this has become a bit of a running joke in my office, and i feel like i should make it into a regular blog feature. every thursday (from june to october) at the park up the street from work, there is a little farmer’s market.  i love it and have talked about it here. as i mentioned,  i have a bit of a problem and usually tend to buy more than i need AND more than what i can manage to get home since i either walk/bus or ride my bike. this problem becomes exacerbated in the fall, during winter squash season. squash are big and heavy!

squash aren’t the only things challenging to get home though – summer fruits, while not as cumbersomely large and heavy are pretty fragile and prone to being squished.

this photo is actually from market a week and a half ago (asparagus season is sadly finished now)

my two panniers contained the following:

• bike lock (cable + combination lock; i leave a U lock at work)
• pair of shoes (the black flip flops)
• bike fixing stuff (tube, co2 cartridges, tire levers, etc)
• 2 pairs of capris (one from my morning bike ride and one from wearing at work)
• 1 zip up jacket
• the shirt I was wearing at work during the day
• various toiletries (comb, deoderant, etc)
• 1 big head of lettuce
• 2 bundles of asparagus
• 1 litre (maybe more?) of small cucumbers
• 1 quart of strawberries
• 1 quart of cherries
• 1 rosemary plant
• 1 lavender plant
• 1 large peashoot plant
• 1 tupperware of cheese
• my wallet
• bike gloves (it was too hot to wear them on the ride home)

in other news, i went for a 3K run in my vibrams yesterday and HOLY COW my calves are feelin’ it today. 3K was probably longer than i should have gone for, given that my last “barefoot” run was only 2K long and that was more than 2 months ago. i plan to try and use them more for actual running lots this summer (i mostly just wear them as walking/around town shoes). my next real race isn’t until mid-late august, so i think i’m going to ease off of serious training for a little while.

out of the 13 races i’ve done in the last 6 years, there have been only two occasions when i have raced a distance and performed worse than i had in the past.

the first time was my 5th half marathon that i ran last spring – it was much hotter than i expected and i was unprepared. i wasn’t drinking enough and i likely hadn’t trained properly. i ran the course 4 minutes slower than i had the year before, and for some reason, it didn’t really bother me. by the fall, i bounced back to my old time (almost a minute faster) and a few weeks later, took 3 more minutes off.

(this was taken at that race, early on before things got really rough)

the second time was this weekend. half marathon #8. it was on a course i had never done before (this year i purposefully sought out new, interesting races to do. i’d seen this one on angela’s blog – she did the 10K last year). the race was super small (only a few hundred people) and not as well organized as most of the other races i do (my race kit had 4 boxes of triscuit crackers and a whole bunch of wrist and menstrual cramp tummy heat packs. random!). there was no elevation map on the race website, so i had no idea how many hills there would be! i knew it would be hilly-ish, but i wasn’t ready for steep hills in kilometre 2. at kilometre 16, it started to POUR. thunderstorms. i was soaked in an instant (squishy shoes), which didn’t help my defeated attitude. i made the same mistakes i’ve made many many times in the past: i didn’t drink enough and i didn’t take in enough calories, and you better believe i hit the wall. my splits were getting slower, i was getting tireder (is that a word?), and i just wanted the whole thing to be over! i had enough energy at the end to sprint the last kilometre and pass a bunch of people, which made it obvious that i hadn’t run hard enough during the rest of the race.

.

gretchen rubin says that people feel happier when they are improving and this is true for me! she talks about how having an atmosphere of growth is important. i don’t have any more races until august, but i will take this lesson and work towards growing and improving, not only my time, but my attitude and outlook on myself too! i know i can’t get faster each and every race forever because that is obviously unsustainable. from now on, i will embrace my body for what it can do, even if it’s not always as fast as i wish it were!

although i’ve had a lot of fun with a busy spring racing season, i am happy that i have a few months of “breather” time to refocus and really work hard on my speed and hills without the pressure of getting a long long run in every single weekend.

until then, here are some funny pictures.

i am wearing a bondi band that says yoga on it and has a stick figure in tree pose. i am trying to imitate that here.

although these were taken pre-race, this pretty much sums up how i would feel after!

can you see the pain in my eyes? my legs look so slow, i may as well be walking (oh and i did half to stop and walk a few times up parts of those killer hills). i look a tiny bit deranged on the right, no? it kind of felt awesome passing some people at the end.

almost 2 weeks ago, i ran a race in toronto. i was going to write a recap of it, but then i thought i’d wait for pictures. i had to wait because my usual photographer was at home playing sleeping beauty in bed (he’d been up late work every night that week and gone alllll day saturday building his new bike, so i thought i’d give him a break and let him sleep in sunday) and the official ASI photographers take ages.

They also take crappy photos. Case in point:

I won’t be buying any of these! i usually at least have one good official picture, but these all suck! plus, out of the 10 they said were me, these 3 were the only ones that were actually me. it took them a week and a half and they couldn’t even get their file organization right. FAIL.

The race itself went pretty well. It was only my 3rd ever 10K – last year i slashed almost 30 minutes from my previous time (wow, when i started running i was suuuuper slow), and i had high hopes for this new fast course. of course once i got rid of those 29 minutes, there was much less to lose!

I had to wake up crazy early to take a bus to get to another bus (the subway doesn’t start running till 9am on sundays!) to get me to the starting line at a reasonable time. I ended up getting there ridiculously early, but if i had taken a later bus, i wouldn’t have made it. It was the first time i’d even gone to a race completely on my own, and I have to say, it made me a tiny bit sad. i’ll be going to at least one more race this summer on my own though, so i guess i should get used to it. it certainly is much nicer when i have my support crew of one.

the 10K is a completely different race for me. when i run half marathons and greater, i have time to think and enjoy, time to look and wave, time to breathe. at this race, i was all business. i pretty much ran as fast as (i thought) i could, the entire time, and it was over before i knew it. i was hoping to get a 55:xx time, and I know I probably could have with a little more focus – my final time was 56:08 (last year’s time for an equally fast course was 56:53). I have another 10K race at the end of the summer (though on a different and likely slower course), so hopefully my speedwork will pay off by then! i never really feel fast when i’m racing (probably because i’m not), but on sunday, i really did feel speedy. i was running 8:40something minute miles, which i have not really been able to do since middle school, when i struggled with those presidential fitness tests (my mile time was ALWAYS in the 9 minute range, so i had to settle for the national fitness level). it felt good to be able to hold on to that for over 6 miles!

this coming weekend is my first half marathon of the year. i’m looking forward to it (other than the fact that it starts at 7:30 am and is 40 minutes away by car) – it will be good to see exactly where my training has put me, and i’ll be able to readjust my plans for the rest of the season. i’ve been doing a lot more yoga lately, and it is definitely making a difference in how i feel. my hips and hamstrings are perma-tight, and i have a bit of lower back pain from sitting and biking. all that stretching really helps.

i’m glad i signed up for a bunch of different races. running things like 10Ks, 30Ks and 15Ks (things i normally don’t do) pushes me further and makes me a better runner.

i am recommitting to this blogging thing. again. promise.

here’s what happened in february:

-i went to an awesome book event for one of my newest favourite books, that i have talked about here already: the happiness project. a conversation with the author, the amazing gretchen rubin, and heather from indigo.

i had just gotten to almost the end of my library copy by the time the book event happened, and i knew i wanted to buy my own copy. luckily this was the perfect time because i could have a chat with gretchen and get my copy signed! excuse the terrible pictures! it wasn’t me.

i am taking part in the 2010 happiness challenge, which comes with a monthly theme and weekly things to do (described in 2 minute videos by gretchen, every monday). so far we’ve done things like tackle nagging tasks, fight right, stop expecting praise and appreciation (the hardest), hug more, kiss more, touch more (my favourite). i can feel myself becoming a more pleasant person.

-i started seriously training for around the bay (which is in 21 days!!!) 30k race i am doing at the end of this month.

i’ve gone on 2+ hour training runs, i have done strength training a couple times each week, i’ve started interval training (yasso 800s!) and i have gone swimming once a week, every week since i last posted that i was going to try and get back into swimming.

our winter has been mild – perfect for outdoor runs but not so perfect for snowshoeing. we only have gotten out once so far (i fear this will be our only snowshoe adventure of 2010), but it was epic. 2.5 hours on the mountain biking trails of waterloo. my muscles ached the following two days!

today i’m up to a 21-25k run. i’ve got one more distance week left, and then i cut back in preparation of my taper before the race. edited to add- i ended up being out for 3 hours this morning. brutal. my knees hurt. happily i probably won’t have to do any more ridiculously long runs this year because this 30k race is the longest i am signing up for. everything else is half marathon and below.

soon i will start spending a bit more time on my bike, as the following race is the cyclocross st george to ancaster, where i will ride 35k through mud, rail trails, roads, single track and farm land.

-i went to a wake for a 16 year old who lost a battle with cancer. it was decidedly one of the most sad things i have done. my heart broke for his parents; no one should ever have to go through that.

-i got to interview and help select our summer intern for work. this was particularly exciting, as we went back to my alma mater for the interviews AND i was that summer intern myself, not too many years ago. we didn’t get our first pick, but i am pretty happy with the person who will be showing up in may. it definitely was an experience that made me feel old though!

-i went to a custom bike shop with jon to get his new bike spec-ed out, measured and designed. it was sooo cool! i wanted to share some pictures, but when we arrived, i discovered that my battery was completely out of juice maybe i’ll go back when we pick up the finished product and get some good shots. custom bikes are sweet, but i am definitely not enough of a for real biker to justify getting one, nor would i fully appreciate all the features. i would love a custom paint job though!

-last night, for the first time ever, i drove jon’s standard car home (about 12km) all by myself with no supervision – my maiden voyage. it was a little harrowing at times, since i’m a pretty new driver to begin with, and i’m still learning how to operate the standard vehicle. i stalled only once, drove in the wrong gear once or twice, but, all in all, it wasn’t too bad and i did not crash or die! someday soon i will get more comfortable doing this.

-i proofread jon’s mechanical engineering master’s thesis on deep drawing of warm formed aluminum. “what?” you say. yeah, that’s what i said too. after going through the 100+ pages a few times, combing carefully for missing commas and misplaced subordinating conjunctions, i still don’t really know what deep drawing is all about. that’s ok with me.

-i’m working on my mighty life list, inspired by maggie and karen. i’ll post it when i’m done. so far everything on the list (i’m up to #28 so far) is kind of epic. i think i need a few things that i can get started on right now. ideas?

-i pulled the ice cream maker out of hibernation for a batch of homemade cookies and cream (david lebovitz’s philidelphia vanilla with crushed oreos swirled in at the end). let me tell you, i have missssed ice cream. since we stopped buying it at the store, when i removed the freezer bowl from our freezer, our connection to the creamy cold treat was severed. i’m happy to have it back in my life.

-tomorrow i’m going to my first ever blog meetup (aside from the healthy living summit, which i guess was sort of blog meetup like) that angela is organizing in kensington market, a super cute area of toronto. i’m excited to meet new people, make some new friends (hopefully) and spend some time exploring the city. the weather is supposed to be gorge!

whew. that was long.

soon after we got home from florida, jon took me out on a re-con mission. there is a park across the road, and it has a creek, and in one area, the creek kind of widens out into a pond. we had discussed the skate-ability of it but we weren’t sure, since i had never seen anyone on the ice.
the re-con was a success. jon deemed it safe enough and got right to shovelling. 2 hours later, he came home to get me and the skates (it’s a little easier to shovel when you can move around faster). 1 more hour of hard work and we were able to skate around. we’ve been back 3-4 more times since – have had to re-shovel a few times due to snowfall, though nothing major (since we have not had any real storms this january). el nino hit two weeks ago and kind of did a number on my recreational area. there were big patches of open water that jon would not let me go near. our temperatures are finally back down to normal winter numbers, and from street level, the rink looks like it might be solid again! i’m pretty sure the weekend will involve some serious time on the blades (if i can handle the -21 wind chills)! i am thrilled. winter is really messing with my ability to do winter sports this year, and i am a sad puppy. no snowshoeing whatsoever and for the past two weeks, skating has been very touch and go.
i took my camera with us a couple of times and shot some video which i have finally finished editing into something to watch. enjoy!

skating in the park from haya finan on Vimeo.

the lack of snow/ice has been very good for my running though. around the bay is quickly coming up and i need to work up to more miles and hours. optimally i’d like to have run for 3 hours or so at least once before march 28. i have been able to get out for runs lately, but the next few weeks might require indoor bike workout substitutions when it’s too windy. walking to the bus stop was extremely laborious because i was walking into the wind and just the act of moving forward required immense effort. i kind of wished i was heavier, and also pointier/more aerodynamic for cutting through the wind. alas, i am light and rounded on top.

i’m going to try going swimming tomorrow before work. we’ll see if i can make it a fun, spa-like outing, as tina once suggested. then it’s the WEEKEND!!! lots of fun planned, including dinner at a super fancy place downtown (too bad i have to get dressed up for -19° weather. yay!). more to come.

as my racing season for 2009 winds down and i transition from my “rest phase” into “base”, i have to look back at what i did this year and what i hope to be able to accomplish next year.

this year was pretty different from last year. in 2008, i ran 1 half marathon in may and spent the rest of my summer building, building, building up mileage for the september marathon. in retrospect, i should have included more mini-peak races and events throughout the summer to keep me rolling and motivated. i got a little tired by the end, and as a result, my marathon performance suffered. i plan to tackle this challenge again in the near future (some day!), hopefully a little smarter and more focused. 2009 included a few new things for me, which i really loved. doing something you’ve never done before is fantastic because it forces you to extend your limits, while still giving you the chance to achieve a personal best no matter what. i hope to do more of this next year.

Recap

a unique point to point cyclocross-style bike race, which mimics the style of the famous paris-roubaix. the actual race starts in paris, ontario and ends in ancaster. 60km through all kinds of terrain: road, rail trail, farm land, mud pit, gravel, single/double track, etc. since this was my first ever bike race, i opted for the shorter 35km race starting in st george. i got to wear the UW cycling jersey that i got for christmas (sorry no pictures!), which made me feel pretty cool. the race was a huge challenge- it was my first time riding in a big group (the starting stretch was paved road, and i tried my best to draft) and riding in my clipless pedals around a lot of other people! there was a ton of climbing and some of the terrain required more technical handling skill (or at least confidence!) than i had. i left my bike computer at home so i had no idea how far i was along the race, which was tough. i ended up finishing in 2:35 (which just a little bit longer than what it took jon to ride from paris to ancaster, almost twice the distance!). there was a very strong headwind. i did have to get off my bike and walk a few spots (and all three mudpits, mostly for logistical reasons though). if i do this race next year (i plan to!), i will try and do a lot more hill conditioning and aim to only get off for the mud.

Ottawa Half Marathon (May 27) Ottawa, ON

First running race of the season. I didn’t have any major goals, but i did hope to tackle the incline a little better this year because it was a total surprise to me (obviously, since they market it at a flat race, but the first half is downhill and the second half is up). while i don’t think i successfully conquered it (my splits were far from negative or even equal), i did better than last year. my time was not better than last year though. the temperature was screaming hot and the race course offers very little shade. additionally, i spent the day before helping out a friend with a bunch of manual labour, which in retrospect was a very poor idea. time: 2:20. this was the second year in a row that i ran this race, and i’m not sure i will do it again. it is poorly organized (there are far more people than the race area can handle) and it is annoying travelling the 5 hours east. i also don’t really love sleeping somewhere that is not a real bed the night before a race. in the future, i will spring for a hotel room.

Slainte End of Summer Downhill 10k (August 29) Hamilton, ON

all of jon’s office mates decided to sign up to do this 10k race together. unfortunately jon had a bike race the following day, so instead, i ran the race so we could still hang out with everyone before and after. it was a pretty fun race. i generally do not enjoy the 10k distance, and therefore have only even ran in one other official 10k race. the course was great- not exactly downhill as promised, since at the last minute, they lost permission to use the route originally planned, but still fairly flat and quite scenic. who knew hamilton was pretty! we ran on trails around the harbour. time: 56:37. i had no goals for this race. the last 10k i did was in 2004. it was my first ever running race and i was extremely ill prepared for it. i think my time was like 1:20 or something, so this blew that right out of the water. it was kind of exhilarating running that fast for an hour. my half marathons don’t give me that same feeling. the rest of the race was fun. we got souvenir beer glasses (that i now drink green monsters out of!) and free beer and food at the pub after, where a U2 tribute band played. i’d do it again. it’s these kinds of mini-events that i need to stay motivated through the summer, i think, since serious races are split into early spring and early fall, and nothing too long in between.

Scotiabank Waterfront Half Marathon (September 27) Toronto, ON

I have done this race many years in a row. Last year I did the full marathon version. It is flat and fast, and because it is such a big race, it attracts some super fast elites and has a really great entertainment/cheering scene along the way. My goal for this race was to not feel like crap at the end. I was supposed to stick to my nutrition and hydration strategy (lots of sips of Heed and a sharkie or two every mile). The weather was kind of drizzly and grey, which wasn’t super motivating for me, but actually was quite pleasant to run in. A huge improvement on the heat I experienced in Ottawa. Time: 2:16. I will probably do this race again next year. It is scheduled at a pretty good time of the year. It is pretty convenient to get to and I like the course (which goes right along the shore of Lake Ontario)

and finally,

The Goodlife Toronto Half Marathon (October 18) Toronto, ON

I decided to do this race pretty late in the season. I was originally planning to end later in November with a very small half marathon at a local golf club. I decided that this race would be a little more exciting. unlike most of my other races, this was a point to point race. we started in uptown toronto and ended downtown, at queen’s park, where the ontario provincial legislature sits. this posed some logistical challenges (where to park the car? how to get back?), but in the end, it worked out great. the start was only 20 minutes away from my house, and we found free parking! i took the subway back to our car and jon rode his bike back up. the course was alright- not super exciting, but not too boring either. some parts of toronto are a little smelly, which is never good when you are pushing yourself this hard. i had studied the maps pretty thoroughly the day before, so i was quite prepared. this was my first race using my new garmin 305, which i absolutely adore. Time: 2:13. I was a little disappointed that I was unable to push myself for the 2:10 but still happy with my performance. I was most pleased, however, with how good i felt at the end. I stuck to my drinking water and eating sharkies every 15 minutes (auto alert is soo useful!). we walked a few blocks to a poutine restaurant where i rewarded myself with smoked bacon poutine. yum! i would consider doing this race again.

Looking ahead

Next year I plan to try and incorporate more new things while working to improve my targets from this year. I’ve already got the March 30km race lined up. I will likely do St George to Ancaster again. I’ll probably fit a couple half marathons in. I also hope to maybe finally get to do a sprint or olympic triathlon and maybe a beginner cyclocross race. I hope to finally break the 2:10 barrier for my half marathon. My other goals are to finish strong and have fun. My base training throughout the winter will likely include lots of time on my bike (attached to my trainer). I plan to get out and do at least one or two runs outside each week, weather conditions permitting. There will be lots of yoga and strength training work for flexibility and solid muscles. I haven’t put together a formal plan yet, but I’ll be working on that with jon’s help over the next few weeks. We’ll see how it goes!

What’s your plan for staying fit this winter?

for the first time ever, ecto has betrayed me! i just wrote an awesome post about a crazy thing i did and then i decided to get all fancy and try and insert my newest favourite song and poof! all my pictures and text gone. just like that. i seem to also be having server issues. double boo!

bah.

i am not a spontaneous person, generally, but here is the crazy that i decided to do this week:

oh yes. march 28. thirty kilometres. in hamilton, ontario (home of dofasco). it will probably still be snowing here at that time! i do not belong to a gym, so i will be doing many outdoor runs this winter. hello, project snow. this is the oldest race in north america! i started 3 years before boston, in 1894. i’m pumped to be part of the history. jon’s office mate has also signed up, but she is a lot faster than i am. i’ve never done a 30k before so as slow as i go, it’ll still be a personal record. (i guess i did run 30km in my marathon, but then i had to run 12 more! i hope that my time next year is at least a bit faster)

the week turned around. surprisingly, the christmas decorations that are popping up everywhere are making me excited about the holidays (more on our plans to come!). i had to pop into babyGap to pick up a few things for some new (and not so new) babies. holy crap the cuteness. i nearly died. few things are as cute as teeny tiny baby sleepers.

happiness project is progressing. i cheated a bit on yoga tonight (only did a 5 minute class!) but i got a huge organizational task out of the way, so i’ll give myself a break. 5 minutes of yoga is better than no yoga! i found this awesome song that i love. it makes me want to dance around. you should listen. it’s called merry happy and it is by kate nash. and it is fun fun!

time for bed.

i was almost relieved that monday came after crazy weekend #3. i need a weekend from my weekends and although work is as far from relaxing as possible, it was a welcome change.

the boy and our houseguest arrived really late on friday night after going to see a fellow cyclists’ band play (i sadly had to miss this because i was in the wrong city). i woke up early for my weekly long run. 16km was the plan. the forecast said it wouldn’t start raining until “late morning.” i left the house at 7:30 and figured i’d be safe. i briefly considered taking my cellphone and decided against it.

8km in, at the halfway point, the sky opened up! i did my turn around and RAN. like the wind. i was seriously flying. and getting seriously wet. there’s nothing like thunder and lightening to kick your ass and make you faster. at the 13km mark, 3km away from home, i saw a familiar car pull over and stop for me. even though i didn’t really tell him where i was going to be, jon came and found me. i felt warm and fuzzy inside, even though i was cold and wet on the outside. it was a really good run anyway though. i’m almost sad i didn’t get the last 3km in (but not sad enough to not take my shining armour rescue). my ipod wasn’t as happy, though. i thought that after her first encounter with the h2o last fall (after an accidental trip through the washer that she miraculously survived) that maybe skye (or robin) liked being wet! i hoped for another miracle, but…no deal. i did manage somehow to get my run synced to the nike+ website though, which i am quite pleased at. replacement nano is in the mail, currently on a whirlwind vacation (started off the morning in lantau island, going to disney and checking out the pink dolphins and is currently in anchorage alaska, probably doing some dog sledding. i’m not sure what will be next!) we should be reunited by friday. apparently i manage to epically kill my ipods (first one went through the washer and dryer, then died. second one went swimming in the rain. i should take bets on how this next one will meet its end)

sunday morning was another early one, as we had to leave the house before 7 for jon’s 9:30 am race. someone miscalculated driving distances or maybe just forgot to account for the fact that 7am traffic on sunday morning does not exist, but we got to the conservation park at 7:40. it was chilly! by 10ish, it started to warm up and i enjoyed hanging out in the feedzone in my camping chair, giving jon fresh bottles and cheering him on. even though the course was pretty wet and muddy, he still managed to do awesomely in the single speed category, coming in 2nd out of 21.

that’s my boy! i was sad he took off his sweet jersey before the award ceremony. hopefully he’ll get some more podium action later this summer.

jon and i spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon chilling out in the sunshine, watching our friend race (and feeding him) and playing with our other friends’ adorable new puppy. we came home and bbqed, drank beer and ate some homemade ice cream. that’s what good days are made of. i did send my mother an email, but besides that we didn’t really do anything special for mother’s day, since both of our moms were far away. (i have gifts for my mom when she’s here next month). i cut myself a nice bouquet of tulips and other wild flowers from the garden because even though i’m not a mom, i do a lot of mom-like things and i like flowers.

just when i thought work couldn’t get any busier, BAM! insane doesn’t even begin to describe it! plus one of my coworkers is going on his early honeymoon for the next week and a half and my supervisor has been ordered by her doctor to only work from home (she has kind of a high risk pregnancy and the next few weeks are supposedly critical). i have a bunch of new responsibilities and the opportunity to shine. keep your fingers crossed that things don’t go the other way.

what a crazy week! i am certainly glad for a glorious 4 day weekend. hurray for easter!

recap

the week started with snow. i rationally know that it almost always snows in april, but this was enough to throw me off! i went from wearing shorts on my run last thursday to having a pair of long johns under my pants on tuesday. what what?? not cool. it also made my tuesday speedwork run impossible (the sidewalks were covered by a few inches of slushy white that wasn’t getting cleared like it would have in february).

then there was this work deadline, that we had exactly 3 days to meet. my group was handicapped by 1/3 (passover holiday) and by the fact that i’m still new to this stuff. my coworker and i put in a lot of long hours and overtime days, but in the end, we did it! we were not the last group across the country to be done AND we had the most stuff to get through. given that it was just the two of us, i’d say we did pretty awesomely. the long weekend is extremely well deserved.

the weather totally turned around by friday thursday morning. spring showed its face again! i pulled out my bike and the cute new swimsuit i bought to leave at work (for on-a-whim lunch time swims) and did a backwards tri brick workout (biking 8 miles, then swimming 600m). the 10 minutes of stretching in the therapy pool felt amazing! i’d like to start more of my days with a swim. the bike ride home was a bit challenging because of some wind, but i zoomed here as fast as i could. i’m a little sore today and holding off on my tempo run (scheduled for yesterday but after my other workouts, i just didn’t have it in me). we’re still not sure what we are doing for easter because jon has a paper to finish and a bunch of exams to mark, but whatever we do, even if we can’t make it to the farm or to the grandparents’ for turkey, i plan to relax and enjoy the sunshine.

a new experiment: dry me up

we saw dried kiwi at the grocery store the other day and it looked intriguing. it was super sugary and expensive though, so we passed, but i had to try it for myself! i think i left these in a touch too long – they turned out slightly crunchier than i’d like on the outside, but the inside is still chewy and the seeds give a really interesting texture. i’ve got a pint of cranapple sauce i made in the fall in the dehydrator now, potentially to become fruit leather. i’ll let you know how that goes!

happy easter!

even though it’s the last full week of the fiscal year and there is all kinds of crazy nonsense going on at work and we didn’t have the most lovely weather, i am still having a great week!

lots of good:
- fun package in the mail
- a great job interview
- a weekend road trip to look forward to
- a sad but very inspiring retirement party at work (we are losing a legend)
- a few quality runs. the training plan is hard, in fact, i’m not quite fast enough yet but i’m working on it! today’s tempo run wasn’t as good as the intervals but i’m still happy
- some new (to me) awesome tunes (discovered through working on the below project. who knew punk would be so fun to dance around to?) the album is indestructible by rancid
- i have a batch of potentially delicious tuffies, waiting to be enjoyed with some tea
- i finished the fun bike video that i’ve been working on. enjoy!

(blerg! wordpress does not embed vimeo and youtube is obnoxious. so. i’m just leaving the link here. i encourage you to check it out because it’s fun fun fun!)