Attitude

It's one of those days and I'm in one of those moods where everything is provoking some sort of thought. It might be that it's the time of year when everybody is out spending amidst the cardboard signs asking for a little help, or it might be because of tv today... Watching IM Hawaii today was inspirational as always. NO, it does not inspire me to want to do an Ironman. The stories of so many people that have the will power to overcome and not give up, not only in their fight to finish at IM but just in life, is what inspires me. Everybody has a battle. There are 2 ways you can go: be optimistic and make the most of what you have, or just have a lot of self-pitty and put yourself in a hole.

When does the mind take over? At what point does your body say "no", time and time again, but your mind keeps you pushing? Thursday at our group run I felt off and I wanted to quit SO BADLY half way through the hill repeats. What made me finish? Drive and the will to want something that could be completely out of reach, and a matter of pride where I was having a tough time keeping up with the guys. Working with Noa and all the guys has been great. My confidence is building and because of that I KNOW that I can finish a workout even if my body tells me I can't.

Saw this video for the very first time at Adam's place a couple of weeks ago. These were driven people. I strive to be like this.

On a less intense note... A-Russ and I went for a wicked XC ride the other day; got good and muddy and was introduced to some awesome new routes! Note to self: put a permanent light on my cross bike. Christmas lights are up on the balcony and that's about as festive as I am going to get this year see as I'll be away next week.

Barring any stupidity or hilarity in the next week, this will be my last post before Christmas, so Happy Holidays to everybody!

Gunner Shaw 10k

Saturday morning I headed over to Vancouver (for the Gunner Shaw 10k at Jericho Beach) with Tyler on the 7am ferry. NOT a fan of the 7am since it means getting up at 5am, and I had only managed about 4hrs or fewer of sleep the previous night. Oh, and it was literally FREEZING when we got to Vancouver (-1.5 at one point!!). The ground was hard at Jericho, and puddles were frozen over with some pretty thick ice, but it was warming up a little since the sky was so clear.

Warm-up wasn't long or good since I was having trouble running...haha. My lower back is and was sore, so I couldn't support my core and my torso was basically collapsing. Plus, my torso was as stiff as a frozen tree branch because if I had any torsional movement it hurt! Basically the only reason I started was so I could run through a big puddle...which we were told on the start line was frozen and we were running around it! I started and I finished. Excuses are excuses, but at the end of the day I ran what I could and still managed to take 1:30 off my road-10k time. GS was a really fun course with a few hundred metres (each lap) of soft, loose sandy beach (which was terrible for running on), a nasty-smelling bog, and lots of trails. I figure if it were a 10k road race I would have been easily sub-35 since the sand and cornering on this course added a bit of time. So, I'm not super-happy about the time, but it was a tonne of fun for my first XC race. I am definitely not getting ahead of myself as there is a tonne of work to do, this year and over the next few, but it's going in the right direction so that is positive.

It is December, and base work is key. Logging the miles is the goal and staying injury-free is important. The back thing is my fault but a trip to my wonderful chiro, Andrea Sargent at Murray Chiropractic, will have me better in no time!

Here are a couple of pics from the run!

A little cold...


The start


Trying to keep my balance and find my footing around the frozen puddle!


Jeremy went through the puddle, I went around

Full Results and photos can be found at the Lions Gate Road Runners site.