July 21, 2010

Cloud Nine

I am in love with Vancouver.

Seriously. I woke up yesterday morning at 5:40am to get a run in before work. I walked out of my house and thought, do I go left or right.. then I realized, it doesn’t matter. I run along the ocean either way I go! I’m not going to lie and say my legs felt fantastic. I’m in a new run club and our pace is a lot faster, and my body was feeling it when I was trying to get it going for the morning.

I then showered up and took off to catch the bus. I’m not a bus rider. Never have been, but am trying my best to get into it Vancouver and it’s proven to be kind of fun. There are hot guys everywhere. That being said, yesterday morning when I went for the bus, not realizing they come every 3 seconds, I decided I’d run.. With that decision, my body decided to sweat. It was ridiculous. I was in work clothes with a nice sheen of sweat across my face thinking to myself ‘FML’ get me outta here..asap.

So what does one do when they can’t take an uncomfortable situation any longer? They just hop off! I hopped off a good 30minute walk away from my office. Lucky for me I had time to walk. Unlucky for me, I’d forgotten deodorant. Did I care? Nope, not really. I just laughed.

I seriously don’t think anything can get me down. I talk to strangers everywhere I go, yesterday I met up with a couple girlfriends for drinks after work because I could.. I didn’t get home from work till 10pm with all of my adventures in the new city.. Once I did get home I spent another hour or so talking to my roomie and sharing life stories because I’d received a lovely box of this:

AMAZING GRASS in the mail (Thank you!).

I’m pumped to try it out and give you all the reviews, but that won’t be happening today.. I’ve gotta get running to work again and pray that my body doesn’t start sweating!

How do you find moving to new cities? Do you love it as much as I do? Or is your honeymoon phase short and sweet? I hope this lasts forever! So much to do all the time!

6 Comments

Filed under My Story, Something Learned, banana, breakfast, weekend

July 19, 2010

New

I am eating a new breakfast, in a new city, in a new apartment, before I take a new bus to a new job.

This weekend has been filled with a whole bunch of new things..

1. New Life Style- I’m no longer a college graduate, but a part of the 9-5 crowd, I will no longer have leisurely afternoons to go on long bike rides or hit a yoga class.. I’ll be working. Weird.

2. New Run Club- At a new pace. We spent yesterday shuffling along for 20km in 1h40. It was ridiculous. I thought my long runs would be at a 6minute pace still, but oh no.. the Running Room means business. We did one k at a 4.50 pace which is was ridiculous, and I was sure to let my new friends know..

3. New Breakfast- I went nuts this morning making my breakfast with Alpen (unsweetened, topped with a banan, and almond milk).. Getting in touch with my Swiss side this morning was important for me with my new blond highlights.

4. New Schedule- I woke up this morning with an intention of doing something active- but I didn’t. I’m giving myself the morning to sort out my life- find a bus to hop on and get to work on time without being sweaty.. I need to make friends before I start sweating on people in the office.

5. New Roommate- I want to have some kind of ridiculous story for you about her and how crazy she is- but she’s currently blending a smoothie with spinach in it. I just can’t go there- she also is a Masters student, swimmer and triathlete (as of the upcoming weekend).  Things are looking good in that respect (she even does the dishes- my last roommate would wait at least 4 days before touching hers..)

Now that I’m starting to get some patterns established, I will be back to the site a little more often- “New Everything” is hard to navigate and write about all at the same time- some people are obviously better at it then others!

How do you find big changes in life and your blogging schedule?

8 Comments

Filed under Health, banana, breakfast, clean, running, salad, vegan

July 13, 2010

Still Here, Just Busy is All

Breakfast: AB, Cornthin, Banana and Fair Trade Coffee- delish!

Hello, Hello!

It has been a while, I know. For those of you wondering what I’ve been up to- I have been working on my Sponsor Coordinator role for the Triathlon of Compassion that was held this weekend, moving to Vancouver, doing interviews in hopes that someone sees my potential and hires me, AND last but not least, graduating from university.

Just a few small things, not really a big deal.

I’m having a hard time processing everything as it’s been a fast and furious whirlwind of a week- the triathlon was successful and got tied up on Sunday. There, I discovered that one piece spandex suits look kind of hot (don’t judge). Not that I’m thinking I need to go out and buy one, but seeing hard bodies walking around in bright colored spandex suits and good tans never hurts in selling products. Especially when I’m helping in the food tent snacking the morning away with watermelon and rice crispy squares.. I like to think my role that day was quality control.

As for the university piece. I’ve been working on a movie with a group of ladies all about greenwashing and its impacts on the environment. Initially we thought it was bad, then we talked to a professional in sustainability at our university who had us thinking it was a good thing.. We then found ourselves talking to a Moksha co-director who seemed to disagree, and that greenwashing is just helping our bad habits and consumerist lifestyles continue.  I haven’t formed my opinion on this yet, though I’m leaning towards it being more of a bad thing- awareness is great, but there still needs to be action, and people using a labels and advertising to push products that are green need to be stopped (come on government legislation- for places other then universities, schools and government). How do you feel about this? I’m curious to know…

The next area of my life is the career- I haven’t been talking about this a lot because, I hate the idea of jinxing myself. Good news. I got it! I have a job with benefits, but more importantly a group of people who seem really cool and genuine and it honestly feels like a place I could stay for a while.  Mind you- I haven’t started yet, that all happens on Monday, but fingers crossed (I think for both of us) it’ll all be good.  Needless to say, I’m pumped. So excited to start and cross into the next phase of my life- it’s time!

So there’s a little update- I made some beer but chicken recently that I should probably share with you, organic and local, just the kind of meat I like to eat- I’ll post that up later today!

Lunch: Mountain Wrap, Hummus and Veg Galore

7 Comments

Filed under My Story, banana, goals, volunteer, weekend

July 7, 2010

Something Worth Sharing: Her Story, Her Health

This is my friend Jessi, and this is her story. One that I think many should read as this is about MS. Something that affects so many in our world, and may not have to.

Jessi and Sean

I want to share some information about my health to any of my friends who are interested.

[Please forgive, it may be a little lengthy!]

I have been going through some health issues that started a decade ago and I realized that some of my closest friends don’t know the details. In 2000, the right side of my head/face and my right arm went numb, like it had fallen asleep, only it didn’t wake up for a month. After numerous tests and doctor’s appointments, an MRI showed demyelinization of the fatty sheaths that protect the nerves in my brain, there were small holes in these sheaths, which is a symptom of MS. But the doctors didn’t diagnose at that time because the condition “multiple” sclerosis indicates that symptoms occur more than once. The numbness went away on its own and besides taking vitamins and changing my diet a bit, my life went along for eight years without further symptoms.

But then in June of 2008, I began getting vertigo. Nothing major, I wouldn’t fall over, but felt dizzy and uneasy on my feet at times. An MRI showed further demyelinization, four new lesions, and I was officially diagnosed with MS. I was in tears when Sean picked me up from my appointment (the main reason I had gone to the doctor was for allergies, I hadn’t expected the results from this MRI to show anything) and Sean said with conviction “all this does is solidify that I want to spend the rest of my life with you” We were pregnant the next month and engaged soon after. He meant business ;)

During the second trimester of my pregnancy, I started to have some health issues, that were most likely related to the disease. One interesting symptom that really flared up during the 2nd trimester was a “ringing” in my right ear, which wasn’t actually a ringing sound, but a loud sound of my blood flowing to the beat of my heart. It got so loud during pregnancy I couldn’t hear the tv at times and it kept me up at night. I still have this symptom and it sounds like a storm, wind, pressure all in my right ear. I had scans done to make sure that I would be ok in labour, and everything showed normal. Since having Linden, I have had chronic fatigue (one of the worst symptoms in patients with MS) and chronic headaches as well as overall weakness.

Around a year ago, a doctor from Italy came up with a new theory of what MS is, his name is Zamboni (how fitting considering my love of hockey!) and his wife has MS. He studied patients and noticed that all of them had high levels of iron in the blood in their brains. He scanned their jugular veins and they all had stenosis, narrowing of their jugular veins. Blood that was supposed to be draining from their brains was actually flowing back up, increasing the levels of iron in their brains, causing toxicity, and creating the damage to nerves. MS can cause a whole host of symptoms because nerves can’t send impulses correctly when their protective covering has holes in it. It can create cognitive issues, mobility issues, emotional issues, so many symptoms. So Zamboni performed a simple procedure to open the narrowed veins in patients, he performed angioplasty-opening the veins with a balloon. The blood immediately started to drain from patients’ brains and the results for most patients have been amazing. People with numb limbs report increased feeling immediately after the procedure. People with chronic headaches for years say they went away while they were still on the operating table. People report improvement in energy which only gets better over time. Some people could even walk when they hadn’t been able to before the procedure. Zamboni’s findings challenge what MS is. Always thought of as an autoimmune disease where the body attacks its own nerves without any reason, he is now saying it is a vascular disease-a problem with the shape of the vein. To me, it makes perfect sense. I can actually hear the issue with my jugular vein, every day! I can put pressure on this vein and the loud noise in my ear stops.

But neurologists are not jumping on this theory. The medical community wants to do research, studies, and prove that this theory is correct. The problem is, these studies are going to take a lot of time (at least two years of just scanning the veins, without performing angioplasty on anyone) and the MS community says we cannot wait. Zamboni said himself that performing the procedure at the earliest stage, before major damage to the body is done is best. In two years time, many patients will be in wheel chairs and some damage is too severe to improve. Many countries will perform the procedure for about $10,000 but no one is doing it in Canada (at least openly, two patients talked their doctor into doing it in Victoria and both had incredible results, but the doctor got in a lot of trouble for doing it). So the fight is on, with MS patients arguing that regardless if this vein issue causes MS or if it is a symptom, if a person has a malformed vein that can be fixed, for eff’s sake fix it! People with clogged arteries get angioplasty all the time, so why not help people with narrowed veins?

So I wanted to share just in case anyone has MS, or knows anyone with MS and let them know of the facebook fan page CCSVI in Multiple Sclerosis that has provided me with a wealth of information. A woman named Joan started the group and her husband underwent the procedure with great results. Joan is an amazing advocate for CCSVI (the medical name coined by Zamboni for the narrowing of jugular veins) and for anyone who is interested or wants to support the cause, this is a great fan page with so much info. Joan is answering the questions of 15,000 people on her page, day and night. She knows her stuff!

My next step is to get scanning through a private clinic in Vancouver, False Creek Clinic, sometime in the winter. I am able to pay to get specialized scans done to see the quality of my veins in my neck, but there is no where in Canada where I can get them fixed if there is an issue. Even though I am certain in my mind I have a problem with my vein, it will be nice to see what the test results say. Hopefully treatment will be sped up with all the pressure MS patients are putting on the medical community and no one will have to wait two years to get this simple, low risk treatment.

Another reason I wanted to share what is going on is because I haven’t been able to attend a lot of fun things because of my health! I wanted to say thank you to everyone for understanding when I miss events and birthdays, I am always sad to miss out. But I am also blessed with the most incredible, amazing support system anyone could ask for! My parents are unreal, they help me withour son on almost a daily basis. They cook dinners for us and let us eat and run so we can get home and get our child to bed. They are incredible people who love us so dearly and would do anything to help. Mama and Dad, thank you a million times over!

And my husband. My unbelievably wonderful husband. He is so hard working and picks up the slack on days when I am unable to help. He loves me unconditionally and makes sure I know how much he loves me and our son every day. Everyone who knows him, knows how special a person he is, but to see him rise above this tough situation with the love and strength he has, means everything to me! Next time you see him, give him a huge hug and know he is working so hard for his family. The universe was very good to me to have set me up with such a catch :)

I am so grateful every day for my life, my friends, and my wonderful family. Despite feeling pretty rotten, I am so incredibly happy. I am also so hopeful, I believe that Zamboni is onto something really big here. I have so much support from my family, Sean’s family and all my friends. I am one lucky woman.

Here is the link to the Facebook fan page. I’ll keep anyone who is interested posted on my health. Thanks for taking the time to read my story! Lots of love to everyone <3 Jessi

Another option to get in touch with Jessi is to contact me and I will pass on your information to Jessi to get in touch with you! Thanks so much for a great post Jessi!

10 Comments

Filed under Guest Post, Health, Something Learned

July 7, 2010

I wish it was so hot…

Breakfast. Smoothie with Strawbs, Rasp, 1/2 Banan, 1C Almond Milk, Rice protein and Flax

I wish it was so hot that all I wanted to eat was watermelon.

I wish it was so hot that wearing a bikini outside wouldn’t result in goose bumps before being wrapped in a blanket.

I wish it was so hot outside that I couldn’t sleep with a feather duvet at night.

I wish it was so hot outside that the idea of holding hand with anyone would give the hot and bothered feeling.

I wish it was so hot outside I was hot and bothered enough to walk to the grocery store and ‘shop’ for ice cream.

I wish it was so hot outside that the hot guy on my running route wouldn’t wear a shirt.

I wish it was so hot outside I wouldn’t want to wear a shirt.

I wish it was so hot outside I could justify skipping school for the rest of the week.

It’s not, but I wish it was..

10 Comments

Filed under breakfast

July 6, 2010

Beautiful People Surround Me

And I don’t just mean beautiful people who look good.

This is Siobhan.

Siobhan’s target to raise: $25,000

A 24 year old Commerce student from Kelowna, BC, and an Iron(wo)man.  What makes her so great isn’t just her physical achievements, or her academic, but her personal quest that she has decided to undertake: a 7,000km ride across Canada. The ride goes to benefit The Sears National Kids Cancer Ride, which is one of the biggest and most ambitious charity cycling events on behalf of childhood cancer in the world. From September 9th to 23rd, she will ride a 15-day, 7,000 km trans-Canada odyssey from Vancouver to Halifax. 43 selected National Riders will traverse the country, joined along the way by thousands of other caring cyclists who cycled shorter distances along the way in cities across Canada. Together, their cyclists will raise money on behalf of charities that improve the quality of life for children, and their families, living with and beyond cancer. Their destination – beyond cancer!

In her own words:

Ride your Bike for the kids who so desperately want to but cant

In 2009 I participated as a ride along marshal from Kelowna to Vernon. Just as we were about to head out for the ride a young boy, only 7 years old, took the microphone and told his story. He talked about the necklace he wore. The necklace was made out of different coloured beads. The beads went from his neck right down to his toes. His necklace was made of his ‘Beads of Courage’. Each bead represented a needle poke, a chemo treatment, a surgery, etc. My heart absolutely broke while he shared his story. He remembered that his favourite time at the hospital was being let out of isolation to enjoy his fourth birthday.

Recently a colleague of mine’s son fell ill with cancer. He is only 5 years old. What I have seen this family go through is devastating. I cannot imagine going through this as a child. I cannot imagine being a parent and watching your child endure this disease.

The good news is we can make a difference!

We have a responsibility to help these children and these families. We need to get on our bikes and ride for our health, and ride for all of the children that want to so desperately to feel the freedom of childhood and ride their bikes but cannot, because they have to endure childhood cancer. I know that I can make a difference, and so can everyone else, in their own way. Please support me on this journey. Let’s give these kids the best childhood we can. Let’s help their families cope. Let’s make childhood cancer history together!

Training for the ride

The physical training requirement to cycle across the country is a huge commitment. Time on my bike weekly started at about 10 hours earlier in the season and has since increase to about 25 + hours. The training is essentially a part time job. Training means getting out on your bikes, early in the mornings, and almost all day on the weekends rain or shine. It is a wonderful opportunity to explore the beauty around you. There are days when your body is tired and your legs don’t want to pedal or climb that one last hill, but you always remember that you pedal with a purpose; its all for the kids. Many of these children would love to go outside and ride a bike, but during treatment that is often not possible. Sure training can be hard, and so can managing your time with work and for me school, but realistically it is a small feet compared to the kids who wake up and day after day, month after month, and year after year endure chemotherapy, surgery, and endless other procedure to conquer childhood cancer.

At the peak of my training I will be cycling over 900kms per week. This means you need proper nutrition, hydration, rest, and amazing support from friends and family. I am so thankful for the support I have that allows me to stay happy and healthy during training.

Fundraising

Fundraising $25,000 while studying in a full time accelerated university program and having moved to a new town to do so has been an exciting challenge. I have hosted BBQ’s, bakes sales, yoga class, spin a thons, movie nights, houseboat parties, and the list goes on. Fundraising is a part time job in and of itself and has only been successful because of the amazing people that I have around me. The great thing about the money that we raise is that 100% of every dollar goes to the cause. Each rider pays a $4000 fee to participate in this ride so that we cover all our own costs, from food, to clothing to transportation. Remax Kelowna and World Gym Kelowna have graciously taken care of this fee for my ride. Please come out to our next two events:

Upcoming Fundraising Events:

Outdoor Yoga in Centennial Square

  • (by donation) on Sunday July 11th @ 9:30 am: Come and join lululemon and I and take Amy Chayko’s Downdawg yoga class in the sunny outdoors!

Spin-a Thon: the Corporate Costumed Challenge!

  • Purchase a spot to ride beside me with a team for an hour, as I ride for 12 hours @ Sears Hillside mall.
  • Don’t forget to find a team of 5 and dress up in a costume theme of your choice! Friday  August 5th! 9am-9pm

For more information you can contact Siobhan at:  Siobhan(dot)mcmanus(at)gmail(dot)com

And if you can’t make it out to these events, but are able to make a donation online, please do at:

http://snkcr.com/siobhanmcmanus

6 Comments

Filed under Guest Post, cycling, fundraising, volunteer

July 5, 2010

Grinding

The Power Lines

The Grind

Me. Grinding

Choosing the trail up

Trying to keep up with my dad (I failed)

30% Grade, NBD

Last push to the top

This guy's a show off, he wasn't running before..

The view, really makes it all worth it (except not this time)

Hope everyone’s had a great weekend. I spent mine in Vancouver getting my life sorted and my place all organized, but most importantly, I got a grind in!

Grouse Grind is a hike relatively close to the city that people will drive to (sometimes more then an hour) and it doesn’t take and an hour to do; some people say you use your 10k time to determine how long it’ll take you to go up. I’m lucky though, I have family that lives 10minutes away, so we just get up, drink a little coffee then head to the base of the mountain and make our way up.  The best part? You don’t have to hike down if you don’t want to, in fact, I bought myself a seasons pass to the mountain this weekend so I’ll be able to ride the tram down whenever I feel like it (thank god).

This time up we were chasing a hockey camp. I found myself passing 16 year olds left, right and centre, boosting my ego like you wouldn’t believe (as most times I’m getting passed, with the exception of those people in jeans and plastic high heels- I usually pass them- that’s another story though).  I get about 30minutes in, and some kid asks me, “Hey, do you know if we’re anywhere close to the top?” I look at my watch, uhhh no. “Almost!” I say, convincingly, “Only 20minutes or so left, and it only gets easier from here,” I say like I’m a regular, “Is this your first time?”.  The 16 year old “Yeah, and I’m so out of shape right now it’s ridiculous”. He’s making excuses and I’m feeling good. I felt only slightly bad for feeling good that I wasn’t the one sucking wind.

I suddenly shot back to my first time going up the grind. I cried. I didn’t just cry. I cried and swore and wondered why anyone would talk me into this. Heaving breaths and big fat tears.

“Hey,” I say to the 16 year old who’s now stopped, “Don’t worry about it, you’re doing awesome, I cried my first time up, and it doesn’t look like you’re crying yet, you should be alright..”

“Thanks” he says, and off I went.

No tears, no swears flying from my mouth. I felt good, and didn’t even notice it the next day. Needless to say, I’m thankful for that.

What adventures did you have this weekend? Beat any 16 year olds up a mountain? Or race anyone on a treadmill?

3 Comments

Filed under weekend

July 1, 2010

New Digs

Pre Move Sushi Feast- Yes, with tortilla chips

Where am I going?!

Not that way

Ahh yes, Vancouver- bright lights and big mountains

Grande Half Sweet Sugar Free Vanilla Soy Americano Misto. NBD

Well, hello new hallway

New room, in the corner is my new walk in closet/washroom. Yes, I know. Amazing.

So, I am all in, unpacked and somewhat organized. I’m still back and forth between Victoria and Van for the next few weeks, but am looking forward to 14 days from now when I head over and don’t look back (for a while at least).

What hump did you dominate today? Mine was moving, and it went surprisingly well, all finished within 12 hours! Sigh of relief.

13 Comments

Filed under volunteer, weekend

June 29, 2010

My Life, In Boxes

Goooood morning!

Something worked yesterday on my veggie overdose, because today, I’m feeling about 25% better, it might not seem like a lot, but it was enough to fling myself up out of bed at 5:45am this morning to put my running shoes on, laundry in the machine and my butt out the door to pound some pavement.

Little did I know I’d be running into elites out there, but apparently that’s how I roll, or am going to start rolling. I was running through a neighborhood just by my house and all of a sudden about 50 cyclists went zipping by, I was feeling good at this point about 15minutes in and was able to pick up my stride to look like I was hard core, just like them; then they were out of sight, out of mind and I settled back into my regular pace.  I’d ask if you’ve ever done that, but we’ve all been there, nothing beats a little motivation at 6am!

Anyways, tomorrow is moving day, I’ve been ridiculously busy packing my life into boxes, organizing, reorganizing, downsizing and upsizing. It’s amazing how much stuff I have, and how much stuff I’ve still chosen to hang on to.. You never know when I’ll need that gold sequin top again I thought was cool when Nicole Richi was wearing bolero caplets and I decided to go for the blinged out $100 dollar version, or those ridiculous high heels I remember wearing only once to a club and walking home bare foot (2hours)..

Oh sweet memories..

10 Comments

Filed under banana, breakfast, running

June 29, 2010

Veggie OD & Yerba Mate

Today after working out my trouble zones with Jillian (I’m sorry, am I the only one who thinks that’s funny?!), I put a salad into my egg whites, after my breakfast salad, I ate another salad for lunch featuring tofu and olives, and after my lunch I had a salad for dinner (two- greek and green). Not to mention the fruit overdose that has aided in my veggie one.

I cannot really afford to be sick right now, and I’m not sick enough that I would miss school or miss a workout, I just feel gross enough to want to complain about it the whole day to anyone who’ll listen.

What I did discover today, that helped with my fuzzy head, was Yerba Mate tea.  Have you ever heard of it? It’s a South American tea, that Brendan Brazier talks about in his Thrive Diet book. As I was sipping the tea going over all the health benefits, I couldn’t help but notice the slight increase in my energy. It was not like the boost coffee gives you, but general mental alertness that brought me out of my fog that had consumed me all morning.  It boasts huge energy benefits as well as helps with heart health, immune support, digestion and sleep (apparently drinking it, even though it boosts your energy it doesn’t affect your sleep).

Does it taste good? I don’t know- I can’t really taste things today- I gave some to a friend who said it tasted like dirt, but if the dirt water is going to lift me out of a fog and push me through 3pm lulls, then I will drink it!

Do you have any secrets that help you keep your energy going all day? I think the South Americans are onto something with this one!

7 Comments

Filed under lunch, marathon, running, sleep patterns, tea

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