Hello-lo-lo-lo-ooo

That's supposed to sound like me yelling out into the void.

I took some time off work this week. I only needed a day or two off for my friend's wedding, which was an amazing weekend, but I actually felt like I needed two weeks off from work. I will have had a total of 12 days off by the time I go back on Monday (there are two long weekends in a row here, so I only technically took 1 week off), but I want another week :) I am loving my time being at home.

While I was at my parents' house for the wedding, I ate a LOT, and a LOT of junky foods. I went for one short run with Hairy and that was all. But since I have been back, apart from ice cream I have been eating well and I have run two days in a row (I will run today and plan to run every day til Monday). I played volleyball, rode my bike there, and keep looking for things to do. I just finished season 6 of Criminal Minds and will start watching the seventh today... I had time to go to the local market for fruits/veg, have a BBQ, spend time on my newly equipped balcony (chairs, table, BBQ were my birthday present to me this year). All in all, I'm doing a lot and nothing at the same time. I also plan to take kayaking lessons. You basically learn everything in one lesson, so I'll likely do that next Sunday and then I'll be able to go out on the canal near my place and kayak whenever!! I already know what next year's birthday gift to me will be: a kayak! That is, if I still live in a place very close to the canal of course (without a car it will be tough lugging a kayak around town ha!).

Life is otherwise good. Someone made an offer on my condo and as far as the law is concerned, it's now binding and they will be scheduling an appointment with the notary any day now. When I leave the notary's office I think I will cry out of relief... That was the last remnant of my last relationship and I cannot wait to officially start fresh. Of course he and I will still have to deal with the bank afterward, but we'll cross that [I forget the word in this expression] when we come to it.

My weight is up and down by a bit, but I continue to work on it. I would theoretically like to be 140 and right now I'm probably 146, but I'm not going mad over it, just doing what I can when I can, but also indulging in gelato and such. I need to put my foot down at some point, but I think now's not the time :)

Vrooom!

I ended up signing up for that second 5 km after all, thanks to Hairy's encouragement and favourable circumstances (the having of a car to get to Rosemere mainly). I did it. Ultimately, I am just happy to have done it. BUUUUUT, then Hairy and I checked our times. During the run, I felt great, and MUCH better than I did two years ago during the same race. My time though was 31:22 or something, while two years about it was 28 something...IM-POS-SIBLE (French accent). Je ne comprends rien. Whatevs, I did it.

Feels good to be running again. Oh and I ended up doing that juice-only diet for 5 straight days and felt fantastic. I ate a lotta solid food yesterday and will do one more 5-day juice diet this week. My skin looks fantastic compared to before and I just really needed a break from the routine I'd developed.

Gotta shower and get ready for my open house, eee.

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring...

Hi everyone.

I thought I'd take advantage of the fact I've been wide awake since 6:30 and my man is still fast asleep, and the fact it's pouring buckets outside, to catch up on blogging. The timing is good too since I just accomplished something that, to me, is super awesome.

When I last wrote, I can't remember where I was in terms of my physical/mental state, but lately I've been running or playing vball when I can, though the weather has been working against me. I kept running knowing that I had a 5 km race coming up and would be horribly embarrassed if I couldn't complete that. I was a little worried because my last few runs I couldn't get to 5 km, even though it's generally easy to do. But come race day, I felt ready.

I just happened to have started a juicing "diet" (not so much a diet as adding some homemade natural veg/fruit juices to my regular diet for Friday and Saturday, and possibly only juice for a few days. I just needed to do something different to feel like I am starting fresh. But man did it pay off! I had my first juice Friday night with dinner, then I had two juices around breakfast before going to run. I felt good but nothing more.

The original plan for the race was that my team would run the 5 km, and then those who wanted to could run an extra 5 km back to my friend's place, who happens to live two blocks from me. I figured I'd see on the day of whether I felt up to it, but I haven't been able to run even close to 10 km this year, and 10 km is the most I've ever run, so I was likely not to join for the second part.

So... the race went well, but I find races hard in general since you don't have a good idea when it'll end. Since 5 km is only about 25-30 mins of jogging though, I knew it couldn't go on forever :). It was about 38 celsius with the humidity, so it was a tough one. But after resting for 5-7 minutes post-race to drink water, have our team picture taken, I suddenly decided I did in fact have the energy to run some more.

Everyone else bailed, but I decided, f%& it, I will run home. Long story short, I didn't exactly know where I was going, so that extra 5 km actually turned into an extra 8.5 km, and about 20 minutes in I was thinking I had made a bad decision, but I committed to my choice and never stopped running, making it home within the hour, for a grand total of 13.5 KM!!! The most I have ever ran. I did get a 5 minute rest in between, but I still consider it a huge accomplishment as I couldn't come close to even 6 or 7 km this year.

Today I begin my juice-only thingy and am feeling so energetic already. I am WIDE awake and just waiting for the man to wake up so I can use the juicer (it is very loud).

Have a great day everyone and keep at it, trust me, it's worth it.