How does one get fit without horses?

So as some of you know, I’ve spent some time over the last year on a quest for a way for me to stay fit that doesn’t involve four legged creatures that cost half a month's mortgage to keep…

The first of these options was a standard gym.  Why not?  Clearly works for some people.  Well I discovered you have to actually *go* to said gym to see any benefits.   Who knew?  And I used to go regularly after work, so why not this time?   Well it turns out, as energetic as I may be after work, after the 1.5h commute, I’m done.  There will be no gym as long as I have that commute regularly.  Turns out the only way I can do the gym is if I have a trainer and, well, that cost as much as my horse’s board.  So no.

Then I found P90X3.  Those of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while may remember that adventure ;)   Those who have not – it’s a 90 day program that I think I wanted done before we went away in Feb, so check out blog posts starting November-ish…  It was intense, entertaining, and effective.  I debated repeating it that spring, but well – life.  

Life in that we moved, which is a workout and a time drain all in its own J

Then the weather got nice – okay, that I can do.  There was cycling most of the summer, playing with Sasha, and when I got really desperate, I trained and ran a half marathon.  Yeah – surprised me too ;)  And cycling is high on the list for next summer too.  (some of you might note, running is not ;-P)

The problem?  We’re now back to that awful part of the year known as “not summer”.   The next thing I tried was climbing, which was a ton of fun.  I really enjoy the puzzle – knowing there is, in fact, a way to the top; I just need to figure out how.  Well that, and be physically able to execute it.   That was fun and entertaining, but has a few down sides – first it requires a buddy.   Steph was game and came along with me, but coordinating two busy schedules is a challenge.   Secondly, due to the aforementioned commute, I can only go when it’s packed.  Which would be okay, except that both Steph and I are novice and there are only so many routes we have a chance of making it up.  And then there’s the fact that while most climbers I know are very fit, this – at least the way we were doing it – is not going to get us there anytime soon.   Steph at least has riding and other fitness opportunities, but for me not so much.  

And then I ate enough cookies for a girl-guide troop over the Xmas break.   Oops.   Being pretty much out of ideas for fun ways of getting fit (why is there no adult gymnastics or circus school near me?!?!) I was considering P90X3 again.  They have different programs – last time I did the Lean one, and I’d be interested in doing the Classic.  However, my absolute favourite part of those workouts is the chin-up bar.  What can I say?  I was a jungle-gym kid.   But my bar doesn’t work in the new house.  Booo.   And while the program does provide alternative exercises, every time I have to use a stupid band instead of a fun bar I get really aggravated.   This does unfortunately, makes it highly unlikely I’d stick to the program.

However, the company that sells P90X3, also sells a variety of other programs.   “22 Minute Hard Corps” I’d been considering.  The trainer is the same as in the P90 series (and I find him amusing, so was okay with that), and the workouts are short, which makes odds of happening before work greatly increased.  But Nicole has done it, and from what she described to me it would not be a good fit (mostly because it’s very repetitive, which to me equals boring).   So I went online to browse the others; I read and debated and googled and eventually decided I would try Core de Force.  It seemed to be based on various martial arts – and the kind of fighting where your only opponent is a shadow, which I really enjoyed that one in P90X3 (lol went back and reread that post -- turns out there's some impressive foreshadowing there).   Wasn’t sure I’d want a whole training program focused on it, but meh – worth a try.

My lovely DVDs arrived and the first thing I noticed was, unlike many of the other programs, these are not half an hour.  Routines range about 35-50 minutes, not counting warmup and cooldown.  And looking at the calendar – some days you do two!?!?!  Right – we’ll get there.  Right now I’m only on week one and here are first impressions.   The first video, MMA Speed, was a moderately entertaining coordination challenge.  I liked the layout of the exercises (roughly a minute of exercise followed by 30 seconds of cardio.  Repeat twice.  Rest 30 seconds.  Rinse and repeat with both the exercise and the cardio changing).   I was slightly disappointed that they don’t do a good job of working each side of the body equally, but easy enough for me to alter once I figured out the system.   I was also slightly disappointed that it didn’t seem nearly as impressive a workout as P90X3.  Yes I was tired and dragging a little by the end, but not the lying-on-the-floor extreme of P90X3, and I’m significantly less fit now than I was then.

And then I woke up the next day and couldn’t get out of bed.  Like literally throw one leg out and let gravity do the rest because sitting up was just not an option.  Core de Force.  Core.  Did any of you catch that part?   Hahaha cause I definitely did not.  Right.  Made it through the day somehow but by dinner even breathing was a challenge.  Okay, day two can skip a day.  Core de Force for the win.   The next day I tried the next video – this one was strength rather than fighting and I did not enjoy it at all.   Evenly divided between upper and lower body, but the upper body section is almost entirely variations of pushups and I am simply not strong enough for that.   They do have a person doing modifications – so sometimes I did those, and sometimes I picked up random free weights and used those instead, but yeah.  Less fun.  And very frustrating.   The lower body part I was able to do no problem, again didn’t seem like that big a challenge, and again I felt it the next day ;)

So you get to repeat those – all good.   Then a new one "MMA Shred" – this one it looks like replaces the Speed video for the remainder of the month.  It follows the same concept – fight some shadows, do some cardio (running away from the shadows?), rinse and repeat.  Here though, however, there are some new moves.  If you try this and have zero martial arts training, keep it slow.   Please trust me on this.  I, as you may have guessed, did not.  There’s one move where you slide your hand (open palm) along your cheek (think as though you were running your fingers through your hair), this is to bring your elbow up so you can promptly use it to destroy the person in front of you in a sharp out and down strike (moderately good stress relief this ;).  All good right?  Except when you get going fast, and this move is combined with others that involve twisting, it becomes ridiculously easy to instead of running your hand smoothly past your face, in fact either smack and/or punch yourself.   Sadly I am not kidding.  Keep it slow and structured folks – the people on the TV have done it a few times ;-P

So the next morning my core wasn’t as toasted – although it’s possible I didn’t push *quite* as hard being
that I wanted to be able to breath at work.  But I definitely did feel through my back and shoulders, so still impressive even while guarded.   I have the icky strength video again tonight and then an “active rest” day – we’ll see what that’s about.  Next week there’s at least a couple entirely new ones; should be entertaining, esp as judging by the description both the difficulty and the complexity goes up significantly.   And assuming I don’t critically injure myself in a shadow battle, I’ll let you know how it goes!

One Memorable Day

My friend Em posted a link to One Memorable Day with a comment about New Year's Resolutions.   So my mind immediately went to doing one memorable day / month -- in my mind, memorable being exciting, emotional, fun, etc.   But what it actually talks about (here's to reading the article and not just the title ;) is setting aside one day a month to get something done.  Something just for you, that you've been wanting to get done for ages.  And it has suggestions -- learn a new skill, finish an unpleasant task that's hanging over you, volunteer, etc etc.  You have the link, you can read it if you wish ;)

My first thought was -- that's an awesome idea.   My next thought was, most of those suggestions won't work for how I try to live my life.   I'm pretty good at getting things done that I want done, and there aren't too many things I want to learn (read any) that I believe can be learned in a day.   So then I started thinking well what *do* I want to do?

It turns out there are a few things I want done that are not:
- what CDs I still have (all my favourites disappeared from my car several years ago) I'd like to get uploaded to iTunes.  I got half way through and the stack remains sitting on my desk, annoying me every time I see it.  Finishing that - while probably only a couple hours of work - would be wonderful.  And preferably before I get my new computer that will likely not have a CD drive ;)
- I wrote two or three novels several years ago that I never did anything with.  While I'm not certain I have any interest in publishing them, I would like to at least edit them.  A solid day dedicated to each would go a long way.   And at this point, it's been so long since I wrote them that'd I'd be coming at it almost cold -- far more effective really ;)
- My bathroom is still PINK.  This is very much against my religion and the only thing that really makes me cringe in my little portion of our house.   Now to be fair to me, it's still pink because we intend to make other changes that would require repainting afterwards.  But someday, hopefully someday soon, the pink has to go.
- Friends.  I miss my friends.  So many of them were connected to me through the barn that without the barn I never see them anymore.   Reconnecting would be a definite plus!  Not sure I like the idea of that being on the list though -- while it definitely has the feel-good effect said article is suggesting, it's in no way a chore like the other tasks.   So iffy on that one.

Other than that though, most of the things I want to do -- and there are many! -- either require significantly more than a one-day commitment, significantly more money than I have at my disposal, or both (can we say Africa???).

So while thinking this through it occurred to me that the one thing that I'm not doing that I really miss is writing.  Hence this post.  But more importantly -- I'd like to start Friday Flash again.   I'm not even sure the community I used to write with even exists anymore (although a few of its earliest members I'm still in contact with through the power of Facebook!)   I can quite honestly say my novel would never have been written, much less published, were it not for that group.  I don't think I've written anything I've liked since starting at the bank -- apparently corporate life really does kill creativity *sigh*.   Yup just went back and checked -- the last story I wrote that I'm moderately proud of was within my first month there.   Sheesh.   So I'm going to set a goal -- not a new years resolution, partially because they always fail and partially because as far as I'm concerned the new year is an individual thing that starts on ones birthday.  But a goal of one flash per month.  While once upon a time it was a flash a week, at the moment after about a two-year dry spell of writing, one a month seems more of a challenge than running the half marathon was!

It also occurs to me that one memorable day / month -- in the literal sense -- is actually a fairly ambitious life goal.  I'm trying to think of 12 last year...  Can you do it?   Let's see, for me, in no order beyond how I think of them:
1. Moving day
2. New car day
3. Half marathon
4. Surprise promotion call
5. Waterpark adventure with Chris
6. Thanksgiving at Linda and Jamie's new (almost) cottage
7. The night Chris brought home surprise cheesecake after we hadn't seen each other all week (it's the little things in life :)
8. Girls' night with Mieke, Aileen, and Emily
9. Steph and I failing our unexpected knot tying test (remember the snowman...)
10. First Spanish lesson
11. Winning the gold star at work
12...   Ugh.  So close.  Oh wait -- riding Cal and giggling like a little kid on her first pony ride!

I'm actually fairly pleased at that :)   When I started the list I had serious doubts I'd make 12 -- I wasn't sure 2016 was all that memorable a year (at least for positive reasons!)   Admittedly there are a couple there that I had no say or influence over, but hey - they still occurred!

So on that note I'm off to sleep and dream of what can make 2017 memorable to me.

An unplanned trip to 50 years ago...

So the rabbit is at the vet again.  Prognosis for immediate short term is good -- he can come home tomorrow.  Long term however . . .    Let's just say the mechanics have a pool going on which month he will die, and I don't think anybody's voting for anything past early spring.  *sigh*

Anyways - while waiting for the prognosis, Chris and I went to test drive a couple cars that are on the potential list.  So we went to VW in Burlington and I'm still slightly flabbergasted by the experience.  When we went in, the person who met us was particularly unhelpful.   First it was the completely disdainful tone when he asked whether we were shopping for new or used, with his entire body language indicating we should perhaps go to the used car store next door.   Now to be honest I'd consider either, but I was fairly appalled at the attitude.  At least the attitude Chris was getting -- since while Chris had mentioned twice that *I* was the one shopping, the sales ass (SA) had yet to actually address me.

SA looked particularly appalled when I answered instead of Chris, but so be it.  I mentioned that I was looking for some information on the Golf; did they have any 2016s left?  In the most condescending of tones "they've been gone for months."  Ummm okay.   How about 2017s then?   So he walked us over to the nearest one.  "Well this is our base model.  All the information is there." and pointed to the info flyer in the window.  Gee thanks.

Decided not to mention I'd already decided on the next model up and thought maybe I'd try leading with options to see what SA would recommend.   "I'd prefer a two door and will want the package that includes a sunroof --"  "Well this car doesn't come in two door."   Fair enough, had he managed to say it without rolling his eyes.  I hadn't even answered when he stalked off to pick up a pile of papers off a desk and flipped through them before stabbing one with his finger.  "There.  See.  No two door option."   Ummm okay dude.   But then he saw another note, "oh, this car is only available in manual."  "That's okay.  I actually prefer it."  "No, manual.  Five speed."  There was a long pause while he looked at me like he was waiting for the light to go on.  Then, slowly, "Can you drive a manual?"   Complete disbelief on his face; as though he was still sure I didn't understand what I was asking.  After I'd just told him I preferred it.  So that was the final straw for me.  But I was a little stunned trying to get my head around the entire experience with my internal filters working overtime rejecting everything that popped into my head.  Before I managed to come up with any response that wouldn't lower me to his level, Chris interjected with a very calm "Laur, let's go somewhere else."

Yes.  Best idea all day.  So we went to Honda, where the first person who saw us was about to meet another client but immediately went to find somebody to help us.  The person who came was A - willing to speak directly to me (imagine!), B - willing to discuss both used and new options with equal respect and effort, and C - answering questions as though they were reasonable.   Imagine that ;)

Sadly I actually really like my VW, but definitely won't be buying one from that dealership.  And when I bought my current one I had a similar experience with the VW dealership in Oakville.  Equally dismissive, but at the time my filters weren't nearly as well developed so that was ended significantly faster ;)   There are times I miss that me ;-P   I did eventually find a VW dealer all the way in Brampton who was inclined to treat me like a reasonably intelligent human being, may have to go back to her.  But really, how is this behaviour still acceptable?   Totally ridiculous.

For now, let's just hope the rabbit lives a while longer.  Because I have a feeling the next car will be a civic.

One more check for the list :)

Life goal accomplished!   Today I ran a half-marathon.  Weather was perfect, so got super lucky there being as it's November in Canada ;)

Chris drove me to the start bright and early this am, and even hiked to the start line to keep me company till the start (parking was about half a kilometer away).  So that was really nice -- and had the added benefit that I could keep my jacket till the last second ;)

First part of the race was good.   I was moderately amused by the amount of clothing that had been shed along the side of the road.  It was a longer trek along the road than I had expected, but nbd.  Then we ran down the highway, which was fairly surreal.   That was a long trek that was all down hill.  Very civilized :)   And finish was a run through a trail, which is where I generally choose to run, so I was all for that, and then along the waterfront, which -- being all of 10 mins from home -- is another pretty standard place for me to run.  So basically loved the last 1/4 or so of the race.  Except for the fact that by the end my body had pretty much shut down.  Ugh.  Fail.

The route (starts lower right corner)

My goal was 2:30 and I *almost* made it (finish time 2:32:27).  Somewhat frustrated at that as a km out, I still had more than enough time to make said goal even on a slow day, but I was done.  So done.  It took everything I had to just keep moving one foot in front of the other.   Why?  When 18km two weeks ago wasn't any big deal?

Well it turns out I'm a tad bit competitive.  Who knew?  ;)    N for the first 10km without really realizing I was doing it, I was making awesome time (for me).  I know I'm not fast, and I'm never going to win.   But anybody who looked like they were going about the same pace I go, I didn't see any reason I couldn't or shouldn't pass them.  And when my watch told me to take my first walk break, I didn't even really register it.   And the second one, thinking it was the first, I chose to ignore.

And were this a 10km race, I probably would've been pretty happy with the results ;)   But shortly after that I started running from break to break -- which I usually don't care about till after about 14km.  So not a good start.  At about 11km, I was past by the first marathon runner.  Sheesh -- that's not demoralizing at all (they started all of 15 mins before us, but the tracks only align for the last part of the race - their extra distance was almost all at the beginning).  Although was another solid 10 mins before the second marathon runner past us, so I feel the first one was an exception.   Several of the top marathoners had bike (either cycle or motor) assisting them so they could clear the pack and hold their line.  That amused me.  What really got me though was the ones finishing in the 15 mins or so before I did who were just loping their way to the finish.  Long solid strides that looked like they hadn't even broken a sweat -- keeping in mind, by this point I could hardly walk and had gone half the distance in more time.  Sheesh.

About kilometer 15, I had a really hard time and admittedly walked most of it.  This gave me enough energy back to at least jog if not actually run the next few.  But the last two...  Those were just brutal.  Usually I get an extra burst when the end is in sight -- even when I'm just running on my own.  And at that point, looking at my watch, I knew fully well I had more than enough time remaining to make my goal.  But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't even jog more than a couple steps.   I did manage the last 200m at a painful jog just cause I really couldn't handle walking across the finish line.  But I fought for that.  Hard.

Huge credit to the random spectators throughout the race cheering on and offering encouragement.  Actually made a HUGE difference.   Some were clearly race volunteers, others looking for specific friends or family.   Near the end there were even runners who had already completed.   And some looked like they lived in whichever house we were running by at the time.   But regardless, they were so positive and encouraging to everybody, and it really made a difference -- esp at the end.   That's actually the only reason I managed to run the last 200m -- random strangers encouraging and letting me know just how close it was ;)   There was a sharp rollback right before the finish line, so while I knew I was close cause I'd been there the other day to pick up the race kit and my watch told me I was almost there, I didn't actually know how close cause I couldn't see the finish.

Came across the finish line at the same time as a couple people so my name didn't get announced.  Surprised how disappointed I was about that -- it's not the kind of thing that generally matters to me, and not like I had a gaggle of people in the audience ;)  Ah well.   I crawled my way through the food tent and chose an apple over pizza.  This gives you an idea of how done I was. There is zero chance I could've eaten pizza and kept it down.  Not sure who thought that was a good idea.  Sheesh.  The apple was good though.   Picked the nearest available chair I could find and collapsed into it until Chris made it to pick me up.   And being the awesome husband that he is, he had brought my jacket with him so just as I started to freeze, I was able to warm up.

What did me in was actually the muscle on the outside of my hips.  That was a new one for me, but it basically seized up.  (Both were sore, but left was way worse -- my left hip has zero flexibility ever so not surprising it also complained more).   I wouldn't have been surprised by quads paralyzed with lactic acid, or calves screaming at me for the abuse.  But this was an exciting new version that when combined with a wicked side stitch basically hobbled me.  I made it to the finish on sheer determination and nothing more.   When I finally got up to walk to the car, I was hobbling like I was double my age.  Ugh.  And while not completely lame the rest of the day, definitely moving in slow and careful motion.   On the plus side -- I was able to run through the blisters that appeared about the 15 km mark and by the end was not even noticing them.  And knees and ankles didn't give me any grief at all, which is great.

So am I glad I did it?   Yes.   Am I proud of my little participation medal?  Absolutely!  Do I ever feel the need to do so again?   Not even slightly.  5km maybe -- I like the energy of races and 5km doesn't leave me broken for the next few days.  Nor does it take up my life to train for.  But this silliness?  No thanks.  I did enjoy disposing of my training plan though :)   It's the little things in life.

Adult Language Learning -- Take 2.

So as disappointed as I was by the last attempt at Spanish, I sucked it up and tried again tonight and it was awesome.  What a contrast!   Short version ends here.  Looooong version (that took way longer to type than to live ;) below.

I was targeting the "instant tutoring" again, which limits your choice of instructors to those online at that moment; in my case, there were seven, one of whom was the one I spoke with the previous time.   Two of the six remaining options were designated "professional teachers" -- the main difference being certification (although to put this in perspective, by their rules I qualify as a professional teacher too -- thanks CELTA ;) -- there's nothing about actual experience required...

Regardless, I figured I could use pro help and while prices are more, they're still significantly less than I'd expect to pay for qualified teaching around here (convenient as I can't currently afford said qualified teaching here -- AND I'd have to leave my lovely office to get it.  All bad really.)  So that narrowed my choice to two.  Took a quick look at both profiles.  One had significantly more experience and a higher degree of English, so I started there.  Looking at his availability though (since I do actually want to find a coach I can work with for a bit) was a bit off-putting as he didn't have any times in his schedule that would work for me.  Booo.  But he was online, so I fired off a message asking if this was a normal time for him to be on and the schedule was maybe out of date?

While waiting for a response I went to the other guy's page -- his video really caught my attention.  For one thing, he put some effort into it -- it had a real introduction rather than just a talking head.  Second thing that appealed to me, he spoke both in Spanish and English on the video, AND the Spanish was slow enough that much of it I could understand, and that that was beyond me at least was enunciated clearly enough that I could pick up individual words.  The English was also entirely reasonable.  Could've been reading a script of course, but worth a try.   So still having not heard back from guy one (and by this time way more interested in the second one) I looked at his teaching schedule -- and it's basically every weekday evening from 6pm-1am and on Sundays during the day.  Ummm perfect.

With that in mind I sent him an instant lesson request and explained as I had last time that the entirety of my experience was due to DuoLingo and online training and that I really wanted to learn to speak but was starting pretty much from scratch.  First obvious change - lesson request was accepted within seconds and we were connected.  Second obvious change -- he had his video turned on rather than just a picture.  Much as I don't love video, I've learned from work how helpful it can be in certain situations so I appreciated it.

So we did the "hi, how are you?" part of the conversation and then he sent me a file with a lesson plan.  On first glance it looked like it might be a little basic even for me, but figured I'd go along with it and see.  But it was actually awesome.  He walked me through some basics (that I actually already knew but no worries) with useful phrases.  I had a pretty good clue here that he actually *is*  a teacher and not someone who collects certifications *cough* in that his phrases included both the correct pronunciation and what you'd actually hear.  It was something I'd never considered until I was taught to teach English but we do, indeed, regularly drop syllables in speech that we include in writing.   When was the last time you pronounced all of "Wednesday" (wendsday) or even "business" (biznes)?   Similarly we slur multiple words together all the time.  "Have" is one of the worst for those -- I'd've, she'd've.   Or change them all together:  want to = wanna.  If you're just learning, that's really hard to deal with.  And in my little cheat sheet, it was called out for me -- both the correct version as you'd see written or in formal speech and what you'd actually hear in normal conversation.

So this simple but impressive intro was followed with two scripted conversations which we read.  This was actually super helpful as it allowed me to focus on pronunciation and flow rather than trying to think of words.  And one of the conversations I knew what I was saying but the other one I didn't have a clue *g*   Fortunately he also included translations of both.  Then we moved on to unscripted conversation where he helped me fill in blanks that were beyond me.   His English was solid and he was easily able to translate the things I asked (incl everything the other guy couldn't the other day) so that was super helpful.   The other thing he did that I appreciated was he spoke to me consistently in Spanish.  Slow (and presumably simplified) Spanish to be sure, and he would translate for me if I really didn't get it, but he at least gave me a shot at figuring it out on my own.  Which is kinda the whole point of this exercise.  So I was happy about that.

While my last lesson I was constantly watching the clock waiting for it to be over; this one I didn't even notice we'd run out of time till he told me.  I figure that's a good sign :)   So I think I'll keep working with this one for a bit; try to get some sort of regular cadence going to lessons.  I figure an indoor challenge is a good idea for winter ;-P   Doesn't help the fitness issue at all, but should help keep my little mind busy.

Oh and I now have four songs on my Spanish playlist -- hahaha moving up in the world ;)   I'm finding it fascinating how my brain interprets.  When I really don't know what's going on, it substitutes English words that sound vaguely like what's being said in Spanish.  Once it was actually right *g*  But that was only cause in that case the Spanish words were nearly identical to the same in English.   Have to get lucky occasionally :)   And the other thing that's really cool, is what was just a fast jumble of incomprehensible words is starting to slow down in my head so I can pick out individual words (whether or not I know what they mean is a different challenge).  It amuses me when my brain finally figures out where to insert spaces so that we have actual words ratherthanjustamumbledjumbleofsounds.

Todavía no hablo español... Pero he intentado!

So last night was my first attempt at a conversation in Spanish.  I ventured into the world of italki which connects people who want to speak one-another's languages.  When you sign up you define which languages you speak and your fluency with each.  Then you can either chat with random people who are fluent in the language you want while trying to learn the one you speak (free), or connect with either a tutor or a teacher -- both of which are paid.  Full disclosure -- if you do decide it's something you're interested in, please use that link cause I'll get credits :)

Being a native English speaker is definitely a plus in this environment as a disproportionate number of people are looking to improve their English, which ups the pool of people to talk to significantly.  And while I'm actually super over-qualified to be in this pool (and have zero inclination to be in the paid category) I figure that might help balance out the patience required to speak with somebody who is brand new to the language.

Since going into this, my sole Spanish conversation to this point had included "hello", "please", "thank you", and asking for a drink, I decided that perhaps I should start in the paid category, preferably with someone who works with beginners.  For tutors and teachers there are options to either book a lesson or to just chat now.  So I found someone who was online at the moment, claimed a high fluency in English, and whose profile had several references to patience and went with that.  When you ask to connect, you can include a message -- so I included that I had been using DuoLingo but had never spoken Spanish at all.  Complete beginner.  He said that was fine and could start in two minutes.

Sweet.  Or not.  As those who know me IRL will be aware, small talk is far from my favourite thing.  I am also not particularly patient with myself when I'm learning something new.   All the patience in the world for students and animals; applying it to myself? More of a challenge!  At work the latest thing is to "fail fast" in order to improve.  I'm all kinds of good at supporting it there.  Less in developing my own skills.  I want to be good at it *now*.  Sheesh.  But then I read something in the multitude of language learning stuff I've come across in the last little while that made this point (paraphrasing cause I've long since lost the article but this stuck with me): "you have to let yourself be that guy.  Be the one who says "me happy" and "I go school" because the ones who are willing to start there, are the ones who will learn to speak fluently.  And several articles that say start talking on day one.  Literally.  As soon as you can possibly put together a few words.  Those two together pushed me into this.

And you know what?  I am, theoretically, okay with being that person.  As long as the person I'm talking to knows what they're getting into ;)   Hence the intro.  So we connect and after we get past hi, how are you (yeah, I know that one!) he tells me he'll ask the question in Spanish, I should answer in English, and then he'll tell me how to say my answer in Spanish.   Ummmm ok...  I guess.  But I was so disappointed.  The whole point was for me to figure out how to say it myself.   So we did this a bit and it was okay -- less good than it could've been as his English was not as brilliant as advertised and several times he was unable to provide the Spanish translation.

And as we're doing this he told me I shouldn't do any of the chats, I just sign up for lessons.  And I should be sure to tell them I was brand new.  Awesome. So positive.  And I'm pretty sure I word for word did that.  And the whole point is I want to learn to chat.  I'm enrolled in one online uni course and play with DuoLingo daily -- my reading comprehension is way beyond my listening and my vocabulary is growing rapidly but I can't actually speak it.  (Squirrel! - anybody who's bored and likes to learn stuff:  Future Learn Open University -  eclectic combination of free university level courses)

Anyways - I did eventually convince him to let me try some sentences myself and quickly learned a few things.  While I'm *theoretically* okay with being brand new at something, I'm not actually okay with butchering somebody's language in front of a native speaker, even one who is being paid to help me.  I'd get half way through a sentence and actually have to force myself to continue.  Less fun.  Also, it is So. Pain-fully. Slow.   You know how choppy that sentence was when you read it in your head?  Multiply by 100.  By the time I figure out what I want to say, how I'm going to say it with the words in my limited vocabulary, and then what order to put those words in, there are very long pauses between said words while I'm speaking.  My mitigation plan for that for next time will be to have a bunch of random small-talk type phrases written out ahead of time that I can use as need be ;)   And worst of all, even when all the stars align and unicorns fart glitter and I do manage to get all the words out in the right order, I'm still not understood.  How do I know this?  Because when he wrote back to me what I "should have said" it was exactly what I'd been trying to say.   So I had everything right but was either too choppy or my pronunciation was too horrible to be understood.  As negative as it sounds though, that part was actually encouraging to me.  It shows I *am* learning through my other channels, and clearly have a need for this one too.  Since, well, the whole goal is conversational Spanish and last I checked speaking was a key component of that *g*   But perhaps with a different tutor ;)

The one thing this tutor did do that I liked was kept a text chat window open as well and when I didn't understand something he said or when he was trying to get me to repeat something back to him, he'd type it.  Since my reading skills currently far surpass either my listening or my writing skills, this was all kinds of useful for clarification.

So yeah, I currently have a fairly high level of anxiety about trying it again.  But anxiety and excitement are closely related and I suspect if I can connect with the right tutor it could easily switch and be an interesting challenge.  Would ideally like to get to the point where I can hold enough of a conversation to flip to the free area :)   But lessons are not at all expensive (ranging from about $2-$20 an hour -- and the top end of that is for actual qualified professional language teachers).   Individuals set their own rates and they're all posted and paid through italki so all good there.

Ah well -- webinar tomorrow about learning through music, which I'm currently *really* enjoying -- far more than I expected.  So maybe try the speaking idea again on Friday...

In completely unrelated news -- had *so* much fun at dinner with the girls last weekend.  Dinner that was about six hours of chatting.  Came home so relaxed and happy.  I feel that should happen more often :)   Really looking forward to the Royal now!

Finding brilliance in every day products

So in last night's Spanish lesson I learned that "contigo" means "with you" -- meaning my favourite travel mugs are far more intelligently named than I'd ever imagined.  Makes me wonder what other products in my life have names that have really relevant meanings in other languages.  You always hear of the opposite -- warning to check any product name in other languages to make sure when it takes off you're not accidentally offending an entire population.  But somehow it never occurred to me to wonder about the reverse.

My new favourite youtube language learning is people who post both Spanish and English lyrics to a song.  Seriously fast-forwarding at least my interest if not my actual knowledge ;)   This isn't the Contigo one, which was also fun, but it's better done :)   And having read some atrocious translations, I have a new serious appreciation for those who can create good ones.


In other news, I'm now at the point where I actively despise running.  Fail.  Going to stick it out till I run the half marathon just cause, but after that I need a new hobby.  Clearly don't know what to do with myself without a horse to occupy my time.  The three hours of commuting every day certainly eats a chunk of it, but the rest...   Would like to try indoor climbing for a couple months, but that requires a buddy. Anybody in the Burlington area bored and want to try it for a few months? ;)   We'll see - maybe time to go make climbing friends *g*

Five weeks left (not that I'm counting)...

So let me set the scene for you.   It's Sunday.  Chris is working, so I have the house to myself.  It's cold out and pouring rain.  The perfect day for a hot mug of hot chocolate (I even have whipped cream!) and curling up in my comfy chair with a blanket, a dog, and a book.  Sounds amazing right?

So why, what possible reason, did I sacrifice all that to go for a run.   Seriously.

Sash got all excited when she saw me getting ready, bounced out the door full of enthusiasm.  Stopped abruptly when she saw the rain and looked back over her shoulder at me with "you've got to be kidding right?"

You know what?  The world would be a better place if people listened to their animals.  Instead, I convinced her to hop in the car.  "oh car?  okay!  Car is dry and could go somewhere fun!"   We drove to where I usually start to run and she's all excited cause she knows this place.  I open the door, she sticks her head out then scrunches back with this *look* on her face.   Snowstorms?  No problem.  But rain?  Rain is not in her contract.

Anyways, she deigned to come along and the first km or so was really funny to watch as she kept trying to shake the rain off while she was running.  Our first km was the fastest since I've started back at this whole running thing.  Still not nearly as fast as I was in 2014 (according to watch data) but def better than before.  Apparently I don't like rain either.  Sadly though I paid for it in that it was unsustainable for me and I felt pretty miserable the rest of the run.   At least at one point the sun came out -- so that part was lovely.  I do wish the weather network had deigned to tell me that was in the plans, cause I def could have waited *g*   Ah well, unlike the last run, at least this one I wasn't freezing.  A plus.

And at the end, while I was done -- as in meat is scorched, smoke alarms are screaming, kind of done -- Sasha was bouncing around trying to get me to throw rocks for her so she could jump high and run more.  Sheesh.  Ah well, family dinner tonight so she can go play with Bailey :)

What was I thinking?

Short version: tonight I ran 14km.

Long version...  Do you really want the long version?   It may be longer than the actual running of it ;)

Okay so this story starts with me really questioning the half marathon goal ;)  Seriously?  It's fall now.  Being outside is not fun.   Running is not fun.   Why would I pick a target that includes two not fun things?   You know what would be fun?  A good movie, hot chocolate, and a fireplace.  That would be fun.  Regardless, stupid Lauren set a not fun goal.  I haven't run at all since Sat, mostly due to life, and I knew I wouldn't tomorrow so I wanted to get tomorrow's long run in tonight.  All good right?   Except cold, windy, and a crazy storm approaching.

So I went to the rail trail, thought being trees, lots of them, would help negate the wind and some of the rain should it hit.  When I started, my body worked very hard to convince me that this was a very stupid idea.  My knee hurt for a bit, then it felt fine and the other knee hurt, then I got a wicked cramp -- all within the first three km ;)   N I basically told my body to quit whining and kept going.   

Apparently it's a thing?!?!  Seems like a horrible idea really, but it did work.

Running on the rail trail where I go, the run out is all uphill and the run home is downhill.  It's a slight slope, but noticeable.  And I'm amused by the mental games I play.  I know most sports competition is in huge part mental -- but I'm just learning how that applies to running.  For instance, I had a plan to run 14km (which, btw, I should get a gold star for since the "official" plan was only 13 -- but I don't like how the official plan doesn't build past 16 before race day so I've altered slightly ;).  Anyways -- back to our story.  Targeting 14km.  At 3km I celebrated the half-way point.   And I wasn't wrong ;)  How?   Well 14km is 7km out and 7km back.  Half of 7km is 3.5km, 3.5km is a part of kilometer 3.  So therefore as I passed the 3km marker I justified to myself that I was almost half way there!  Easy!   Then when I get "there", I can turn around and it's "just run home".  And since it's downhill home, it's even easier.  

The other thing that keeps my brain occupied is basic arithmetic.  If I'm running for six minutes and walking for one, and my watch says I've been going for 52 minutes, how long till my next walk break ;)  I can honestly say that this is the only word problem that has ever applied to my daily life.  And I'm getting very good at solving for it ;)  Unfortunately that means it's not a particularly long distraction.

On this route, I consistently find the 5th km more of a challenge than the rest -- maybe it has a slight extra slope?  I don't know.  But I slowly made my way through it and got to the trains!  Wooho.  Now to be honest, I couldn't care less about the trains -- but it's something different so it's a thing.  It's a little thing, but a thing.   Shortly after km 6, I had to pause because a girl was riding towards me and her horse was having nothing to do with coming towards me, so I stood till he relaxed.  Girl was a good rider and dealt with him competently and thanked me for stopping so all good.  Issue is, when I started back up I hit the wrong button on my watch.  Fail :(   So I started it back up but of course it tagged it as a new run.  When I got home I googled combining the files but it was pretty much a fail :(   Sad -- I wanted my new trophy for longest run!  (I didn't have said watch when I last ran a 15k race ;)

Anyways -- the mental games continued with "only 1/2 km till you're there -- that's easy!" -- there, of course, being the 7km mark ;)

The run home was so much better!  My body wasn't hurting anymore, there was next to nobody on the trail, the wind was so loud in the trees I felt like nature was making up for the lack of music, and things were good.  At some point on the way my quads started to feel sore -- but the good kind of muscle sore, not hurting so okay.  And unfortunately it got rather dark.  Hmmmm tricky.  The rain opened up just as I got back in my car so I forwent stretching and hopped in.

Truly awful life choice.  By the time I got home I was so unbelievably seized up.  Ugh.  No fun at all. Glad I'm teaching XC tomorrow if for no other reason than it'll make me go for a long walk.

I also learned I'm going to have to figure out how to dress -- unlike other sports, you can't shed layers as you warm up.  Well I suppose you *could* -- but you run a high risk of losing them permanently.  And good exercise clothing isn't cheap.  At one point I realized my hands were so cold I couldn't feel my fingers.  Other parts of me were sweating and shivering at the same time.  This is much less fun than last week.  Ugh.  

5 weeks left (not that I'm counting down...).  Past history has shown that my determination (stubbornness?) will outweigh common sense and I'll stick to it ;)  But we shall see.

Determined or stubborn?  It's a fine line ;)
The end result, however, is the same...

Gold star to me :)

They literally gave me a gold star ;)

I am neither kidding nor exaggerating -- somebody actually gave me a physical gold star!   That might, in fact, be a first :)   

So at the performance awards at work tonight  -- you know, the event I originally wasn't going to be able to attend due to the jury duty selection -- I won a gold performance award!   And was simultaneously: 
A - super excited 
B - stunned 
C - super excited 
D - slightly overwhelmed 
E - super excited 
Followed about 15 mins later with disappointed I hadn't been quite impressive enough to make it on the cruise (one step higher than gold) ;-P.  What can I say, a bit of a perfectionist :). But even so, still grinning ear to ear so we're going with super excited ;). Haven't been here two years yet, but that's going to be hard to top! 

Also super exciting when people I work with win as well in the "I know them!" variety :). Was pretty thrilled by the number of people I work with regularly who won. Okay so I realize that may read oddly, but keep in mind the size of the organization -- I only know a comparative handful of people and I feel a disproportionate number of them got awards, so thinking I work with some pretty excellent people. To put in perspective, there were about 1500 people there tonight (and I have no idea how many absent).  Of the five of us who report to my boss, two received awards. Similarly, of the eight people on one of my project teams, three received awards. There are not that many awards (maybe 90 over 4 levels?).  So yeah - pretty excited. As I may have mentioned ;)

Now the tricky part is going to be falling asleep after combined sugar high and excited high in a reasonable timeframe to enable my stupidly-early start tomorrow.  Right.