good news and bad news..

Bad news first!  Unless you want the good news, then scroll down first.

Bad News

So.  I've discovered that I might hate running.  I couldn't run for very long and everything started to hurt!  Randomly the side of my lower left leg hurt!  How do I stretch that?  I think maybe I carry too much weight to run and that I'm only damaging my feet/knees/hips by running with extra weight.  Or maybe this is my new rationalization.  In any case, I might hate running. 

Good News

I got up at a reasonable time and actually made it out the door!   I was out for about 30 minutes.  Not all running, but I tried to mix it and power walk when I wasn't running.  This time I decided to actually make my way to High Park and take advantage of the neighbourhood.  It was nice!  Lots of people out running and walking with their dogs.  Lots of boot camp classes going on - I'm trying to resist the urge to sign up. 

Just News

I am going to focus more on other activities, such as the classes and my sporting activities and maybe actually do some strength training at the gym to build up my muscles and cardio so I can try running again. 

So maybe my thought of doing a 10k in the fall isn't so farfetched.  Denise has recently started to talk about taking up running and Olessia might do the 10k with me, too!  So that's fun! 

And! Erin is interested in Dragon Boating!  So maybe if I can round up a few more troops, this might actually happen!  I am super excited and think it will be super fun!

I'm also enjoying writing in this blog again.  I'm very happy that it's not just another blog I started then kicked to the curb.  I'm thinking I should add some pictures.  I see other blogs and they are entertaining.  But what would I take pictures of?  Me running?  Not fun. 

Also, on a side note: I need a new camera since mine got fried in Cuba.  Maybe once I get that then I will also showcase my photography skillz.

it's a new day!

And it's a beautiful one!

Look at me go! Two blog posts in two days! Oh. Well technically in 3 days. Whatever! Just be grateful :)

Since the run on Sunday I haven't really done much of anything. Except for dodgeball last night! That was super fun. I still throw like a sissy, but I'm getting better at throwing strategically vs. throwing well. So that's something! I'm also still a bit of a sissy when it comes to getting hit. I still close my eyes and yelp. I need to learn to try to catch those ones that hit me in the midsection rather than just getting hit and walking off. It was also a good workout since we only had 7 people and there are 6 people on at any given time. Fun times had by all! And to top it all off, we won! I think the score is wrong and we should have won by more, but what can you do. A win's a win! Although it's our third technical win - it's our first actual win! :)

Tonight is booty camp. I did miss last week's Thursday session so Breanna and I will also be going tomorrow night in addition to Thursday. I also missed one in the first 4-week session so I'm going to try to make that one up on Monday! It'll be a booty camp bonanza!

So I'm actually really looking forward to this boxing gym business! I think there are a couple people who may also be interested. I just wonder how realistic it is for me. This place is at Carlaw/Gerrard and is not terribly close to me. I'd be finished at 8pm on any given weeknight and then wouldn't get home until closer to 9pm. And ideally I'd like to go at least twice a week. Plus I play pool on Wednesdays until late and dodgeball is Monday nights and are typically late games, too. And what about during the winter when it gets cold and snowy and miserable and dark. Will I really still want to go? And what are the chances I will trek all the way out there on a weekend? So maybe I won't sign up for the full year just yet until I get through the winter and see how committed I am to it. But I am still really excited.

By the way, I am fighting the urge in almost every paragraph to write "irregardless" because I've been informed that if I continue to use it, people will think it's a real word and I will perpetuate the misuse of the word. Not that I think you're dumb. Well maybe I do a little ;) <3

It's interesting. Despite doing booty camp twice a week and dodgeball on Mondays I still feel like I am incredibly lazy and inactive. I need to do more on the weekends I think. Suggestions?

So in the previous post, Shyn suggested I look into more individual sports, in particular, racket sports. I am all for taking up badminton! Or maybe even tennis. As I mentioned, squash scares the bejeezus out of me. Remember, I'm the girl who is scared of a soft squishy dodgeball.

I'd like to hear if any of you have played/like squash. If anyone has a guest pass or something to a squash court I might be willing to try it. Despite the fear!

Also, I would like to try indoor rock climbing some weekend in the near future! Maybe November 7?? I'd be willing to take a day off work for it since I'm tired of working and have all sorts of vacation days. I am planning to take a day off just to go shopping!

Hope everyone is having a lovely day and a more productive day at work than I'm currently having. :)

i'm ba-a-a-a-ack!!

Yay!

So many things have happened since my last post and I will most likely not remember them all, but well you can't miss what you don't know!

Wow - I just realized it's been well over a month since my last post. I'm sorry to have left you without my pearls of wisdom and energizing humour for so long!

But ok where to start..

Booty Camp

I successfully completed the 4-week Booty Camp session! I lost a few pounds, lost a couple inches, and gained some muscles I never knew I had. I signed up for another 4 weeks and am now entering week 3 of it! I missed a day, but I think I'm going to make up for it this week by doing 3 sessions. I am not sure I will continue on past this next 4 weeks but it was good while it lasted! Kept me motivated and active when I was having trouble doing it on my own.

MarathonS!

On September 27 I successfully completed the Scotiabank Marathon - 5k :D It always seem so misleading to say I did a marathon. I did it in 42:26 minutes. Yes, I run really really slow, but I don't care! I ran the entire way and didn't stop at all! I thank Shyn entirely for this one! If it hadn't been for him I would have stopped at the 1km mark. He put up with my whining for 42 minutes and kept encouraging me. My favourite line he gave me was, "Just think - all that time you spent grinding on WoW has trained you for this! Just keep pushing through!" Ok, that was highly paraphrased, but it made me laugh. Though of course only the people who play WoW will appreciate that, but I think most of you do :D

IRREGARDLESS, I ran the 5k and it was glorious!

Riding this high, Mike calls me at work a few days later and says, "Hey, I have a GREAT idea, let's do another 5k!" I foolishly agree and this brings me to today.

On October 18, 2009 I ran my second 5k! In the Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon! Despite not having run since the last 5k, I ran it in 40:00. Dammit. I thought I ran it in under 40. At least I improved my time.. by 2.5 minutes. Boo. Oh well! I did walk a few times for a few seconds here and there, though. Mike stayed with me the whole way and played alphabet games with me to keep me distracted!

Now Sharon posted on my Facebook that she is running one in the spring! Should I or shouldn't I? I hate it up until the last km. Then I start to feel more enthusiastic about the whole thing. We'll see!

Boxing Gym

Since I need constant variety, my next new challenge may be joining a boxing gym. I had originally thought that I wanted to do Judo or Karate or something, but then I realized I don't like to touch people. Therefore, sparring activities are not for me. Then I had a brilliant idea that I could join a boxing gym! I just want to punch a bag. Build some muscle, work on my cardio. I found one in the southeast end of the city that I am going to look into once my Booty Camp is over. I can pay $500 for a year's membership and I can go to all the boxing classes I want. These classes are 2 hours in length and offered every day and involves cardio and work with the punching bags. Maybe I won't sign up for a whole year yet, but I will definitely check out a few classes!

I know some of you might be thinking that if I'm willing to spend all that money maybe I should join a gym instead. It would be about the same amount of money. $40ish/mo for a gym=$480/year. But the question is, Will I go to the gym? I do hate it quite a bit and can see myself quitting after a month or so. Stupid gyms. We'll see if I even like the boxing class and go from there I suppose.

Dodgeball

This is so fun! And way more work than I had originally anticipated! Unfortunately, the first two games we won by forfeit when the other teams didn't show up :/ Then in our third match when a team did show up, we lost! :( But tomorrow we will kick ass, I'm sure of it! I think they're the 7th place team and so we should be able to win win win! :) Either way, it's a lot of fun. We have 5 more games, I believe.

Then my new plan is to rent a school gym for January and play various sports. If that doesn't pan out, then maybe indoor volleyball. Or maybe a new sport?? I have recently had my eye on basketball and learning how to play that. This is partly why I want to rent the gym - so we can play bastketball and see how good or bad it is!

Food

All I have to say is that I love food and am finding it hard to cut back and bad foods are creeping back into my diet. I don't like it! I am hoping that writing this blog again will keep me motivated and in a better mindset about my health and wellbeing in general! I was falling off the wagon so often and for longer and longer that I was worrying that I wouldn't be able to find the wagon again! But I always do. Food is so delicious, though. Mm.

Lessons Learned:

1. I get bored of things after about 2 months and have to change it up. This is why I don't believe the saying that it takes 3 weeks or whatever to build a habit. Oh, maybe it's 3 months to build a habit? Hm. Well, whatever :P
2. My body is stronger than I think. It's the mind that's weak! This was another of Shyn's motivational speeches when I was complaining that I needed to stop.
3. October is very cold :(
4. So apparently I haven't learned much in my month-long hiatus. C'est la vie!

surprising results!

I have decided to write my post tonight because I can guarantee right now that I won't have any time tomorrow. Work is going to keep me tres busy all day.

So I attended Day 2 of the Booty Camp with surprising results!

Despite being broken and mucho sore (and therefore scared of what the evening would entail) I found it not too ridiculously hard! I had thought (mistakenly apparently) that physical exercise would make my muscles feel worse, but I guess warming them up actually made them feel ok. Not better necessarily, but not worse! I was pleasantly surprised.

Don't get me wrong, it was still ridiculously hard and I think I worked new muscles I've never used before, but it wasn't excruciatingly painful! *confetti*

I've also learned a lot of exercises that I can do myself. I just have to remember them and put them together in some kind of routine later. Although I will probably sign up for at least 4 more weeks following this. It's amazing what you can do with a little space and a mat, eh?

Tonight we did a bit more cardio and I have to say that running has really improved that. I'm not stellar, but definitely much improved from the beginning of the summer. I think back to when I signed up for that volleyball skills clinic. They made us run around the gym a few times and, man, I was wiped after maybe one lap around the gym. It was positively brutal. But now, we ran around a bunch of times, did grapevine-y type things, skipped, etc. I couldn't keep up for the entire hour, but I did a fair bit! So I'm proud of myself :D

Although, my secret shame is that I'm not actually doing as much running as I would like to these days. I am not going to be able to tomorrow morning because I'm aiming to be at work for 7-7:30, which leaves no room for running. However, I will try to get a good decent run in on Sunday morning. The marathon is coming up very soon!


Lessons Learned:

1. Holding a plank is actually better when someone is there watching you and encouraging you. And when there are other people there that you can't show weakness in front of :D
2. The above holds true for most of the exercises actually. I think I pushed myself harder because I didn't want to be the suckiest in the group.
   
3. I'm actually less hungry after I work out. I ate maybe 2/3 of what I would normally have eaten for dinner. Although, I foresee that tomorrow morning I will be famished. :P More cake perhaps?
   
4. Keeping your keys in your pocket while you workout is not smart. Especially when your session starts at 8pm and it starts getting dark at 7pm. *sigh* I had to get Mike to rescue me with a flashlight - luckily we found them pretty soon after that! What's extra funny is that on Tuesday another girl lost her keys. And I secretly thought she was retarded. Karma? It might be. If I believed in such nonsense. ;)

Ok, I'm sleepy now. Nini.

Then I have to get up and wear heels all day. My poor legs. What is that, class? That's right. Brutal.

Hope everyone has (or had) sweet and lovely dreams!

:)

i hurt. lots.

So ok. I did the Booty Camp Tuesday night and boy am I feeling it. Brutal.

I walk all gimpy and can barely manage stairs. Sitting down is very awkward, too. Brutal.

It's all good, though. I'd much rather be feeling the pain of my "tearing muscles" (as Tammy put it) than nothing at all following the workout. So I've been walking around like I have never walked before.

The best part is that I get to do it again tonight! It is day 2 of booty camp. Hopefully I will be able to go running Friday morning. If not, at least I'll have volleyball Friday evening!

We have finally signed up for dodgeball and I am looking forward to that! It doesn't start until September 21, though. However, this Sunday some dodgeball league is holding a free session that some of us will most likely be attending. If anyone else is interested let me know, it should be fun!

It's too bad being active costs so much money. I also want to go to Mont Tremblant, which Chow is trying to plan for December/January, but that will cost lots of money, too. Along with all these leagues. Pff. It's so much cheaper to be lazy! But less fun. Cost-benefit, right?

I don't know what else to say about that.

Confession:

All I had this morning until noon was a slice of cake for breakfast and a cookie and coffee for my morning snack. Brutal.

The rest of my day will be better. I swear.

i love short weeks!

I'm sorry. I've been so lazy this past week or so and have completely fallen out of my routine. This has also meant that I've been too lazy and ashamed to write much in this blog! It would have just been excuse after excuse and I thought I would spare you.

I've been having trouble forcing myself out of bed and I have been tired all the time. But! As you all know I signed up for Booty Camp. This is now kicking me back into being motivated!

So I came home after work yesterday and had a quick dinner and went out in search of the group. The problem was that I had originally signed up for a different location because of Breanna, but due to the fact that she had to go away for work for 2 weeks she rescheduled and I tried to get into the session near my house. I called them up last week and they told me they had no record of me having paid. Awesome. I sent them the Paypal confirmation and they were saying they'd look into it and in the meantime I should just go to the session.

I asked Tammy if she received an email upon registration about what to bring/do/expect, etc. Good thing I did because there were waivers to sign and instructions about what to bring. It also mentioned I should show up an hour early.

In the past as I've walked up Keele I've seen their sessions in the park and figured that's where they would be for my session.

Therefore, I show up at 7pm expecting to find people - and nothing! Only families and this couple who were randomly throwing balls. It was very peculiar. They'd stand and one would toss a ball. Then they'd each pick up 2 other balls and throw them towards that one. From what I can gather they were trying to throw it as close as possible to the original tossed ball? But I don't know why. What the hell? Anyways.

I didn't bring my phone with me (See what happens?? Never again!) So I kind of mill around and hang out. Then I think, hm, maybe I'll walk up this hill over here and see what's what at this half of the park. I'm also wondering if I can get home from this path at the top of this hill.

Lo and behold! There's the 6:45pm class doing their thing. I figure it's probably close to 7:30pm I'll just wait. But then the bugs start coming out. And I also start thinking that showing up an hour before is probably only necessary for the earlier class since it runs from 6:45-7:45pm and then the next one is 8-9pm. I go home and get bug spray and return closer to 8pm where the instructor does, in fact, inform us that we'd be staying afterwards to do the measurements and all that. Pff. What a waste of an hour!

It begins! Parts of it were really hard! It was also getting really dark and the bugs were out in full force. Gross. I was sweating and tired, but I felt good! I really think I needed this to break me out of my funk and get me active again.

I have grandiose plans to go to spin class Wednesday morning, which almost happens. But then doesn't :( I was already running late then I realized I forgot my wallet and had to go back, which made me more late, and ugh. So as punishment I went running - which I haven't done lately.

Taking a break from running is not such a great idea. I ran for about 11 minutes then took a 2 minute break and ran for another 9 minutes. It's bad that I'm really starting to dislike running. I keep telling myself I just have to hold on for a few more weeks until the marathon. So I'm going to start sucking it up and running more often so I can get back to what I used to be able to do just a few short weeks ago - as well as improve. Two and a half weeks to go!! I'm in trouble.

Anyways. Hopefully now that I'm back on track, my blog posts will be more frequent again. And joy and laughter will be brought back into all your lives!

:)

the rise and fall of the connie empire

Forgive me, dear readers. It has been 8 days since my last confe-.. er... blog post.

I can't do penance, though, since I don't know my Hail Marys or whatever - despite being Catholic. I can do the Lord's Prayer, though! :)

The last post I made was pre-rock climbing and I think I've already told most of you about it or you were there, but too bad. It was super fun! It was actually much harder than I expected it to be. Even once I got there and saw other people doing it, I was inwardly scoffing because it looked fairly easy. That cliff showed me who was boss, though. It showed that my overall muscle strength and flexibilty is sorely lacking. Brutal. Also, it showed me that I bruise like a peach. It was fun and challenging, though! Very different than anything I've done before. The second time up was also a bit easier since I knew what to expect and wasn't such a sissy about letting go. I wasn't really worried about death or dismemberment, which was good.

Well, let me clarify. On the way down the side of the cliff to get to the bottom was a harrowing experience! There was supposed to be a "scramble path" that led down to the bottom - that we completely missed and had to practically machete our way through the forest to get to the bottom. I was worried I was going to tumble down the mountain or break a leg. Luckily, no disasters. Then we found the path after climbing over and under trees and rocks galore. The path was glorious. I maintain that we wouldn't have fully appreciated the scramble path unless we had gone where we had :P So, I guess that's something!

So I would definitely go again! Well, I have to since I bought a harness :) I think I'd like to try indoor next time. Or if I do outdoor again I will wear better shoes. I brought shoes that were small and would fit into crevices instead of shoes with grip on the bottom. A big mistake considering there were not really any crevices, but rocks that were slightly jutting out that you had to leverage against. I blame my shoes for my poor showing. :) Also the arduous journey that preceded the climb itself. Oh, and the burning sun. :P

No, but really, I had a blast. Especially with the camping and the fire and the company! :) I could have stayed another night.

So after that I got lazy. So lazy.

I had Friday off and I feel like I slept and lazed around most of the day. Oh, we did bike to High Park for breakfast and back :) That's something, right?

And there was volleyball on Friday evening. Always a good time, despite the crazy ridiculous wind. It was impossible to play actually, but we did our best!

On Saturday I think I did more of nothing. Well I went out in the evening, but nothing much that day I think. The less I do, the less I want to do :(

More of the same on Sunday (although I can't actually remember what I did on Sunday so I could very well have done something fantastic - but I doubt it :P)

Monday morning I went for a run! But it was a piddly one. I was so tired and felt ridiculously out of shape after not having done much for a few days. :(

Tuesday more of the same. I went out for a run in the morning, but it was also piddly. And apparently I forgot to pee before I went out so that cut my run a wee bit short, too. Yes, I'm 10 and can't hold it. I don't know about you guys, but for me if I really have to pee and I'm rushing it makes it worse. I have to walk a fine line of hurrying, but not too much or else it increases the urgency of the pee!

Tuesday evening was ultimate frisbee! Our second to last game. It was also harder than it has been because of my few days of laziness. It's amazing how quickly my body forgets. But at least it got me out there and running around. Then we had Hakka food after. My first time! It was pretty good. :)

Wednesday morning I missed the spin class. I almost could have made it, but then didn't.

It's getting harder and harder to get up in the mornings, I tell ya. I think I've also realized I might dislike running. It's just so mind-numbingly boring! But I will persevere at least until the 5k and re-evaluate.

So, this morning I also didn't run, but I did lunges and squats. So I should feel those tomorrow. And I plan to run tomorrow morning. For reals.

The one good thing coming up despite my laziness is that booty camp starts next week! I'm still really looking forward to that - even though Breanna can no longer join me for September :(

So maybe that will kick my ass out of this lazy funk I'm in and re-motivate me. One can hope!

That is all. Not a great post, but a post nonetheless. :)

Happy Thursday!

Ps Please sponsor me for the 5k Scotiabank Marathon! Click Me!

Thanks <3
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the long fight continues..

Yesterday after work I went to a softball practice. It was hilarious.

What I Learned at Softball Practice:

1. I am afraid of the ball. Therefore, I close my eyes when the ball gets close enough for me to catch, which luckily so far has only resulted in me missing it, rather than getting beaned in the head. Though I do catch it on occasion!
2. I have pretty good hand-eye coordination otherwise. In terms of hitting it that is. Nine out of 10 times I can connect with the ball. I mean it helps that our own team is pitching it, I suppose. Details, details!
3. Sun in the eyes is the absolute worst when trying to catch balls. The worst. I just want to duck and hide because I panic when I can't see it.
4. Apparently, you're supposed to run towards the ball when it's rolling/bouncing towards you rather than back up to let the ball slow down before you pick it up. I suppose I can see the logic in that.
5. I cannot throw a ball. I understand the basic principle, I do. I also know I have the power. I just can't put it into practice! I release too early or too late and can't channel the power into the throw itself. I think I use the wrong part of my arm for power, which is why it always feels like I'm going to wrench my arm right out of my shoulder socket. Ok, maybe I don't understand the basic principle after all. Hrm.
6. Batting hurts. The whole bat reverberates and now my hand hurts! I didn't notice until this morning, but using doorknobs and even holding a pen hurts. Stupid bats.
7. In light of all of the above information, I am going to predict that my gameplay on Sunday (in conjunction with the fact that the night before is my birthday party) will not be stellar. But hopefully still fun! :)
8. I don't like people who don't think I'm funny. Not just because I think I'm hilarious and everyone should, too. But these people just don't get me and it's hard to connect with people who don't find the same things funny, you know? It's awkward.

So there wasn't much exercise during the practice, but I was still out and about! Then I zipped off to pool and then, um, Korean all-you-can-eat BBQ. Oops. Although! I didn't eat as much as I could have. I did stop myself. Relativity!!

To make matters worse, I also did nothing this morning. But tomorrow morning I will run for sure! And will try to run Saturday again, too.

I'm really excited for boot camp to start, fyi. :)

"vanity is my favourite sin" -al pacino

Morning!

Of all the times of the day I prefer to look at myself in the mirror, it has to be in the morning. From what I understand (and what I see to be true), the body is at its lowest weight of the day at that time. So even though I don't think I have lost a significant amount of weight pound-wise, I think the last few weeks have still made a difference. Or maybe my view of myself is skewed because of the morning mirror looks. Either way. It works for me! I think I might be ready to start measuring myself.

Last night I played ultimate frisbee finally. It was slightly easier to run around than it was the last time I played, which was 3-4 weeks ago? I was told that I did run a bit faster and didn't seem as winded as quickly. All good things! Although it was bloody hot last night! And we lost. By a lot. Really a lot.

Oh! I usually got shin splints playing ultimate frisbee, but not a twinge last night!

As I mentioned on Charles' blog, I am all about the small triumphs and victories. So I am a happy camper today all things considered.

This morning I did 3 sets of 10 lunges and squats. I should feel that tomorrow or even later today.

The one thing I have been slacking on is snacks for the day. I am constantly starving between meals, which can't be good for me. I really need to work on this!

Also, I am excited for September when booty camp starts! I haven't signed up yet, but I will soon! Oh, that reminds me, I should also sign up for the 5k marathon :P

I have been considering signing up at the UofT Athletic Centre to use their pool and track in the winter. As long as it is not too expensive. But that would be good. It's close to my work so I could go afterwards maybe. Or zip over early in the morning. So that's an option. Or maybe the Y.

Or maybe I will hibernate all winter and pack on the pounds. So I can struggle through this all over again next summer!