Thirty-Four

Between the time this blog posts at 7am Friday morning and the time I sit down for dinner on Saturday evening, I will have put 34km on my legs.

I have not technically been training for this incredible feat of endurance but I guess I could argue that I have been untechnically training all summer.

I'm not really doing anything out of the ordinary other than squeezing in my regular stuff into a fairly tight window.

Friday, after work, we're heading to the golf course for my beloved Friday afternoon pastime of 18 holes of golf.

Enter the first 10k of the weekend.

We will get home fairly late (by my standards anyway) and I'll fall right into bed upon arrival.

Saturday morning the first item on the agenda will be heading out in the early morning hours to get my 14k training run in.

Enter the next 14k of the weekend. I'll be up to 24k by noon.

Saturday afternoon Doug and I are back on the golf course for our second 18 holes of the weekend.

A final 10k for a grand total of 34k.

Toss in a sister date on Sunday and I'll probably top 40k by the time I get back to work.

Do I get a medal if I cover the marathon distance over 2 1/2 days instead of a handful of hours?

Zip's Easter Weekend Adventures

Hi kids!

It's me, Zip. Remember? The Fibit.

Well, I arrived a few days earlier than expected and I was able to spend the entire four-day Easter weekend with my new pal Céline. 

We seem to be getting along (that's a relief!) and I've already learned a few things about her. 

First of all, she's the most active sedentary person I know. It's crazy. She'll be all quiet and peaceful in bed for, like, 8 hours and then suddenly the alarm clock starts chirping and she's up. Next thing I know we're dressed and heading out for a run in the dark.  

Or a bike ride in the freezing cold. I mean I don't really track bike rides since I'm a pedometer but she took me along anyway. Probably to test whether or not I counted steps while she was riding. 

Well I'm pretty smart and I assure you that I did NOT mistake a bike ride for a walk in the park and I didn't count a single step. She seemed pleased with that. 

She also took me to the pool but I'm not waterproof so I sat in her locker. It was a little creepy since I was stuck in there with this guy named Dexter who kept crying out for her until she came back.  It was dark and she took a long time. I almost started crying too but didn't want her to think I was wimpy. Anyway, that's another story. 

So she's pretty active but then she'll also spend hours happily sitting quietly on the couch after whatever activity she just finished. Sipping her coffee and reading. For hours. 

Like hours and hours. 

There were two pretty crazy days though. Friday and Monday she took me golfing. I could not believe how much this lady walked. And she had already been out for her 5:30am swim. 

Both golf games took just over four hours and she walked and walked and walked. She also carried her clubs which seemed a little hardcore but she assured me it was actually quite comfortable and easy to carry them. 

On Friday she walked over 13,000 steps and I logged the distance at over 10k. On Monday she walked about 15,000 steps and together we walked about 11k. 

I've been with her four full days now and, according to my calculations, she had walked 55,000 steps and covered 43km, including a 10k run on Saturday morning. 

That's, like, a lot. 

Now, today is a work day so I'm guessing my job is going to become a little less interesting. She'll run in the morning before work which should be fun but she warned me that her job is pretty sedentary so I'm guessing I'll be having a pretty quiet day. 

Hopefully I can guilt her into walking around the block after lunch...

So far, my biggest worry is that she will forget to take me out of her pocket at the end of the day. Twice I ended up in the laundry bin before she remembered I was still attached to her pant pocket. 

Since I really am not waterproof I'm guessing I will eventually meet my demise in the watery depths of the spin cycle. 

Until then though, I'm going to hang with my new pal C and cheer for her on the golf course. 

She did well by the way...for a beginner. 

Meet Zip

Oh hi there! 

My name is Zip

I am a fitbit.

I'm a super-duper pedometer. As in I track your steps and keep track of how far you've walked in a day. I also sync with your iPhone or iPad and keep track of your progress. 

Oh, and I'm a wicked shade of green and just look really cool. 

I'm currently sitting in an Amazon.ca warehouse somewhere but that is about to change.

A nice lady, well I assume she's nice anyway, just ordered me. Her name is Céline. That sounds like the name of a nice person I think. If all goes well, I should be packed, shipped and delivered by next Tuesday.

Rumour has it that this Céline lady is planning to spend a lot of time golfing this summer. As in three or four games a week!?! Rumour also has it that she's a bit of a fitness freak and prefers to walk most of the courses she plays.

She apparently keeps track of her other activities (running, cycling and swimming) and decided that it would be fun to also track how far she walks and how many steps she takes during a golf game. And I'm guessing, since she is apparently a new golfer, she will be walking A LOT!

An hour of research, some reading of reviews, a few clicks of the mouse and voilà! I'm about to have a new home.

Give us a day or two to get settled and then I promise to be back with a review of how it's going. She might take a bit of getting used to as I figure out her quirks but I have every confidence that we'll get along fine.

Hopefully she comes with a manual...?

Stay tuned for more updates from Zip and Céline on their golfing adventures.

Injury Checkup

I went to Toronto on Saturday and, despite the freezing temperatures and biting wind, spent a good part of the day strolling around. Nothing too aggressive but more walking than I've done since coming back from Israel with a foot injury.

It's been exactly three weeks since my last run. The pain along the top of my foot had slowly diminished to almost nothing. I have no intention of running yet but figured a walking day was a safe enough thing to do. And a good test.

My foot injury didn't hurt at all during the day. Yay.

My ankle did a few times. Weird.

Every once in a while a rather mild but unmistakably problematic pain would shoot down my ankle. It felt like it was inside the ankle bone. Nothing debilitating. Nothing that stopped me in my tracks or made me think I should stop walking and hail a cab.

Later that evening, as I lounged on the couch, I gingerly felt the top of my foot. It wasn't sore but was definitely a little tender. It was back to what it felt like about a week ago.

I'm definitely not ready to run yet. And I'm definitely going to tack on another three weeks before I reassess again and, perhaps, attempt a run. That will give me at least six weeks off. Six weeks of injury recovery.

And six weeks of thrice weekly workout sessions on the bike.

Which I'm actually starting to like and look forward to - surprisingly.

I feel stronger with each workout and have managed to survive four sessions of Bending Crank Arms now. I'm getting quite good at isometric squats.

And to think I didn't even know what those were a mere month ago.

Where's The Food?

I would like to promise that this is the last NYC post but I can't because there's just SO MUCH to talk about!

When we were researching the trip, we read about a lot of delicious-sounding restaurants.  I started bookmarking websites of amazing restaurant after amazing restaurant.  Then, as I began to feel crazily overwhelmed, we decided that there were so many amazing places that we'd just walk around and pick from the hundreds upon thousands of amazing places to eat.

Simple.

Until you're hungry after having walked forty blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art back to 44th street with a detour to the Ralph Lauren mansion just for kicks (I still cannot believe that  I can write a sentence like that and it's not made up).

We walked down Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue for most of the 40+ blocks.  We spotted one italian restaurant around 70th street but figured we weren't even in the hub yet so we'd wait.  Then we spotted a few hot dog vendors and some sellers of giant pretzels and roasted chestnuts.

Looks tasty but not exactly dinner material.  How many carbs in a chestnut anyway?

Can you believe we walked almost back to the hotel on 44th before we found ANYTHING?!?  By that point I was rather incoherent with hunger.  We spotted a restaurant called Café Un Deux Trois.  It was hopping so we figured it was good (or perhaps it was the only place around?).  We snagged the last table.  Paté, Boeuf Bourguignon and profiteroles went a long way to helping with the hunger pains.  Thank god for the French! 

The first night, we actually had reservations.  There is a famous oyster bar in the Grand Central Terminal and we wanted to make sure we got in.  

We did! 

Clam chowder (New England and Manhattan) followed by calamari and then a plate of oysters.  Pretty decadent if you ask me.  During that meal I learned that I much prefer East Coast oysters to West Coast ones (in case you were wondering) and that just a titch of red wine vinegar and horseradish on top is pretty close to perfection.  

I learned that they don't heat Grand Central Terminal.  The heat from the trains keeps the temperature nice and comfortable even during the coldest days.  I also learned that more people go through Grand Central in one day than visit the Statue of Liberty in one year.  THAT surprised me. 

Blood sugar wise - eating in NYC was a bit crazy.  We walked (a lot!) so I purposely underestimated the insulin for most meals because I didn't want to be fighting lows all the time.  Instead, I found myself fighting ridiculous highs.  I'm talking about 15s and 20s several times a day.  I'm not sure why but it was so consistent that I began to think that New Yorkers season their food with sugar rather than salt. 

Whether they do or not, several restaurants actually listed calorie counts by each item.  Scary in a way but it did have a huge impact on the food choices I made.  So pretty effective too. 

Just to wrap up the NYC diary, here are a few photos from the trip that make me smile. 

They even got the accent right! 

Doug and a random child watching the skating at Rockefeller Centre.  Notice the tall guy is on tiptoe.  The short kid is not. 

Taking pictures from the Top of the Rock.  Hair tied up because it was whipping around in the wind.  The Chrysler tower in the distance and down to the last few hours in the Big Apple.  Quelle aventure!   

I Choose Life

I run to keep the diabetes monsters at bay. 

I cycle so that the side effects of this insidious disease can't catch me.

I walk to keep my blood sugars under control.

These reasons are very true and they get me out of bed on dark, cold winter mornings when I have to run for 2 hours.  They are also what push me out the door when it's hot and humid and I have hill training to do. 

Diabetes gets me moving because, truth be told, I'm scared of what might happen if I don't.

But once my shoes are on and I am outside, diabetes no longer plays a role in my motivation.

My love of exercise takes over and I run, cycle or walk because I love it.  Because I love being outside in all weathers.  I love exploring Niagara. I love feeling strong and capable.  I love surprising myself with how much I can do. 

I don't want to be grateful for diabetes. 

I want to kick it in the ass.

Diabetes does not go away so I have two choices:
- accept diabetes and get on with my life
- let diabetes hang like a cloud over everything I do. 

I choose life. 

So I guess I have to be grateful for diabetes for forcing me to decide what is important to me.  Some people are never forced to make that decision and, as a result, life just moves quietly along... 

Diabetes forces me to make that decision every day.  Will I choose life?  Will I take care of my body today so that I can keep it strong enough to fight.  Thanks to diabetes, I have built amazing friendships with people who share a love of fitness and the outdoors.  I have run thousands of kilometers and cycled for countless hours. I have crossed finish lines and have a dresser top covered in medals. I am fit, healthy, strong and happy. 

Before diabetes, I exercised because I felt like I should. 

Since diabetes, I exercise because I can.

And for that I am so very grateful.

“This post is my March entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival.  If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2011/march-dsma-blog-carnival“

The Walking Runner

Wow!

Walking is really different than running - as I am discovering during my 'recovery week' after the Bay.

Thirty minute walk last night.  An hour walk tonight.  Maybe an hour and a half tomorrow?

First of all, how nice is it to come home from work and then head out for a walk?  No changing into running clothes, putting on glide, filling my pockets with carbs, kleenex and lip balm, putting on my Garmin and untangling the cords of my shuffle.  Just grab my gloves and go!

Know what else is cool about walking?  It's easier on the blood sugars.  No need to adjust my basal rates.  No need to be rigid on what time I'm going for a walk.  Or for how long. Just check my sugar, pop a few emergency packs in my pocket just in case, and head out.  Sweet!

No need to stretch before or after.

No need to shower and dry my hair.

No need to throw on a load of laundry when I get back.

Just....walk.

It's almost too easy.

An hour walk takes about an hour and five minutes to complete - if you factor in grabbing gloves, zipping up a coat and checking blood sugar.  An hour run takes over 2 hours if you factor in changing, stuffing pockets, filling water bottles, eating pre run snack, stretching, running, stretching again and showering.

I seem to have a lot of free time on my hands this week.

But I can already tell that my body will not be happy with this routine for long.  Because deep down, I'm a runnergirl.

I'm a fast walker but a fairly slow runner.  Yet I prefer to run.

Tonight, I kept having to stop myself from breaking into an easy trot.  I was so full of energy that I could hardly rein it in.  But rein it in I did.  Because my body needs time to recover before the next running cycle begins.

And so I walk.

Want to know how to recognize a runner when they're walking?

They walk on the street - not the sidewalk.