‘Cause I Keep Runnin’, Runnin’, Runnin’, Runnin’ *

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Yesterday I looked out the window at work, out over the harbour, and it looked like it could rain at any second. We had a heavy rain warning in effect (and in fact I fell asleep to the sound of pounding rain on the windows). I needed to run. I had run just a little over 5K on Sunday and had to keep the momentum going to be ready for the 10K in May.

I figured, meh, whatever, I’ll just go ahead and run for 20 minutes or so on the treadmill. I don’t particularly like the treadmill AT ALL but it serves a purpose when I need it.

The thing is, I got off the bus and it wasn’t all that dark out even with the overcast skies thanks to the time change. It was windy but nothing worse than I had faced in the past; my area is a bit of a wind tunnel to be honest. And like I said, I don’t like the treadmill. And by that I mean I really hate the treadmill.

I walked in and told George I had changed my mind and decided I was going on a “real run” instead. I got home at just past 6:35 and ten minutes later I was wearing my running gear, had had a drink of water, and was heading out the door with my phone and my iPod.

I knew it would be a good run by the time I was at the 1/2 kilometer point. It would have taken something drastic to ruin it. I was in high spirits and had a huge smile on my face and I was flying. I was so happy that I had decided to go outside instead of running on a non-programmable machine while staring at a wall.

Alas, I was about 4K in when I started to feel the rain starting, just lightly. I shrugged it off; I was one street behind mine and could have turned around for home but I really wanted that full 5, plus it wasn’t very heavy rain.

Yeah.

I ran to the end of the street, up a hill, and around the corner only to have the skies open up on me. The wind was blasting straight down the street, the rain was pouring down, and it was driving directly into my face. Admittedly, not being a fan of rain (unless it’s on a day where I don’t need to go anywhere and can spend the day on my couch with a cup of tea and a book), I did a whole lot of cursing. I was running along the street, muttering obscenities to myself, and I wondered why I was doing this.

Then I turned the corner of the street I needed to make my last loop, and the houses broke the wind while the trees offered a very minor shield from the rain, and at the same time I was slapped in the face with good old Runner’s High. I swear if the pharmacology world could re-produce and bottle Runner’s High they could make a killing, but it still wouldn’t be as good as the real thing anyway.

Apparently when you’re drenched to the skin, post-work mascara pooling under your eyes, darkness falling, and you get hit with Runner’s High, the result is a hilarious giddy reaction. I was literally laughing like a hyena, running through the streets faster than I normally go.

George tried calling me to see how far away I was since it was then a torrential downpour but I was so soaked I couldn’t even answer my phone; I tried but my fingers were too wet to swipe the screen to answer the call. Instead I just cranked up the speed and pounded the last block to home.

I was completely drenched by the time I got home, every single layer of clothing sopping wet (EVERY layer) and my hair was so wet I looked like I had stepped out of a shower. I will never willingly go out for a run on a rainy day but being caught out there in it was ridiculously fun. At least I had a nice dinner of ham and scalloped potatoes with a glass of wine when I got back; that helped.

It was my best pace since I rebooted my running (5.2 km in 31 minutes) and it was my best run feeling-wise in a good long time. I look forward to more of those!

*Title courtesy of this song which was a great soundtrack for that last kilometer of running in the rain and also happens to be one of my favourite songs to listen to.

On the run

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Back on November 11th, 2012 I ran about 3.4 km. After that, I stopped. The thing is I’m a seasonal runner. While I don’t care for running in oppressive heat and humidity I’m even less enthused to go out running in the winter. For one thing I’m always afraid of slipping on icy patches. Sometimes I have trouble walking on the icy streets and sidewalks, so plowing along on a jaunty run is just not appealing in the least.

At the same time, I also don’t want to run in the winter because I hate the burning sensation in my throat and lungs from the cold air. I could probably put something over my mouth to help but the slipping-on-the-ice factor makes me not want to bother.

However, spring is coming. Sure, there are still snow storms happening across Canada but it’s not completely dark when I leave work at 6 pm now and the temperatures are occasionally staggering just above freezing so I know it’s there.

And with spring comes the Bluenose Marathon and all its races. Which means training. Therefore, on Saturday after I had finished editing a video from George’s gig the night before (where we hired a babysitter so I could go out and see him play and celebrate 14 years together) I looked out the window, saw it was sunny, and I thought to myself, “it is time.”

Thus I laced up my shoes, put on a fleece pullover on top of my running clothes, and headed out for a short get-back-in-the-game run. I didn’t want to push it after three months of not running so I took it easy and only went 2.2 km in 13.5 minutes. It’s certainly not my best pace but it wasn’t bad at all and I did it without stopping (even though I was tempted).

I hadn’t even made it to the corner of my street before I felt my face breaking into a huge smile. By the time I hit the 11-minute mark I had hit the Runner’s High and was practically giddy, albeit tired. It felt so good that I almost didn’t want to stop but I didn’t want to overdo it.

That was a smart idea. On Sunday my entire body reminded me that it had been awhile since I ran. My quads hollered at me every time I walked down the stairs, my back was a bit sore because of the return to jolting, and I had forgotten that you use your abs when you run so every cough or sneeze was painful.

I didn’t care. It felt AMAZING to run again.

In fact it was so amazing that I ran again on Monday after work on my treadmill. I strongly dislike running on a treadmill, so it says a lot that I was so eager that I turned that beast on and pretended to be outside.

Based on my pace and the amount of time I ran, I estimated about 2.5 km that night. The next day I didn’t have any pain so I guess I’m doing okay after all.

In related news though, boy am I tired. I not only forgot about the abs effect, I also forgot that running makes me want to sleep a lot. Alas, going to bed too late and getting up for work means not enough sleep. I’m going to have to fix that.

So yes, I’m in training mode again. I’m hoping to get back into a routine of at least 3 runs per week like I did last year. The Bluenose is on May 19th and there’s no time for sitting on my couch just thinking about running. After all, that 10K race isn’t going to run itself.

Yes, 10K.

Last year I did the 5K and I debated the other day about possibly doing the 5K again and trying to finish it in less than 30 minutes (last time I did it in 30 minutes, 6 seconds) or moving up to the 10K. After a lot of thought I decided to register for the 10K. I’ve never run that far in my life. I’ve never run farther than 6.5K to be honest so I’m a bit nervous but I know I can build up to it in time if I just stay disciplined.

I’m also a bit nervous about the fact that the 10K involves running over the Macdonald bridge TWICE and I’m not a fan of heights. Still I’ve heard you don’t even really notice if you stay in the middle and look straight ahead. I figure I’ll just do a couple of test runs before race day so that I’m not overly anxious about it.

I’m so glad to be back in running mode again. Anyone else running races in the near future?

A month of yoga

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Back on January 1st I had no intentions of joining any kind of challenge, mainly to avoid falling into the new year’s resolution trap. I do enjoy making a few but anyone who is a regular gym member can tell you that while it’s easy to make big promises as you’re ringing in the new year, the novelty usually (not always) wears off and people stop doing what they said they would.

It’s why I didn’t give up coffee last January 1st; instead I had been weaning myself off of it by drinking a half cup a month prior and then I finally gave it up for good probably around this day a year ago although I sadly don’t remember the exact date (a year later and still no coffee. I don’t really miss it, I rather enjoy my morning cup of green tea or special treat of Chai tea, thanks).

It’s also why I’m glad I didn’t start yoga on January 1st. I started sometime in mid-January, and again I wish I knew the precise date. However, I started it because my legs ached daily and I was wondering if it might stop that from happening AND if it might also help curb my anxiety (yes to both). It’s now been three years and I can honestly say that yoga has changed my life, so I’m glad I didn’t make it a resolution on the off chance that I might not have stuck with it.

So it was a surprise to me that I signed up for a yoga challenge that encouraged people to do some yoga every day for the month of January. I saw the invitation to join in on the 1st after I had already happened to have done some yoga, and I said, “hey, why not?!”

I’ve successfully done every day so far and I’m feeling stubborn, I mean determined and committed enough to keep it up for the remaining days. It’s not that hard to do, really, because there are no rules regarding time. I can do as little or as much as I want as long as I do something (and even just meditating counts, though I prefer to meditate after practicing some physical yoga). On busy days, such as last weekend when we had some out-of-town guests, I’ll do just 10 or 15 minutes. On other days I’ll do up to an hour of yoga with no trouble at all.

Heck, last night George was playing so I did a full two hours. I recently downloaded the two classes offered on the Strala website that Tara Stiles put together; one is called Strong, the other is Relax and both are named as such for obvious reasons. I had done and enjoyed each of them several times but really wanted to try doing one and then the other in the same session. I did the Strong class for an hour, took about seven minutes to put the kids to bed and drink some water, then I immediately did the Relax class for another hour. It’s not something I would want to do regularly because it’s definitely a lot (and yes, I’m a wee bit stiff today but nowhere near as sore as I had expected) but I would certainly do it again.

Tonight will be some gentle restorative yoga though, that’s for sure!

The challenge goes on until the end of the month but there’s already talk of a new daily yoga challenge for February. I’m debating signing up again. I haven’t decided yet because it’s definitely nice to take the day off when you really don’t feel like it but in general I’ve always found that even on the days that I think I don’t want to do it, I always feel better after I hit my mat. I’ve never once thought, “man do I ever regret doing yoga.” Who knows, I just might sign up for February after all, especially if I can just do five minutes of gentle stretching and then some meditation and log that too.

Every so often I add photos to my challenge logs. Here are this month’s #yogaeverydamnday (as the hash tag goes) photos.

Day 3 – some meditation after my practice:

Day 4 – Side plank:

Day 6: Fully relaxed into pigeon pose:

Day 7 – Half moon pose (so much easier now that I learned the correct way to do it!):

Day 13 – I didn’t practice here, but I did throw down a side crow while at Crystal Crescent Beach (the beach is awesome in the winter!):

Day 19 – Natarajasana after shoveling the front walk and steps:

Yeah. I’ll probably sign up for February too.

And… end scene!

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Today Hayley and Breanna went to visit their two friends for the day for a special Christmas party and to stay for dinner. This worked out well for us and not just in the obvious, “woohoo, peace and quiet for a handful of hours!” kind of way.

Actually, there wasn’t much peace and quiet to start, alas. George had gotten some of the Christmas shopping done the other day but we still had a bit more to do, so we took advantage of the opportunity for the two of us to go out and finish it up together.

You would think that the last Saturday before Christmas, in fact, mere DAYS before the big day, would mean that shopping was an absolute chaotic nightmare, but you know what? It really wasn’t that bad. The parking lots were jammed full of people and some of the stores were busier than others, but overall it wasn’t a huge deal. Walmart was pretty busy but that’s not unusual and we hit the express counters so we were in and out pretty quickly. I think the worst at first glance was the dollar store where the line up went around the cash registers and all the way down one row, but they had six people on cash registers so it moved smoothly. Best Buy and Future Shop were both very manageable and required no wait time at the cash.

(Hilarious aside about Best Buy: We went in and made a purchase then later realized we’d forgotten something so we headed back and George forgot about the guy who stands right inside the door to greet people and to check receipts for larger, non-baggable items. He said hello to George, who wasn’t looking, and George jumped about three feet and yelled, “oh Jesus Christ!” I thought I was going to have an aneurysm from all the laughing that I did. I think it amused Greeter Guy and probably made his day; I know it made mine!)

In all, it took us several hours, but that included visiting George’s aunt and stopping for a bite to eat halfway through. If you’d told me before I left home that it would take that long I doubt I would have been so chipper walking out the front door, but it really wasn’t as bad as I had thought.

As a bonus we still had plenty of time when we got home before George had to pick up the girls so I tossed out my yoga mat, put on my Kathryn Budig Aim True DVD, and did over an hour of yoga by the light of the Christmas tree. Very relaxing.

I still have to wrap everything but George is going to try to get the kids out of the house tomorrow and I’ll start wrapping while watching “Christmas Vacation” and “Elf”.

I can’t believe Christmas is almost here – and that I’m so happy about it! Falalalala!

It’s the end of the world as we know it

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(and I feel fine)

First of all I’d like to say that I do not in any way believe that the world is ending on December 21st. I believe the Mayans were an incredibly advanced ancient civilization (just look at Chichen Itza which is an amazing calendar tool) but I don’t believe they can predict the end of the world.

However, you never know. No one ever expects the end of the world to ever happen, but hey. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition either (hello fellow Monty Python fans).

While you enjoy this one minute mashup of songs about the end of the world…

… let me tell you about all the things that would be going through my mind if the world did indeed fizzle out at some point tomorrow (in no particular order because the brain is not logical or orderly when mayhem is exploding around you; the locusts and the meteors are distracting).

* “Oh my fucking hell, why did I bother coming to work today? This was my last goddamn chance to sleep in EVER!”
* “I guess I didn’t need to pay my December rent and could have done something more fun with all that cash.”
* “I really did want to try ziplining once in my life.”
* “Look at the size of that freakin’ tsunami, I don’t think my mediocre breaststroke will help me now.”
* “I knew I shouldn’t have had that last glass of red wine last night, ugh.”
* “Can someone please explain how NASA and all the astronomers in the world didn’t see that mammoth asteroid heading this way?!”
* “The nutjobs are thinking this is because we pushed for separation of church and state, right?”
* “Crap. Did I leave the stove on?”
* “Was Daryl going to live through the whole season of The Walking Dead?”
* “That zombie is not behaving anything at all like they say they do in The Walking Dead!”
* “Does my life insurance cover this?”
* “Shit. I don’t HAVE life insurance…”
* “Well, this is it, thanks for all the fish.”

I’m still wondering what kind of apocalypse it will be. I’ve read and watched many things around the zombies, so I feel pretty prepared for that (especially if we can meet up with a Daryl-ish person to keep us well fed with possums and deer). I’m thinking space-based issues (meteors and the like) are unlikely since someone would have to see that shit coming. We can measure seismic activity to know if there’s a planet-bursting earthquake on the way, so we should be okay there. I’ve only read one book about the robot uprising, and I’ve seen all the Terminator movies, but I feel inadequately prepared, so here’s hoping it’s not that.

Ah well. Maybe it will be the opposite of the Big Bang. The Big Suck or something. Which sounds dirtier than I intended.

It will all be a surprise! Or, you know, just another Friday.

Here’s hoping we’re all still here on the 22nd. Like Hayley said, she saw a quote saying we can’t even accurately predict the weather, let alone the end of times. If we survive, let’s all toast with a beverage and scream “TGIF!”

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