Last year, to celebrate Lil Sis’ birthday in some style, we went on a road trip to Detroit. Yes, Detroit.
We couldn’t help it. We had never been to. We weren’t thrilled with the notion of going to cities we had been to before like Montreal and Ottawa. And “nearby” cities like Chicago, New York, Boston and Quebec City aren’t so nearby. She found the hotel (Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport) which I successfully Pricelined for cheap. A former colleague had just set up in Ann Arbor so we could visit him …

A few days before the race, Lil Sis’ called me and asked if I had gone running yet outdoors and it had kind of slipped my mind! When I was training (without the faintest idea of a structured program) for my first half-marathon back in 2004, I nearly didn’t do any outdoor running but did squeeze a couple in and was grateful for them. I’ve been working out in my condo gym at the convenient time of 11 p.m. and I wouldn’t fathom going outdoors at that hour in a …

Since learning about the Quebec City Staircase Challenge (Defi des Escaliers) several years ago, I haven’t stopped wanting to do it as it is a truly unique event within the realm of what I would do. That is, I’m not doing triathalons or ultra-marathons or those crazy Warrior Dash/Spartan Sprints–not my style. But adding some intensity with some stairs in what is otherwise a road race… sure!
I registered first since I was just itching to get my confirmation and then we booked our “half price” Porter flights to Quebec: leaving …

BlogTO.com recently did a round-up of road races in Toronto in 2012 and the list (as with every city) gets a little boring with every ‘burb hosting a 5K in the spring and summer months. The one that stuck out for me, however, was the Toronto Pearson Runway 5K Run/2K Walk in its 5th incarnation and benefiting Hope Air.
Now, I’m a bit of a flying nut and I love airports but I don’t know all my airplane models by sight nor do know my YYZ (Toronto Pearson Airport) runways as displayed …

When I was nice and new to my apartment and riding the elevator right after work when there were the most numerous fellow passengers, a girl came into the elevator on the second floor after completing a workout in the condo gym.
I openly admired her colourful elastic hairband that was pink or purple and thin but there was room for something simple like “26.2″ to be printed on it several times in a row. It’s a simple shout-out to the marathon distance of 26.2 miles.
When I’m at new-to-me races, I …

Starting with the 2005 edition, I did the Vancouver Sun Run 10K race a whopping five times in seven years. What’s funny is that I kept doing it after swearing the year before I wouldn’t deign to do that non-race again.
So it stands to reason that since I’m in Toronto for however long I will be here, I have to find the corresponding Big Citywide Springtime 10K Race. The Toronto Yonge Street 10K (formerly known as the Sporting Life 10K, which still exists but got moved to a different day) …

I have still registered for zero of the three (or four) races bouncing around in my head but came up with this cute (?) “Top Ten” list of reasons to persuade someone to join me on a destination marathon trip. Maybe it could work for you, too?

“We will have a big pasta dinner on Saturday night!” I will find you a joint that serves ample portions, no fuss and frills. It will probably be delicious. I’ve had memorable dinners at Chianti in Vancouver, Olive Garden in Calgary, and Macaroni Grills …

A friend of mine recently asked, twice, why I stopped running. Paranoid, I wondered if that wasn’t some kind of a hint that I should resume a training regime because I’m getting round or something. Actually, he asked because runners usually have a hard time leaving the sport and I laughed and told him I never liked the physical act of running and I got so intensely bored of training in Vancouver (and getting beat down by the rain).
At the same time, I think a half-marathon 21.1km is the perfect …

We did not train for this one. In the days leading up to the race, I started feeling sick to my stomach. It was not dissimilar to a few races in the past where race day approached and I knew I wasn’t prepared. How not prepared? We hadn’t run more than 30 minutes and my original goal was 70 minutes, more than double the time. How one earth did I let this happen?! Well, first off, I didn’t make a schedule–how could that have happened?! I’ve been dealing with other issues …

Someone I know always has a story to tell you. She really believes in ardent socializing (or “networking”) and perhaps lives vicariously through other people. We were kicking back after dessert and the topic of the upcoming Sun Run (10K) race came up and who would be participating and burning (600) calories to burn off the dessert? I had to timidly raise my hand–we are ready to go for 5K, just not so sure about the back 5.
She added with great relish that a mutual acquaintance of ours is doing …