Running to Reykjavik

Dec 16 / 10:56am

The big move.

Over the past year, I have discovered a love for blogging about my running adventures that goes beyond keeping track of fundraising for my Team Diabetes events. I'm passionate about writing and about running, and since I want to combine them into one awesome something in my professional life, I've decided to commit to them for the long run (hehe) in my personal life. What that means, folks, is that my blog is moving to a new home that won't be focused on one fundraising run, but will incorporate all my life, tri, run and Team D adventures. I hope you'll follow me there. :)

Come visit me in my new home, already.

Sep 4 / 7:22am

The finish line.

Indescribable feeling.

Thank you again to everyone who helped me get to this spectacular moment :)

Aug 28 / 2:30pm

We are the champions....

We are celebrating being victorious at a fancy restaurant. And feeling amazing. Not just because of the wine.

Mary and Bry - I'm in an awesome lady sandwich. (My running tank tan lines really made my birthday dress, no?)

Three of the most amazing people I had the pleasure of meeting :)

Celebrating with Shannon - another gem - too! Feeling like champions.

Too awesome not to share :) Bry's brave shark-and-brennevin experience!

Happy birthday to me! We took a pit stop in a lava field. More surreal, raw beauty.

And to finish off the day, we flew over Greenland and had amazing visibility :) Wow!

To say that it was the time of my life is an understatement. I cannot even believe just how spectacular it was: Iceland, the marathon, getting to know some great Team D people - especially Bryanne, our adventures.... Truly awesome. I am already super pumped for round 2 :)

Aug 28 / 2:27pm

The excellence just never stopped!

We are at the BLUE LAGOON! One-of-a-kind post-marathon muscle treatment.

A toast to three friends!

Now, we're on a boat in the Atlantic! Staying warm, looking for whales and birds.

Finding lots of guano decorating these amazing cliffs.

When in Rome...or Iceland, as they case may be....

Hallgrimskirkja. Spectacular.

From the inside too!

Reykjavik from above!

So happy. So lucky.

Aug 28 / 2:09pm

Amazing adventures, continued.

Oh my god, it's breathtaking.

And we found the underworld.

Into the dark, and into the red!

Dripdrip. :)

My awesome adventure friend discovered her favorite Icelandic drink: Appelsin! Pre-city tour.

City Hall (or a set piece from 20,000 leagues under the sea?), where a former comedian presides as mayor of Reykjavik.

I wondered if this building was a relative of Gimli, MB?

Our tour guide was hilarious and very knowledgeable. Downtown.

Post-marathon joy!

Aug 28 / 1:52pm

First foray into the land of ice and snow and awe.

I have conquered PC vs Mac technology :) Raceday photos are still to come (and they will be stellar, considering I paid a German sports photog company more than 80 bucks for 'em!) but in the meantime, a little slice of Iceland excellence!

Thingvellir National Park was one of the first spectacular things we saw. It was about 9 am, gorgeous sunny weather and I was already in love with the landscape.

Free advertising for the best tour guide and company EVER. Complete with Coldplay blasting, the guide's commentary on the bravery of road-crossing sheep and the constant companionship of an amazing German Shepard called Oolong.

Bry was the BEST adventure partner ever. We were so pumped for the "world's best coldwater snorkel" in Silfra. Suited up!

The steaming site of a geysir. (Can you even believe how spectacular it all is??)

Gulfoss is the biggest waterfall in Iceland. It made us a rainbow.

Inches away from the mouth of it!

Windblown at a crater lake and loving life!

We struck off into a lava field in search of the underworld.

Aug 24 / 11:39am

That was epic.

Truthfully, I'm not even sure where to begin! So I've decided to postpone it until tomorrow when I can explain it with a photo or two. I think my first day in the quarter century club is going to involve a small nap and laundry.
The quick-n-dirty summary:
Essentially, it was the most amazing thing to ever happen to me, from the moment we landed to the marathon to riding an is hestar (Icelandic horse) on my birthday. Utterly amazing. :)

This horse (Solatae) found me instead of vice versa and we had such an excellent time together :) So good!

Also so good, my marathoning bff and adventure buddy Bryanne who is a super fun, super fabulous lady. I couldn't have picked a better person to explore Iceland with; it was a blast from start to finish!! :)

It was unusually gorgeous in Iceland almost three out of five days we were there. Win!

The marathon was terrific. 4:23:52 and SO full of joy! (Those fotos on the way). 40k + winds! Gorgeous seaside course! OMG blue powerade from Iceland, mmmmm.

I love Iceland.

Aug 18 / 1:37pm

Iceland, here I come!

Thanks so much to everyone who helped me get to this point where I am actually going to Iceland to run my first full marathon. :D
Brb Canada!

Aug 14 / 4:21pm

Raced! Trained! Counted down some more!

FIVE DAY COUNTDOWN!!! (I can't believe it!)

I'd like to pay another belated thank you to my new media journalism prof who encouraged me to get past my luddite ways. Wayne, I'm totally on board now! Thanks to this blog and the Diabetes Iceland Dream Team facebook group, I've met so many awesome and inspiring people. I can hardly wait to meet the Team in Iceland (and in the Toronto airport) next week! It's such a great group.

Last night I ran my first 5k race! I reached the beach. :) It was a hot and sunny night, and I LOVED the route! There were some people up on their rooftops down near the beach cheering the runners on, and a huge hill on the way to the turnaround...which meant a huge downhill on the way back to the beach! We made it to the starting line at 7:29, so I literally ran out of the car, around the pack of runners to the back, and then immediately onto the course as the starting horn blew. It was pretty hilarious and exhilarating. And I have discovered that starting out at the back of the pack is actually awesome! I totally felt like a speed demon as I tore past people, especially climbing the hill. Not that I do running as a competitive sport, because I don't really. I mean, I love this whole racing thing but it's truly not about making a great time or winning my age group for me. I just loved feeling like sonic the hedgehog, tearing it up!

And the Port Stanley newspaper caught me at the finish line. And yeah, speaking of times? I have no idea how long that one took me. It wasn't a chip-timed event. Plus, my watch decided timing wasn't important for this race and didn't turn on. And finally, the interwebs is just not releasing that info either. 22 minutes-ish?

Today I ran 21k(ish). The debut of the Team D shirt! And my second experiment with body glide - wonderful stuff.

I found it a little hot, but I'm not sure I can blame the shirt, considering when I left at quarter to six this morning, it was already supposed to feel like 30 degrees. It's been particularly humid lately, so I think that was more to blame than the shirt. Otherwise, it was comfy! It doesn't wick the way my other running tops do, but it does breathe. I took the west route through the river parkway (an old fave) and really enjoyed myself. Big Starbucks breakfast, followed by a nap and a terrific day. I love the weekends.

And! Opened some very exciting mail that I didn't realize I had sitting underneath my bills! Super huge thank you shout-out to Barry and Nancy, two excellent human beings. :)

Posted from Central Elgin, Canada

Aug 13 / 3:24pm

Off to the Races!

For those of you who don't do most of your reading with a mirror (I'm a mac-cam noob. still.), it says "when your legs feel tired, run with your heart". Awwh.

To the beach!

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