January Wrap-Up

As a soft sprinkling of snow falls outside, the first month of my twenty-fifth year comes to a close. January was an awesome training month: I kept up my goal of working out at least five times each week, and managed to run over one hundred kilometers. The biggest achievement this month was confronting the cold weather and hitting the snowy pavements: I clocked almost half of my kilometers outside this January, battling icy sidewalks and freezing temperatures.

Beyond running (ha!), here's a couple other highlights from January I'm excited to share:

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

I blew through this book the first five days of January. I'm a huge fan of high fantasy (and have previously read many of Sanderson's books including the Mistborn series) but Words of Radiance is incomparable in its sheer epicness. At over 1,000 pages in length I simply couldn't put this book down: the characters were dynamic, the world vast and breathtaking, and the action sequences had me rapidly turning page after page. This is the second book in Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series and I cannot recommend it enough.

Twenty One Pilots

Hozier

Although I had heard of both of these bands before, I didn't start seriously listening to them until it was announced that they would play Bonnaroo this June. And then I listened, and listened, and listened some more. Twenty One Pilots are described as an indie-pop-alt-rock-duo, but they are unlike anything I've ever heard before. Hailing from Columbus, Ohio they mix electronic beats with powerful drums and complex lyrics, making there music amazingly addictive. 

Hozier, on the other hand, is an Irish musician who burst into the music scene with "Take Me To Church" in 2013. His music is described as alt-rock but is full of blues and soul influences giving it a gospel feel. My favourite tracks "From Eden" and "To Be Alone" are the perfect soundtrack for snowy winter nights curled up with a cup of tea.

Goals for February:

• I want to do a better job of tracking my weekly kilometers run. February is a short month, and bound to be snowy, but I'd like to surpass 100 kilometers and hover somewhere between 120-130 mark, overall.
• Yoga. Yoga, yoga, yoga. I started regularly attending a Friday yoga class and I think this has made all the difference in my running routine. When it comes to injury prevention and getting in touch with my body, I've really enjoyed spending a hour each week focusing on my muscles and any soreness or stress. Yay for injury prevention!
• Spending freeze. After signing a lease on a (somewhat pricey) one bedroom apartment in early January, I made saving money and have cut back on my weekly expenses. The biggest change was packing a lunch instead of buying it, which I did successfully for the entire month. I'd like to keep this going for the month of February so I can save as much as possible, ahead of my March 1st move in date.

That's is! One month down, eleven more to go, as my journey to explore twenty-five continues.

Bonnaroo 2015 Playlist

This past weekend I bought tickets to Bonnaroo, a massive music festival that takes place on a farm in Manchester, Tennessee. 'Roo has been on my bucket list for a while now: good music, great people... what more could you ask for? So I'm over-the-moon excited that it's finally going to happen in June.

So many great artists are playing this year, but here are a few I can't stop listening to, as I count down the days until The Farm (141, to be exact!)

Hozier - Jack and Wilson

 

twenty one pilots - Car Radio

 

Mumford and Sons - Winter Winds

 

Bahamas - Lost in the Light 

Snow and Ice and Running

"There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes."
- Pierre Elliot Trudeau

The above quote by the late Prime Minister Trudeau has been rattling around in my head lately, especially as the city of Toronto succumbs to winter and I fight the urge to hole up indoors until Spring. I've never been much of a winter runner: the frigid windchill and icy streets are intimidating to someone used to the steady grip of sidewalk underfoot. 

Yet, lately I'm coming to accept that this is Canada, and winter has been known to stretch on until April. Between now and then are important training months that I can't pass indoors on the treadmill... At least not exclusively. So the past couple weeks I've been making an effort to bundle up and run outside. 

The premise of winter running seems to conflict with why I love the sport so much: the freedom of running, the simplicity of lacing up your shoes and just going, is what I've always found so appealing. But winter running begs to differ: you need double layers of spandex, a hat, gloves, thermal socks and leg warmers. And that's all before contending with the icy, snowy pavement. 

And yet, I ran 16k outdoors this weekend and I felt my body start to adapt. At first my lungs screamed with each breath of frigid air inhaled and I struggled to pace myself and not give into my body's internal desire to run fast to warm up. But gradually my heart rate settled and my legs felt stronger. The technical challenge of carefully placing my feet amongst ice and snow is not so different from running trails and looking out for rocks and tree roots. 

I've heard winter running has other benefits: your heart grows stronger from working harder to circulate blood, you soak up some much needed vitamin D, the fresh air boosts your mood, and most importantly, running outside in less favourable conditions builds mental and physical toughness. 

So as the snow continues to fall and temperatures plummet I'll choose to embrace the winter season, lace up my running shoes, and hit the pavement anyway.  As Mr. Trudeau said, there's no such thing as bad weather.

Inside looking out: Winter is here

Everything That Happens Is From Now On

Today I took advantage of the relativity warm weather (in Toronto that means -6 in January) to stretch my winter legs and head out for a 10k run through the snowy streets. Running outdoors 12 months of the year means adapting to the seasons and giving your body and your mind what it needs to succeed. 

I've been feeling thoughtful and introspective lately, so I made a playlist to compliment my mood, full of male vocalists and thundering instrumentals. It was the perfect soundtrack to the stark winter backdrop as my legs fell into a familiar rhythm and kilometers passed underfoot.

Playlist: January 11, 2015
Distance: 10 kilometers of snowy, icy bliss

1. Bon Iver - For Emma
2. Ed Sheeran - Give Me Love
3. Ben Howard - Small Things
4. Ed Sheeran - I See Fire
5. Ben Howard - Black Flies
6. Hozier - To Be Alone
7. Bastille - Pompeii
8. Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were
9. Bon Iver - Re: Stacks
10. Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
11. Ed Sheeran - Afire Love
12. Hozier - Take Me To Church

January Training Schedule

The arrival of January means fierce arctic winds are enveloping the city, blowing from the North and off Lake Ontario. With the crunch of snow and ice underfoot winter is undeniably here. And so I've traded in my trail running shoes in favour of the treadmill this month, where the weather, unrelenting, can't interfere with my training. 

I've heard that people are more prone to injuries in January: thanks in part to resolutions and an eagerness to start the year off right. But the truth is the race season is still months away. I want to spend this month focusing on cross-training and building a solid foundation for future success.  

Here's what my January training schedule looks like:

Sunday: Run (35 minutes)
Monday: Swim (1 hour)
Tuesday: CardioBlast (30 mins cardio, 30 mins strength training) 
Wednesday: Run (35 minutes)
Thursday: Lower Body Sculpt (1 hour)
Friday: Yoga (1 hour)
Saturday: Run (45 minutes)

Twenty-Five Percent Used Up

Part way through 2015 I'll turn twenty-five. I'll be a quarter century old, twenty-five percent used up. I'm not sure how I feel about this upcoming milestone (or if I'm supposed to feel anything at all). 

I do know that growing up, and into my teens, I had notions about what my life would look like at twenty-five. And in some ways, it's what I imagined: I'm university educated, financially stable, and building a professional career in a field I love. 

In other ways the expectations of my younger self are slightly off-kilter. It took me some time to come to terms with the fact that my twenties didn't unravel the way I'd expected. But I'm so happy and grateful for the journey that's led me here.

As I said, I'm not sure how I feel about turning twenty-five this year. But what I do know for sure is that I want to document it. And so this blog, explore 25, is born. I expect this to become a collection of experiences as I track my goals for the upcoming year, and document the exciting things to come. 

My life revolves around a few key hobbies: reading, writing, cooking, fitness and travel. I've captured some goals for the upcoming year in each of these areas, below:

• Read eighty books: from non-fiction to high fantasy to young adult. Read them all.
• Write, weekly. Be it on this blog, in a journal, or scribbled on the back of a grocery receipt. Build time into each week to write, even when it feels like the words won't come. Especially then.
• Eat healthy. Cook more and experiment with new flavors in the kitchen. 
• Run, at least three times a week. Cross train in the winter, run trails in the summer, bike and do yoga in between. Learn a basic breaststroke. Complete a sprint triathlon.
• Travel. Visit new cities close to home and far away. Explore new neighbourhoods locally. Take a staycation. Go on a road trip.

And with that, I'll leave you with a song (and artist) I've been listening to non-stop lately, as the weather has turned cold, enveloped in winter's fierce embrace.

End of the Affair by Ben Howard: