I ran the Around the Bay 30k race in Hamilton yesterday, but priorities, ladies. First things first (my race report can wait!) — what did my nails look like for the race!?
Nail-job craving: As always, I want something fun and energetic for running a race. Given that I was in Barbados until late Friday, I actually didn’t think I was going to be able to get a manicure at Tips Nail Bar for the race, but the idea was depressing me. I was particularly stressed about this race and the idea of it going horribly AND not at least having an awesome manicure was givin’ me mega anxiety (I know, those are some real problems I am faced with…feel my pain). A panicked text to Tips’ Leeanne Colley and we figured out I could come in Saturday morning (you know, rather than sleep and rest for race, I’m up early to get my nails done!).
How I satisfied that craving: Naomi and Leeanne both worked on my nails btw. I liked this racerback-esque look I’d seen — and for colours and application this is how the ladies created the look: Shellac in Cream Puff (the white) all over the base of the nail, then the hot pink semi-circles in Artistic Color Gloss in Owned, followed by the nude Artistic Color Gloss called Posh.
How this nail colour make me feel: My friend took one look at my nails and said “Bouncy!” which is exactly how they look (tennis ball-esque, non?) and feel to me!
Love it or hate it: Love. My bouncy nails helped me bounce happily to the finish line!
March 25, 2013
Hello, lovelies and happy new year!
Although I didn’t realize it at the time, 2012 was pretty great now that I’ve actually given it a little thought. Some highlights pictured above (starting with the top row, left to right):
- In the spring, I ran my very first marathon with a much speedier time than I anticipated. And then I ran another marathon in the fall, yowza! Not to mention a half-marathon in Vegas in December. I’m a running machine! Plus, I had some kickass manicures from Leeanne Colley at Tips Nail Bar for these races — that’s my favourite one of the year above (it’s the one I had for the Goodlife Toronto Marathon) but most people loved this mod mani the most.
- I got to do the Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island, when I was there attending a good friend’s wedding. Way more treacherous than I anticipated (the hike, not the wedding!), but the views were so breathtaking I could’ve stood there forevah just taking it in.
- I returned to Paris (finally! It’d been years and years since I’d been) on a trip for work with L’Oreal Paris where I got the chance to interview some of the company’s top experts, plus spend time with some fantastic girls and soak up the gorgeousness that is the City of Lights.
- I visited Italy twice (it’s always been up there on my must-visit list!) and ate the best pizza I’ve ever had in Florence (this resto is known for their Neapolitan-style pizza), and found yet another happy place I found hard to tear myself away from (so hard it made me very, very late for a dinner date, oops), the Boboli Gardens.
- My two cats are happy and healthy (and generally don’t get up to too much mischief).
- I wrote a feature about the impact running has had on my life in the September issue of Flare.
- I got to visit London (now up there in my fave cities) for the very first time and spend much time giggling and shopping with my dear friend Rebecca.
- I did yoga “with” dolphins, the very coolest yoga class I’ve ever had. Look at their smiling faces!
- Here at home, I spent time with the most excellent friends (love ya!) laughing, eating, drinking and all that good stuff.
Of course, there was much more than these mere nine things: the blog’s grown much in this past year in terms of traffic; I started writing for some fab new outlets including B Insider and Travelife; I was mere feet away from my pre-teen crush Rob Lowe at the P&G Beauty & Grooming Awards (swoon!); I bought my first not one but two designer purses (What? I like pretty things!); I got to be inspired by Ira Glass from This American Life when he spoke about storytelling at Massey Hall; I made some amazing new friends including Chantel and Lindsay and met so many more great people.
Anyhow, I could go on about me, me, me, but what I’m trying to say is that all in all, it’s been a year full of wonderfulness. If only I’d taken the time to realize this as it was happening (hmm, new year’s resolution perhaps?).
Looking forward to what 2013 has in store for all of us!
k xo
January 2, 2013
So I ran my second marathon yesterday. (I just ran the Goodlife Toronto Marathon in the spring, you may recall.)
I don’t know what other people think about when they run marathons, but here’s a snippet of my internal monologue yesterday:
“This is going to be pure MISERY. OK, snap out of it, you’re never going to make it through four hours of this if you’re thinking that now.” (my thoughts as I stood huddled out of the pouring rain, dressed in a tres sexy garbage bag, killing time until I got into my corral.)
“Your one job today: stick to the four-hour pace bunny.”
“You &@&#*#ers!” (as I jealously watched the half marathoners split off from us to their finish line)
“So maybe I can just run the half, and then talk to the organizers and say I changed my mind on what race I was running? Will that work?”
“OK, well, I can’t do that job anymore, so I just gotta do what I can.” (just after the halfway mark, when I couldn’t keep up with the 4-hour pace bunny anymore)
“OK, it’s just two 10k runs left. You can do 10k in your sleep.” (I was ignoring the extra 2.2k after that)
“Is this because of all the eating and drinking I did in Europe last week?” (when I was feeling sluggish)
“Look at my nails. Pretty! And you didn’t get this kickass manicure for nothin’, now didja? Keep going…”
“I think I must be losing my mind and that’s a mirage, cuz that sure looks like Serena, OMG IT IS SERENA!!!” (thrilled at the 36k mark that my friend surprised me by coming out to cheer. It was a dark, tough road after 30k so it was a huge boost to see her)
“I’ll have to ask someone to smack some sense into me when I consider running one in spring 2013, or maybe even ever again.”
“Just another four kilometres until I see Lindsay and Scott. I never run less than 6k so it’ll be nothing til I get to the 41k mark and see them…”
“Whee! There’s Lindsay and Scott!”
“That sign says 500 metres to go….wow, 500 metres is waaaaay longer than I ever realized….I want to stop running already….”
“I see the finish line, fiiiiiinaalllly — sprint sprint sprint!!!!!”
“That wasn’t so bad. Should I train for a spring marathon?”
All in all a good race. I didn’t ask friends to come cheer — I figure (and I’ve talked to other runners about it) if they don’t run, they probably don’t particularly care or get it. So I didn’t have that to help boost me along the way — it can make a big difference, I think, so go out and cheer your running friends if you have ‘em. That said, I was so focused on sticking with my pace bunny that the first half flew by and I couldn’t even tell you what neighbourhoods we ran through.
Other than that, mentally, I found a bit easier to wrap my head around since I’d already done one marathon and had more long training runs completed. Physically, probably about equally difficult. Looking at my splits, it was after the 30k mark that things really started to fall apart speedwise.
My time: 4:20. Not a personal best, but that’s OK, I’m happy with that time and that I’ve got marathon #2 under my belt.
October 15, 2012
