I'm blogging over here now

http://winnieyeo.wordpress.com

Music Monday - one to add to my ski play list

I loooooved this song when I was younger. I think I may have heard this on a Warren Miller ski video when I wanted to be one of those crazy-amazing skiers jumping/flying out of helicopters and getting to be the only one to lay fresh tracks on the mountain. The feeling of skiing meant and still gives me feeling of freedom.

 

moving blog

I'll moving this blog over to http://winnieyeo.wordpress.com/

Not the typical Runners' Christmas Wish List 2013

These items are not on a typical Runner's Christmas list. If you're looking for alternatives, I think they're pretty good ideas. Please share them with me if you've got some suggestions let me know!

Help empower someone to make a positive life change - There's a local running group that runs out of the Vancouver Downtown Eastside - Run for Change. Running has definitely been a positive change to my life, let's share this! Below is a video on Benji Chu, founder of Run for Change.

Meal tokens - Every Wednesday I run with a runclub and I see the same girl sitting outside the shop panhandling. I've seen her around town and even walking down my alley one afternoon completely out of it. It broke my heart to see her this way because on Wednesdays she's typically a cheery, smiling girl. She's always happy to see the runners and gives us encouragement. I'm going to pick up some meal tokens from Save On Meats. Maybe this will lead her to a good meal, and maybe even further lead her to meeting some good people and maybe a different path in life.

Beautify your park - Most of my running routes include parks. Did you know that you can make a donation to help beautify your parks? Check out the City of Vancouver's donation program.

Clean water - I drink a lot of water. I have free access through public water fountains along my run routes and it pours freely from my tap at home. This is something we take for granted. Come on, we live in Vancouver where it pours down on us out of the sky seven to eight months of the year. But many don't have such access. I grew up listening to stories of how my mom, as a child would have to walk long distances to get clean water everyday. My uncle didn't have access to clean water either and he had to go carry clean water daily too. You can give the gift of water.

Time - Your time shared with me will always be cherished and much appreciated. Anytime my husband suggests we go for a run or bike ride - I BEAM! I'm like, "Really?!? For real?! You want to run/bike with me??? Yessssssss!" I have swallowed flies (Ew! But true!) by accident because I can't stop smiling while biking together. Or the time my friends wanted to volunteer for an event with me. We had such a great time and felt great for being able to give back to the community. Yes, volunteering makes you feel great! Material things come and go but time together for a shared experience is precious and lasts much longer.

Happy Weekend!

TGIF! What are your weekend plans? We're heading up to the Sunshine Coast with close friends this weekend. I love the Sunshine Coast. It's where I got engaged. It's also where I met my husband totally by chance in the ferry line up.

Yes, love does happen in the BC Ferries line ups. The summer ritual of taking off for the weekend had been taking place for a few years. My friends had often teased me that I would meet my "Sunshine Boy" up on the Coast. I would reply by making like I was holding binoculars and look around searching for my "Sunshine Boy."

It was the last summer trip up the coast for me and my friends and like every other Friday evening we were waiting in the ferry line up. We bumped into one of my friend's co-workers while walking around and passing time. Introductions were made and my friend's co-worker invited us to over for lunch the next day.

My friends and I arrived the next day, we had lunch, we swam in the lake, sat on the swing and chatted (he said he liked my itty bitty polka-dot bikini). That was it, that was the beginning of our journey. What a crazy, chance happening!

There won't be swimming in the lake this weekend but maybe some sitting by the wood stove. Playing with our friend's toddler and our dogs, lots of cooking and maybe some quiet time for reading.

I hope to sneak away for a bit to get a long run in with this pack. I absolutely love the long quiet runs up there, it's been a while. I am so, so, lucky and grateful for what I have.

Here's a great song, "Into The Wild," by LP. Have a happy weekend! :-)

Seen on my run: water fountain

Water fountain. Have you seen this? Can you tell me where it is?

Music Monday

A little bitty from 2007. Architecture in Helsinki - Heart It Races.
Boom-dadadadadadada boom-dadadada. Boom! Get up, get out and get your heart racing!
Happy Monday!

A sporty and organized closet

I just organized my closet! Aaah! That's so much easier on the eyes. I have a little wire basket storage solution in my hall closet filled with all my run and swim gear. I got tired of my gear strewn all over and aways digging around the basket looking for whatever it is I needed for the moment.

I love it when it's nice and organized. Yes, that's an old Nuun bottle - I bought them in bulk so I still have a few bottles left with the old label design. My husband's squash goggles are there too. My water bottles, goggles, gloves, gels and swim caps have a nice tidy spot they belong to now.

Drying shoes after a rainy run

Running in Vancouver means running in the rain. Last night I had what will be one of many, many months of running in the rain. Some people sing "Dancing in the Rain," I sing, "Running in the Rain."

Running in the rain also means wet, soggy shoes. Here's a tip I'd like to share to get your shoes dry again and ready for your next run!

When you purchase a new pair of shoes they're usually stuffed with tissue. Keep those! Or use scrunched up newspaper and stuff them loosely into your wet shoes. The newsprint will help absorb moisture from your shoes. This should take about a day to dry. After my runners are dried out, I give them a good spritz of anti-stink shoe spray.

Wet shoes

Take out the insides

Scrunch up newsprint paper or gift wrap tissue

Stuff your wet shoes loosely with the paper

Finally, mud or sand can be kicked off easily after the shoes are dry. Happy running in the rain!

Running in Barcelona

For our first honeymoon stop in the Catalonian capital of Barcelona, I booked a private Old Town Tour with Running Tours Barcelona. This was the sunrise that greeted me on run tour day. Wow! What a great run this was going to be!!

Sunrise in Montjuic, Barcelona

And here's Robin, my run tour guide who's also a professional run coach.

Robin, Running Tours Barcelona

Here are a few places we visited on our run:

We went to see El Gato - I like this chubby cat! It think it's great. (Sorry for the blurry photo) This well-fed gatto is a sculpture by Columbian artist Federico Botero. I love his style - all his subjects are chubby and round. This chubby Gato has been moved around a lot - seems that nobody wants or likes this poor kitty. He currently stands at la Rambla del Raval. El Raval is supposed to be a dodgy neighbourhood. But I didn't find anything dodgy about it even on a later visit to the neighbourhood with my husband. I found the neighbourhood to be very multicultural and vibrant with a little bit of edge.

La Rambla, is a pedestrian mall that is usually packed with tourists. Since we were up early only some shopkeepers were out. We stopped at Mercat de la Boqueria which is typically packed shoulder-to-shoulder full of tourists. This morning I got to experience the market like this! Just a few locals and shopkeepers. Robin also showed me other markets that locals go to and are less touristy.

Mercat de la Boqueria

Whoa! Where else do you get to walk over or in my case, run over a piece of art by a famous artist? Here, we are standing at Joan Miro's signature on his mosaic. He is the most interesting artist! When I was a kid I had a notebook decorated with Miro's signature and symbols from his art. So when we came across his mosaic was really special.

Running over a mosaic by Catalan artist Joan Miro

We continued along La Rambla and then ducked down a side street and into Plaça Reial. Situated in the square are 4 lamposts designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. As theses lamp posts were some of Gaudi's first commisioned works, they do not display typical curvy and organic Gaudi traits such as Familia Sagrada, Casa Milá, or Parc Guell. The lamposts are adorned with the helmet of the god of mercury and two snakes symbolizing trade and commerce.

Lamp post designed by Antoni Gaudi

From Plaça Reial we ran on to Barri Gotic, El Born, Barceloneta Beach... you can check out the tour map here.

We ran through El Raval again to return to my hotel. We stopped in front of the building where the vampire of Barcelona used to live. Enriqueta Marti, who ran a brothel and kidnapped children! Read about her, you'll see why they called the vampire. Gruesome!

I had signed up for a nice 10k with Robin but I enjoyed the run so much we ended running 15km! Really though, I could have run with Robin all day, he made the running tour so, so enjoyable. If you travel to Barcelona, I highly recommend booking a sight running tour.

Honeymoon: Spain & Paris

On arrival at the Aeroport de Barcelona-el Prat

My husband and I finally went on our honeymoon!!! Yes, we got married just over a year ago. We went on our honeymoon and it was so much fun! Our plan was to stay in a gorgeous hut with a glass floor over the water in Bora Bora. Then one night my husband and I did a 180 degree turn. We needed a challenge.

Spain! Espana! Spain would be fun! Neither of us speak the language and such an adventure would be educational in culture and language as well as fun! So we ditched the Bora Bora plans and started to prepare.

We downloaded Spanish lesson podcasts, listened to and practiced saying the phrases everyday for a few weeks. If you happened to see a girl walking down the street mumbling Spanish phrases to herself like, "Donda esta el bano?" or "lo ciento, no hablos espanol" or more importantly, "una placa y una cervaz por pavor!" and "delicioso!" AND of course "Ah, mi amor! Mi vida! Te quiero!"

To make it even more challenging we chose the Catalonian capital of Barcelona, San Sebastian and Bilbao in the Basque Country with a final stop in Paris, France. We would try to speak Spanish, Catalan, Basque AND French. (Don't worry, I'm really good with picking up languages) Did someone say challenge? Challenge accepted! With the help of Lloyd's Travel, we booked our flights, hotels and apartment rentals.

Posts and photos of our trip to come. Including running reports!

Happy Weekend!

DYN-O-MITE!

I'll be running with a few friends from downtown up to Grouse Mountain and then doing the Grind after. Can't wait! Join us! 8am meet at Georgia and Denman. We'll do a nice slow pace up to Grouse Mountain. Take a break at Starbucks. Meet some more people at the base of the Grind at 10am and head up the Grind.

Shit my husband says: Grouse Grind

Sunset at Grouse Mountain

After finishing the Grouse Grind, husband says,
"Now my co-worker can't bug me about not going to the gym!"
 "Oh? You went to the gym? You did 3 reps of some weights?"
"Oh, that's quaint."
"I just walked up a mountain!"

I think he was pretty happy with his accomplishment. From Couch to Cliff.

Timber wolf at Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife

Things I see on my running journeys: My first trail run

Pacific Spirit Park entrance

Apres my first trail run

I gotta thank Linda for taking me on my first trail run at Pacific Spirit Park. I loved the smell of the sweet, earthy air and the soft and often muddy trails. What a great run! Thanks Linda!

Things I see on my running journeys: Canada Day

Canada run top, check! 

Canada run cap, check!

Red Nike Frees to go with my Canada gear, check!

A giant Canadian beaver, check!

Canadian sled dogs hanging out, check! Ha, just kidding, they're not sled dogs but they are Canadian! Eh!

A run and chocolate chip pancakes

[12:07 PM] W: I'm thinking of doing a 10k on Canada Day in the trails at UBC :)))
[12:08 PM] W: (happy)
[12:31 PM] A: i'm thinking of sleeping in till noon and then eating pancakes with chocolate chips in them

Anyone running Run Canada Day? www.runcanadaday.com

So close to the finish!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I often feel guilty that my husband is always there to support me in my running journey. He's often with me at the start of the race, ready with backpack to take my extra clothes, water bottle, inhaler, etc. He's my personal bag check. He's often waiting with a funny sign somewhere along the race and sometimes he shows up at multiple spots to cheer me on! He's always waiting for me anxiously at the finish. He's also there to remind me that I shouldn't slack off today or no, today is a day for rest and my body needs it. He's always definitely there to make sure I get fed properly (because he wants to eat too!)

How do I get over the guilt? Well, I think something like this and start to sing in my lil' head, "Baby, I would run to you..." give a stronger kick and run a bit harder and bit faster.

Things I see on my running journeys: TC10K

New definition of a runners' high. From afar I thought it was a runner dressed as a palm tree but it looks like a few marijuana activists ran the TC10K too!

This weekend I ran the Times Colonist 10K in Victoria. What a great excuse for a nice weekend get-away! It was a great run. The race starts and finishes at the BC Parliament Buildings. What a grand way to start and end a race!

The last half was my favourite part of the race. It's a gradual climb from the 5km mark to around the 7km mark. This is where the crowds finally thinned out a little and I was able to pass a lot of people. I had spent the first 5km running into walls of walkers, people suddenly stopping and runners that run a much slower pace (but this is a fun run so it's a little annoying but expected) This portion of the course is also is along the seaside and passes Beacon Hill Park - so pretty!

Right around Oswego Street I heard music playing - Calvin Harris' "Feel So Close" and that made me feel so good because, Yes! I was so close! So close to finishing! Yaaaay! (I was so close to stopping and doing a little dancing right there!) But Andrew was waiting for me and I always feel a bit guilty that he's the one that wakes up early with me and waits for me at races (it's hard work being the support) so I just had to kick it a bit harder and get to him faster and finish! He met me at the finish with water, a fruit salad and coffee in his hands for me. What a great guy! I was so thankful for this as I couldn't even get anywhere close to the food and beverage tents at the finish. I finished at 55:07 with lots of energy to spare.

Point	Time	Time of Day	Pace
START	00:00:00	8:06:25 am	--
5K	00:28:00	8:34:25 am	05:36
8K	00:44:27	8:50:52 am	05:29
FINISH	00:55:07	9:01:32 am	05:21
		Avg. Pace	05:31

Vancouver Sun Run race report

Here's a quick report on the my run - Vancouver Sun Run 10k:

It was cold this morning! I should have left my place a little later - I arrived around 8:30am and waited in the corral for over an hour. I had fun trying to keep warm jogging on the spot and doing a little dance here and little dance there.

This is a really easy run. The energy is great. I love the sound of all the thousands of feet hitting the pavement. The rhythm and the carries me. Me and oh, about 40,000 running friends. Talk about AMAZING energy. I hoped to see some of my Sun Run InTraining trainees but didn't manage to bump into any of my guys.

I planned to pick up speed the last two or three kilometres but it was way too crowded! So, I cheered people who looked like they needed a bit of encouragement as I passed and thanked volunteers for coming out. Yes, volunteers, you matter! AND you make my day.

The run was fairly easy all the way, the music was good as well as the overall energy of the people around me. Good energy is so infectious. Oh and I had to make a pee stop just by English Bay - a kid butt in line ran into my port-o-loo to barf as I stepped out. I wonder what he ate? The wait for the loo took about 5min off my time. I finished at 1'00'47"

Things I see on my running journeys: weathervane

This weathervane is at Kits Pool. I have run by this so many times and never, ever noticed.

iPhone photo taken March 5, 2012
Things I see on my running journeys: weathervane at Kitsilano Pool, Vancouver.

Things I see on my running journeys: goldfish

Found: One goldfish cracker
Location: Seawall, Yaletown, Vancouver

Things I see on my running journeys: goldfish
iPhone photo taken March 2, 2012

Things I see on my running journeys: Inukshuk

Things I see on my running journeys: the Inukshuk and sunset. A beautiful night in Vancouver.
iPhone photo taken on Seawall on my run to English Bay, September 3, 2011

Things I see on my running journeys: Seagulls

Things I see on my running journeys: All my seagulls lined up in a row.
iPhone photo taken on Coal Harbour Seawall, September 30, 2011

Things I see on my running journeys: Hustle

Things I see on my running journeys: hustle HARD 
iPhone photo taken at the end of my run in Yaletown, November 20, 2011

Things I see on my running journeys: JOY

Things I see on my running journeys: JOY
iPhone photo taken on Seawall at False Creek, December 4, 2011

Things I see on my running journeys: RUN

Things I see on my running journeys: RUN
iPhone photo taken on my Monday long run. Burrard Bridge, Vancouver.March 5, 2012

I went out for a long run on Monday. The long run that I had intended to run on Friday, that then go moved to Saturday but not moved to Sunday because we do Ski Sundays... I'm trying to alternate Long-run Sundays and Ski Sundays... Anyway the point is I got my long run in, I was flexible about my run schedule, and it worked out to be a great day for a long, slow run.

Things I see on my running journeys: Totems

Things I see on my running journeys: Totem poles at Stanley Park, December 31, 2011

Things I see on my running journeys: LOVE

I'm going to start posting lovely things I see on my running journeys.
Things I see on my running journeys: LOVE
iPhone photo taken at the end of my 5.2 mile morning run yesterday.

Did you run today?

Me: I ran twice today!
Husband: Three times if you count running through my dreams!

The universal sign of surrender

 Just another Skype conversation that happened today...

• Me: I got a leopard-print neck wrap for my neck and shoulder. Hopefully it helps my neck/shoulder pain if not it matches my snuggy
• Him: Animal print?
• Him: Why?
• Me: Because it was that or zebra...
• Him: Buy another item
• Me: That's all there was
• Him: Animal prints make women look like cougars. 
• Him: They have a subtext of predatory animals. A woman on the prowl
• Him: You aren't prowling.  you've found your victim! (me)
• Him: I surrender!
• Him: See, I’ll lie with my belly exposed, the universal sign of surrender and married men