Feeling good

I've been feeling pretty good this past week. Which is great, cause that means I beat the odds. I read somewhere once that January 12th is the most depressing day of the year, because that's how long most people last with their well-intentioned New Year's resolutions beofre giving up. Today is the 16th. Hoping I can keep it up!

So, where were we? I ran on Saturday. After that run, I downloaded some more music for my new ipod, and realized that I threw out my ipod cable! Crap. I remember that I put it back in the little box the ipod came in, thinking "that's a great place to store this tiny 4 inch cable". Then, when doing my mad-dash clean-up before our new years even company, I picked up the box, and thought "wtf do Ineed this foor" and chucked it in the garbage bag. I ordered a new one on amazon, and I hope it will be here tomorrow so that I can listen to some new tunes during my weekend run.

I did a 3k run on Monday morning, and it was... ok. I'm slowly getting faster. I'm trying to be patient with myself. Tuesday evening I went to ballet. It was WAY more fun this time! We did some barre work, foot work and arm work. We did some jumps too, which is when I realized, yet again, that you can take the gymnast out of the gym, but you can't take the gym out of the gymnast. We were doing changements (basically, you stand with one foot in front of the other, jump, and land with your other foot in front) and I found I could only keep my balance if I stood on a line on the floor like it was a beam.

Ballet is surprisingly difficult. Every muscle is squeezed at all times. Everything MUST be perfect.  My shoulders were super tired after the arm work, and my butt muscles were killing me the next day!

Wednesday I did some strength stuff, and rested. Kind of. My work computer crashed that morning, and I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house. So, if you want to visit, now is the time. Hopefully we can keep it tidy for a while, but based on our previous house-keeping history, I wouldn't put a big bet on it!

I ran 5k this morning, and I'm glad I did it then and not later in the day like I orginally planned. Red Fox tried to get my hard drive working and couldn't so we had to take it to the computer guy, and by the time we got home, it was raining and cold (freezing rain warning... are we taking bets on school closures tomorrow?). I was planning to run 4, but when I looked at my Garmin it was already 4.1k so I just kept going.

It was SO warm today! I ran the river road, and by the time I got to the bottom of TDH, I had to take my glasses off because every exhale fogged them up, and I couldn't see. So I put them in my pocket, and then I couldn't see. LOL Can't win! By the time I got past the wharf, I had to take my jacket off. I left it on the guard rail and picked it up on my way back. Living in PEI is great for that; I know no one would steal it.

I've also kept up my planking streak. I've done it for 2 minutes twice, and my average is problably 1:45. I think I'll consistently be able to do the full 2 mins by the end of the month!

5k and a move

I've been watching the weather all week, and thought that I should probably get my run in on Saturday morning rather than Sunday... We're supposed to get a lot of rain! Little Fox woke me up at 5:45 (little stinker) and I managed to get him to go back to bed til 7. After a small breakfast of toast with peanut butter and a coffee, I got ready to run. 

It warmed up to -3 by the time I was ready, and it was soooo nice. I only had to wear ONE pair of pants today! And my face wasn't numb when I got home! Yay for the January thaw. I ran 5k, for the first time since early December. I am SO slow now! It's a bit discouraging, but I know I'll get my speed back eventually. I did a 1:40 plank when I got home, did the hip exercises I learned at physio, and then showered.

After that, we all went out to Silver Fox's new apartment. Today was moving day. It's a nice little place, just perfect for one person. I made some curtains for him while we were there, and we got them all hung before we left. Kind of. We didn't have a proper screw driver so we couldn't hang the hardware for the bathroom one, so he has a temporary curtain held up with command hooks! LOL I also didn't have enough fabric for bedroom curtains, so we hung one from the living room in there for now. I think we're going to go back tomorrow so I'll get some made tonight or tomorrow morning. 

I am pretty sad that Silver Fox moved out. He did so much for us here, and kept me company almost every evening while I made supper. When Molly Dog realizes he isn't staying here, she's going to be devastated!

Water Bottle

Courteney, here's my water bottle. Like I said, it was a freebie from Shoppers as a promo for Shiseido. I have no idea who made the bottle, but the lid with the flip up spout and straw is what I really love about it. the ebay link at the bottom has some others with the same kind of lid.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/28-Ounce-Personal-Sports-Reusable-Beverage-Water-Bottle-with-Flip-Straw-/221350144797?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item33897f2b1d

Ballet and a bat

Yesterday, I started a ballet class! Here in PEI, they have what's called "community schools" where people in the community volunteer their time to teach a class. There are classes for everything, like guitar, photography, improv, knitting, web design, public speaking, budgeting, self defense, and more. The classes are offered all over the Island.

I've been looking for an affordable adult ballet class for years. There were a few classes in Halifax, but they were expensive. This class is only 20 dollars for 10 weeks. The downside is that it's in Charlottetown. 

I really enjoyed it! There were about 15 people in the class, and most of them are about my age, so I might even make a friend. One of them had on a Boston jacket (from 2010, I think)! We had a little run chat, and then class started. We did the classic ballet positions and worked on toe point. I have a terrible turn out! New resolution for this year: pay attention to my posture... I used to have such good posture... now I'm slumpy.

After ballet last night, we settled in to watch Dr. Who. I'm a newbie to Dr. Who... I started with season 5 on the advice of a friend and LOVED it, so I went back to season 1 on Netflix. Anyway, we just got through the episode introduction when a freaking BAT flew over my head and around the sunroom. I immediately pulled the blanket over my head and yelled THAT'S A BAT! BLAINE! A BAT! He was sitting right beside me, calmly watching this thing fly around saying "that is so cool". I'm still under the blanket yelling PAUSE THE SHOW! I'M MISSING IT! BLAINE, GET IT!

I know, I'm super cool under pressure. 

The bat flew into the kitchen area, so I grabbed Molly and we went upstairs. Red Fox eventually caught the bat using Molly's blanket, and it's presently residing in one of my tupperware containers (which will of course be thrown out), awaiting a call to the "officials". Last month, the news paper ran a story saying that PEI officials want "all bats, dead or alive" (lol) because they are trying to track their wintering sites and the occurrence of this bat disease. (This bat doesn't have a white nose, so I think it's disease-free). 

As for running, I'm sorry, but it is just too damn cold out there. It's very windy today, and the wind chill is -31. I was hoping it was going to be warmer less cold, because the roads are clear for the first time in over a month. The forecast looks good, though, so I'm hoping to run tomorrow. I'm doing pretty good with planks, though! I have a seven day streak going. I know that sounds piddly, but it's my longest streak yet for planks. I'm hoping to be able to do 2 mins by the end of the month. 

Sunday Run

It's FINALLY warmed up. On Friday, we had a blizzard. We didn't get as much snow as NS did, but we got about another 10 cms to add to our collection, and everything was blowing around like crazy. Then yesterday, we had an insane windchill again.

Yesterday, we took down and packed up all the Christmas stuff. Red Fox had a very interesting way of removing the tree. This method was awesome for 2 reasons: 1, it made it smell like christmas tree inside again, and 2, it didn't get needles all through the house.

I spent most of the day cleaning up the sun room and creating a little play area for Little Fox.

After that, my jaw was really hurting, so I took a muscle relaxer which made me fall asleep shortly after supper. I slept til 6:30 this morning!

After breakfast and coffee, I got into my running gear and hit the road. I had a very slow 4k run. The roads are literally a sheet of ice, but the spikes on my shoes are working REALLY well, and I didn't slip at all. I can tell that I'm running differently and using different muscles because I'm sore in different muscles. When I got back from my run, I did a 1:40 plank, and now it's time to hit the shower. I'm taking Little Fox skating this afternoon!

Tie your shoes!

Red Fox and I watched this video on Netflix a few weeks ago. I just realized that it's probably something that I should start doing with my running shoes. I've read a few race recaps where the blogger had to stop to tie shoes, so maybe this will help other runners!

How To Tie Your Shoes

Regenerate

On New Years day (yesterday), I finally got out for a run. It was very cold, but sunny and fresh outside.

I can't explain how great I felt being out there running. I had my new gear with me:

I was so excited to get out there that I didn't realize I forgot my garmin until I got to the end of the driveway. *shrug* Oh well.

I had some of my favorite tunes on my ipod, and off I went. It was my first time going down the road toward the beach since we got all this snow, and I was blown away by the snowbanks.

This is the first one I thought was tall... but then I kept running and saw:

 HUGE!! I ran to the beach and back (2.5k). I forgot how much I like that my-lungs-are-burning feeling. When I got back to the driveway, one of my favorite songs came on, and I really wanted to keep running to listen to it, but it was just too cold. My toes were doing this weird hurting-but-numb thing, and my face was hurting from the cold. One I got inside and got thawed out, I did a 1-min plank and some foam rolling.

Today is the second, and we have a wind chill warning. It's -25 here today, with a wind chill of -36. I did a 1:30 plank, and will do some stretching later. 

On Tuesday, I'm going to start taking a class at the community school in Charlottetown. I know it sounds crazy, but for some reason, for years now I've been looking for an adult ballet class. I finally found one. it sucks that it's in Charlottetown, but it's only 20 dollars for 10 weeks. I'm pretty excited. LOL