The Crazee Chick's View of Life

What an incredible weekend! First we started out with a visit to the Richmond Night Market where we tried all kinds of wonderful Asian food...from spicy squid to onion cakes to steamed pork buns. Zee, our boy who survives only on peanut butter sandwiches, decided to broaden his horizons and ate squid! I just about fell off my chair! He tried gyoza too but stopped after one nibble when he discovered it had shrimp in it. Go figure. "Um, no thanks!" Oh, yummy, yummy...potatoes on a stick.  The red ones have ketchup on them and the white ones have cheddar.  Sinful! Deep Fried STINKY tofu?! NO thanks! Looooong line ups! Finished eating, now it's time to shop! The next night we took the kids to Canada's Fireworks display at the Celebration of Light in the beautiful and scenic English Bay. Although China was the winner of the competition, Canada put forth a great effort and their presentation to John Lennon's Imagine ...

... but you came close! OUCH! As I began the race I cursed myself for ever thinking I could do this. After I completed the swim and pushed my bike helmet onto my dripping wet hair and grabbed my bike for an hour of pain, I questioned my sanity. After the ridiculousness of using a mountain bike in a road race and feeling like a kiddie on a tricycle as all the athletes zoomed past me, I questioned my dignity. When I dismounted the bike and felt my legs give out from underneath me, I questioned my strength. When I limped, stumbled and fell my way up the hill to begin the run, I questioned my tenacity. When I felt my 'running' muscles take over and leave my 'cycling' muscles behind, I wondered if maybe, just maybe, I could do this. When I saw the last marker indicating 4km had been completed, and took the turn on the path to tackle the last hill, I begged myself to keep going. When I saw the finish line, I rejoiced!! I did it!! "Phew" ...

Since I registered for it, I guess I can safely say that I'm going to do a triathlon! It's a mini/sprint triathlon--750m swim, 20 km bike and a 5 km run--so it's quite a bit shorter than an Olympic triathlon but it's a start. It will be only my second triathlon in my life, and my first in over 20 years!  (Ugh, am I really old enough to be saying that I did something 'over 20 years' ago?)  I still feel 18 years old, but one look at my wrinkly face and my exercise/diet resistant mommy tummy snaps me back into reality. Sigh. At the end of May a friend and I decided to do a triathlon and we thought maybe we'd do the one in June which gave us only 4 weeks to get ready, so I started training hard. Hard for me, that is. You full blown triathletes/marathon runners/ Ironman participants would fall down laughing at my training sessions as they'd be jut a warm up for you, but I am darn proud of them! In just 5 weeks I'm up to 8.2 km run; 1700 m swim...

Status: Walked almost 30 km this weekend. Walked from 11pm until 3 am--did 20 km--stumbled, weaved, bobbed, and limped through that last 2 kms and now have empirical knowledge of what it feels like to be asleep on your feet.   Feet hurt. Legs hurt. Hips hurt. 75 year old man passed us during our 4th hour. He was on his 16th hour and managed to run 165 km in a 24 hour period. Inspiring! Humbled by elderly, fit man, called the Lone Wolf. What courage. Reached my fund raising goal.  Thank you to all who donated.  Your contributions helped to raise over $1,000,000.00 and send 852 kids to summer camp this year.  Thank you.  Visited Starbucks 3 times in effort to warm up. Weather was not on our side. Cold and rainy! Ick!  Slept in a tent trailer for the first time in my life! It was so cool. It was also especially wonderful to be out of the rain and not sleeping on the ground. Met a bunch of crazy people.  Got to hang out wif...

I'm doing it! I'm really doing it!! I'm training for a mini triathlon!! I just biked 18.6 km and then got off the bike and ran 5km on my treadmill and I feel flippin' fantastic!! I'm sure the endorphins are ripping through my body right now creating this buzz but I don't really care what's causing it, I just want it to keep on going. Next weekend is the 24 Hour Relay for Kids and I'm so excited to be a part of this event. We are raising money for kids with disabilities to go to camp. These children have physical limitations and so have special needs with regards to their equipment, wheelchairs, medications etc. Thanks to Karen for asking me to be a part of this...I am so excited. We are sleeping in a tent trailer over the weekend and it's my first time in over 30 years that I've done that so it's going to be quite the experience! Eeek... The following weekend is the mini triathlon (called a 'sprint' triathlon) and it wi...

Fell off the wagon. Crash! That hurt! It's been seven days of nothing but fruit, veggies and brown rice (and a nice little soy strawberry frap at Sbux) and this morning the thought of blueberries and an orange for breakfast was not pleasing to my palate. So I fell off the wagon. Hey! Don't judge me...on the seventh day even God rested from His labours so this morning, on my seventh day, I didn't feel too guilty about resting from mine. The prize for seven days of hard work? A delicious sesame seed bagel dripping in butter and sunflower seed butter (Sunbutter). I took one bite of it and told Hubby to take a back seat because I now had a new lover. BREAD! One bite of it had me in the throes of passion like I've never known (okay, not really but you get the idea right?) In keeping with my theological theme today, may I just say that it was HEAVENLY? I'm sure I heard angels singing.....

Feeling like I'd like to eat my own foot tonight....

Day three and I'm still at it! I actually feel really good. I got a little hungry this evening but nothing that a huge salad and a cob of corn (yes with a little butter and salt) couldn't handle. I just finished doing the Wii Fit Plus. Pretty snazzy little machine that thing is. I don't know how much of an aerobic workout I got but my muscles definitely feel like they've been used a little. Oh, by the way, getting into my yoga shorts was a very humbling experience. I had to scream at Hubby to get out of the room so that he couldn't see me because I didn't even want to see myself. YUCK!! Heading for the tub now with either a movie (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) or a book (Twisted by Jonathon Kellerman). Life is good...except for my massive thighs! Me

have grown very large. Which is why I am on a diet. One of my girlfriends gave me a gift in high school that said DIET is DIE with a 'T'. Do you think it was ironic that the saying was etched onto a PLATE?! (looking back, I am a bit offended by this gift. What was my friend trying to tell me? I was all of 130lbs back then!!!) Ah, I digress. As usual. So, here I am, sitting at the computer...DIE-ing...and it's 10:30pm and I want a SNACK!! NOW!! But I won't. I'm usually very strong for the first couple of days. And then I allow myself one little 'cheat' and it's ballgame over. That little cheat is a slippery slope, one I go careening down faster than chocolate melts in your car on a hot day, faster than the time it takes to crack open a bag of chips, faster than the drive through at Tim Hortons... Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. One little cheat goes a long way. So as I sit here, desperately distracting my growly tummy b...

Today is a time for me to reflect. On this day, one year ago, I was rushed to the hospital barely conscious, and very, very sick. To read about what happened, click here. It's a long read so I suggest you find a comfy spot, grab a cuppa tea or hot chocolate, and wrap yourself up in a blankie. I've thought a lot about what this past year has meant to me and I feel an overwhelming inability to put it into words. The only way I can really peg it is to say that it was a time of rebirth for me. After just coming off Easter weekend where we celebrate Christ's victory over the grave I hope you won't see this post as trying to draw any parallels between Jesus and myself because, clearly, there can not be any. What I do feel though is that this past year has been one of renewal, reinvention and rebirth. How apropos that my illness and recovery occurred in the spring: the quintessential 'rebirth.' I am not the woman I was 365 days ago. I love harder, work har...

Remember my triathlon training?  Remember how svelte I was planning to be by this point?  See the McDonalds supersized fries I keep eating? See the 6 week cough/cold I've had? See the endless baking I've been doing? See the butter laden recipes I've been making? See my thighs? Ugh!! Gotta get my mojo to go-go! Next week... right after I finish this cinammon bun, and those chocolate chunk cookies.... Oy, it's gonna be a long journey back...

This morning I did a 2.5km swim--that's about 1.5 miles. It felt great! I finally got to try this out!  It's a waterproof mp3 player and the reason why it looks so strange is that you don't put it into your ears to hear it, you actually set it on your goggles and then position the speakers against your cheekbones.  You hear the music through bone conduction.  It's really quite amazing! So today I had a rockin' swim session.  I loved having music to listen to rather than my labored breathing.  Normally I do about 2000m when I go for a swim but because a song came on that I really liked (I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas) as I was finishing up, I decided to do another lap or two until the song ended.  Well, once I did another 100m I decided that I may as well do another 400m and call it 500 which would make it 2500m in total.  I know, it's a strange reasoning process, but it's all MINE! Anyway, the swim was great because of the music but not b...

'Cause that would be so much easier for me. Running hurts. Swimming doesn't. I dry heave after a long run. I'm invincible and bullet proof after a long swim. During a run sometimes I don't think I can move my legs one more step. Sometimes during a swim I feel a little twinge in my triceps. When I run I feel like I'm going to die. When I swim I worry that I might fall asleep. Which would you rather do?  

We reached our goal! Finished the 13 week running program! Actually, we stopped following the program after 12 weeks because it started winding down and we wanted to continue at a stable and steady rate. I'm so excited that we did it!! Yay!! We start swimming tomorrow! Hubby is not excited about this. I kinda am. It's been a long time since I've been in the water... Yes, I take showers and baths. I don't mean that. I mean that it's been a long time since I've gone and actually SWAM laps. I'm usually holding onto one of my kids, or their float boards, or noodles, or tossing rings for them to dive for. Tomorrow is just for me! And Hubby... He's not very excited about it, but I am!

Hello, Week 12 of running! Hello, 50 minute run WITH NO BREAKS! Hello, Successful Completion of Said Run! Hello, Great Feeling! Hello, Feeling of Accomplishment ! Hello, Runners' High! Ahhh....such a great feeling! Only two more weeks of the program and then we start swimming. I can tell Hubs is NOT excited about this next phase. He doesn't like to get his face wet. He's pretty sure he'll be competitive doing the doggy paddle. Um, no. ( Say Hello to Last Place! ) I've bought him some goggles for his b-day (schmexy gift, I know), so he's practically ready to go. Actually, he isn't. No bathing suit . I'm not sure about the requisite racing Speedo bathing suit. Ewww...they're just creepy. They immediately transform the wearer into either a pervert or walking porn. I just can't do that to Hubs, however, he can't swim in board shorts! What to do? Turn the man I love into a porn star?! Actually....now that I think about it...we could use ...

It's been another crazy week! Here are some of the things we've done: 1. Walk to School: October 7, 2009 We handed out water, apples and stickers, and danced outside to music! It was great!!...and chilly!!! Prez's kids and mine, ready for their morning walk. Here's Zee, covered in stickers, and moving to the funky beat. He was hilarious to watch; he had a huge smile the whole time and danced all over the school grounds. Yummy! Each kid got an apple and a bottle of water. Well, at least in theory they did...a lot of kids bypassed the healthy snacks. We had one kid constantly commenting that he wished the coffee was decaffeinated so he could have some. Cute....but weird. Kiki and Mo handed out the stickers and managed to get a couple on themselves! Not sure why they have their mouthes open in the pictures...it's a little late in the season for catching flies. We even had a former Olympian come to support our efforts. He was in the 1968 Olympics. How cute is this ki...

Ugh! I feel gross! My nose is snuffy. My head is dizzy. My tummy is achy. I've got a quasi-cold. It can't be a true cold because it's not hitting me hard enough. It's just pansy-ing around; one day easing up altogether and making me think I'm fine and then the next day it comes back. But not with a venegance. Mostly a really poor attempt at retaliation. If I'm going to have a cold at least make it one that lays me out flat and absolves me of all my duties! Don't give me some namby-pamby, 50% effort! Give it to me full blast! Let me have a horrible day or two, where I sweat the sucker out, drink lots of NeoCitran, and puke away 5-7 pounds. Don't just hang around giving me little sniffles and tummy aches! That's pathetic! Go big, or go home. Right now, I'd like you to go home, Miss Cold, since you don't really seem capable of blasting me. I don't need your little 'I'm a new virus, I don't really know how to infect yo...

I'm going into labour in less than 17 hours.... hee hee whooo... It hurts so bad! I don't know if I can do this again! hee hee whoooo.. . I can't catch my breath! hee hee whoooo.. . I can't consistently maintain rhythmic breathing . hee hee whooo... . Each cycle gets harder and harder! hee hee whooo.... Oh man! The pain! When will it end?! hee hee whooo... And just when I think I can't take anymore of it.. . hee hee whooo.. . IT STOPS! hee hee whooo.... hee hee whooo......... hee heeeee.... For only a minute. Just long enough for me to suck in some air. Gurgle. Gasp. Sputter. And maybe grab a slosh of water. hee hee whooo .... hee hee whooo.... hee heeee.... And then it starts again. hee hee whoooo... Another timed cycle of running . (We're up to 9 km now!!) And breathing hard. And hurting. And just like in labour, there is a reward. Although the reward for this kind labour is not a sweet baby, it is still a bundle of joy-- it is watch...

I'm kinda getting sick of hospital blue. I never want to have to don another one of those drafty, oversized, blue hospital gowns again in my life! I'll spare you the details but I was in and out of emergency again all this weekend (well, Friday and Saturday anyway, so far Sunday is uneventful). Three different doctors; three different opinions; no conclusion. Whatever it was has cleared up so that's good. No more hospital BLUES! Hub and I started week 7 of running. This morning we popped out of a nice warm bed to a nice warm morning, put our shoes to pavement instead of the rubberized track, and ran 9km! We've gone from 0km to 9km in 7 weeks! I don't know if this is impressive or not, but I am thoroughly proud of us!!! Yeah!! After we complete the 13 week program, we're going to start swimming or biking. We're still aiming to participate in a mini-triathlon (apparently called a 'sprint' triathlon but there will not be any 'sprinting...

Week 6.5 of running! Helllooooo, 1/2 way mark!!! Since school is back in session we've had to alter our schedule a bit and so now Hubby and I run in the morning. Although I am, by nature, not a morning person I was pretty excited to wake up to the birds' morning song and the sun's beautiful rays. That's not what I got... RAIN!! TORRENTIAL RAIN!! UGLY, UGLY RAIN!! No fair..... Hubby and I, we're no quitters (which is why I haven't given up my chocolate addiction) so we laced up our beautiful white, brand new, runners, donned our waterproof (not so much) 'shells' and leaned our bodies into the wind and rain and ran, ran, RAN our little hearts out. We came home absolutely soaked from head to toe...and our beautiful, shiny, engineering feats (feets?) of wonder upon our pedis were wet, dirty and squishy. So sad.... Good quality runners are so important. If you are going to be taking up the sport, be prepared to spend about $150.00 (Cdn) on a really good pa...