running

Endurance training and baby

I knew that when I got pregnant with Little Ring, our lives would change huge. We would no longer be able to go out at the drop of a hat, traveling would become more challenging, $200 jean expenditures less frequent, etc., etc.. And that was okay. But the one thing we were both adamant we would not do was become gluttonous couch potatoes. We would not give up touring the outdoors via our sneakers, hikers and bicycles. We would not stop doing what we love. Keeping that promise, however, has required some serious ingenuity. We don’t have a babysitter. Big Ring’s family lives in Onterrible Ontario and mine live across the pond, and because most of our friends are outside the New West area, we don’t have a pool of trusted sitters to draw from. (Really hoping to change that soon!) But instead of throwing our arms up in defeat, […]

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With fingers crossed

Dear PoP friends, I must confess. I haven’t been entirely honest with you all. I haven’t been lying either, but I’ve also not been offering up full disclosure. And some of you have noticed. I’ve fielded more than a few inquiries lately as to whether I’ve taken a running hiatus, whether I’m now leaning more towards cycling… it seems you guys notice when I write about running and when I don’t 😉 Well friends, I am now writing to assure you that I am not giving up on my running, not taking a break from it, not even thinking of such a thing. It was just a momentary rest is all. A few weeks ago, on the last stretch of an hour long run (seriously, 5 minutes from home!) I was motoring down a hill, in the zone, had Lady Gaga telling me baby, I was born this way, when

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BMO Vancouver 8 km race recap

I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t disappointed with my first race back. Sure my stats look pretty darn decent: 11th in my age category (30-34); 72nd out of 490 women running; and 163rd overall out of 861 runners. But my finish time wasn’t the time I wanted. I went into the BMO Vancouver 8 km race yesterday morning with the intention of completing in 42:00 minutes. That did not happen. My Garmin time at 8 km was 44:03 and my chip time was 45:17. I don’t want to be the girl with excuses because my mantra for this race all along has been no excuses and by the time this post is complete I hope you will agree that I am not, in any way, excusing myself. But there were obstacles. With a 6:30 a.m. start time, I was out of bed by 3:30 and eating a

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BMO, bikes butts and bits

Here we go again! It has been just shy of 1 year and 7 months since I last set out to run a race, and while I’m not doing a marathon, half marathon, or even 10 km for that matter, this Sunday, when I snap my Garmin around my wrist and lace my sneakers up for the Vancouver BMO 8 km run, I will be racing – against the other runners on the road, against myself, against Garmin, and most importantly against those frustratingly pokey demons in my head! Given that it’s been so long since I a) have run a race, and b) have raced a distance this short, I’m not sure I prepared as well as I should have… I’m not sure if it was wise I ran speed repeats last Monday; one of the windiest days I’ve ever endured on a run. And even if it was okay,

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Tire repair… or not

So apparently a bike tire isn’t the same as a bike wheel – who knew? Big Ring. For years that dear, semi-patient husband of mine has been correcting me every time I talk about the bike tire when I should be referring to the bike wheel and vice versa. What do you mean it’s not a tire, I’d say, it looks like a tire, how could it not be a tire? But he kept saying wheel, wheel, wheel. And I kept getting more, more, more confused. He tried explaining it. He tried visuals. He tried analogies. He tried separating the parts into a pie chart of tire, wheel, tube and some other rubbery thingy. None of it stuck. And so, I suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when I told him one of my favourite running chicks was hosting a tire repair session at her house, he practically bounced

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