Just one more bag of poprock mini-eggs... I promise

I keep slacking on this whole blogging thing.  I promise myself that I am going to be one of those avid bloggers who is totally like Doogie Howser was, every night at the end of every episode.... I, however, blame it on the fact that I am not 16 and aspiring to be a Doctor.

I have fallen off the fitness train for awhile now.  I'm not proud of myself.
I decided to redeem myself by going out on good Friday (because I had it off) with my lovely co-worker Amanda, and embarking on a 16k long run.  The Sporting Life 10k is fast approaching (next Sunday May 1st to be exact) and I wanted to make sure that I could still run at least 10k without my lovely ankle swelling.  (When I try and run over 10k, it sometimes just randomly swells up and I have to stop running for a bit...boo, hiss.) Anyways, short story long, I went out and things were fine! Finished up felt great- so much in fact I went rollerblading down by lakeshore for another 15 or so kilometers.

I had a bit to drink on Friday night and as I was coming down the stairs of the bar, my little flats decided to let me down (and so did my balance.. re: probs the drinks I consumed,) my shoe went to the side, my ankle did too and BAM!- sprained ankle.  I really don't know how I manage to walk in a straight line on most days, but man this just makes me laugh.  I managed to get through all that fitness and exercise, only to be douped by some ballet flats, and some measely stairs. Le sigh.

Regardless, I have been icing and resting, much to my own dismay.  I hate that I have to sit around, especially when I am trying to get back into it. I also smashed my elbow on the wall while trying to get my boxing wraps out of the washer.  They wouldn't come lose- finally they did, and I smacked into the wall.  Laugh it up guys... it was probably as funny as you're picturing it ;)

My friend Brick is starting her training soon for some fitness competitions and I am very proud of her.  I'm a little jealous because she is super committed- so I ought to take some lessons from her during her training.  I hope she does well! I will use her as my inspiration!! Back to bootcamp, I go!

There is a Midtown Mingle Summer Run club starting with Fitdate in conjunction with lululemon at Briar Hill.  I'm very pumped about this.  If you are in the area (I'm at good old Yonge and Eg) on Wednesday, May 11th around 7:30ish.  It's free of cost, and you get to run with this Reformed Fat Kid! Get pumped!!

In the wise old words of the Body Break pals, Stay fit and have fun, kids!
xox
-Bexx

Why my friends think I'm crazy....*they're quite right..*

Since being rather sedentary for.. oh most of my life... (I was the kid who sat in my room and read books all summer and watched re-runs of Bob Villa's how-to show never really intending to do anything with my 'newly' acquired knowledge...) my friends are rather hard on me these days ;)  I told my cousin Melissa I was having a lazy Sunday and she said that lazy would be the last word she'd think of to describe me.  I never thought that someone would say something like that about me, and was quite proud.  The changes are working (esp. when other people start to notice.)

My friend Lynn jokes that if I were to get a tattoo it would be "fit or die."  If you saw me though, you wouldn't think that I'm the fittest person that you've ever seen.  (Baby-steps.. let's hope it comes in time.. haha)  I'm just 'extreme.'  If you could use one word to describe me, I suppose one key word could be extreme-  all-or-nothing.  In March of 2010, I decided that if I was going to get fit, then this was the time to do it.  I had seen a nutritionist before when I was in University and she told me that people can sit in the "I want to do the action" stage of an action for a really long time.  I suppose I took that literally and took about six years to figure out that these were the actions that I needed to do, to become that person that I'd always known that I was on the inside.  I joined Lyzabeth Lopez's Hourglass Bootcamp and went hardcore.  Made it through hell week (5 consecutive days of 1 hour long morning bootcamp sessions) and hit it hard for the next five months with my bootcamp workouts.  I shed 28 lbs of the 50 that I wanted to.  I've since gained back 8lbs.  I'm struggling a little still with the diet and trying to figure it all out. 

At one point I was doing bootcamp, pilates, hot yoga, running and bootcamping it, boxing on Saturdays and rest on Sundays after running my long run.  That was a bit extreme.  I've toned it down a bit, but I'm training for a half marathon right now called the Chilly half that's the first Sunday in March.  I'm nervous because my ankle keeps swelling up, and after a visit to an athletic therapist, have been told that I need new shoes with more of a stabilized sole.  To my relief, I can still wear my favourite Asics brand, but to my pocketbook\s relief.... it too will be losing some weight.

Today I signed up for a 5k for St. Patrick's day (the Sunday before the actual St. Patrick's day,) the Sporting Life 10k, and the Warrior Dash in July in Barrie (who wouldn't want to sprint up a hill in the middle of a race, then jump through rings of fire haha I'm not kidding.)  Two other people from work are going to do it,  I'm pumped. Of course I'm pumped..... I'm crazy after all.

I'm going to go and catch some tv before I have to hit the hay at 10.  I have bootcamp with Nate tomorrow morning at 6am and I'm going to kick some butt!!  Let's hope that I can get in some more long runs and training for the half, or perhaps I'll have to get someone to carry me.... ;)

xox lovelies,
Bexx

In the beginning...

I suppose one has to start somewhere in their journey.  I have had a lot of beginnings.  I start, fail, start again, have a relapse in judgment, fall off the horse so to speak (except my horse is in the shape of an ice cream and I eat it…)

This is a place for me to share my stories.  Hopefully inspire someone by how far I’ve come, remind myself that every day is a new beginning, humour others, and I suppose just tell my story as it unfolds. 

Instead of starting at the real beginning…. maybe I’ll start in the middle-ish… well teenaged beginning??

When I was a kid, circa oh.. I won’t age myself… let’s say grade seven… I was a chubby little kid with a dusty old pair of running shoes.  My teacher volun-told me that I would be running in a trail race because someone else (clearly an athlete) was sick.  With little training (let’s say ‘nil’ on a scale of 1-10) and only that ‘old dusty pair of running shoes’ and my ratty old gym class sweat pants, did I embark on my first real bout of fitness…It was more of a battle-  Running against me, and let’s just saying running was in full body armour with a sword and I was armed with good will and a dull pointed stick.

I felt rather confident at the start line, despite my lack of training and figured “how bad could this really be?”  The gun went off (I don’t really recall if there was a gun or if perhaps there was a waved flag of some colour that has clearly slipped my mind…) signifying the start of the race and we were off.  At first I felt amazing… the wind blowing in my hair, the sound of footfalls echoing through the woods.  I couldn’t believe it! I was actually running-  I was an ATHLETE!  At this moment I was pretty proud of myself.  As the trail grew muddier, and hillier, and more challenging I could feel myself slip further and further behind the pack of runners until it got to the point where there were only a few lone runner rangers and myself.  This was it! I couldn’t come last.   I tripped at this point and almost fell, being the klutz that I am.  I realized at that moment that I was in fact at the back of the pack-  last in the race.  Tres sad and hard for my junior teen-aged self to accept.

We were nearing the end of the race, I could hear the cheering and yelling getting louder.  All of a sudden I saw a kid dart into the bushes.  The kid was bent over, accompanied by a watchful race marshall, hurling his guts out.  Another kid suddenly stopped because they needed their asthma puffer and couldn’t find it.  I knew this would be my great break.  I ran at that moment faster than I’d ever run before (0.2 kms/hr??!)   Did I stopped to help or ask if anyone was okay? No way! I was an ‘athlete.’  I had a race to.. uhm.. win.
For the rest of the day I wore that participant badge proud, and when anyone asked me how I did- I proudly answered that I came 113th out of 115 participants (I left out the part about the asthmatic kid and the barfer) and decided at that moment that ‘this’ was where I belonged.

My point is, we all start somewhere….and this is only the beginning… 

xox
-Bexx
Note From the Author:  I’m actually a (self-proclaimed) really nice person and had the race officials not already been there for these kids I would have stopped running to help.  I by no means encourage or condone ignorance- but use this example for humour, not for a ‘what to do when.. .” ♥