I'm supposed to post tonight as part of a food exchange thing I did (which was awesome and I'll definitely do it again) but my computer is being a little be-yotch and making me stabby. I'll return home, write the post offline (that's the 2nd part... the person I was 'borrowing' internet from moved out. My apartment is internetless. *sigh*) and post it tomorrow morning instead.
Hopefully, while it's shut down and sitting in the corner, my computer will think about what it's done today and will behave itself tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Crushing Travel Plans
I had grand plans to break it to you that I wasn't going to be running the 10K in Taber and how disappointed I was about it, but that I was going to console myself with a trip to Trinidad and Tobago for my friend's wedding at the end of July.
Except that's not how it played out.
While I was looking at possible flights and dreaming of beautiful beaches, work was reviewing the projects coming down the pipe and how far along we were on the current ones. I came into work yesterday all ready to put my tickets on hold... and instead I got notification that a couple of project completion dates had been moved up and July is now a no-holiday month for me.
*sigh*
Looking on the bright side, I can still run the 10K in Taber!
And I'll get to enjoy some Taber corn. I would stab someone in a bar fight for an ear of Taber corn. To be fair, though, I'd probably stab someone in a bar fight for tickets to Trinidad so...
I decided I needed to subliment the running with some weight training so I've joined a gym. I'm trying to go before work so I can avoid the after work craziness. It's not so bad if I take the time to sort myself out the night before and get myself to bed at a decent hour. Who knows, I might even start to like it!
That's an awesome consoluation prize!
Except that's not how it played out.
While I was looking at possible flights and dreaming of beautiful beaches, work was reviewing the projects coming down the pipe and how far along we were on the current ones. I came into work yesterday all ready to put my tickets on hold... and instead I got notification that a couple of project completion dates had been moved up and July is now a no-holiday month for me.
*sigh*
Looking on the bright side, I can still run the 10K in Taber!
And I'll get to enjoy some Taber corn. I would stab someone in a bar fight for an ear of Taber corn. To be fair, though, I'd probably stab someone in a bar fight for tickets to Trinidad so...
I decided I needed to subliment the running with some weight training so I've joined a gym. I'm trying to go before work so I can avoid the after work craziness. It's not so bad if I take the time to sort myself out the night before and get myself to bed at a decent hour. Who knows, I might even start to like it!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
How to Get a Nerd to Run
I knew that I had to start running on Thursday but by lunch time, I had excuses out my wazoo. Well, one excuse, really. I wasn't over my cold so how could I go running? I spent my afternoon arguing with myself between going and not going. I was on the losing end of the battle when a friend texted me.
So, one of the newly painted poles in Fernwood has a TARDIS on it.
A week ago, our community of Fernwood held its annual pole painting day. One of the new poles had a TARDIS? My day was made! The only problem was that when I asked where it was, the response was "It's the one in front of the cool old house with a porch." That's as helpful as someone in Martha's Vineyard describing it as 'the house on the water'.
Obviously I had to go for a run to see if I could find the TARDIS pole.
Once I got out, I was so happy I had made the effort to get out the door. The evening was cool but dry, the running portions felt great, and although my cardio is not what it was I didn't feel like I was going to die. I even challenged myself with a couple of short but steep hills.
More importantly, I found the TARDIS pole. Wouldn't you know it, it was in front of a cool old house with a porch.
Tonight's run, sadly, didn't feel as great as Thursday's. That has less to do with running and more to do with two 2am nights in a row! I'm sure tomorrow's run will feel more like Thursday.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Stumbling Out of the Starting Blocks
I was supposed to go for a run tonight.
Actually, I was supposed to go for a run Monday night but then 106 - I should probably figure out a less confusing nickname for him, something using letters instead of numbers - heard about a board game night in town so plans got shifted around. In case you didn't get the memo: board game night > running.
Back to today, I was supposed to go for a run. I was also supposed to be over this stupid cold.
I took the stairs just one flight at work today and when I found myself only halfway up, stooped over from coughing, and hoping my lungs weren't suddenly going to dislodge themselves and tumble down to the bottom of stairwell, I cancelled my evening running plans.
No point starting the training plan with a call to the paramedics.
I still made a point to get out for a walk for a good 45 minutes. While it wasn't running, it was something.
I also haven't coughed in the last two hours so hopefully tomorrow (or Thursday at the latest) will see me back out on the running paths.
In the mean time, The Wire isn't going to watch itself!
Actually, I was supposed to go for a run Monday night but then 106 - I should probably figure out a less confusing nickname for him, something using letters instead of numbers - heard about a board game night in town so plans got shifted around. In case you didn't get the memo: board game night > running.
Back to today, I was supposed to go for a run. I was also supposed to be over this stupid cold.
I took the stairs just one flight at work today and when I found myself only halfway up, stooped over from coughing, and hoping my lungs weren't suddenly going to dislodge themselves and tumble down to the bottom of stairwell, I cancelled my evening running plans.
No point starting the training plan with a call to the paramedics.
I still made a point to get out for a walk for a good 45 minutes. While it wasn't running, it was something.
I also haven't coughed in the last two hours so hopefully tomorrow (or Thursday at the latest) will see me back out on the running paths.
In the mean time, The Wire isn't going to watch itself!
Friday, May 25, 2012
Making Wise Decisions
I debated long and hard about starting my 10K training this week. Following the plan, this would have allowed for a week 'off' prior to the 10K when I'll be in Alberta visiting family. I told myself I would use that week doing more casual jogs than worrying about the training plan, allowing me to tailor the length of the runs around my family's schedule.
In the end, I decided that I know me too well and my week 'off' would just end up being a week off. "10K? What 10K? Pass me another Molson's while I reload the rifle!" (Full disclosure: neither of these are things I've done in Alberta, they just sound like things other Canadians would expect an Albertan to say. I can, however, tell from the cloud formations when a chinook is coming - thanks Grandpa - so I've got some Southern Alberta cred.) While I felt like I was taking the lazy way out by not jumping on the workout wagon right away, I need that training plan to keep me running during that week in Alberta. I assured myself that I was making the right choice.
Am I ever glad I reasoned that out.
Tonight is the first night I haven't had something planned all week (so I've decided to spend it making my first ever fondant cake). It's also my last week at my old job so there's the added work stress of training my replacement and cleaning out my cubicle. Add to that my cats and their 4am games of tag they've been having every night this week. If I had tried to add running there, well, this post would look like my cats had typed it.
Sometimes the lazy decision turns out to be the right decision.
Not normally but sometimes.
In the end, I decided that I know me too well and my week 'off' would just end up being a week off. "10K? What 10K? Pass me another Molson's while I reload the rifle!" (Full disclosure: neither of these are things I've done in Alberta, they just sound like things other Canadians would expect an Albertan to say. I can, however, tell from the cloud formations when a chinook is coming - thanks Grandpa - so I've got some Southern Alberta cred.) While I felt like I was taking the lazy way out by not jumping on the workout wagon right away, I need that training plan to keep me running during that week in Alberta. I assured myself that I was making the right choice.
Am I ever glad I reasoned that out.
Tonight is the first night I haven't had something planned all week (so I've decided to spend it making my first ever fondant cake). It's also my last week at my old job so there's the added work stress of training my replacement and cleaning out my cubicle. Add to that my cats and their 4am games of tag they've been having every night this week. If I had tried to add running there, well, this post would look like my cats had typed it.
Sometimes the lazy decision turns out to be the right decision.
Not normally but sometimes.
Monday, May 21, 2012
A Recommit and FMM
Now that I'm pretty sure the reading list of this blog has been reduced to no one, it seems like a great time to start blogging again. That's how this whole thing works, right? Blog. Stop blogging. Start again when no one cares? No? Well, I've been going about this all wrong then.
I haven't been blogging because there's been nothing to tell. After injuring myself in November, I fell off the wagon (and the bump from the fall really didn't help with the whole back injury thing - *snort* I love bad puns) and while I kept telling myself to get back on it, it was so hard. The wagon was so tall. I had to, like, climb up on to it and shit. (If you read that in a really whiny voice... yeah, that's what I sound like about this whole thing.)
Then I returned to full time work. And then I had a couple of other time commitments. And then my dance class moved to a location I couldn't get to. And. And. And. And I rock at coming up with excuses. Seriously, school kids should hire me to create their "I wasn't in class today because..." notes. Instead of excuses, I needed a goal. Something simple. Something I know I can do. Something fun.
Like a 10K.
I missed the TC 10K in Victoria because [insert any previous excuse here]. Also, I don't really like doing the 10K: it's insanely crowded and I find myself wanting to punch people in the back of the head because slow moving people crowd into corrals well above their projected finish time. I needed a new 10K to do.
I have tentative plans to visit my family in Alberta this summer so I searched my preferred travel dates and found a 10K in Taber, AB. It's apparently part of the Taber Cornfest. While the Taber Cornfest website still shows 2011 information, a 2012 race is posted on a couple of Canadian running websites. so hopefully it's a go for this year.
If it's not a go, I'll plan my own 10K route through the cornfields of Southern Alberta and make my family stand on the side of the road and cheer me in at the end. Preferably while they wave homemade signs of encouragement. Right now they're reading this and thinking "Andrea's such a clown". We'll see who's laughing when I hand you my home made ticker tape I want to run through!
Training officially begins next Monday.
EEK!
What better way to jump back into blogging than with a Friend Makin' Monday?
Simplified guidelines: Answer questions, post and link up here, sit back and watch the accolades pour in. Or something like that.
-Casablanca
-Beauty and the Beast
-Monty Python's Life of Brian (super excited because the Victoria Film Festival is having a MPLOB Quote-Along in two weeks *squee*)
2. Three of your favorite things to drink:
-Tea
-Coffee
-Beer (really can't get much more specific than that, I just like beer)
(I know, I know, water should be on this list and I do actually enjoy drinking straight water but it's not a 'favourite')
3. Three of your favorite songs:
Just three? Ugh, this pains me.
-Who Knows How to Make Love Stay - Doug and the Slugs (oh, 80's Canadian pop, how I love you!)
-Rolling in the Deep - Adele (I will listen to anything this girl puts out)
-Maple Leaf Rag - Scott Joplin
A friend once described my taste in music as 'a menagerie of sounds'. Yup, that pretty much sums it up.
4. Three people who have recently been a positive influence on your life (outside of your family):
-K from work: really pushed me to go after a new job opportunity and then helped guide me through the process. It worked. I've got a new (and awesome) job.
-T and 106 (friends): convinced me that regular board game nights are cool (and they totally are!)
-Walter Lewin: read For the Love of Physics and it really opened my eyes to the beauty of physics of the every day world. I find myself trying to recall the equation for wind velocity when I see breeze through the trees nowadays. My goodness, I sound like a giant nerd.
5. Three things you to do keep yourself entertained:
-Read
-Sing and dance in the privacy of my apartment/listen to music in general
-Watch TV/movies
6. Three things you’re attracted to in the opposite sex:
-Eyes and smile (I'm lumping these together because one of my favourite things about eyes are laugh lines and you only get those if you smile a lot. The frequency of the smiling is more important than the actual smile.)
-Someone who is kind
-Nice ass (Hey, I'm just being honest)
7. Three things you love about yourself:
-My sense of humour
-My smile
-My nerdy personality (it took me a while to own up to my true level of nerd and now that I have, I like who I am better as a person)
8. The last three people who text messaged you:
-106
-THR
-Trish
9. Three things you’re looking forward to this week:
-Baby shower for THR
-Drinks with the alumni band crew
-Talk on human rights I've helped organise
10. Three wishes specifically for yourself…What are they? (Be selfish, and be honest.)
-I wish I could snap my fingers and be the active, fit person I once was
-I wish I was independently wealthy so I could set off on a round-the-world trip tomorrow (in the active, fit body I used to have)
-I wish I had a maid
11. Three of your favorite quotes:
"Humuor is not a mood but a way of looking at the world." ~Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Who, being loved, is poor?" ~Oscar Wilde
"Oh, don't pay life the compliment to take it seriously." ~Robert Service (from his poem, Laughter)
12. Three of your biggest fears:
-Falling and breaking a bone (I've never done it and the thought of it terrifies me)
-Sharp items like axes, chainsaws or swords make me nervous. Surprising for most people as I own two swords and have used axes and chainsaws many times in my life.
-Moving scarecrows on TV
13. Three of your favorite TV shows:
At this moment:
-The Wire
-Game of Thrones
-New Tricks
14. Three of your favorite things to purchase when you’re shopping.
-Books.
-Books.
-Books (I don't actually like shopping. It's simply a necessary activity so the only time I really enjoy it is when I'm turned loose in a bookstore.)
15. Three things that you enjoyed last week:
-Board game and Pub night with T and 106
-Tea and a game of rummy with C
-It becoming official that I got the new job
16. Three things that you always have in your bag or close to you if you’re not a purse kind of person.
-Lipgloss
-Wallet
-Pen and notebook
17. Three types of food that you wouldn’t want to give up.
-Pretty much anything my mom cooks (save her occasional decision to cook liver and onions when I was growing up. She can keep that to herself)
-Pad Thai
-Cheese Fondue
18. Three things you do to enjoy burning calories:
-Walking/Hiking
-Running (when I was doing it regularly)
-West African Dance
19. Three things you dislike about blogging:
-I love my family but sometimes I wish I hadn't told them I blog because I censor myself more knowing that my mom will read any curse words I put on here.
-Glaring grammatical errors or spelling mistakes that I notice after I hit publish.
-It's not blogging specific, but my current laptop is a pain in the ass. It's old and slowing down which means that a simple post takes way too long to write. Trying to include photos is almost painful. I've found myself saying "fuck it" and just tossing half-finished posts because my laptop is making me want to punch it.
20. Three ways blogging has changed your life:
-I've met some really awesome people
-I always wanted to keep a diary but was kind of crap at it unless I was travelling (I am the travel diary queen!) but blogging fills that need
-I plan more because I need to for the blog
I haven't been blogging because there's been nothing to tell. After injuring myself in November, I fell off the wagon (and the bump from the fall really didn't help with the whole back injury thing - *snort* I love bad puns) and while I kept telling myself to get back on it, it was so hard. The wagon was so tall. I had to, like, climb up on to it and shit. (If you read that in a really whiny voice... yeah, that's what I sound like about this whole thing.)
Then I returned to full time work. And then I had a couple of other time commitments. And then my dance class moved to a location I couldn't get to. And. And. And. And I rock at coming up with excuses. Seriously, school kids should hire me to create their "I wasn't in class today because..." notes. Instead of excuses, I needed a goal. Something simple. Something I know I can do. Something fun.
Like a 10K.
I missed the TC 10K in Victoria because [insert any previous excuse here]. Also, I don't really like doing the 10K: it's insanely crowded and I find myself wanting to punch people in the back of the head because slow moving people crowd into corrals well above their projected finish time. I needed a new 10K to do.
I have tentative plans to visit my family in Alberta this summer so I searched my preferred travel dates and found a 10K in Taber, AB. It's apparently part of the Taber Cornfest. While the Taber Cornfest website still shows 2011 information, a 2012 race is posted on a couple of Canadian running websites. so hopefully it's a go for this year.
If it's not a go, I'll plan my own 10K route through the cornfields of Southern Alberta and make my family stand on the side of the road and cheer me in at the end. Preferably while they wave homemade signs of encouragement. Right now they're reading this and thinking "Andrea's such a clown". We'll see who's laughing when I hand you my home made ticker tape I want to run through!
Training officially begins next Monday.
EEK!
What better way to jump back into blogging than with a Friend Makin' Monday?
Simplified guidelines: Answer questions, post and link up here, sit back and watch the accolades pour in. Or something like that.
FMM: Three Things
1. Three of your favorite movies:-Casablanca
-Beauty and the Beast
-Monty Python's Life of Brian (super excited because the Victoria Film Festival is having a MPLOB Quote-Along in two weeks *squee*)
2. Three of your favorite things to drink:
-Tea
-Coffee
-Beer (really can't get much more specific than that, I just like beer)
(I know, I know, water should be on this list and I do actually enjoy drinking straight water but it's not a 'favourite')
3. Three of your favorite songs:
Just three? Ugh, this pains me.
-Who Knows How to Make Love Stay - Doug and the Slugs (oh, 80's Canadian pop, how I love you!)
-Rolling in the Deep - Adele (I will listen to anything this girl puts out)
-Maple Leaf Rag - Scott Joplin
A friend once described my taste in music as 'a menagerie of sounds'. Yup, that pretty much sums it up.
4. Three people who have recently been a positive influence on your life (outside of your family):
-K from work: really pushed me to go after a new job opportunity and then helped guide me through the process. It worked. I've got a new (and awesome) job.
-T and 106 (friends): convinced me that regular board game nights are cool (and they totally are!)
-Walter Lewin: read For the Love of Physics and it really opened my eyes to the beauty of physics of the every day world. I find myself trying to recall the equation for wind velocity when I see breeze through the trees nowadays. My goodness, I sound like a giant nerd.
5. Three things you to do keep yourself entertained:
-Read
-Sing and dance in the privacy of my apartment/listen to music in general
-Watch TV/movies
6. Three things you’re attracted to in the opposite sex:
-Eyes and smile (I'm lumping these together because one of my favourite things about eyes are laugh lines and you only get those if you smile a lot. The frequency of the smiling is more important than the actual smile.)
-Someone who is kind
-Nice ass (Hey, I'm just being honest)
7. Three things you love about yourself:
-My sense of humour
-My smile
-My nerdy personality (it took me a while to own up to my true level of nerd and now that I have, I like who I am better as a person)
8. The last three people who text messaged you:
-106
-THR
-Trish
9. Three things you’re looking forward to this week:
-Baby shower for THR
-Drinks with the alumni band crew
-Talk on human rights I've helped organise
10. Three wishes specifically for yourself…What are they? (Be selfish, and be honest.)
-I wish I could snap my fingers and be the active, fit person I once was
-I wish I was independently wealthy so I could set off on a round-the-world trip tomorrow (in the active, fit body I used to have)
-I wish I had a maid
11. Three of your favorite quotes:
"Humuor is not a mood but a way of looking at the world." ~Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Who, being loved, is poor?" ~Oscar Wilde
"Oh, don't pay life the compliment to take it seriously." ~Robert Service (from his poem, Laughter)
12. Three of your biggest fears:
-Falling and breaking a bone (I've never done it and the thought of it terrifies me)
-Sharp items like axes, chainsaws or swords make me nervous. Surprising for most people as I own two swords and have used axes and chainsaws many times in my life.
-Moving scarecrows on TV
13. Three of your favorite TV shows:
At this moment:
-The Wire
-Game of Thrones
-New Tricks
14. Three of your favorite things to purchase when you’re shopping.
-Books.
-Books.
-Books (I don't actually like shopping. It's simply a necessary activity so the only time I really enjoy it is when I'm turned loose in a bookstore.)
15. Three things that you enjoyed last week:
-Board game and Pub night with T and 106
-Tea and a game of rummy with C
-It becoming official that I got the new job
16. Three things that you always have in your bag or close to you if you’re not a purse kind of person.
-Lipgloss
-Wallet
-Pen and notebook
17. Three types of food that you wouldn’t want to give up.
-Pretty much anything my mom cooks (save her occasional decision to cook liver and onions when I was growing up. She can keep that to herself)
-Pad Thai
-Cheese Fondue
18. Three things you do to enjoy burning calories:
-Walking/Hiking
-Running (when I was doing it regularly)
-West African Dance
19. Three things you dislike about blogging:
-I love my family but sometimes I wish I hadn't told them I blog because I censor myself more knowing that my mom will read any curse words I put on here.
-Glaring grammatical errors or spelling mistakes that I notice after I hit publish.
-It's not blogging specific, but my current laptop is a pain in the ass. It's old and slowing down which means that a simple post takes way too long to write. Trying to include photos is almost painful. I've found myself saying "fuck it" and just tossing half-finished posts because my laptop is making me want to punch it.
20. Three ways blogging has changed your life:
-I've met some really awesome people
-I always wanted to keep a diary but was kind of crap at it unless I was travelling (I am the travel diary queen!) but blogging fills that need
-I plan more because I need to for the blog
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Working Out the Paper Work
I'd be updating this blog if I had done anything even remotely active in the last week. But I haven't. Well, I've gone for lots of walks. While there has been rain this winter, there has also been a lot of dry periods and it's even been, dare I say it, down right sunny!!
When I do get to step away from documents and website re-designs (not for here, sorry), I've been more concerned about seeing friends than being active. I have a couple of friends visiting from Switzerland so they get priority over running.
I hope all four of you are having a great 2012!
When I do get to step away from documents and website re-designs (not for here, sorry), I've been more concerned about seeing friends than being active. I have a couple of friends visiting from Switzerland so they get priority over running.
I hope all four of you are having a great 2012!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Pete and Repeat Went Into A Store...*
I sat down last year and set some very do-able goals. Then I had a knee problem so the TC 10K was not do-able. Then I decided to Ireland so I cut out the hiking one and the second running one. Then I was lazy so I cut out the weight-loss one.
In short, despite making sure that my goals were realistic, I failed to account for the fact that I like to use excuses as a reason to not do things. Well, I'm back to being able to run (I was actually back to that before Christmas but the holiday season is not a good time to try and set up good habits. It's a time-of-year-too-busy-thing, not a grandma-molasses-cookies-thing, I swear) and looking at my 2011 goals. Easy-peasy, they're going to be my 2012 goals.
Easiest yearly goals I've ever set. And in case you don't feel like actually going back to the old post:
1. Run the TC 10K in 1:15:00 - I'm going to change this to 'run a 10K'. I like the TC but it's stupid crowded and I don't know if I really want to be pushing myself through throngs of people for a time goal. Over the next few days, I'll research other 10Ks in the area and make a decision.
2. Run the Gunner Shaw 10K next November - The ultimate trail race in Victoria. Don't believe me? Read this. Doesn't that sound like ridiculously crazy fun times!
3. Hike the Juan de Fuca Trail - From last year's post: This one was put on hold last year due to other events. It won't be put on hold again. Hey, last year me, yes it will. But Ireland was worth it. Let's try this again, shall we?
4. End the year within 15 lbs of my weight goal - Totally do-able if I'm not a complete twat about it... again.
Now, who wants to start a pool to guess when I'll give up the first one?
*Anyone else remember that joke from yesteryear?
Pete and Repeat went into a shore. Pete came out. Who was left?
Repeat.
Pete and Repeat went into a store... and so it goes until the recess bell goes or your friend walks away (or punches you).
In short, despite making sure that my goals were realistic, I failed to account for the fact that I like to use excuses as a reason to not do things. Well, I'm back to being able to run (I was actually back to that before Christmas but the holiday season is not a good time to try and set up good habits. It's a time-of-year-too-busy-thing, not a grandma-molasses-cookies-thing, I swear) and looking at my 2011 goals. Easy-peasy, they're going to be my 2012 goals.
Easiest yearly goals I've ever set. And in case you don't feel like actually going back to the old post:
1. Run the TC 10K in 1:15:00 - I'm going to change this to 'run a 10K'. I like the TC but it's stupid crowded and I don't know if I really want to be pushing myself through throngs of people for a time goal. Over the next few days, I'll research other 10Ks in the area and make a decision.
2. Run the Gunner Shaw 10K next November - The ultimate trail race in Victoria. Don't believe me? Read this. Doesn't that sound like ridiculously crazy fun times!
3. Hike the Juan de Fuca Trail - From last year's post: This one was put on hold last year due to other events. It won't be put on hold again. Hey, last year me, yes it will. But Ireland was worth it. Let's try this again, shall we?
4. End the year within 15 lbs of my weight goal - Totally do-able if I'm not a complete twat about it... again.
Now, who wants to start a pool to guess when I'll give up the first one?
*Anyone else remember that joke from yesteryear?
Pete and Repeat went into a shore. Pete came out. Who was left?
Repeat.
Pete and Repeat went into a store... and so it goes until the recess bell goes or your friend walks away (or punches you).
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