Race Report: Garfield Fun Run KL!

The view as we drive
to the start line!

Joy here...After "going rogue" on my training and claiming that I wasn't going to do any races for a while and just take it easy with my training, I suddenly found myself at the start line of a 5km running race under a blue sky and hot afternoon sun.

Now let's back up a bit.  I've been in Kuala Lumpur for two weeks, and during that time, I've not been able to run or train or do anything more active than lift my beer to my lips. It's been the holiday season, with much work to do and people to see and fun to have and life to live.  And, well, for the past two weeks, I've been doing that.

But then my former trainers and friends from Bodytech here in Malaysia told me that they had signed up for a "fun run" and I should join and run with them.

I figured I had nothing to lose, so I got to the start line at 4 o'clock on Boxing Day under a blazing hot sun and +35C temperatures.  We were all sweating as we posed for pictures with Garfield, as this was a branded "Garfield Run," complete with mascots and everything!

Odie and Garfield show up to cheer us on!

We trundled over to the start line, smelly bodies, jostling, shouting, and cheering all around us, and we waited for the countdown.

As soon as we were off, I left my friends behind and started weaving and wending my way through the thousands of yellow-clad Garfield runners until I got a bit of space and could run at my own speed.  To be clear, that speed was pretty darn slow.  I think I reached the first km mark after 7 minutes...not much faster than walking!

But then, despite the heat and despite my time off, I was feeling just fine.  I didn't have any weird aches and pains, and I felt like I could just take it easy and have a comfortable run.

Me and my friends at the start line!

Granted, it was hotter and hillier than I was used to; granted it was one day after Christmas celebrations (complete with wine); granted I'm out of shape after "going rogue," etc. etc. but given all those caveats, I felt fine.

I trundled through the second and third kilometre, but then the hot sun of the afternoon was unrelenting and the road was going upwards, and I felt myself walking.  I gave myself about 60 sec. of walking, and then up I started again feeling like I might actually finish the race in under 30 minutes, which I really didn't think I could do.

So I trundled along, feeling good, and then I turned a corner and the finish line was mere metres away.  I ran my little heart out for those last 300m or so, knowing that I could have run a lot faster had I known I was so close to the end.

All the keen runners in their Garfield tops!

I finished in 27:43, just slightly slower than my last fun run that I ran just over 24 hours after returning to Canada from Malaysia one October.

See ya later #GarfieldRunKL; I might be back
next year!

I waited under the shade of a palm tree as I awaited my friends at the finish line, and then amidst high fives and cold drinks we meandered back to the car, feeling satisfied and proud of ourselves for getting out there and running this fun and well organized #GarfieldRunKL!

So all in all, the lesson that I've learned is that in saying I'd "go rogue" and not race has proven the opposite.  Just when I said I wouldn't sign up for any more races, I found myself in the midst of a race.

And you know what?  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Life is more interesting when it unfolds in a way that isn't planned!

So as 2015 comes to its close, I think I'm going to do my best to remember that life lesson and not plan things but just roll with life as it comes, mascots and all!

Over and out,
Joy

Race Stats:
Ran for a total of 5km in 27:43min for a pace of 5:33min/km.

Going Rogue on my Training!

Joy here...Okay, so I signed up for the Toronto half marathon the weekend of October 18th.  And I'll cut to the end of the story here:  I didn't do the race.

Leading up to October I've just been so, darned busy.  A recent article, though, says that we're not as time-starved as we think; it says that according to one study, "The time is available to have a fulfilling career and rewarding family life," and thus, we should kind of buck up and stop thinking of ourselves as super time-starved.

So I've had to realize that I'm no more time-starved than anyone else, and probably better off than some.  And my inability to prioritize training has more to do with my failing to prioritize training than any actual, objective limits on the amount of time I could dedicate to training.

But instead of beating myself up over this inability to organize my time or prioritize properly, as is my usual wont (like when I blogged here), this time I'm just gonna own it (cue someone snapping and saying "you go girl!").

And what does it mean to "own it"?  It means that I'm just going to make a big announcement:

I'M GOING ROGUE ON MY TRAINING.

Yep, that's it.  That is all.  Sure, I'm going to run.  I've even found a squash partner for the new year.  I'm going to walk and hike, and when I get the chance I'm going to ride my bike.

But what I'm not going to do is sign myself up for races, tell myself I'm going to train, and then not be able to do it.  

I just have other priorities right now, and I'm sick of feeling bad because I just can't do all things all the time 100%.

So wish me luck...and I'm sure I'll be back!

Over and out,

Joy

USA: My Crazy Cousin, or My Thoughts on the UCI World Championships in Richmond

Joy here...Okay, I haven't blogged all summer, and we're well into fall, so instead of trying to fill in some of the gaps from the last few months, I'll just leave those as gaps and pick up where I am right now.

That's one of the lessons I've learned from training: When you miss a workout, don't try to start layering in all the missed workouts on top of new workouts, but just leave them incomplete and begin anew.

So that's what I'm doing now.  Beginning anew.

And I've decided to begin with a recap of the weekend of September 27th when The Man, myself, and a few friends headed to Richmond, Virginia to watch the UCI World Cycling Championships. Not only was it a great opportunity for those of us North Americans to get a chance to see some of the world's very best cyclists up close (a bonus that many Europeans can simply take for granted that is still a big deal to those of us on this side of the pond); but also, our friend (who just signed a World Tour Contract for next year with Canondale-Garmin - yay Mike!) was going to be racing for Team Canada.

So we bought our flights using my aeroplan points, booked a place to say using Airbnb, and headed to the States.

Rockin' the 90s LA style.

Now as a Canadian I've travelled to the US, but not as extensively as I've travelled throughout Canada or other parts of the world. I mean, I've done the typical Disney World family vacations; in my twenties I took a work trip to LA with my uncle when we both worked for the family business (and was totally weirded out that people were quicker to assume us a couple than an uncle & niece travelling together); I did a girls' holiday to Scottsdale with my besties in our twenties (where we hung out by the pool and pretended we were in a Reality TV Show, and that premise got funnier and funnier the more margaritas we drank); as an adult I've done trips to Boston and NYC to be all grown up and sophisticated and stuff; and my sister and I think it's a great idea to start doing sister trips to Miami in November to escape the "Winter is Coming" feeling in Canada.

So that's just to say that I've been to the States before.

And every time I go I am struck by a weird sense of ostranenie (остранение), the sense of defamiliarization of the familiar. Basically presenting familiar things in a way that makes them seem unfamiliar.

And that, my friends, in a nutshell is what a Canadian often feels in the USA.

UCI World Championships in Richmond

(And I suspect that Americans feel this same thing when they live, work, and travel in Canada.)

It's a strange sense of thinking that things should be familiar (except that they spell centre wrong and get rid of the letter "u" from words and things like that), but amidst all the familiarity of language and culture, I am always struck by the fact that things are not as similar as I might unthinkingly assume.

Here is a random list of some of my observations about how USA differs:

Cause, you know, not all schools are
"drug-free school zones," only the
ones with signs.

• When people say something is "urban" they don't mean "hip" or "busy," they mean "ghetto" or "crime-ridden";
• Walking as a mode of transportation engenders pity;
• Poverty and homelessness seem closely linked to race;
• Gun violence is a real thing to worry about;
• Taxis are non-existent or inefficient, but Uber is awesome;
• People can be super friendly and welcoming or super scary and frightening depending on which neighbourhood (or neighborhood) you find yourself in;
• It is a given that the way things are done in the States is the best. Period;
• Basic technological things - like mobile credit card payment and PIN machines - are surprisingly behind the times more often than not (like you still have to sign credit card slips in restaurants!);
• Public transportation is a place where crime happens;
• People really say things like "y'all" in regular conversation; and
• Obesity is real.

But given all that which seems odd, despite being familiar, there is also a charming "American-ness" that can create beautiful and genuine moments - moments of laughter and celebration, moments of connection, moments of discussion and conversation etc. - and while in Virginia for the UCI race, I was able to experience a moment of community like I had never before experienced.

USA! USA! USA!

For a large part of the race, Ben King, a local racer from Virginia was leading the race as part of a small breakaway.  We were standing on a hilly, cobbled stretch of road watching, amidst thousands upon thousands of spectators crowded by the roadsides rows thick. As the leaders of the race came into sight, these thousands of spectators began to chant:  "USA! USA! USA!"

Now normally I'd scoff at the blatant (and frightening) nationalism, or I would cynically wonder "what do they have to cheer about?" but amidst crowds of sports-loving fans under a sunny September sky cheering for a hometown boy, I couldn't help but feel a swell of emotion in my chest, a sense of warmth and earnestness, a sense of community that was uplifting and positive, and in that moment, I felt something quite wonderful about my crazy but loveable cousins to the south.

Here's to you, USA!

Over and out,

Joy

Learning to Love Running Again

Joy here...There comes a point in any athlete's life when he/she becomes what they call "burnt out." It could be physically burnt out or mentally burnt out from training.

Spring is finally here!

Now I don't actually train hard enough to get burnt out. But weirdly, I've discovered that even missing or failing planned workouts can have an effect similar to burn out.

When I don't hit a planned workout, it still hangs over my head, making me feel bad and demotivated, and weeks and months of this can have a cumulative effect.

What happened to that girl who used to run for fun?  What happened to that girl who used to dream up stories while on a run?  What happened to that girl who used to find running meditative?

I'm not sure, but she's not me these days.

I'd like to find her again.

So I'm going to take June to just focus on relearning how to enjoy running.  I'm going to get out there and run for fun.

And as I slowly run for fun, get back into the swing of running, I'll build up my distance and fitness, and then...well, then I think there just might be another half marathon in my future.

Sounds like fun!

Over and out,
Joy

Run Stats this week so far:
Saturday: 5 X hills (about 2ish minutes in total; run 200m flat for one minute and then one minute up hill and repeat)
Sunday: Sleep!
Monday: Ran for 29:01 for 5.36kms for an avg pace of 5:25min/km.
Tuesday: EssayJack soft launch (see our website for demos!!!)
Wednesday:  Ran for 28:01 for 5.08kms for an avg pace of 5:31min/km.

Race Report: Ottawa Race Weekend

Joy here...Ottawa is abuzz with activity this weekend for Race Weekend. The entire city comes alive as elite runners and regular folks lace up their shoes and head out to run in the streets of the city, and the rest of us line the streets to cheer them on.

Heading to the start line...

Usually we're in Malaysia at this time of the year, so it's pretty rare to be able to participate in the festivities, much less run in the races ourselves.

But this year I signed up for the 5km race. I'm probably as unprepared for a race as I've ever been.

"If you're consistent with your training," my coach said, "then you can aim for under 25 minutes."

Of course, I wasn't consistent with my training. As my last post makes clear, I'm not in good shape, and I'm not ready to do a running race.  But, well, race day appeared, and I had signed up to run, so, well, um, I showed up to the start line as planned.

With no other plan except a half-baked plan to aim for under 25 minutes, I headed to the start line after warming up.  There was a chill in the air, but the sweat of the bodies crammed up at the start line kept me warm (and assaulted my olfactory senses with the BO of thousands of bodies). The air horn went off, and we all started running.

Under 25 minutes, under 25 minutes,
under 25 minutes...

I knew full well that I had to keep consistent. While I may not pay attention to my coach and be consistent with my training, I have let him drill it into my head that I have to start slower than I finish, and keep my ego in check for the first half of any workout I do.  So while all the keeners at the start of the race were off like foxes fearing the braying of the hounds, I had to keep myself conservative.  I let them all pass me and tried not to take it personally.  I looked to my Garmin, but with thousands of runners all running around, with their own Garmins and devices pinging back and forth to satellites overhead, my pace wasn't showing up consistently.  One second it would say I was running 4:28min/km, then I'd look down and it would say 5:08min/km, and then 4:12min/km, and then 6:28min/km. Every 200m or so I would get a ping from my Garmin saying that each 200m was taking me around 1minute.  If that was correct, then I was on pace.  So I kind of used that as a vague gauge and just tried to run based on how things felt, but running on "feel" has never been my strong suit.

This would be my test.

I ran, sure I was slow. I ran, being passed by kids and their parents. I ran, just trying to be consistent.

I turned a corner past the halfway mark and ran past The Man and some of our friends cheering, and then I saw another friend from the running group and waved in her face (she later told me: "you looked awesome!").  And then, before I knew it, I was at the 4km mark, and just started running faster.  I started forcing my breathing to be faster and I started counting in my head...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9...And then I saw the clock overhead at the finish line, and as my eyes began to focus, I saw 24:38...I was under 25 minutes, but I still had meters to run.

So I sped up, willing those damn legs to move faster, finishing the final 200m at a 4:26min/km pace and in 53 seconds (rather than the 5min/km and 1 minute per 200m I had averaged throughout the rest of the run).

My Garmin pinged that I had finished my 5kms, ringing the tone of completion, and I looked down to see beautiful digits:  24:52.  But then as I passed under the finishing banner I could tell that the clock ticked over the 25 minute mark.

Post-race bananas...doesn't get any better than this!

I finished and waited up for my friend's daughter (also a friend) to finish her 5km race so that we could get our post-race bananas and walk back together and meet up with her parents and The Man.

And after we high-fived and enjoyed the post-race buzz, I looked up my results and realized that even being out of shape and inconsistent with my training, I still finished in 22nd place for my age/gender (top 3%) and to 10% of the overall 5km racers.

More important than all that data, I was absolutely dead on with my pace throughout the race, and I finished faster than I started.  So all my work on this over the past year is starting to pay off, and that, well, that's motivating (which is something that I've struggled with).

Maybe it's time for me to sign up for another half marathon...

Over and out,
Joy

Run Stats:
According to my Garmin:  Ran for 5kms in 24:52 for an avg pace of 4:58min/km.
According to Sportstats Official Timing:  Ran for 5kms in 25:05 for an avg pace of 5:00min/km.

It's not about weight loss, until it is...

Joy here...One year ago at this time I was the fittest I had ever been.  We were nearing the end of 12 months based in Malaysia, and without winter and Seasonal Affective Disorder, I was able to workout consistently year round.  I felt great physically and mentally (and I say so here).

I didn't look too bad either (here I am spring 2014).

We lived in an apartment with floor to ceiling windows over looking the jungle; we were able to see our friends every week; I had access to an amazing gym and trainer around the corner from where I lived; I had a membership at another posh gym for those times when I needed a swim or a treadmill; I did great bike rides at least once a week; a tropical fruit stand was at the end of our road every day; the grocery store knew me by name and would order anything and everything I might want (including gluten free items); and, well, I was happy.

Fast forward 12 months.

We're now just coming out of what seems like the longest winter I've ever experienced. I've not been consistent with my workouts, and I've drank much more, much more regularly throughout the winter than I should have.  I have no access to a gym or trainer, and am hanging onto my running coach by the skin of my teeth.  I'm sure he thinks I'm a loser, because I miss more workouts than I actually hit.

I've said may times on this blog before that I do sport not about weight loss.  For me, sport is about feeling good, being sharp mentally, and overcoming challenges.  Sport is so much more about the mental side than the physical for me.

Looking a little different now, spring 2015.

Or at least that's always been the case.

Now I find myself, for the first time in my life, thinking about the physical more seriously, and thinking about weight loss.

You see, in the nearly 12 months since we've been back in Canada, I've gained about 12Ibs and lost pretty much all my muscle tone.

It's snuck up on me bit by bit, and as I grapple with trying to be consistent with my workouts, I also find myself having to try and lose weight too.

I truly see why the weight loss industry represents a multi-billion dollar business.  It's hard to lose weight, and you feel like crap about yourself, which makes you a perfect target for savvy marketing.

But I reminded myself that I'm supposed to be focusing on the mental side, not the physical side, right?

So mentally, my challenge right now is to overcome negativity and this hole that I've dug myself into and just move forward.  There's no magic to it, and there's no point in beating myself up over backsliding.

As Ottawa's Race Weekend descends upon us this coming weekend, and I'm going to be running a smooshy and out-of-shape 5kms, I just remind myself that you gotta start somewhere.

Here I am with my Mile2Marathon training crew in Ottawa.
Can you spot me?

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

~ Confucius

Over and out,

Joy

Tiptoe through the Tulips

Joy here...Each May the snow has finally melted and it seems as though spring may have arrived in Ottawa, and to celebrate this annual event that no one ever really believes will come Ottawa puts on the Canadian Tulip Festival.

I'm not even kidding.  The great Canadian tulip festival.

It's happening right now.  So happening.

So, of course, being the good little Ottawan (Ottawinian?) that I am (cough, cough...sarcasm), I went out for my run and ran towards the tulips.

And, you know what?  They were actually pretty beautiful.

It is very easy for me to be down on this town.  It's small and parochial.  Its winter makes me want to kill myself and others.  I miss my friends and family.  I miss the vibe and energy of a big city.  And, well, I could keep on going and going with my oft-repeated list of the things about Ottawa that just don't really float my proverbial boat (and you can read my post about Ottawa as a celebration of mediocrity), but what I should say is that when a whole town comes out to enjoy tulips, brings their kids out to look at flowers, drives into the city from the 'burbs on a family outing to celebrate gardens, and generally gets together over the banishment of winter, even my cold and shrivelled anti-Ottawa heart has to find something pretty special in that.

As much as I wished I could diss all those people milling about the spring buds just barely beginning to open and promise so much more than cold winter, I just couldn't find it in myself to do so.

So as I ran, feeling every bit as out of shape as I am these days, I took a moment to stop and smell the tulips. To stop and enjoy the moment, and while my life isn't exactly where I'd like it to be just yet, it's moving in the right direction, and knowing that, I can give myself permission to take a breather amidst the flowers and allow myself a moment to enjoy the present.

The present with tulips.

The present with running.

The present with sunshine.

And, you know what?  That present is pretty darn good, and so as I turned around after frolicking amongst the flowers and headed home for the latter part of my run, I was feeling pretty darn good. These tulips have been gone all winter, but the festival is on, and they're putting on a good show now, and that's all that matters.

Making friends with spring!

Over and out,

Joy

Run stats:
Ran for a total of 38mins for a distance of 6.93kms at a pace of 5:29min/km.

Ever-Elusive Efficient Time Management

Joy here...I've long grappled with feeling like there simply aren't enough hours in the day to get the things done that I need doing.  I have found myself not being able to schedule my workouts in around work, socializing, life, house-work etc., but I've equally found myself unable to fit in errands to get my garden ready in the spring, or find the time to search out, call, meet with, and organize masonry work that needs to be done on our house, or regular maintenance things like that that happen to pop up.

So this week, I turned to a friend in the car, "This inability of mine to fit everything in seems to be a constant problem," I said. "So I know that the problem is mine."  I was being deep and self-reflective, not blaming the world for not being organized according to my timetable, but recognizing I am complicit in how my life unfolds. "I just need," I said, "to figure out how to schedule myself better."  I was feeling already better at discovering that this problem is one of my own making, and the solution merely better time management.

With better time management, I figured, I'd be able to fit in all the obligations that currently seem to overwhelm me.  I'd be able to build a business, lead a team, organize my house, be in shape, socialize with my friends, maintain relationships with my family, balance our overseas obligations, set up healthy meal plans and grocery lists, and continue to write and manage my other "for fun" projects.

Clearly, it was just about being more organized.

As a Type A personality, I can do organized.  Heck, I'm pretty organized as it is, and I can certainly get better.

"Or," this friend said to me, "maybe you could just do less."

My brain officially exploded.

So while I contemplate that option, I hit at least 3 of my planned workouts this week, and I still pretty much think organization might be the key, but Ima gonna think hard on this whole "do less" idea.

Over and out,
Joy

Run Stats:
workout #1: Ran for 27:53 for a distance of 5km and a pace of 5:35min/km.
workout #2: Ran for 45:00 for a distance of 8.11km and a pace of 5:33min/km.
workout #3: Did 4 X 1km repeats at 4:45min/km

Have fun, Dammit!

Joy here...Okay, so I barely went cross-country skiing this winter; I've not hit all my run workouts in weeks; I've fallen off the strength training wagon; I barely ride my bike, and I think I've gained weight over the course of this never-ending winter.

But nobody likes a whinger.

whinge

(h)winj/

BRITISHinformal

verb

1. 1.

   complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way.

   "stop whingeing and get on with it!"

noun

1. 1.

   an act of complaining.

Me last month with the snow bike!

And the truth of the matter is that when I put on that cycling helmet, hop up on a bike, and feel the wind on my face as I pedal my little heart out, I forget everything; every worry, every whinge, and every excuse is whisked away.

That, I think, is why all little children learn to love bike riding.
I was never a bike rider as a kid...so I get to fall in love with it now as an adult, enjoying every moment of it in the fullness of my present self.  I don't take it for granted, and I'm always surprised by just how much I love riding my bike.

We bought a "snow bike" this winter...a big, fat bike with tires that would put a monster truck to shame, and then yesterday the weather was actually nice enough for me to dust off my awesome road bike and head for a ride around the canal for the first time in 8 months!!!

Me after my successful first 1.5 hr bike ride this spring!

So a friend of mine and I got ourselves all set, and headed out onto one of Ottawa's many bike paths.  Neither she nor I feel particularly fit after a long winter with too much booze and not enough sport, but that's not the point.

The point is getting out there under a blue sky in the blustering wind chatting with a friend and moving your body.  You don't have to look at your computer and calculate speed or wattage, you just have to just enjoy yourself.  That's not such a tall order, is it?

And that's exactly what we did.  And in my humble opinion (or IMHO in text-speak), enjoyment on a sunny spring day is as good a start as any I can imagine as I count down to my next race in just under 5 weeks from now.

I may not be fast by then.  I may not be fit by then.  But I will go and I will run, and I will have fun.

Dammit.

Because afterall that is what this is all about!

Over and out,
Joy

Ride Stats:  Went for a 35km bike path ride; it took around 90mins.

Finding My Motivation Ninja!

Joy here...I've written before about being a leader not a follower, and what I mean by that is a comment about motivation.  One might be motivated by the challenge of being passed by a faster bike rider or a faster runner out there, or one might be motivated by staying ahead of someone else.  And by that impersonal, third-person "one," what I really mean to say is that the very personal, first-person "I" struggle with trying to discover what motivates me best.

Because in discovering that motivation, I may well be motivated.

Maybe.

I hope.

As you can guess, I struggle with motivation.  February was a tough month when it comes to workouts, and while March has been better, it's not been a knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark success.

But one thing that I've learned that helps with motivation issues is that it's not like I can just sit and wait until motivation magically lands in my lap.  Instead, I have to get out there and run and ride and workout and in so doing, slowly but surely I will build in the motivation to keep doing that.

So even though it's spring and the temperatures are still freezing, I'm going to get out there on our new snow bike and go for a ride.  And tomorrow I'm going to hit my run workout.

And slowly but surely when the weather starts to warm up, I will find that with the arrival of spring and new buds on the green shoots, there will be new buds and green shoots of motivation taking root in my heart.  And then, my friends, I may just emerge out of this winter.

Joy the motivation ninja!

Over and out,

Joy

Keep Moving Forward

Joy here...So I've been a terrible blogger and a terrible sportiste (um, what's the word for sport-doing-person?).  But I'm about to change all of that.

Even though spring is being its bi-polar self, swinging from -10C one day to +10C the next, I'm feeling like the unending cold of February and the attendant funk seems to be lifting.  I'm starting to feel guilty about not getting out there and doing sport throughout February, but March is a new month, a chance to start over, looking forward, not backwards.

Which got me thinking about a great quotation from Martin Luther King Jr.  He once said:

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

And that makes a whole lotta sense to me right now...you have to keep moving forward...

I spent much of 2014 on planes, in cars, and generally travelling back and forth.  I spent more time in other places than in my own home throughout 2014, but hung onto some fitness by the skin of my teeth, but now with the start of 2015, I've been focused on some aspects of business development that have kept me rooted in Ottawa for much longer periods of time than any in recent memory.  This stasis has kept me static...I've been busy and buried under tasks which have taken precedence over sport.  Never a good thing.

But I really do feel like I "have to keep moving forward," forward in life, and since I truly, deeply, honestly believe that sport affects life and success in sport gives dividends in life, if I am not moving forward in sport, there's a good chance that no matter how busy I am and how much I think I'm getting done in the rest of life, I won't really be moving forward.

Soooooo...I just signed up for my first running race of 2015, a 5km race at the end of May...here's to moving forward!

That's me...moving forward!

Just keep moving forward,

Joy

Ups and Downs, and then some more Downs...

Joy here...Okay, so my last post was in October when we got back from a whirlwind trip to Malaysia and I did a 5km running race right upon our return to Ottawa.  Then there's been a bit of radio silence.  My mom used to say:  "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all."  And, well, I guess that sums up the past 5 months or so.  They were/are 5 months of one of the toughest winters I can remember in a loooooooong time.

We had another whirlwind trip to Malaysia planned, but because we were a little behind on our business milestones, we ended up taking no time off and, instead, had our computer programmers move into our Malaysian apartment to work around the clock with us for 6 days.

Working around the clock...not much of a Christmas break!

Then we came back to Canada to find ourselves in the midst of what felt like a very long and hard winter.

Panoramic view of the interior Dome and running track (with me in my pink parka!)

But now it's March and I'm slowly clawing myself out of the winter doldrums.  I've probably gained a bunch of weight (I'm too afraid to step on the scale to confirm it one way or the other), but I've been hitting my Saturday morning workouts at the interior Dome in Ottawa, and I've even done a few little runs outside.  I've gone for one cross country ski and one ice skate this winter; heck, I even went for a ride on a "snow bike."

Me, The Man, and "Fatty," our new snow bike!

I find when in this situation, it's best to think of life in terms of its ups and downs.  There will always be ups and downs, and so long as I keep that perspective and enjoy the ups and survive the downs, it'll all even out in the end.

So here's to evening out...Hey, did someone say let's have an evening out????

Joy

Race Report: 5km Blackburn Hamlet Running Race

Joy here...At the end of August I discovered that I had given myself a wee bit of a stress fracture in my left foot.  Now a stress fracture is a teeny tiny little fracture that in and of itself is no big deal, unless you keep running on it, turning it into a serious fracture and major injury.

My stress fracture was in my baby toe - small metatarsal
of my left foot.

I was lucky to have caught mine early enough (well, actually, it was my coach who wrote: "Stop running!!!!!").  Because of catching it early, I was able to prevent it from worsening and take a brief 4 weeks off running, before trying to get back into the swing of things.

Of course, after taking the time off, it also meant that my motivation suffered (is suffering, continues to suffer...).  And the month of September had me hopping between Winnipeg and Ottawa and Toronto nearly every three days or so.  And on the back of that crazy month, we then got on a plane to head to Kuala Lumpur for a mere 6 days, and are now getting ready to hop on yet another plane for London for another 6 days.

Participants milling about the start/finish.

But since life doesn't just sit still and we can't always sit back and wait for some magic, perfect moment to train or race or run or be fit or, well, do anything, then we better just get on with it.

And in the spirit of just getting on with it, less than 2 days after returning to Ottawa from our whirlwind trip to Kuala Lumpur, I headed out on a cold October morning to participate in a local 5km run to raise funds for cancer research.

I haven't been able to train consistently, and I didn't run at all while we were just away, I figured that I might as well just get out there and run and have fun.

I mean, I can easily run 5kms these days, so it's not a matter of distance or endurance.  My issue would be making sure that I didn't get out there and get caught up in the race atmosphere and decide to run to hard or too fast and end up injuring myself.

Hamming it up for the camera!

So I charged up my trusty Garmin, headed out to the start line, warmed up under a clear blue sky in +4C temperatures with a brutal wind, and got ready to go.

We all gathered around for a photo and some speeches at the start, giving the race a real community feel, and then after the countdown, we were off.

I ran slowly and comfortably, following a few people ahead of me showing me the race route; otherwise I would have had no idea where I was going or what I was doing.

I made sure to keep my pacing in check, not going faster than around 5:40min/km for the first 2.5kms and then letting myself speed up at the 4km mark, but making sure that I still kept well within my limits.

The Joy of prizes!

And before you know it...the start/finish line appeared before me, and I ran right through it, only to learn as I was patted on the back by the organizers waiting there, that I was the 2nd placed female and 5th placed runner.  There were even prizes for me!

So I stretched and stuck around to gather my gift certificates and accolades, and then drove myself home with a sense of accomplishment.

I'm pretty happy that I just got on with it, and I intend to just keep on getting on with it no matter what my crazy schedule throws my way!

Over and out,
Joy

Race Stats:
Ran for a total of 5kms in 27:20mins with an average pace of 5:28min/km.

Living Off the Beaten Path...

Joy here...I've not been a regular blogger of late, and there are lots of reasons for that.  There are reasons of busy-ness; there are reasons of travel; there are reasons of injury; and there are reasons related to just plain old laziness.

Getting used to our Canadian basement gym...

However, some of my lacklustre blogging habits of late are related to my lacklustre training habits of late, and these are both related to my readjustment to returning to Canada.

You see, while living in Kuala Lumpur for a year, even though we travelled - a trip to Australia, one to Cambodia, an overnight to Bali, a few days in Singapore, and two trips back to Canada - we were, for all intents and purposes pretty stationary.

...again.

Since returning to Canada, it has come to my attention that such a way of living is really not what I normally do.  Normally I'm often away.  I've not had a mon-fri "job" for 12 years, and I've been self-employed for 3 (or 4 if you want to be really technical).  And while I love the flexibility of the life that I've worked hard to create for myself, I will admit that it's waaaaaaaay easier to have a regular eating, sleeping, and working out routine if you have a regular weekly routine.  If, however, in any given week you could be in a different city (or even different country), stuck on conference calls or in meetings at all hours of the day and night, hosting or attending any number of meet-and-greet/schmoozing scenarios on any (or all) evenings, and/or sneaking time to visit with family and friends both in your city or in other cities you may be passing through, then you might find it hard to have regular workouts.

This seems to be the case for me these days.

And, to be honest, I've stopped lamenting it, stopped whinging about it, and even stopped worrying about it.

Because I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm living the life I've chosen for myself; I'm juggling and balancing all sorts of interesting and creative things; and I'm happy.


And at the end of the day when Frost wrote:

He expressed what I feel right now.  I may not have taken the well-travelled road with a standard job, a couple of kids, a 2-car garage, and a nice, settled life, but the choices I have made have made all the difference.

Are you living the life you want?  Have you chosen your own path or let someone choose it for you?

Over and out,
Joy

Having a crush on Hamlet, or Learning to Relax

Joy here…In 2010/2011 I ran 6 running races in 12 months, with a good 6 of those months being the depth of a Canadian winter.  I then layered in some bike riding and had a great "summer of the sisterhood" of riding with some great women cyclists near where I live.

Then I thought I'd get back into the running over that 2011/2012 winter and train for my first ever full marathon.  I was full of dreams and aspirations.

My broken pinkie toe in the spring of 2012.

Then I broke my toe.

No big deal, I recouped, changed directions and started riding my bike.

Then in the 2012 season, I raced the heck outta my bike, competing in 2 gran fondos, 1 road race, and a whole bunch of time trials, including the Ontario provincial time trials.

Then I was kinda burnt out.

I didn't really feel like riding my bike in my basement in the cold, dark winter of 2012/2013, but I was out of shape from not running so much.

So I essentially got a bit lazy and a bit out of shape.  I was neither running nor cycling consistently, and it took me many months to get back into the swing of things.

Now it's almost fall, and in 2013/2014 I've only done 2 running races so far.  I'm sure I'll sign up for more, but at the moment I'm still just working on being consistent…getting back in the game, so to speak.

I'm also working on not being so hard on myself and giving myself permission to put my feet up and relax every now and then.

Relax by an infinity pool...

Why don't you join me? Put your feet up and take it easy.

Because everyone says trite things like "carpe diem" and "stop and smell the roses," but what do those things really mean?  How does one live authentically and meaningfully in the present without sacrificing one's future presents?  I mean, if I just sat around and totally enjoyed myself today, not thinking about tomorrow, I'd probably have Type 2 Diabetes from all the chocolate that I'd consume.  I'd probably also have my house repossessed when I wasn't able to pay my mortgage because I was so busy doing nothing but relaxing.

…relaxing in a nice, warm bath!

Now, obviously, that's not what I'm suggesting.  What I am suggesting, though, is something that Aristotle would have recognized as moderation - which is NOT what The Man always says it is that place he passes through between two extremes - but rather moderation is about finding that balance between desires and rationality.

Moderation, for me, is the Hamlet of life (if you think of Hamlet as needing to find his balance between Horatio as rationality personified and Laertes as emotionality personified).  And since I've always kind of had a crush on Hamlet, I figure that it's a-okay for me to try to pursue moderation in my life.

And so, for now, moderation will take the form of relaxation, and then when I feel like I've relaxed and recharged, I'll show up for another running race, but for now I'm going to run a bath, pour a glass of wine, and take it easy.

Over and out,
Joy

Race Report: 5kms on Canada Day

Droppin' off the bike and ready to run!

Joy here…After a great year in Malaysia, where I turned the corner fitness-wise, reaching all new PBs and improving my all-around health, I decided that I needed to sign up for a race upon returning to Canada.

What better than a Canada Day race on July 1st in Ottawa?

So The Man and I hopped on our bikes in the early hours of our second week back in Canada and headed down to the race start line, where I leaned my bike up against the fence and started my warm up run with the other competitors.

In Malaysia I had gotten pretty used to being one of the fitter folks out there.  I had started to enjoy riding my bike faster than some of the other guys out there riding up the hill on any given Sunday morning, and I had started getting used to my neighbours making appreciative and encouraging comments about my fitness as I did laps and laps and laps around where we lived.

But Ottawa is not Kuala Lumpur.

The fitness levels in Ottawa are really so much higher across the board.  That's not to say that there aren't super fit people in KL, because, of course there are, but the average fit guy/gal in Ottawa is just so much more fit than the average fit guy/gal in KL.

As I was learning.

Warming up nice and easy!

Right from the warming up I could tell that I wasn't going to be competitive in this race.  There were people of every age looking very fit and ready to run very fast.

While I may have awoken with delusions of grandeur, images of running fast across the finish line, I quickly began to revise those into more realistic goals.  I figured that I wanted to finish this 5km race in less than 25minutes, feeling strong and consistent.

I lined up on the start line with the other competitors, got my Garmin all set to record my data, and got ready to run my own race, not a competitive race with those speedy speedersons out there, but just my own race.

See me waving from the start line?

The sun was already high and hot overhead, and I could tell that some people were concerned with the heat.  But after Malaysia, it felt beautiful and balmy to me, so I wasn't worried at all.

I started my run and soon realized that (as per usual) I started too quickly.  I could hear Coach Woods in my head telling me to slow down, and so I slowed myself down to around a 4:45min/km pace (a whole minute faster than my Angkor Wat race pace of 6 months earlier).  I kept myself consistent at 4:45min/km, planning on having the energy to run the final 500m or so at super fast gusto speed.

But you know what they say about the best laid plans…

If I can just go faster…dammit!

Super fast gusto speed was not to be achieved.  At least not by me.  As I turned around at the halfway point, I was already feeling a bit tired in my legs, wondering if I'd be able to make it to the end.  Suddenly that sun that I didn't think was so hot at the starting line was feeling pretty damn hot.  That guy whose pace I had been following for a kilometre or so started to speed up for his great finish, and I wasn't able to keep pace with him.  Heck, it was all I could do to just keep steady at the pace I had set.

As I ran up the final ramp towards the finish line, I could see the minute counter was still in the 23 minute mark, counting down the seconds.  And even though I willed myself with everything in me to speed the f**k up, I saw that minute ticker tick past the 24 minute mark before I crossed the line.

Still, I had made it in under 25 minutes.

At the end of the day, I came in 3rd in my age and gender category and 13 out of 185 female competitors.

My official race stats are:
Ran for 5kms with an average pace of 4:49min/km for a total time of 24:05.

So while I may not have reached super fast gusto speed, at least now I have a baseline to start from and perhaps some more races in the months to come!

Over and out,
Joy

Running in Winnipeg, or Ode to My Sister-in-Law

All loaded up and ready for home!

Joy here…On a warm June 16, we arrived back in Ottawa after 12 months in Kuala Lumpur.  We were met at the airport by a friend who loaded up all of our suitcases and bike boxes in and on top of his car, and everything fit!  Well, almost everything.  I ended up taking a cab.

And then on June 17, I hopped on another plane to head to Winnipeg for a week's worth of meetings.

Now, throughout this past year being based in Asia, I had many a late night (ahem, all night) Skype meeting in order to fulfill my North American obligations, and in both September and March I flew back to Winnipeg from Asia for meetings.  So this quick turnaround in June didn't feel all that different.  In fact, it still felt like we lived in Malaysia, and I almost asked The Man to run down to his aunt and uncle's house for me, forgetting that they no longer live a 5 minute drive away, but rather a 25 hour flight away!

Our Winnipeg running route.

As I grappled with jet lag and feeling a surreal sense of displacement, there was one really great aspect to my quick trip to Winnipeg this June.  It was, in short, my sister-in-law.

You see, my brother and sister-in-law started dating when they were 15 years old or so, and got married when they were 27.  I'm only 2 years older than they are, and so I literally feel as though I've grown up knowing my sister-in-law.  I mean, I've known her for over 20 years by this point!

But the funny thing about growing up with someone and thinking you know them very well is that you may, in fact, know them very well in some ways and not at all in others.  I mean, the way that you can be super duper comfortable with family members, but not really know what makes them tick.  What are they passionate about?  What do they love to do in their spare time?  What do they believe to the core of their being?  These are things that I don't know that I could answer about my sister-in-law.  I know that she's generous and loving and that she has an amazing smile and infectious laugh.  I know that she's a good person inside and out.  I know that she's beautiful and serious and silly.  But I don't know that I know her the way that I would if I had just met her now - adult to adult.

Nice to not have to run alone in the wooded areas!

The good news is that in recent years, she's taken up running (yay!!!), and so when I was in town, I coordinated with her to head down Wellington Crescent towards Assiniboine Park (c'mon Winnipeggers…you know what route that is!) for a run together, my first run on Canadian soil since returning.

Running is sometimes the best way to get to know someone.  You have just you and that other person out there in the hot sun, finding your pace and your rhythm, feeling the endorphins, and making conversation.  There's something about the experience that is really enjoyable if you can share it with someone.

And so as we ran in that hot mid-day sun, we shared.  We talked about all sorts of things, some that I recall with great clarity now, and some that I've forgotten, but what I felt is that with each step of our running shoes on the pathway, we got closer to knowing each other as running buddies, not just as sisters-in-law.

And I have to say, I'm pretty happy to know her and am going to make a concerted effort to continue to get to know her better over the next 20 years.

Let's hope my running shoes don't wear out!

Over and out,
Joy

If I Had Known It'd be the Last Time...

Joy here…Our final weeks and days of our 12 months in Kuala Lumpur came like a crazy blur.  We were in the midst of many goodbyes and festivities.  We celebrated The Man turning 40; we had farewell gatherings with friends and family; and we packed up our whole life to head back to North America.

Celebrating The Man's big 40th birthday at our place in KL!

And somehow in all that insanity, my last bike ride and my last run in Kuala Lumpur came and went, with me always thinking that there'd be another truly truly truly "last" one still to come, one that I would know was the "last" one, and one where I would document every twist and turn, every green leaf, every bend in the road, and every single thought that I had to file it away as something special, something "last."

But, before I knew it, my "last" ride was now behind me, and my bike was packed up.  And then it was my running shoes put away in a suitcase, and my "last" run already completed.

3 bikes and some suitcases getting ready for the return journey.
(In the end, there would be 8 suitcases in addition to the 3
bikes…what can I say?  I guess we don't travel light!)

In both cases, I never really knew it would be the last time, and I felt a bit sad about letting that "last-ness" pass me by unnoticed.

But perhaps that's for the best.  Perhaps it's better that I experienced my "last" bike ride as just one of the many that I was able to enjoy throughout out 12 months WITHOUT WINTER.  Perhaps it's better that my last run was one where I felt strong and healthy and focused on the run itself, not on it being the "last" one.

And maybe, just maybe, that's something that I should remember going forward; I don't need to fixate on the special "last-ness" of any given event, but just stay focused in the immediate living of it, the immediate experience, the present-ness of life.

So while I keep my eye to where I want to go, I will also keep my eye on where I am in the moment, in the now.

Over and out,
Joy