Then & Now: April

You know I have to say it: I can't believe it's almost May! May is one of my favorite months of the year; It is Spring time, the flowers are blooming, the weather is great and it's my birthday month. You can't ask for much more than that. However, April is good too! This year has differed a lot from last year in the fact that I have been in one place for an entire month! Usually I move around a lot, be it for work or for fun. So, here is April's monthly comparison of the Who, What and Where of 2011 vs 2012!

The Who: 

 2011: Animals!

2012: The Parentals, My Other Mother, Little A, The Cat

The What: 

Books: 

2011: 4 / 2012: 6

Train Like a Mother by Dimity McDowell & Sarah Bowen Shea (review here): This was an easy to read training book for runners, both beginners or advanced. It was filled with funny stories and antidotes from runners polled. 

Ape House by Sarah Gruen: This was an interesting story about Bononbos (similar to chimps) who can communicate with humans through sign language. The two main characters are a newspaper reporter and the woman who taught the bonobos to speak. Their paths cross in a story that is amusing, enlightening and fun.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory: I read these out of order. Apparently this was number two. However, for my first Gregory, I liked it. I have heard great things about her, and they were no lie. I can't wait to read more of her books. This one was about the sister of Anne Boleyn, during the reign of Henry VIII. It was a great way for me to learn more about that time period while still engaging me in an interesting story.

You can see the others I've read here.

Running miles: 

2011: 0 / 2012: 113

Races: 

2011: 0 / 2012:4

Cherry Blossom 10 Mile
Jelly Bean 5k
Jelly Bean 10k
Grizzly Peak Trail Half

You can keep up with my training here and racing here.

 Hiking:

2011: in NZ

2012: in Oakland

Food: 

2011: On the road 

(pies , kimchi and street meat)

2012: At Home 

(White Bean Chicken Chili, Hummus, Granola)

The Where: 

2011: New Zealand, South Korea

2012: Washington DC, The Bay Area, Table Mountain

The verdict? Last year I ate out (and ate a lot of crap); This year I am eating much more healthy and having fun experimenting with some new recipes! I did more hiking last year, but more running this year! I'm exploring things on the local level this year and am loving it! And even though I only read a couple of books last month, I made up for it this month and am still on track for my 52 book reading goal!

How has your April gone this year? How did it differ from last year?

Postcard from Aswan

Aaahh where do I even begin with the beautiful, serene, Aswan?! Located on the southern tip of the Nile Valley, Aswan paints an incredibly majestic backdrop for a 3 day cruise. My travel companions and I boarded an overnight train (boozy, dance-crazed, sleep mobil) from Cairo and arrived in what felt like the heart of the African desert by morning. I will never forget awaking to my saharan desert painting brought to life. With little time to lose, we disembarked the train and bused over to our immaculate cruise ship/home for three days.

Upon arrival we almost immediately hopped aboard a Felucca, traditional Egyptian sailboat, and became intimately engrossed with the Nile. Watching the sunset over the water was so beyond breathtaking. Walking through the markets at night, visiting the sight of Abu Simbel, conversing with my new friends/kindred spirit, made Aswan an absolute dream. Its impression was so profound that even now, when I revisit these photos, I can still feel the heat of the sun on my skin. Thankfully my friend Adam managed to capture some of the experience from afar.

Hope you enjoy my loves!! Still so many photos to come. Oh and check me quite literally "travel, write, drawing" on location at Abu Simbel!! If you can conceive it, you can live it.

Much love,

Meag xx

Your Answers Questioned

In my post yesterday, I asked readers to answer a couple of running related etiquette questions and got some interesting responses. I just wanted to do a quick follow up on that post.

Most of the people who answered agreed on these points:

- When coming up behind a runner from behind, yell "on your left" before passing them on the left (except for Robyn, who yells "good morning!" I like it.)

- When running on a wider trail, path or a sidewalk we run on the right side. 

- When running on a street with sidewalks, we generally stick to the right sidewalk (going with traffic) but a couple of us run on the left (toward traffic). **And when Grace runs on St. Charles, she runs in the middle of the street. Literally.

St. Charles Ave, New Orleans

Some of the ones that had discrepancies were:

- Running on a road without sidewalks. Most people said they run on the left towards traffic. I have always been taught this is the correct way as well. Otherwise you can't see the semi truck that is about to hit you in time to jump out of the way into the bushes. I did a little research to be sure, and Running for Dummies agrees! Run against traffic!

- The other one which I had to look up before my first trail race the other day to make sure I didn't commit a huge faux pas was: who yields? Well folks, according trail runner's rules on the run, the runner coming uphill yields to the runner coming down (this site also has great tips such as: don't litter, which seems obvious but is not always, and saying "thank you" if someone yields).

- The one that confuses me the most is bike paths. I went running on the American River Bike Trail in Sacramento and was running on the right and I got cussed at (no joke! and loudly!) by a bicyclist. Afterward, I saw signs instructing runners to run on the left, as if the bike path was a car laden highway. This actually makes sense to me, since a "bike is a car" and is supposed to ride with traffic. This just assumes that the bikers are "traffic", so they stay to the right like they would on the road, and we stay on the left, like we would on the road.

However, I tried to find information about it and this RW forum only made me realize that strangely enough, it may vary from path to path. Some paths may post the rules; some may not. So I guess it depends. However, trail etiquette states that the faster person should yield to the slower, so in theory, if you are running on the right (and I hope you are running at the edge and not near the line) the bike should make their way around you, politely saying "on your left" and making sure you don't accidentally get run over. If you feel like a little extra reading, this guy sums up the rules quite nicely. I especially like where he says, "The bike path is where people go to exercise, so move".

Well, for a "quick follow up", this sure is a long winded post. I guess it's a sore subject, some of these people who run towards me and don't move, or stand three abreast taking to their friends and don't even look ashamed when I have to run around them into oncoming traffic. I get out of people's way and I would feel guilty if I didn't; I expect the same courtesy.

My favorite answers were to the last question I asked, which was: what do you do if three people (or a person with a long leashed dog) are coming toward you, taking up the entire path? Answers ranged from "nothing" to: give them the evil eye, kick them, play chicken and assume they will move and, my favorite by Missris, and one I have employed myself, is to  "accidentally" bump into them with your sweaty elbow. In my case it was a shoulder, but it still does the trick (the trick being making me feel better, not like it teaches them anything).

Thanks everyone for answering. I hope you are enjoying your weekend! Good luck to everyone who has a race today! And  even if you don't have a race, good luck to you too!

Does your bike path have posted signs about which side to run on? How do you feel about bicyclists (or, if you are a biker, how do you feel about runners)? Have you ever been hit by a bike/car/other runner?

Do & Do Not: You

Have you ever had one of those instances where you are running along a trail or a bike path or the sidewalk and a runner comes toward you on the wrong side? And you wonder who taught, or didn't teach, them what side to run on?

I have. And sometimes I wonder if it's ME that's on the wrong side or doing it wrong. So today, I want to hear your vote on the rules of running. Maybe I can learn a few things. Maybe I have been doing it wrong all these years. Let's see.

1. You are running on a trail that is single track (one person width). You come up on someone slower than you from behind. What do you do/say?

2. You are running uphill on a single track. Someone comes downhill toward you. Do you yield? Or should the other runner?

3. You are running on a sidewalk-less road/street/highway. Which side do you run on?

4. You are running on a street WITH a sidewalk. Which side do you run on?

5. You are running on a running path which is wide enough for 2 or 3 people. Which side do you run on?

6. You are running on a path mostly used for biking, which is 2-3 people wide. Which side are you on?

And last, just for curiosity sake, you are running on a path and you encounter any or all of these situations: a) coming toward you are three ladies with strollers, walking abreast, taking up the entire path, b) coming toward you is a person with a dog on a leash that is stretched over to the other side of the path, essentially taking up the entire path, unless you want to do the limbo or c) coming toward you are three fit runners, running three abreast, also taking up the entire path. What do you do?

I am asking because I want to validate my behavior aka a) pushing the stroller out of my way, b) kicking the dog and c) giving the runners the finger.

So, weigh in. I want to find out from you what the proper running etiquette is. I will give you my answers in a separate post. I don't want to sway your judgement. Any other scenarios where you feel that I, or other runners, need to be schooled on?

I am linking up at Jill's today for Fitness Friday!

Use This: The Library

I recently had a friend who was taking a class where she had to watch movies and analyze them. She was talking about how expensive it was getting, as she was often buying the movies, since she never knew how long she was going to have them, and she usually uses Redbox. She does the same kind of work as me, where she moves from place to place, so Netflix was not as easy for her to use. I asked her why she wasn't using the library and she said she didn't realize that the library had movies.

Did you know that the library has movies? For free? And most libraries let you keep them for 7 days.

I have considered going back to school to get a Masters in Library Sciences, so when I was working in Missouri, I went to the local library and offered to volunteer, so I could get more of a handle on what a librarian actually does. To tell you the truth, I was surprised that a librarian does a lot more than I realized,  but one of the main things was helping patrons, aka customer service. So I am still on the fence about that decision. However, I also learned a lot about the things the library offers while I was there.

They have computers, and often a computer lab, with free access to the internet, printers and scanners. And if you are a 12 year old boy, games.

They have books, obviously, but they often have the most recent books out. I even got to help buy books while I was working there (They call it acquisitions. It sounds much more professional that way!) But did you know that if they don't have a book you want, they can get it on an inter-library loan, which means from outside the city, county, state or even country! A lady I know had a book transferred to her from Canada! If nobody has it, fear not, they can even buy it for you if it's in the budget!

They have books on CD. Lots of them! New titles and everything! I borrowed a lot of these, downloaded them and put them on my iPod where I now listen to them while I am running! Move over Ira Glass!

They have eBooks. These you can download without even going into the library. I think that they usually let you keep them for a couple weeks and then it goes away if you don't renew.

They have magazines. Yes. And you can take them out. If you have a flight coming up, you can stock up on Glamor before you go.

The have TV shows. These are the same as the movies; I think you can only rent them for one week, instead of two or three like books. But they have good shows and recent enough ones too! 

They have many reference materials, genealogy materials, newspapers, professional journals and the like.

Many libraries also have: a language learning program (there is one online called Mango), help with a job search, car repair information, practice tests like the GRE or Citizenship tests, tutorials for Microsoft applications and my favorite: Novelist.

Novelist is something the library has to pay for, so not all of them have it, but it's a book recommending site. If you just read a great book, The Hunger Games, for instance, you do a search and it gives you suggestions for books you may want to read next. Or if you are looking for historical fiction about WWII, you can find out that the top books for that, based on popularity are: The Postmistress, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Day After Night (which I am putting on my To Read list right now). Not only that, but it gives you a synopsis of each book. The only thing it's missing is a way to auto upload to Goodreads.

Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is....I love the library! Sometimes you don't realize what resources are available to you! I didn't!  One last thing. My best friend: the HOLD. Before even going into the library, you can look up what you want and see if your local branch has it. If not, you can place a hold, so they will transfer it in for you and then hold it once it gets there. So you just sit back and wait! It's great! As you can see, I am a fan.

Do you use your local library? If so, what do you utilize the most? Have I missed anything useful?

Food Firsts (2)

You may remember that one of the things on my to do list is to try a new recipe each month. This actually ended up turning into one new recipe a week on average. They are not anything special; they are just an attempt at trying something NEW, not fancy. And it's fun!  Now if I can just get myself to try a new activity each month as well... Here are three of my favorite breakfast recipes from the last few months.

1. Breakfast Quinoa (adapted from this recipe): I love quinoa and was excited to find that I could eat it for breakfast! One of my favorite ways to eat it is to cook it as mentioned below and then add fresh fruit, a few nuts and some almond milk for a yummy and fast breakfast!

Ingredients
2 cups almond milk
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup craisins or raisins

Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, until three-quarters of the milk has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook, covered, until almost all the milk has been absorbed, about 8 minutes.

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2. Overnight Oats (adapted from this recipe): I liked these because you can make them the night before and then just grab and go in the morning. They also make a great gift for a basket. The recipient just has to add milk and leave in the fridge and they are all set. Easy! 

1/3 cup steel cut oats 

1 cup almond milk

1/4 cup nuts

1/4 cup raisins or craisins

1/4 cup shredded coconut

2 tsp brown sugar or honey (or to taste; you may want a little more)

Mix all ingredients together in a jar or lidded Tupperware.  Stir well. Leave in fridge overnight. In the morning, stir and enjoy! They are a little chewy but very good! (**I eat this as two servings) 

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3. Homemade Granola (recipe adapted from here): This recipe is kind of an estimate, as I like to throw in a bit of this and a bit of that and sweeten to taste, which for me is not very sweet. So, you can use this as a guideline and add what you want! This makes about 6 cups. Each half cup serving is about 220 calories. 

4 cups oats

2 tbsp flax

¼ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup almonds

2 tbsp honey

3 tbsp oil

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 tbsp brown sugar

½ cup unsweet coconut

Mix all ingredients together and spread on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes at 325. Take out and stir around. Bake for another 5-10 minutes. Stir again. Bake for another 5-10 minutes. Oats should be golden brown. Let cool and store in airtight container. It should last a couple of weeks on the shelf.

For more recipes I am thinking of trying, or to find me on pinterest, go HERE.

Have you tried any of these? Have you made any new recipes lately? What do you normally eat for breakfast?

Rule No. 5: Survive With Your Head Down

Anna Wintour by Alex Katz

My indelibly brilliant friend, Globe and Mail business reporter Tim Kiladze, pointed me towards this week's New York Magazine article titled How to Make it in the Art World. While I'm still making my way through the dense copy, I did latch to a particular quote by one of my favorite artists, Alex Katz. He proposed:

"It's hard for young artists. You're an adult at 18, but for a painter it takes longer. You don't really get it together until 35 or 45. In the 1950s you had seven or eight years to experiment. But now you have to sell your first show and your second show and get a third show. And if you don't, you're a failure."

While he speaks from the fine art perspective, the sentiment holds true for any genre of art. And I can't begin to tell you how much this little piece of insight resonated with me. I lived by rule no. 5 all year, trying to survive with my head down, trying to keep all my doubts at bay, feeling like everyone was ahead of me. Comparing myself to my McGill commerce peers and their 6 figure salaries felt like a full-time career in itself. But what I realize and accept, as I finally raise my head up high, WAY high, is that the only timeline that matters is mine.

It's your life, it's your trajectory, compare yourself to no one, and measure yourself against only you. It's your dream, give it everything, and hope for the best. And now I've had my head up too long and it's time to get back to work, night class looms, and deadlines are ticking away.

See you on the other side!!

Much love,

Meag xx