New Running Adventures

Last year, during my university's Homecoming weekend, I watched three of my closest friends run a 5km race. It was really fun to watch, but I was also very jealous that I wasn't running with them.

As I've mentioned, a few weeks ago I joined a "Learn to Run" group. Seeing as it had only been a couple of weeks since I got back into running, I was planning to watch my friends run that same 5k again. But then, my running group leader suggested that run/walking the 2.5km loop of the same race would be a good idea. For some reason, this had never even occurred to me. After he put the idea in my head, I quickly signed up - and two more of my friends decided to do the 2.5 km loop as well!

So, one week ago, all 5 of us participated in the Laurier Loop! I really pushed myself, and I was very surprised when I was able to run all the way to the water station (which I think was at the halfway point, about 1.25km).

Feeling good around the 1 km mark!

With my besties after the race! I wish someone had told me about my hair situation.

It was pretty brutal finishing the race. The last leg was to run around a stadium track to the finish line, and I had decided I wanted to run that whole section. It was really hard, and I think I was definitely running slower than a walking pace, but I still managed to finish. My time was 22:04 - not too shabby, in my opinion! :)

It was so fun to be in the race atmosphere, I've signed up for a 5k on October 20... 2 days after my 28th birthday. I know I won't be able to run the entire thing, but that's okay. I'm just so happy that I'm feeling excited about running again.

Pad Thai Time

Happy Wednesday!

I do hope to get back into the groove of frequent posts... fingers crossed! The past week has been filled with marking an endless pile of tests. Thankfully, I wrapped that up yesterday, and now I have about three weeks before I have to mark again! :D

Last Friday, a dear friend was visiting from Ottawa! She came over for dinner and I wanted to make her something special.

I chose the pad thai from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry!, which I've made once before. I prepped all the ingredients before my friend came over. I felt like I was ready to shoot my own cooking show!

After all the prep was done, the meal came together quite quickly.

It was delicious! We both thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

I've also been rocking the stir fries lately, and I've gone back to an old standby: steel cut oats with brown sugar! I need something to keep me warm, since I try to keep the heat as low as possible.

I'm off to watch some Sex and the City on DVD and knit!

Back in business.

I've missed you, dearest blog of mine!

I've had a few things on my mind lately that have kept me very busy.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been in the process of interviewing for a pretty exciting job. I had a phone interview, a written test, and an in-person interview (for which I had to prepare a 3 hour lesson plan).

It was all on the stressful side, but it's over now and I know I did my best. I don't know yet if I got the job (and I'm really trying not to get my hopes up), but no matter what, it was a good experience and I'll be that much more prepared the next time 'round!

Through all of that, my dad has still been in the hospital recovering from his heart attack. He had a defibrillator implanted on Friday and will hopefully be returning home soon. I've been visiting him most days.

I wish I could say that I've been 100% on-plan and exercising through all of this, but that's frankly just not true. I also missed my meeting yesterday because I was out of town. However, the week before was mostly good and I was actually down at my last meeting! I'm hoping to start fresh NOW and make up for some lost time this week, now that my life seems to be getting somewhat back in order.

It's also the end of the semester for the courses I'm currently teaching. On Friday, I taught the last class of the term, and now I have a little break until their final exam on Wednesday (which I have the joy of marking).

With my rare bit of free time, I visited with a couple of university friends this weekend in the country. The visit involved, among other things, a corn maze (that I danced through at times):

baby goats:

and Saved by the Bell:

All in all, a much-needed weekend of fun. :)

Hopefully, I will start blogging more frequently and, more importantly, taking care of myself with healthy eating and exercise. I know in my head that's a better way to deal with stress than, say, ordering Chinese food, but sometimes my actions don't reflect that.

I am relaxing now with So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Good night, all!

I love my apartment.

And I just found out I have to move!

Last August, I moved into my first big-girl apartment. I was living with my parents at the time (just for the summer), and had only ever lived with roommates. I found a great one-bedroom in East York.

My apartment is the main floor of a house. I have my own little balcony, AND on-site laundry. I was able to pick paint colours, and I found a bunch of great (and cheap) furniture and such.

Anyway, my landlord sold the house fairly recently. I didn't think it would impact me much, but apparently my new landlord wants to move into my unit. I can move into the basement if I want, and he's in the process of renovating it, but I don't know.

So I'm pretty sad about that!

In other news, I am going to have a roommate for the month of July! My friend Krystal is taking a course in Toronto, and will be staying with me. We were roommates for 3 years in university (as well as being floormates for 1 year), so I know we can live together without any problems. I'm also very excited to have a workout/healthy eating buddy!

I've still been struggling with tracking/exercising (which maybe explains the lack of posting lately)... I have a big grocery shop planned for today, though, and I'm determined to go back to my healthy ways. :)

What's Your Support System?

It's easy to dwell on all of the "saboteurs" in your life. But what about the supporters? It's much more important to focus on them.

This is me and my friend Krystal:

We lived on the same floor in residence in first-year, and then were roommates for three years after that.

Lately, I've been really struggling food-wise. I've been following the plan for a few days, and then going crazy and overeating for a few days. On Friday night, I called Krystal and casually mentioned that I was thinking of skipping my Weight Watchers meeting the next morning. I explained that I would have to go to the early meeting, and I really needed to get some sleep, and I could get back on track the following week.

I expected Krystal to say something like "do what's best for you." Instead, she did what was actually best for me, and insisted I go to my meeting. "You always feel so much better after a meeting! You love your meetings!" she reminded me.

Did I mention that Krystal doesn't follow Weight Watchers? She doesn't necessarily "know" what I'm going through - but she supports me wholeheartedly. When she came to visit me for a weekend, she offered to track points too to help me stick to the plan. Now that is support!!

On Saturday (after my Weight Watchers meeting, which I am so glad I went to), I went with some friends (Krystal included) to visit the Elora Gorge. It was lots of fun, and also included some reminders of how far I've come.

When we were walking along the trail, we came to a somewhat rocky and steep area. My first instinct was fear: would I slip on the rocks? Would I get out of breath climbing the stairs? But then I remembered that I am not the same person I used to be.

I'm doing my best to get back to my happy-zone with food, but in the meantime, I will keep working out (Operation: Buff results are coming soon), recognize how far I've come, and not skip any Weight Watchers meetings! And when I feel the urge to run out to McDonald's, I will give Krystal a call instead.

Who are the supporters in your life?