This afternoon a few girls from the #RunCrew posted this video from Dove on Facebook:

A powerful message to the community, a must watch for women {and men} and an exceptional well done by Dove.

I thought to myself – would I be as harsh on myself as these women were – yes, I believe I would.

My biggest cheerleader is a friend named Jen. She’s a high achieving corporate dynamo, exceptional public speaker, mom to the cutest kids in town, a beautiful force to be reckoned with and someone who gives with her whole heart. The two things I admire the most about her:

1. She is completely transparent that she is always evolving – always growing – always learning. She’s not perfect and she doesn’t expect anyone else to be.
2. She is every girls biggest champion. She is an advocate for women, a role model in the community and continually voices her on gender rights and equality.

Jen is always telling me to give myself a high five — and most importantly, be ok with where I’m at. I look at her like she’s crazy, respond to her texts with a ‘uh huh’ and at the end of the day — know she is right. I’m hard on myself and I know it.

Body image and self-esteem is a complicated one. Family, friends, the situations we’ve been through in life — all contribute to how we define ourselves. Our perception is shaped from our past — both good and bad. I admire campaigns like this one because they draw light on a real big problem that is taking place in our homes, schools and communities. I believe that negative body image is a disease and that education {and speaking up} is the way we will bring positivity and confidence back into women’s lives.

4% of women in the world consider themselves beautiful.

Proof that we’re too critical on ourselves. Proof that we’re battling insecurities. Proof that we’re getting caught up in negativity.

Change doesn’t happen overnight — but it does over time. 

You’re not defined by your looks, you’re defined by your actions. The negativity, the hate, the criticism… let it all go.

Not because I told you to, because Jen told you to. She wouldn’t want anything less.

I’ve been very lucky since making the decision to learn to run. I’ve had minimal injuries — battled an adductor strain last year and a few issues over the last few months, but honestly nothing that major. I haven’t had shin splints, a stress fracture or knee problems. I haven’t had anything that’s put me on bed rest and no one has told me I can never run again.

Missed a race? Sure. Legs been massive sore? Yep. Fallen on my face? Definitely. At the end of the day, that’s part of the journey. With good comes bad. There’s no sunshine without rain.

“If one could run without getting tired I don’t think one would want to do anything else.” – C.S. Lewis

When Jeff and I chatted about this episode, I knew we needed to talk about Scoliosis. As much as it’s not a large part of my day to day, it’s a huge part of who I am. Running has forced me to become a lot more body aware. My spine was fairly well behaved as I progressed from 0 to 10k, but lots has changed as I’ve moved from 10k to 22+k.

My body took a beating at the Carlsbad Half Marathon {not even mileage built up} and I lost a lot of the momentum I had from last year. I went from running 20k comfortably to being unable to run a minute without pain. Over the last 6 weeks I’ve learned that the pain has been entirely due to lack of strength. My rotation affects every step I take and running adds to the muscle imbalances throughout my body. My shoulders and arms sway differently. My hips are uneven. Each leg strikes the ground with a different amount of force.

Last year I just ran. Ran and ran and ran. The goal was always farther and faster. Quad action all the time. This year is different. I’ve learned about slow runs — whoa, slow runs. I’ve been working on efficient 5k’s — and nothing longer! I’ve learned the importance of core strength, glute strength and ankle strength {thank you Gastown Phyiso & Pilates}. I’ve learned that I  have to listen to my body and go with the flow.

Some days will be good, some days will be bad. You can’t win them all. All that advice I give everyone else and never take to heart. :)

I’m not nervous about completing the BMO Half Marathon – I’m worried about my time {seems silly saying that out loud}. I told myself I would complete a sub 2:00 half marathon this year and for whatever reason then told myself it should take place on May 5th {perhaps because I’m a competitive beast}. It’s early in the year to take 12 mins off my PB and {insert transparency here} I don’t feel my legs are where I need them to be to hit the goal. My legs have been making progress and my core & glutes are finally working – thanks to Msquared {the duo, Mark & Melina} at Gastown Physio & Pilates. I’m getting stronger every week… I can feel it and it’s exciting. Is 3 weeks away too soon for that sub-2:00? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll know for sure on race day. :)

With the addition of personal challenges to this web video series, my fear was that Scoliosis would now be my crutch. I always talk about Scoliosis publicly — but rarely talk about how Scoliosis and running intercept. I felt like I just gave the world my ‘out’ if I don’t hit my time goal. Crazy talk I know — but someone out there must get where I’m coming from. Picking up what I’m putting down?

I’ve never been treated as the ‘patient’ and I don’t feel like now is the time to start. Scoliosis has made me a smarter runner. It speaks up {usually through pain and discomfort!} when I’m not taking care of me. It has made me so appreciative of breath and on so many runs, it’s given me the motivation to battle it out. In the long-term, I know that all the “extra work” that I do every week {physio, pilates, massage, acupuncture, etc} will make me a stronger runner. People tend to look at alternative therapies as a pain in the ass — they are 100% my normal, my every day and my forever,  and for that I feel grateful.

Forgot about farther and faster — I need to stay centred on physical & mental strength.

We all have our challenges — the key is not let them define us.

Learn more about Sean, Karl and my journey:

‘Running Vancouver’ is a 6-part web video series following 3 local runners journey to the BMO Marathon & Half Marathon. Episodes air every Monday morning on pacerfilms.tv. Check out Episode 1 to meet the runners and Episode 2 to learn about our training.

PS – Major gratitude and run love to my practitioners: Mark, Melina and Chris. Spending time with you is the highlight of my week. Thank you for the constant support, laughter and for occasionally talking me off my crazy train. 3 weeks till race day.

I believe that the nicer you are to your body, the nicer it will be to you. Fill your body with the nutrients it needs. Eat clean, eat local and eat smart. Sweat once a day. Get your heart rate up and give your lungs a work out. Challenge your mind. Spend time with those you love. Stretch — and sleep.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been in a mad case of go – go – go. Work. Train. Sleep. Repeat. On the countdown to race day. Currently I’m laying on my bathroom floor, wrapped in a towel, writing this blog post. Why? I was mid-shower when all of a sudden I thought I was going to faint. I got light headed, felt weak and nausea took over my belly. For a girl that pretends she’s amazon strong, fainting is a weird and a highly uncomfortable experience. All of a sudden I succumbed to the weak little girl who just wanted an “it’s all going to be ok,” coupled with a monster hug.

Once the feeling of “I’m going to die” passed, I took a picture of my legs and thought — Boom. Your body is speaking to you. Now, listen. My auto-immune system is a delicate little fairy at the best of times — and now I’m putting it through the ringer and not giving it any love. I’m running at max without the fuel. A trip to the doctor and some blood work confirmed that yep, the tank is low.

Last week my physio man and I were chatting about balance, priorities and mastery. If you let one thing fall, you’ll notice the consequences.

Today was proof. Now to make some changes.

I was over the moon when Jeff asked me if I wanted to be involved… there are two things I am absolutely sure of… I love Vancouver to the moon and back… and running absolutely completes me. My legs have given me life, breath and strength that I never knew existed.

“Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are training, and some are not.” – Dr. George Sheehan

Today marks the beginning of the web series. The first episode has gone live – thanks to a whole load of work by Pacer Films – and there will be one every Monday until race day on May 5th (keep your eyes peeled here). Each episode will be on YouTube – and also on Novus’ community channel.

If you’re interested in watching episode 1 (… 7 short minutes!) and meet the runners involved, check it out below:

I’ve been blogging about my running journey for the past year – and this year have set new goals to dominate. The other two featured in ‘Running Vancouver’ are Karl & Sean. I have yet to meet them – but they seem super legit.

A little bit about the boy squad:

Meet Karl Woll | Twitter | Blog

“As our most experienced runner, Karl has run over a dozen marathons, 50k ultra-marathons, and trail races. He’s back to run the BMO Vancouver Marathon for the fourth time in an attempt to shave just over 10-minutes off his personal best time to qualify for the Boston Marathon – no easy task.”

Meet Sean Martin | Blog

“Sean’s journey began when his daughter Shaelyn was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer, at just 8 weeks old. Now, with Shaelyn 5 years old and healthy, Sean has joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada’s Team In Training to honour her battles with cancer as he trains for his first marathon.”

Jeff did an incredible job and I feel honored to be included in this project. On May 5th, I will be running alongside Runcouver’s #RunCrew – as many of the girls complete their first half marathon. Fingers crossed for that sub-2:00. :)

The entire footage will showcase on Shaw in May.

Thank you for the support – thank you for reading – thank you for watching.

Filed under: Goals, Life Tagged: bmo vancouver marathon, boston marathon, jeff pelletier, karl woll, pacer films, runcouver, runcrew, running vancouver, runvan, sean martin, team in training ]]> http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/running-vancouver-episode-1/feed/ 4 Jill running-vancouver http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/a-little-place-called-home/ http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/a-little-place-called-home/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:32:54 +0000 Jillian Walker http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/?p=2574 ]]> This morning MoneySense Magazine announced that Vancouver was #10 on their ‘Canada’s Best Places to Live‘ list. I know top #10… eye roll.  Based on their rating factors, a few issues in Vancouver brought the ranking down – average house price ($882k – whoa!) and average household income (a slim $81k). Fair.

I read the survey, freaked out over the rating, then thought – I am willing to put up with the housing costs and low incomes in order to live in this city. Truth! Get a roommate, bunk with your sister, live with a psycho boyfriend – do what it takes to make this city work.

Vancouver makes me feel like I’m whole.

Note: Something I love about the digital world is how random things appear in front of you at any given time. Thanks to Amber for sharing this video of downtown Vancouver. Gave me goosebumps. Well done Joel Schat! 

Filed under: Life Tagged: canada, joel schat, moneysense, vancouver, where to live ]]> http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/a-little-place-called-home/feed/ 2 Jill http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/dont-sell-to-me-dude/ http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/dont-sell-to-me-dude/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:29:37 +0000 Jillian Walker http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/?p=2569 ]]>

Once upon a time there was an idiot who liked to sell. He called every week. He sent email after email – often multiple times a week. He added features to my plan without figuring out if they were helpful. He continually connected me to more people in his organization – introductions up the ying. Later I would find out that the people were additional Sales Representatives. More people who didn’t know how to sell – gah. He’d bundle additional products onto my plan, before finding out if I’m even keeping the plan. :| Day after day he continually showed that he had no idea how to sell and was making a desperate plea to save the relationship.

Here’s the thing… I don’t like being sold to. And does anyone? I’m not convinced.

I’m not an expert on sales or business development – not my comfort zone in the least. One thing I know for sure is a large part of selling in today’s world is about building relationships.

Connect with your client – like really connect with them. Build trust, listen to them, show you value their relationship. Understand their business, products and what they need. Ask questions to show you’re curious. Value their time. Share your knowledge on the industry and competing products. Admit when you’re wrong.

We live in a community of choice.

Products compete against each other and we {the buyer} have the power to choose which product we want.

BOOM. Scary world for sales dudes who don’t know how to sell.

The key question that a sales dude {or lady} needs to ask him/herself is: How do I add value?

Seriously. That’s the golden ticket!

If you add value and probably, make their life easier, you will do well. In today’s world, adding value isn’t a nice to have, it’s a requirement.

“Stop selling. Start helping.” - Zig Ziglar

Want to learn more? I loved this podcast from “Don’t Sell Me Bro:” Episode 9 – Just Say No to Sales.

Filed under: Biz Tagged: business development, future of selling, relationship building, sales dudes, selling ]]> http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/dont-sell-to-me-dude/feed/ 2 Jill Gaping Void http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/countdown-till-oahu/ http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/countdown-till-oahu/#comments Sun, 10 Feb 2013 09:41:38 +0000 Jillian Walker http://jillianwalker.wordpress.com/?p=2561 ]]>

Friday, March 1

• 7:30 AM: Elemental Exploration with Marissa Sinclair
• 9:30 AM: YogAlign Flow For Surfers and Athletes  with Rochelle Ballard
• 11:30 AM: Surf Lesson
• 1:30 PM: Prana Flow – Energetic Vinyasa with Shiva Rea
• 3:30 PM: Blissology Super Flow Yoga with Eoin Finn
• 5:30 PM: Following the Path of the Sun with Tom “Pohaku” Stone
• 8:30 PM: Michael Franti !!!

Saturday, March 2

• 7:30 AM: Surf Into Yoga – Restorative Aloha Yoga with Rochelle Ballard
• 9:30 AM: Hearts and Hips: An Open Heart with Zoe Pappas
• 1:30 PM: Kula Flow: Sweetened with Honey with Schuyler Grant
• 3:30 PM: Unifying Rhythm – Global Yoga Trance Dance with Shiva Rea
• 5:30 PM: Surf Realization with Gerry Lopez
• 8:30 PM: ALO !!!

Sunday, March 3

• 7:30 AM: The Edge of Playfulness with Baron Baptiste
• 9:30 AM: Twist it, Sister with Eoin Finn
• 11:30 AM: Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga with Leah Distad
• 1:30 PM: Aloha Yin: Discover the love and compassion within yourself with Gerry Lopez

10 days of sunshine. 3 days filled to the brim with yoga, music and surf.

T-2 weeks. Eeep!!

I took today for me.

I’m not sure what I accomplished. Perhaps nothing.

Tonight I went out for groceries and when I got home, I caught my reflection in the mirror.

I paused and thought… I like who I’m becoming.

For the majority of my life, I’ve been trying to be more, I’ve been trying to meet the expectations of others. I’ve been constantly telling myself — strive higher… you haven’t achieved enough, you aren’t good enough {badass self-limiting beliefs up in my brain}.

Over the last three months, I’ve taken time for me. Life rattled me up and forced me to re-think where I was headed, and more importantly, why?

I started to explore what really gets me going and out of bed in the morning. I’ve learned that education and communication are core to my being.

I’ve realized that the feeling of overwhelm is in my control. I choose what I’m involved with, how I handle situations and where I spend my time.

I’ve taken more time outs since October, then I’ve probably taken in my life. I’ve chosen to ignore my phone, ignore email, ignore the training schedule. I’ve cancelled on events. I’ve gone against my schedule. I’ve gone weekends without leaving my house.

I’ve gained much appreciation for silence — and learned the importance of taking time for me.

Both giving and receiving have their place in the world — and I’ve accepted that I need both. I have to invest in myself in order to be a support system to those around me.

I’m a bundle of energy who loves to teach, travel and learn. I’m always late, highly opinionated and often disorganized. I’m not perfect and never hope to be.

Tonight I had a moment. That moment when you accept who you are and where you’re headed.

“Learn to accept and appreciate each aspect of who you are: all your strengths and weaknesses; the parts you love as well as those you dislike, and all the mistakes and triumphs. It’s this complicated mixture that makes you unique – and that’s definitely a fact worth celebrating.” – Scott McIntyre

We were excited about the possibility of going to California and before you knew it, we were on Google searching for another half-marathon taking place in January.

We landed on the Tri-City Medical Center Carlsbad Marathon & Half-Marathon and were immediately sold. The event takes place along the ocean – yes, 13.1 miles along the water.

So last weekend we headed to San Diego for race weekend!

Monique headed down Friday morning and I met her late that night. She picked me up from the airport {sweet rental car} and we headed to our new home in Pacific Beach. We found an oceanfront gem for a super reasonable price!

We were both excited to run the half together, but also spend some time getting to know each other better. The short story on Monique and my relationship is that we met through the social media world – and have a lot of common interests. Running for one. ;)

She lives in Edmonton {I know… I know. Poor girl. ;)} and we get to see each other… well, pretty much, never.

On Saturday, we headed north to La Jolla for breakfast {Resto Reco: The Cottage} and then onto the race expo in Carlsbad. The weather in San Diego had been terrible all week. Vancouver-like conditions and pouring rain. It was still sprinkling in Carlsbad and Southern California was in a deep fog. We were both hopeful that the sun would miraculously come out in the morning!

The race expo was meh — a few tents outside and really crowded. We stopped by Snuggbuds to pick up M some headphones, bought a few Gu chomps and got the heck outta there. A quick stop at Target to pick up race socks and then we headed south to the Las Americas outlets {helloooo Victoria’s Secret outlet!}. We got lost a few dozen times and we finally realized that we were headed in the right direction when we hit the USA/Mexico border. The Las Americas outlets are pretty much in Tijuana haha.

We were exhausted by the time we left the mall and at that point where we needed to eat — or we would turn into raging women. We took advantage of the fact that pasta is supported the night before a race and headed to Little Italy for a bite to eat {Resto Reco: Mimmo’s Italian Village}.

The plan before race day is always early to bed. That generally never happens. We planned our race outfits — totally matching, totally cute. M worked on her playlist. No idea what I was doing, but it was a little after 1am before I finally got to sleep.

As we were staying in Pacific Beach and the race was in Carlsbad, we knew we had to be up early to minimize stress on the road. We were up at 5:30am and out the door about 45 mins later. We made a quick stop at Starbucks and 7-11 {ha ha… unprepared} for a banana, trail mix and cliff bar breakfast on the drive.

The race was set to begin at 7:30am and our corral starting about 20 mins later. It was music to our ears to find out that both were running behind. A quick trip to the potty and we were in the queue at the start line.

I didn’t have a good feeling about this race from the get go… the weather was bleak, I was hit with a mad case of lady cramps and felt somewhat unprepared for the day {maybe it was my recent fall on my face, maybe it was because my legs were still sore from the 20k I did on Thursday}. It was about this moment that I realized that I hadn’t synced my playlist — goodness me.

The race started, we high five’d and we were on our way.

Erin had warned me about the rolling hills on this race and boy she was right. They weren’t beastly, they were just constant. Every time you were up and over one, there was another. I can’t stand how crowded races are in the first few kilometres, so I stayed focused on listening to The Script and not tripping.

About 3km’s in, the blisters hit. I HAVE NEVER HAD A BLISTER ONCE SINCE I STARTED RUNNING. GAH. I could feel them on my baby toes — rub, rub, rubbing and not too happy. At that moment I decided this wasn’t the race to hit a sub-2:00. :)

We averaged about 6:00/km for most of the race. M is a strong runner — and super consistent in form and pace {I definitely think she could have hit a sub-2:00, but she stayed back with my blistered feet and monster angry ovaries ha ha}.

We laughed, took photos {YES, to jumping photos on the race course} and before you knew it, we were at 12 miles. There were a ton of spectators along the course and it was great to see the Lululemon crew out cheering too! The last mile went on and on {like they usually do} and then we finally crossed the finish line!

Official time: 2:12:05

Pace: 6:10/km

{10 mins off my last half! Woop!}

We were given our medals, space blankets and a bag full of goodies. It was a very grey, chilly day, but we were sparred from the rain.

We found a spot in the parking lot and camped out, laughing, drinking chocolate milk and admiring our matching socks. We were covered in salt and soon enough the chill of sweat hit us. We motored back to the car in search of Starbucks.

90 mins later {and too many u-turns to count} we still hadn’t found the Starbucks…

But we did find the ocean!!

Somehow we ended up along Carlsbad beach and decided that this was the perfect opportunity to take race photos. It was windy as hell and we headed out to the rocks. We were greeted by a fisherman who was caught off guard by the girls in short shorts wanting to take photos with space blankets. ;) We taught him how to use an iPhone — AND, taking jumping pics. ;)

I had read about a vegan restaurant in San Diego that specialized in fast food, so we headed south for milkshakes and burgers {Resto Reco: Evolution Fast Food}. Quinoa and kamut burgers, french fries, cajun ketchup and a vanilla shake were just what we needed. In fact, I kinda think I need a vanilla shake after every race. :) Mmm goodness.

We had quite the chilly picnic in Balboa Park!

I had a nap that afternoon and M hit the beach. We met up at sunset to soak up the sunshine that finally arrived! M did cartwheels on the beach and we faked yoga moves. All in all it was a great time. ;) That night we headed to a lounge down the street for happy hour {Resto Reco: JRDN} and before you knew it we were knee deep in champagne and pimm’s. We talked life and laughed the night away. Let’s be real, I think we got there at 5pm and were in bed at 8pm. 

On Monday, we decided to get up early to see a bit more of San Diego before we had to head to the airport. We hit up a breakfast joint in Mission Beach {Resto Reco: The Mission} — and oh my word, it was divine. We then headed out to Sunset Cliffs and then back downtown for a stroll around Gaslamp Quarter. I hobbled, M walked — and we window shopped through the city.

Before you knew it, M had to head to the airport and our 3 days in California had come to an end.

Lessons learned from our race weekend away:

• Always double check that your playlist is sync’d while in airplane mode.
• Camera men on the race course love matching outfits. 
• Running a race is a lot more fun with a friend. Fact. 

Thanks for a lovely weekend away M. xo

California

Half Marathon

Friend Love

Starting the year off on a lovely note.

Thanks to Monique for a fabulous goal-crushing, soul-sweating, short short-wearing,

champagne-drinking weekend. xo

One thing I love about social is how easy it is to be part of a community and align with people who have similar interests. Since learning to run {and later founding Runcouver}… I have immersed myself in health/fitness/running/racing/etc communities online. I follow races, teams, pro athletes, local runners, nutritionists and a ton of inspirational dynamos kicking ass and crushing goals. I join in on conversation via twitter chats, hashtags blogs and message boards. It oozes through my every day {Note: I don’t follow the people who just post ‘skinny’ quotes everyday with disturbing photos of way too thin women. Ugh.}.

A local runner, friend of a friend and someone I need to get to know better is a young man named Dave {he’s a total babe btw :)}. For the last few months, I’ve been following Dave tweeting and Instagram’ing his day to day. He’s a beast. Truly beastly. He’s the king of goal setting and always thinking of a new way to challenge himself.

This morning I randomly woke up {rested} at 6:30am. I was going back and forth in my head – one more hour of sleep… yes… no… one more hour of sleep… yes… no… Then all of a sudden I realized that Dave was probably running.

Dave loves a hashtag called: #10ktostarttheday.

Dave kills it on the pavement morning after morning. My brain turned into competitive “you must continually improve yourself” mode and I immediately knew I needed to run to.

I hate running in the morning – and something I know for sure is that it’s good to get out of your comfort zone.

Running at night – in the dark – is my comfort zone. It’s peaceful, calming and one of my favourite times of the day. Since I’ve been banned from running by myself in the dark {read about that time I fell on my face}… I probably need to start liking early mornings.

So just after 6:45am, I left my house. Runners on, rain jacket on and prepared for a brisk run in the dark {I knew it wouldn’t be dark for long…}. :)

I headed to Burrard Bridge… 3K turned into 5K… 5K turned into 10K… 10K turned into 15K… and before you knew it…

I was at 18.9k!

Whoa. So long broken face!!!

My iPhone died just outside of Chinatown, but I continued running to Yaletown. I hit 20k and felt more alive than I have in weeks.

#20ktostartthedamnday

From the bottom of my heart, thank you Dave.

Thank you for getting me out of bed. Thank you for getting my head in the game. Thank you for being a source of inspiration, both online and offline.

Your presence is noticed.

See you on the seawall. Run baby run.

One thing I know for sure is that falling on your face is quite disruptive to life. :) A weekend in the hospital {and the fall itself} left me completely drained and I had a brutal start to the week.

While in the hospital, the doctor said he would write me off work for a week. Tough girl Jillian said to him, “oh no… I don’t need that. I’ll be good to go for Monday.”

Truth be told, I probably needed one day. One day to process what had happened. One day to realize that I was totally scared to put on my runners again. One day to get some sleep and ice my face.

After I was discharged from St. Paul’s, I was given instructions to complete a round of Cardiology-related tests as an outpatient. The plan was I would get an ultrasound of my heart, spend 24 hours hooked up to a holter heart monitor and complete a heart stress test.

The tests went well and all I kept on thinking was – I’ve never had any issues with my heart, this ticker better be healthy. The heart stress test was by far the hardest. It was my first time putting on my runners since the accident and the nurse challenged me to hit up a hardcore incline on the treadmill. My knees are pretty banged up still and my legs are achy as hell, but I told her I’d give it my best shot. I made it to level 4 out of 7. 12 minutes. 16% incline. 5 miles per hour. 182 beats per minute.

While in the hospital, I don’t think I realized how much the accident screwed with my head. My immediate concerns were: 1) Is anything broken? 2) Can I still {physically} run? I didn’t think once about the impact falling on my face would have on my mental game.

I’ve had crazy anxiety all week. I’ve been thinking about my run goals for the year. I’ve been thinking about my upcoming half marathon in 2 weeks. And honestly, I’ve been debating if I’m capable of where I’m headed.

A week later, the doctors are still up in the air about how I fell, but leaning towards me fainting or that I had a cardiac issue. They told me that the tests may come back totally fine and I’ll have to accept the unknown.

Well I’ll know you what… the unknown is a scary place. It’s hard to accept the diagnosis of a ‘freak accident’.

Why?

Because who knows when it might happen again.

This morning I told myself that I had to run today. Just slip on those running shoes, layer up and get out there. I went back and forth in my head all day… to run… to not run… what if something happens?

Before you knew it, the clock struck 4:30pm and I still hadn’t left the house {doctor’s orders were to not run solo at night for a little bit}. Gah. Fail.

The fading blue sky was all I needed to motor out the door. I headed up the Granville Bridge and I just kept on repeating:

Don’t fall. Breathe.

Don’t fall. Breathe.

Don’t fall. Breathe.

Most anxious run of my life.

Slowest 8k since I began this running journey. But I think I’m ok with that.

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”  - Helen Keller

Back to the grind.

Note: A few days later, I was given the all clear from the Cardiologist. Tests came back a-ok and his advice was to be careful and keep running.

Registration for the Lululemon Seawheeze Half-Marathon went live THIS MORNING! I’ve been waiting for this day… well, since… last August. :)

Last year I participated in the inaugural Seawheeze – my first half marathon! I can’t say enough positive things about Lululemon’s first race series. The event was fantastic from beginning to end. Lululemon is a company that is committed to customer experience {and I’m pretty positive, employee experience, too!}. The weekend started with a race expo – shopping, yoga and pedicures – and ended up with an outdoor concert. They had everything from custom race gear {not tacky like most races btw, all of it was beyond cute} to unique medals to waffles at the post-race brunch!

Seawheeze is a total experience!

Yes there is a half marathon {13.1 miles baby!}. But there’s also a whole lot of fun, laughter, neon and good times in the sunshine. In order to soak it all up, you gotta participate in the whole weekend! Promise it’ll be worth it!

Last year was a blast, but I’m extra excited to be running this year. Almost all of Runcouver’s #RunCrew will be running the half {for half of them, it’ll be their first one!!} – and a whole lot of friends have jumped on board: Reagan, Adriana, Jen, Nikki, Kate, Miranda, Chelsea – and the list could go on and on!

If you’re interested in getting on board the Seawheeze train, check out the event: http://seawheeze.com

Get sweaty friends. See you at the finish line.

I updated my tunes and off I went {pssst… if you have Rdio, you can view and listen to the playlist here!}

I headed over the Granville Bridge as an epic sunset was taking over the sky. My legs were moving and I was excited to tackle new ground. A friend / mentor / ultra running crazy man, Adam Campbell, has been reinforcing to me that I need to switch from counting kilometres to focusing on time and going with the flow. I decided to do just that …. {briefly at least… I had good intentions :)}.

I ran past Burrard Bridge, then Kitsilano Beach and before you knew it I was en route to Jericho Beach. I was feeling great and decide the I would turn around at 10K instead of the planned 7.5K — I felt like I could do 20K and I wanted the challenge. Jericho was new territory for me and I didn’t know the area. I got to the beach (10K mark) just as the sun was setting and pink was taking over the sky. I knew I wanted to get away from the beach area before it was dark, so I booked it back up to the street. A few blocks away from the beach I bailed.

One moment I was running, the next moment I heard my cheek hit the pavement. My right cheek struck first, then my right shoulder. I was immediately in shock, but conscious. My whole body was screaming with pain and I turned over to sit on the pavement. I had torn my Lululemon thermals open and I could taste blood on my mouth and see it on my legs.

At the moment, I realized I was in the middle of no where. Somewhere near Jericho. No idea where I was — and not in the sight of a runner. I started calling all the friends I knew in Kits, someone who could come and pick me up. No one answered and I moved to my downtown friends. Katie {from the #RunCrew} picked up her phone and in tears I told her that I needed her to come get me. {Thank you for the cement rescue darling}.

We made our way to St. Paul’s Hospital and soon enough we were in emergency. My cheek was swollen up and my legs were angry. I had no idea if anything was broken, but felt like the fall was sketch enough that I should probably get checked out. I was fast tracked to see a nurse and the process began. X-rays of my shoulder and legs — thankfully both banged up, nothing broken. Then a CT scan of my head and face — right cheek bone fracture. Then a EKG, blood work and a whole lot of questions to answer.

The doctors were less concerned about my physical injuries and more concerned about why I fell. They either think I fainted or that something was going on with my heart {irregular heartbeat etc}. No history of fainting or heart issues by the way. I was moved into another unit to meet with the Cardiologist and shortly after 1am, I was admitted to Cardiology for the night. They wanted to monitor my heart and meet with the Head of Cardiology in the morning.

I haven’t been overnight in a hospital since 1999. It’s funny how it all comes flooding back to you. Vitals every hour. Nurses coming in. Machines beeping. Code white. Code blue. They hooked me up to the machines and told me they’d let me sleep for a few hours. Just after 6am, the hospital hustle started. They were back to do more blood work and hook me up to more machines.

Shortly after 9am, the Head of Cardiology arrived to chat. We walked through what happened on the run and the tests that were run in emergency. As I had been stable overnight, he would release me but wanted me to stay attached to the Cardiology unit as an outpatient for the next few weeks. This week I’ll have an echocardiogram {heart ultrasound}, do a cardiac stress test {watching your heart when you run on a treadmill} and pick up a holder monitor {electrodes applied to skin and attached to tape recorder for 1-2 days}.

Fingers crossed, all tests come back good, I get the all clear from the Cardiologist and I’m back to the grind soon. He did confirm that running is good for the heart and he wants me to be back at it as soon as I can.

Right now, I’m sore as hell and it’s the last thing my body feels like doing. My head on the other hand… knows I was on my way to an epic 20K run and can’t wait to get back on the pavement.

Thankful for everyone that has reached out since my tumble — and thank you to Katie for sticking by my side. The team at St. Paul’s was fabulous — I couldn’t have asked for better care.

There are likely lessons that have come from this event — but I’m not far enough removed from the situation to think of them yet. :) For now I will focus on healing my broken face, doing the required cardio tests this week, and getting myself to physio this week to take care of my shoulder and legs.

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard… is what makes it great.” – League of their Own

… and my word, it hit home. This past year was tough! One thing I know for sure is that you need to be thankful for the hard times in your life, because those are the times when you grow and learn the most.

This year I learned:

• People are #1. Throughout the year I ended up being in a number of situations where I didn’t feel like people were being treated fairly. One thing I know for sure is that people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. In both my personal and professional life, I believe in ’lead with heart.’ As leaders, we need to be human. We need to respect people’s feelings, listen and truly treat people like we want to be treated. Choose your friends, boss, clients — and every relationship in your control, wisely. 
• Transparency is the new marketing. No one is perfect — and I don’t believe that anyone wants to work with or be friends with people who claim to be. First and foremost, we’re all human. People want to deal with real people — and vulnerability is a strength. Be open; allow people to see who you are. Talk about your learnings — and your failures. Admit fault when you’ve made a mistake.
• Don’t fight change. I cried a lot in September — more tears than I’ve had in years in fact. During periods of change, the only thing you can control is your reaction. Everything happens for a reason and change is inevitable. Accept it for what it is and figure out how you’re going to move forward.
• Always have a plan b. When you’re headed into uncertainty, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Enough said.
• Trust your gut. There is a lot to be said for intuition. When you get a feeling that something shady/wrong/sketch — it probably is. Use your head, but trust your gut. Take in all the information, but always remember to look out for you.
• You have to take care of yourself first. I’m continually guilty of taking care of everyone else, before I take care of me. I’ve been falling into that trap for years with boyfriends, best friends and random people I have met along the way. This year I learned to be put me first {it’s still such an odd thing}. I stopped attending events I didn’t want to go to. I didn’t return phone calls when I didn’t feel like talking. I refused to be the go-to, because I knew it wasn’t in my best interest. A little wisdom from Paul Coehlo, “When you say yes to others, make sure you’re not saying no to yourself.” Don’t apologize for making yourself a priority.
• Slow down. Life is meant to be lived.

Despite the ups and downs of the year, a lot of good happened. I had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica, Palm Springs, Whistler, Seattle, New York and Mexico. For the first time in my life, I learned the power of physical strength. I learned to run – completing 15 races — and became a regular at power yoga. I learned the importance of fuelling your body with good and keeping a close eye on your health. I cut out wheat, dairy and now regularly spend time in the kitchen. I truly love cooking and exploring new foods. I met a number of new friends in 2011 and throughout this past year, I focused on developing and strengthening those relationships.

Highlights of the year:

January

The year started off with a chilly dip in the Pacific Ocean. In 2011, I was blessed to meet a local entrepreneur, Helen. She invited me to the Polar Bear Swim that took place at English Bay. With 2000 people, we charged at the 8 degree ocean. After a few shrieks in the ocean, we were back on the beach shivering and smiling. 1st Polar Bear swim complete!

February

After finding a deal through YVRdeals {and Chris Myden}, I booked a trip to Costa Rica. At the time I had no plan, just needed a little escape. I had met an entrepreneur {all around fabulous woman}, Shannon Ward, a few months earlier — and she would be living in Costa Rica while I was down there. I ended up heading to Santa Teresa and spent 10 days with my her family. The trip was filled with sunshine, surfing and delicious eats. A highlight was taking a raw food cooking course with Joanne at The Healing Cuisine.

March

International Women’s Day took place on March 8th. I was honoured to be included in Networking in Van’s “Women Making a Difference” campaign. On IWD, people all over the world celebrate the achievements of women, inspire other women and reflect on the progress women have made in our communities. There were a number of events that took place in Vancouver and I had the privilege to learn from a few. I’m thankful to have met a ton of female entrepreneurs in Vancouver — and around the world {including Judy, Jill, Heather, Zoe, Christine, Katherine, Erin and more}. Positive role models who are movin’, shakin’ and making a difference in the community.

April

In April, I had the opportunity to speak at 2 events — York University’s ‘Apex Leadership Conference‘ and Simon Fraser University’s ‘Synergy Conference.’ The events were back to back — with one being in Toronto and the other in Surrey. In a matter of 24 hours, I held a workshop and facilitated a panel, flew across the country and held another 2 workshops at Synergy. It was an absolutely exhausting — and totally rewarding weekend. One thing I’ve figured out in the last few years is that education is a core part of who I am. I truly love teaching students and I’m blessed to have had the opportunity to facilitate two very engaged groups of students.

May

May was busy — with a trip to Palm Springs for a me-cation and learning from Richard Branson at a Board of Trade event. A total highlight was my weekend away in Whistler to visit my adopted family, the GossWards. Shannon, Brett and Kaede had moved back to Whistler from Costa Rica — and I wanted to see their lovely faces again. I  had never been to Whistler, so Shannon and Kaede took me up the mountain to do Peak 2 Peak. It was the end of the season, but skiers and boarders were still taking on the remaining snow. Whistler is a beautiful little gem — from taking in the views at Blackcomb to Sushi Village to a little birthday surprise, I feel lucky to have met {and learn from} this wonderful family.

June

On June 2nd, my niece Maddie turned 1 {and I turned 28}! Maddie was born on my birthday in June 2011. Now we’ll be celebrating together forever! On Friday, I had a dinner party at my place {thank you for being the Executive Chef, Dan!} and on Saturday I took the float place over to Salt Spring for a family birthday with Maddie. We had a fun afternoon in the sunshine at Mom’s house — halibut burgers, birthday cake and a very spoiled  1st grandchild!

July

In July, I headed to New York with Marina for the UN Global Partnership Summit. We spent a few days learning from global change makers from the United Nations, Global Poverty Project, ONE Campaign and Pan American Health Organization. A highlight was learning from Gillian Sorensen, Senior Advisor to the UN Foundation — absolutely inspiring few days determining how young leaders can support the UN Millennium Development Goals and create positive change in the community. In addition to the summit, Marina and I walked the Brooklyn Bridge, shopped in SOHO, dined in Little Italy — and I ended the trip with a run through Central Park.

August

Whether taking a pool day, attending a festival or parade, or running the seawall — the month was a busy one!  On August 10th, I completed my first half marathon {holy moly, eh!}. After an adductor injury mid-year, I was forced to take a DNF for a Seattle half marathon — and then I registered for Lululemon’s Seawheeze half marathon in Vancouver. In retrospect, it was my race. Luon, sunshine and running in the city that I love. Reagan and I ran together; finishing in 2:22 {feeling totally good and injury free!}.

September

Vancouver is one of the best places to live in the world — and I continually remind myself that I’m blessed to live here. Thanks to the team at Vancouver We Love You, my friend, Kate, had the opportunity to use SUP boards throughout the summer. One day in early September, we headed down to Kits Beach for a SUP sesh at sunset. It was a picture perfect night filled with paddling, laughter and trying not to fall into the ocean.

October

TELUS asked me to blog an international event coming to town, We Day. We Day is a day of celebration, inspiration and an opportunity for youth to take action and create change in their communities. I had an absolutely incredible few days with the team at Free the Children and the We Day youth. From meeting Desmond Tutu to learning from Spencer West to documenting the day — the event was a highlight of the year. It was inspiring to watch 18,000+ youth get excited to positively impact their school and community.

November

Running has hugely changed my life. Throughout my running journey, I was continually asked — How did you start running? How do I start running? Can you help me? … After a bit of brainstorming, I launched Runcouver. The goal is to connect all levels of pavement crushers and trail dominators, into one positive, motivating, goal crushing community. In addition to Runcouver, I launched the #RunCrew. The 2012/2013 pilot consists of 10 young women who are committed to striving high and I’ll be coaching them to their 1st half marathon in Summer 2013.

December

The year came to an end with major job change. After almost 2 years consulting, I decided to go back in-house for an amazing opportunity at a growing company. I am now a HR Generalist at Avigilon. I feel blessed to work on a progressive, entrepreneurial team with a down-t0-earth {and wicked smart} leader. My role supports day-to-day global HR operations, with a focus on employee relations, training and development, benefits and compensation and employee experience.  I’m learning a ton and my days are wild busy — both good problems to have. I’ve officially been there a month and I feel like I couldn’t have landed at a better company. It’s awesome to be surrounded by people who truly love what they do.

“You have to fight through some bad days, to earn the best days of your life.” – Unknown

Officially closing out 2012. To laughter, love and living in 2013.

Clean eating doesn’t mean eating carrots, broccoli and everything that tastes like cardboard. Instead it means focusing on whole, natural foods. Examples would be fruit, vegetables, proteins and carbohydrates. The goal is to stay away from processed sugar, bad fats — and anything that is manmade. In simple, it means paying attention to what you put in your body and fueling with good eats.

Over the holidays I was chatting with a coworker about routine, healthy eating and learning to cook. Before you know it our baby was born — and by that, I mean my first 2013 goal — and a fun little project!

Introducing… 52 weeks in the kitchen! 

1 guy {his name is Alessandro}, 1 girl {that would be me}, 52 ingredients {check them out here}.

The plan is 1 recipe a week till the end of the year!

Over the last few months, I have really enjoyed my time in the kitchen. I love to experiment, cook for others — and plan meals for the week {ughhhh, how housewife of me}. It brings me some sort of weird peace — somewhat like running does… well except for when I drink wine and cook, that’s a different story. ;)

So anyways, 52 weeks begins now. First up, yams!

Fun facts: 

In 2012, I wrote 90 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 248 posts.

The busiest day of the year was October 4th with 655 views. That’s the day I went rampage on Kitchen Aid. The post: Kitchen Aid Social Media Debacle. Note: The lady still hasn’t been fired yet. 

My readers have come from 116 countries. Most visitors came from Canada, then the United States, then the UK.

My most active commenter was a psycho stalker who I ended up reporting as spam. ;) Much love to Tod, Nikki and Kymme who also gave me a whole lotta love in 2012.

This beast of a little girl blog had it’s most traffic to date — and I wrote less posts than I have in the past few years. Woop!

On to the next one! Happy 2013 everyone. xx

Here’s what I know for sure…

5 Half Marathons:

• January 27th – Carlsbad Half Marathon in California (w/ Monique)
• May 5th – BMO Half Marathon in Vancouver (w/ Haley & the #RunCrew)
• June 23rd – Scotiabank Half Marathon in Vancouver or Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon in Seattle (w/ Erin)
• August 10th – Seawheeze Half Marathon in Vancouver (w/ the #RunCrew)
• October/November – Mizuno Half Marathon in Amsterdam, NL or Intercontinental Eurasia Half Marathon in Istanbul, TK

Start to Dabble in Tri-Land:

• March 10th – UBC Rec Duathlon in Vancouver

Become one with the Trails:

• March 31st: My First Trail Race 10K  in North Vancouver

Pavement Fun: 

• March 3rd – Diva on the Run 8K in Vancouver
• March 16th – St. Patrick’s Day 5K in Vancouver
• April 21st – Vancouver Sun Run 10K in Vancouver (w/ Team Avigilon)
• April 28th – Times Colonist 10K in Victoria (w/ Clare, Haley & the #RunCrew)
• June 1st – Whistler 10K Road Run in Whistler (w/ the #RunCrew)
• June 14th – Longest Day Road Race 5K in Vancouver
• August 17th – Color Me Rad 5K in Vancouver (w/ the #RunCrew)
• September 8th – Coho Run 14K in Vancouver
• September 29th – Surrey International World Music Marathon 5K in Surrey
• October 13th – Goodlife Fitness Victoria 8K Road Race in Victoria (w/ Clare)

My plan for 2013 was 5 half marathons. I didn’t think I could run 1 this year — and I did! Now it’s time to turn up the challenge:

• 5 half marathons (including sub 2:00)
• 10 additional pavement/trail races
• 1000 km in 2013

The goals are achievable if I listen to my body, proactively work with my favourite physio man — and keep up with the cross training. Oh — and run. ;) I really want to get in the habit of running 3-4km, when I don’t feel like running. In my head… when I process if I’m going to run tonight or not… I always tell myself it needs to be at least 7km. Most of the time I won’t let myself run if it’s less… lame. I need to figure that out stat and get in the habit of doing a few short, easy runs a week… progressing to two 10K’s a week and a Sunday long run.

I’m really excited to work on my pace, cadence and speed. Last year I avoided hill training like the plague. This year I’m geared up for bridge repeats and challenging runs. The ‘flat as a pancake’ seawall will always be my fave, but in order to improve, I’ve gotta switch it up {solid advice from my aunt!}.

Lean mean running machine in 2013. That’s the plan!

On January 18, 2012 {such a procrastinator}, I ran for the first time in my life — and on January 22, 2012, I completed my first race. Woop!

Since then it’s been a wild ride. I’ve completed 15 races:

• 5K on Jan 22: Chilly Chase Vancouver  {32:54} || Race Recap
• 8k on March 25: Harry’s Spring Run Off {54:06} || Race Recap
• 10K on April 15: Vancouver Sun Run {1:04:32} || Race Recap
• 10K on April 29: Victoria Times Colonist Run {1:03:43}
• 10K on May 27: Run for Water {58:41}
• 10K on June 9: Starbucks Run for Women {58:58} || Race Recap
• 5K on June 15: Longest Day Road Race {29:29}
• 10K on July 21: Running Room Summerfast {1:03:26)
• Half-Marathon on August 11: Lululemon Seawheeze {22.9K! 2:22:04} || Race Recap
• 5K on August 18: Color Me Rad {untimed} || Race Recap
• 14K on September 9: The Coho Race {1:25:48}
• 8K on October 7: Goodlife Fitness Victoria Road Race {45:24} || Race Recap
• 10K on October 13th: Energizer Night Race {1:00:10}
• 5K on October 14th: Jog 4 Joy {untimed}
• 5K on December 1st: Santa Shuffle {29:47}

… and ran somewhere between 600-700 km. Not exactly sure as I wasn’t always neurotic with my Nike+ GPS app. ;)

DNF: Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon Seattle — injured!

Body: No major injuries, but adductor issues mid-year and my right ankle has been bothering me the last few months. Lost 1 toenail — very close to losing another.

Trained in: Vancouver, BC; Salt Spring Island, BC; Victoria, BC; Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

Raced in: Vancouver, BC; Abbotsford, BC; Victoria, BC

Favourite race: Lululemon Seawheeze!

Personal Bests:

• 1K: 4:11 {August 2012}
• 1 mile: 7:23  {August 2012}
• 5K: 24:51 {December 2012}
• 8K: 43:57 {December 2012}
• 10K: 56:53 {September 2012}
• 15K: 1:35:10 {May 2012}
• 23K: 2:20:17 {August 2012}

So there you have it, 11 months of running — BOOM — officially a runner! :) Running has been hands down the best thing that has happened to me this year. For the first time in my life, I feel strong. I have never ever seen strength in my body — when I check out my arms in the mirror {let’s be honest, guys aren’t the only ones who check themselves out} or to see a picture of these lean legs — I think whoa…! Remember when you were a stick thing Jillian Walker? Remember when?!

Those days are over. Strong is the new skinny.

Strength coupled with breath {and mental sanity} has been my saving grace this year. Looking forward to continuing the journey in 2013 — and celebrating my run anniversary with Monique in San Diego in January!

Thank you to Haley, Derek, Reagan, Pete, Michelle, Jen, Katie, Kate, Kittima, Clare — and the #RunCrew for the encouragement and advice this past year. Meant the world. xo

In November I received an email from Corinne at The Social Media Network advising that I was nominated in one of the award categories for the Vancouver Social Media Awards 2013!

I had been following along with the discussion surrounding the social media awards on Twitter for the past couple of weeks — but I was totally caught off guard to receive the nomination. I was asked to confirm availability {they have a few events shakin’ down in the Spring} and they advised they would be knocking down the nominations to ‘Top 7′ in each category by mid-December.

Last week The Social Media Network confirmed that they received 150 nominations — pretty wicked if you ask me. There are 8 categories… 4 for students {best student blog, best social video channel, best social media, must follow} and 4 for industry {best company blog, best social video channel, best social media campaign, must follow}.

A few minutes ago I heard from the crew and they told me I placed Top 7 for the Must Follow of 2013 Award!!

The Must Follow of 2013 award recognizes a single company or professional as an MVP using social media. An ideal candidate for Must Follow of 2013 should exhibit the following qualities:

• Has a strong personal brand that utilizes and engages using social media
• Actively uses multiple social platforms
• A trendsetter that inspires others to emulate best social media practices
• Exhibits knowledge on a niche topic that inspires insightful conversations online
• Engages customers in a meaningful way

This award will be given to a single company or professional who excels in social media branding/marketing, whether it’s through Twitter, WordPress, Facebook, G+, etc.

So I can add this to my resume right? ;)

I started tweeting solely because a few colleagues I met on conference in Tunisia told me I had to be on it. I started blogging because I love to write and lost the key to my diary. I got on the beast that is Facebook because that’s what all the cool kids were doing. I’m on Google+ …. um, haven’t figured out why yet. I’m on YouTube because I needed a place to showcase video.

All of the social media networks are tools. The reason I use any of them is education and communication — whether sending or receiving.

Simple as that.

So what’s next? The Top 7 will be whittled down to Top 3. This will take place during the Spring and then the Top 3 will battle it out in person on March 28, 2013!

Exciting times!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you!

Now I just need to find out who nominated me. Come forward, tell me, tell me!

PS - This city is full of talented, amazing folks who totally get digital and social. Crazy amazing. Start listening and engaging. Let them in your life. Soak up their knowledge. Learn from them.