Heading home!

What a great trip! I can't remember the last time I had such a great business trip followed by quality family time! However, I am ready to go home... and be back on a normal schedule and back at the gym.

I am waiting at Heathrow for my flight home through Copenhagen. My flight is delayed and the last time this happened I missed my connection and my bags were lost. I hope I'll have better luck this time!

While I wait I thought I'd jot some things down about the rest of my trip and my week ahead so I don't hesitate to get back on track. I had a couple of wonderful days with my brother (P) and sister-in-law (A). Yesterday we spent the day in Windsor, followed by an amazing dinner at home and a night in watching movies (You, Me and Dupree, An Inconvenient Truth and Cars). It was the perfect way to end a busy week!

Here's what I'm planning for this upcoming week to get my body detoxed of this British food and booze!

Monday - 6 am cycling and weight training (hopefully I get some sleep at home tonight!)
Tuesday - Swimming (and maybe yoga?)
Wednesday - 60 minutes of cardio and weight training
Thursday - Swimming (and maybe yoga?)
Friday - Danielle's cycling class and weight training
Saturday - Something fun that is easy on the legs

Still no running... not while I'm still feeling knee pain just walking around. I hope this doesn't last. Jess is also out from running for a while so it's a *little* easier to stay away from running.

This week I'm also going to return to eating similar foods to what I ate at my parent's place in Canada... no calorie counting, just wholesome foods that worked well. Oatmeal and berries, fish, lean meats, whole grains, vegetables, LOTS OF WATER and nuts, apples with peanut butter and flax. And no alcohol... I have been on a bit of a bender since Jan 7th which is a long time for me. Besides the extra calories, I don't get enough water in and I now feel completely dehydrated (good time to get on a plane, NOT!) :)

Here are some pics of the three of us yesterday, see you all soon!

P and A at the gates of Windsor Castle. I can't properly describe how gigantic this place was.

Mmmmmm... beer. Ewwww... Guiness. Taken for effect only, and for the beer mustache. :)

Me and P...

Me and A... the reflective tape on my running gloves lit up half of the pictures taken yesterday. :)

A... 13 weeks pregnant. She's going to kill me for posting this, but I had to... I wish I looked this good pregant!

Bender

Last I posted I was fighting the effects of jetlag here in the UK. I don't usually get it, but Tuesday night it happened again. I slept from 10 pm to 1 am and that was it. I tried everything, bed, couch, floor, pacing, eating, working, reading and watching TV. Nothing, it was like a bad joke and I was getting more and more stressed about the day ahead. Finally I just got up out of bed at 6 am and went down to the gym.

We had a full day of meetings Wednesday and I was fighting to stay awake in the afternoon but we had a great day of sessions! That night we went out for a night of drinking... boy can the English drink! And when all good things collide, good friends, good atmosphere and good music, I can hold my own too. We had an amazing time, bar hopping and dancing the night away! There are few things in life I enjoy more than cutting a rug... and singing so loud that I can't talk the next day. No matter how bad the hangover is. :)

I woke up the next day and felt great! Why? Because I finally slept! Apparently that was the cure for the jetlag, drink so much you pass out! Not the healthiest solution but I needed every minute of the 7 hours I got! :) Another afternoon of meetings followed by another evening out! When in Rome, do as! My friends finally put me in a cab and I got to my brother's place at 11:30.

I love my brother and sister in law, I feel so blessed to be able to come here for work and get to spend time with them too. I wouldn't see them nearly as much if it weren't for the trips for work, so this makes the hard work so worth it! We got to sleep last night around 1 am, and I didn't get up until 12:30. I haven't slept that long in months, I obviously needed it! But I feel polluted, the drinking and crappy eating makes me feel gross. My two day bender is going to quickly turn into a detox here shortly... but I am not going to fuss about it while I'm here. For now, I'm going to enjoy every single minute of my time with my family.

Spending time overseas collaborating with the other MS subs ignites that feeling of wanting to spend a couple of years working for a smaller sub in Europe. There are some really smart folks here and when you have limited resources, you are forced to be much more creative to get things done. The work coming out of Europe is so fresh and exciting! It's a little like working in the Canadian sub, but with many more accents!

Ok, I'm off to enjoy a little bit of this wonderful city! Hope you're all having a great week, can't wait to get home and see the girls. I promise to update you princesses on the boy drama... do I have a sign on my forehead that says "PLEASE mess with my head?" First Canada, then Seattle last week and now here in the UK? Exactly why I'm not dating, who has the time to deal with this crap? When it rains it pours... I'm going to hide permanently in a hole to stay dry. :)

Hello from London!!!

I left the house Sunday at 4:30 pm Seattle time and we arrived at the hotel last night (Monday) at 7 pm London time. I was hoping to get in 30 minutes of cardio but our flight was 1.5 hours delayed and I just wanted to shower, eat and sleep!

I can't complain about jet lag, my coworkers usually suffer more than I do. The tough part about this trip is that you're tired around 10 pm (Seattle afternoon nap time), pass out and wake up at 2 am bright eyed and bushy tailed. Then you're in meetings "bobbing for apples" all afternoon, fighting the urge to fall asleep. :)

I forgot my melatonin at home so took a couple of Advils hoping that it would help me sleep through 8 am. I know, who was I kidding... 10 pm to 8 am? I woke up at 2 am thinking, HEEEEELLLL NO and forced myself back to sleep! I woke up every hour after that, and finally giving in at 5:30. An hour to kill before the fitness center at the hotel opened... giving me time to unpack and get organized for the day.

I made my way down to the gym which was nice and big. It is right next to the pool area so it was pretty humid in there and watching people swim made me regret having forgotten my swimsuit! It was nice though, I was the only woman surrounded by about a dozen men... mmmmm... some were darn cute!

I ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes and was feeling "that pain" right away. I want to focus on healing so I'm going to spend time cross training and stop running altogether for a couple of weeks. I followed up the treadmill with 30 minutes on the bike (pain free!) and then 30 minutes of strength training. I officially began base training today and didn't let my heart rate go over 155, except when I wasn't paying attention at some point lifting weights and managed to get up to 173. Oooops, I'll keep a closer eye on that next time. It was obvious to me that I've been away from the weight room for 2+ weeks, so it will be good to get back to a consistent program. It felt so great getting back to the gym today, I'm jazzed to get my day going!

I showered and ordered some breakfast since we're not meeting until noon today. Oh, something is up with the water here. My hair feels yucky, like I didn't wash it at all... almost greasy. It smells good so hopefully people don't think I skipped the morning shower altogether! :)

I haven't ventured outside yet, so you'll have to settle for pictures of the hotel room this morning! Here you go!

Who's this? Chris McCormack in my bed? Lucky me!

Random rooms pics... followed by breakfast and morning coffee. Poached eggs on wheat toast, kiwi, grapefruit, banana, cereal... I have to hide the fruit and cereal so housekeeping doesn't take it away while I'm at the office!

Cheers, Starbucks and McDonald's outside my hotel?

Working from London

I'm excited, I am leaving for London on Sunday night! Normally I don't look forward to traveling for work but my brother lives in the UK so I actually get to see him while I'm over there! Our meetings run through Wednesday and I'll be staying with him Thursday through Sunday. It's not a lot of time but I'll take all I can get! His wife if pregnant and I'm looking forward to seeing her and sharing in their good news.

I'll be blogging to track my workouts and to keep the diet under control while traveling. I'm not sure when I'll post my first (probably Monday night), so here are a few half marathon pics to fill the time. Oh, one more thing... Tosha tipped me off to the RSS feeds in Outlook. I have been really busy and haven't had time to catch up on your blogs... NOT ANYMORE! They are now all downloaded to my RSS folders so I can read them on the 16 hour trip to the UK!

No Running?!?!?!

I received some tough news after my first visit with the physical therapist yesterday. I cannot under any circumstances run for longer than 20-30 minutes for the foreseeable future. No, not even if I’m say… running from a predator to save my life!

She is going to treat the injuries to my hip, hamstring and knee. She is also going to have me work on exercises to strengthen the hip muscles to prevent this from happening in the future. ETA on being back on the long distance “circuit” is Vancouver in May (Mercer Island in late March if all stars align). That being said, I won’t mess with success. My PT is a 34 year old, 2:42 PR marathoner who is trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials. SHE owns me. She has come highly recommended by a number of my friends so if she says jump, I will ask how high. I won’t sacrifice my long term goals and well being to satisfy my immediate desire to run and have fun with my friends. Do I sound like I’m trying to convince myself? Probably cause I am. I guess I’ll have to do with cycling, some cardio equipment work and strength training. Sounds ideal for base training now that I think of it… the upside of being injured if there is one!

Not that I wasn’t amazed by Michelle before, but I am now in greater awe of her ability to remain injury free as a marathon maniac! By the way, I was looking at what it takes to be one and Jess, you qualify based on your 3 marathons in 2 months gig! I hope you’ve applied for your official membership!

So I have been a little down because the injury combined with travel and impossible work schedule has kept me out of the gym. Isn’t it amazing how not being able to workout impacts your life! I used to have to force myself to get out and run, these days I feel this weird “blah-ness” when I don’t get out to do something! I’m sure you know what I mean.

Maybe I’ll do some pilates at home tonight to combat not being able to get to the gym. Anyone can spare 20 minutes for Mari Winsor on DVD right?!?!?!

A different version of TMI Tuesday

Since I’m recovering from the half marathon, trapped at home (YET AGAIN) due to inclement weather conditions on the West coast, I figured this was the time to talk about resolutions for this year.

I had somewhat of a quarter life crisis when I went home for Christmas. I have now been on the West coast for a year and 8 months. Just a few short months ago I would have told anyone that I was going to stay on the West coast forever, that this is where I would eventually find a husband, have kids, continue my life as a triathlete/runner and work until retirement. Then I went home for almost a month… and I started to think about (for lack of a better description), the meaning of life.

Spending a few weeks with my family always brings up feelings of how much I love being able to see them anytime I want. My parents are amazing and I want them involved in my kids’ lives. So I’m still single and kids are not even on the radar for another 5+ years, but I’m a planner. For the first time since I broke up with my boyfriend of six years (in July 2005) I am starting to feel anxious about not knowing what my life will look like next year, two years from now, five years from now. I STILL don’t feel like I’m ready to date, but I’m stressed about the big question marks lying on the road ahead. Including, is “the one” here or back home?

The original plan was to start the process of buying a home in the Seattle area in September, 2007. The plan is now a little different. The resolution, come September, will be to either continue to put a stake in the ground here and start house hunting, or to start exploring the process of moving home. Moving home will be a big deal, relocating AGAIN… but more importantly having to find a career path that presents as many opportunities as the one I am in here. It also means facing the tough questions of what I will have to give up if I move home. Being able to spend time and train with my wonderful friends is a great blessing. Having to leave them would be heartbreaking for me. Moving home I’d be closer to family and other great friends. But I would also be moving to SUPER cold winters and brutally hot and HUMID summers that make maintaining a healthy, balanced and active lifestyle almost impossible and much less enjoyable. I hope it doesn’t seem like I’m basing a huge decision on “weather conditions”, rather the quality of life that comes with it.

Net net is that I still have no idea what my life will look like down the road. I’ll take comfort in knowing that no matter where I end up I’ll be near people that I love and that bring so much happiness into my life. And at the end of the day, no matter where I am, I can put on a pair of running shoes (with more or less layers of clothing) and go.

Phoenix Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon Report

*** Warning: If you do not want to read a less than upbeat post, come back when I’m back to my cheery self… especially since this is a REALLY long race report ***

What was all that crap I talked about yesterday? Bonding with women over something that we share and love? Blah, blah, blah. Today was awful, ok… great, but awful all at the same time!
We got up bright and early at 5 am (after a sleepless night). We’re in Phoenix, and I check out the weather. Yup, a balmy 26°F and I can see my breath in the dark morning air. So there wasn’t much thinking about what to wear. Capris, fitted tank, long sleeve shirt, long sleeve turtle neck, jacket, running hat and gloves. I also wore long pants over the capris for the trip to the start.
We drove to the parking lots at the finish line and got in line for the buses to take us to the start. It was so cold out, all we could think of was “didn’t we pick a warm and flat run on purpose”? What happened to the warm part? We waited for 45 minutes for a bus, only to find out that people at other parking lots got right on without waiting. Luck of the draw.

We got to the start and got in line for the porta potties. We waiting for about 30 minutes in line and near the front we heard people coming out saying “no toilet paper”. NO TP?!?! Oh no, this can’t be! A girl we befriended in line turns to me and kindly hands me a piece of Kleenex from her pocket. I accept it with a gracious “thank you” and smile on my face all the while thinking “what the HELL am I going to do with ONE piece of Kleenex”? Don’t these people know that I had a HUGE carbo load dinner last night, followed by a Starbucks coffee this morning and that this was my first nervous trip to a potty post coffee? Beggers can’t be choosers but OMG.

Needless to say the Kleenex was less than sufficient. Though I can’t complain, one of the women in our group (let’s call her Lola to protect her identity) chose to use her 8x10 race envelope to wipe! Special addition, she just told me that she tore it up before making use of it!

After the potty, I took off my long pants and put on (yup) a pink skirt over my capris. We checked our gear bags and got in corral 14 at the start. The race was being delayed by a few minutes to accommodate the late buses. We are also really far back and our predicted cross time was 30 minutes after the official race start. I noticed 6 potties without a lineup right next to the corral so I decided to go for it. For one last visit before the run and to (TMI) get a hold of some more TP!
Soon after that we were off. It was amazing, I have never participated in such a HUGE and well organized race. We were surrounded by people, 12,000 to be exact (27,000 ran the full marathon as it’s a great Boston qualifier). Nancy set off with Jodi and I ran with Tosha, her twin sister and mom. Tosha is a veteran but her mom and sister were running their first half marathon! So exciting!

I knew I had problems when mile 0 felt like mile 21 of the full marathon. My right hip is rotated forward which shortens my right leg a little relative to my left. As a result, my gate is off which causes the shooting pain in my knee, hamstring and hip flexor. It also results in blood blisters on my right foot if I run for longer distances. I know a lot of you feel the effects for offset gates (and pronation) and it sucks! Normally this can be controlled by a little massage where the therapist tugs on my right leg to lengthen it and works on the hips to rotate it back into place. Yes, my bad for not taking care of myself.

The sun came up and I quickly tied my jacket around my waist. By mile 3 I knew I had to make a decision. I didn’t think I could cover 13.1 miles feeling like that and if I did, was I going to cause more damage and hurt my tri season? Here’s where I hate those wonderful women I talked about in my post last night. Tosha (who herself has a sprained ankle) turned to me and gave me the glaring “now I know DNF if not in your vocabulary” look. After some discussion, she convinced me that it would suck, but I likely wouldn’t cause much more damage than was already done.

So that thought behind me, I started focusing on how I was going to make it another 10 miles to the finish line. The pain really ranked a close second to the marathon pain and I wondered if it was worth it. Why am I not in bed and heading down to the spa instead of suffering through this crap? Then a series of events occurred that really changed the course of my run. First, I ran by 2 groups with Canadian flags all dressed in red which always affects me. I gave my usual “GO CANADA” shout out and forgot all about everything for a little while. But then the kicker. I have seen this so many times before and I don’t know why this one particular woman impacted me so much. She was running with a picture of her son pinned to her back. He was wearing army fatigues in this picture and just above the picture the words “I’m running in memory of”. You quickly think about what real pain is and it makes you feel ashamed and selfish for fretting over a sore leg.

Around mile 7 I took a couple of Motrin that Tosha was carrying and stopped at the potty. A six minute wait for two of us to use the bathroom. We weren’t out to set any records today but 6 minutes of standing around in the cold is not the best use of time in a half marathon. I stretched a lot in line and then focused on lengthening my stride while running. This got me through to mile 9.

At mile 9, Tosha’s sister started to bonk badly. She has bad knees and was feeling a lot of pain. She also hadn’t taken in enough calories during the run and needed some fuel. Tosha’s mom was feeling great and we wanted her to keep moving. They moved up ahead and I hung back with Tosha’s sister. This was a blessing in disguise because instead of feeling sorry for myself, I started to remember what my friends did for me to get me through my first half and full marathons. I tried to channel this to her and stopped thinking about whatever I was feeling. She got in some Gu and Nuun water I was carrying on the run. I ran up ahead to Tosha to get some Motrin for her to take as well. I think this helped a bit and she was moving well again (some rough patches) but was motivated by the thought of finishing her first half marathon!

Eventually we caught up with the others who hung back to wait for us. The thousands of volunteers, spectators, bands, cheerleaders, dancers and beautiful sunshine carried us through the finish. I have never seen such a large, well run race in my life! The tough part about Seattle was the lack of spectators. Not here, they were everywhere and despite the cold, the sun was shining brightly on us and we were all smiling! I’m sure the finish line photo will have the four of us, crossing together with big grins on our faces. Oh, I guess I should say something about finish times… with our 6 minute potty break, we crossed the line around 2:35. The one big positive was that my HR was very much under control, averaging 158 over the 13.1 miles. Come to think of it, 158 may be a little high for 11ish minute miles… hmmmm… base training here I finally come!

Nancy was as strong as ever, and she ran with Jodi the entire way. I think she could have easily broken her Seattle time but enjoyed the company over pushing a PR. Kathy in her first half had the fastest finish and really killed her A race for the year. Sandra, experienced some bad cramping from the Accelerade being served on the course and still had a speedy run. And Wendy, with 2 broken ribs, not able to run too fast and breathe too hard, actually made it through the finish and in great time. Jess, I hope you appreciate this 2 minute round up… you’ll have to get everyone’s full download when you get back!

So there are a few big take aways from today. No matter what the obstacle, mind over matter will carry you through almost anything. Sun, friends, strangers and Rock ‘N’ Roll can make you go from rock bottom to mile high in seconds. If you don’t take care of the nagging injuries they will wreak havoc at the most inopportune times. And for Pete’s sake, eat less the night before a race and stop with the coffee cause you never know when you’ll run out of TP!!!

I had really hoped to run the half marathon at the end of February back in my hometown in Canada. A friend of mine who is training for a 30 km race will be running her first half and I would love nothing more than to run with her that day. I know what it meant to me to have my friends support me this year, I would love to be there to share in her first half marathon experience. It is a crazy tough race that has over the years seen sun and 15°C as well as 2 feet of snow and -30°C weather. If I’m going to be of any use to her on this run, I am going to spend this week seeing the people I need to see to get my body back on track for success this year.

One more thing, is anyone annoyed about the NFL playoffs this year? NE and Indy won this weekend basically eliminating any chance I had of winning the football pool this year. Last year I lost for placing my bets on them, this year I’ll lose because I failed to realize they’d actually pull it out against SD and BAL. I’m such a sore loser!!! The only good thing that came out of the unusually cold Phoenix weather was that there was no shortage of football to take us through the weekend!

The Gift of Running

The night before the P.F. Chang’s Phoenix Half Marathon, a little summary:

Tosha – Sprained ankle.
Wendy – Broken rib (likely 2 broken ribs).
Aleks – 2 outdoor runs since the marathon (November 26th). Right hamstring problems. Has not exercised since LAST SATURDAY!

So I can’t help but think, what was I thinking? On top of everything, not getting out to exercise all week?!?!? The race will be tough for most of us, factor in the 32 degree weather we’ll be getting in the morning (and that’s actually Fahrenheit, not Celsius). But as I looked around at our dinner tonight, I couldn’t help but smile and think about how blessed I am, about the gifts that running has brought into my life.

Two years ago I was in University and the extent of the diversity in my life was a bunch of Polish family members and the large Asian population that I went to school with at Waterloo. Today I looked around the dinner table and was surrounded by 9 beautiful women of different ages, races, religious beliefs and backgrounds. Mothers, daughters, sisters and friends, we are so different, and have all overcome so many obstacles in our lives. It has been such a treat to listen to where these women have come from, and what their daily lives are like. So tomorrow, nothing else will matter. Not the aches, not the lack of training, not the cold… only us, doing something we love, as a group.

At the end of the day, I still can’t help but feel how lucky I am that last year at this time a half marathon was just a dream. Now I believe, that no matter how I feel, I can cover 13.1 miles with the support of my friends. This seems to be a recurring theme in my posts eh?!?!?!?

Goodnight all, I will post a race report tomorrow. Oh, I use the word “race” lightly… when I signed up 3 months ago I wanted to just make sure I kept running after the marathon. My estimated finish time when I signed up was 2:25 (much different from the 1:57 I ran at my first half in June). Speed was never the goal for this run, but keeping active through a busy holiday season and not giving up on a sport that has given and taught me more than I could have ever asked for.

Back on the West Coast

I'm baaaack! Well, I was back late Sunday but have been swamped trying to get back into the swing of work. After working out all but 3 days over the 3+ weeks that I was home, I haven't worked out now for... 3 days in a row (GASP)! I know!

Sunday was a travel day and didn't get to bed until 12:30. Monday morning I slept in and I watched the BCS game at night. Today, I had no excuse. I am still a little jet lagged and the mornings just aren't happening. Then come 5 pm, I am too lazy to battle the "New Year's Resolution" crowds at the gym. Tomorrow isn't looking so good either, mainly because I'm making up excuses not to go to workout (my car really will be in the shop tomorrow and we are really expecting a big snow storm). I guess that wouldn't stop me from... running outside?

So here's the thing. The half marathon is on Sunday and I have run ONCE outside in the last month! Actually, I think I have only run outside twice in total since the marathon. I know indoor workouts are no substitution for the real thing, but I have really enjoyed the break from the pressure of training for the marathon and have needed the recovery time. That being said, I'm still Sc%@#%. :)

What do I do? It's too late to get any real training in, and I should be tapering. I guess not working out for 3 days is quite the taper. I'm just going to zen (as Regan would say). Life happens, I knew it would be difficult to run a half marathon 6 weeks after my first marathon (don't you need 6 weeks to recover from a marathon)? I wasn't expecting to PR in Phoenix, but can I even cover that distance? Zennnnnn... I can do anything in a pink skirt right? :)

I still haven't gotten to the New Year's Resolutions so I will definitely do that soon. First, I have been tagged by Jodi. So here I go.

1. Find the nearest book.

2. Name the book & the author.
The China Study - Startling Implications For Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health (which happens to have been recommended to me by Jodi)

3. Turn to page 123.

4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
In other words, while we don't die as much from heart disease, we still get it as often as often as we used to. It seems that we simply have gotten slightly better at postponing death from heart disease, but we have done nothing to stop the rate at which our hearts become diseased. The mechanical interventions that we use in this country are much less effective than most people realize.

5. Tag three more folks.
Wes
Kate
Michelle

If you blog it, you will run...

I did it, I blogged about running last night and I did. It was a beautiful morning, super sunny! Unfortunately, it was cold (2 C/36 F) and very windy with frost still on the ground when I went out. I also didn't pick the easiest route so it was a workout! It was pretty slippery and it took some effort to grip the road and not slide around... but it made for a nice challenge.

I haven't been base training and my heart rate is constantly high. I can't help it. I workout in gyms and feel the need to run faster and work harder than everyone else in there. Plus I'm a sucker for burning more calories. But it's out of control. Today I couldn't get my heart rate below 160. In fact, on the run I averaged 168 and maxed at 184. I think the lowest I saw was 155 on a steep downhill. And I'm still feeling some significant pain in my right knee and hamstring, especially on the downhills!

Anyways, I felt like I was moving at a turtle's pace and cut the last bit off the run because I was worried about really hurting my knee. I ended up running 5.7 miles in 55 minutes which is around the 10 min/miles we usually run. Yesterday I did a 60 minute cycling class followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill. I am really hoping that workout, combined with working out for 7 days in a row now contributed to the perceived difficulty of the run today... I HOPE! The high heart rate is making me feel like I'm in worse shape than when I started almost a year ago!

So that was this morning. After work I still wanted to get into the weight room so I went to the gym with my mom. I move quickly through the exercises so that I get a good sweat on when I lift. Averaged 128 and maxed at 161... which I think is OK, some lifting can get you pretty worked up right?

So the big question... given that I want to do a half IM in the June/July time frame, is it too late to base train? I promise I'll really do it... promise. But is there enough time?

Tomorrow I'm going to go to the gym and ride the bike. It should be a day off so I'm going to go just to move my legs and let the lactic acid flush out. No matter how many people are there, I will keep my heart rate low. Yes, I can do this. Hmmm... maybe I should go for a walk instead... :)

If I could stop talking about running I would get to the resolutions... so more on that tomorrow!

A much needed break...

What did I do over my holidays? Going into the break I resolved to stay away from work email and I did, by staying away from the PC altogether. No personal email, no blogging, no surfing the net, and reading the newspaper... wait for it... in PRINT! That's right! For the last 2+ weeks, I have essentially been in work detox, and wow does it feel great! So what did I do to fill my time in this small town?

Well, one thing I didn't do over Christmas that I have done every Christmas for as long as I can remember is gain weight. Believe it or not, even with plenty of time to eat I managed to beat the bulge this year by working out almost every day (twice in one day on a couple of occasions) and watching what I ate. I combated the bigger holiday dinners by not drinking, watching my portions and just not going overboard on deserts. They will all be there tomorrow was the motto. This really isn't me, but maybe this is the new me? :)

Enough about that, what else didn't I do? Though I've been working out a lot, I haven't run outside once since I've been home. I kinda like doing cardio indoors (who likes cardio indoors?) and/or lifting weights. Two other things, I like people watching when working out AND Canada offers endless hockey highlights on the TVs at the gym. Mostly though, I'm scared to run outside again. Like I don't think I'll be able to do it, I won't be able to run the 6 miles that used to be our short run. Just over a month ago I ran a marathon and now I'm scared to venture out around the block.

Fortunately, I have to force myself back on the horse. I'll be running a half marathon in Phoenix in less than two weeks. If that's not motivation to get running outside I don't know what is! So I'm going to take it slow, get outside tomorrow, run at a comfortable pace and enjoy the beautiful and unusually warm weather we've had in Ontario. After reading Wes' inspirational post, I have planned a route that will take me through some of the more memorable areas of town. Hopefully this will get me out the door tomorrow morning.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Tomorrow I'll be posting about the "New Year's Resolutions" and other events of the last couple of weeks. Today it was necessary to blog about the run... if you blog it, it will get done. Confession tomorrow...