Survived my last race of the year

Well I finished yesterday! It wasn't pretty, but I made it past the finish line upright (although just barely!) Those stairs really kicked my butt. It was a 5K run with three sets of stairs, plus down one of the largest sets of stairs in the city. For someone who struggles with depth perception on those stinkin' stairs, it was a toughie! But good times were had by all, I think, and I suspect it was about 42 minutes worth of exercise, which is better than a kick in the butt in my mind at least.

Here's a card I found in my collection that I loved the soft colors of when I did it, way back in the day! I do love the puns...hope your Sunday is a great one!

Two more for the set!

These were AVS203 and AVS204 for the Verve AnniVERVEsary sketches, which will be combined with the two from yesterday and tomorrow's two for my six card set for my aunt's birthday.


Stamps: Sincere Salutations
Paper: Parisian Breeze DSP, Kraft, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Baja Breeze
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Twill Ribbon, Nestabilities, Scallop Edge Punch

I also used the Birthday card for two of the challenges, one being a birthday card and the other to use stitching - faux or real. This is faux to the max. I don't even own a sewing machine. I just admire others who can actually use one and do it well on crafts!


Stamps: All Year Cheer I
Paper: Parisian Breeze DSP, Kraft, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Baja Breeze
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Twill Ribbon, Nestabilities

My 10K actually went really well and all that worrying was for nothing, as they had package pick up when I arrived, so I got my shirt, timing chip, number and had about five minutes to calm down. I stuck with one of the pace bunnies and survived, which was especially nice, all things considered!

At supper, we celebrated MrP's Grandma's 75th birthday. She's quite a wonderful woman and she's got a lot of changes coming up (including moving from the city she's lived in for the last 50 years), so it's nice to see someone embracing change like she does.

Feel the Burn....Love the Burn

Last night, I had my first Reformer Pilates class since before that decorated evergreen, turkey & cranberry infested, gift giving holiday and boy did I feel it! What's a Reformer? I'm glad you asked (well I'm thinking you were going to, so I'm trying to do a little mind reading). In my mind, it's the single greatest fitness contraption since the Bowflex. (no offense to Bowflex....you're just too obvious as choice that people know & love as that all in one workout machine)

Made by Stott Pilates, the class uses one of the less intimidating machines, the Group SPX Reformer. For a mere $2300 USD (plus shipping, etc), you can snatch up one of these for yourself. I know - I looked into it after my first class. I took eight weeks of Mat Pilates and I got more out of the five weeks on this unit, reminiscent of a medieval torture device, than I got out of the longer mat class. For a demonstration, click here.

The class is about the best I know to get a kick butt workout for your core, engaging your entire body at different points in the class. Disguising abdominal exercises as bicep exercises, we did work out both, but I know I got a lot of core stability training done because I feel like Mike Tyson used my guts as a punching bag, somehow managing to not break every rib in the area. Despite this brutishness to my abs, my noodle-esque arms did not get away unscathed. Adding to the aches this morning are my glutes (yep, sore butt!) and thighs, which were warmed up with a light jog up Walterdale hill before class since parking in the Garneau area could be described as hellish at best. Alas, my sore body appreciates the workout and I'll be back next week for more!

Obviously, when I was done last night, I was DONE. I mean, mindless blog surfing, SCS gallery watching, a little farming on FB, a shower and reading of Malice. No crafts or baking to speak of.

And tonight, Swillsey and I are going to check out what everyone's been raving about...Disney's UP!

*both photos shamelessly found on websites via google....I figure since I'm not saying anything bad, so I can't get in too much trouble, right?!
Okay - for technicality's sake, Up! Poster found here and Reformer photo found here. Just to keep me out of the rubbish pile =)

Time to Panic?

Okay, so I have just under two weeks left before my Moose is Loose 10K Trail Run in the river valley.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Freaking out a little. And then I start to remind myself of MrP's comment from yesterday. "Who cares if you walk some? You're still getting out and doing it!" True statement. The fact of the matter is, I'm a bit of a spaz that way. If I do something, I like to do it well. Or at least respectably. Not that there's anything wrong with being the last in a group of 40 people within my age group - that still means I did better than the thousands of people who didn't even enter, but I have a bit of an issue with being in the bottom 20% of every event I participate in. I like to think I have a little pride, man! Let's be honest - I find it frustrating. Yes, I can do it. Rah, rah, me. But for whatever reason, I have dreams of grandeur. Delusions of adequacy. I don't know, but I want to be better than that. I want to finish at least in the middle of the pack!

Alright. Whew - that's off my chest now. I feel better. I said it. Now I can go right on ignoring it when I get the results of the run and find myself disgruntled and wishing I hadn't signed up for another on August 15th. I guess it's all in the name of fun and keeping active....now how many times will I have to repeat that to get it through my thick as a brick skull?

Yikes! Hopefully soon because I just agreed to run the Climb for Hope 5K with some of the Ladies of Leisure on Sept. 19th!