no wonder my feet are sore . . .

so the week started out pretty rough! something i ate sunday evening sure didn't agree with me, and as a result, i was up most of the night, lost my record of not throwing up for 20 years - yep, 20 years - take that seinfeld - eventually slept all day monday, and lost 7 pounds. man, that was nasty! i can't remember the last time i was sick. i actually had to cancel all my clients - not that they really minded, although they were concerned. thanks to little bernie and miss liz'bet for offering the homemade soup, and my sweet glp friend for feeding me on tuesday. i didn't have much energy for a couple of days, so i took it easy. wednesday i wasn't sure how it would go, but i decided to try. i threw the dions in my pack and headed out from humber station towards hwy 9. actually made it almost through glenn haffy before turning back. felt pretty good!! must have been all the sleep, resting my poor body, and the loss of weight! hehe! footing was okay, so i didn't need my snowshoes.

and because tradition must be upheld, i did an easy 6 on the humber to close out 2009. here's a wintery view of the fern garden - the glp's fave spot.

yeehoo!

when i got home, i was curious, so i added up my miles for the year. survey says: 2,362 !! so like i said, 'no wonder my feet are sore!' think i'll put em up for a bit and give em a rest . . . ha! who am i kidding!!

happy new year my friends - may i have inspired at least some of you to get out and be crazy!

shorts to snowshoes

saturday was our 4th annual 'don't run boxing day 10-miler' trail run. it all started in 2006 with the pylons deciding to drive to hamilton but not actually run the race course. instead, we took to the trails and had ourselves an amazing 2+ hour run through the escarpment. there was robbie, homey, the beaver, me, captain and laaaaadies man. it was a blast!

so this year, instead of driving all the way to hamilton, we decided to go to toronto and run out of the captains' place. the temp was a balmy +4 and we all ran in shorts through the trails of the don. stoopid dora - i forgot my camera ! and there were a few good photo opps too! grrrr! one would have been of us trying to scramble up some of the hills which were slippery as snot, sometimes seeing us sink as much as 3" in the mud. another would have been of the guys standing there waiting for me to fall down an embankment as i tried to maneuver around and across this nasty mud slide. and yet another of me trying to cross the don, especially after digger moved some of the 'stepping bricks'. i threw in a couple of rocks to make a path, as i wasn't about to put my feet in 'the don'. in total, we were out over 2 hours in the rain, and we got back with mud all the way up to our butts! we followed this with a supremo bacon and egg breakfast supplied by mrs. captain!! mmmmm!

on sunday, me, christine and kevin drove over to hockley for some snowshoeing. it was a beauty day for sure!! we all figured we'd better put in some time after all the crap we'd eaten over the past few days. we took these pics from 'the chalet' by the private ski club just before kevin tried tobogganing on a shovel.

we then waited for a ride on the chair lift but it never got going . . .


we even tried out a new side trail !

and of course, because we were in hockley, we had to hit the gen store. what a great day to be out playing in the hills.

phantom, a contusion and christmas eve

got a surprise visit by the phantom on tuesday! yep, robbie was back in b'town and wanted a run on his old stompin grounds. met him late afternoon and had an awesome, yet short trek on the humber. in typical robbie fashion, he remarked that only trail runners consider the outdoors as their changeroom. he forgot to mention their bathrooms too! regardless, it was awesome to see him and run with him again. managed to catch a wicked sunset just as we were leaving the fern garden too. great to see you robbie! we miss you!!

wednesday i had plans to fit in a 3 hour run after my last morning client. i drove over to castlederg to drop water at the halfway mark. as i was getting out of the car and walking towards the trail entrance, i was stopped suddenly. thinking i had caught my coat sleeve in the door, i looked back in annoyance. doh! not the coat but the finger! oh for god sakes! i tried pulling it out and that didn't work, so i dumped the bottles and opened the door. nnnnnice! my poor finger was mashed, turning purple, had a chunk of skin hanging from it and was starting to bleed. i am such an idiot!!! it didn't really hurt though, so i continued over to the entrance to stash the water. it was about half-way home that i noticed a bit more blood and that the end of it was a pasty grey color. oh oh, starting to feel queasy now! bah! that passed and every time it throbbed i just held it over my head. i threw a band aide on it when i got home, packed up my snowshoes, threw on my yaks and was out of the tree house by 1:30. turned out to be a pretty good run, although i miscalculated the time, and just made it back by dark. still lovin the dions!!

and today was our annual christmas eve run. numbers were smaller this year, as it was only me, homey and christine who showed up. great run and the pace was nice and relaxed, although we did pick it up a bit on the way back once we realized that timmies was closing at 2pm. we made it there in plenty of time and got to enjoy a quiet coffee before the whole kerfuffle of christmas is upon us.

let the games begin . . .

yessssssssssssss

so finally, after 7 1/2 hours of running over the weekend, i am officially out of my pissy mood and am smiling at nothing. i even went and did some dreaded christmas shopping!

first order of business on sunday was to try out my NEW DION SNOWSHOES! after talking to spaff yesterday, i took his advice and loaded up a backpack with my NEW DION SNOWSHOES. he suggested i gradually get used to them, instead of just hammering out 5 or 6 hours right from the start. oh puh-lease, would 'i' do that??? anyways, i drove over to duffys' south and headed out on foot with my yaks towards duffys' north. it was a beauty of a day and the sunshine was overwhelming.

i hit duffys' north in record slow time, but didn't really care. i was lovin it. took a little breather and some water before heading back.

once i hit castlederg, i removed the yaks, and threw on my NEW DION SNOWSHOES. sweet tunderin jesus - they are fucking amazing! it took me maybe 5 minutes to get used to them and then it was like i wasn't even wearing them. i didn't slip once and my ankles were singing! i did show some restraint and wore them only back to my car, but man was i tempted. from there i put the yaks back on and ran down towards the tennis courts. i dropped in briefly to see christine and then carried on over to the grumpy little portuguese's. my good buddy wayne and the glp's husband billie were just heading out for a ride into albion. they asked if i would drive over and stamp a trail down for them!! haha, nice try guys!!

after a rather scattered training session with the glp, i threw my shoes back on and finally made my way back to the car. total time out today was just over 3 hours. again, huge thanks to derrick spafford for providing me with just the right toy to get me through another winter of trying to run in the snow. you da best !

www.HealthandAdventure.com

'life is good'

on the road/trail again . . .

well, i lasted 10 days. i can't recall being that miserable in a long time. i apologize to all who had to deal with me. i got back on the feet on tuesday. it wasn't fun, it wasn't easy, it didn't feel good, but i was back. as mr. chris used to say, 'order is restored'. spent 3 days just trying to get used to running again. i know that sounds silly, but you really do lose touch with those muscles when you don't use them. poor homey had to suffer through 3 hissy fits as i trashed my ankles running over to the dingle on wednesday. the footing was so brutal, that when i got home i emailed spaff and ordered a pair of 'dion running snowshoes'. a HUGE thanks for sending them out so fast! anyways, got them on friday and they are saweeeeeet !!! plan to try them this sunday for sure.

saturday the plan was to get up at 7, run on the rail trail for awhile and be back in plenty of time to hike with trailman at 3:30. 'what could go wrong?' i set the alarm for 7 and totally ignored it when it went off. i finally woke up at 9:30! doh! rushed through some breakfast, packed up some stuff, and drove over to humber station just after 10. not bad! footing was good in spots, and dreadful in others. not to worry, it was a great morning and the temp was perfect. made it to inglewood in just over 2 hours and ran up the hill to caledon cycling for some refueling.

my buddy don stocked me up with some shot bloks and some heed, showed me the latest in buff designs, gave me a cloth to wipe up the counter where i'd slopped some powder, and wished me luck on my return journey. incidently, he's done an amazing job with the shop since he took over. couldn't believe all the cool shit he'd brought in !! am planning a trip back tomorrow for some shopping, either that or i'll run back with my pack! unfortunately, i spent more time chatting than i'd thought, cuz when i finally made it back to the treehouse, trailman was waiting in the driveway. oops! he was okay though, entertaining himself with sirius satellite and howard stern. he patiently waited while i got changed and then we headed out for a hike in palgrave. he LOVES when i'm all f'd up from a long run, cuz i'm really stunned, and we don't end up going as far as usual! anyways, it started to get dark, and we headed back - me to the treehouse and him to his place in mississauga.

small note: i believe digger is officially off his diet. he emailed me last night after several beer and burgers at the captains, asking for a copy of a pic from our trip to moab, and wondering who was in the shot. 'ummm, i believe it's you digger', i replied. stoopid digger!

anyways, can't wait to see how stiff i am in the morning. but so what, it's good to be back !

'long may you run'

'every time catherine revved up the microwave, i'd piss my pants and forget who i was for about half an hour or so.'

this is one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies! sam had nothing better to do last night, so she came over to the treehouse and we watched national lampoon's christmas vacation.

our second favorite part was when the cat blew up under the chair. "if that cat had nine lives, it sure used 'em all".

anyways, did almost 2 hours outside on the misfit saturday afternoon. rode mainly dirt roads, and stayed warm right up until the last 20 minutes when the sun started to set. sunday i braved the snow and freezing rain to wander into bolton for kiana's hockey game and then some training with the glp. they got their christmas tree up - it's short and cute - just like her!! came home, procrastinated for a couple of hours, mopped the floor, ate a couple of hershey bars, and finally got on the trainer for 2 carmichael training workouts.

definitely back to the trails this week - or somebody gunna get a hurt real bad

thumbs of death and skiing

went to see moose today and was greeted by the lovely annette - receptionist extraordinaire!

here we are sharing a few laughs BEFORE he tortures me.


owwwwwwwwwww!! and he still won't let me run.

after finishing up with my last client, i ate a box of butter tarts and some m&m's and went back to the treehouse. i thought about getting on the trainer, thought about doing some pushups, ate a hershey bar, and then finally decided to pull out my skis and give them a try. it has been at least 3 years since i've attempted this. i had considered it last year - even had richard put a new base coat of wax on them for me - but never got around to it. it took me a minute, but i eventually figured out how to hook them on!

i bumbled around for over an hour in behind the treehouse and managed to fall only once.

i ended up putting myself in a way better mood, and didn't feel so bad about eating all that chocolate . . .

guess i'll have to catch up on sheldon and the gang tomorrow. :P

big bang theory

first of all, big thanks to all of you who expressed mutual annoyance that i didn't get into western states. i truly do appreciate that you get what it meant to me.

second, i haven't run since last saturday. this has been more difficult than when i quit smoking almost 20 years ago. i am ready to snap. i am miserable. i am getting fat. i went to see moose on wednesday and tried for a compromise. he said we already did, in that he originally wanted me to stay off my feet for a month. so then i asked if we could renegotiate. he said no. i might have to offer bribes next. i seriously am losing my mind. georgie asked how my injuries were, and if i was worried. i replied that i was worried about taking 2 weeks off and not killing someone! you remember georgie - he was supposed to contribute to this blob too! see, i am crabby! but enough. i am at day 5 so far.

and what HAVE i been doing?? well, let's see. sunday i bundled up and took my single speed out on the rail trail for over 2 hours. that helped a bit, as the constant pedaling was similar to my running cadence. as for the rest of the week, i've been on my trainer. in all i've put in just over 4 hours and i've watched something like 10 episodes of 'the big bang theory'. i'm happy to report that sheldon is the new love of my life, and that my ass callouses are back in fine form.

not sure how much longer i can do this. let's see what the weekend brings.

curses - foiled again!

so today, for the third time, i was denied entry into the western states 100 miler due to my 'bad luck' at never winning or being picked for anything!! i had qualified through sinister and sulphur, but once again, wasn't one of the 'chosen few'. this sucks!

earlier in the week, me and the moose came to the conclusion that my body is just plain tired! gee, wonder why!? so after a last long run today with homey (mainly because i didn't want to sit around watching the lottery results on the computer) i've decided to give my poor, beaten feet a rest. i am going to try and just ride my trainer for a couple of weeks and see if that helps. hopefully the time off will mend things up and i'll be back on track for rocky by christmas.

soooooooo, i'll be doing a lot of this. . .

while sitting on this.

'what could go wrong?'

prep for texas

it has to be done. i love my hills - BUT - there really aren't any where i'm going in texas - SO - i have to practise running flat to get my poor old muscles prepared. ack! and i just KNOW that this will almost kill me. so, despite the temp reading -2, and the ice on the puddles in the driveway, i dug another pair of shorts out of the drawer, threw them on, and set my mind to running on the rail trail. i figured i'd have to go as far as horseshoe hill road and back to get in my 15 miles. AND, i'd better be bloody sure to have my ipod all charged up!!!

you know what, it wasn't all that bad. there were actually a lot of people out on the trail today, so that kept me distracted. and, for sure i was the only one not all bundled up in tights and a toque, and that got me some strange looks! woo hoo - pylons rock! got my 15 miles done in just under 2 1/2 hours, and was greeted by miss zoey as i wobbled my way down the steps to the treehouse.


so i'm done for the week. i'm stiff and i'm tired. but life is good and there are still a ton of trails to run.

i ain't gonna be your fool

okay, so i would have been on time for my run this morning except i happened to open an email from the captain while eating breakfast. when we were in moab, we were talking about certain flintstone episodes, and i mentioned the one where ann mar-grock sings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXCiS2FpmIc&feature=related

and of course most of you know what happens once i get on youtube !

anyways, i eventually made it over to duffy's, where homey and vents were waiting. vents was legally in tights, but seeing as how it was a couple degrees above zero, me and homey figured we could still wear shorts. poor vents was having grief with his ankle, so he turned around at the gore. just as well, cuz he was being kinda pushy, and almost knocked me off the trail just before humber station. and actually, now that i think of it, he was rather mean to me first thing this morning, asking if i was crazy to try and run 28 miles today! big nasty vents! part way up k2, homey noticed a big rock pile and asked if that was new?! i laughed and said no, look at the moss on it! but then i fessed up to having thought the same thing just a month ago. stoopid runners getting old and losing their minds! we made it to hwy 9 before homey turned back. imagine the looks we got from passing cars while taking this pic !!

i kept going and finally made it over to airport road. on the way back, my hammies were getting cranky, so i had to stop a few times to try and loosen them up. was tempted to have a little relax in the gazebo behind the tai chi center!

got back to my little red mazda after 44km and 5 1/2 hours of running. legs weren't really that tired, just very stiff! while stretching, sarah c pulled up on her bike. 'let's be idiots and take each others' picture taking each others' picture'. hehe! she had been riding in palgrave, and was heading over to albion for a bit more.

anyways, good to see her. and good to be running with my homey again! planning on doing 15 miles tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes!

'there's a town i know where the hipsters go called bedrock

twitch ! twitch !'

quiet week

not much exciting this week. all 3 days were threatening to rain on me, but the spirits prevailed and i stayed relatively dry. got back on the trainer on monday for some hills, and that hurt! legs were fine, but my arse was killing me. that'll teach me for neglecting it all summer. the poor aquila didn't even want to change gears at first, but after a frantic phone call to wayne, and some tinkering with cables, she was back in business. guess she was angry with me! did almost 12 miles on wednesday on the humber, and man were my feet sore at the end??!! thursday was the usual 2 loops of palgrave, and i'm happy to report being 7 minutes faster than last week.

started the winter session of boot camp with the kids at country day school. awesome group this term and it's great being able to do it twice a week.

that's about it. planning a big weekend of running if my stoopid feet permit it.

john loves hockley too !!

on another amazing late fall day, the secret love of my life came up from the big city to run hockley with me. the last time he joined me, it almost killed him. today he was flying up the hills - i'm thinking the crossfit training has paid off!!

we also had october come out. almost lost her on the very last section, but a bit of fast running and some bellowing reeled her back in.

as usual, we finished off the run with a visit to the hockley general store.

thanks for coming up john and hope you enjoyed your run in the valley.

xoxo

back to reality

so the big trip is over - what an adventure. i had planned on going to cirque de soleil - didn't make it. i had planned on going mountain biking - didn't happen. i had planned on seeing the grand canyon - never got there. am i disappointed ? not at all ! cirque was more of a couples thing, which might have been a little awkward. after running the mountain bike trails in moab, i realized there's no way i could have rode them without killing myself - so that was also a good thing. and the grand canyon, well it will always be there. the other things i saw, like bryce canyon and zion national park, were spectacular, and i'm really glad i got the opportunity to go. AND, it didn't really matter anyways, cuz i got to spend a week with 5 really awesome guys. we had a lot of laughs and i can check off another incredible adventure from my bucket list. captain, digger, onions, cy and beave - thanks!!!

so we got back late wednesday night/thursday morning - thanks to boots for picking us up! couldn't manage to get to sleep, so i just stayed up, unpacked and shaved my legs. first client was at 5:30, so i didn't have long to wait. i was in a daze for most of the day, and instead of taking a nap, i decided to do a couple loops in palgrave instead. actually felt better! also blobbed the first part of our trip!

saturday i met homey at duffy's and we ran 'slowly' up to the top of k2. vents had screwed up the start time, but we managed to meet up at the bench and run back together. legs felt pretty good, but my stoopid feet still hurt. that's probably why i tripped over a stump on the way down and slow-motion face-planted into the dirt. grrrrr !! WHY DO I KEEP HITTING THE SAME KNEE!??? anyways, we finished off the run with coffees and plans for vent's upcoming christmas concert. so good to be out on the trails again with my palgrave pylons on such a sweet morning.

luv you guys !!

argh!!!

good grief! i really should be packing right now instead of blobbing! i was up at 4:30 this morning for my first client. worked a few hours and dashed over to the health store to get my gels. back to work. hay! it's another beauty day - i should go for a run - well, i should really be packing - but it's soooooo nice out - just a short run - man it's nice out - just a little further. crap! it's almost 2 - no worries. i'll go home and start packing - i don't have to be back at the gym until 5. turn on the computer - OH OH - i'm supposed to checkin online for my flight. argh!! I DONT' HAVE A PRINTER! mad panic email to the captain, the glp and october. now what!? i'll pack while i'm waiting - hmm, maybe i should do some laundry - double crap - it's now 3 and i still haven't packed. frantic phone call to the glp and october - maybe they can print off my stuff. stoopid airlines! ohhhh, i just realize i have to fill out my timesheets for work. another distraction! wait, i think the washer's done - better go put the stuff in the dryer so i can pack - ack still have to pack!! oh no, still haven't emailed vents to give a pickup time for the airport. stoopid dora! OH FOR GOD SAKES, THERE'S A LADYBUG STUCK IN MY KEYBOARD! i know, i know, start packing! WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO SUPPLY AN ADDRESS AT CUSTOMS??? i don't know where we're going!!! i mean, i know which state we're going to, but not the actual city, or the address!!??? they're gonna screw me at customs for sure! stoopid airlines! and where is stoopid homey who's supposed to take care of all this stuff for me so i don't have a hundred meltdowns before i leave????? where's my camera? oh, there it is. wait, i should take a couple of pictures, it'll be funny! i'll include one of my bike - i love my bike!

okay, update, it's 9:17 and i still haven't packed. BUT, the glp came through and i am now officially checked-in and my baggage is paid for. woo hoo! vents is shooting over around 5:40 for the pickup, and we'll grab onions and head down to the airport.

finally, it's 11:06, and i'm done! off to bed now - big day tomorrow for the pylons!! have a great week everybody!! i'll try and take lots of pics while we're away.