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The Return of Nocturnal Tendencies + CONTEST! + A Few Requested Playlists

Hello, readers!

It’s 10:24pm, and I have officially been awake for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Vega and I both apparently needed a “mini-hibernation,” so we both succumbed to a thirteen and a half hour snooze and woke up this evening feeling refreshed and more than well rested. All things considered, it really isn’t that big of a deal–we’re going to be attacking the Kijiji-realm and posting the last few odds and ends we haven’t listed yet, Vega’s got some work to do, I have an early morning run planned, and we’ll be visiting my old workplace tomorrow afternoon to figure out our U-Haul rental for the move. In the words of Sheen, “winning.”

The only downside to the long ass sleep was the onset of some pretty nasty nightmares. I really, really hope that my psyche figures its shit out soon here. There really are only so many nights of this that I can take. On the plus side, I managed to sleep through these ones – on the negative, I remember them pretty vividly. I’m trying not to put too much stock into them, which is made infinitely easier by the fact that when I wake up shaken, the first thing I see when I roll over is the face of my lovely man (and I always get the best snuggles from him, so that makes things easier too). Not much I can do about them scary dreams other than let them work their way through my brain. Hopefully I’ll be saying sayonara to them forever when we make it to the coast – I feel like a lot of this is coming from just being in Calgary. There’s plenty of old ghosts in this city, and I can’t wait to leave them all behind.

Anywhore. Besides being excited about the move, I’m excited about the new training plan I’ve put together for myself for June and the first 2 weeks of July. The distances aren’t anything impressive, but I want to work on my form and increase my pace, so I’ve decided to start small and work my way back up. Id been planning on starting it this week; however, with Endure and Brother’s grad, I’ve made the executive decision to push it back a week and spend this week working on hills and intervals. Regardless, the plan looks like this:

WEEK 1: JUNE 3-JUNE 9
Monday, June 3: maintenance run (3.5 miles/5.63 kilometres)
Wednesday, June 5: fartlek run (3 miles/4.83 kilometres)
Friday, June 7: long run (4 miles/6.44 kilometres)
Total Weekly Distance: 10.5 miles/16.9 kilometres

WEEK 2: JUNE 10-JUNE 16 Monday, June 10: maintenance run (4 miles/6.44 kilometres)
Wednesday, June 12: fartlek run (3.25 miles/5.23 kilometres)
Friday, June 14: long run (5 miles/8.05 kilometres)
Total Weekly Distance: 12.25 miles/19.71 kilometres

WEEK 3: JUNE 17-JUNE 23
Monday, June 17: maintenance run (4 miles/6.44 kilometres)
Wednesday, June 19: fartlek run (3 miles/4.83 kilometres)
Friday, June 21: long run (4 miles/6.44 kilometres)
Total Weekly Distance: 11 miles/17.7 kilometres

WEEK 4: JUNE 24-JUNE 30
Monday, June 24: maintenance run (5 miles/8.05 kilometres)
Wednesday, June 26: cadence drills (3.5 miles/5.63 kilometres)
Friday, June 28: long run (6 miles/9.66 kilometres)
Total Weekly Distance: 14.5 miles/23.34 kilometres

WEEK 5: JULY 1 – JULY 7
Monday, July 1: maintenance run (5.5 miles/8.85 kilometres)
Wednesday, July 3: interval work (3 miles/4.83 kilometres)
Friday, July 5: long run (4 miles/6.44 kilometres)
Total Weekly Distance: 12.5 miles/20.12 kilometres

WEEK 6: JULY 8-JULY 14
Monday, July 8: maintenance run (6 miles/9.66 kilometres)
Wednesday, July 10: tempo run (3.5 miles/5.63 kilometres)
Friday, July 12: long run (7 miles/11.27 kilometres)
Total Weekly Distance: 16.5 miles/26.65 kilometres

6 WEEK TOTALS:
Miles Run: 77.25
Kilometres Run: 124.32

Considering that come week 5, I’ll be running next to the water in beautiful Victoria, I anticipate myself having a hard time sticking to the plan, especially on 3 mile days. That said, there is a method to my madness, and I’m hoping to see an increase in my comfortable mile pace by the end of this summer kickstarter plan.

Anybody want to join me? Hell, if I can get a group together, I might even be able to get a contest going and send out prizes to those readers who keep up and get ‘er done with me by July 12th! Any takers? If you’re interested, drop me a line (my email is in the “Contact” dropdown menu) with the subject “RUN FORREST RUN!” Prizes TBA. Feeling like a badass, guaranteed.

You know you wannnnnnaaaaa!

Since we’re on the topic of running, I wanted to take a few minutes and address a question posed to me by one of my dearest friends, (we’ll call her Cinderella for blogosphere purposes) regarding what music I listen to when I run. I’m going to list 3 of my favorite playlists here, then start a dropdown menu for quick reference purposes. I have literally hundreds of assorted playlists for different moods and different types of runs, but here’s a few to get you started, Cinderella 🙂

The “Zone Out on a Bad Day” Playlist:
(note: this one gets used a lot on maintenance run days, turn on, tune out, enjoy the Zen-like bliss I get when I hit my stride)

The “I Have No Idea What I Want To Listen To” Playlist
(note: this one is my fallback on hill run days – the combination of dubstep, rap and alternative music keeps things upbeat and makes me feel like a badass)

The “Rock It Out” Playlist
(note: this one is my favorite for long runs – good balance of high energy tracks to get me moving, slower alternative rock for the slower miles, and a few angrier tunes for when the going gets tough)

On that note, I’m off to go and get my Kijiji on. I have another post in the works, you can expect that a little later on. Until then,

Wallace, out.

Why I Like My Past Despite the Bullshit (Or, “In The End It’s All Perspective.”)

Happy Monday, readers. Hope y’all had fantastic weekends and that the first day back to the grind was manageable at very least (if not, they do have a support group for those who hate Mondays, it’s called “Everybody,” and they meet at the bar (might have stolen that from a witty meme)).

Mia is in rant-y mode so if you’re feeling the angst, this post is for you. HOWEVER–before I get into the meat of this post, I’d like to take a minute to express my undying gratitude for three F-words that make my life infinitely more amazing. Despite all heavily imbued cynicism, I am an optimist (even if I have to actively bring it out some days).
1. My amazing FIANCÉ. Yes, it’s true dear readers. I am beyond happily engaged to Mr. Vega (sorry, Tarantino, I think Mrs. Mia Vega has more of a ring to it than Mrs. Mia Wallace), who surprised the good god damn out of me early Saturday morning by getting down on one knee. The funny thing is, nothing in our paradigm has really shifted, as we’ve many times stated our intentions to be together forever and a day; moreso, the re-definition of our involvement is making the gravity of the good thing we have going much more palpable (and it’s seriously awesome watching the reactions of our friends and families via the wonder of the interwebs). We’re so unbelievably lucky to have each other, and to have defied statistical probability in so many ways. We’re also so in love that it is beyond words. Lucky. So fucking lucky. And SO in love. Not quite sure what graces of the Universe have allowed this to become my existence; however, I am more than grateful for the love of my life and the life we’re going to lead together.
2. The much too shortlived glory of a TV show that was FIREFLY. Particularly, Firefly marathon sessions on the couch with my fiancé. We’ve watched the entire series now (thank-you Netflix) and it’s been lovely us time–nothing better than science fiction and snuggles with my man! Also, Josh Wheadon, for the love of bacon please go through with making season 2. Just pretend the movie was never made and give us all what we’re chomping at the bit to see. You’re WHEADON for chrissakes–buy the damn Space Network and make it happen.
3. The utter awesome that is a good FOOTRUB (given by my fiancé while watching Firefly, natch). I am a spoiled, spoiled girl. And that combination completes my trifecta of awesome F-words. 🙂

Now for some angsty rambles before I drown myself in tea. So. The meat. The chewy part of this post hinges on perspective, of which I have found that the masses are hugely lacking in these days. It’s personally frustrating watching my friends and family forget that they’ve BEEN THROUGH SHIT BEFORE, and end up having a pity party every time more shit happens. Maybe I am just bizarre, but personally I tend to stop and think when I am faced with a shitty situation, recall what I did wrong and what worked the last time I was in a shitty situation, and allow common sense and some cajones to allow me to ride the waves. I simply do not understand what part of forgetting the past and wallowing in the present is conducive to productive, forwards motion. How can you forget what the fuck has made you stronger?!

On the flip side, I get equally frustrated by pity parties held for events that are past. I could easily justify (well, at least by common standards…) wallowing for days about what the KFP or Sunshine put me through. Hell, by the standards of certain folks with whom I spend the majority of my time, there is no logical way I should have ever gotten over them in the first place. I can’t compare what I’ve been through to what any other living person in the world has been through. I have not walked in his, her, their, nor your shoes; therefore, any attempt I make to speculate on the lives of others is merely that–speculation. What I can tell you is that the darkest days of my life would have broken the masses. I can say this with my head held high, just in watching the reactions of others to some relatively benign situations in the past few days. I make the choice to acknowledge that the things that broke me happened. I can’t change that. However, I can change my future by not forgetting the circumstances that were, and working my ass off every second of every minute of every day to make sure that I never land in those depths again. Wallowing brought me NOTHING (except sleepless nights and eating disorder relapses); whereas getting the fuck back up, brushing myself off, and continuing on has gotten me further than I ever thought I would get.

I am being purposefully vague here, as I am still attempting to be sensitive to the feelings of others. That said, sometimes I wish I didn’t care so much so that I could hurt their feelings to help them move forwards. Soon, Mia. Soon you’ll be in the 403, then the 250, and all of this will be but a distant past, too.

Caring too much about people who don’t care enough about themselves is one of my mkajor character flaws. I’m trying to correct it, but it’s hard. I’ve had too many people not give a flying fuck about me in the past…I suppose in some twisted way, it has made me care too much about my friends and family sometimes. I guess it just seems so common sense to me–that life is bullshit, largely–that I get annoyed by those who haven’t seemed to figure it out yet and lose perspective on what is worth putting time and energy into. You got through a bad relationship? That sucks. But doesn’t ignoring the good one you’re in now suck more?

…I can actually feel my heartrate regulating as I get this off my chest. There’s a lot I just don’t say anymore because I know my words largely fall upon deaf ears. Call me conceited…but I’m just smarter than most. It isn’t ego. It’s fact.

Okay, okay. Maybe a little ego in there too. Sometimes I gotta stroke it too hehehe.

Regardless, it’s one of the things for which I am the most grateful for my Vega. We’re pretty well an even match in every aspect (he’s smarter than me, I maintain; however, I’ll concede to his semantics and agree that we are equivalent in intelligence, just in different disciplines), and it is such a breath of fresh air to me, having found my love in life–with whom I can be truly, brutally honest, and with whom I have to filter myself absolutely NEVER. He ain’t perfect (and neither am I), but he’s perfect for ME.

And on that note, I am going to call this a post, make a cuppa tea and some popcorn, and enjoy watching “Serenity” with my FIANCÉ. Still can’t fully wrap my head around how amazing it is to be able to call the love of my life my FIANCÉ (insert happy as fuck dance riiiight here). Frustrated as life might make me, nothing really seems so bad since he waltzed his way into my existence. It’s all just a matter of picking my battles wisely for the next few weeks, and then 403, and then 250, and then happily ever after. With my Vega and his Wallace and his wonderful pooch in tow.

For now,

Wallace, out

|Eloquence is Bliss|

…You don't know the facts, until you've seen the fiction.

Tag Archives: live

The Return of Nocturnal Tendencies + CONTEST! + A Few Requested Playlists

Why I Like My Past Despite the Bullshit (Or, “In The End It’s All Perspective.”)