Leggs.

June hasn’t been off to a good start. Last week at work, while I got on my tiptoes trying to rehang the air blow gun on its hook and missed, the hose recoiled, pistol-whipping me in the forehead, leaving me with a zit-like welt. Worse yet, the joints in my right wrist and left index finger had randomly become inflamed, causing me to wince every time I used the spray bottle, like this:

Only 42 years old, and this is already my reality?

Outside of work, my fitness age, as determined by Garmin, continues to decrease. The expectations put forth by Garmin, however, remain lofty. After three months, my estimated VO2 Max has stabilized. Theoretically, at this point, the prescribed workouts should be hard as fuck, yet doable. This VO2 Max workout seemed to be pushing it, though:

Continue reading “Leggs.”

Destination: Donut.

Rachel Entrekin.

Wow.

I did not know this person existed until Google’s algorithms decided she was a person I’d be interested in. She’d completed an ultramarathon in under 3 days: the Cocodona 250. Holy wow, I thought, “250km in under three days?!”

But I was wrong. The distance was in miles. 407km across deserts and through mountains, accumulating more than 11,800m of elevation gain. You don’t need to be a runner to know that’s a mind-blowing achievement.

Ed, who is no stranger to ultra-endurance activities, was gobsmacked by the thought of one’s fuelling needs for such a race. “Jeeeeeez, her fuelling must’ve been insane,” were his words. I was more focused on her luck in footwear selection, for I have a few spots around my feet from blisters that have come and gone over the span of two pairs of running shoes, both of which I actually consider comfortable.

Of course, she won. Also, 268 people finished this race.

Meanwhile, Lola had flagged my Training Status as “strained” after I’d done a 12km run on Thursday. I ignored Lola and rode up Mount Doug with Matt three times on Friday. That night, I was supposed to go bouldering, but as much as I like Nic and Jamie, I was relieved when Jamie said she needed to postpone it.

Continue reading “Destination: Donut.”

Hot and sticky under the collar.

I set a goal to run a half-marathon (21.2km) by the end of the month. Lola says I’m in my PRIME.

I even purchased a new pair of running shoes last Friday: the Mizuno Wave Rider 29, which I named “Skid Marks” on Strava. One of Strava’s features allows you to track the mileage on your equipment. My three bikes are named Sodapop, Ponyboy, and Cherry Valance. My shoes are called Runny Poos, and now, I have Skid Marks as well.

So far, I have put 5.8km on my Skid Marks, and I can’t do any more for the next bit because I am healing a re-tattoo of my stupid yellow-bellied goose and my underbite-having flying fish.

Continue reading “Hot and sticky under the collar.”

UK? Because I am.

Once upon a bright and sunny day in 2018, Yann and I found ourselves before the door of a residential building in Arles-sur-Tech, France. I had the key — previously hidden behind the green shutters of the window to the right —in my hand. I had yet to meet the person to whom this lodging belonged. This stranger had hung the black Reynaud-Bray tote I’d abandoned at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport a few days earlier off the doorknob to make it easy for Yann and me to know which place to rob.

Lucky number 13.
Continue reading “UK? Because I am.”