When there are no words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqoHPzqUkZo

All over again

Fall is almost here. This morning stepping outside I noticed I could see my breath and my lawn was covered with sparkly crystals. Great news. I adore fall. The sweaters, the colours, the holidays and anticipation of Christmas.

I finally felt like I was back into an old workout groove. I had some great workouts last week including a solid day of chasing around my 8 month old nephew. This weekend I spent a good deal of time at the gym and unfortunately managed to ignore a back injury which only resulted in some knee problems. It's the same knee I hurt last time and I'm sure it is due to a misaligned spine. Couple that with a daily dose of wearing heels (oh fashion is pain sometimes!) and here I am, a bit swollen and plenty sore. Thursday evening I'm set up with a chiropractor appointment and should be good to go. 

Minor setback. But tomorrow is a new day to try again.

Rain rain...

Sitting here shaking during a thunderstorm. Or possibly sitting here shaking because I lifted weights tonight like a champ! I prefer the latter but the first is much more likely.

Had a really great spin class yesterday evening and felt good about adding something new to my workouts. Tonight I had a brief jog and focused on a weight routine. I'm still quite happy with my fitness app which has hundreds of exercises to target specific areas and allows you to track or customize a routine. It's encouraging to see weight and reps increase and is a reminder that I can do it if I stick with it!

So, while it may be a sleepless night, I'm hoping the rain will wash away the heat and bring on some cooler temperatures. I'm ready for my favourite season.

Goodnight

Time for bed! What a weekend, a good one but oh man did I get in over my head. It started with a great idea to paint my living room. Two days later, a bucket of paint, several cans of spray paint, some new accessories for my room and achy hands and I'm back to working out.

Had a great run today, felt like it was getting easier and I focused on getting my form and breathing right on rather than speed. Finished with weights and planks and I'm feeling good overall. Looking foward to taking some classes this week to mix up my workouts and challenge myself with some variation.

Need to keep it up to keep up with this one...

Beautiful thing

A late night last night and an early morning today had me grasping for some form of energy boosting drink/food this afternoon. I managed to make it through the day, a busy one at that, and opted on a post dinner workout to avoid the university crowd.

Today was a solid weight day with a warmup of rowing. Not gonna lie, have never really paid attention to the rowing machine but some recent articles about the benefits have peaked my interest. Tonight I didn't have a particular area of focus and did a total body workout. Putting my hair up in a ponytail afterwards had my arms screaming so I'm sure tomorrow will be once heck of a slow moving day. But, I think I'm okay with it.

"Behind every beautiful thing, there is some kind of pain" Bob Dylan

10:51

It's a short week and cramming in everything that needs to be done is proving to be challenging. I had an appointment after work today so I wasn't able to get a workout in until after 8. Now, if you know me, you know I would rather be at home, tea in hand and reading with my feet up. Nope. Not me. Not today. I got in there, got it done, and am happy all the University kids had cleared out by then. Add a stop at the grocery store post workout and it's got me here at 10:51 pm. Way past my bedtime.

Despite a late finish, I'm happy, I'm sore, I'm in need of a shower and I'm looking forward to doing it all over again tomorrow.

Dear body...

Dear body, 

I am sorry for the torture I've put you through. Sorry for the carb laden escapades followed by inactivity. Sorry for the cheesecake, the lattes, for my love of crackers and all things butter. Sorry for my torrent affair with ice cold beer on super hot summer days. Sorry for those s'mores too, although Reese peanut butter cups in place of regular chocolate was a borderline genius moment in my life. 

I'm not sorry for the soreness in every step today. I'm not sorry for the hamper of sweaty stinky gym clothes this week that I have to deal with. I'm not sorry for waking you up early this weekend to get an early morning run and workout in before a busy day. I'm not sorry for the multiple baths ran to soothe achy muscles.

So body, while I feel you may hate me right now, I'm learning to love and resect you more and more.

Love, N.

Ps. Tomorrow, we do it all over again, and then some...

Listen hard

Happy to report that I have worked out the past 3 days. No skipping, no lame excuses, just a valid attempt to get back at it. And I am sore. Fricking absolutely sore. Serves me right for some intense weight sessions along with running after all this time. But, better to be sore than sorry.

This long weekend will be a short one for me. I have a 7 am flight to Vegas on the holiday Monday for 10 days. Some work, some play, and lots of taking in the scenery and experience. Tomorrow will be crammed - early am run, brunch and some fam jam time. 

Tomorrow is also 4 years since my dad passed. Can't believe it, still feels like yesterday. He was always my biggest fan and I know if he was here he would encourage and guide me to follow my heart and dreams. He always understood me, listened to me, and made me laugh when I wanted to cry. He was so genuine, sincere and showed me how to be strong. He smiled with his eyes, just like I do.

I'd give anything to talk to you right now. Miss you and love you. 

A day without...

August. August is like the Sunday of summer. Can't believe there at 30 days left until school buses clog up the morning commute and open toed footwear becomes borderline inappropriate.

Today I had a short, but solid run. It felt great to get moving after a day in the office and I complimented my 5k with a good upper body weight session. My vacation afforded me a chance to skim through my reference books and I'm going to start following a plan again to keep me on track and help prevent injuries.

I'm realizing some things just occupy a big part of mind, and I need to do something about it...

Two favourite things

A few of pics of my day.

Kiss the maritimes...

Out of office notice:

Hello, I am currently on vacation, returning on...well...I don't really want to leave Atlantic Canada to be honest....

Ps. The photos below are taken by moi. 

Up up and away...

Hello Tuesday. Hello über early alarm clock. Hello hitting the snooze button 17 times. Nobody should have to get up so early. So much for my pre-office workout. 

After work today I dragged my tired butt to the gym. While I'm sure running outside would be a nice change, the soaring temperatures that heated up my car to be hot enough to burn my arse suggested I would likely overheat. This week is crammed with appointments and visits so morning workouts make sense. Plus, I'm sure I could have a reasonable energy level to have some decent times. Today was not a day I ran for time records...I just got in there, got it done and left. And while there may have been some sighing, I'm happy I went. I even felt inspired enough to come home and pickup reading some good running reference books. 

I'm sitting now in my cool basement with a bowl of Yonanas. (Google it. Life changing.) A little up after a little down.

P.s. for the record, I did use all my gym gear I packed for my Florida conference. And then my luggage was lost BUT I promptly ran within of minutes of retrieving it on Sunday. No kitten.

Right meow.

Well, I took some advice and ran my cold away. Finally. Over two weeks of tissues, NyQuil, sprays, prescriptions, allergy pills and a clogged head, I am over it. And it feels good. Good to be active, release stress, find time to be me.

When asked today if it was hard to get back into it, I couldn't lie. It was hard this week. There has been a huge way too big gap between workouts. And I am fricka licka sore. But, feeling sore today is way better than feeling sorry.

Quiet weekend ahead before a solid week of travel and conferences. Planning on yet again packing my gym gear, and actually using it.

70

It's been a long time. A long time since a post, a long time since a run, a long time since I've felt like me. 

So today I ran. I ran from people, I ran from bills, from chores, from feelings, responsibilities, from the red blinking light on my phone, from my stupid head cold, from everything. And guess what. I feel great. Why the heck do I go through phases of on again, off again. This is too important to me, my health, my sanity and my happiness. 

Today I ran for my dad, who would have been 70 today. I ran as a reminder that life is too short, too precious and fragile to stay idle. A reminder to take time and better care of myself. A reminder that he raised a strong girl.

Surprise!

Surprise! Nice to see you. Been a while. Despite what you think I have actually been running. Not as much as I'd like to or as much as I should be, but I still managed to get out. At least a few times...

In a nutshell, the past few weeks of my life have included several work trips, two weddings, birthdays, bridal shower, stag and doe, a few friend visits and just thinking of it all again is exhausting. Luckily, I have this week and most of next with no events and I'm looking forward to getting into a routine again. Also, I am happy to say that I ran this morning. Yep, not at the end of the day or midway, but legitimately in the AM. This is some serious progress. Mind you, I still needed my coffee before I even opened my eyes but nonetheless, I'm happy I did it. 

While I haven't hit my half marathon goal yet (sadly), I'm happy to still stick with my overall goal and continue to work on being healthy. And really enjoy some cheesecake and merlot along the way :)

Just do it.

I can't lie. I did not want to workout today. At all. Nope not one bit. And yet, here I am, with a sweaty ponytail stub feeling so happy that I actually went. No more excuses, right?

It's been two days since my last run. Saturday provided another glorious atmosphere to head outside. I eyeballed what I thought would be a decent, safe route and away I went. A whopping 6 km by my watch certainly looked to be a much greater distance by car. However, the good news was that I didn't get run over.

Despite my complete and total lack of enthusiasm to run today (I really wanted to go out as I had a pretty sweet outfit) I got into a good groove off the bat and had a solid 8 km run. And you know what, it was easier than I anticipated.

So, lesson learned and I applied the Nike slogan "just do it" today. Tomorrow is another day with greater odds to head to the gym with a smile. And the balance of my days? Well, I'll just have to create them them the way I see fit.

Run with me later?

I. Love. Long. Weekends. And even more so when the sun is shining and its a glorious temperature outside to run in without risk of hypothermia or heat exhaustion.

Today started out just right...with a sleep in. I had an early night last night but really looked forward to a few extra hours of sleeping in. Plus, after an intense weight session on Tuesday, my body really thanked me. A few rounds of coffee in, I felt really motivated to start on some spring cleaning. Problem is, it was the kind of cleaning that led to more cleaning. And now I have a house in disarray which will likely take the balance of the weekend to find a home for all my accrued treasures.

One of the greatest things about where I live is the beautiful countryside and proximity to conservations and trails. There came a point today when I looked a the clock and realized my window of opportunity to head outside before attending a family function, was shrinking. What a perfect day to run on a quiet road. Traffic should be minimal, everyone is busy with family. Wrong. Who knew there would be a traffic jam on a back road. Why didn't I think about all the city folk and their desire to see how maple syrup is made? A good portion of my run was explaining to the line up of cars where the park entrance was and that no, despite my fluorescent orange shirt I was not an employee directing traffic. I was simply wearing it so they didn't run me over in their excitement to see the sugar bush.

So, I had a lovely run of just over 5.5 kms and felt good about actually running outside again after many, many months. It inspired me to stick with it and I'm pretty pumped to go again this weekend. Okay so it was clearly more difficult than a treadmill but I know with some persistence it too will get easier and better.

Hi, you might remember me from...

So, it's been a while. While I received a few notes of concern from people thinking I disappeared or died, I was actually up against some obstacles...

2 days after my last post, my illness came back with a vengeance. So much so, the doctor gave me multiple prescriptions to get rid of my pneumonia-wannabe germs. It was another 2 weeks of coughing, sniffles and just down right gross feeling. Luckily, this round of super pills cured what I had and I think I only contracted it to 2 people.

In addition to this, I had a solid 3 weeks of travel. California, Calgary, Edmonton and Chicago brought incredible opportunities but also early mornings, long days and late nights and different time zones to contend with. And good food....okay yes also some delicious cold beverages too. Lame-o-schmamo excuses. Especially since I packed my gym gear everywhere I went. What a good lesson in discipline and a wake up call, as reflecting I am disappointed in myself. The whole point of setting goals is to work towards them, right? Plus, there are so many shining examples around me of people balancing way more than me. No excuses. Who knows, I may even attempt an early morning wake up and get a run or workout in before my day starts. (Haha, ya, not likely but if I tell someone they may hold me accountable).

So, ten days ago I had a run in between a trip. Today I pushed through 7.5 km with some relatively decent times. I'm not going to lie, it was more difficult than I wanted it to be but I know with perseverance I can get back to a schedule, my plan, my happy place.

"Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life."
Good to Great by Jim Collins

Next steps

So, I am happy to report I no longer have cooties! Turns out I had a lung infection which required a round of antibiotics to kick it and I should have gone to the doctors sooner. Either way, I had a huge chunk of time not being active and lots of long sleeps and couch Olympics.

What a surprise to get back running yesterday and doing so with ease. I got through 7.5 kms and decided it was best to start with that this week and not over do it. Today after work I hammered out a great weight session focusing on legs and core. And I can't lie...if my soreness now is any indication of how tomorrow will feel, it will be one heck of a slow day.

The past few weeks I've been checking out upcoming half marathons. It's time to pick one for the spring so there is a commitment, a goal, to push myself every week and work towards it. Time to action it and move forward! This past weekend I had the pleasure of discussing running with extended family and I learned that someone I know was once such an elite runner. He shared advice on selecting a run, tips for a good marathon and he did so with such passion...even now as a non-runner in his 70s. The best advice was to just do it, even if I just do it once, and to not put any expectations on myself for time or speed.

So there you have it. Words from the wise. I only hope to make to his age and beyond to share mine one day :)

I'd like to go here...

While google proves to be a valuable tool for finding information on a variety of topics, diagnosing health conditions should not be one of them. Type in any symptom and you are bound to discover that you need a limb amputated or have a condition much more serious than you could ever dream possible.

This past week has been an ongoing struggle to kick a cold/flu to the curb. My days have been super tiring, my body feels exhausted and sore and I have a cough that has left me sounding like an 84 year old cigarette smoking man. Needless to say, running and workouts have been non-existent.

Waking up this past weekend, I was bound and determined to go for a run, however, this hacking cough has its death grip on me. Being stubborn as I am (tough to believe I know) I punched in "running while sick" in google and low and behold, thousands of articles telling me varying pieces of advice. The majority said if sick with a lingering cough, back off. So here I sit and wait it out until breathing is normal and I'm not a wheeze bag.

The good news is that the majority of articles also indicated that any progress will not be lost. Super, because quite frankly I'm getting ready to dive right back in. I guess every now and then your body had a way of telling you to slow down. But hopefully, next time it will tell me to go here...

Beautiful inspiration

Well, it's been two days of rest. I am getting over a cold or flu and I'm thinking its my body's way of telling me to slow down. I accept, and I welcome the additional hours of sleep!

Over time, I've learned that my parents help me feel better and encourage a faster recovery. A visit with my dad today reminded me that he is all around. A beautiful inspiration

Work for it

This weekend was a good mix of some solid me time and catching up with wonderful friends. Throw in some new car shopping along with copious amounts of laundry and ladies and gentlemen, that's my weekend!

I had all the right intentions to work out yesterday, but had to check out new rides with mom, visit with my lil nephew and had dinner with a good friend. Heck, I even thought about working out after my dinner date but let's be honest - 2 delicious cold pints, salmon and sweet potatoes fries left me longing for couch lounging.

Today was an early morning and I set out for a run before lunch. I'm more of an afternoon or evening exerciser so I was pleasantly surprised when I managed to complete 16 kms relatively easily. So my time wasn't overly fantastic but it was consistent and I didn't push myself today. I enjoyed the whole hour and 43 minutes it took me to complete it. Had another great dinner date tonight and had some quiet time before stocking up on groceries and coming home to get ready for another week.

Looking back, this was my second farthest run since I started my goal. Sure, there is still a really long way to go but it feels good to reflect on have far I've come. And for the first time, when I realized I had an hour left on my run today, I really looked forward to it...and didn't dread it.

Some variety

Tomorrow is February. Are you kidding me! Where did January go? I'm not quite ready to tackle a new month and have a birthday at the end of it! Why is looking forward to birthdays now as comfortable as looking forward to a visit at the dentist?

I had a good day off the gym on Tuesday, and Wednesday was a solid full body weight session. My weights and reps are increasing and I'm noticing my body becoming stronger and even signs of definition. Bonus! My fitness app is amazing and I've discovered how to make my own routines, discovered video tutorials and an amazing listing of all foods and nutritional information. Today was a cardio day and while I went with the intention to run, after about 1.5 kms, I opted on an hour spin class for some variety and to work different muscle groups. It was refreshing to mix up the routine and to be honest, I think my body thanked me for the change of pace.

Looking forward to tomorrow being Friday and all the wonderful things weekends bring. (Sleeping in, pyjama lounging, hangouts with friends, etc.) But most of, looking forward to some quality N time to recharge, relax and reflect on all that was and all that can and will be.

I've got a feeling...

Well, today started out with a big ice storm which meant it was the perfect day to work from home! I must admit, I'm a big fan of having a house to myself and found that the day flew by. Plus, homemade soup was in the crockpot by the time I would have been at work and all laundry remnants from the weekend were finally done and put away. And...I cleaned my oven.

I stuck to my schedule and took off to the gym after work with the intention to have a small run and a weight session. Once I got going however I figured it was as good as any day to keep going and I managed to cover 14 kms in about an hour and a half. So my time wasn't the greatest but It felt good to be able to ramp up a bit and I was proud that I did so without an injury.

Looking forward to an early morning presentation for work to a major potential account. Feeling like it will be one of those weeks when hard work all round will start paying off.

Runday Sunday

This morning I woke up looking forward to lacing up, grabbing my Nike+ watch, plugging in my headphones and having a solid run. It was an early start to the day as I had an extensive and labour intense dinner menu planned so a little bit of N time was totally welcome.

The past couple of days ended up being "off" days, sadly, not by choice. My last jaunt at the gym was on Wednesday - a quick 5 km plus a full body weight session. Thursday and Friday were pretty packed after work so I was looking forward to a longer run on Saturday. Well, a dinner out on Friday made sure that wasn't happening. Woke up early on Saturday AM and was sick as a dog. Not sure if I ate something bad but it threw my stomach off all weekend. Total loss of appetitive on Saturday left me pretty tired and weak and definitely not up to a run which would burn more calories than I had consumed. Anyways, had a great night out with some friends and played pool for the first time in years and got some rest for today.

I was pretty pumped to have covered 12.5 kms today and also shave off 30 seconds per kilometre. Every movement felt strong, every step was done with ease and every breath was with passion. I finished off with push-ups and planks and felt very satisfied with today's run.

Having a few days off definitely bummed me out, as being away from what you are so passionate about is brutal. But the moment you have it again, makes you feel so alive, so electric, that the wait is worth it.

Jan 21

Apparently today is supposed to be the most depressing year of the day. Bills from overspending at Christmas are stuffed in mailboxes, new years resolutions given up, lack of daylight and of course crummy weather would all contribute to it. Determined to not support this statistic, I made sure there was no shortage of smiles in my day.

On Friday I had a great run after work. After finishing just over 11 kms, I started my cool down but as soon as I slowed to a walk I experienced some pretty terrible pain...in my groin. No amount of stretching seemed to help so I hobbled home to put my feet up. In addition, I dropped my iPod on the treadmill which then launched it across the gym to hit an elliptical and the girl on the elliptical. Smooth. Luckily, she thought it was funny and walked it over instead of whipping it back at me. Saturday was a long day from lack of sleep and lack of motion. I took the day off working out to rest and luckily it worked. I was still sore on Sunday, but a definite improvement. I was feeling good enough to get a good weight session in and focused on strengthening my weak muscles.

I wasn't too sure what to expect with today's run but was happy when I realized there was no pain or problems! I eased into a good pace quickly and was feeling really good. I covered another 11 kms but felt like I could have run for hours.

On a day that should have been dreary and depressing, it felt so good do something with such passion and happiness. And while real life can drown you with bills and problems, remember that nobody has ever drowned in sweat...

You know me...

Sitting down to write tonight, I've realized it's been ten days since my last post. It's also made me think about how much one person can cram into ten days. It's been a productive and fun mix of work and play but it also has me looking forward to the weekend.

Last week I had another great 10 k run, along with a few smaller runs and weight sessions. My new iPad app is proving to be a great tool and helps keep my workouts fresh and still monitor my progress. The weekend was packed with good times with friends and lots of laughs.

Monday had me travelling for work and I took the opportunity to spend an extra day across the border to do some shopping. Okay so I may have splurged on a few things....but I can assure you they were needed! And...I also had the best peanut butter chocolate cheesecake of my life. In my defence, nowhere in my training program does it ban me from cheesecake. Or a long sleep in from a cheesecake coma.

Today was a tough day at the gym. I was feeling tired but was looking forward to a workout. I pushed through 5 k and followed up with a weight program designed for runners. I left the gym feeling really good. Tired, but good. This weekend I will increase my distance again and hopefully see some better times.

As much as it felt good to get back to the gym today, I can't deny how great it was to have my cake and eat it too.

These three words

Confidence - The feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something.
Passion - When you put more energy into something than required to do it.
Zest - Great enthusiasm or energy.
Today - The perfect combination of the above.

Back to the grind today and having a routine felt really good again, even despite an early morning. I woke feeling rested, refreshed and ready to take on the day. The work day flew by and I was really looking forward to a good workout. Originally I planned to do a quick run and weight combo, but once I started running, it was difficult to cut it short. Everything felt just perfect - my stride, breathing, form - everything was bang on. I managed to cover 10 km in an hour and 4 minutes and it felt great.

Yes, I did increase more than I should have. Yes, I veered from my plan. But I knew I could do it, and did I ever want to hit a double digit distance. Besides, how would I know without trying?

2013 will bring a lot, but first...my confidence.

Days like these

I love days like today. My alarm was set early this morning, and after realizing it was Saturday, it was quickly dismissed and a sleep in resumed. With the day open to partake in anything, I got my domestic duties out the way so I could dedicate my afternoon to the gym.

Being a short week, there was a lot to fit in. On Thursday I had a solid weight session and followed with a quick 2 km jog in the hope it would help with any future muscle soreness. Not sure it helped much as Friday was a slow moving day for me. My week finished off with a great Friday night of hogging my beautiful nephew. He is a week old now and it's amazing how much love you can have for someone so soon. Even after being pooped on.

Today's run was easier than earlier this week. I varied my speed over the 8 kms I covered and finished feeling satisfied and stronger. Also wanting to vary my weight routine, I downloaded an app with hundreds of tutorials for weights and workouts. And there was my afternoon.

Of all my muscles, I'm happy that my smile muscles get the most exercise. No matter what the workout, they are always okay the next day.

Day 2

Well, back to work today. It felt good to get into a routine again however getting up at the crack of dawn was challenging. I relished the opportunities to sleep in and recharge over the break and may have fallen victim to overindulgence.

Yesterday was a breathtakingly beautiful day. What a great way to welcome the new year. The Christmas decorations all came down and the house was put back into order. My gym playlist was refreshed and being the OCD organizing extraordinaire I am, even my closet got some attention and was sorted by colour and style. After spending time on my humble abode, I bundled up and started trekking around the yard. My house is surrounded by conservation and farmland and the woods always seemed so magical as a child. Okay, they still seem that way even now as an adult, and it felt so refreshing to wander around and take in blankets of sparkly snow and the rays of sun through the thick trees.

After work today I mustered up enough energy to run 8 km. I'd be lying if I said it was easy, it really wasn't until just after 4 kms that I got into my groove but I still did it. 2013 will be a year that I will continue to push myself, farther than I know, on multiple levels. Little accomplishments, even just finishing a run when it's tough, will continue to help me grow and make me stronger.

Looking forward to greeting tomorrow at the crack of dawn...and seeing what else I can do in a day.