Thursday, July 28, 2011

Running manifesto

I got this from Lazy Girl Running, and liked it, so here are my answers!


Running is…hard work!
Running is not…always going to be awesome. Sometimes it sucks.
I run…so I can eat candy and not feel guilty.
I run for…the way it makes me feel, like I've accomplished something.

I run because…I want to be healthy and ready for the zombie apocalypse, or to star in an action movie.
I run when…I have time!
I run with…the most embarrassing pop music, and audiobooks.

I have never run…and regretted it after.
I have always run…to the best of my abilities that day
I run in spite of…the fact that it's not easy and makes me gross and sweaty.
I don’t run…when it's above 40 with the humidex. TOO HOT!
I should run…more, faster, longer!
I might run…through the winter again, in the snow and the ice.
I will run…a 20km+ run this fall!

Would love to see yours, my two dear followers!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

what's up, weather?

I was in Death Valley recently and it was a cool oasis compared to this.

People. 188 Fahrenheit is not acceptable. This is Canada it is supposed to be cold!

Also, I have a work function that night and who wants to be a sweaty beast girl in a nice outfit? Ugh.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Reading while running

Well, technically not really reading and running, but I started (ok, have done it once) to run while listening to an audiobook instead of music. 

I thought it would have trouble keeping people straight and remembering what was happening, but it was actually very engaging and I wanted to keep running to find out what happened!

Here's what was key for me:

- A "simple" book. War & Peace or A Tale of Two Cities might not be the best choice for doing this, pick something with a few main characters and a single major plot.

- A sequel to something I have already read. I'm 'reading' the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I already know the main characters and how they're related, so I'm not always thinking "Who was that again?"

- A "junk" book. I would normally be slightly embarassed to be reading a book for teenagers, but no one knows what I'm listening to! I can listen to teen lit to my heart's content without the librarian judging my simple tastes! (I know, one of my followers is a librarian, and I don't think you actually judge people on what they take out. I hope.)

I think the Harry Potter series would also be great for this, and I've been meaning to re-read them anyway. I am actually looking forward to running in 35oC weather so I can listen to more books!

Also, I love this!:


Thursday, July 14, 2011

It's official, I'm a warrior.

Last weekend I had the Warrior Dash! What is a Warrior Dash, you ask? Well, it is quite something.

- Take 3.2 miles
- Add in steep hills (course was a ski hill!)
- Throw in some obstacles

Seems simple enough. You may be wondering what sort of obstacles. I will elaborate.

- Knee-deep shoe sucking mud. Try running with 20 pound shoes.
- A "spider web" of elastics wound through the trees. I will be honest, I rocked this one. I heard a guy behind me say "THAT GIRL JUST KILLED IT!" Toot toot, that's the sound of my own horn.
- A giant pile of hay bales
- A steep slope slip 'n' slide. There were holes in the tarp and I left part of my ass on that hill.
- Fire. Yes, jumping through fire.
- A tire run, then run through busted-out cars, then more tires. I could not lift my feet for the second set.
- A mud crawl, with gravel at the bottom. Yes, my knees look like I crawled through gravel, because obviously I was crawling over gravel, through mud, under chains, after jumping through fire.
- A vertical wall climb (rope assists)
- A cargo net climb
- Not officially an obstacle, but there was a LONG, STEEP-ASS hill in the blazing sun that wrecked a few people (sunstroke, exhaustion, people barfing. 1pm was a dumb time to choose, in retrospect)

41 minutes later it was all over! I'm happy with my time, considering my usual time for 3 miles is about 25 minutes, and this was in the blazing sun up and down hills.

My joy at 41 minutes was only slightly dulled by the fact that the top finisher in the women's 70+ age group was an 80 year old woman who did it in 35 minutes. What is that I don't even is she superhuman??!

Warrior Dashes are held throughout the US, and I found it to be really well-run. All the stations (check in, gear check, warrior wash, etc) were well marked. Plus. your race chip was your ticket for a free beer afterwards! "Mud, sweat and beer" does a good race make!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

you guys! I got a dog!

Yes I am a terrible updater, I own up to that.

But in return, here are pictures of my adorable dog!

And here she is, smiling!
She's half lab, half mystery, and 100% cute.

She's 4 and her name is Mia. We got her from a foster group, but she was actually brought up from a shelter in Kentucky, and she's been dreamy. No chewing anything, no 'accidents' in the house, no biting, super chill with other dogs.

Downsides: Likes to rise at 5.30am, obsessed with chasing squirrels, sheds like a demon! But we're willing to overlook these things!

I'm trying to get her to run with me. She'll trot along at a good pace for a few clicks, but the pace is definitely slower than my regular run. I'm going to whip her into running form!