Giving Back & A Giveaway Winner

Happy Saturday folks!

First things first, I've got a winner for my Octaspring giveaway!  Congrats to Gillian Raymond!  Gillian look out for an email from me.  Thanks to everyone who entered.  I'll be hosting another wee one on my facebook page on Monday so watch out for that.  

I'm coming to the end of my leisurely week.  I'll be back on the workout wagon tomorrow.  I've quite enjoyed the physical and mental break but I'm looking forward to getting back into my routine as well.   I hoped to get a workout in on Friday but that didn't happen.  Thursday's late night took it's toll on me.  But it was SO worth it.  Totally one of the best shows I've seen in a long time.  And of course there was dancing.  Lots of dancing.  I'm sure that counts for a workout, right?

This morning I layered up and drove out to Sunnybrook Park to volunteer for the Toronto Women's 8km.  I love this race series and I figured it was a great opportunity for me to give back.  I knew a few people racing too so it was nice to be able to cheer them on.  I got to work the start / finish line area which was AWESOME.  Seeing the emotion on the faces of some of these women when they crossed the line was amazing.  I remember feeling that same way when I finished my first race.  Despite the horrible weather, there was lots of dancing and high-fiving at the finish line.  It was a lot of fun and it's definitely something I'll do again.

For now I'll be spending the afternoon on the couch with my feet up in front of the fire, watching the rain.  Maybe there will be some cooking this afternoon, we'll see.  I've been on a bit of a roll testing out recipes from the new Runner's World Cookbook and I'm due for a good meal prep session.

What did you get up to this weekend?

Have you volunteered at a race before?  

Recovery Week & Making Plans

After all the months of racing and training that culminated in my A race on Sunday, my plan was to cut myself some slack this week.  That meant NO running.  Maybe some gym time and definitely some swimming and maybe a a spin on the bike.  I have been pushing my body a lot these last few months so I really need a bit of down time.  I swam yesterday and just about died.  I was exhausted.  I floundered through a set that I'd normally have no problem with.  I shouldn't really be surprised, I busted my ass on Sunday and didn't exactly eat the healthiest food post race (eggs benedict with extra bacon, a pumpkin spice latte and pizza and beer for dinner).  But that's ok.  I'm not racing again until December so I can afford to take a bit of a break.  This week has been all about taking it easy.  

I was a bit stiff on Monday and my feet were really sore so I opted to skip my swim and sleep in.  Tuesday I figured I should get up and move around so I went to the gym and did some light lower body work, core and upper body work.  Wednesday I hit the pool and today I opted to sleep in again.  I figured I might as well since I'm going to be out late tonight and I want to make sure I can stay up, ha ha.  God I'm old.   Where am I off to tonight you ask?

Here:

To say that I am excited would be a gross understatement.  I bought these tickets in JUNE.   I have been listening to their new album all. freaking. week.  I am SO ready to go and bust a move.  I've spent the last 2 days chair dancing in my office.  I even took the day off tomorrow so I can recover, ha ha. 

Saturday I will be doing checking another thing off my 2013 To Do list.  I am volunteering at the Toronto Women's 8km.  I wanted to give back to the running community somehow but with the amount of training / racing I did over the course of the year, finding the time was difficult.  The timing of this worked out perfectly.  I've run this event before and it's excellent - the entire series is actually.  I know a few people who are racing as well so it will be nice to be there to cheer them on.  I'm going to be working the start / finish line so come by and say hi! 

I'm also starting to plan out my 2014 race season.  The first half of the year is pretty much figured out.  Boston is once again my spring A race.  I have several friends doing the Chilly Half so I'll be doing that again as well as Around the Bay.  This year ATB will definitely be all about race day strategy for Boston.  I'm not going to go out and kill myself like I did this year. 

The second half of my season is a big fat question mark right now.  There could be something BIG-ish for G and I but we haven't quite figured out the details yet.  It's also our 10 year wedding anniversary so we were hoping to take a trip to Europe in the summer.  That will more than likely happen it's just a question of where.  So stay tuned for that.   Either way, I will definitely be racing tris again next summer. 

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for my new favourite pillow!  It ends this Friday! 

Have you started making plans for your 2014 racing season?  If so what races will you be doing?

New Music Monday & Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!

I hope you've got something fun planned to celebrate!  I'm heading out for an open water swim and bike ride because you know, that just what we do with an extra day off in the summer!  It will be a good way to recover from my first long run in a month, ha ha.  July is going to be the month of the long run.  It's time to get my base mileage back up.  I ran just under 15km yesterday, a whole lot slower than I normally would but the goal was to keep my heart rate in zone two, which I did.  YAY!

Speaking of running, a few weeks ago I decided that my running playlist needed some refreshing.   Luckily that happened to coincide with a free preview on Sirius XM.   I don't normally listen to the radio but when there's a free preview on satellite radio, I'm in.   I especially love Alt Nation, which is not surprising given that I grew up loving all the alternative music of the 80's and 90's.   Once an Alt Rock / New Wave girl, always an Alt Rock / New Wave girl.  I also peruse the iTunes store a fair bit.  That's how I discovered that Atlas Genius finally released a full length album (it's pretty freaking awesome in case you were wondering).  Believe it or not, twitter is also a good source of new music if you follow your favourite bands.  That's how I discovered that Franz Ferdinand FINALLY released a couple of new singles.  Talk about making my day.  Unfortunately they're not available on iTunes yet so they haven't made it into my playlist rotation yet.  You can bet that as soon as I can download them, they will be put on the shuffle. 

I've pulled a few oldies but goodies out as well and put them back in rotation.  Most notably, House of Pain's "Jump Jump".  Such a good running song.

These are a few of my new favourites.

Two Door Cinema Club:   "Sun"
A fantastic summer song if you ask me.

Spoon - Don't You Evah
This song just makes me want to dance.

Blind Pilot - We Are the Tide
Yet another awesome summertime song.  Just puts a smile on my face.

Atlas Genius - If So
Off their new album.  Just as good as Trojans or Symptoms.  Love!

 Franz Ferdinand - Right Action
It may not have an official video yet but who cares.  It's really all about the music anyway!  I had my own little kitchen dance party on Saturday night with this song on repeat.  Drove G nuts, ha ha.  Just wait till we go see them live.  I'm going to be a sweaty mess from dancing all night.  I.  Cannot. Wait.

What tunes are you loving right now?