Suck it up and get skirted.

So a lot of crap went down around here on the weekend.

Feel free to Google it because I’m not going to dwell on it. I had a bad enough week when a bunch of asshats decided to come to my city and throw rocks into windows and run amok.

What’s done is done, the rain washed away bad feelings, others have surfaced among other people, but the sun rose this morning and the start of a new week has begun. No more of this funk and oh woe is me crap.

This is a new week. A week that marks another celebration that I’m all for. A party that takes over my neighbourhood, the gaybourhood, every June and was delayed a week because of certain aforementioned shenanigans.

It’s time for Pride in Toronto, which means it’s time for a certain group of men to don small pieces of cloth and run a 5km that starts in the village and loops around Queen’s Park.

And then we eat cake. This is a gay catered affair, after all.

It’s the Pride & Remembrance Run, kiddies, and team Go Skirt! is ready for action.

Well, some of them are.

Jainey may have taken a  team member out to get skirted yesterday with much success and fannyfare.

The skirts, of course, are top secret (unless you’re a fb friend where the shameless hussies are showing their wares for all to see).

Here, all you get is Jainey giving noogies to poor defenceless mannequin.

The brute!

But if you want to be the opposite of a brute, be a superfantabulous person and donate to the charities that will receive support as a result of this AWESOME event, head on over here, search for Jainey, myself or any other of the Go Skirt! team and hand over your hard earned pesos. Fife House, The Pride and Remembrance Foundation and Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies would love you forever.

And we promise no mannequins will be hurt in the process.

And maybe Jainey will send you his love, too.

Or at least an autographed picture of him in a skirt for $5 and a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

A girl has to eat, ya know.

Au Secours!

 

Sometimes I need to remember where I come from

And be thankful to those who helped me get here.

I read a lot of blogs and posts about people who are learning to run and are having a hard time. A lot of them ask if it ever gets easier. My answer - I'm still waiting for that day to come.

But there are people out there that make it more bearable, more enjoyable and that make me want to put on my shoes and get out there.

iRun magazine recently put a call out for stories in praise of running support crews. Well, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to write a note about the person who inspires me, cheers for me and brings me coffee at the finish line.

It was published this month and although our last name was spelled wrong (I blurred it out to save them embarrassment but let's just say it gives new meaning to "and sometimes y"), here it is for the world to see.

 So thanks for being an awesome brother and fantastic athletic supporter, Jainey.

**Who in your life is your personal support crew? Who would you recognize as a key component of your exercise success? What do they contribute to your fitness goals?**

And I wonder why I’m always hungry

 

Because a small cube of cheese and five carrots is a perfectly acceptable snack.

I should really quit my bitchin’.

Good thing I keep apples and almond butter around.

Dear Body,

You’ve been teasing me by teetering on the edge of my healthy weight range for the last few weeks.

It’s like you KNOW that I only need to get down to 154 to meet my X-weighted goal.

But then you’ve got to cooperate with me so we can lose another nine pounds and meet my goal-a-versary by mid-July.

But it’s cool if we don’t meet that deadline exactly.

Just getting there at SOME POINT this year would be pretty fantastic.

You see, I just want to be able to enjoy certain things again, you know? Like running a little more effortlessly, helping me get my half marathon time back under 2:20,  putting on pants without that ridiculous dance (y’all know EXACTLY what I’m talking about), wearing clothes that have been sitting in my closet all lonely and sad like, and  eating food without IMMENSE guilt.

But I’d like to say thanks, really. Things have been pretty fab lately. Although some days I feel like an absolute slob and like I’m still well over 200lbs, you’re not letting me down. We seem to be getting along fairly well (with the exception of those weird pains with pastas, flours and rice, so if you could stop with that, I’d love you forever because I REALLY want to enjoy the spaghetti I’m eating tonight) and the digital devil is slowly but surely telling me so.

But we need to make a team effort to get there.

I mean, you do your part, although you go through batteries like I go through a bag of potato chips and are about as consistent as the weather lately, but I really can’t complain.

As much as I hate the rolls on my abdomen that will probably be there forever, you serve me well, old pal.

I’m glad we’re friends.

Let’s keep it that way and continue to work together.

Keep on fighting the good fight!

xo

Mouse

Clearly I have an addiction to cheese

So every few Fridays, we like to have a little field trip for lunch.

We’ve gone for grilled cheese and awesome sandwiches, but recently we decided on burgers. Thanks to an amazing deal on Team Buy, my coworker M and I were able to get coupons for $16 worth of grub at Burger Bar for $8!

SCORE!

So we moseyed on over to Kensington and strapped on the feedbag for some delicious meat and POUTINE!!!

But not just any poutine my friends, Saag Poutine.

I know you’re saying, what the eff, right? But it was quite tasty. Although parts of it were bland as the spices were a bit concentrated in spots, it was overall worth a try but definitely split it with a friend.

Saag paneer is one of the few Indian dishes that I actually like, so I will willingly gobble it up any chance I get but french fries are something I don’t always go for.

But on to why we’re all here – the burger.

I, of course, got a 6 oz. cheese burger (hello, captain obvious!) with brie (wheeee!) and M got the Lyon (Goat cheese, Arugula & Dijon), pictured at left.

Um…So we came here for burgers but the focus of our lunch seems to be cheese. There’s a theme on this blog…or in my life…or something. Is there a 12-step program for this? I kind of hope there isn’t.

Another awesome thing about the Burger Bar are the buns! I did ask for a gluten-free bun, which are available (HUGE bonus), but couldn’t tell if I actually received it. There were some crusty patrons that took away our server’s attention so I didn’t want to be a pest.

We both enjoyed the burgers. They were tasty and quite substantial, so much so that we couldn’t finish the poutine.

We did have trouble using the Team Buy coupons because they were both in MY name, something that was NOT clear when they were ordered online, but the owner was super cool and let us off the hook, so we left our waitress a nice tip. Plus, she was given a raw deal earlier from those surly patrons who obviously were lost looking for McDonald’s.

So, with the gourmet burgers being the “in” thing in Toronto now, I’m sure this won’t the first and last burger we go out and try!

Are burgers a big thing in your neck of woods? Is it just a big city things? Is there a burger war brewing in your town? What new place have you checked out recently that you liked? Let a mouse know…especially if it involves cheese.

Sometimes Free Isn’t Worth It…

So a few weeks ago I was told I won a prize.

Winning stuff is pretty freakin’ fantastic, if I do say so myself. It’s even GREATER when it’s a week’s worth of food. Hello, no cooking and not having to spend a whack of cash on groceries!

CHA-CHING!

And say hello to the new rubber boots that I bought with the money I spent that kept me dry while camping with my Scouts this weekend :)

So after a week or so, I was contacted by the company, Rose Reisman’s Personal Gourmet daily food delivery service, to set up the delivery of my three meal and two snack plan for seven days.

After going over my details (height, weight, age, activity level), the lovely lady on the phone determined that I’d need 1400 calories a day.

Um…come again?

I said that I lead an EXTREMELY active lifestyle.

When I balked at this, she seemed a bit shocked that I wasn’t keen on reducing my caloric intake to lose weight. Well, considering I’m right on the edge of my healthy weight range and I’m very active, I would think you’d give me a few more calories to work with, hun. And when I told her that I’d prefer to keep my daily limit more toward 1800 NORMALLY, she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

Awesome.

Knowing that I wasn’t going to be on this for long, I left it as it was, let her set up my account and poked around the site. I took their calorie calculator to see if I could boost my daily calorie count and found that no matter what I put in for my activity level, it would ALWAYS give me back 1400 calorie per day meal plans with my height/weight/age. I even tried switching from their healthy living to their weight loss plan. I don’t know if it’s a glitch or if that’s just all that they offer for women. SO. Annoying! 

What was more annoying was that the delivery times for the program are in the evening from 8pm until 2am (so they say), so I could only order food for Monday to Wednesday this week, and will try them again Monday and Tuesday for the next two weeks. Why? 1. because life is a bit bananas for me with Running Room two nights a week and just my crazy arse life, and 2. A lot of of the food choices have something  that I can’t eat in them.

Their FAQs state that they have enough options available that food allergies can be accommodated, but there was one particular day where all three options for dinner had me at a loss. One had sausage, another tofu and the third had a peanut sauce, so I had to cancel the order for the day and submit an order for next week instead because their delivery schedule didn’t fit MY schedule.

This leaves me with no real conclusion as to whether the program is good for anything though, right? I mean I can’t follow it for seven days straight so I’m not going to see results or notice anything, no?

Well, after two days I’m already noticing something.

First, I noticed that the food that came to me ACTUALLY was a 1300 calorie meal plan and NOT the 1400 that my online account says. That’s kind of heart warming.

Second, I want to eat everything in sight.

This is like eating lean cuisine morning, noon and night. They’ve given me teeny portions of food, with larger calorie meals left for dinner, but added sauces and such to make it seem as though I’m not sacrificing taste and flavour, but my tummy is noticing that by doing so, they’ve …uh…forgotten the food!

Like look at the cheese portion I had today.

WHAT IS THAT?!

That was literally my snack. The cube of cheese and a plum. I *get* that it IS a portion of cheese, but REALLY! What the eff?! Give a mouse a real piece of cheese, not one little crumb!

But the BEST was yesterday’s afternoon snack.

It didn’t even survive from Monday night until Tuesday afternoon. It was supposed to be a blue cheese and ricotta spread with endives, but was more like smelly vomit with  some brown wilted stuff.

Given that this is all free, I didn’t care. I just chucked the thing in the trash and went to Starbucks for a snack, but if I had to pay for this stuff, I’d be MIGHTY PEEVED that your fresh, gourmet food was spoiling on my ass.

Unacceptable!

So don’t let the pretty packaging (it comes in lovely cellophane tied with gold twist-ties, great plastic containers, branded cooler bags, etc.), great food pictures and testimonials fool you. It is a bit too good to be true and really is just high priced frozen entrees with a slightly better taste/ingredients.

It tastes great (when it isn’t spoiled), but it’s NOT filling.

Seven Things I Can’t Run Without

So a week or so ago (while I had my head up my arse), the lovely Laura tagged me in one of those meme like things which we all hate love.

We all know how I rock these.

Rules, schmules, seven things, yadda, yadda.

So without further adieu, I give seven things that I can’t run without, as I talk a lot about running lately, and our half marathon clinic starts this week. WHEEEEEEE!!!

1. Bert – Who the frack is Bert, you ask? Well, he’s my new Garmin 405 and he’s frackin FANTASTIC. I’ve had a 205 for a couple of years and it has served me well but I’ve wanted one with a Heart Rate Monitor as many of my migraines are exercise induced and are as a result of me pushing myself too hard in a race. Now I’m able to see when and where I’m going too hard and back off a bit. So. Awesome.
2. Water belt – Anyone who runs long distances in the heat knows how important it is to stay hydrated. I had been running with a Fuel Belt but recently found a Nathan belt that is much more appealing. I can’t wait to get it for training this summer! WHEEE!
3. iPod – Although the majority of my runs this summer will be with a group, my short runs are on my own as are my races. Given that I tend to have a lot of negative conversations with myself while running, music is kind of important, so I run with my trusty iPod touch. I have to admit, it’s one of the most annoying & cumbersome things to run with, but a necessary evil sometimes. I love my loud, screamy tunes.
4. Shoes – Kind of a “duh,” but the RIGHT shoes are SOOOO important and so many people who start running think that picking any old running shoe off of the wall at their local sporting good store will be a-ok for them. For the love of all things cheesy, please do NOT DO THIS. Go to your local running store, whatever it is, ask for help, let them fit you and then shop around for the cheapest price if you have to. You’re not BOUND to buying shoes from them and paying the highest price, but learn what type of shoe your little footsie needs. Running is going to screw up your body enough on its own, don’t mess around with shoes. I know that I can only run in Asics 1150s, Adidas Supernova Sequence and Nike Spans, all stability shoes, and I won’t deviate from them.
5. I.D. – Although I run with Running Room three days a week when I’m with a clinic, I still run on my own. Even though you can’t really run with a wallet, purse, etc., you still NEED to run with some sort of I.D. should (heaven forbid) SOMETHING happen to you. For me, I like to run with my Ontario Health Card. Why? It is not only a perfect form of I.D. as it clearly states who the heck I am, but it also shows that I have chosen to be a organ donor should something truly unfortunate happen to me *knock on wood*.
6. Dailymile – O.k., so I technically run WITHOUT this, but I big puffy heart this site. Sometimes it’s hard to see the stats on my Garmin WHILE I run, so having a place to dump all of my run data and see neat little charts and graphs is awesome. Plus, they sync my GPS making data entry effortless and completely accurate (as long as it gets a perfect GPS signal). Stats are always good for measuring progress (and a little bit of regression, too).
7. Friends – Running groups have really helped keep me on track and motivated, especially for long runs. There is NOTHING pleasant about a 18km run or longer on your own. And when I don’t have company with me, I bring people with me in my pocket. I think of all of my running buddies, both near and far, and they keep me company, on training runs and races. It helps in terms of inspiration and motivation.

So, what are YOUR must haves for a run? A bike? A hike? A walk? What keeps you going? On the right path? Onward toward the goal? Focused for the finish line?

Share your secrets.

Did someone say free yoga?

As much as getting out there and running my butt off is important in training for a race, so is cross-training. My friend Sam & I (as well as many of our other running friends – I know you’re reading CS!) have sung the praises of a certain bootcamp instructor that we adore dearly for when we’re looking to get our butts into shape, but we’re also HUGE fans of yoga for our off days…or any ol’ day for that matter.

But Tdot girls (and all three men that probably read my blog) lookie here (sorry everyone else)!

Kingwest Fitness, an awesome gym in Liberty Village, is having All You Can Yoga weekends.

That’s right – yoga for freeeeeeeeeeeee.

Who doesn’t like that price? Yeah. That’s what I thought.

So what’s the catch, you ask? Apparently NONE.  Everyone is welcome, there is no need to register, and it’s completely FREE!

You can attend multiple classes and even go back-to-back days.

LE AWESOME.

They’re hosting the first weekend this Saturday & Sunday, June 5-6th, again July 10-11th and August 14-15th.

Classes are at 10a.m., 11:15a.m., 12:30p.m., 1:45p.m., & 3:00p.m.

What’s in it for the mouse, you ask? Nada. I’m getting bupkis out of the dealio except the free class should I decide to go.

I just like sharing free stuff with the rest of y’all.

And for my outside of TO friends, you can find tons of free stuff online at other places, like here, here and here.

So go forth and find free shizz. NOW.

 

But in the interest of starting conversation here, what are your best online resources for free stuff? What about in your neighbourhood? Where do you look first to find free events, products, or anything else? Let the frugalness commence! SHARE THE WEALTH!!!