tiffany's spot

This is a weird Thanksgiving weekend for us. There have been years where we have had to squeeze two or three gatherings into a single weekend, sometimes a single day. This year? Nada. I'll admit, there were times this weekend when I was a little pouty about having four days off and no plans, but on the other hand, it was kind of nice to have a weekend without a bunch of running around. It seems our weekends fill up really fast these days. Today (on Sunday, because of course I'm not backdating this, that would be Blogtober Cheating , and I'm nothing if not completely honest), I got up at 7am and decided to go for a bike ride. Keep in mind I'm more of a runner/walker, and when it comes to biking, it's more for leisure or family time. But no, today I was going to make this my exercise, so I went alone. I must also add, that, should you think it unkind of me to ditch my kids and husband to go biking, when clearly, everyone loves it, remember that I spend a lot of ...

I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that unlike other people in this town, I do not go out walking or running in the dark wearing all dark clothing. That would be irresponsible. I certainly do not walk on the road instead of the sidewalk simply because I dislike all of our crappy neighborhood sidewalks. No sirree. Not me. Nor would I ever dream of worrying homeowners by walking down back lanes with my phone flashlight all in the name of taking short cuts to portals. Because that would be silly. I'm not 15 after all. Not for 14 years now. I am also entirely above smugly feeling like a bad-ass ninja after-dark walker when I see people coming toward me and they move a little closer together and hold hands. Because I'm totally not scary. Not at all.

Alright. I'm going to mention this once and then leave it, because I've got an entirely different blog for this topic because I know that people who randomly stumble across this one really really really want to hear about some SAHM's latest vow to lose weight. I'm totally vowing. I'm really only mentioning this because I want to put my ticker back on here. And before anybody says "Hey Chubby, wasn't that down to like, 16 pounds a month or so ago?" I'd just like to blame the rain that caused us to spend a fair amount of camping time holed up in our camper eating chips. Right. Ticker. Here's the deal. Oh yeah, and I ran the Treherne Run for the Hills 10K this last weekend, and as I pointed out on facebook, one should not assume that because a run in the "hills" is only six miles, that there won't really be that many hills. Apparently, they really can make a six mile loop hilly. I know. I was surprised too. I turned tha...

Not sure if anybody noticed, but I finished my walking ticker! I had wanted to walk/run 1000 miles this year and I've now hit 1037, and that's not with today's 6 added in. Go me!

I've been slacking in so so many areas. I do have many many excuses, uh, reasons to go along with the major slacking. S - My house is a mess. It really is. I have this nifty schedule of all the chores I'm going to do each day of the week. If I keep up on the list, it keeps the must-do weekly chores down to about an hour a day. Not bad eh? Of course that doesn't include laundry, toys, etc. It's stuff like bathrooms, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning the fridge and kitchen sink, etc. Anyone who has been in my house lately knows what I'm talking about. Thankfully my friends are kind enough to pretend that my house isn't that bad. R - Kids, four of them. Some days they feel like eight. Especially that one. You know who you are kid who feels like eight kids. I'm constantly trying to pawn him off on unsuspecting friends and family members, but nobody will take him. In real life - I adore that kid, even when he makes me want to pull my hair out by the roots. He threate...

Oh that bloody ticker. I know that once upon a time it said 3 pounds. Now it says 14. Well, I may have gained a few pounds back, but I also lowered my goal weight by a few pounds. Still, to go from 3 to 14 kind of sucks. Time to stop having chips for night snack. And coke. And a second glass of coke.

I've been meaning to post something about my father's day half marathon for weeks now, so here it is! I've always said I wanted to run a half someday , but in the last few years I've either been pregnant or I've recently had a baby, or I've simply chickened out. This past Christmas I told myself that this would be the year I did it, so I logged on to the Manitoba Marathon site and registered. It was still six months away, so I'd have lots of time to run and get ready. It sort of seemed a lifetime away, until it wasn't. I had full intentions of going to bed at 9:00 pm on the 18 th . A good night's sleep couldn't hurt, right? Well, I chatted on the phone for a while, did some dishes, and decided to go to bed. Then I remembered just one more thing I had to do. And another, and another. I ended up in bed around 11:30. This always happens. My alarm rang at 4:20. I leaped up and showered and dragged my poor family all out of their beds to accompany me...

My big run is in nine days. Nine. 9. I've seriously slacked off in the last couple of weeks (couple, few, it's all the same really). I think part of it has to do with a recent stressor that's resurfaced in my life. Those of you who know me in real life will know what I'm talking about. Those of you who don't, but are curious are welcome to email me and ask what the heck I'm talking about. I'll share. I've also gained back five of my hard-lost pounds and lost all control of my emotional eating habits. I can't help but think it's all related. Even though I know it's all emotional/stress eating I can't seem to bust out of it. Whatever. But I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah - slacking, less running, nine days until race day. All that being said, I ran twice this week and knocked off a cool nine miles each time. It felt good. I'm still mostly confident about the upcoming race. My goal is to run the entire thing and do it in 130 minutes. Or ...

I ran this morning. I didn't go at all this weekend, despite having a 10.8 mile route all mapped out. I woke up Saturday morning at 5:30 and I could hear the wind beating the rain against my bedroom window, and trying to rip the roof off my house and I decided to stay wrapped in my nice warm flannel comforter. When I got up at 7 my neck was sore. As the day progressed the pain intensified and extended from in and around my shoulder and up through the right side of my neck. It was the kind of neck pain that prevents head and shoulder movement, and requires that you turn your whole torso slightly when you need to turn and look at something. Steven massaged my shoulder and back before bed and I opted to turn off the alarm. Sunday - no run, again. This morning I decided to go, rain or shine, pain or no pain. Luckily, my neck and shoulder (although still sore) had regained a lot of range of movement so I sucked it up and went. I didn't do too badly - 7.3 miles in 78 minutes, with o...

and I would walk 500 more... That's right! Half done my miles ticker. I was hoping to hit 500 by the end of May, so I'm a month early!

I had a really good idea for a blog post, but I forget what it was. Either that or I'm lying. Guess you'll never know. Spring is here. I am so relieved to see the patches of snow and ice clear up more each day. Crescent "Lake" is more "Lake" and less glacier every day too. Would you believe that there are already ducks and geese swimming in that "lake"? Actually, the Canada geese have been kicking around here for weeks already - even before the water was back. Not sure how those things could get any dumber. Last summer I fantasized about punting them into the water on my morning walks. I think I may have mentioned it on facebook and started a days-long conversation with a couple of friends about it. Isn't it cute the way they hiss and beat their wings at you as you run by? No? Didn't think so. Apparently all I have to do is feed them loads of bread and they'll all cripple up and drown. I'm not really going to do that. Punting them ...

I'm Dead Sexy!

I walked 50.9 miles this week (Mon-Sun). I don't usually do that much, but last week was such a bust because of a stomach bug that I figured I was going to go over the top this week to make up for it. I really want to annihilate that ticker. Then I might try for five more, but I don't know. If I did that I'll weigh the least I've weighed since puberty hit. I have no idea how much I should actually aim for. I'm actually feeling pretty good in my clothes these days and I don't feel overly pressured to lose a bunch more, but it would be nice to find out what my actual ideal weight should be. Whatever. If you're wondering where my "Miles Walked" ticker went, it's at the bottom of this blog. I haven't been running enough lately. The last few weekends the track has been closed due to hockey tournaments, and I just don't feel all that excited about running on the ice outside. I have this thing about falling and injuring myself. Soon though, I...

Tonight I went to a new fitness class with my three sisters-in-law. It was kickboxing. Well, I think it will be. Today we did a warm up, and then some sets of push-ups, sit-ups, kicking, etc. and counted how many of each we could do in a minute. I'm guessing that we'll do it again on the last class. The class is twice a week for six weeks. I'm looking forward to changing up my routine somewhat. I had a plan to run four days a week. That's turned into one or two, depending on the week. I really don't want to run on the ice, in the dark, in the morning. I had fully intended to go to the indoor track at the PCU centre a couple of evenings a week, but most evenings I just don't feel like it, especially when I already do Zumba once a week, and then I feel a little guilty about ditching Steven multiple evenings on top of that. Zumba ends in two more sessions (tomorrow and next Wednesday), and I might drop in on Saturday mornings instead of Wednesday nights for a wh...

I'm watching Dr. Oz right now. I don't usually watch him these days, because I find him annoying. Today Oz and his fellow experts are talking about different body types, and how different body types gain weight in different parts of the body. From there, they talk about different foods that each body type should eat, and different exercises that people should do. They're flying through the different lists of foods, exercises, etc. They're getting into types of potatoes, types of oils, veggies, etc. that each group should eat and which they should avoid. This is one of the things I don't like about Oz. When he first became big, I jumped on the Oz craze, and bought the You on a Diet book. I read about half of it. I started to take notes (because trust me, notes are needed). He talks about hormones, he gives diagrams, he talks about all different kinds of oils, minerals, vitamins and supplements people should take. He talks about ingredient lists in food, and the thin...

I was going to go over my last years resolutions and see how I had done. Turns out I made no resolutions. So I guess I passed then! This year, I'll make some. My grandma walked 1000 miles last year. I can run/walk that too! Last year I did 736.5 miles. There was one month I did 115, there were a few where I slacked. I'm going to run. And run and run and run. I'm signed up for the Mb Half Marathon. I have no idea how fast I should aim to do it, but I'm thinking that I'd like to do it in under 2.5 hours. If you're a half marathoner and have an opinion, be sure to let me know! I'll try not to kill any large birds on the highway, and to remember that no, they do not always move. I know it's all physical stuff right now, but that's what's on my mind these days, so there you have it.

So my ticker hit an all-time low. Unfortunately, it's a result of the infamous Stomach Flu Diet, and once I'm all re-hydrated it'll probably plump itself back up. Unless I never drink again.

I've always wanted run a half marathon. This last spring I was pregnant, so that was a beautiful excuse for not doing it. I'm a bit of a chicken. The year before that I thought about doing it, started running in the winter, and then slacked off near the end of winter. I told myself that I wouldn't be able to get ready for it in the amount of time I had left. The year before that - pregnant. This year I've decided to do it. For real. To stop myself from flip flopping on whether or not it's something I can actually manage to do without dying somewhere along the trail, and eventually deciding against it, I've signed up. That's right. I am now officially registered for the half marathon on father's day. Seriously, I know I can do it. I may have to have a few walk breaks, but I know that I can do it. In the fall I went on a few runs that were just over 6 miles in length, within months of having Elliot. I go to the gym and can run 6 miles in an hour, even wit...

I almost forgot today! I went to a boot camp class tonight. I think someone may have to come over tomorrow and complete my daily tasks for me. My arms were burning from every angle by the time we were done. They're fine now, but I know that it'll all come back to haunt me tomorrow. On the plus side, just think of the calories burned! I went to a yoga class on Monday night that was fantastic ! I've only been to one other one before, but the one one Monday night was with a new teacher. It was her first time teaching yoga in this center so she started with a more beginner class. Unlike the first class I went to, there was no giggling, tipping over, etc. and she dimmed the lights, had music on, and kept the different poses going. There were no breaks, it was just a constant transition between poses. It could be an absolutely wonderful stress relief. I think I'm hooked - I hope she keeps doing it here. She'll progressively make the classes more challenging as the weeks...