I’m getting a little tired of these heat waves we keep having. Mostly I am tired of getting up at 4am to get my runs/walks in by mid morning. Last night my house didn’t even cool down and the living room was 26C at 4am. Fortunately I have a/c so was able to bring the temperature back to a decent level.
Yesterday I was out for a run when an elderly gentleman stopped me. I see him and his partner pretty much every morning and have done for a long time. He told my how he had watched my runs progress over the past year and he was impressed at how much I had improved over the last year as well as by the fact that I run pretty much everyday. Well that certainly lifted my spirits and quite frankly made me pick up my pace because I felt so good.
I know I’ve talked about it before but I try and connect with everyone I pass when I am running/walking. I smile, I acknowledge them, I say hello. If I am passing someone for a 2nd time I wish them a good day. The vast majority of the people I greet respond positively and there are a few who didn’t want to respond previously who now seem to have realized that I am not going to be deterred so they too have started to smile and wave back. I just hope it makes them as happy as it makes me.
Based on yesterday’s encounter I decided I needed to up my game and start paying it forward. Maybe if I could make one person feel good they may want to do the same for someone else. I’ve started with the people I see most days and am just reaching out a little more. I’ve am now saying things like, you look nice today, that colour really suits you, please keep hydrated in this heat or watch out for the raccoon hanging off the pole up ahead (ok, that one may be more of a warning). I can see people pause for a second to take in what I have said before their face lights up. I can tell it is working.
This morning I went a step further. An older woman that I have exchanged a few words with as I run by her hasn’t been on the promenade for the past week. I was a bit worried about her as she had fallen a few weeks ago and broken her arm and I know even in the sling it was bothering her as she walked each day. Today when I saw her I stopped and asked how her arm was doing. She told me it was slowly getting better then, with a smile, thanked me for caring. I’m pretty sure that I made her feel good today.
Paying compassion and compliments forward is not difficult. However, when you do it you may have just made their day go a little bit better.
I got up this morning and realized I was having some tummy issues. I had some breakfast and things weren’t quite settling down. I decided to wait awhile and maybe skip the run and just go for a walk. Eventually I realized this just wasn’t going to happen today, I needed to listen to my body. So no run/walk and laying off the extra fibre for today.
Yesterday I got an excellent text from the friend I am mentoring. She had invested in a Fitbit and much to her surprise she managed to run 7.5k. She said she was so close to doing a 10k she could feel it. I told her if she keeps this up we will be doing that 1/2 marathon together again next year. I also reminder her to be patient and build up slowly.
If I go back and look at my posts it was only a little over a year ago that I was in the same position. I had successfully run 5k and figured that meant coach was going to have me keep doing it as well as increasing the distance, she did not. Instead we continued to work on increasing my running intervals which I found frustrating. I so wanted to keep pushing it as I knew I was close to my goal of doing a 10k by last summer that I could taste it. I had to remind myself that I had committed to always following my coach’s instructions so I did as she said.
Really, it was only a few weeks after that when I did actually run 10k for the first time though it did feel like an eternity before that happened. After each run I had to remind myself that part of this training was to develop patience. My coach had set a goal that I would build up to a 10k without ever sustaining an injury. That patience paid off because the only ‘injury’ I had was developing a corn (I still can’t believe how painful that sucker was) and even that didn’t happen until I was well past running 10k.
If I sit back an reflect on all of this now I realize that part of improving my mental health was finding that patience. I now know that it was having that patience that helped me successfully get to the fitness level I am at today. Maybe tomorrow on my run I’ll be able to ponder how patience has made the difference and how I can apply it elsewhere.
Got up early this morning fully intending to do a 12k run. However, for the 2nd day in a row my Fitbit was demanding I do a recovery day. Sigh, ok maybe I pushed a bit hard this week so decided a 10k walk was in order. As I was leaving the promenade at kilometer 8 there was a woman talking to a man about how great it was walking the promenade each day. She saw me and said to the gentleman, this lady jogs pretty much every day. I told her I had to do a recovery day so was just doing a 10k walk today. Her response, you put me to shame. Made me feel good because I’ve got about 20 years on her.
I’m a bit of a Twitter addict (reading, not tweeting) and sometimes the things I read on there just makes me want to scream. This past week a young activist in Texas posted her disappointment that the legislation that would cap the cost of her insulin had not passed. Right away several people felt the need to tweet that maybe if she lost weight then she wouldn’t need insulin. Huh? She’s a type 1 diabetic so no amount of weight loss is going to change the fact that her pancreas doesn’t secrete insulin! Regardless, no one other than a medical professional should be advising people about their weight.
There were further tweets along the lines of type 2 diabetics on insulin and the fact they should change their lifestyles, start exercising more and lose weight. I got very frustrated and tweeted that it is estimated that diabetes is hereditary in 20% of cases and that race can also play a role in the likelihood of developing diabetes. This led to a bunch of replies telling me how any type 2 diabetic can get rid of the disease by losing weight (you really can’t get rid of diabetes, only put it in remission) and that basically if you have diabetes it is your fault. Silence only fell when I gave the example of my brother who was diagnosed in his mid thirties, was not overweight and worked in a very physical job. I also noted the disease was trying its best to kill him.
Diabetes aside, why do people feel the need to fat shame? Better yet, why does fat shaming seem to be more accepted than other forms of discrimination? How is it any of my business what anyone else weighs? I remember being on a vacation in Mexico and seeing a woman who I would say was about 250lbs and she was absolutely comfortable wearing a 2 piece bathing suit, something I would never have even considered doing when I was obese but she obviously had far more self-esteem than I have so I said, good for her.
Look, I’ll be honest, I am happy I have lost all the weight and that my health is so much better. Having said that, I also know how hard I had to work to do this and how hard I continue to work to try and maintain it. Pretty sure not many who read this blog spend at least 2 hours a day, at 6 days a week working out (note most days it is 3+ hours). I’m happy for all the people who don’t gain weight just by looking at a cookie, but I and many others do.
Just stop the fat shaming. The only shoes you walk in are your own so focus on your own life. Oh, and before you think making your behind the back comments don’t hurt, you are wrong, they can be life destroying. Instead maybe find a way to be supportive and inclusive.
End of rant.
I was having a conversation one day about how rats along the promenade freak me out. This time of year in particular they are in abundance but I should note I have not seen that albino rat again (and I really would like to see it). The person I was chatting with said no, it’s the bunnies that scare me. Seriously, those really small, adorable, wild bunnies. Yes she said because I keep thinking about the killer bunnies (if you don’t get her reference you need to watch more Monty Python). So the other day I am out on my run and I see a seagull on the railway tracks. Up comes one of the wild bunnies who starts chasing the seagull. That seagull was running in terror of that tiny bunny. Just made me think of ‘run away’ again from Monty Python.
So my husband said I should talk a little bit more about the mentoring that I do. Seriously, I struggle to think of myself as a mentor but rather to me it is just helping someone develop the skills that I have. I admit this actually started in 2015 when a former co-worker was retiring and asked me to mentor her replacement. The problem was I didn’t like her replacement but to honor our friendship I said I would do it. Turns out I got a lot out of mentoring that young woman and we ended up becoming the best of friends. I guess that was the start of things to come.
A few posts ago I talked about a friend who I have been mentoring on her journey with getting fit. This week marks week 5 of my friend running 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). She has done awesome and texts me after each run. She started out working on doing a 5k and each time she would reduce the number of times she had to stop and walk a bit during the run (she has done some running before). Now, she is looking at increasing her distance on her runs (though I do encourage her to do increases slowly). My role, according to her, is to keep her accountable to her goals. I disagree, my role is to give her the encouragement she needs to just keep going. I know how hard this can be and I was so lucky to have a coach that never criticized, encouraged me at every goal and challenged me to do even more. That is what I want to do for my friend.
Last week my friend had had a tough week and by Friday was tired and just didn’t want to do her run. However, she sucked it up and did it anyways. I was jumping for joy at the fact that like me she threw away the excuses and just kept going. As I said to her, the best feeling is when you finish a run that you really didn’t want to do because you muted those voices in your head giving you the excuses.
Why do I do this, because like my volunteer work it really makes me feel good. The fact that I now have the opportunity to pay it forward is pretty amazing to me. I joke with my friend that maybe next year she too will be doing a 1/2 marathon however, I also let her know it is ok if she doesn’t. I also keep telling her, it is just one step at a time.
Ok, so this is not the intro I had planned to write today (it was going to be about killer bunnies but I will save that for a later date). I was out bright and early this morning for my 8k run and then of course after resting for a bit I went out to do my 8k walk. I was down to the last few blocks of my walk when I realized a woman walking towards me was a long time friend who I haven’t seen since last November. We of course had to stand there in the middle of the sidewalk catching up on both of our families. It is just so great when you have been friends with someone for over 30 years and even if you don’t see them very often when you do get together it is like you spoke to each other just yesterday. It also really gave my day a huge boost.
I know I have been offline for a week but as I mentioned my husband and I went to our trailer. We have had the property that the trailer is on for about 20 years and going there has always been the place I go to relax and just kind of regroup. It has often been hard for us as when I was working I would always head up there for extended long weekends but those weekends didn’t match the long weekends my husband would get from his job. I would usually go up to the trailer on Wednesday afternoons and stay until Monday morning while he would come up late on Friday afternoon and leave early on Sunday morning. This was made even more difficult when the pandemic hit and my husband couldn’t come home at all which sometimes meant it was just me at the trailer.
But this year is different. For the 2nd time this year we went to the trailer together and spent 4 nights there just the 2 of us (well ok, and the dogs). This past week we did a lot of puttering around completing small projects that we have been meaning to get to for quite a while. We also spent time learning how to cook on the new charcoal BBQ which I think we are beginning to master. Given the fact that the weather was close to being perfect, it was such a nice time together.
Despite my best intentions I didn’t really workout while I was there. I decided that it was my time to relax with my husband and enjoy the things that we have worked hard to have. But I have to admit it took some time for me to give myself permission to relax. I reminded myself of the work I had done in July and the fact that I did get 1 workout in so it was only 2 days I missed from my normal schedule. Let’s see, 2 days after how many consecutive weeks of hard workouts 6 days a week? I realized I really can’t beat myself up over this. Instead, I relaxed and then I was back at it again yesterday.
It’s ok to give yourself permission to relax for a few days (you just don’t make it a habit). Quite frankly I think it makes you come back even stronger.
Out early for my 8k run this morning and I was a bit stunned at the difference in temperature compared to the last week. There was a bit of cloud cover and I never really got overly warm running today (do not in any way equate this to me not sweating). It was actually a nice change to be more comfortable doing the run though apparently the heat will return for the weekend. I did do the smart thing and when I went for my walk a bit later in the morning I made sure to bring a light jacket.
I had committed to training hard the month of July in the hopes of starting to whittle away at the few pounds I have gained as well as working on my new goal for mastering running up a hill at the end of my run as well as getting my speed up. I admit, I have been working hard trying to accomplish this. 6 days a week for all of July I averaged running/walking 30,000+ steps a day which is 20+km (note Saturday was my best day ever where I pushed it to 40,000 steps and 26km). That is an awful lot of mileage to put on my running shoes which I think I am going to change out before they start to wear. I can say that by the end of the week my legs would often be questioning my sanity but I kept moving which is what I need to do.
So how is it going? Well the speed issue is interesting. I know it is not possible for me to push myself on every run, that is just going to lead to an injury. Instead I pick a couple runs during the week to do some intense intervals. What I have started to notice is that my pace is slowly picking up. It hasn’t been necessarily a huge difference but I am steadily getting fasted. As a matter of fact, when I did my 10k last week I had shaved 7 minutes off compared to my previous 10k run. I figure that is progress. I know I have plenty of time to get to my peak condition before I try another 1/2 marathon so I am just going to be thankful for slow and steady progress.
As for the hill, that thing just kills me. It doesn’t matter if I am running up it during k5, 7 or 9 it is just hard every time. Still, I do everything I can to try and improve my speed. I did a little test of my fitness level this week. My husband had pointed out a really steep hill and asked if I had tried walking up it. Unlike the dreaded Oxford Hill this one lasted only 4 blocks but has a nasty grade. Yesterday I tried that hill and surprised myself when I got home and told him it wasn’t bad at all and while he looked at me like I was crazy I said, nope, didn’t even get to my peak heart rate. Ok, it may be a stretch to see how that relates to me struggling to run up a hill during my last kilometer of a run but it tells me that I just need to keep at it and I will eventually get there. In the meantime I think I might do a little more work on walking up the really steep hills to see if that helps.
Tomorrow I am heading up to my trailer for a much needed break. I’ve decided a few days of only doing 5-6k runs (along with walking the dogs of course) is just what I need. As I have mentioned I don’t like typing out my blog on my phone or iPad so you may not see another post for a week. That is of course unless I make some stupendous breakthrough in training, that I will post right away.
Yesterday I did a really hard 8k run (more about that next week). This morning I went out early to do my 10k run and my legs were tired. Usually when this happens within a kilometer or so they are feeling better. Not today so I decided to do an easy 10k (seriously, what kind of oxymoron is that?). It wasn’t until I hit about the 6k mark that I finally was feeling better. Good thing tomorrow is my full recovery day and I won’t be doing any workouts.
This is our BC Day long weekend and after a bit of an absence our Sea Festival celebration is back. Ok, it is not quite at the level it used to be (i.e. no parade or waiter races) but there is still a lot going on. My husband and I decided we needed to get out and celebrate our community as normally we are at our trailer for all summer long weekends but we had opted to head up there next week instead. So, this is the first time in about 2 decades that we have been home for our civic holiday.
We had originally thought we would walk down to the beach where the celebrations were going on but I admit my legs were tired after my run/walk this morning so we got a ride there. Unfortunately the activities at the park didn’t start until 11:30am so we opted to walk to the other end of the beach where there were all sorts of vendors/organizations with displays. This is when I learned that my husband really likes to collect swag. The highlight was our discussion with a local search and rescue organization that my husband actually help found. We then went for lunch at one of our favourite places down at the beach before deciding to walk the 1.5k back to the park (yes, this is how I opt to take it easy when my legs are worn out).
Now the park is important, it is the Semiahmoo Park which is owned by the Semiahmoo First Nation (I want to acknowledge that we live on their unceded territory). This, I believe, is the first time our city has done their Sea Festival in conjunction with the Semiahmoo Days. What a fabulous celebration the Semiahmoo were putting on. It was geared towards kids an families and was based on a pirate theme including having a pirate bouncy castle. They had clowns (including my friend Mr Bubbles doing balloon animals), stories, pirate competitions, giant bubbles and a traditional first nation salmon bbq. What a fantastic way for us to celebrate an indigenous community that is so important to us. And I have to say, they did an amazing job. The celebrations will continue tomorrow and we hope to get back to the park to see what else they have in store.
So this weekend is about celebrating our community whether that be our city or the Semiahmoo First Nation. It is great to see both working together to spread some fun and happiness after everything the world has seen in the past couple of years. A special thanks goes to SFN for welcoming our community back into their beautiful park.
Ok, it is hot! Originally they had forecasted it would start cooling down by now but every day they seem to extend it. Now they say we are looking at relief early next week. Sadly that means I will have to keep getting up at 4am to hit the road by 5am and have all my workouts done by 10am. I am starting to look forward to Sunday when I can sleep in until 6am.
Yesterday nothing seemed to go right. I did manage to get out for my early morning 8k run but I knew the rest of the day would be busy so I planned on what my walks would look like. I walked the 1.5k to the coffee shop where a group of us meet each week and then headed off to the park where I meet the seniors’ walking group that I lead each week. That is where things went south. We got to the park and it was closed including the parking lot. Fortunately the young man responsible from stopping vehicles from entering took pity on me and allowed me to park on the road so that I could redirect my group to a mall parking lot. Once we were all there they had little appetite for going on a walk as it was already very warm. Instead we went for coffee.
At that point I started to calculate what I could do. I had time to do a 5k walk home so that I at least got some walking in but then I was out of time. I needed to get the dog to the vet and then to deal with my sister who had been relocated to a care facility. I wouldn’t do any walking after that as it was too warm. By the end of the day I had only put in 17km and 25,000 steps. I felt horrible since I have been able to hit my goals every day for 3 weeks and those goals are 20km and 30,000 steps (at minimum). I felt really guilty because I could have left the seniors at coffee and done a long walk or sucked it up later in the day for another walk but I didn’t. It was almost like I had let myself down.
This morning I regrouped and thought about it. I realized that on Sunday (which is my day off from exercising) I had done more walking than normal. Moreover, I know that on Saturday I will be doing far more than 30,000 steps. I calculated and thought, well, I likely am going to put in more this week than I did last week, why should I feel guilty about that. Quite frankly, even if that wasn’t the case slightly missing my goals due to extenuating circumstances should not make me feel bad, I am still committed to working hard and I have done so.
What helped even more is the text I had received from the friend that I am mentoring. She had missed yesterday’s run because she hadn’t slept the night before (likely due to the heat). She was proud to tell me that she had made up for it today and would get her 3rd run in tomorrow. I congratulated her on keeping going and knew I should follow my own words of encouragement and congratulate myself for working as hard as I have been.
Ultimately I tossed that guilt away. I don’t need to put that kind of pressure on myself especially when I work this hard at keeping myself healthy and fit.
This is my favourite time of year but definitely not for the heat we are currently experiencing. Rather, it is because of the awesome fresh fruits and veggies that are available. Trust me, things like BC corn, cherries, strawberries and blueberries fresh from the farm are amazing and I am eating fruit everyday. Our own garden is literally overflowing with lettuce and peas and so we have a salad with dinner pretty much every night. I can’t wait because soon things like peaches will be ready not to mention our own tomatoes and peppers. As well, my herb garden has gone crazy this year so I love using fresh picked herbs for my recipes.
I told you a few weeks ago that I was committing to upping my workouts and boy have I managed to do that. Now I didn’t just suddenly the first week add a bunch of stuff, rather I bumped things up by about 1/3 and then another 1/3 the following week. The end result is that last week I walked 200,000+ steps, walked or ran 136km, climbed the equivalent of 319 floors and burned 17,000+ calories. To say that is the best week I have ever done is quite the understatement.
I currently work out 6 days a week and plan each day as to what I am doing. If I do a really hard workout then the next day I am going to cut back a bit. That doesn’t mean less steps or km’s (the goal is 30,000 steps a day which is about 20km) but rather rebalancing the amount of running vs walking. That is to say, if I do a 10k run and walk 10k in a day well the next day I might only do 5k run and then walk 15k. I had forgotten how much I actually enjoy a good walk though it is a bit more challenging now as I have to really work it to keep my heart rate where I want it to be. Still, I am cognizant of how far I can push my body and I carefully watch my readiness score to ensure I am getting enough lower level activity to recover.
My challenge right now is the heat and trust me I would use it as an excuse if I could. However, I am trying to work around that by hitting the road by 5am each morning and trying to hit all of my goals by 10am. So far I am having success with this as while it is really hot this week it is reasonable early in the morning. Of course I always have the other option of working out on the treadmill in the garage with a fan blowing on me but you know how much I hate working out on the treadmill so I am going to avoid it as long as possible.
A final comment on the heat, please be checking in on those who may be vulnerable to really warm weather. It only takes a few seconds to touch bases with an elderly neighbour to make sure they are not at risk. Today when I did my run I checked in with a local homeless man who tends to sleep down by the promenade. It is pretty evident that he has some mental health issues but because I often see him petting dogs that go by him I felt comfortable approaching him. I just asked if he had enough water to make sure he was hydrated the next few days and he profusely thanked me and told me he was taken care of (I know last year many of the locals would leave bottled water for him but I wanted to be sure). Never hurts to watch out for those that may be in need.
I so do not understand what is going on with the weather. I went out for a run again this and it was definitely not feeling like summer, as a matter of fact it was on the cold side. I actually questioned the wisdom of wearing shorts and a tank top. When I later went out for a walk it still hadn’t warmed up and it was very cloudy so I opted to put on workout pants and forego the shorts. Not the best plan is 1/2 way into the walk the sun came out and it really warmed up. I will note though, despite the weather being cool my run this morning was made more pleasant by the sight of an eagle out on the sand right at the water’s edge. They always just look so regal to me.
As I have gone on this journey of mine I have been very fortunate. I have a family that has supported me throughout all of this. I have amazing friends who have encouraged me along the way. There are some people that I hardly know that have helped motivate me. Hell, even this morning a group of young people (I’d say late teens to early 20’s) were shouting out ‘good job’ as I ran by them. I also have an amazing coach who has taken me from never having run to being able to do a 1/2 marathon. Looking at this I realize it is time to pay it forward.
I have a friend that I have known for about 25 years who like me has had significant problems with weight. Over the past few years she too has managed to shed some pounds. One of the things that has helped her has been doing a weekly run (among other things). She used to run years ago before she was married and had a family but then of course life got busy and she stopped. Now things have changed.
My friend contacted me a couple weeks ago to tell me she was determined to find a way to do a run 3 times a week. I realized this was my chance to pay it forward, to do what all of the support that I have received has done for me I can do for her. She texts me each day after her run to let me know that she did it and how it went. Each time I respond with words of encouragement and advice. I know how much positive words can do to motivate you and help you to keep going.
I have decided that I now have the opportunity to mentor someone along their own journey with health and fitness. I know that not everyone is going to be like me and get to the point where this has become a big part of my life especially since I have the advantage of time given that I am retired. What I can do is encourage and motivate. Pretty sure that is what I helped do yesterday when my friend completed her 2nd week with her new running regime. I can’t wait when a couple months from now her and I may go for a run together.
So pay it forward is what I say. Quite frankly it makes me feel pretty good too.
gwennefarrell 