Today I took my lazy self out for a run. It was not a great run, total distance was
3.97 km. Total running distance was
likely 2.8 – 3.0 km.
It was all I could
do to push myself to run as much as I did. I think my body is
punishing me for not training as much as I should have, and my body
is right, I do deserve it. I was physically capable of running at any point in
time but was too lazy to drag myself out there.
Given these facts, I think this week will be rather painful as I try to
get myself back to my regular running self. I am trying to turn over a new leaf in an effort to be more
motivated. This will encompass actually
getting things done and doing my scheduled runs and workouts, which will
definitely include one session at the pool.
I will not be hitting the pool more than once a week as I am allergic to
chlorine, so until I can determine whether or not my skin is going to react
badly I will keep it to a minimum. I want to start pool training so that my endurance is back to
normal in time to start swimming in the lake as soon as it is warm enough.
Aside from the disappointing performance today, I did
partially enjoy the run. I ran in Point
Pleasant Park in Halifax, which was really nice for a change. I am used to running on pavement, so running
on crushed gravel and trails was a welcome change. It is amazing how much lower impact it
was! As it is Easter Monday, there were
many people out with their dogs, their children and there were a ton of runners
out there.
The squirrels were out in full force!
Halifax Harbour...
Part of the Cambridge Battery in the park.
The other great thing about
the run was that I did not feel rushed. I
did not have to work because of the holiday, so I dropped my husband off for
his shift and then hit the trails. Now I
am finishing this post and slowly getting ready for another wedding I have to
perform this evening. It appears as
though wedding season has officially begun!
In terms of the IBS, I felt that familiar urge during the
run but worked through it enough to do a bit more before I really felt like I might
keel over from exhaustion. I did go to
the park prepared with extra Kleenex in hand in case I had to use the
facilities. I was, however, hell-bent on
not using the washroom as many of the “washrooms” are actually outhouses, and
quite honestly, I am a bit too prissy for that. I can safely say, though, that I have noticed
steady progress since I began running. It is very rare that I actually stop my run to
use the washroom; normally I can run through it long enough to complete my target
distance. I attribute this to the
extensive amount of planning that goes into a run. I plan my meals around the run in terms of
what I eat and how far in advance I can eat it.
This is part of the reason why I do evening runs, and unfortunately, why
I eat so late at night. I cannot eat any
less than 1.5 hours before a run, otherwise, I will not have enough time to
digest and use the washroom before I go.
But, all of this planning is definitely better than the alternative,
Princess Poopy Pants? No thank you!
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.
Last week I had the opportunity to attend
the Forum for Young Canadians, a program aimed at academically-inclined
students, aged 15-19.Students had the
opportunity to go to Ottawa for a week to learn about government and politics
through elections and cabinet simulations, policy group discussions and through
a series of speakersranging from The
Honourable, Andrew Scheer, M.P. Speaker of the House of Commons, to Peter
Stoffer, M.P. for Sackville-Eastern Shore, to parliamentary pages.We toured Rideau Hall and had the opportunity
to briefly meet the Governor General of Canada, His Excellency the Right
Honourable David Johnston, and we also had tours of Parliament, the House of
Commons and the Senate.What was my role
in all of this?Unfortunately, I am well
past the age of being able to attend as a student, but, I got to do the next
best thing.I was a group leader!I was primarily responsible for a group of 12
students, we were Group #6, (out of 144 students total) and it was my job to
guide the students through their simulations, chaperone on the various tours,
translate between French and English and help the students in any other way
that was required.So, in honour of last
week, I would like to take a bit of time to recap my thoughts on the experience
as well as how my IBS was affected for the duration.
Let me start off by saying that I had the
most amazing time ever.I found out last
minute that I was attending, as there were more students than originally
anticipated, so more group leaders were required.I left for Ottawa on Friday afternoon,
straight from work to catch my plane.On
Saturday all the group leaders met for the first time for our training
session.We were a mixture of Francophones
and Anglophones from coast to coast, but all of us are bilingual.It was a jam-packed day that ended with a
slight feeling of information-overload; I felt a strong desire to brush up and
study before the arrival of the students.
Students began to arrive on Sunday, therefore,
our day was devoted to travelling back and forth to the airport via school bus
to greet the students.We were there as
they descended into the baggage claim area, all of us apprehensive about the
week ahead and excited that it was finally beginning.I probably introduced myself to half the
airport that day, welcoming travelers to Ottawa, only to find out that many of
them were not Forum participants.But,
as with everything else last week, I quickly learned to go with the flow and
not get hung up on slight glitches.Sunday
evening the students found out who was in their group and we had our first
group meeting.My group consisted of 11
Anglophones, two of whom were bilingual, and one Francophone, who did not speak
English.To say that I was intimidated about
the week ahead is an understatement.How
was I going to create a comfortable group dynamic when everyone could not communicate
with each other?The answer?Translation.One of my most important jobs for the week became the creation of an
atmosphere conducive to discussion and camaraderie.It was my desire to ensure that everyone felt
comfortable, that everyone knew what was going on and most importantly that
everyone could learn from this experience as they had all intended to.I did not want my student to be at a
disadvantage because he only spoke French.In the same token, I did not want any Anglophones to be at a disadvantage
because they only spoke English.In
conclusion, this was the perfect opportunity to exercise my second language
skills!And oddly enough, it worked out
great!My Francophone student wrote me a
note to thank me for the translation throughout the week and even mentioned
that he now has the desire to learn English as a result of this
experience.I consider this to be a
great success, I emphasized all week how important second language acquisition
was and how helpful it could be in their future.
In terms of how the rest of the week went,
well, it flew by, there is really no other way to describe it and I am shocked
and saddened that it has already come to an end.I met so many amazing people at Forum, but
the most important of those are my 12 kids, we had a great group dynamic and we
really stuck together and got along throughout the week.Thank goodness for this, otherwise, the week would
have been excruciating.I cannot even
begin to describe how busy the week was; breakfast began at 7am and the group
leaders had a meeting right after curfew, this normally lasted until 12:00am or
12:30am.The students had virtually no downtime;
we had back-to-back activities scheduled each day. But, they were all troopers, they were able to
handle it and I think eventually everyone just got used to functioning on no
sleep.
I learned a lot this week, and I am quite
certain the kids did as well, but the group leaders likely learned as much as
the students.The biggest eye opener for
me was how intelligent and driven these kids are.I met one student who is hell-bent on
becoming Prime Minister, he has it all planned out, down to his party platform.When I think about myself at the age of 16 I am
pretty certain my deepest thoughts consisted of giving cute boys nicknames so
that we could talk about them in the hall at school.I certainly read a lot, but more along the
lines of Jane Eyre rather than pieces of legislation.He asked if I ever wanted to be Prime
Minister, I said no, never, and I never will, but I would keep an eye out for
him as he comes up the ranks.In all
seriousness though, some of our country’s future leaders were definitely in
attendance at Forum.They had a keen
interest in politics and government and were both inquisitive and opinionated.They were certainly not afraid to share their
opinions or question others.I was also
impressed by the support that they showed for one-another as well as to us as
group leaders.By the end of the week I was
crying on the phone with my husband at the thought of leaving the kids, and
then I cried when I told the students that I would miss them.And then I cried when they said that they
would miss me too.And then I cried when
they wrote me sweet notes. And then I cried when they took pictures of me ugly crying. And then I cried
when they had to leave.And then I cried
when I had to leave.And then I had a
glass of white wine on the plane… and then a few more when I got home. It was
like my wedding day all over again. I was
mentally, physically and emotionally drained.Did I mention we had to take the stairs the whole time we were there?My room was on the fourth floor, my meeting
room with the students was on the eighth floor, and the meeting room for staff
was on the twelfth floor.My mantra for
the week was: buns of steel, buns of steel.So, in response to the burning question: no, I did not go running this
week.There was a run scheduled the
first morning at 6:00am, ha! good joke.I
am not a morning person, nor could I ever have dragged myself out of bed any
earlier than I did last week, so instead, I kept walking, and sometimes
running, up those stairs.So today, as a
tribute to Forum, I made my way up the seven flights of stairs to my office,
and then back down at the end of the day.
I guess the other question about this week
would be, how did I do with my IBS?Fantastic.Shock of my life!I visited the loo as many times last week as I
did today.Why is this?I would love to know, because then I would
replicate it and live happily ever after.The really crazy part about this result is that my eating habits were
weird, and I mean, really bizarre.I was
a bit afraid to eat the food served at lunch and breakfast as I did not want to
have to run out of the House of Commons in a panic.So, I usually ate a yogurt for breakfast and
possibly some fruit depending on the look of it.For lunch I normally had a Special K bar (we
were not allowed to eat nuts all week due to some allergies) and a fruit
leather thing.For dinner I normally had
some plain lettuce.As a result, full on
starvation.So, when we went up to the staff
room at 11:30 at night I would have a pear from the stash of fruit and some
candy or some chippies.I know this
sounds completely and utterly disgusting and bizarre, but I would not touch the
deli meat, and I could only eat so many pears or apples given the fibre
content.I felt fairly confident eating such
food at that hour because I knew that I would have enough time to
digest before our day really got started, this was also why I was tentative
about eating throughout the day, as we were so busy that I was paranoid I would
be faced with an awkward situation.No
one could have ever prepared me for a full week free of IBS symptoms,
especially given when and how I ate.So
today, as I had a Shakeology for breakfast, chicken, broccoli and potatoes for
lunch, I cursed healthy food as I made trip after trip after trip after trip…. to
the bathroom.
As much as I miss my students, I am
relieved to be home with my husband again, and to be sleeping in my own
bed.I was also happy to return to the
land of peanut butter, one of the greatest things on this earth.I have also been hydrating myself, which I did
not have an opportunity to do while away.I will, however, always carry with me very fond memories of this last
week with some really wonderful Canadians, both young and old(er).I hope to stay in touch and follow the lives
of these students as they bridge the gap between youth and adulthood, and
maybe, just maybe, if that student really does run for Prime Minister, I will
be able to say, “I met him at Forum”. Thank goodness for that Forum magic!
Above is a Youtube video from our Forum experience titled: "Stuff Forum Kids Say".
