Catching Up

I'm back! I made it!! I didn't drop as soon as I crossed the finish line (or even *gulp* before I crossed it, like some unfortunate runners). I trained hard, stayed focused, and achieved my goal of running the entire 21.1 km course without stopping or walking. It took me 2:08.12, placing me right dab in the middle of the 9333 runners-strong pack. Yay!

So! Now that's done I can focus on stuff I've been letting slide over the past few weeks. Looking over my (depressingly long) To-Do list yesterday, "Blog at least ONE of my recent FOs!!!" was glaring me in the face, right between "Make Hair Appointment" and "Buy Thread for Quilt".

I haven't done those yet (Do I put the "Pro" in procrastinator or what?), but I DO have some pictures of the oldest of my Yet-to-be-Blogged FOs, my lovely Java Java socks.


Right! So... according to my Rav notes, I knit these back in March. Hmmm.... that's some pretty poor blogging on my part! Don't let their unsung-ness fool you though, I absolutely adore these socks. They're incredibly soft without sacrificing substance, making them quite possibly the cushiest ride I've been on lately.


Now, I'm not going to lie. Knitting these bad boys was a wee bit of a pain in the arse. Achieving gauge with this yarn (String Theory Caper Sock - can I get an Amen?) was difficult, and the wee cables, while charming, really slowed me down, despite the fact that I was cabling without a cable needle. Plus, they ate a LOT of yarn. I generally knit a longer leg on my socks, especially if I think I'm knitting man socks, as was the case here. I wound up running out of yarn shortly before the toe on the second sock and had a b**ch of a time finding another skein (apparently people are catching on to the awesomeness that is String Theory. Drat!). The one I found was a little darker than my first skein, but I don't think it shows that much, do you?


I used what was left of the second skein to knit Chadwick, which will be the next old FO to be blogged. Just as soon as I cross "Go to Bank" and "Bake Zuchini Bread" off my list.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Ready, set...

I’ve been refreshing my inbox like mad over the past few days, sulking that my bloggy friends haven’t been keeping in touch and feeling like nobody loves me (aaaaw!) and then I remembered that I’ve been a bad, bad blogger and haven’t really come up with a good proper post in a few weeks. Whoopsee!

So what’ve I been doing that’s kept me away? In a word: running. I’ve been getting ready to run a half-marathon on Sunday, and it feels like pretty much ALL of my free time is spent pounding the pavement. I’m feeling nervous, overwhelmed, and cautiously optimistic at this point. Usually all at once.

Will I be able to do it? Will running 21.1 km (roughly 13.1 miles for my American friends) make me a "For-Real Runner"? Will it be a one-time thing, or will I want to do it again?

When I ran my first race in 2009, I had 3 goals:

• Finish the race


• Run it the whole way, without stopping or walking


• Run it in less than an hour (it was a 10 km event)

I’m not as prepared as I’d like to be for Sunday’s race. I’ve yet to run the entire distance once (the most I’ve run is about 15 km), and I’m definitely not as fast as I used to be. So I’m not sure I want to set a time goal for myself… But those first 2 goals still ring true.

Wish me luck!

The Race

Back in high school, we had an event every year called the "Olympiades", sort of an Olympics day, and I usually skipped it. I wasn't much for competitive sports, as a rule. But my senior year I decided that, not only wouldn't I cut class on that day, I would sign up for the toughest event there was, the 2400 meter run.

I trained for weeks to prepare, and actually ended up winning a bronze medal. Of course, there were 5 of us in the race to begin with, and 2 dropped out after about 1600 meters. I walked the last 300 meters, heh.

Fast forward 17 years, and high on my recent fitness success, I decided to sign up for the 10km race of the Montreal Marathon. I knew the half-marathon was waaay beyond my reach, but the 5 km race seemed to easy somehow... I hadn't run since high school, but I thought : Just stop dreaming about it and "wouldn't it be cool if"-ing about it, and just DO it.

And today was the day. The weather was perfect (not TOO hot), and at precisely 8:45 AM, 2733 of us began our race.

I wish I could describe the feeling of running your first race. Even when you're really not racing it to WIN it, it's still exhilarating. I'm so accustomed to running on my own, only hearing my own footsteps, my own breathing. But this morning there were THOUSANDS of us! It took about 2 km before the crowd thinned out and I could really focus on my own pace and breathing.

I know you're all wondering how I did, if I accomplished my goals...

1. I finished the race :)
2. I did indeed finish the race without stopping to walk :)
3. And I did indeed finish within 60 minutes.

Wait... that's an understatement. According to Sportstat, my race time was 52:43.3, and my "chip time" (actual time from start to finish) was... 51:37.2!!!! 60 minutes? Pshaw! I finished 19th out of 284 women in my age group (30-34), 100th out of 1413 women, and 501st out of 2733 participants in the race. Not too shabby for my first time out, if I do say so myself.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

3 Goals

On June 6th I went out for my first run since high school. I ran for 16 minutes without stopping, roughly 2.5 km, and was quite amazed that I'd been able to manage it. I've tried to run 3-4 times a week ever since, gradually increasing my time and distance, in preparation for the 10km race of the Montreal Marathon.

The race is tomorrow, I'm super excited and nervous and - yes - even a bit scared. What if I can't do it? What if I get a cramp? What if I have to pee? :)

All kidding aside, I've got 3 goals for tomorrow's race:

1. Finish the race
2. Run the entire race without stopping or walking
3. Finish the race within 60 minutes.

If I achieve these goals, I think I might earn the right to call myself a Runner. And who knows where that will take me next?

Happy Knitting Everyone!