Trevor Noah is incredible. He is so much more than just a comedian.

His childhood is legitimately wild. Noah was “naughty as shit” and got into trouble he was smart, worked hard and was “given a fishing pole.” The circumstances he grew up in easily could have sucked him into a very different life, a much darker path. Apartheid, gangs, theft, arson, attempted murder, it’s all here. Read this book. It’s good.

Books completed: 10/52

Hoodieruns ran! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!

@bigbrnz challenged me on Garmin Connect to do a running challenge last week. Even a competition barely snapped me out of my funk and got me running. 

Since about December, I’ve had a hard time making fitness a priority. Part of it has been the time of year and weather but a bigger issue has been the way I’ve been feeling: my brain is like an overcast day. Making that overcast day worse was failing to get a regular hit of endorphins to help lift my mood. My endorphin hit of choice has been bootcamp but I will be returning to work and I won’t be able to continue with the class. Even though I’ve really enjoyed bootcamp, I find myself making excuses and missing too many classes. Running, it’s time for you to step up and fill the endorphin void. 

Saturday, I ran 3.2km. It felt great. It felt like more. 

Making the run on Saturday even better was company. @robinsonshan, thank you so much for running with me and sharing your listening ear and empathy.

Tuesday, I ran for more than 30 minutes. I got muddy and happy.

It’s not a pattern yet but running is on my mind a lot lately. I hope it means I translate all that thought into action.

One of my goals for the month is to create and follow a home strength program, in addition to running. I’ve found a 12 week strength program that focuses on hips and glutes called Strong Curves. There is a home variation that doesn’t require a lot of equipment. This program will target a weak area for me and compliment my running nicely. Goal: in progress.

Run goals: I am going to run. As much as I can. I will be tracking by time and perceived exertion rather than trying to get that x.0kms on my watch. @bigbrnz, I will be participating in your challenges… Keep poking me.

Upcoming races: Run the Falls (10km), Rugged Maniac (5km)

Anyone want to do Cottage Country Ragnar as part of an 8 person team?

Of course there would have to be some Neil Gaiman in my reading challenge. 

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, was fun, as only Neil Gaiman can be. This particular audiobook was read by the author himself, making the recording actually bearable. I’ve discovered I generally hate audiobooks because the orator adds annoying inflections or vocal ticks that distract me. This edition though, was so good. Hearing what the author intended people to sound like is so awesome. From now on, I’m only listening to audiobooks read by their author.

This genre, fantasy, isn’t my favourite but every now and again I dabble and usually have a great experience. This was no different. London Below was full of interesting characters and provided a foreboding setting for Richard and Door’s quest. I enjoyed this tale, especially the way London landmarks and tube stations were woven into the narrative. So good.

If you have to do an audiobook, do this one, as read by Neil Gaiman.

Number of books completed: 9/52

OK, so full disclosure, I read George Orwell’s 1984 as an ebook.  I’m about 38.7% positive the copy I read in highschool had a red spine so I’m rolling with it. 

My memories of this book from highschool were imperfect, to say the least. I remember 1984 as being more engaging and exciting. Instead I found Winston miserable and spineless. He wasn’t a whole character until he was broken by O’Brien. He needed Party doctrine to complete his personality, to give him a true purpose.  His weak insurgency, in the form of adultery, made me roll my eyes. Winston is a cliché. 

I remembered this book as hugely powerful, expanding my horizons. Maybe I’m getting more stupid, phone in hand, the internet at my fingertips.

Number of books completed: 8/52.

Book club selected Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod which conveniently fulfilled this reading prompt. I hope they don’t mind choosing more books that fit the reading  challenge.

While not technically a book of letters, like that Guernsey potato book, it is a book about letters and does include letters. In fact, this author sells snail mail letters about Paris and this is her story of how she went from rat race copywriting to artist in Paris. 

Light and quick to read, Paris Letters had echoes of Eat, Pray, Love  and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

Number of books completed: 7/52.

I have my in-laws to thank for this book selection, The Illegal by Lawrence Hill. The Illegal was the Canada Reads 2016 winning book. 

The story of Keita Ali, runner from fictional Zantoroland, has gone into hiding in Freedomland. He is fleeing political and racial persecution in his homeland. Parallels with Rwanda (see Shake Hands with the Devil by Roméo Dallaire), North Korea and South Africa apartheid are hard to miss, as well as the marathon running cultures of Kenya and Ethiopia (see the documentary Transcend). Hill captures Keita’s desperation, using running as a metaphor and a salvation for our hero.  

I enjoyed this book and its running theme but found the conflict resolution to be too neat and tidy, too serendipitous for real life. The brutality of an authoritarian regime is somewhat muted, likely to make the book more palatable. That’s ironic, given the book is an attempt to make the reader consider what blinders they have on regarding immigration to their own country and the suffering of millions of refugees, happening right now. (You can sti

The political muzzling of journalists in The  Illegal has put George Orwell’s 1984 into my head, so that’s likely the next book on my list. 

Number of books completed: 6/52

Open Heart, Open Mind by Clara Hughes is the book I selected for this prompt. Unless you’ve been living under a rock since 1996, you would recognize Clara as the face of Bell Let’s Talk Campaign and as the only Canadian athlete to win medals at both Summer and Winter Olympic Games. 

This woman is incredible. Her success has been the result of huge inner turmoil. A alcoholic father created an abusive and instable childhood which fueled destructive behaviours that at times were channeled into athletics and other times booze and food.  She describes the highs and lows of her emotional state through the chronology of her athletic career but the highs don’t predictably come with success in her career. 

I couldn’t put this book down. Hughes is an engaging writer and has had some incredible experiences. Her description of her bike tour up the Dempster Highway made me wish I had my bike packed and ready for a trip, rightthissecond. 

Landscapes and people speak to this woman through her bike. Since the bicycle is open, she is approachable and much closer to her surroundings than when riding in a car. Hughes seems to crave this openness, as a way to recharge herself but also to keep moving, often to ride away from her demons. This moving away from darkness felt familiar to me. When I’m struggling with something in my life I choose running to escape, and running until it hurts distracts me from mental pain. My husband’s stroke illicited this response. Rather than talking through my fears and worries, I chose to run. A lot. In the end, I had to face the impact of his health head on, rather than trying to run from it. Hughes has had to face her mental health issues head on, now that she is retired. I enjoyed reading about what she does to keep herself well and I think some of the strategies she uses would work for me too, in times of trouble. 

This book will be staying on my bookshelf.

Books read: 5/52

©hoodieruns Photo credit: Limitless Performance

©hoodieruns Photo credit: Limitless Performance

©hoodieruns Photo credit: Limitless Performance

Before, on the left, taken beginning of July 2016. The pictures on the right were taken the beginning of January 2017. 

I’ve been attending BABEies Bootcamp at Limitless Performance (www.limitless-performance.ca) and man, has it been awesome!

Three times a week, I go and have my ass handed to me and I love it. Employing HIIT principles with flavours of CrossFit, the talented coaches of BABE-ies have whipped me into great shape. 

Since July, I’ve gained five pounds of muscle, lost 6% body fat and managed to close my diastasis recti to 1.5-2cm! That’s all with not watching what I’m eating. Actual weight loss is 7lbs but because of the muscle mass gains I have actually lost roughly two dress sizes. These results make me really happy and they are pretty motivating!

Non-scale or empirical improvements include improved posture- I no longer round my shoulders forward and my hips have more of a posterior tilt and a neutral spine instead of tucking my bum, better fitting clothes, better performance at hockey and I am much stronger. Strength is a good thing. The kidlets just keep getting heavier.

The programme is tailored to encourage post-partum moms to gain strength and cardiovascular fitness within their capabilities. For instance, a number of us are working on healing our abdominal wall and pelvic floor muscles. There is a sequence of excerises we do to focus on helping those areas heal. Additionally, all excerises within the workout are offered with modifications to protect our healing bodies. It’s awesome to workout with a group of peers that are dealing with the same fitness concerns that I am and to have a knowledgeable group of coaches to ask questions.

My time with the LP family is winding down as I have to return to work at the beginning of May. To maximize my time left, I completed a Whole30 in January and I plan to continue eating within a Whole30/paleo framework. It appears that my body responds well to a low carb, high fat balance. The Whole30 plate template (palm sized protein, thumb-sized amount of fat, and fill the rest of the plate with veggies) is easy and doesn’t require tracking or measuring. Eating like this and continuing BABE-ies Bootcamp, should see excelerated results. I can’t wait.

Thanks to the coaches Ally, Michelle, and Sarah and all my classmates! I’ve really enjoyed working out with you!

The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands was a happy find at Costco the other day, along with the second book in the series, The Mark of the Plague. (Watch for MotP to show up in my list later on. I’m using it for prompt #30: A book with pictures.)

Kevin Sands is Canadian and Blackthorn Key is children’s literature. My two favourite things. Mr. Sands did not disappoint. Action, adventure, and cyphers to solve made this a fun and quick read.  If you like Harry Potter, Dirk Pitt novels, solving puzzles and are looking for a bit of historical fiction too, this is your book. Probably your series, but I’ll confirm after book two.

Christopher Rowe is an apothecary apprentice. Our hero is young but clever enough that you don’t want to throw punch him because he does dumb things all the time… Just sometimes. He thinks quickly and we get to interactively solve puzzles with him. It’s pretty neat. I will note that Blackthorn is a bit dark and violent for the under 11-12 crowd but if it gets them reading than maybe it’s worth the conversation? The pace is pretty good, although there are a few bumps where things a just a bit too convenient and moved past without much exposition. Overall, I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Number of books completed: 4/52