Vancouver's newest landmark: "Mom's Puke Tree". YIKES!

I went for my run the other day and it took me past the spot my kids have gleefully dubbed “Mom’s Puke Tree” (yes, it is still alive despite what I did to it that day). Anyway, I’m happy to report the incident did not repeat itself! Although I have to say I was REALLY conscious of my stomach’s mood as I ran up the hill around the corner from it!

Thinking back through the years, I can list other moments of extreme workout embarrassment:

-having to ban spicy tacos before my Downward Dog (well, duh!)
-wearing a white running shirt… (Duh, again!) Sweat+white shirt= googly-eyed passersby that weren’t – as I mistakenly thought – admiring my running form;
- stopping to say hi to a male neighbor on a run and then when I got home realizing my running top had crept up around my belly button. (How long did I run with my stretch-marked-four-baby-belly hanging out?!!);
-Tripping on a treadmill in the gym. (Okay, this one I don’t feel so bad about ’cause I’ve seen the YouTube vids and I know I’m not alone.)
-Running into a bench that I didn’t see until the runner in front of me lunged to the side. (ditto another time with a pole)

And the whopper, thank goodness it wasn’t mine: Several years ago on my very first long run with our local running group, my friend pointed out a woman running up ahead of us. It was quite obvious from behind that she had experienced the “runs” on her run!  I was mortified for her – so much so that I consciously did NOT look at her face. I didn’t want to know who it was when I was going to be running with her for the next 18 weeks….To this day, I’m glad I don’t know who it was (is that weird?).

I guess I’m lucky that I haven’t ever felt so embarrassed that I’ve stopped working out.  That one would have done it for me, though!

Anyway, please to share….has anything embarrassing ever happened to you during a run or workout? Here are a few others that people have shared:

Jen82 wrote:  I was running on a new path next to some woods and from the corner of my eye i see something run out of the woods, so i paniced and screamed and pushed the runner passing me, which in turned scared him and he screamed. turned out it was some teenagers coming out of the woods, we could hear them laughing so hard at us as they ran back into the woods. iv never gone back to that park.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be admitting this as the co-owner of this fitness blog, but I have lost my motivation to get to the gym since the kids have been out of school.  I used to drop them off at school for 830am and than I would go straight to the gym.  I didn’t even think about not going, it was just automatic. BUT since the kids have been out, I have lost all of my motivation to get my butt into the gym. I really do not have an excuse but if I had to make a couple..I could use these two excuses…..

Click on image for a larger picture. Do you see the 'Curve' like weight system that takes up 1/2 of the gym. The tiny free weight area is in the corner.

Firstly, my gym used to be called Just Ladies Fitness and they had these awesome classes.   They also had this crazy cardio class with a crazy instructor, Collette on Thursday that I did not miss for over one year.  I loved that class and I loved how hard she worked us.  She was so passionate about fitness and it really showed.   They also had Body Pump with the weights, which I adored with many great instructors.  The classes were always packed to the brim.  Especially on Thursday!  Just Ladies also had child minding which I could take my kids to on holidays and weekends. 

BUT, than the stupid greedy unskilled executives at this  gym changed it to She’s Fit and took away ALL of the CLASSES AWAY and replaced the space with an area similar to Curves.  Haven’t they heard that Curves closed 1,000′s of gyms across North America?  Perhaps the stupid exe’s should have researched this before changing MY gym!  Urghhhh….so now I am left to my own motivation on free weights and cardio machines.  I have NOT once left with such a great sweat that I once did when I took my beloved, Collette’s class.

My second excuse, is that I just can’t trust my kids alone at the moment. I think they may kill each other.  At the ages of 10 and 12, they are just so close to age that both of them want to take charge.  Boy oh boy, they fight like cats and dogs.  Just to back pedal a little, I have taken the kids on bike rides, walks, swimming and to the park.  We also just got a brand new puppy, which we have been taking on short walks.

My hubby, is taking my lovely kids to a dude ranch for two weeks very soon, while I slave happily work away.  I will be using that time to search out for a new gym in this area, but the picking are so slim for this growing town.  So frustrating.  I may have to travel further to get to the gym I will be excited about going to. 

I know I really don’t have any excuses not to get my weight training in.  But I would like to blame my gym, because I know if my classes were still there, I would be in that gym everyday.

Do you like your gym? What would like to see change?  Is there anything at your gym that would be a deal breaker if it changed?  Any new trends that I should know about?  (I heard one had a media room where you do your cardio in the dark while watching a big screen, too cool!) Please do share and maybe those gym Executives will take note.

Beautiful Deep Cove, (Vancouver, BC). The small island in front of the mountains is our turnaround point. Yikes!

Kayaking.

Always wanted to try it, never really got around to it. Part of the reason is just plain apprehension about tipping over!

But when I signed on to participate in the a super-worthy Innovative Fitness Canuck Place Adventure Challenge which raises money to benefit the sick kids and their families that visit Canuck Place, I knew that it involved kayaking.

Canuck Place Children’s Hospice provides specialized pediatric palliative care for children living with a life-threatening illness and support for their families throughout British Columbia. Despite what you might think, Canuck Place is a happy, positive place where you are likely to see – or get inadvertently involved in – a water balloon fight in amongst the medical equipment and nursing staff.  The Adventure Challenge is a major fundraiser for Canuck Place and since 65% of their huge budget comes from donations (only 35% comes from government funding and the support of the Vancouver Canucks NHL team), I am happy to do my small part.

Even if it means that I need to hop in a tipsy kayak and paddle like crazy through the sometimes choppy waters of Deep Cove, avoiding power boats, falling in and the occasional seal. (Yikes!)

Most of our team got together a week ago for a practice paddle, tracing the actual route we’ll be taking on race day.

I was sooooo nervous, but also really looking forward to the chance to get out on the ocean and experience what kayaking is all about.

Tip: Do not hit yourself in the head with the paddle.

We received a few words of wisdom from the kayaking experts (“Don’t hit yourself in the head with the paddle….wear your lifejacket, even if it doesn’t match your outfit….The funny looking cylinder is a pump; use it if there is more water in the kayak than in the ocean;”).  Then we hopped into the kayaks and prepared to launch.

My partner in the double kayak was Dawn and she is a fellow blonde and a fellow kayaking newbie.  We had a sneaking suspicion that team-captain, Esther, carefully planned our partnership for her own heightened entertainment value.

The rest of our team had all kayaked before and looked like experts as they prepared their kayaks.

Dawn and I managed to avoid hitting each other with our paddles when we got in the wobbly little thing.

We were both happy because our kayak was pink.

We were off to a good start.

Our fab team captain Esther, my kayak partner Dawn, me and Allison. See how us newbies already have our lifejackets on. You know, in case we drown up there on the sidewalk.

We got a push, and somehow by dumb luck managed to avoid the huge kayak traffic jam that ensued.

We were floating! Free as fish!  Ocean adventurers!

Then Dawn yelled, “Paddle!”

Oops.

No motor.

I looked at my paddle and tentatively dipped it in the water. To my great relief, no lurking sea monsters seemed hungry enough to nibble on it.

It took us a few minutes to get a rhythm going (well, it took me a lot longer, I kept hitting the kayak with my paddle on the left side, what’s up with that?) but once we did, it was pure pleasure to glide along the water and take in the beauty of Deep Cove from a different perspective: smelling the salty ocean in the tickle of the light breeze, admiring of the beauty of the waterfront homes that had boats bobbing gently at their docks. Warm sun on our backs.

Paradise.

We paddled 2 kilometres (about a mile and a half) and circled little Jug Island (pictured above in the photo) and headed back.

We didn’t tip.

We didn’t paddle in circles (or worse, squares).

We didn’t hit anyone.

Best of all, we didn’t get eaten by any large sea creatures.

When we landed back at the beach I was tired but exhilarated and didn’t really want to get out. I loved it so much, I’m seriously considering buying a couple of double kayaks for our family.  I can’t wait to do it again!

We’d love your support in this great race – you can help keep happy smiles on the face of the children and families that visit Canuck Place. Please click here for more info or to donate. We really appreciate every donation, no matter what the size!

See how we look so happy? That's because the Grouse Grind is like childbirth: you always forget how bad it really is until you're right into the thick of things.

I don’t know what possessed me to check my phone the other night when my good friend Lori texted me.  I was minding my own business reading and enjoying my second glass of wine of the evening. All was calm and peaceful and lazy…

…and then my phone beeped and there was Lori’s text beckoning me.  Always happy to hear from a friend, I read her message, which went something like: “Grouse Grind tomorrow morning, you in?”

And silly me, I texted back something like, “I guess if I stop drinking now, I’m in.  OK, sure!”

Yes, silly me.  We all know that two glasses of wine are enough to impair one’s judgment.

Silly me, because I have a passionate love / hate relationship with the Grouse Grind.

Mostly, I hate it.

Scratch that, I always hate it.

Let me put it this way. The Grouse Grind is the place you take your least-favorite or most arrogant out-of-town relatives when you want to punish them for taking over your house.  Or where you take your evil boss on a bet.  Or your kids when they’re bad (wait, I’m just joking on that one….mostly.)

“The popular Grouse Grind® is a 2.9-kilometre trail up the face of Grouse Mountain, commonly referred to by Vancouverites as ‘Mother Nature’s Stairmaster.’”

That’s right, it’s only about 3k long (that’s like less than 2 miles) but I hate it more – much more – than say, the last 18 mile run I did.

Why?

Because it is STRAIGHT. UP. GROUSE. MOUNTAIN.

-Grouse Grind elevation gain: 853 metres / 2,800 feet (yeah, you read that right.)
- Total Stairs: 2,830 (yeah, that too.)

Lori is way too happy. I, however, was not. Which is why she is pictured and not me.

Uh, you’d have to be crazy, right?  Well, I guess I got my “Crazy Legs” nickname honestly, because I keep going back for more punishment.  And punishment it is, as my legs and butt always feel like hamburger after.  Hamburger that’s been eaten, chewed up…and well, you get the point.

But we did it.  Again.  In my case, hating every step, while Lori kept saying, “this isn’t as bad as I thought”.  She’s lucky I didn’t push her right off the mountain, but she’s scared of heights and never went close enough to the edge for me to give her a good shove.  Anyway, I really like Lori, even though she has bad judgment about texting me while I’m drinking my nightcap.

(note to other Crazy People:  I heard on the radio today that some guy did the Grouse Grind 14 times yesterday. In one day.  Beating the previous record of 13.  What would drive a person to such crazy lengths? …He’s raising money for charity.  Way to go! …and I hope you have a good massage therapist. And medical. And a wheelchair.)

And the best part of the whole trip…?

View of downtown Vancouver as you ride down the Grouse Mountain Gondola. Worth the hike up? Almost...

When you get all the way to the top, they only charge $5.00 for the Gondola ride down (round trip is much, much more – lazy people pay through the nose).

And the view of beautiful Vancouver – almost – makes it worth it.

Almost.