Oh these old glasses…
These were the first prescription glasses I wore.
The prescriptions may have changed a few times but these frames were my very first.
I got them about eleven years ago, and as I recall they were quite expensive.
They were probably the most expensive thing I purchased with my own money then – and it made me miss my dad for a second.

I’m one of those people who found out I needed corrective lenses by accident; I always thought I had 20/20 vision.
I went in for a routine exam and was shocked to discover I couldn’t see that well after all.
Things seemed so much clearer after I got my glasses, and I mean that figuratively too.

Suddenly, buildings, signs, landscapes, people all seemed clearer, crisper –
the scary part was these things looked fine to me back when I didn’t know I had poor eyesight.
The guy didn’t look anything like the guy I thought I was in love with, it really blew my mind and things were never the same again.
I recently read a story about the child who gets glasses for the first time; sees a tree and goes“So that’s what they look like”

Outfit Details: Grey Dress – Old Navy (I’ve had it since 2006), Tights – Hue, Rain boots – Benetton, Necklace – My grandma, Eyeglasses – Donna Karan

In other unrelated news, I’m debating running a half-marathon in June.
I seem to go through this every year…
I went to Eat! Vancouver and EPIC Expo over the weekend.
Can I just say re: Eat! Vancouver that the new convention centre is probably not the right location for this type of event.

The folks from Run to End Poverty were at EPIC, which got me thinking that maybe, just maybe… I could run the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon

Maybe if I took the next few weeks to train.
I’m giving myself until tomorrow to decide, it’ll be tough, training wouldn’t be easy; I haven’t ran (properly) since last October.
It’ll be a challenge, and maybe that’s just the challenge I need to start getting fit again.
We’ll see.

I know I sound like a broken record now!

Every year for the past two years, I’ve been whining about how I’m out of shape and unprepared to run the Scotia Bank half-marathon.

I don’t train, run anyway and always do poorly; this is obviously madness, I seem to be doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a change in outcome.

I want to say things are going to be different this time, I probably said that last year too, you know… the road to hell isn’t paved with hellish intentions.

I again debated not running this year, it seemed like the sensible thing to do but I’m also thinking that the race is two months away and if I started training now, I could very well do it, but only if I trained.

This month’s Runner’s World had an encouraging feature for beginners; I almost wish I was new to running. I’m not one of those people who love to run, I tolerate it at best and my biggest hurdle is getting out the door.

But I’ve never regretted going for a run neither have I ever been on a run and wished I were home in bed. I guess I miss the way running made me feel. Maybe if I romanticize the run enough I’ll be inspired to try again.

I’ve hidden behind so many excuses; I’ve come up with rational reasons why I spend my Saturday mornings watching TV instead of being out there. There’s something refreshing about being a new runner; as with every new beginning there’s little baggage – I’m already trying to figure out how to get back to my old pace.

I want to train well for the half-marathon. I’ve started small, I went for two long walks this week; I did the entire seawall. It was refreshing and inspiring; there were dozens and dozens of people running and everyone looked good. In fact, I’ve come up with a theory that everyone looks good running.

I’ve read stories of runners, who face tremendous adversities, overcome and return to running. I just want to be one of those who gave up for a while and returned, because I believe running saved my life (but that’s another story) and it’s important that I keep on.

The Boston Marathon is on Monday, Boston Billy (Billy Rodgers) is back after a decade off.

I want to run a marathon one day.

I wouldn’t advise anyone to run a half marathon without training.

I did it and I paid dearly for it, I’m still paying for it.

I wasn’t anywhere close to beating my last year’s time; it was rather silly of me to think that I could.

This was the longest 2hrs 20mins 39secs of my life! The first 10kms was bearable, I made good time and I even got a little cocky… I imagined I’d call up friends and inform them I was right in a middle of a half marathon.

It got hellish during the next 11kms, I got tired and started lagging – I didn’t push too hard because I knew my breathing would suffer and then I wouldn’t be able to run at all. Instead, I dragged myself and tried to breathe steadily and think happy thoughts.

The inclines almost killed me, I almost stopped at one point� – the only reason I kept going was because I didn’t want to fail. I didn’t even realize this until after I’d finished.

I was in the crowd watching the finishers – a woman was visibly upset, crying and struggling to get to the finish line, almost as if she was being forced. This very excruciating scene led me to ask, “Why doesn’t she just stop?”

“Because she doesn’t want to be known as the quitter” was what someone said.

That was it!

It was the fear of being labeled a quitter that goaded me into finishing the race.

I finished, I could barely stand afterwards and everything hurts now.

I picked up my race packet last night still debating whether to run.

At this point it’s a test to see if I can run 21km (13.1 miles) without training.

I’ve slacked off so badly it’s shaming! I don’t have any excuses, no one to blame but myself.

I’m hoping some good will come out of this race though, sometimes you get so far off in the deep end there’s nothing more to do but turn back. I’m hoping this is one of those instances, that this will be the turning point.

I’m slightly comforted by this thought; it’s like I’m having one of those moments that encourages people to change their lives. I’m hoping I’ll look back on this day and smile knowing the exact moment I decided to take control.

I’m being a little dramatic here but I really hope I can use this race to get things started again. I’ve been off the grid for so long I need motivators. The running magazine does help but eventually I’m going to have to buckle down and just do it.

I’m hoping to stay within 2:03 hrs, and if I’m able to do that, I’ll reward myself!

Here’s to a great run tomorrow guys!

Could you successfully run a half-marathon if you only had a month to train?

That’s the question I’d been asking myself as the date drew closer.

My June edition of Runner’s World says that I can – good thing it came when it did otherwise I would have had to live with that lingering self-doubt.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning convinced it was raining; having had one false start already and with exactly a month to train I dragged myself out of bed and hit the pavement.

It wasn’t a smooth run, I started a bit too fast and was rapidly tiring out, I slowed down coming back and tried to get my breathing under control.

I want to take it seriously this year and shave at least 10mins off last year’s time. It’s doesn’t make any sense to not train and do poorly, then I might as well just not run.

To get my up to eight hours of sleep and still wake up that early, I’m going to have to go to bed early – which means I have to be asleep by 10PM.

From the look of things I’ll probably do only one long weekend run, I’m hoping to walk the route but I’m not going to sweat it.

I think I’ll do well, I’ll be fine as long as I use the next four weeks wisely.