Hey, I thought muscles have memory ...

But I suppose tonight they forgot.

Ran 11 km with GB in the cold dark night, slightly above freezing. I would have liked to have run farther but I don't think my legs would have agreed. Thanks GB for not complaining about my painfully slow pace ... My legs felt in sloth overdrive, revving oh-so-barely in the LAZY gear.

My legs got quite the brisk awakening tonight! Very, very windy, with gusts up to about 40 km/h. Especially loved it when the rain started and the wind whipped headlong into our faces. I would have quickened the pace but my quads refused to lift any higher since they were half-frozen. SOOO happy to finally get back home.

Nice thing about a good run is feeling like you have the right to eat afterwards. And actually, you do, to better recuperate. I easily justified my gluttony as I wolfed down three freshly-baked muffins ... "I'm in marathon training!" Anyway, the bran whole wheat muffins couldn't have been healthier.

Yesterday's training? I moved my little fingers around the Monopoly board and did lots of wrist exercises rolling the dice. My type of weekend cross-training ... Ahhhh!

Sloth Day # ... hmm, time to change the title

Thought I'd do a half marathon training run today but somehow time flew by way too fast and I found myself picking up the kids from school. OOPS!

My legs are itching to run or even just get in a good stretch. Thought I would go swimming with the kids but they nixed that idea. Darn. Let's eat sweet gooey bad things at home instead. Oh my rubber arm!

Sloth Day #4

Realise how exhausted I am from the fundraiser and all the work that led up to it.

Yup, another non-training day, but this time it's due to plain L-A-Z-I-N-E-S-S. All that cold and rain isn't helping to motivate me either. But I'm just looking for an excuse to be lazy today anyway :-)

Sloth Day #3

Alright, it wasn't a true sloth day since I was even B-U-S-I-E-R today than yesterday. Just a sloth day in terms of training. It wasn't because I was lazy today or anything ... I guess missing training is justified when there's a fundraiser at night to tend to - Laughter with Sprinkles on Top.

I wanted to run and had planned to run but making desserts for the Meet 'n' Greet afterwards was more important. Anyway, I figured I'd be able to run off those extra calories from the desserts when I do the NYC marathon.

So funny, another marathon runner, CW, was there tonight and she told me that she liked reading my blog because I wasn't all serious about training and such, unlike some other people/groups she knew. Not to say that I don't take my athletic events seriously, I just don't take my training seriously enough all the time. Takes out the fun factor. Besides, I need to be plain lazy occasionally or am just too busy sometimes. Not worth getting too upset about not training. Life happens.

(I say this now, but will regret thinking this way right after the NYC marathon when I'll be feeling entirely miserable, in utter pain and agony, and cursing myself out loud for being stupid and not training properly.)

My friend Marcus agrees that training and racing has to be fun. He likes to race because of the hoopla preceding and following but not so much the actual race. I love all the excitement preceding, during and following a race, albeit the pain, but especially love the medal at the finish line.

Proof positive - my bulletin board in my office:

So, good night folks, time to tidy up all the stuff left over from the fundraiser and catch some zzzz's ...

Sloth Day #2

Thought about running today. Don't know what happened. Where did the time fly by? Worked on the fundraiser again today. B-U-S-Y. Oh well, there's always tomorrow ...

Sloth Day #1

Didn't run today, thought I would rest the hip joints and knee from yesterday's run. Thought about swimming. Yes, thought about it ...

Worked on my upcoming fund-raiser. Busy.

I'm a dancing queen!

Whoa! Got back from Ottawa today after a weekend of dancing my favourite dance, West Coast Swing, with this gentleman and champion, John Lindo.


Check him out here with Debbie Szekely, another champion in a fun winning dance:
http://www.johnlindo.com/videoclips/01_cal_2002_swing_jl.avi

The weekend included five hours of dance instruction (I skipped the last hour to hang out with friends from Ottawa and wolf down lemon cake and coffee) and a solid six hours of social dancing. And when I finally got back in Sat. night around 2am, I STILL wanted to dance!

Good thing I only managed to slip in a non-taxing 15 min. friendly jaunt around the neighbourhood earlier that morning. My lovely friend, LP, who was hosting three of us dancers said to me before I headed out, "Oh, why does that sound familiar?" Of course, she was referring to my statement of "Oh, I think I should go out and run a bit ... I have a marathon coming up in two weeks and I have to train." After any years, she's getting to know me.

Actually, I was a good girl today ... met up with Marcus and GB for a misty run on the mountain. Finished the 11k in pouring rain, but we were all happy. I suppose Marcus finished his 21k in torrential rain but we wouldn't know - GB and I were already in our respective cars heading back to a warmer and dryer home.

10% weekly mileage increase rule? BAH!

Ran with GB in the pouring rain. 11 km. Ahhh. Less fun at the end though when it came down in torrents, but still super happy that we went out.

Last's week running total was 11 km. And the week's before was 12 km. See a pattern here?

Well, I just broke that 10% weekly mileage increase rule since I've already run 25 km, and will hopefully somehow slip in another run today. The running rule dictates not increasing more than a 1.2 km increase based on what I've been running recently. BAH! That would be boring!

Let's see what I can pull out of muscle memory this weekend when I run ...

Laughter with Sprinkles on Top

My next fundraiser, a comedy night with David Pryde and the On the Spot Players ... check it out at www.bonniemak.com, click on Events ... Hope to see you there!

Click on the flyer to blow it up:



I didn't have enough time to train yesterday because of dance class and practice afterwards - would that have counted as cross-training? Probably not since it wasn't cardio-intensive enough ... darn.

I did get the chance to run 7 km today with GB though, taking the same route as last Sunday. Would have run farther had we had more time but we were off to some get-rich seminar. GB and I had fun joking about the phrase "crap magnet" which is used to describe those who play the victim and don't take control of their lives. Learned a few good things and had some others that I already know reaffirmed but I wasn't ready to shell out more $$$ to find out all the other secrets ... Perhaps that explains why I'm not a millionaire yet ... :-)

To those wondering where my Ironman Canada race report is ... I'm in the last stages of editing a very long and hopefully interesting account of my incredible day. STAY TUNED ...

Leslie ROCKS!!

I had the honour and privilege of working with Leslie Neilsen today. What an incredibly nice person!

This man is a living legend. And in 16 years of professional film & television acting, he is the only celebrity that I've worked with that has impressed the heck out of me, the only one I've had to be in a picture with. I felt in total awe of this man who has given so much to countless people with his quick wit, impeccable comedic timing, and unpretentious demeanour. I can't count how many times he has made me split my gut laughing.

What an incrediby amazing day ... and on top of that, I got to work with my zany friend Heidi who was with me on set only just recently. We look different than in those last pics, don't we?

Ain't we glad I got a digital camera ...

He he he ...

Tonight's training? Um ... nope, no running ... too much catching up to do after today's exciting shoot, including posting this blog entry! :-)

The trouble with ...

The trouble with saying to a friend, "Let's run together Sunday morning!" is that one might actually have to go through with it. GB called me as planned and lo and behold, half an hour later, showed up with nifty new running gear in tow.

7 km jaunt around my neighbourhood and through pretty Jarry Park (it's done a good job of sprucing up over the last few years!).

We headed to KJ's with my brood for a potluck luncheon to celebrate the nearby Lafontaine Park race of which I was gladly not a participant. Why not? Sloths not allowed, you see ...

How was the Montreal Coolrunners get-together? Fun as always, though no pics this time ... too busy eating. Yup, ate like a pig and replenished 10X the calories I burnt that morning. Ankle? A little swollen, a little sore ... made it through the run in one piece though. Put on some Arnica and a compression bandage and finally took some Voltaren, my trusted anti-inflammatory.

Ouch!

Big rock. Sprained ankle.

St-Urbain's Horseman

Been on set working on a Canadian 2-part mini-series called St-Urbain's Horseman. Really boring long days but at the same time lots of fun. Period piece set in the early 1960's. Played a jury member with a bunch of nice people. Caught lots of zzzzz's between takes, unintentionally, of course!

We were filming downtown in the Masonic Lodge, corner of Sherbrooke and St-Marc, a mysterious building with few windows that I've eyed curiously ever since I moved to Montreal. Now I finally know what's inside. I think the Freemasons still hold meetings there but it was pretty well empty of anyone while we shot. Here's the big ballroom upon entering:


Most people mistakenly think the film industry is really glamorous. Nope - it's really difficult and can eat you up and spit you out and not one in which earning one's living comes easily. As an actor, this means long tedious days of waiting then having to be totally ready on cue, that is when and if you can get work. The countless not landing auditions would demoralise those who don't *want it* enough and even temporarily set back those who do. Just have to stay a little detached and learn to do other things to earn rent money.

Had to be on set yesterday for 5:45 am and today, I got to sleep in since I only started at 6:30 am. Cool.

I still have my cold but am feeling better ... starting to get some "real energy" back and didn't feel like dozing when I got home tonight. Just couldn't motivate myself to go out running though in the cold and rain either evening when I finally wrapped (film expression for "finish shooting".) Thought about swimming tonight after supper but figured total exhaustion at this point would not be wise. I want my cold to go away ENTIRELY!

Here are some pics of me with some of the other jury members. Thanks Heidi for being such a blast!

On the road to recovery ...

Finally started feeling better by the end of the day. Thought about running but decided not to take the chance albeit my new-found energy. Went to the pool and piddled around for 25 min. Got in a few good laps but went moreso to *say* I did something. Nice thing I discovered was that I STILL have not lost that feeling for water (and only those that have it understand what I mean!)

OOF!

Felt even sicker today than yesterday. I hate this miserable cold.

Today's menu: two bananas, four slices of toast

Word of the day: ZZZZZZZ

Maybe all that food ain't so good for me ...

Met up with Marcus on Mount Royal today. I wanted to sleep in but alas, I had to be a good girl and get out and do *some* running. I have a marathon coming up in less than a month and I suppose I should try to up my mileage. Last week I did 12 km total. Today, we ran 11 km. Hopefully, I will add a few more km's to that by the end of the week. If I am really good, I will somehow get up to some ridiculous weekly mileage of 60 km/week or more. Yeah, I would totally be breaking the 10% weekly increase rule but it wouldn't be the first time.

Met up with TurtleBoy for a feast afterwards - he somehow thinks it's his obligation to *feed* big sis well. I think it's more like he likes the camraderie of someone who enjoys food as much as he does, and who has an equally humungous appetite. I told him that I felt like I had run a marathon or that someone had beaten me ... effects of a nasty cold coupled with a longer than usual run (well longer than what I'm used to). Oh! Sleepy ...

Tonight was Thanksgiving supper with a good friend's family. Yummy. I limited myself to three portions of dessert.

What a wonderful week for food but a horrible week for the diet! I've been allowing myself to eat copious amounts of delicious food in anticipation of all the marathon training I'm going to do, except that none of that has happened yet, and I'm starting more and more to doubt that it ever will.

Alright, tomorrow ... I will kick my butt tomorrow ... or perhaps the day after tomorrow ... or whenever I get a grip on this cold and start feeling better, I swear!

Good night, folks. Nyquil will be tucking me in tonight ... zzzzzzzzzz

p.s. Race report being edited ... yes, Df, it's finally going to come out ... :-)

Fighting a dastardly cold!

I just realised that I've only run once this week. Shame on me ... but it's been a hard, busy week. Yesterday included three back-to-back auditions followed by a physio session then preparing a huge supper for friends. All this while feeling under the weather ... it's that time of year with the change of season that people seem to be catching colds. And unfortunately, I have not been excluded. Only thing is that I'd rather be hit full-force with the cold and get it over with than to be in the situation that I'm in now ... fighting it off for days now, sore throat and sinus headache, exhausted and not getting any better.

Run or not run? What do you think?

Worked 12 hours on set today. Up at 5am. Those 2 hours of sleep sure were wonderful. Ugh. But that's alright ... I got to catch some zzzzz's on set - there's always a little bit of hanging out and extreme boredom while waiting.

I'll swim tonight though but just recreationally. I don't think I'll be able to handle more than that. Then hopefully a solid night's sleep ... Big question now - Shall I run tomorrow?

Backtrack ...

Hey, I just realised that I forgot to post about last Sunday ...

Training:
- short half hour swim and some playing in the water
- I think my kids are happy to "have their mom back"
- Heck, I'm happy to be able to play in the water

Later that evening ... night out with the BIRTHDAY BOYS, AC and KillerChops !


Funny, seems like it was everyone's birthday that night at Le Blanc, one of my favourite spots in Montreal. If you ever go there, get the booth with the view of the band. So cosy and private, like your own little world ... be ready for a long supper - it's worth it! Live music every night of the week!


I clean up pretty spiffy, don't I? I tell you, it's nice to wear something other than sports apparel and mom lounge clothing.

Wimp!

Dressed and primed for running outside, I stood on my front porch and watched the rain drizzle. I didn't remember it raining THAT hard just before I got dressed! AAARGH!!!

Normally, I would run in that kind of rain and cold, but I was in a rush since I had a film shoot to get to an hour later. I decided to cut my losses and finish getting ready in peace and quiet, instead of the usual frenetic pace at which I normally do things.

[Sigh]

11+ hours on set yesterday ... Holding area was in a gutted, dusty and dirty concrete warehouse space. Cold yet annoyingly "warm" because of the dampness. Ick. The rain continued to pour the rest of the day. Finally got around to shooting 7.5 hours after arriving and had to do a club scene which took another 3.5 hours to shoot. Dance, dance, dance!

There was a certain Barbie-like creature not far from my little group of dancer friends who was either the most boring dancer in the world or a girl who was suffering. I imagined her packing her wardrobe as she got ready for the shoot ...

"Oh, I just HAVE to bring those incredible red shoes with the super duper pointed toes and stilletto heels ... Won't I be the sexy one!"

OUCH!! High price to pay for ego ...

Interesting fact - Did you know that "dry ice effect" is not created with dry ice at all but a special oil? And it coats your skin, hair and contact lenses wickedly. I was really happy when I finally got to take a hot shower at the end of the day.

Listen to the man ...

Ussoccer from my Coolrunning Multi-Sport forum posted an encouraging comment to me recently ... and I heeded his advice. Thanks, T!

I went and ran around my neighbourhood, not long mind you, just a simple 25 min. trot around the neighbourhood. But I did it! Didn't have more time than that 'cause I had to get to my waltz and cha cha lesson after my super busy day.

One month to go before NYC ... I'm almost READY!!!