Day 31 - Sick

After an especially fitful night of tossing and turning, coughing, and trying to figure out which nostril to attempt to breathe out of, 5 a.m. saw me crawl out of bed, take a couple of Advil Cold and Sinus tablets, and crunch my way through the snow and ice to my first ER shift.

Over the course of the shift, my cold developed itself into quite the raging beast that had me sanitising my hands every time I even looked at a patient out of the corner of my eye. After work, I helped Katie with some interview prep over Skype, forced some soup down my very sore throat, and then slept for a couple of hours.

When I woke up, I knew it was time to sweat.

I've heard a lot about working out when sick. Some people say that you absolutely shouldn't do it, and that you should save your energy for recovery. Others say that it's okay to do something light. Still others say that as long as the illness is above the shoulders (i.e., a sinus infection or head cold), that it's okay to work out as normal.

To be honest, I trust my body's ability to tell me when to stop or slow down, and my bigger concern is transmitting germs to people around me.

After some serious hemming and hawing, I decided to hit the gym, being extra careful to sanitise my hands and wipe down every surface I touched. I ended up doing 30 easy minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill. And pretty much freezing the snot in my nostrils on my way back and forth.

So glad that I have the day off tomorrow.

Days 29 and 30 - Weight? Wait. That's not what this is about.

Yesterday being the last day of 2012, it was also the culminating day for my weight loss goal for the year.

In January 2012, I committed myself to losing 30 pounds within a year.

It was an ambitious goal, but it felt necessary. I didn't like hated the way I looked, and I had recently found out that I have obstructive sleep apnea, which is often caused, or at least affected, by weight.

I had a hard time starting. My then-boyfriend was going through problems of his own and had some habits and attitudes that didn't support an attempt to get healthier and fitter. I continued to be limited in my ability to do certain types of physical activity following my shoulder surgery, and I had developed some unhealthy habits during my recovery, including eating processed foods (they were easy to prepare with one arm!) and living an exceedingly sedentary lifestyle. 

I also really like to cook, bake, and eat.

Doing what I love to do!

I gained a bit of extra motivation in an unexpected place; when I broke up with my boyfriend I realised that I had become someone I didn't like a whole lot. I wanted to make healthful changes and reconnect with who I felt I really was - someone fit, fun, and respectful of her own body. I began setting small weekly goals that I hoped would help. For example, I pledged one week to activate my gym membership, and on another week I committed myself to eliminating all beverages except tea without sugar and water. Probably the most influential goal I set for myself was to bring a packed lunch to school everyday. This eliminated the need to buy the greasy junk from the cafeteria...which also saved me quite a bit of money.

With concerted effort, the weight started dropping off, and by December I was quite close to reaching my weight loss goal.

But I didn't weigh myself yesterday.

It didn't seem necessary.

Who cares whether I've lost 25 pounds or 27 or 30? 

Nope, sorry scale.

I almost climbed on the scale in Amy and Katie's bathroom. But I realised that it didn't matter. I'm happier now with how I look, but - much more importantly, as far as I'm concerned - I'm happy that I've committed myself to a lifestyle change that will make me fitter and healthier. I feel that I'm doing something good for myself, and I don't feel right now that I need the scale to validate my efforts.

This doesn't mean I won't weigh myself ever again. In fact, I'll probably weigh myself in a couple of weeks. 

But I think I'm internalising for the first time the idea that the number on the scale isn't a reflection of my worth. It's not a reflection of my health. It's not a reflection of my respect for myself. 

And in other news, after ten days hanging around with a bunch of sickies, I was bound to catch something. Yesterday I was feeling pretty off, and today I felt pretty rough with a headache, sore throat, and cough by the time I reached home. I ran a difficult few kilometres yesterday, and today decided to spend half an hour stretching and rolling using my foam roller. It wasn't quite the intensity that I would have preferred, but my body is feeling pleasantly stretched-out and relaxed, and I'm glad I made the decision to let myself recover a bit. 

It is sometimes a bit too tempting to push onward blindly.

The speed of my run yesterday. Ouch.

Days 27 and 28 - A Dirty Hippie with Sweaty Hair

Day 27 was pretty unremarkable - I ran for a bit in the snow and slush. I'm quickly getting used to running outdoors in crappy weather that would previously have kept me in the house. I also get the feeling that I'm training lots of tiny stabilising muscles by running on slippery ground, and I am excited to see if it shows itself as better physical conditioning when I (finally) start marathon training in earnest.

On Day 28, Cecelia and I went to Hart House, where I used to work out during my undergrad at U of T. Since I was there last, they've significantly updated the upper gym with a new floor, and shiny, new cardio and weight machines - it was pretty fantastic, and I wish I had had more time to take advantage of it. 

Cecelia - you're famous now!

I ended up doing a fast 30 minutes on the treadmill, and followed that up with ten minutes on the stairclimber. It was pretty gratifying that the girls on either side of me on the treadmills were huffing and puffing and running intervals and I was able to run straight through. Less than a year ago, I couldn't have run more than 1 or 2 minutes at a time, and in September I ran a half-marathon without stopping or walking. It was a nice marker of how far I've come.

Love the Rvnning Track and Vpper Gymnasvm!

After my quick workout, I rinsed off in the shower and sped out the door to meet Katie for a Les Mis matinee (yes, we finally saw it!). I didn't have time to wash my hair.

And that's fine, because I'm a dirty hippie and I prefer not to wash my hair more than every three or four days anyway (and usually with some all-natural hippie shampoo that the Environmental Working Group approves of). I usually wash it at the pool after varsity practice (mainly motivated by getting the chlorine out), and even less regularly when we aren't practicing. 

Which leads to the following question: 

What is a dirty hippie to do with her dirty hair when engaged in the pursuit of serious daily sweat?

When I was in New York City recently, Maddie introduced me to Lush's No Drought dry shampoo, which was really nice - it smells yummy and allowed me to extend my no-wash time by a couple of days. Amy uses Silky Underwear, which is also a nice choice (and I will admit that I have a couple of little bottles of it).

I thought it was great...and then I read the ingredients on the bottle. Cornstarch and essential oils, people! 

That's pretty much all you get for $14.

My secret weapons against stink when I'm trying not to look cheap...when I'm okay with looking cheap, cornstarch is fine.

Of course, I didn't have enough self-confidence to just go ahead and mix some corn starch and essential oils to put on my head, so I went on a confirmatory Google journey to prove to myself that it was okay.

News flash, guys: It's okay. 

Crunchy Betty says so.

I searched out a bunch of DIY dry shampoo recipes, and tried a few, including one with cocoa powder, which is supposed to be good for dark hair. I couldn't stand the smell, and the cocoa really didn't help the cornstarch blend all that well, so now I stick with corn starch and mix in some essential oils (I really like grapefruit, and bergamot is also good). 

The secret seems to be loading up on dry shampoo at night, brushing it in so that it gets to the roots, letting it soak up all the nasty oils overnight, and then blow-drying out the excess in the morning. I also have the limpest hair you've seen, and dry shampoo gives the illusion that my hair actually has body. Fantastic!

Try it. Seriously.

Power posing on the stair, confident in the knowledge that my armpits smell like lemon and my hair smells like jasmine.

Gratuitous bolding.

Day 26 - Doing It Everywhere, All the Time

Today's sweat arose from the disappointment of a sold out showing of Les Mis.

After unsuccessfully trying to convince Amy that she might love to watch a musical on a big screen, Katie and I lazily took the subway all the way around the loop to the Dundas Square Cineplex to watch Les Miserables. 

UC, I love you.

Of course, it being Friday night, when we arrived the show had already sold out (COULD ANYONE HAVE PREDICTED THIS?). After significant hemming and hawing, we decided to head home rather than spend money on an IMAX showing or a drink. Katie took the subway, and I decided to seize the moment to get some sweat in by speed-walking home. I had originally planned to run, but had realised too late in the evening that the sidewalks were icing over and running in the dark would consequently be a dangerous prospect. So I set off on the walk back to Amy and Katie's apartment, with a nostalgic detour through the U of T campus and through the Sir Dan's quad. It wasn't as intense as I would have liked, but at least I squeezed in those 40 minutes.

Last time I asked Amy what I should blog about, she suggested broiled cheese chips as a topic, but this time she (more helpfully) suggested I talk about fitting physical activity into little packets of time.

The truth is, I have had plenty of time over the past few days, but most of my life is about finding little packets of time into which to slot all the activities of my daily existence - and isn't everyone's life like that, really? My schedule is irregular, and it's dictated mainly by people who don't know anything about me, my goals, or my life, and sometimes don't care. It would be easy to use that as an excuse to not get in any physical activity.

Other good excuses?

I'm tired. My knee hurts. My shoulder clicks. I need to relax and decompress. I need to study.

Need a few more?

I have to do laundry. I just ate. My apartment isn't clean. My sports bra stinks.

Cats don't need excuses to do the things they need to do.
They just watch squirrels whenever the opportunity arises.
I want to be like this with physical activity.
Bam.
 Just fit in another cat photo.

All of these are reasonable, rational excuses, and I'd accept them from anyone else but I just can't accept them from myself because if I accepted every reasonable, rational excuse, I'd never get anything done.

Not every day is going to yield a perfect opportunity to be physically active. In fact, most days won't. There will always be good excuses for not getting things done. But there will also be great opportunities for squeezing in physical activity - like walking home from the cinema instead of taking the subway (take note: I got home only a few minutes after Katie!).

A friend of mine is engaged in 365 days of self-care, and her first blog post about it (which I won't link to here, lest I violate her internet anonymity) talks about a need not to wait. I think that's true for my project, as well.

The fact is, I just can't wait. There are a million good reasons to not be physically active, and I may not be able to spend 2 hours at the gym, but I can squeeze in 40 minutes walking instead of a 30 minute trip on the subway. Sometimes what stops us from getting started is the seeming impossibility of the task.

I need to make it not impossible. 

I need to make it easy. 

And I need to git 'er done.

This is not a picture of me, but I wish it were.

Day 25 - Fine. Let it snow.

Today, the snow finally stopped.

Toronto is covered in a thick layer of pretty whiteness...intermixed with some grey-brown slush.

Gross.

On my run today, I realised that what I really like is either a thick layer of packed snow or a cleanly shovelled and salted sidewalk. The worst parts of the sidewalk today were those that had been shovelled but were unsalted and slushy from heavy foot traffic (I'm looking at you, Bloor! You too, Spadina! And don't think I forgot you, Dupont...). I had decided not to bring YakTrax to Toronto with me, as no snow had been forecast for my entire stay, so I had to pick my way along carefully. There were a few close calls where one foot or the other went sliding out sideways, but I managed to make it to the grocery store (my ultimate destination) unscathed but quite wet with slush.

And then I baked a bunch of potatoes and stuffed them with sharp cheddar and asparagus.

I asked Amy what I should blog about today, and she helpfully suggested I blog about "when cheese is broiled so that it is no longer cheese but is a cheese chip and a beautiful, delicious mistake". 

So, um...that happened.

Yep.

Day 24 - And then it snowed.

Yesterday I was saved from eternally languishing in Hamilton by Amy and Katie, my knights in shining antler-bedecked armour. The drive out of Hamilton was treacherous, but by the time we reached Toronto there was not a flake in sight.

So we arrived home, sat around in the living room, and ate lots of carbs smothered in fat with no redeeming nutritional value.

And then it snowed.

Ugh, snow.

Since I hadn't yet done my physical activity for the day, I knew I had to head out, so head out I did. I walked a snowy and difficult 45 minutes, arriving back at the apartment with snow so heavily coating my eyelashes that my eyelids were at half-mast from the weight. Two girls in Korea Town laughed as I walked by.

It was unpleasant. 

Today I will run in the snow. Think happy thoughts for me.

Gratuitous cat shot.

Days 20, 21, 22, and 23 - Run for Your Life.

8.5 urban kilometres on day 20!

The past few days have been all about running, with a few important lessons learned:

1. People wear trail shoes for a reason.

2a. Eating before running never works out well.

2b. As a corollary to 2a, half a wheel of beer-battered Brie is an especially bad idea.

2 very painful, Brie-filled kilometres...

One of the things that people often ask me is what I wear when I run outdoors during the winter. It's kind of a funny question, because I've been running for less than a year, so I'm definitely not an expert. I also really chafe at the idea that there is only one right way to dress for running - I figure that whatever you're comfortable in is the right thing. I also understand how uncomfortable it can be when you've got the wrong gear, though, so here's a run-down of what I prefer to run in when it's below freezing. Your mileage may vary.

4k for meta-day 22!

On my head, I prefer a Buff folded or rolled up into a headband. Mine is merino wool, and quite breathable while still keeping my ears warm. It also holds my earbuds in nicely! I don't like to wear a hat because I find that my head gets overheated and sweaty. I also like that I can pull the Buff down around my neck if my head gets hot.

Uh...day 23, you alright?

On the top half, I usually wear a long or short sleeved technical shirt and cover it with a shell to keep the wind out. I recently bought a pair of running gloves, and I like them because they don't hold all the sweat in like other gloves or mitts do (and if you've ever seen me run through a race water station and take a cup of water just so I can rinse my hands off, you'll understand why I prefer wicking gloves - I just hate sweaty hands).

On the bottom half, I usually stick with a pair of uninsulated running tights (those aren't the ones I actually have!). The ones I have right now are from Running Room, and I frankly do not like them at all. I find that the two important aspects of any running bottoms are the height of the waist and the location of the pocket. The ones I have do not have a high enough waist, which means that my chubby belly likes to squish its way out when I get into any appreciable distance (pretty mental picture, isn't it?). They also have a pocket in the front instead of in the back, the unfortunate consequence of which is that if I carry my health card in the front pocket it actually cuts the front of the my thigh! Worst!

Christmas Day run in Hamilton

Some people wear special winter running socks, but I usually just wear regular old all-season running socks. My favourites are Balega Hidden Comfort. I wear my regular running shoes, which are Nike Free Run 3s at the moment. If it is particularly snowy or icy, I strap on some YakTrax for extra traction.

Ultimately, running in the winter is all about what feels good for you. When I started, I couldn't afford any fancy gear, so I stuck with yoga pants, cotton gloves, and an old sweatshirt. I've slowly built up my gear, focusing on the most important or useful pieces first, and then increasing my comfort (and maybe my running cred...?) as I went. I see a lot of people running faster than me in some really crappy gear, which reminds me not to fall into the trap of believing that gear makes the runner...

Also, hello Phil and Shivonne - nice to know you're out there reading about my "365 days of craziness"!