still did something active this weekend. :)

on your mark, get set, go!

First, thank goodness it's Friday!

Second, I had a good run this morning!

So lately, I have been running into so many people who run! I went out for dinner last night with some friends I haven't seen in a while and I found out that a few of them have recently started running. So now everyone wants to go running - although the problem is that they can all run more than I can. I am not yet ready to run with other people! Maybe once I'm done or close to done my 5k training. However, it's nice to know that there are people to run with! I think I have always known people who ran, but I probably just chose to ignore that piece of information until now. Apparently I'm very egocentric!

This morning concludes week 2 of the Couch to 5K training.

I think I finally did the math right! Following the 5-minute warmup, I did 90 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking 6.5 times. Ok, I know I was supposed to stop at 6, but I didn't map out the distance properly so I was still far enough from home that I could throw in another 90 seconds of running! Besides, I had to make up for my dismal showing this week!

It was good, though! At first I was pretty tired, but as I got to about the 5th set and beyond, I started to get a bit more energy. I'm looking forward to either going rollerblading or biking this weekend and starting in on Week 3's training next week! I'm really excited about this 5k! Even six months ago, hell, 2 months ago I would not have thought this is what I would be doing this summer!

By the way, I know I said I was giving up cheese so I have to confess that on Wenesday night I forgot (I know I made the vow on Wednesday morning!). But now I'm off the cheese again. For reals.

Oh, crap. There might have been cheese in the soup I had today. Ok, but not my fault! It wasn't obvious! Oops.

So anyways! After the run, more lunges and squats! I did 3 sets of 10 reps each. But this time I also stretched a lot more, so hopefully I won't be in as much pain as I have been in the days to come.

Lessons Learned:

1. Lots of people I know run! This should help keep me motivated.
2. Clearly, I need to stick to Asian food to get away from the cheese! Mm Korean food.
3. Fine. Stretching is important. >: It's just so boring!
4. I need more snack ideas for mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Suggestions?
5. I need to incorporate a greater variety of vegetables into my diet.

So, back to the 5k in September. I will be registering next week some time.

We will go on a practice 5k (or maybe 3 or 4k depending :) run when Charles comes to visit in late August/early September! Fun times!

Ok, happy Friday! I'm off to the beach B)

oh so /that's/ what happens..

I have often wondered what I would do in the morning should it rain. Now I know! Nothing. :P

I almost went out for a rollerblade and in retrospect I probably should have gone - if even for a little bit. Next time! Tomorrow for sure I have to go out for a run and get back on the training for the 5k. Even if it means my gleaming white shoes will get dirty :(

However, Bhadra burned me a copy of the 10-Minute Trainer that I thought I would finally do this morning. Apparently neither of my DVD players will play it and my DVD-ROM is broken (circa 2007). My warranty on my laptop ends on August 5, so I must must must get it in this weekend to get fixed.

So I was very disappointed that it didn't work, but I did some sit-ups, some push-ups and some dips. Now everything hurts. Last night my thighs were pretty sore from the lunges and squats I did in the morning. They still hurt today, in fact! But, no pain, no gain, right? :)

Despite the gloominess outside, I hope everyone is having a lovely day :)

praise be! miracles do happen!

Good morning, friends!

Thus far, it has been quite a good morning. Even though the sun was not shining and I don't recall the birds singing (though I did see a dead robin on the sidewalk this morning!! :( )

Ok, now that I recall that sad detail, my day got a little less good :(

FOCUS.

I laced up my runners, reviewed my workout plan, and set out on my morning run! No, wait. I did a plank first. I think I'm actually getting worse at them! I wobbled my way to 15 seconds. I did do a half-plank for 30 seconds, though, but I felt like a sissy :(

So I get out the door. Let's review:

5 minute brisk walk warm-up

90 seconds run
2 minute walk
lather. rinse. repeat for a total of 20 minutes.

Yesterday I think I said that meant I needed to do 6 repeats, but I clearly can't do math on Tuesdays. I redid the math and discovered I actually need to do it 4 times. That's right, right? I think it only ends up being 14 minutes + 5 minute workout. Oh, wait. Maybe it meant repeat the workout sans warm-up for 20 minutes. Oh. Now I'm all confused :( I was so proud of myself up until this moment. As I write this blog, my day is getting a little less sunny with every paragraph!

Ah well. I did it 4 times. I tried running on the street to see if it made any difference. It made some, I think. I know, I know - safety first! But, I was careful. I swurrz.

But it feels good to have a plan! I like plans. It is, however, remarkably hard to remember how many times one has run/walk. So, I'm 90% certain I did it 4 times. It might have been 5. My brain was addled with sweat at this point.

I come home (avoiding the dead bird - do I need to call anyone??).

Today is a bottom-half day. I did lunges. I did 2 sets of 10 reps (Did I say that right?). Lunges are hard. It makes my thighs burn, which I suppose is the point!

Then I did some squats. Another 2 sets of 10 reps. I better feel the burn tomorrow!

Food. I open the fridge and I have cheese and meat and milk and eggs and nectarines. I make an egg and have a nectarine and a piece of toast with a glass of milk! This may seem like too much information, but it becomes relevant very soon, I promise!

Can you spot the miracles in the post above? There are 3!
.
.
.
.

My miracles:

1. I finally wrote a post in the morning before work! Lucky you! :)
2. I finally did lunges, which I previously balked at because they were too hard.
3. I ignored the cheese and meat in the fridge! I actually thought: maybe I shouldn't have cheese since I just ran and it's probably not necessary. Oh, yes, my friends, I decided against making myself a grilled cheese with egg and meat sandwich! I am now going to seriously reconsider cutting cheese out of my diet again. I did it once before and that was a good year! I am not so good with moderation - all or nothing, baby! :)

I was hoping a 4th miracle would be that I got to work on time, but I had to make a choice between finishing this post or going to work. I choo-choo choosed you! <3

That is the end of my lovely morning. Now I have to go to work and have my day ruined :P

i'm back on that pony!

I briefly thought about going for a run last night, but the hammock was so much more comfortable!

So in the spirit of trying to change my lifestyle, I got my ass out of bed for a run this morning!

Pre-run I did the plank for a measly 12 seconds. My cat jumped on me again. He thinks it's funny, which it is because he's awfully cute :D

Then I tried dips! Those are not easy for me, either :( Also, my cat tried to "help" by jumping into my lap. Ok, I don't mean to make this about my cat, but Spike is seriously the cutest cat I've ever met in my life. EVAR. :)

So I finally read the website Chow mentioned in my first week ofrunning! http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

**ADDENDUM: Mike S. also told me about this helpful site :) **

I am going to try to follow this as best I can. I decided to start in week 2 because of all the running I've already been doing.

So today I did Workout 1 of Week 2. My shin splints came back with a vengeance! I kept on running though :(

If I did the math right then I would have to do 6 of the 90 seconds run/2 minutes run. I only did 4 for personal reasons! I was going to post why, but it might be too much information for you lot.

So anyways, I am going to go from the couch to 5k! And to help me with this goal, I have decided to sign up for a 5k run in September. It is a charity event through Scotiabank so I will soon be asking you to sponsor me. Get your checkbooks ready!

If anyone is interested in joining me on this auspicious occasion, please let me know! I am trying to start a team!

I originally wasn't going to do anything like this, but the opportunity presented itself so I thought, "Hey, why not!". This way, once I sign up I won't be able to back out and hopefully this will keep me on track!

I'm sorry my blog is no longer funny and errs on the side of informative/boring, but I can only be funny for so long! I think my funny tank is all tapped out for now. :)

In other news, I think I've said this before, but I feel good about these life changes I have been making. I do still have to make some improvements to my food intake, but I'm honestly working on it. Trying to make better choices - some of the time :D

I think I've told some of you about this lady I know who joined Jenny Craig and lost over 100lbs in about a year! She was kind of my inspiration at the beginning of this year when I started to think more about my overall health and fitness level, but I kept falling off the wagon and I had varying degrees of success (as with many of my endeavours :P).

But my point is (an excuse is coming, watch out) that she doesn't really like food. She is happy to eat the little packages of food they give her. Now, I know, sometimes I can be a tad picky with my food, but it's nothing compared to this lady. So for someone like that, I can see how it would be so easy to lose weight because if you don't like food, you don't crave that steak or those deep fried wings dipped in honey garlic sauce and blue cheese dressing. Mmm..

So, my point is, *whine* it's hard to give up or limit food when you love it! But I will try harder :(

Maybe I should take a page out of a book I read recently and imagine my food covered in mold. Think that would help? I guess we'll see :)

Either way, I'm still happy about my (small) changes and life in general.

from champ to chump in 2 days!

Ok, maybe it's not that bad.

But, *small voice* I didn't go running today :(

I think I wore myself out on the weekend! I just could not get out of bed this morning. I will try to go tonight, though!

The Friday and Saturday last were just nightmare work days that just completely exhausted me. It didn't help that I stayed out too late Friday night considering I had to be up again at 6am. Then after work on Saturday and proceeded to get a wee bit drunk at Breanna's housewarming party! Got home around 1am and then woke up early to go to the beach where I spent all day!

But it was a fabulous day despite the clouds! Lots of volleyball playing and running around. It was good times!

Near the end of the day we decided to hold a competition for who could hold the plank the longest. I clearly lost. By a lot. Ryan was the big winner, though, with Tammy in a close second. Jerks.

So my weekend was a whole lot of fun (minus the work bits), but exhausting!

Sorry this post is boring! Read Bakerella's blog about cookies! It has pictures!

<3

i am a CHAMP!!

Oh, yes, my friends. I am a champ!

Since I missed my Thursday morning outing, I said I would go for a bike ride on Thursday evening because also I wouldn't make my Friday run because of work.

As per norm, bikes hate me. It was dark-ish outside so I figured I would need to add a light to my outfit. I have little lights I bought for this very occasion! Yet, somehow, I couldn't figure out a good way to attach it since they were all clip-ons and I didn't have anywhere to clip it to. So I decided I would just go for a run and go back to basics!

This time, though, after the discussions on goal-setting and all that, I decided to investigate the functions on my BB. Lo and behold! I have a stopwatch function! /twirl.

This, my friends, THIS is why I am a CHAMP. I ran for a whopping 6 minutes straight! That's right - SIX MINUTES straight! It was fantastic. Tiny hiccup, though. I probably ran at least 5 times further than I have in the past in one go. And so in earlier runs, sans stopwatch I had roughly guessed I had been running for about 2-3 minutes. This is clearly not true! So, on the one hand, my running was extra dismally bad up until now. I'm thinking it couldn't have been more than 1min30secs max on any given occasion - more likely it was closer to 45 seconds on a regular basis. Which, to me, is kind of funny that I was just so far off the mark!

On the other hand! That means I have progressed to 5x my length.. distance? amount? of running from week 1. This is now the end of week 3, I believe. Hah.

In addition to that 6-minute run, after a walk I ran for another 5 minutes straight. Then I ran a final 2 minutes with the last 30-ish seconds a sprint home. Well, my version of a sprint. It was probably the same speed as a regular person's run. :P

Anyways, I'm quite pleased with myself and hope this will give me the little boost of motivation I need to keep on truckin'.

Also, volleyball last night was much fun! We won 5/6 of our games. I do not think I played SUPERGOOD, though :( But, it's ok, because I ran for 6 minutes straight!

Hah. Ok, now I have to go in to work :( On a Saturday :( I hope everyone else is still happily dreaming in bed :)

*thud* (me falling off the wagon)

Ironically, following on the heels of my post from yesterday, I did not make it out this morning. I'm very ashamed :(

I turned off my alarm by accident and ended up falling back asleep until almost 8am. I couldn't even get out of bed until 8:30am. I blame this mostly on work because I was dreading going into work because of all the stuff I knew I had to do today. But, it's not an excuse. I have no excuse! /epic fail :(

The worst part is, I don't think I can go running tomorrow morning because I have to go in to work extra early (aiming for 7am) and, unfortunately, I don't think that leaves enough room for a run in the morning.

However! to somewhat offset my dismal showing today, I am going to go for a bike ride this evening. And I am playing volleyball tomorrow and I will play SUPERGOOD!

Forgiven?

I think what is most important from this (for me) is that I do keep going. So many times in the past I've tried various things like going to the gym or trying to eat better or what have you, but as soon as I slip one toe off the wagon, I figure what the hell! And just jump right off on my own. My biggest problem (linked with the motivation piece) is being able to accept my small failure and continue on.

So that's what I'm going to do! I will keep moving forward and learn from my mistakes.

Lessons learned:

1. When I get up to pee at 6:30am, don't crawl back into bed!
2. Not only will that ensure I get out for a run, but also it will ideally leave me more time in the morning to write my post!
3. I will try to map out my route in advance and plan for when I will be running vs. walking and research what kind of progress I should be making.
4. I need more music on my BB.

In other news, I am following all sorts of blogs! All are friends/family except for Bakerella, but her page is so fun!

Having said that, I would respectfully request that my friends/family post more often! Entertain me!! :) Please and thank you! <3

it's all in my head..

This morning was another one of those mornings where I did not want to go, but I forced myself to!

See, some people think blogging is a purely vain and egotistical venture. Who cares what you are having for breakfast? I do tend to agree, but! I don't care. It is definitely a self-serving activity in a lot of ways whereby I feel like if I don't get up in the morning to run then I'll hear about it from my lovely readers :) .. or I could just lie, I suppose.. :D

In any case, I feel like this blog is helping to keep me on track so in that sense it is purely selfish! But, since you are my friends, I hope you understand my motives :)

This all relates back to my title about it being all in my head. Exercise is all mental energy. I think I always knew this in a vague sort of obvious way, but I really felt it today. I had to use almost every bit of mental energy I had to just get out of bed. It wasn't about being physically lazy, but mentally lazy :( I feel that that's worse somehow!

This continued during my run. I really tried hard to push myself even further. I figured otherwise this getting out of bed in the morning was all just a waste of time if I didn't push it. So I tried, but again, it took so much mental energy to convince myself to just make it to the next tree or the next landmark. Then I would walk and have to convince myself again to start running again and not lollygag! I think I made some more progress though, I successfully pushed myself and made some more progress - I think!

I was talking to my cousin the other day and he suggested I talk to some sort of running coach and come up with a program rather than just kind of playing around like I'm doing. I may not actually pay someone, but perhaps this weekend I will do more research on what kind of goals I should be setting for myself to give more purpose to my running and early morning wake-ups.

Question:

Is it better to run on the road vs. the sidewalk? As I was running I thought that maybe I should start running on the road because it is presumably softer. Does it matter?


Oh! Pushups! I did some more stair pushups and I did 3 reps of 12 AND *drumroll* I went down a step so my body was more angled. /flex

Also, the plank again - 15 seconds full-plank x2. Good times.

Of course now that this is sort of settling under control I guess I should look to my diet :/ Since, as some people are saying, 80% is diet! That sucks. That's even more mental energy that I will need. I don't know if my brain can be stretched that thin! I'm trying just to combat the thought of: since I go running, I can eat whatever I want! :D

Hm, biking or blading tomorrow morning? Biking is stressful (see previous post) and blading is death-defying when I do it.. We'll see how I feel in the morning :)

And I'm sorry - I won't let this much time lapse between weekday posts again!! <3

why, yes, i *would* like some cheese with that whine..

A Treatise* on Why I Don't Ride Bikes More Often

1. Helmets. Who looks good in a helmet? Now, I'm not so vain that I would go without, but I sure don't like it!


2. Flat tires. Honestly. Having to check your tires every time before you go out is a pain. Maybe my tires are crappy, but I feel they always go flat! And I just replaced the inner tube things!


3. Lugging the damn thing around. I have a mountain bike or hybrid? (I stole the bike from my brother so I'm not sure). Either way, it's not light. I don't even carry it that far yet somehow those damn pedals manage to get in the way and scratch up my legs and trip me! Perhaps it's my lack of grace that's the problem moreso than the bike itself :)


4. Having to wear appropriate clothes. Ok, this is a problem for me in life, as I am constantly wearing inappropriate clothing (apparently) to certain events. I'm not saying I dress like a hooker, but sometimes you just shouldn't wear a skirt. Though I do know many people who ride in a skirt and have seen many people who do so as well. Again, perhaps it's a lack of grace. [Aside: I'm glad my parents didn't name me Grace, which being Asian was a high possibility, because I would have proved to be quite the oxymoron - or perhaps I would have lived up to my name - do you think people grow into their names?]


5. I am slower than the average bear. Just when I think I've picked up some speed, an 80-year-old grandma whizzes by me! What is that! Ok, maybe she wasn't 80, but still!


6. The gears. Oh, my god - the gears. I think I'm stupid. I just don't get it. I mean I understand it in a vague sort of way, but not in a useful way. I have 7 big gear things on the right side and a bunch of little gear things on the left. When I just start randomly turning things my bike goes crazy and makes all these clicky noises and the pedals jerk. Especially gear #4. Sometimes the clicky noises continues, sometimes they calm down. It worries me a little.


7. Lack of storage. I don't have a pack or anything small to wear while I bike so I had nowhere to put my BB. Therefore, I had to bike without music or my safety blanket. It was hard to let go.


8. It makes my knees hurt :( They don't hurt when I run, but they don't like cycling :/
   

Pros About Riding a Bike

1. You get to ding a bell! Although I didn't get a chance to use it today because, really, who do I pass?


2. I get to go fast! (When I'm going downhill)


3. Um. I think that's it.

So I tried to get up early this morning so I could go on a longer bike ride. I tried to get out the door before 7am. I managed to get out by 715am then realized I had to pump the tires. Then I went looking for my watch because I wanted to know how long I'd be out there - no dice.

I finally left the house and zipped down to High Park. Lovely!! I did one little loop through the park and came back. It was beautiful. I need to go biking through there more often.

I think I was gone for less than 20 minutes though. Because of the knees :(

I came home and did a few squats. I think I still need to build up more muscle in my legs.

Then planks in the bedroom with the kitties shoo'd out. 15 seconds for a full plank! The second time was less than 10 seconds. There was no third time :P

I feel like my arms are getting more muscle. Ok, that is all!


*I am not actually certain that I used "treatise" right and I refuse to look it up. I have seen it written in such a manner so I feel fairly confident in my usage of the word :D

case of the mondays..

Man. It was hard getting out of bed this morning! Even though I went to sleep by midnight, it was still next to impossible to drag myself out of bed at 6:30am. Consequently, I got out of bed closer to 7:45am. Oops. And rather than having to explain to my dear readers (lol) why I couldn't run this morning I decided to suck it up and still go.

However, I was only going to go for abou 15 minutes because I was already so late. It turns out that 15 minutes isn't nearly as long as it was the first time I went running! So I think I stayed out there for about 25 minutes and I wasn't even trying! So that's progress, right?

The first leg of running was the furthest I've ever run. I try to start running from the same landmark and see how far I can go every time. After that I don't measure as much, but I feel I went significantly further this morning!

It was another lovely day today. Nice and cool. Perfect for me!

On the way back for the last leg, I also try to see if I can run a little further than I have before. Success! I started the last leg earlier and made it to my door. /confetti!

I do my stair pushups. Three sets of ten reps. Three reps of ten sets? No, the first one, right? :)

Then I do the plank. I decided that I don't need no sissy half-plank so I tried to do the full plank. Here is what I found:

1. These are really, really hard for me! The first time I do it I can hold it for about 12 seconds.
2. The second time I do it, my cat gets involved and jumps on my back causing me to collapse.
3. I try again. This time, my cat, Spike, gets under me and crawls INTO my shirt pulling me down. Of course, by now, I'm laughing too much to get anything useful accomplished. :P [Aside: how are people not cat people? They have such personality and are just so hilarious :) My cats, especially Spike, never fail to put me in a good mood :) ]
4. I do try again, though. Minimal success. I'm tired from the run, from trying the plank a bunch of times already, and laughing at my ridiculous cat.
5. Maybe tomorrow I'll have better luck!

So I couldn't write this post earlier because I was already super late and wanted to try to get to work at a reasonable time. Minimal success again! I still got to work at 9:30am!

I suppose I should also write about my weekend. I am not going to lie, my activity level was very very low :( I meant to go to beach on Saturday morning, but then it rained. Thought about rollerblading on Sunday or going for a walk even, but it never happened. It's funny. When I run in the mornings I prefer to be alone, but when I try to do something active on the weekend I have to do it with other people.

Even though it's only Monday, I maintain that this weekend will be better!

Happy Monday!

wishful thinking..

Last night we played our last ultimate frisbee game for the spring session. Despite a hiccup with the timing, enough of us showed up to make it fun! We did not win, but I think we still played a good game! Most importantly, I feel that I was a little more on top of my game during the match. I would like to attribute this to my new daily routine! I was still in rough shape after, but not as bad as I have been in the past! I like that there is a seemingly discernible change in my life - even if it is just wishful thinking on my part.

Aside (you know how I like my asides!) on captaincy. With great power comes great responsibility - for most people. For me? I just like the power and take no responsibility :D I have sort of mucked up the final games for both the volleyball and frisbee league. Oops. Although I like to think I'm doing pretty well as captain for my pool team! I own EVERYONE. muhaha. /ahem.

Back to wishful thinking. I have been at this for about 2 weeks now and I feel like I should have lost 20lbs by now and running marathons. Maybe that's not so much wishful thinking as outright delusion. In any case, this is about where I start to lose motivation: I have done all this work, but have very little to show for it so far (except maybe from the ultimate frisbee example above). I know, I know - these things take time! But not only do I indulge in wishful thinking, but I'm ridiculously impatient!

I do have good news, though! Today was probably my best and longest running bout ever. I was out for about 30 minutes and had a mix of walking and running (I choose to believe it was more running in total than I have done before). It was great! So, ok, maybe these are changes I should keep in mind when I start to lose motivation, but I want more visible/physical changes :P

So it was a great run - I was dealing with some shin pain from the ultimate game, but it wasn't too bad this morning. Then I came home and did the dreaded plank. -_-

It's funny, the last time I remember doing it was at the volleyball skills clinic I intermittently attended. It was brutal. Just brutal. But then I was looking at an instructional site on them recently and they make it look so easy! I thought, "Hey, they're not so bad, maybe I am remembering them as being worse than they are".

Turns out! They are as bad as I remember. Maybe because I just got in from the run and was exhausted, but I tried to do a normal plank, but I could not even hold it for 5 seconds. I had to drop down to the half-plank. This was slightly easier. Slightly. I could hold the half-plank for 15 seconds. So I did that 3 times. My cat, Spike, kept crawling under me every time I pushed up to do the half-plank. I think he was trying to help because if I fell I would crush him! Spike is the best :) He also was trying to help while I was doing situps. I did about 20 and during this he was sprawled out on my belly. I don't know how that was helping exactly, but I felt he was offering moral support :)

So I feel good this morning!

Also, I finally dropped off my tax information to my accountant. From 2005. I'm expecting a winfall of cash :P Maybe I should buy more sunscreen with it.

That was my subtle segue into the continuing saga of my ridiculous tan. Some of you have known me only for a short time so have not been privy to my previous ridiculous tans, but I can definitively tell you that The Tan of 2009 is THE worst tan I've ever had. I thought The Tan of 2007 was bad, but this definitely takes the cake. I look diseased. I am varying shades of brown and white all over my upper body. Ridiculous!

So anyways. It's Friday! Beach volleyball tonight and perhaps the beach tomorrow! Because I just can't stay away :)

to blade or not to blade..

Well, I decided to go rollerblading instead of running this morning. I figured that not only because of this so-called "overtraining" possibility, but to also get my body used to this higher-impact exercise than it's used to. And also because I wanted to break out my blades again :) And! also because I play ultimate frisbee tonight and I'll be running around tonight.

Oh rollerblades. I am a disaster waiting to happen. I'm rethinking the idea of going blading by myself since I am sure to find myself at the bottom of a hill one of these days smushed into a car or something. However! as ever, I do have my trusty blackberry so if I am lucky enough to survive and stay conscious I can call someone :) Ohgod, what if my blackberry gets hurt?! Maybe I should leave it at home and take my chances with the FALLing.. decisions, decisions.

So rollerblading was kind of an ordeal. I was trying to figure out a place to put them on. Where I live, when you come to the front door it opens out to a porch then has about 5 steps down, then like 3 long steps down to the sidewalk. I thought I'd have a seat on those 5 steps down because it would be too awkward to put on my blades on the long step. So I get them on then realize that I still have to go down those last steps and it's all uneven brick or something and not a railing in sight!! Then once I got to the sidewalk I had to stop myself from spiralling down the sidewalk (did I mention I live on a hill??). Phew. I made it, though.

I tried to practice stopping because, I don't know if I said it, but I am incapable of stopping. I can sort of slow down now though, but not when I'm going a million miles an hour - at that point I just pray that no cars appear. Stopping is hard :( I almost fall over every time when I'm going too fast and try to stop :/ I guess I just need more practice?

So the last ordeal was getting home. Let me paint a picture for you. No matter which way I go I have to go down a hill to get home. I live in the middle of a hill so I go down a hill then go partway back up a hill. I could go down the hill I live on, but then I think I wouldn't be able to stop at my house :P So I tried to pick the smallest hill and there was more wild careening. I don't mind the going fast - I like going fast ;) It's the being out-of-control bit that I don't like.

Either way, I make it home mishap-free! Or so I think -.- I take my blades off on the sidewalk and remember all those stairs? I totally missed a step at the bottom of the 5 and went sprawling out on top of them. Honestly. Who does that?! Don't worry - my blackberry is ok.

At the beginning of the morning I was talking to Tammy and I have decided that I want to try a spin class. Has anyone tried one of these? Is it very very hard? It probably won't be until August, but I think it might be.. interesting :)

Lessons learned:

1. I need a bell or a horn or something. That way when I go careening into intersections at top speed because my area is so damn hilly, I can ring my little bell to hopefully warn approaching cars that Connie has arrived and will be in their path momentarily.
2. Living on a hill sucks.
3. The roads in my area suck, too! I have to say, going blading on uneven/broken/sucky terrain is absolutely brutal. Especially!! when you are shooting down a hill and suddenly hit some crappy road. So many near-death experiences :(
4. Maybe I'll stick to the path at the beach for rollerblading! Where I will usually have company or at least there will be other people around to call an ambulance if needed :P
5. I have such knowledgeable and helpful friends and family. You guys are awesome. Thanks for all your support, information, and help! <3 <3 <3
   

Hump day

Oops. So I skipped a day of blog-writing. I am sure you were all terribly disappointed!

Don't fret! I did, in fact, go for a run yesterday morning. I know, I know - I'm not supposed to run every day, but I figured since my Monday morning run was not great, I would go for a little run yesterday.

Apparently not eating or drinking anything post-wake up and pre-run is not so good for the energy levels. Who knew? I didn't realize until I was already down the street that I hadn't eaten or drank anything. Oops again. I was also tired just because - I'm still not quite used to getting up this early on a regular basis! But yes, yes, enough excuses!

Oh! I bought new shoes Monday evening. They are a blindingly white pair of Asics. It has arch support for my high arches and some comfy gel cushions. When I put them on I feel a little bouncier. :) It even makes walking more enjoyable! But, seriously, blinding!

One person I was talking to about shin splints was saying that it might have something to do with the way I run. If I stomp down or put my heel down first and roll through. So I spent all Tuesday morning trying to look at my feet to see what I do. It was a little awkward :P And I'm still not sure! So I blame Dan for messing up my run yesterday morning because I was thinking too much about my feet!

Speaking of shin splints. Good god! I read up on them a bit and now I'm terrified. When I wrote about how I was worried I had a fracture and that running would make my legs SNAP, I was only kidding!! I didn't think that could actually happen! And, ok, I'm still not sure about the SNAPping part, but I could potentially actually get stress fractures on my shins!! So I'm kind of traumatized by the whole thing. Ignorance is bliss, my friends! /shudder

Yesterday I did more kitchen counter pushups. I think I'm feeling it a bit today. But I suppose I shouldn't do those every day either, so I will just do every other day.

So this morning was another day, another run. I was out for about 30 minutes. A nice cool morning. Great for running! It's still more walking than running at this point, but I keep trying to push myself a little further. Truly!

I have to admit - as much as I enjoy that I am being more active and that I do feel a bit more energized after my run - I am still having a hard time staying motivated. I still want to cuddle up in my blankets and sleep just a little bit more. But I'm pushing through it. It takes 3 weeks? months? to build a habit? (Which, admittedly, I think is not true, but I'll fake it for this)

No lessons today, but questions. Lots of questions!

1. Food. What should I be eating before and after my run? Something easy, please. Is there anything I shouldn't eat?
   
2. My left heel hurts a little when I run. What am I doing wrong?
3. Does anyone else think it's hilarious that Cat Deeley is 8 feet taller than any of the dancers on SYTYCD? Well, not hilarious in a bad way, but I love that she doesn't care and wears 3-inch heels anyways.
   
4. What are some home exercises I can do for my legs? I have the wall.. er.. kitchen counter pushups for my arms, but I'd like to do something on the other days for my legs.
   
5. Actually, what are some home exercises in general I can do?
   
6. Actually! Who wants to make me a home exercise regime? /cough Chow? :D What else are you doing? :P
7. Anyone free for dinner downtown after work today around 530pm? :)

PS Comments keep me motivated to run and to write this blog ;) And also just make me happy :)

Excuses, excuses.. or just appropriate rationale?

I have been accused by some unsavoury characters of having a lot of excuses in my pursuit to become a better runner. However (!) my dear friends - I have decided they are not excuses, but good rationale :) Take today for instance..

#1: My run was not as long as my previous jaunts have been.

Rationale: I was tired :P Ok, maybe this is more an excuse, I'll give you that! But I am completely sunburnt and I did not want to drag my ass out of bed this morning!

However: At least I went for a run, right? :) I was *this* close to snuggling up into my blankets and staying in bed for another hour. TROOPER. (I don't care if it's supposed to be trouper :)

#2: I wasn't even supposed to go running since I was told by Jinny that I should not run until I get new shoes! Oops.

Rationale: Well, I figured I already ran for a week with them and that one more day wouldn't make much of a difference, right? I already abused my body at the beach this weekend (more later).

However: I plan to hit up Eaton Centre after work today to pick up a pair of new runners. Then I will be all set!

#3: I am going to be late for work again today.

Rationale: This blog clearly takes precedence over everything else in my life :) Also, I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance in the background :D

However: No, I got nothing. There is no however for this one :)

#4: Wall pushups. They're back - sort of. And dips didn't happen!

Rationale: I couldn't find a bench/chair to do the dips in (Ok, I didn't look very hard :P).

However: So I didn't do wall pushups, but I did them against the kitchen counter. It was much harder than the wall pushups!


So now let me tell you the next chapter of my sunburn saga. I woke up this morning to discover that I also burned the back of my legs. The worst part is that I argued with Chow yesterday telling him that I never burn my legs and that I *won't* put sunblock on them (I was only mildly petulant). See Lesson Learned #4 from yesterday's post.

The crease behind my knees got burnt so that makes walking, sitting - everything, really - slightly painful. /sigh. Why do I do this to myself?!

Back to running. It was a gorgeous morning for running. It was nice and cool, the sun was kind of peeking out, but also stayed hidden a lot. It was lovely. Lots of people were out and about going for walks with their dogs. It is such a different environment and lifestyle than I'm used to. I think I'm enjoying it!

Who would have thought I would ever consider myself to be active? I certainly never did!


Lessons learned:

1. More sunblock. Always more sunblock.
2. People never stop growing and changing. It's great, isn't it?
   
3. I apparently start work at 930 since that's what time I get in every day these days!
4. More sunblock!!
   

Weekend of rest.. at the beach!

I have decided there is no running on weekends or on holidays.

Rationale: Running (to me) is a morning-only event so on the weekends I plan to engage in other activities I can do at other times of the day, i.e. rollerblading, cycling, etc. So if anyone is interested, let me know!

So the weekend started early for me :P I did not go running on Friday morning. However, if you will recall, I did play Ultimate Frisbee on Thursday night. And! I was planning to play Beach Volleyball for our league on Friday night.

My plans were slightly thwarted as we found out upon arrival that the spring session had actually ended! Luckily, we were all still willing to play despite this hiccup. But then we realized problem #2 was no net! However, being the innovative people that we lot are, since we had the lines for the court we strung those up as a ghetto net. It was awesome! So we did end up playing for a bit after all and I felt less guilty about not running in the morning.

This next bit is completely unrelated to running or exercise, but as an aside, we went to go see Public Enemies that night. I figured Johnny Depp always makes for a good movie, right? Wrong. Well, it wasn't terrible, but it was a shaky camera and made my poor tummy do somersaults! I honestly didn't think I would make it.

(Another random aside - this blog editor doesn't approve of some contractions and keeps red underlining them all! It's making me think I'm crazy and don't know how to spell!)

So anyways.

Saturday brought about a spontaneous trip to the beach with Tammy's friends with more volleyball! I love the beach and I love volleyball! Although, I realized today that I don't think I've ever really gone down by the water at the Woodbine Beach! Next time I plan to take a walk along the beach!

And Sunday brought about a planned trip to the beach with more volleyball! And sunburning. So much bad sunburning went on this weekend. I have a problem with not just burning/tanning badly, but also a problem with trying to fix it :( It never works and yet I persevere in the hopes that this year will be the year!

Maybe next year?

So I have come out of this weekend having played excessive amounts of beach volleyball, spent excessive amounts of time in the sun and all I have to show for it is this sunburned upper body! Better than a t-shirt?

Oh! I forgot to mention I went for a rollerblade - but almost killed Ryan in the process! Ok, maybe not killed, but I did knock him down! I'm not very good at stopping and I grabbed him to slow me down and totally took him down - though I managed to stay up somehow! So yay for me? :)

But I have further discovered that I thoroughly enjoy rollerblading (when the road is smooth). It is so fun especially down at the beach along the sand and surf. Too many people in my way, though!

Maybe next weekend I will try to go for a bike ride!

Oh! No new shoes yet, but I plan to get some tomorrow! Then I will be a lean, mean running machine!


Lessons learned:

1. I love the beach.
2. I should not tan unsupervised. I need a parent or guardian to aid me with this :P
3. Rollerblading is fun!
4. Chow knows everything.
   

Day Four: what the..

I think I have shin splints! What the shit. They kind of hurt like a bitch.

Sorry for all the profanity. :P

Now, I don't know if it's because:

a) My shoes suck

b) I've been running every day (which apparently I'm not supposed to do according to my lovely cousin, Jinny)

c) I don't stretch

d) I'm just out of shape

e) All of the above

Either way. It sucks.

Regardless! Though I did not run this morning because of the evening run last night, I did partake in some Ultimate Frisbee.

Thursdays is our UF league night. Supposedly recreational level, but those other teams are damn good! The first night we played the other guy told me it was their first time. It was clearly a BIG FAT LIE, as evidenced by our whopping defeat of a million to 2 (that might be an exaggeration). UF, as I have discovered, is really really hard!! It requires SO much running - which is also why I didn't feel too badly about having missed my morning run.

The games are about 1h15mins or first team to 17 points. Despite having won the last 2 games, we suffered another dismal defeat. 17-4 (no exaggeration). However, since we only have 3 girls and 2 girls have to be on at any given time, the subbing in was not as frequent as I would have liked. So this meant lots of running and lots of further aggravating my possible shin splints.

Awesome.

Though I'm not sure if it's shin splints for sure. I also think I bruised them when helping a friend move on Saturday. They feel bumpy and look bruised. And hurt like the dickens. That's right. The dickens.

I have this vision of while I'm running that my legs just crumble under me because I somehow fractured them and the impact from the running is making the fracture bigger and bigger and then SNAP. I'm down. But you know what the good news is? I'd have my trusty BB! Hah. Who's mocking who now?!

So with the above in mind, I am still debating whether I should go for a run tomorrow morning or not. I have Beach Volleyball after work tomorrow so that might satisfy my quota of exercise for the day. Hopefully it doesn't further worsen my poor shins! I will keep you posted, as I am sure you are dying of curiosity!

Lessons learned:

1. Shin splints are no laughing matter!
2. Most people don't approve of my wall pushups. Fine. I will do sissy knee pushups.

I think I'm learning less and less with each passing day. :/

Day three: Canada Day Runz0rs

Happy Canada Day!

One might think that it being a holiday, I might be slacking in the running. FEAR NOT. The plan all along was to run in the evening. So I got to sleep in a little (it was glorious). I also got to nap in the afternoon (also glorious - possibly even more so). But I digress.

I finally get my shiz together and put a little running mix onto my BB.

Some highlights:

• Dirrty & Fighter (Christina Aguilera) a la Denise
• Bombs over Baghdad (Outkast) also a la Denise
• Liberate (Disturbed) a la Chow
• Church (T Pain)
• Oh Timbaland (Timbaland)
• Time and Time Again (Papa Roach)
  

Good times! Still looking for more to add to it. Suggestions are welcome. Actual mp3s emailed to me would be even better! :D So anyways.

Evening comes. I figure it'll be better to run after the sun has gone down vs in the morning. This is debatable. At least in the morning I can blame the sun for making me look extra sweaty. I have no such excuse in the evening! Gross.

We have a guest over and despite the heckling I receive from both he and Mike ( >.< ) I persevere. Because as you know from the last post, I am a troUper! (I still prefer troOper and the image of a soldier vs a lame actor - FYI).

Tonight's run keeps me out for ~25-30 minutes (possibly I pushed it because of the aforementioned heckling). It is actually a lovely night! Fireworks abound - well, the noise anyway - though I did get to see a couple of them over the houses.

I am actually enjoying running way more than I thought I would. I feel a sense of accomplishment and a sense that I am doing something to change my life - even if it is just a few minutes a day. I just have to believe that it'll get easier, I'll be able to do more, and it will make a difference to my cardiovascular function as well as physically. Hopefully this happens sooner rather than later!

Lessons learned:

1. Firework noises can be kind of.. startling.. when you don't actually see the display itself!
2. Running with good music helps immeasurably!
3. Running at night makes it less likely I will run the following morning.
4. I need new running shoes.
   
5. When eating a really cold popsicle, do not hold it in your mouth while trying to type out this (or any) blog because it will stick to your lips and when you rip the popsicle out unsuspectingly it hurts like a bitch. And bleeds a little!! Gross!
   

Ah, the life lessons I'm learning..