Monthly Archive: October 2009

Angus Glen, all again

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Sat. October 31, 2009

I’m actually lying down on the couch right now with the laptop propped up against a bent leg. I’m feeling a little bit tired with a slight headache. Maybe it’s just that I’m a little bit dehydrated. I took a three to four hour nap on this couch in a weird position, and I’ve been feeling a bit odd ever since. Actually, this whole evening has been a little bit odd. There are a couple of things that I want to get done, but I’ve been making an effort to really save my energy. Why? Well, I only briefly touched on it when I ran 3 weeks ago but tomorrow I will be running the Angus Glen Half Marathon. I actually drove there earlier today just to pick up my race kit. As I headed up north, the wind was blowing golden autumn leaves all over the roadways. In my mind I joked that Mother Nature was acting less like a mother and more like a lazy teenager that refuses to pick his or her socks off of the floor.

The area up there is relatively quiet, but it certainly is beautiful. I ran Angus Glen last year, but participated in the shorter 10K race. That race went really well for me despite some shoe issues. See, I wore a brand new pair of shoes to that event that happened to be a different model than what I was accustomed to. By the end of the race I was aching terribly, but I pushed through well enough to meet my expectations. The portion of the route that I ran was hilly. It wasn’t necessarily rolling, but good grief, having to go a couple of kilometres on a good incline was certainly a challenge. The buffet meal for all participants was worth the effort. Certainly, I walked away from that experience with a great impression of the race. And that’s why I’m back.

Now, in the running club, whenever this race is talked about, there are two things that inevitably get mentioned. First of all, there’s the food. I mean, after most races average fare seems to be a bagel, banana, apple, and some nasty cottage cheese or yogurt. Here, like I mentioned, you get a full meal with proper china and a napkin. The other second thing mentioned about the AGHM is the fact that it’s hilly. From what I hear, if I thought the 10K was a bit crazy, the other 11.1K is just insane. That portion is supposedly rolling: up, down, up, down. Certainly, I’ll be putting all of the hill training that I’ve done over the past 1.5 years to good use. My first thought was that, wow, how am I going to survive all that? Then, I realized that all this time my training has been in Markham, anyway. That place is hilly in general, so I’m sure that it won’t be all that bad, right?

I really have no idea how challenging the route is going to be. A friend suggested that I try running the route on one of the Sundays prior to the race. I well and truly had that planned, but life got in the way. After the fiasco that was Scotia, I took a week off, then managed to get a 21K run in. The next Sunday was that baptism that I had to attend. The following Sunday after that was already one week before the event. Now, during training, the week before an event is usually the taper week. I sort of wanted to do a full on 21 kilometres due to my lack of training, but I figured that I’d better stick to plan. Instead, I did a reduced 10K. So, as you can see my training for this event in the past month has been kind of lacklustre. As of this point, I make no apologies. I think everyone needs a little bit of down time now and then from something they’ve been doing continuously just to be able to rediscover the love of the activity. And now after a month of reduced activity I’m diving right in again. I mean, I’m doing this race, and I’m teaching a clinic on my own. It’s a lot! Now, I may come to regret it by the time tomorrow is done, but I’ll deal with that only if I get to that point. Right now, I’m sort of relying on the half marathon training I’ve done from May 2008 through to the of September 2009. I don’t think I’ll lose all of that in one month, right? Hmm…

So where does that leave me? What are my expectations for tomorrow? Well…I know that the course is going to be insane, so I know that I likely won’t get a new personal best. Let’s be honest, right? I plan doing my 10 & 1′s consistently throughout. In the end I hope to come within 10 minutes of my personal best. That’s a decent range. Even my last race where I had back problems was under 3 hrs. I don’t see myself taking that long unless I get injured. We’ll see. All that matters is that I get it done.

So, all right. I’m now off to get my gear ready for tomorrow. Wish me luck!

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Food challenges and self-control

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Fri. October 30, 2009

Graaagh. This time of year certainly does bring a good number of challenges if you plan on eating a little bit healthier than you normally would, eh? Thanksgiving was just a few weeks ago, and it was hard enough trying to not to gorge myself on turkey and gravy. However, for the most part I did behave. The second challenge came today; the battlefield was the workplace. With Halloween happening on the weekend, all festivities happened today. That means there was a large abundance of chocolate and candy in the office. Sure, the items are labelled as “treat sized” but seriously, would you be able to eat just one?

One might say that the solution would be to just not eat any of it. Well, duh. Thing is that I kind of wanted it. The way I’ve been going about this health thing, I’ve made it a resolution to not deprive myself of things. If I want sugar and empty calories, I’ll just fit it somehow–just at the cost of something else. Well, I had one treat, which was followed by a few more. I recorded it all, and in the end I drew the line at some point. I figured that I had somehow managed to contain the damage. Oh, but then came lunch. Today’s company lunch was catered by a restaurant specializing in soup. They brought four types: chili, tomato and red pepper, Senegalese peanut and chicken, and bisque. I went through choosing the chili, which was really good. Unfortunately, I somehow got the idea that it would be a good idea to sample the other three soups as well. I mean, when else would I have a chance to try these things out for free, right? I worked my way through the pots, taking a partial ladle of each one. Yes, they all were really great. However, I mentally seemed to forget my sense of control. I plugged each serving into my calorie tracker. To my (non-)shock I was in range for my total calories for the day. That would be great except for the fact that it was only midday at the time. Shit!

Well, it’s now the end of the day and I decided that I’d just allow myself to go a little bit over range today. There was no way I would be able to go through the rest of the day without another bite of food. That’s just not healthy. I told myself that this was acceptable. Why? Well, going over once in a while isn’t a bad thing, right? Just as long as I don’t make a habit of it I should be fine. That’s because on average I’d still be in a deficit. See, it all works out.

I’m sure there are more challenges looming on the horizon, but I know that I can face them, or at least plan for them. I’m not going to let any small slip ups bring me down. I know I’m on the right track.

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Pet projects

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Thu. October 29, 2009

I was on the streetcar this morning just looking out the window for lack of a better place to stare. It’s certainly the better option than staring at someone’s scalp. Anyway, out of the corner of my eye I saw an ad in one of the free dailies being read by another commuter. It was a full page ad with a border collie stating that there’s going to be an adoption blitz at the Toronto Humane Society this weekend. I couldn’t help but stare at the ad, just thinking about the THS and what it must be like in there. Thee adoption blitzes are always well advertised on the evening news broadcasts, and I’ve always wondered what it’d be like go in and walk out with a pet. Of course, thinking is as far as that ever went. Whenever I brought up the thought of me having a pet my parents ran down the usual litany of reasons why a pet would be a bad idea. So, I basically got used to the thought that pets are just too much trouble.

Of course, now here I am in my own place. Yeah, the thought of inviting a dog or cat into my life has happened over the past months. I just haven’t done anything about it. Why? Well…I’d be afraid of being a bad pet parent. I’m not saying I’d be abusive or ignorant. I just want to make sure that I would be able to provide everything a pet would need, know what I mean? Would I be able to give the time and attention? I don’t want to be selfish in that regard. I certainly wouldn’t want to get a dog for selfish reasons. They can be needy, and would certainly need more attention. Yeah, I suppose I don’t mind cats. Personality-wise, I think a dog would be a better fit though. I can see why a cat would be better though for someone like me that’d be out at work a lot of the time. Are they trainable though? I’d be afraid of certain bad behaviours, like clawing the furniture. A colleague once told me: a dog is more like a child, whereas a cat is more like a buddy. I wonder which my personality leans more toward?

Anyway, why all this discussion now? I was mentioning to a friend of mind that I was having a considerable amount of difficulty writing blog posts recently. I mean, there’s just so much that’s going in my life that I simply can’t write about. It’s entirely frustrating. The friend, who is a fantastic pet parent herself, said that I could benefit from having a pet–someone to direct my focus. I guess it’s true: outside of work I just have a lack of focus on what’s important. Having the extra responsibility would be a good thing, wouldn’t it?

Hmm, well, I’m not going to be rushing out to find a pet to invite into my home any time soon. There’s just far too much tumult in my other spheres of existence to really allow it, but I’m starting to believe that it’s something I can do. We’ll see, right?

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Thick cloud overhead

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Wed. October 28, 2009

Yup…this would be another case where I’m not in a position to be airing dirty laundry all over the place.

It’s killing me; there’s so much I need to unload.

I’m sure “toxic” isn’t the right word, but there’s a thick cloud hanging overhead. I can’t concentrate on what needs to be done when there’s a battle of sorts being fought regarding my fate. I don’t even have a say on the outcome. How messed is that? Ugh.

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The first clinic night

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Tue. October 27, 2009

I guess it’s time for a little bit of happier news from me today. It’s not coming from my work sphere though–the news is coming from my running activities. Go figure, right? I mean, whenever I have issues I’m usually able to run my troubles into the pavement. Well, today started a new half marathon training cycle for me. The big difference this time is I’m actually teaching this clinic.

My, my, Jason really has come a long way.

I’m not going to talk about how I got to this point at length because I’ve already discussed it back in September. I will say though that I was nervous. I guess, why wouldn’t I be? Would I be able to keep people motivated? Would I be able to drum up enough enthusiasm? Can I hold their attention and respect? Well, being that it’s the first night, it’s hard to tell, but certainly I think everyone is really responsive. All things considered, most of the group consists of people that are familiar with me. So, really, immediately it feels like I’ve got so many allies. As much as I’m coaching and wishing for them to succeed, on some level it feels like many want me to succeed as well, which is a great feeling. The store manager spoke to the group first among the general information was a lot of praise for me based on my stint teaching the Learn to Run class. There’s no reason for her to lie, is there? I did work my butt off to keep that class inspired. I guess I need to believe that I can work the same magic for this class.

Seventeen weeks is a long time. Even so, I know that it will fly by.

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The breakfast meeting

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Mon. October 26, 2009

So, I got an email last night asking if I wanted to join a colleague for breakfast. It’s out of the ordinary. There was no explanation, but, really, no explanation was necessary. Immediately my first thought was “uh oh.” I agreed to meet him, but as a result I didn’t get much sleep. This morning, my suspicions were confirmed.

I’ll say it again: the next few months are going to be interesting.

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What’s the purpose?

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Sun. October 25, 2009

It’s so easy to give advice when you’re an outside observer, isn’t it? I think it’s pretty common for us 20-somethings to sometimes feel as if life is lacking direction. For some people it manifests as a full-on quarter-life crisis. Whenever I find someone going through those issues, I feel keen to remind them that a lot of people our age are going through the same thing. Sometimes it’s comforting enough to be reminded by someone that you are indeed on the right track, even if you feel otherwise, right? The interesting thing about all this for me is that even though I’m keenly aware of all this I’m not necessarily immune from feeling its effects.

Last night, I forgot to drink a few glasses of water before bed. I’ve taken to doing that the nights before my morning runs to stave off these dehydration headaches that I tend to get when I fail to do so. Well, post run I’ve had that horrible headache. It’s put me in a fairly bad mood. Earlier this evening, I think the discomfort started to bury itself deeper than expected. My mind started wandering and I had a slight moment of panic. I was meditating on the idea that I just had absolutely no purpose in life. All of the work, all of the money, all of the stress are for what, exactly? Hmm…

I know. So extreme. There are enough good things in my life to keep my eyes forward. Still, I think every now and then I need to stop and reassess. Am I doing enough to stay happy? Well, tomorrow is another day. I think I just need to get some rest.

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Examining the grocery bill

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Sat. October 24, 2009

I honestly need to be a little bit more careful when I go grocery shopping. The past few times I’ve gone I’ve ended up buying so much food. You’d think I was preparing for some big approaching natural disaster. OK, so maybe that’s an exaggeration. If I think about it, the last time I went grocery shopping was right after Thanksgiving. Still, was there really any reason me to fill up two of those black PC bags and a green bin? Really.

Perhaps it’s because I’m still in that phase where I’m stocking up on basics. For example, there would be no reason for me to buy olive oil every time I go out, right? That was $5.99. Meat is pretty expensive, too. Luckily one tray of meat tends to last for a few days. I bought bacon and separated it into 3-strip packages prior to freezing it. I don’t eat that daily, so it’ll last for around 3 weeks. Have you tried to buy boxed fish lately? I got a box of High Liner fish fillets, and that cost me $11.49. That’s ridiculous! I think I recall that being cheaper in previous years. Or perhaps I’m thinking of the really oily fish cuts–those tend to be cheaper. Even if they’re cheaper, it doesn’t mean I want them. A few weeks ago I bought a box of English-style haddock fillets. I’m sure that was cheaper than this box. Thing is, holy crap, that fish was ridiculously oily. I had to blot the pieces prior to eating them. Even after that, I just didn’t feel great eating them. In that case, the extra cost is worth it.

I wonder how much this new healthy streak is affecting what I’m getting. Remember how I was talking about buying a lot of fresh fruit before? I got carried away this time as well. Maybe it’s for the best. Some of the fruit I bought last week went bad and I had to bin it. I told myself that next time I get fruit I better work hard to eat it all before it goes to waste. Well, with that much in the fridge, I better make sure to get in the recommended servings of fruits and veggies or else it’ll be like I’m just tossing cash to the wind. Part of the solution is knowing what spoils quickly, and to plan to eat all that as soon as possible.

So, OK. All things considered, I guess I don’t have that much useless stuff on the list. Everything is stashed properly and should hold long enough for me to get to it. It’s part of the price of independence, isn’t it?

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