Running & Instructing

If you guys have been following, I am currently a 10k Clinic Instructor at the Running Room.

The Running Room is a running store in Canada (and some parts in the US) that sells running shoes, clothes, etc and offers clinics and fun runs from their locations.
When I first ever started running, I joined some of their free runs. All the stores have free run on Wednedays at 7 pm and Sunday at 8:30 am. I probably took advantage of these a handfull of times. I did run a small race that they held. They participated in the Nike Human 10k Race on August 31, 2008. This was my very first race and I came first (from the women)

After this small race, I ran my first real race, which was a half marathon and never went back to the Running Room.

Fast forward to summer of 2011. I joined the Half Marathon Clinic near my new house. I totally loved al the people there. I loved the training. I just loved being a part of something bigger than just me.  During my training, I talked to my instructor many times about me becoming an instructor. I also talked to the manager and he said whenever I am ready, to go talk to him again and we can arrange something.

Fast forward to January 2012.  I was feeling crappy about myself. I was bored with my workouts, treadmill running and  need to find a hobby and something to do. I decided to talk to the manager of the Runnign Room and see if there are any clinics starting in the near future. FORTUNATELY for me, there was a new 10k clinic starting on February 16th and there was no instructor for it.

I filled out all the paper work that was provided for me and bada bing bada boom....i became and instructor! And I love it!

Before I tell you how being an instructor works, I want to tell you why I wanted to become an instructor.

Back in October 2011, I ran a horrible Half Marathon. You can read all the terrible details here and here. After this race, I made a promise to the bf that I will take some time off long distance running and not run a half marathon in the next year. I was very upset about that because I love training running races. But I knew that he was right and needed the time off. I took the rest of October off of running. In November and December I joined a boot camp and hardly did any running. In January I started running again and really enjoyed it. I was running short distances but liking it again. I knew that i need to do something more. I did not want to run alone; i couldnt train with a half marathon group and i didnt want to run with a 10k group. But i need to keep busy. I wanted a hobby. 

Ive always been intersted in teaching and instructing. I taught English in Korea for 2 years. I always wanted to become a Step Class Group Instrcutor.  And Ive always wanted to become a runnign coach or a clinic instructor. And I became one!

If I could be a running or some sort of fitness instructor FULL time....i would 100% quit my job to do it!

Let me tell you how this all works!

Every Thursday at 6:30 pm, we have our clinic night. This means we have a 30 minute talk, about various topics, and then go out for a short run.

On Wednesday, we meet at 7 pm and go for a steady run. On these days, we will eventually run hills and speed work.

On Sundays, we meet at 8:30 am and go out for a LSD. This is our Long Slow Distance Run.

Since I am teaching the 10k clinic, right now we are running around 5-6k. Eventually, we will increase our distance on Sundays, going up to around 12k(ish).

As an instructor, I have to create a Curriculum, find guest speakers for some of our clinic nights, send weekly (or twice a week) emails with what we are running and talking about that week and with some encouraging words, attend all (or most) of the runs and just be there for the other runners.

Right now in my clinic we have about 7 people. The other 10k clinic is finishing next week, so i think a few people will just come over from the other clinic to mine to continue with their running and training.

So far we have had 1 clinic night, which we all introduced ourselves and talked about what will be happening throughout the next 10 weeks. We talked about our goal race which is the Yonge Street 10k on April 22 and just went over basic housekeeping rules. And then we ran 5(ish) k. On Sunday, we did our first long run, which wasnt that long as we only did 6(ish) kilometers.

So far, its great, the people are great and I am totally loving it! I think its going to be a great 10 weeks. I will keep you updated from time to time on what is happening.

(pre and post Sunday run)



To start the clinic right, i went shopping! I bought a running jacket. (MY FIRST)

BeeSeen Jacket

(but mine is in what the call Lip Gloss Pink)



my funny valentine

here are some funnies for you from me:



(source)

(source)

(source)

(source)

(source)

(source)

(source)

Have a Funny Valentines Day Everyone!

Scroll to TopScroll to Top

Things Im Excited About

Hello ALL!I hope that you had a nice weekend. Mine was good...too short...of course....but good and relaxing.

Friday night was spent doing some cleaning, laundry, and watching my now fave TV show - Sons of Anarchy! The bf and I are almost done season 2 and totally addicted!

YUM!

(source)

Any other SAM CRO fans out there?

Saturday, I had some errands to run in the morning and then came home and curled up on the couch and read for a few hours. It was so relaxing.

In the afternoon, the bf and I headed over to my parents house. We hung out for a bit and then went to the Keg for dinner. That was delicious.

I, then, dropped my mom off at home, and then dropped off the bf and my dad off at the hockey game. I had to pick them up after the game. I opted out going to a nearby coffee shop and reading my book instead of going home.

Sunday was another relaxing day.  We slept in. I went to get groceries. I went to the gym. I took a nap. We had dinner. And we watched the Grammy's!  YAY for Adele! She looked and sounded beautiful!

Now onto what I am excited about!

1. Valentine's Day tomorrow. I am not actually excited about Valentine's Day, but more that the bf and I are gonna go out for dinner....and im 98.7% sure that it will be sushi!
2. Long Weekend - next weeked in Ontario we have Family day, so that means no work next Monday! YAY for 3 day weekends!
3. Running Room - I start as an instructor at the Running Room this coming Thursday and i am oh so excited. i will be the new 10k Clinin Instructor at the Thornhill location. If anyone in the area wants to come out and run with me, let me know.
4. Vacation Days - I am taking March 1 & 2 off as vacation days and going up to the cottage for a 4 day weekend. I could not be more excited. I am counting down the days!
5. Races - I have 2 races coming up in April and am really excited to get the racing season  started.
6. Virtual Race - Linzi & I will be hosting the 2nd Annual Shake Your Shamrock Run in March. Stay tuned for details!

Tell me: What are you excited about today?



Ruta- WHAT?

its called a Rutabaga!What is it?
According to Wikipedia, it is  "a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and a turnip."
What does it look like?

Its an ugly looking vegetable.....but it sure is great to make fries with!

If you remember my post on PARSNIP FRIES (click here), I totally fell in love with these. They were crunchy and creamy and oh so delicious.

Since then, I have made turnip fries (not documented). They were good but the parsnips still were better. And yesterday, I tried the rutabaga fries.

And here is my rutabaga fries in action via photos on my iPhone.

STEP #1 - PEEL



STEP #2 - WASH

(i also added some parsnips, just because i had some laying around)

STEP #3 - PICK YOU DRESS

I always over season things. It is one of my down-falls as a cook.

But yesterday, i wanted spicy!

I chose: Olive Oil, vinegar, black pepper, paprika,

red crushed peppers, cumin, and a homemade Cajun spicy.

(i know, i know...wayyy to much!)

STEP #4 - CUT & MIX

Cut all the rutabaga and the parsnips into french fries,

toss in bowl and mix with hands.

(note: rutabagas are very hard to cut. I had to

pop it into the microwave for a few mins

to soften up)

STEP #5 - READY FOR BAKING

put some foil on a cookie sheet, pop into a

preheated over for about 30-40 minutes

flipping once or twice.

What goes well with fries? CHICKEN!

Here is what I did to my chicken thighs.

STEP #1 - PREPARE 

I had some chicken thighs that I gently

tossed with some paprika.

Then, I prepared 1 egg and some oatmeal, flax seeds and black pepper

to act as the breading

STEP #2 - EGG the Chicken

Place your chicken into the egg

STEP #3 - BREAD

Roll your egged chicken in the oatmeal,

flax seed and black pepper mix

STEP #4 - BAKE

Place your egged and breaded chicken into a pan

and pop into the oven for about 25-35 minutes

(until the chicken in fully cooked)

(ps. i know the picture is upside-down. sorry i couldn't flip it)

Last but not least....what do you need with fries and chicken......DIPPING SAUCE!

STEP #1 - GATHER your INGREDIENTS

 I used: Greek yogurt, regular yellow mustard,

Dijon mustard, honey, jalapenos and some paprika

STEP #2 - MIX

Mix all you ingredient.

Place in fridge and serve when food is ready!

BONE APPETITE!

________________________________________________________

Yesterday's workout included:

• Burn that Booty workout - from my booty camp fitness
• 10 mins abs
• 10 mins yoga
• 15 push ups

TOTAL PUSH UPS for February - 68 +15 = 83 





Three Things Thursday - The Push Up Edition

Ive been taking part of Christine's 100x Challenge.

This month we have to do 100 push ups per week, for a total of 400 push up

for the month.

Week 1 for me was bad, as I only did 16 push ups.

BUT Chrsitine explained (here) that it is not necessary to do 100 per week,

as long as we get 400 in February.

So that means, Im still in the runnings.

Here are my push ups yesterday:

1. THE Before

After I changed into my gym clothes, and just before I headed out to the gym, I pumped out 12 full push ups from my toes.

2. THE During

I got to the gym, jumped on the rowing machine for a 10 minute warm up. Following the rowing machine, I did 8 push ups from my toes, 16 from my knees, 8 from my toes and then some abs. Then I jumped on the treadmill for a 30 minute uphill walk.

3. THE After

After my work out and stretching, I headed home. Right before I jumped into the shower, I did 8 more push ups from my toes.

TOTAL count:

Week #1 - 16

Week #2 - 12+8+16+8+8= 52

68 down, 332 to go!

WISH ME LUCK!



I was bad

So the weekend has come and gone and what have I done?

ABSOLUTELY nothing.

The weekends are always a great chance to get some great workouts in but for some reason I could not find any motivation or energy to do anything!

On Saturday, I went over to Bufalo with a friend for some shopping. She shopped and I just chilled. I actaually ended up buying a shirt and a skirt for work. It was a loooong day. I left my house just after 7 am and did not get home until 8 pm.

The day was filled with coffee and a not so healthy lunch of a split order of fish and chips and chicken fingers and fries. So delicious and so sinful!

Sunday was the perfect day to get $hit done. And what did I do....NOTHING. I sat on the couch and watched Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice and about 4 hours of Big Bang Theory.

I also ate some really bad bad food.

Here is the breakdown:

Breakfast - pancakes

Lunch - left over chinese food....and I went for seconds

Dinner - pizza and wings, with a can of Diet Coke

Snack - 2 glasses of wine!

Today, i feel: gross, bloated and a little bad about myself!

I know that its just 1 day and I have been good for so long that 1 day will not hurt.....but still. Looking back, i really did not need that much. That is a lot of sugar and carbs and sodium and fat. I usually track my food and exercise but was too ashamed to do it for yesterday!

But thats ok! Today is a new day, a new start.



Once again, its time to tighten the ropes and be good!

This mean: 5 days working out and eating healhty ALL week!

LETS DO IT!

Three Things Thursday - three goals for February

January had come and gone. It is onto February now and I still have not posted my goals or resolutions for the year. ONE of these days!

For now I would like to post 3 goals for February, as part of Three Things Thursday:

1. 100 Push ups
Christine over at Big Dream Runner is hosting a 100x Challenge. Every month she has a new challenge for people to participate in. This month is PUSH UPS! Check out this post to get more info!
The goal is to do 100 push ups per week, for a total of 400 push ups!
To quote Christine, "honestly, im scared."
This challenge is great because it does not take a lot of time, but it will be painful and beneficial. Lets get to push up-ing!

2. Run a Marathon
No, I do not mean to run an actual marathon, but to run 26.2 miles this month. That should not be too hard, but it will motivate me to get my bootie into gear!

3. Floss, Stretch, and Dance
All the above always make me feel good. My goal to do these daily. Floss at night, stretch in the morning, laugh and dance in the afternoon! These are all stress relievers and exactly what I need in my life right now!

WISH ME LUCK!

What are your goals for the month?