Jan
6th

Oct
17th

Every morning when I drive to work, I look up at the mountains in front of me just praying and waiting for that first layer of white stuff to cover the local ski hill. Ever since summer ended, all I can think of is snowboarding and I’m practically dying because winter won’t come any sooner! This is the most agonizing wait. Ever.

Whistler 2010

Oct
16th

Kensington Park to Belcarra Park and back.

Total déjà ju from June’s Ride to Conquer Cancer! I thought I was going to turn into a popsicle in the beginning and was praying for no hills [yet] because my fingers were frozen and I couldn’t change my gears! And I think I would’ve died if I didn’t bring my leg warmers. Some people came up to me after and told me they were admiring my leg warmers the entire ride— at least I wasn’t the only one under-prepared.

This event was a training ride with a 38km (classic) or a 50km (challenge) route. Of course, we did the 50km and I’m so happy we did! The extra 12km we did was an effing insane challenge. You can’t even enjoy the downhills because you know you’d have to go back up later. I embraced every hill and every incline though, and pushed myself up so hard… I love the feeling you get when you’re so tired you want to die, BUT you know that the feeling of reaching the top is even better, so you just suck it up and make the most out of it. We didn’t stop for any breaks either so I was really feeling it in my legs afterwards. Fortunately, I love pain when I know it’s from a good workout.

Unfortunately, I didn’t finish the last 2k because I had a flat and no spare tubes with me so I got picked up by a sweep car. Wah. Déjà vu, again. Dundundun.

Sep
30th

This was an old entry from 08/14/2011 that I wrote on my fitness blog:

I recently took my very first yoga class.

My friends warned me not to take “regular” yoga (whatever that is) because I’d be bored out of my mind, but I wanted to see what this huge fuss is about, so I took a “Fierce Yoga” class. I almost died of boredom. I guess one of the whole point of yoga is to clear your mind and de-stress, which comes with all the healthy benefits such as increasing flexibility, balance, loosening tight muscles and a million other things but I really didn’t have the patience to sit there for any hour to slowly stretch and breath. I wanted load the bars behind me, start squatting and do some burpees!

BUT I can definitely see the benefits of yoga, which is something I really want to take advantage of; my plan is to slowly ease myself into it and try some HOT yoga classes too. I guess the first class can’t be that great because I was learning the poses which took my focus away from the breathing and stretching.

I want to take up yoga because I want amazing flexibility and to be able to do things like this:

Here are some things revelations from my first yoga session:

• I need to practice patience. I had to endure so much pain to get to my fitness level today so I’ll have to endure some “boredom” to get into the yoga-lifestyle. I’m definitely not going to be able to do those crazy poses right away.
• Life isn’t about “GO GO GO.” I need to find balance from always working and just relax. The entire yoga session, I was thinking how many double-unders I should do afterwards, how to conclude the long email I was in the middle of writing at work, what I should eat for dinner… my mind wouldn’t stop!
• Keep an open-mind. Because I learned that I can stretch places I never thought I could stretch. Awesome.

Sep
27th

Remember the 30 day blog challenge that I started a year ago? I swear my procrastination isn’t always this bad.

30 Day Blog Challenge
A photograph of the town you live in.

Taken on a cycling journey around Vancouver— Sept 2011.

Over the summer, I fell in love with biking and discovered that it was the best way to explore the city. It started when I did the Ride to Conquer Cancer in June. I honestly didn’t get on a real bike until 1 week before the ride (did all my training at the gym, but that’s another story) but once I finished the ride, I didn’t want to stop biking! Next year, my plan is to invest in a road bike and start biking to work no matter how far I live, and no matter how many hills I have to climb.