Falling for Kilometers

The blogging activity has been low, but the physical activity has been high. Check it!

• Two Ultimate Frisbee Games : Run – 4 km
• Thanksgiving Week-end Hike at Rushing River: Hike – 4 km
• Run with Sista Shauna in Kenora: Run – 4 km
• Run with Hubs Jeremy in Winnipeg: Run – 4 km
• Cottage Week-end Hike of the Ski Trail: Hike – 3 km
• Bike Loop with Heather, Chris, and Jeremy: Bike – 13 km
• Suspension Bridge at Nuntimik & hike to Sturgeon Falls: Hike – 3 km
• First Ladies Ultimate Game: Run – 1 km

Monthly Total: 57 km

Jeremy at Seven Sisters Falls Dam. Sweet Water Power.

Suspension Bridge modeled after a bridge in New Zealand. Lake Nuntimik.

Very cool Sturgeon Falls that are also Rapids. A new happy place.

Weekend in The Peg

Ran: 4 km – Bike: 17 km

Monthly Total: 21 km

I said I would do it, so I did it.

Saturday morning, we went for a run in the park. Early in the week I said I was due, so I squeaked it in.  Jeremy joined me and it went very well. We have been running in our Ulti games all summer, but hadn’t gone for a park run in awhile. We took it easy, doing 5 minute run and 3 minute walk intervals for 4 kilometers. There was no pain and my new shoes worked like a charm!

We did a nice, leisurely stretching session followed up with lunch. Unfortunately, my stomach wasn’t having it and I was down for the count. Say what? Perhaps a combo of running, stretching and food was a little too much? I don’t know what was up, but it has been the theme of my life lately. I just can’t shake the bugs.

Sunday I awoke feeling much better. Several hours followed breakfast without incident, so Jeremy and I decided to have a bike-lunch date. We did a 17 kilometer round trip to Boon Burger. It is a vegan burger place and it is super yummy! I had a Buddha burger with curry, which hit the spot as I still feel the remnants of my head cold. Jere had the Thanksgiving Burger, which was also fantastic.

For the rest of the day, I’m doing apartment stuff and planning a trip to the grocery store. This is my last week at my current business unit. Eep! It’s too crazy.

Our street. The guy on the bike is Jeremy. Oh Fall.

Sweet September

Walk: 17 km – Run: 8 km – Bike: 4 km – Hike: 9 km

Monthly Total: 38 km

Bonus Activity: Yoga, Ultimate Frisbee

I feel like I’m stepping into a confessional – and I’m not even Catholic.

Bless me Internet, for I have sinned. It has been 23 days since my last blog post.

I am being cheeky, but I have honestly missed updating my 8 Thousand baby. I have been tracking my kilometers behind the scenes and what lovely kilometers they have been! There have been walks through the park, fall ultimate frisbee games, hiking in the Whiteshell, and a tiny bit of biking.

Work has been exhausting, in a word. I officially start my new job after Thanksgiving, which is very exciting. However, there was a cold swimming around the office, which eventually caught me. I’ve been stressed trying to keep my account moving, while getting a coworker trained up to take it over. Then, I found out Friday I need to train a second person to take over a secondary account I previously owned. But, enough of the boo-hoos. Career and life has been sincerely exciting and fun! Not only that, but…

Jere and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary! We have been together for 10 years and have been happily married for one  year. How cool is that?! We celebrated with a long week-end at Otter Falls Resort. We had a view of a lake, a sauna, jacuzzi tub, fire place, Satellite TV, and a full kitchen to play with. It was all very dreamy.

This week-end, Jere and I are jetting out to Killarney to pick-up the Ranger. Big thanks to Scotty too Hotty – we’ll be a two vehicle family again! This is not to say that we don’t have fall biking planned.  I also have to figure out what I’m going to do for physical activity now that the weather is crapping out.

I hope everyone is well! Pictures to follow soon.

August Update: 1,050 Kilometers to Date

Bike: 6 km – Run: 6 km – Walk: 4 km

Monthly Total: 111 km

8 Thousand Kilometer Challenge Update:

April: 58.5 km

May: 248 km

June: 285.5 km

July: 347 km

August: 111 km

Total: 1,050 km

We broke 1000 kilometers, people!

August has been a more “unique month”, since I began this challenge in April. It was busier, hotter, and wetter then the previous months, but not without highlights:

• I must reiterate: I have travelled over 1000 kilometers in a little over 4 months. Awesome!
• We “endured” a fabulous week-end out in the Whiteshell. Lots of biking and hiking.
• I was interviewed by a fellow blogger, Trail Sherpa.Very cool.
• We had great week-ends, shared with friends and family. Good for the soul moments.
• We finished our Ultimate Frisbee summer season, in a not-too-shabby 4th place in our division.
• Work was crazy, but not without reward. AKA Promotion!

I missed a couple of August goals: solid travel plans, equipment investment, and yoga. Our “pie in the sky” travel plans may have to go on hold, until I transition into my new role at work. I think we can cook up something smaller in the meantime – big celebrations are required in September! I think we’ll be on track to purchase some equipment in the fall (hopefully catch some sales). As for yoga, it’s still on the radar.

Here is what I am thinking about doing next:

• Fall Session of MissFit Personal Training Services boot camp. I super enjoyed it in the spring and know it’ll relieve the upcoming work stress.
• Fall session of Ultimate frisbee. Dump, swing, throw.
• Yoga. I have firm plans to sign-up for classes this winter. Hot yoga in the winter could be fantabulous!
• Plan a “smaller” trip that incorporates outdoor adventure. Do I smell mountains and ocean?
• Invest in some equipment. Perhaps packs, sleeping bags, and/or light-weight tent.
• Fall camping. It will extend that summer feeling.

Random shot from Vancouver at Easter time. Love our adventures!

Like a Fox!

Bike: 12 km – Run: 1 km – Walk: 2 km

Monthly Total: 95 km

Big news in the career department!

I have been promoted to the position of Customer Product Manager. It is a higher level, business development role with a sprinkle of internal leadership to account leaders. (My previous role). It’s in a different business unit, most likely a more international customer base, and I’ll have a seat on the Strategic Team. It will probably take a couple of months to full transition over, as they need to find a replacement for my current role. I am looking forward to it!

Activity wise, I’ve been gaining points with some biking, walking and ultimate. Heather and I had a noteworthy walk through Assinboine Park last night. There was a very tame foxy fox, eating the scraps around an abandoned fire. We thought someone had left their pet behind – nope, it was a wily fox! There were many bikers out, which made Heather a little on edge (she has been previously hit by cyclist). For some reason, they were not giving us much space and one guy even aggressively cut back in front of us. Like, was that necessary?

It became dark rather quickly, so we looped back toward home. Three sketchy guys by a fire, beckoned us over to join them. (Funny how I get these invitations when out with my cute, little sister – not with Jere) We put our heads down and trekked on. They were persistent, but didn’t get up from the fire. We were ready with my single house key, should things escalate. Freeman Woman Power!

We then met the fox again, who was sitting right beside the walking path. A stranger called out a warning to us. We tentatively headed towards Mr. Fox, who decided to scurry away from us – thank goodness. By this time it was really dark, so we broke out into a sprint until safely back into the street. Such excitement!

This week-end is our Ultimate Championship. We play a minimum of 3 games, which will be good times. Jeremy is heavy into catalogue season, so I may have some alone time in between games. Maybe some driving range action? A walk? A bike? Oh the possibilities!

This was taken last season, but it has Jeremy, Lisa, and I in the same shot!

Work-Life Balance

Bike: 35 km – Walk: 4 km

Monthly Total: 80 km

Quick update. My work-life balance is skewed to the side of work. My customer had an inflight shut-down, which has resulted in lots of excitement. Thankfully, there was no incident upon landing. There are still lots of unanswered questions, so I have been playing hostess with the mostess – a 24 hour/day job. The customer and the OEM were in last week, and the finance guys are showing up tomorrow.

It’s been crazy – I’m lucky that I’m so naturally charming and entertaining. It’s tough being “on” all the time!

As a result, my physical activity points have suffered and I’m feeling it. It’s partly in my head, I’m sure, but I feel an overall ick – too much restaurant food, stiffness, and stomach aches. Jeremy and I went on a long 35 kilometer bike on Saturday, which was brilliant. We met a friend this morning for a round of golf, which has also helped.

I’m still here – just lacking fitness “blog” inspiration. I think this week should be better. I am determined.

Mind, Body, and Soul

Bike: 12 km – Walk: 1 km

Monthly Total: 41 km

Last week, I commented that August has not added many points to my 8 thousand kilometer challenge. However, I had been adding points in other areas. Meghan summed it up best: mind, body, and soul. I received many “soul” points this week-end, spending it with my girls for some 30th birthday action.

I joined Megs, Scott, Jere, her bro and two cousins for a round of golf on Saturday. I enjoy golf, but had not swung a club in literally 2 years. My charm compensated for my lack of skillz, as the birthday girl chose me as her partner. I played true to my form – half throttle and “old lady’ish”. I always knew where my ball was and helped my team out with a couple of great putts. The game was only secondary to the day’s hilarity, with the Cuveliers putting on a fantastic show of cart tricks, loving abuse and overall comedy. We had a lovely dinner that night, including further banter.

Sunday was much more PG, with a fantastic gathering at Rivers. I LOVE my friends and their children. The kids are growing up so fast and by far the most entertaining little beings I have ever met. Corina and Gerald loaded us up with fresh garden goods, which we reveled in this evening. The veg put the farmers’ market to shame! We girls got to catch up, which was long overdue. I had a fabulous time!

In between it all, we stayed in Killarney. We got to visit with mom, dad, and Heather. Good times and obtained some good family points for the soul!

Overall, I am feeling the love. I will admit that I also feel antsy for more activity, but these past week-ends of friends and family have done wonders.

Fabulous Cottage Weekend

Hike: 9 km – Walk: 3 km – Run: 2 km

Monthly Total: 14 km

Our Ultimate friends, Peter and Heather, have a cottage at Seven Sisters Falls. They generously offered it to us this past week-end, as Peter had a climb/canoe trip in Northern Ontario planned (the legend himself) and Heather had to work (recently promoted).  Jeremy and I are but selfless people and felt it was our duty to “cottage sit” in their absence. Some might call us heros.

We arrived late Friday night and managed to get in without a hitch. It would be luxury living with running water, electricity and all that we are accustomed to. We settled in with an adult beverage and Iron Man on the big screen. I recommend this way to decompress to anyone.

We got up the next morning and Jeremy prepared us an excellent omelet breakfast to be enjoyed in the veranda.

Fueled up, we hopped on our bikes for a very hot ride down the Trans-Canada Trail towards Pinawa. The sun was shining and we had a great view of Natalie Lake for the first 4 kilometers. We entered the woods to find that the groomed portion of our adventure would end. Long grass and lots of water would be our nemesis. We attempted to ride and carry our bikes towards Pinawa, but the grass was relentless in our gears.

We back-tracked towards the highway instead. We met a friendly hiker who said it was “mostly dry”. We forged ahead, to find ourselves bush-whacking with our bikes through the trees to get around small ponds. I tore up my legs with sweet scratches and bruises. That’s cool, right? Jere had poison ivy from the previous week-end, so we ended up admitting defeat and doing a 180′ back to Seven Sisters Falls. When we got out of the woods, we dropped our bikes by the lake to clean the mud off our bottom halves.

(Author Note: Turns out Heather and Peter did do the whole trail. I want to grow-up to be just like them!)

We went back to the cottage to shower and play cards in shade. Dinner would prove to be a glorious BBQ salmon with asparagus and potatoes.  Again, we enjoyed it in the veranda.

That evening, we walked to the damn to see the sunset. Very pretty and serene with the sounds of rapid water.

Sunday, we decided to give the bikes a break and go for a hike instead. We did a 9 kilometer loop from Jessica Lake Lodge to Rainbow Falls. It did not get too remote, as we could hear activity on the highway and surrounding lakes. I attempted to obtain “Bold Points”, by cheerily greeting every human we came across. On our hike back, we took the highway and I threw up my arm in a huge wave to everyone who passed by. People were into it and happily returned my greetings. One guy even beat me to the punch! (Who doesn’t want to say “hi” to the smily couple?)

That night we had veggie burgers and enjoyed the night air. We played cards again and I’m pretty sure I came out on top. It’s a safe assumption.

Very fantastic week-end, filled with outdoor adventure, relaxation and amazing eats. Cottage TLC.

July Update: 939 Kilometers To Date

Bike: 15 km – Walk: 2 km

Monthly Total: 347 km

8 Thousand Kilometer Challenge Update:

April: 58.5 km

May: 248 km

June: 285.5 km

July: 347 km

Total: 939 km

July was an excellent month. Summer is in full swing and I established new gains in the 8 thousand kilometer challenge. Here are the highlights:

• Exponentially increasing the kilometer count each month – it was huge 347 kilometer month!
• Introduced Paddling to the 8 Thousand Kilometer Challenge. We canoed at Otter Falls and the Pinawa Channel. We also rented kayaks in Kenora to check out Lawrence’s Lake. Love it!
• Hiked at Minaki and the Whiteshell. These trails were just tough enough to not bike instead.
• Camped at Spruce Woods. We also stayed at Heather and Peter’s cottage for an activity laden week-end.
• Continued to cycle commute on a regular basis, including a trip through a wicked thunderstorm. I expanded the bicycle trips to include appointments and other errands.
• (July Goal): Epic Bike Tour at Epinette Creak – quite spontaneously too! We also mountain biked at Seven Sisters Falls, Birds Hill, and did a 40 kilometer urban route
• (July Goal): Practiced Yoga after (and even during) physical activity.
• (July Goal): Attended the local Farmers’ Market, again. We also incorporated more fish & seafood into our home cooking.

B-E-A-Utiful. (Jim Carrey quote from Bruce Almighty for ya). I missed two July goals: continue MissFit Personal Training Services boot camp and signing up for a 10 kilometer run. Lisa decided not to have the Assinboine Park MissFit Boot Camp for July and August. (More demand in the south end of the city). I have continued to run, but have been focusing on cycling instead. I believe it’s a fair trade off. Running is naturally more challenging, but I have been upping my biking game.

Here is what I am thinking about doing next:

• Plan a trip that incorporates outdoor adventure. Do I smell mountains and ocean?
• Look into yoga. Alison has approached me to practice with a yogi friend of hers, so I hope to set something up.
• Invest in some equipment. Perhaps packs, sleeping bags, and/or light-weight tent.
• Keep on paddling. It’s thee best summer time activity.

B-E-A-Utiful times 2.

Good Vibrations

Bike: 10 km

Monthly Total: 330 km

This evening was lovely.

It started off with a quick chat with Sorks, who is lending us her cottage at Seven Sisters Falls this week-end. Biking, paddling, hiking and maybe running are on the agenda. If it rains, we have a cute little cottage to stay dry in. Perfecto!

We had a lovely seafood pasta dinner and decided we should top it off with ice cream. The weather is gorgeous, so we jumped on our bikes and headed to our local Ice Cream Shoppe. I guarded the bikes, while Jere picked up a hot fudge sundae for himself and a cherry cheesecake frozen yogurt for me. Heaven!

As we stood at the light with our bikes and treats, a stranger smiled at us. She sad, “You would make a perfect picture with your bikes and ice cream.” We laughed and said, “Thank you”.

We rolled our bikes across the river and discovered Ballet in the Park was in full swing. So, we stood with our bikes and ate our frozen treats. Heaven II!

After a while, we jumped on our bikes and headed home. Our neighbor had some people over and they greeted us enthusiastically. They said, “Hey! You’re those crazy outdoor people! Where were you tonight? Where do you go? We’re going to Rushing River this week-end… bet you’ve been there before, haven’t you?”

Best compliment ever! I love that we give off that vibe.