Please Place Your Seats In the Upright Position...

...because the crazy is taking off.

Remember when I said "let's run a marathon in Donegal in 2013"? Yeah, I don't either but apparently I did. I think I was too busy listening to Ciaran McMenamin's sexy, sexy voice to pay attention to what I was typing. (That man needs to start doing books on tape STAT! It's probably the only way I'd ever make it past the first four chapters of Twilight.) I also mentioned it to a few people in real life, partially in jest and partially in "wouldn't that be fun" until three of them (serious runner types) challenged me back to make it happen. And could I plan a tour of Ireland while I'm at it?

With three actual runners interested in attending the race and two friends who just want to come along to cheer* (and drink in the pubs tour the island), I've started looking into what it would take to make this a possibility. While I know that September 2013 is a looooong way off, getting people thinking about it now (and possibly saving) will hopefully make it easier to get people to commit to it when the time comes. (If the time comes, there are still no guarantees at this time.)

For the reason why I picked Donegal of all the places in Ireland to do a marathon, it's all about the beautiful pub countryside and people. Plus the run looks like a fun, low-key event with hilarious race rules. Also, the eyes of the cow medal light up. They had me at "[a]nyone consistently getting in the way of cows behind them will be be beaten!" and now they've got a light up participation medal? My heart just skipped a beat!

If this does go ahead, please understand that non-runners will also be welcome. My hope is that we can find a nice balance between a small-ish group but making it large enough to be able to work out some travel deals so I'll probably aim for 12 people. Again, this is just to get you guys thinking about it.


As for my current state: back is getting better but it's still slow going. Legs are still very smooth considering what they were like after three weeks of no shaving. I have decided to rewatch all the extended Lord of the Rings** movies because I'm a giant dork and the nights are getting dark so early. This is after I finished watching the entire Underworld trilogy (even the crappy 2nd one which I only watch because Scott Speedman - who can't act, let's be honest - runs around shirtless for most of it). Sadly, that pretty much has you up to date on my life right now!

*and this isn't counting people who've expressed interest but not an actual commitment to coming.

**that's right, extended. I'm a hard-core nerd, yo!

Random Ramblings

Random One: About two years ago, I entered my first blog giveaway (on the now defunct Get Fit Chicks). Amazingly, I won. Amazingly because a) it was the first time I ever entered a blog give away and b) I never win anything. A few days later, I received The Ultimate Workout Log  in the mail. It looked pretty awesome. I put it to the side with the idea of starting it when I started my running program.

It just ended up collecting dust.

A few months later, I dusted it off and thought that I should really start using it. You know, I'll just wait until after my birthday when I can give it a good start.

More dust.

I've taken it out and dusted it off again. This time, no waiting until I'm ready to start or I have a program in place, I'm using it right away... starting Monday. It's divided into days of the week and I hate starting things in the middle. Plus, it gives me a chance to figure out how I'm going to go about sharing it on here. See, I'm doing all this for you guys ;)

Random Two: In an attempt to pretend I haven't left Ireland, I've been rewatching season four of Primeval on Space so I can listen to the rough 'good morning sunshine' sounds of Ciarán McMeanamin's voice. It was hearing his voice while watching season four last March that started me on my 'I have to go back to Ireland' kick.

I want this man to read me bedtime stories.

Random Three: I obviously need to check out my blogger stats more often. Four of the top seven google searches which have brought people to this site have some thing to do with the Italian football (soccer) team. I don't even LIKE the Italian soccer team. I made fun of them in that post.

Random Four: In searching for races in Ireland that I might want to be a part of I came across the Mooathon in Co. Donegal. Not only can you be kicked out because you wear something other than white and black but they encourage you to wear cow bells, cow horns, and any other cow-esque items you can find. Also, it ends at a beach... in Co. Donegal! It's quite possibly the greatest race possibility I've ever come across. I know that the 2012 race is too soon for me (both fitness and money-wise), but anyone interested in joining me for 2013? You get to dress up like a cow and run a marathon!

Free Pass Equals Less Ass

As so often happens after travel, I got horribly, horribly sick upon returning home. Oh recycled plane air, how I hate you! Pity me, people. I went on an awesome trip, came home and got sick ;)

I gave myself a bit of a free pass while I was in Ireland. While I didn't go crazy and eat an Ulster Fry for every breakfast, I did have one twice. (Black pudding, white pudding, fried everything? Hells ya!) I might not have had a pint every night of the week, but I did let the two best bartenders in the country serve me multiple pints on multiple nights.

Why do I say this? Because somewhere in my three weeks of enjoying traditional Irish food and debating exactly which bar serves the best Guinness, I actually lost weight. Obviously, I need to travel more often! I'm putting it down to the incredible amount of walking that I did during my time there.

I may have also gotten inspired while I was in Ireland and looked up half- and full marathons in various locations around the island. Of course, the inspiration may have been more about looking for another excuse to visit parts of Ireland in which I don't have family. Say, the beautiful County Donegal, for example.

I'm feeling better so getting back into the swing of regular workouts is goal number one for the upcoming week. In the meantime, the first few days of travel are recapped here and here.

Summer Weekends and Belated FMM

I had a wonderful summer weekend. A day spent up island and Shawnigan Lake and another day spent lazing in my friend’s sunny backyard while we celebrated her 30th. As much as spring and fall are my favourite seasons, summer definitely does have its moments.

I made sure to go for a swim while up at Shawnigan (in amongst drinking the incredibly strong drinks our family friend poured. I don’t think the man knows what a short glass is) and it reminded me that a) swimming really is an awesome workout and b) I really love lake swimming. There’s not much left of summer but I’m motivated to try and make it out to Thetis for a few morning swims. (Early is the key for Thetis before the crowds descend on it.)

I was back to my scheduled workouts this morning and got a rude reminder halfway through my run why you should always make sure you're well hydrated. Both my calves cramped up and felt like they had turned into rocks. I stretched them out by walking the second run section but let this be a reminder to you: as much as you feel like hitting snooze, get up and drink that pint of water you planned on before going for a run!

Yesterday was Friend Makin’ Monday (guidelines here).

The theme was letter to your future self and as much as it made me giggle to contemplate leaving:
Dear Future Self,
I hope you got your shit together.
Sincerely,
Me
I figured a proper response with some thought behind it was the appropriate thing to do (no matter how much I like to giggle). As a result, I’m a day late but some thought actually went into this so I guess it was worth the wait.

Dear Me-Sometime-In-the-Future (let’s say 10 years),

I’m not going to lie, I’m struggling to be the person I know you deserve me to have been but I hope that you’re happy with where we ended up. Remember that 10 years ago from when I write this, this is not where I thought I would be either but the journey’s been awesome so I’m happy with it.

I hope the adoption went relatively smoothly. What country did we end up deciding upon? I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a West African Country to open up their adoption laws so you can keep the child immersed in their culture through Mohammed, Manimou, N’nato, Abouboucar and the extended MoonDance family. How about the possible plans for a second adoption? Yeah? Nay? Still debating?

I hope you’re the regular multi-day hiker that I want you to become. That’s something I always assumed I would become as a child, and it’s a dream that I don’t want to give up on. Not yet. Not until my knees give in. Or my back. Or some other required body part. And have we climbed Meru yet? Or at least made plans to head back that way?

Did we ever run that marathon? Even more important, did we travel somewhere for a really awesome marathon? I'm keeping my fingers cross that we've done the Drei Laender marathon. I mean, come on. Three countries in one race? Kind of awesome! Built in excuse to hangout with the Hostettlers, Fuchs and Villigers? All awesome!

This is Bodensee (or Lake Constance) that you run part way around for the Three Country Marathon.

My friend's adorable boys are not included in the race package.

And you know how much I love the apartment I’m in right now but please, please tell me you’ve got yourself sorted and have a house (rented or otherwise) with a yard and that you’ve gotten a chocolate lab from the SPCA and named him (or her) Murphy. Because Murphy is just the perfect name for a chocolate lab and beer drinkers will get the joke. Scratch him behind the ears for me. Oh, and maybe make some of those treats that Ian said Thompson loved so much. Don’t argue with me, just do it. And don’t let him terrorize the cats too much (if they’re still around in 10 years).

Doesn't the Chocolate Lab look like a tall pint of Murphy's?

Please don’t have lost your amazement at the wonders of the natural world. Does thunder still make you smile? Do pictures of lava flows still excite you? Does a starry night still take your breath away? Please say they do.

And please tell me that you still sing to yourself when you think no one can hear you and that you bust out the dance moves when the feeling strikes you. Don’t worry about embarrassing your children when you do this in front of their friends. You grew up with your dad doing that and you survived. So will they. In fact, it might even help to make them even more awesome.

Also, have you single-handily negotiated peace in the Middle East yet? No? You should get on that. I’m too busy to deal with it right now.

Sincerely,
Me (from 10 years ago, which is really right now when I write this, but not when you read it, you know what? I’m just going to assume that we’re all on the same page with this and close these parentheses.)

Ein Royal mit Käse

Someone in my apartment building had McDonald's tonight. I know because that's all I could smell in the elevator as I headed out for my run. The few times I've had McDonald's in the past year (usually a good 4-5 months apart) I always end up feeling sluggish and sick but I keep going back. There is something in their food which holds slightly addictive qualities; perhaps it's the 5000:1 ratio of fat/sodium:actual food, perhaps it's the fries with the sprinkling of what I can only assume is sodium crack, perhaps it's the fact that I have no willpower and it still smells good although it makes me feel like ass, perhaps it's that Ronald McDonald secretly sneaks into my bedroom every couple of months and plants subliminal messages in my head. I may never know why I always feel this need to return to McDonald's. I stood in the elevator straining my mind to think I had forgotten anything so I could ride back up to my apartment, but I had everything so I stepped off the elevator, and headed out to meet THR for my run... or rather walk. I'm still not totally better so I'm slowing down the running for just a little bit.

Despite the fact that I'm not feeling well, there was a couple of times on the walk today when I wanted to break into a run and that made me feel good. The more I run, the more I like it. I'm seeing results; my body is changing, my cardio is improving (although right now it pretty much sucks because I can only breath through 1/4 of my nose), my distances are increasing... it's a great feeling. I have decided that I want to set myself a goal for running. I have the 10K coming up which I plan to "run" (read=run as much as I can) but that's very soon so I can't really train for it beyond what I'm doing, so I've decided that if I feel good running the 10K then my next goal is the Royal Victoria Half Marathon in October. It's scary saying that because I look in the mirror right now and I don't see a runner: I see me, my mouth and a (despite shrinking) large butt. I can't, unfortunately, sass my way through a half marathon so I need to find that runner in there. I know she's in there, lost in one of the rolls of fat and probably slowly suffocating.

I really didn't think I would enjoy running when I first decided to actually give it a try. A random conversation with a friend about the Antarctic Marathon in 2013 and this little idea started to take root. Delays thanks to my severly sprained ankle almost seemed like some sort of warning sign, but here I am and I'm loving it. I want to become a runner and that's more than I ever thought possible. I always imagined that I'd run because it was a good way to get and stay fit not because I wanted to do it. With this world of running opened the world of travelling to run. I loved this idea of centering travel plans around a race. I started searching for races in parts of the world I want to travel to (or back to in many cases) and as a result, I've set another goal for myself: if I ever run a marathon, I want to pop my proverbial marathon cherry with the Three Country Marathon in Europe. I debated about the Jungfrau Marathon but it has a scary altitude change and there's a lovely cog-wheel train all the way up there so really, why run it?

I miss Switzerland. The view from Sami and Susi's front steps.