Check me out on...

Follow the links below to check out my other work:

Running from the Runs, Blogger Spotlight, Fitblogger

InstaDate - Winter Edition, Guest post, The Local Traveler

A Lesson Learned From a Young Person with IBS, blog post republished as part of IBS Awareness month,  IBS Impact

A Tale of IBS Courage, Recommendation, About.com

IBS - A Canadian Perspective, Tapping Into Key Resources, Guest Post, IBS Impact

#GBE2

I am about to make my first foray into a "group blogging experience" #GBE2, which  I found out about on Word Nerd's website.  It is basically a group writing exercise where you are given a topic and have one week to post about it on your blog.  This is my first crack at this, but I am excited at the opportunity to put my spin on a topic of someone else's choosing.  I have come to think of the weekly "prompt" as the equivalent of Fred Penner's Word Bird and the word of the day.  So stay tuned in the weeks to come as I endeavour to participate in #GBE2.  To my fellow bloggers ... I encourage you to take a look and join in if you are intrigued.  Do not forget to check out the hashtag on Twitter!

Getting up the gumption...

I have a confession, I was supposed to run yesterday and today, and was supposed to go to the gym at lunch on Thursday, but I did none of the above.   So, total runs this week?  Only one.  I ran 5.94 km at lunch on Tuesday.  I was actually very pleased with this result as it was my furthest distance to date and my first run in over a week.  I heaved and complained the whole way, but made it back in one piece, just in time to hit up the toilet.  

Now, as it is a long weekend I could feasibly run tonight and tomorrow at some point, but, honestly, my motivation levels have reached a new low.  The truth is that I have not felt motivated all week, whether it be to clean up the apartment, do the laundry or study for my accounting final.  For example, this morning I got up bright and early to go perform a wedding (I moonlight as a Justice of the Peace) and was home by 8:20 this morning.  Any normal person would have done something valuable with their time, but, not me.  I started off by eating breakfast and started my daily routine of email checking, blog checking, twitter checking and then suddenly it was noon-ish.  I must also acknowledge that I have discovered the magic of the internet; this has become a chronic problem since I began blogging.  I could have gone for a run this morning, but, my first excuse was that my ipod was not charged and today is a solo-run day.  I believe this is a very good excuse; running is still a cruel form of torture, so running in silence without Jon Bon helping me through it is absolutely, positively, out of the question.  However, without physically getting off my butt to check, I feel confident enough to say that the ipod is likely charged, so, running at this point would be within the realm of possibility.  What is my excuse now?  Writing this post.  So, with no additional runs to report, no bathroom emergencies shocking or funny enough to merit a post, what do I have to write about?  Nothing… and maybe everything.  For several months now I have been flip-flopping between highly-motivated and highly-unmotivated.  It is amazing how much you can get done when you have a little drive to peel your butt off the couch or out of bed, it is also just as amazing how much does not get done as soon as you make your couch your home.  I guess what I am saying is that sometimes I am just plain lazy and other times impressively motivated and efficient.  There are so many things I wanted to achieve this week:

• Unpack suitcases from last week’s trip (they were shoved in my closet to hide from party guests last weekend)
•  Fold my laundry (also a remnant from last weekend)
• Do the other piles of laundry that have accumulated
• Complete three additional runs this week
• Do two gym workouts
• Do one additional yoga workout (I did one, with a hilarious Irish woman leading the charge!)
• Do a couple sessions on the piano (the goal is to get back into playing again)
• Prepare to submit my applications for a couple of different Certificate in Public Relations programs (aiming for September 2013)
• Begin preparations to submit my writing to publications that people actually read
• Study for my accounting final (as you can see this is lower on the list than it should be)

The above is only the short-list of items to complete; I have a much longer list which essentially consists of organizing and purging my home.   I am hoping by writing this down I will feel more accountable and actually complete some, or maybe all, of these tasks.  But, what I am really looking for are ideas … 

• What motivates you?
• How do you stay motivated?
• What keeps you organized?

For those of you with children, I am in awe; I do not know how you do it.  I am looking to find a way out of my rut, I dream of my more efficient days, they did exist, I promise you they did, but I look back on those days as fond memories and fantasize about what my future could hold if I could only get up the gumption and get ‘er done. 

Confessions

Since my last post I have begun to tell people about my new endeavour.  I have found this to be the hardest part about the blog.  I told my husband on Friday evening; the poor guy, I was so worked up about telling him that I laughed hysterically, off and on, for about ten minutes before I spit it out.  (I should note that this is one of my quirks, I laugh hysterically when uncomfortable or overtired.)  With that kind of lead up I am sure he thought that I was shagging some other man, but no, just writing a blog.  I tried to explain that my apprehension was stemming from the fact that I am essentially laying myself bare for all to see, or rather, writing myself bare.  Also, the “p” word does factor in here.  Poo.  I am writing, essentially, about running and shitting, and, as we all know, poop is a taboo social subject.  The experience of trying to share the creation of this blog with my friends, family and colleagues is very reflective of the whole IBS experience.  Sufferers tend to approach the issue in different ways, depending on their comfort level.  I used to approach it by not approaching it.  It used to be something that I really tried to hide, and, I think this is the norm for most IBSers, especially for those who are newly diagnosed.  With time I began to realize that trying to hide it was more exhausting and stressful than not hiding it.  I should note that stress is one of the major triggers for IBS.  My approach to IBS and whether or not to reveal it to people has gradually changed over the years.  For the most part, anyone close to me knows about it, and, unfortunately for them, likely know too much.  I have decided that I do not want to have to spend my time trying to explain away the five 20-minute trips I took to the washroom today, why not say it, everyone is thinking it anyway!  By telling people it lets everyone off the hook, I don’t have to come up with a random excuse for my conspicuous absence and others don’t have to pretend to notice the length of time I have spent in the washroom.  

Now that I have that out there, I must tell you, it has been several days since my last run.  With a brisk -13 temperature I layered up and hit the road.  Overall, I was able to run 3.5 intervals of six minutes (just over 4k) before I had to visit the loo.  I suppose this is a slight improvement over last week, if only in the sense that I did not visit the ladies room until after the intervals.  I very briefly contemplated my “run after the run” strategy, but, changed my mind immediately at the thought of the length of time it would take to get my layers back on.  I should really be more motivated.  

Where all the magic happens...

Tonight’s run marked one of the few times in my life that I thought I was going to get run over by a car.  As you can see, I lived to tell the tale.  I can assure you that I was wearing light coloured clothing and looked both ways before I crossed the crosswalk;  there was a stop sign, so the driver really had no excuse.  I was pretty peeved about the whole incident as he proceeded to beep and gesticulate after nearly killing me.  I will let your imagination run wild with thoughts on how I responded. 

The dawn of my running "career"

After many lengthy discussions with a friend of mine about life goals and career aspirations, I am taking my first real crack at writing in a public format. My current career path is extremely different from what I envisioned 10 years ago upon graduating from high school. I pictured myself as either an English or French teacher, or professor. Upon completion of my MA in French I knew without a doubt that teaching was not for me. With this began my career as a public servant. I cannot complain about my career thus far, I have lots of job flexibility, I have worked within a variety of branches within my agency, however, none of this has left me fulfilled. If anything, this has left me aspiring for more. The problem is, I am unsure what it is that I am aspiring to be. So, in a nutshell, I am trying to double back to my first love, writing, editing and literature, and along the way I am trying to discover new ways to motivate myself and find my calling in life. I have a hunch that the written word figures in somewhere, but I am still trying to determine how and to what extent. Ultimately, I would like some type of career that would allow me to feel rewarded and challenged. I would like to enjoy my job and I do not want to be destitute in the pursuit of fulfillment. Given that these are my only parameters for finding said job, it is a little bit difficult. So, in a round-about way, this brings me to the title of this blog: "Running from the Runs".

It has been 10 crap filled years since I was first diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), type D (for Diarrhea). I have had many "episodes" resulting in great discomfort, weight loss and finally surgery. IBS is something that I struggle with every day of my life, and it literally consumes most of my waking thoughts, especially in public. Throughout my undergrad and MA I spent much of my time scoping out the good washrooms around campus. A good washroom consists of either one single stall/sink combo or a larger washroom with many stalls. In addition, good washrooms are located in low-traffic areas. I could probably provide you with a blueprint for washroom locations on each university campus that I attended. All of this to say, IBS controls my life, it controls what I do and when I do it, and, no matter how much I try to plan around it, it always seems to change my plans. So, in an effort to find a way in which I can control the IBS, I have taken up running. The reason why I have chosen this path is because running, and often walking, are huge triggers for my IBS. If I could run 10 minutes without running to the washroom, that would be a Christmas miracle. Therefore, I am on a mission to run a 10k, and in order to do that I have been running three times a week with a friend of mine to try and prepare and build up my endurance both physically and in relation to my IBS.

Before training began for this challenge I had to have a very frank conversation with my running partner. I had to forewarn him that running with me was not like running with your average person. Much like the washroom blueprint at the university, I have mapped a run through my neighbourhood that allows me to be in close proximity to my home at all times. What this means is that our route is very boring and repetitive, however, it allows me to get home ASAP when the wave of IBS and panic washes over me. In addition, he was forewarned that many sound effects and strange smells would likely join us on our runs, especially if the goal was to try and "run" through them in order to build up my endurance, for some reason he agreed to join me on my journey to outsmart my colon and learn how to run.