NEVER take your foot of the gas.

Top Albums of 2010

Recently I was asked to contribute to my friend Rob's blog. He wanted to help introduce his readers to some new music - click here for the post - he got 8 friends together and tasked us to compile a list of our top 5 albums from 2010.

It was during my research for this post that I discovered I have way more than 5 albums from 2010 that I love - 17 actually. So feeling inspired by Rob I bring you my list of the top 17 albums from 2010.

*Each band name links you to their myspace page and I've embedded a grooveshark player to the bottom of this post which contains 3 or 4 of my favourite songs from each album that you can listen to straight from my blog.

1. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
2. The National - High Violet
3. Delorean - Subiza
4. Mumford and Sons - Sign No More
5. Caribou - Swim
6. Angus and Julia Stone - Down the way
7. Beach House - Teen Dream
8. Ra Ra Riot - Orchard
9. Wintersleep - New Inheritors
10. Cary Brothers - Under Control
11. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms 
12. Birds of Tokyo - Birds of Tokyo
13. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
14. Morgan Page - Believe 
15. LCD Soundsystem - This is happening
16. The Black Keys - Brothers
17. Yeasayer - Odd Blood

~Happy Listening

Ringing in the new year

Happy New Year! 

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to spend the last day of 2010 with two of the most important people in my life my "little" brothers. I took them to enjoy a little taste of my everyday, the North Shore mountains. After gearing up in our luon and lending some running tights to my wee bro we hiked up the BCMC.  It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day.

I am so proud of Kolton (he's 14) for coming along and powering up - he even ran up the last bit to ensure he'd "beat" me - you know according to him I'm middle at the ripe age of 27 so of course he had to beat me.

Some of my favourite pics from the day~ 

mid-hike photo shoot

taking a pic of yourself on the iPhone is tough! But we managed this one ;)  Also note my favourite clothing purchasing of the season is this ear warmer from Lululemon I've worn it hiking, running, snowshoeing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing already.

he's so hard core

view from the top

Miwok 100km Ultramarathon

I'll admit it took me a couple weeks to digest... I'm on the list of  registered runners for Miwok 100km Trail Race.

Now that its sunk in and the holidays are winding down, the training begins. It's officially time to begin the pursuit of my next goal. 

My plan to run & finish my first 100km trail race nets out like this:

1. F,F & TB

Alignment of friends, family and perhaps most important training buddies. I even have two confirmed crew and two maybe crew members are lined up! I'm going to need all the support I can get to help me achieve this goal.

2. Solid Training Plan

A solid training plan. My training plan is something like this:

5 runs a week; 1x tempo run, 1x hill training, 1x speed work, 2x longer weekend trail runs (longer runs building for 3 weeks at a time and then having one week a bit shorter to allow for recovery)

Yoga x1 per week

Strength training x2 per week

3. Nutrition Plan

I've set a goal for myself...cook at home. Being a busy working girl (living alone) in the city it is often more convenient (& time efficient) to dine out rather then cook at home. However I'm well aware of the nutrition benefits to home cooked food.

Also I'm dedicated/focused on improving my nutrition during training runs and during recovery post workouts. Bring on the gels and recovery drinks! Oh boy can't wait!

4. Have a freaking awesome time!

Not many people attempt to run a 100km race or understand why I'm doing it. 

I can't offer much more then this; I love running, I love being in the trails, hearing the rain, rivers & waterfalls, seeing the sun shine through the trees, being disconnected from the world, and letting my mind wonder where ever it likes. I'm addicted to endorphins and the feeling of chasing down a dream. 

Plus I know how great it is going to be when I'm out there actually running this thing!!  I know the feeling of running across the finish line knowing that all your hard work and strong will got you there. And I love how great that first glass of wine will taste post run.

5. Sleep

Make sure that I'm going to bed at a decent hour every night to ensure I stay as healthy as possible

6. Write it down

I tend to forget what I've done in terms of training so I'm going to be recording every work out and the details of the workout to ensure I'm not over training and that I'm listening to my body.

Please share w/me any advice, tips or jokes (really anything) that will help me cross the finish line ;)

If you're looking for me I'll probably be out on the trails...running

K

Miwok 100km Trail Race

What did I just do?!?!

I'm sweating.  Breathing heavy.  I can't stop shaking my legs. I feel light headed and faint and sick! I just put my name in the Miwok 100km Trail Race lottery.  I can't bare to think what will happen if I actually get in. Good Lord.

If you know me it will mean it's go time because if I "win" a spot in the lottery $160US will be charged to my credit card and I'll be running 100km. 

Putting it out there for the universe - here is my goal setting via twitter and my blog:

I put my name in the Miwok 100km Trail Race Lottery - December 2010

When my name is drawn - I will run the Miwok 100km Trail Race (w/a smile on my face for 75% of the time) - April 2011

Looking for long run training partners starting.....NOW!

Sample Sale Louis Garneau + Sacouny & many more

Sample Sale
Thursday Dec 9th & Friday Dec 10th
1523 West 3rd, in the Cantech Building, Vancouver
Time: 9am-6pm
All sales are final, CASH Only



 
 
 
 
 
 
What you'll find:

Clothing, tents, base layers, gloves, camping gear, kids cloths, kids packs, snowshoes, sandals, travel accessories, ski gear, water bottles and much more!    

 

Biking + running stuff - most items are $20. Great for xmas gifts for that road biker in your life. This will be their largest sale ever as they are having it with a number of other brands including:
Saucony
MSR
Red Feather
Sierra Designs
Ocean Minded
Laken
Lifesystems
Level Six
Rainforest Stainless Steel Bottles
Thermarest
Snow Angel
Vaude
Swiz
Sport Hill
Bergans of Norway
Vasque
LittleLife
Royal Robbins
Lifeadventure

Gunner Shaw 10km

"Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?"
-Peter Maher

Running my first cross country race tomorrow. The Gunner Shaw 10km, should be fun. Hoping I won't be a wimp but I know at least my nails will be pretty. Painted 'em dark purple last night, hoping the dark color covers the mud.