New commitments

Here are my goals for this week (and yes, I am starting my week today because I believe in doing things NOW):
-sweat once a day
-say no once a day
-blog once a day

Yes, I have a lot on my plate right now by working 40+ hours a week but these are positive steps that can be made for me to become happier and healthier.

SWEAT: Running, yoga, gym. How can I complain, I have the gift of free, unlimited yoga! My job affords me the amazing opportunity to visit 8 fabulous local yoga studios as often as I want. Running is always free. And now that Im slowly starting to get back into it, a 2 mile run is the perfect way to allow my body to get used to it again. And the ol gym. Body pump is friggin amazing, I cant explain how much I love it. I think 3 classes a week is totally doable.

SAY NO: There are always lots of options to make a meal less healthy, or have a snack at work that I just don't need. Here's what I can commit to doing. Once a day I am going to mindfully make the healthier choice, whether it means no dessert, no cookies, or no quizno's, this is something that I need to remember and commit to.

BLOG: Yes, this one might be the hardest, but 30 minutes a night spent reflecting on my day and my commitments and goals. A step in the right direction I'd say.

Today was spent at work, at Moksha yoga in Dartmouth, and volunteering. But Im not including today in my goal, because that's just cheating.

Another week. Another challenge.

Still not running. I went for 2 miles on Tuesday and had to stop at pretty much exactly 22 minutes, due to some stabbing knee pain. This was not a fun feeling. Now I've taken exactly one week off and plan on trying 5km tomorrow night with the run club at work. Im hoping this break was enough to fix whatever was out of whack and the 5km will be no problem. Hoping, being the key word there. Im not sure what to expect yet.

Im not too upset about the whole lack of running, because Ive managed to stay fairly active so far with yoga and one body pump class. But I have a Goodlife membership starting TOMORROW which I am so excited for. Im hoping to get in at least 2 body pump classes a week, a long with my 2 yogas.

Ive also managed to continue eating fairly healthy (although Im still eating out WAY too much, more than once a week). So this week is IT. This is the week that I am only going to buy ONE of my meals. I've already made lunch for the next 2 days (not so healthy homemade mac and cheese, but Im pairing it with fresh veggies and fruit). Im done wasting my money on food that I can get at home.

Thats all for tonight. Ive got cookies to make!

Check it out.

What I've been doing lately:

Runnning (although this picture was taken Oct 31, no recent long runs)

Working, Im obviously posing for a twitpic in this gem, to show off a beaut new jacket

Baking, one of my true loves.

Volunteering. Last weekend I completed my Advanced Medical First Responder course with SJA.

Oh hey blog.

So, life is legitimately busy right now.  This past week I had 5 shifts, one holiday (Remembrance day), went to 5 classes (4 yoga and one UFIT), did 2 runs, 1 swim session, and 2 hours of volunteering. So, in summary, I am BUSY.

Unfortunately this also resulted in me eating out (buying meals) like 6 or 7 times (I think, I lost count). For the most part, they were pretty healthy, and I had a pretty nice paycheck this week but its still not acceptable. Its super frustrating for me because I love cooking and baking and this shouldn't be such a problem for me. I have the time, I just try to use the excuse of being busy but its not true, I can always fit making a meal in and this is something Im working on.

Also, one of the reasons I've been yoga-ing  so much this week is because I've been taking a tiny break from running!  On Thursday I was planning on at least 5km for a morning run but ended up stopping after 2 miles and walking home because I was having some pain in my left knee. It was bugging me for a bit walking over the next day BUT no pain since. I think Im gonna test it out with a short run on Tuesday morning, but if I have to take a longer break, I will. Im not training for anything right now and the last thing I want to do is hurt it long term.

Some goals for the week:
-More blogging (2 more times this week)
-4 yoga's
-Sweating once a day
-Bringing my meal to work EVERY day

We'll see what else the week brings, I'm always hopeful.

Oh, hey blog.

So much in my life going on right now! I honestly can't remember the last night I had a full night off, with no studying or work on med school apps (or work, or volunteering, or swimming, or you get the point).

So instead of going swimming with the Halifax Triathlon club, like I usually do Monday nights) I went and hung out at my sisters for a while and then came home and Ive been laying on my bed since. Not my favourite thing to do but my body was feeling uber tired and not ready for swimming (and definitely not up for the walk to the pool in the chilly weather).

Not only does this busy schedule have me feeling a little tired, but it's definitely affecting my eating habits. I don't really know when I stopped eating really healthy but I did, and its catching up on me. Not only have I gained a bit of weight (nothing too killer) but I just don't feel as great. At the end of the day I should feel proud of the food choices Ive made, not embarrassed.

So, Im re-committing to making healthy choices with not only my food, but with my workout routine. I've only done one run since my half marathon last Sunday (and it was 2 miles) but it's actually not that I'm concerned about. I know I need to incorporate more than running and yoga into my routine (although Im starting back into 3-4 runs per week tomorrow). So tomorrow also marks day one of the 30 Day Shred.

Here are some of the health committments I'm making for the next few weeks and months:
-Only buy one meal per week from restaurant/fast food place.
-Do 30 day shred each and every day over the next 30 days.
-Drink 2L of water a day.
-No snacking after supper.
-Go for 3-4 runs per week. Including either one speed workout or hill workout AND one long run (8+ miles).
-At least 2 yoga's per week.

So thats my plan. Now its all out there. And Ill try to blog more, because it keeps me accountable! Half marathon re-cap will hopefully be coming soon :)

One more of the season

Heres my life right now:
-Working 40(+) hours a week
-Applying to 4 medical schools
-Training for my final half marathon of this season
-Yoga twice a week
-Volunteering 2 hours a week
-Sleeping 8 hours a night

And yes, sleeping 8 hours a night is a commitment I make to myself regardless of how busy I am. And yes, Im busy. Im also considering the possibility of moving out of my parents home in Dartmouth and into my sisters place in Halifax.

Marathon fever is still taking over me but since I dont really have the money to go to Disney/Bermuda for a January marathon, I think Im just gonna start "training" for a marathon (doing long runs of above 13 miles) and just (haha) do the Bluenose or Ottawa marathon in May. I literally have a craving to do longer runs.

One reason why I know my long runs have been going so well lately...weekly speed workouts! Yes, they are hell and tortuous but they are making me so much stronger. Another reason...yoga! Stretching, core work and strength workouts, yes please!

So, one more half marathon this year. Next Sunday, my father, my sister and I will be running the PEI half marathon. I am ready for this race. My training has been going well and I just feel ready. I am going to run a sub 2:10 race. Theres my lululemon esque goal for the day. Im just so beyond excited for this race.

Anyways, hopefully I can start back up with this blog (especially my experience with some new Personal Distance Record training runs) but thats enough for now. Ill leave you were some TRI pictures :) 

Pre-tri. Looking happy, but I was freezing!

Looking like a sketch bag.

Watching the men go, I was now a few minutes from entering the water.

SO CLOSE ( we had waited for 2 hours )

Off we go. This is an intense action shot of me.

Done swimming, bring on T1

Tank on

LS on....

Shoes...watch...helmet...almost done!

And fast foward to the end of the race. My actual time was 1:51, 3 hours was the clock for the olympic distance tri'ers

Stuffing my face with food...obv.

The Triathlon

I did it!

I'm officially a triathlete now, and completely addicted. The triathlon is such a fun event, and it's so exciting to be able to look forward to a different activity (instead of just more running). I seriously cannot wait for my next one. Unfortunately that will have to wait until spring, when the season starts again, but oh well...gives me more time to train for the next step up...the Olympic distance triathlon.

So here's how my sprint distance triathlon went on this past Sunday:

Worst part of the whole event: waiting for it to start. So it started super late. The olympic swimmers went out at around 9:15 (an hour late) and we had to wait until ALL the swimmers were back from their swim. So we (the sprinters) went out at around 10:15. Its not that I mind waiting, I really didn't care that it was late, but it was freezing out! It was only about 8 degrees, and I only had sweatpants, sweatshirt and my bathing suit on, so I was literally shivering for about an hour. This freaked me out, because I thought the water would be cold, and I thought I would get hypothermia when I was biking (wet hair+cold air=no good). But fortunately the water was SO warm and I was able to kill the swim (and it had warmed up by the time I got out of the water...or I just got warmer haha).

Once the chill was gone, I felt great. Swim was great (my best part of the event actually). My first transition was pretty slow, but I had no expectations for it, just wanted to try and follow all the rules and get my shoes tied properly...which I did!

The bike ride was definitely hard. It's known to be a hilly course, and the two times I've done it before were hard, but I survived :) I pretty much just kept a smile on my face and said hello to everyone that passed me (and there were several). I really enjoyed myself. It was so surreal because I was trying to really soak it all in, I wanted to make sure I remember my first triathlon. And the bike ride was kind of my time to sit back and try and process all the thoughts going through my head.

Second transition was a breeze...although the little jog from where we had to get off the bike, to where we dropped our bikes off was brutal on my legs, they truly felt like bricks at that point. Once I stashed my bike and helmet I was off on the run. I wasn't able to keep up the same pace as I have before in previous brick workouts, but I never had done the full distances in my workouts before so I wasn't disappointed at all with myself. In fact, I was super proud of myself. I was actually able to pass 5 people (2 who I specifically remember passing me in the bike) so that was amazing. Not that I was being competitive at all, it was just a nice confidence boost!

Once the run was over, I shoved some food in my face and got a drive home. I needed a shower and a nap badly! Overall, it was one of the most fun and amazing events Ive done. Pictures to come!

One job. Many goals.

Yeah, Im pretty excited to be working one job, and one job only! Since August 18th Ive been working two jobs, and that was actually my last day off. Not only have I worked EVERY day since then, Ive also run two races (10km and a half marathon) and continued to train for my triathlon (which is this weekend!!). The coolest part about this whole experience, is that Im not burnt out at all! I was smart about getting as much sleep as possible, fitting in exercise and taking advantage of my down time. I was lucky because my half marathon was right in the middle, so my taper week was the first week of working 2 jobs, and then the week following a half marathon I generally take it pretty easy with running.

Anyways, Im ready to start this next chapter in my life, the LULU chapter :) so far Im beyond loving working there, even though I havent even technically started (I've just been working inventory and doing training) but Im ready to get my butt on the floor and start educating and putting people in the most amazing clothing ever!

One of the perks of working at lululemon athletica is that they provide 2 free yoga classes per week to their full time educators, and 1 a week to part timers. This. is. amazing. Not only do I now get to try out all the different studios and classes around the city, I get to continuosly meet and workout with so many amazing people. I've been pretty overwhelmed by the oppurtunities that have been provided for me, and I know that if I put as much effort as possible into this job, the possibilities it opens up to me will be endless and amazing. Dont worry though, I haven't forgotten about med school. That is still my goal, no question.

I think Im gonna do a goal post tomorrow. Maybe not with my goals (well actually, Ill definitely include some of my goals, but I have about a million right now) but more so about the importance of them. lululemon is a huge-ly goal oriented company and its something that, when the seed is placed in your head, its something you cannot stop thinking about. I literally have though about my daily/weekly/monthly/yearly etc goals everyday since I started working there! I have a few written out here and there, but I plan soon, on doing some serious goal-setting, and I look forward to it. I have one very un-lululemon like goal that Ill share right now. Something that lululemon encourages people to do is make SMART goals (specific, measurable, authentic, realistic and timely) and this one is neither specific, measurable or timely but I think its something more of a  personal mission statement that I can use to live each and everyday by:


I will finish every day, week, month, year, and my whole life with a feeling of accomplishment. I will not look back on my past wondering where my time went. I will be proud of my successes and learn from my failures. I will not have any regrets.

Writing that out feel's amazing. I could definitely finish this post up with talks about my workouts of this week, but I'm not going to, I'm just going to relish in the awesome-ness of that statement.