Scratch One Off the Bucket List

I had a goal this year to run a 5K race.  Yesterday, thanks to the fine folks at the Hintonburg Community Association, I accomplished that goal by running in the Hintonburg Centennial 5K Run. I can't believe how long it took me to get to this point.  I have to send a big thank you to the lovely Nadine Thornhill who told me about the race and was a real inspiration in getting my ass in gear.  (If you haven't already, you should read her Triathlon story!)  Here's some of my tweets pre & post race, as well as my thoughts on how it went (which was better than I could have possibly imagined).

7:54 AM - My tummy is in knots. This is ridiculous.

8:01 AM - Great. I went to the wrong spot to pick up my kit. Sigh. At least I'm getting a warmup walk in.

8:10 AM - So I could use the porta-potty and leave my backpack unsupervised OR I could go to @GCTCLive...

8:20 AM - I'm official! http://tweetphoto.com/33458835

8:29 AM - Haven't seen @nadinethornhill yet. I bet she's wearing something cute and functional. (ed. note - She totally was! I covet her shorts... well, not the ones she was actually wearing.  I'd like a pair of my own.)

8:49 AM - Lots of ppl here. Apparently @Yasir_Naqvi is somewhere in the bunch. #Hintonburg 5K (ed. note - I didn't actually see him.)

8:52 AM - Some ppl have Gatorade. Should I have brought Gatorade? #clueless

8:56 AM - Oh hey, there's @PaulDewar! #Hintonburg 5K

8:57 AM - Starting in 4 min! Yay!

And we were off.  I tried to get my Nike+ program to work on my iPhone to track the race, but somehow it didn't work. Ah well.  I just let myself be absorbed in the bouncy sounds of Lady Gaga as I ran.  I had a brief chat with Nadine as we ran were I commented on how difficult it was to fight the impulse to bolt ahead with the rest of the pack.  Before we had hit the 1K mark, some crazy dudes were already on the way back.

My throat was already burning from the get-go and so I was grateful for the water station when we hit 1K.  I grabbed a cup as I ran and had a sip.  Then I noticed the people in front of me pour their water all over their heads.

"Yeah!" I thought.  "That's hardcore! Me too! Grrrrrrr. I'm a runner!"

But about a split second before the water came tumbling out of the cup, I suddenly remembered the headphones in my ears, which were connected to the precious, precious  iPhone on my arm... I pushed my hand further back, quickly throwing the water somewhere over my head, where most of it landed on my backside.

Well, the feeling wasn't entirely unpleasant in this heat.

I kept going, super excited, thinking I must be nearing the half-way mark now.  Then I noticed a sign: 2K.  What the...?  Ok, ok, no big deal.  Just keep going.  My lungs were already burning.  I noticed people coming back in the opposite direction.

"A-ha!" I though.  "Almost there!"

I'd round a corner and realize, nope, it's still going.  I figured I must be at the 4K point by now.  There was no way this was still going to go on much further.   Then there was another sign: 3K.

WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!

How long is 5K anyway?

The volunteers along the course were an absolute blessing.  Every time I started feeling like it was over they'd start clapping and cheering and I'd just push through.  I made it to the second water station (probably at the 4K mark though I didn't see a sign).  I tried to drink some water as I ran, but I started chocking.  I pulled my headphones out with one hand and tried to pour it all over my head, but in my hurry I just threw it right in my face.

Is it possible to drown on dry land?

Nadine was approaching the water station and she started to cheer me on when she saw me.  Ok, just keep going.

I tried to keep up the same pace I normally did when I ran, though with all those other people around, I'm guessing I may have been going slightly faster.  Closing in on Parkdale, the volunteers started screaming that I was almost there.  I rounded the corner and I could see the finish line.  It looked so far away!  Thinking back on every movie I'd ever seen about people doing a race, I patched into whatever energy reserves I had left and picked up even more speed.  I could see the timer.  It had just hit the 30 minute mark.

But, that's not possible!  There must be some mistake.  I figured I would be lucky if I could finish the race in 35 minutes, but 30?  I pushed even harder.  I'm not sure what my end time was exactly, but I know it was around the 30:30 mark.

9:33 AM - OMGI I DID IT! Hoped to finish in 35 min, but finished in under 31!!!

So, I did it! I ran my first 5K race in an approximate time of 30 minutes and 30 seconds.  And now?  I'm totally hooked on running. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I already can't wait to do it again, though I'm having trouble finding another race in Ottawa.

Future goals now include running a 5K in under 30 minutes (so totally doable!) and prepping for a 10K.   Really, after accomplishing this, it feels like there's nothing I can't do.

I Like To Move It, Move It

Rehearsals have begun with A Company of Fools for an upcoming school tour at the end of the month. The show is called Shakespeare's Interactive Circus and is based on the loose premise that our lead, Sir Richard Somethingorother (I swear I'll learn his name by the end of the run, but it's really long) has disappeared (in all likelihood he is passed out drunk somewhere) and since he pretty much played ALL the parts, we, the lowly minions, are now forced to present something to the anticipating crowd. That "something" includes Romeo & Juliet: The Rap, the mechanicals bit from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth: The Musical, and the first meeting between Kate & Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew done as a tag-team match. I'm kind of exhausted just reading all of that. Actually, I'm kind of exhausted (in a good way!) doing all that.

I've only had two rehearsals so far and my body is reminding how sluggish it's been for the past few months. I've been either sitting at a desk, driving a car or standing around on a set doing very minimal movements. I'm going through the initial phases of muscle pain. My hamstrings ache from all the high kicks I've been doing (don't ask) and I've got to include more stretching into my daily routine. With all this beautiful weather, it's even inspired me to pick up my running once more, which is great as completing a 5K is one of my goals for 2010.

Rehearsals, as you can imagine, are also incredibly fun. I can't believe that this is a job that I actually get paid do to.

Goals for 2010

I don't like the term "Resolution". It sounds so final. I much prefer to go with goals. For some reason, I haven't really blogged about my yearly goals before (probably because I don't want to be reminded when I drop them sometime around February...) Here are a few things that I want to focus on throughout the year:

- Now some of you may already know this, but a few days before I left home for the holidays, my desktop computer had a minor explosion. After careful examination, I'm quite certain it's the power supply that blew, which is cool because it means my hard drives should be intact. Though at first I was pretty annoyed by this turn of events, I can't help but think it's really for the best. You see, my computer is in my room, facing my bed. It's always on and a constant source of background noise. Silence and stillness scare me. I think this may be a sign that I need to stop making so much noise and get used to sitting in the quiet for a little while. In addition, my second set of headphones has now died on me. I think I may take my time in replacing them, just so I pay more attention to the world around me when I'm out. (That said, if any computer people out there know if it's best to simply replace the power supply or get a new computer, please let me know! I will need to get this fixed eventually, just not right now.)

- I've also got my laptop. Unfortunately, I've gotten into a really nasty habit (even before my desktop broke down) of using my laptop on my bed. I'm finding it to be somewhat unhealthy. I'm on my computer all the time and yet I'm quite often distracted from my work by video games and online TV shows. I've decided that I won't be using my laptop in my room anymore and I'm reclaiming my dining room table (which will disappoint the cat, I'm sure). I'm also going to be scheduling specific time to work on stuff. It's time I stop multi-tasking and focus on just one thing at a time. If my trip to China taught me anything, it's that the world did not blow up when I was away from my computer for a week (not saying I'm going to be away from my computer for a week, but I'm going to be cutting back). My bed will now solely be used for sleeping, movie watching, and well, that other thing you do in bed... let's see if it's going to be a good year or not.

- Speaking of scheduling work time, I've decided to set aside three hours a week where I will do nothing but write plays. It's time I take responsibility for my writing and quit flaking out on it so much. Once I know my new work schedule (yes, I'm starting a new job this year, more on that in tomorrow's post!), my writing time will be fixed and nothing can interrupt it (except maybe an audition, in which case I must immediately reschedule said writing time).

- I'm going to complete a 5K race. I've been training for some time now and I am almost ready. If this goes well, I may upgrade to 10K before the year is over. I've also been looking into a Try a Tri (5K race, 10K bike ride, 200m swim) - this may or may not happen this year, but I'm working towards it. Note to self, get a bike.

- Oh and there's another kind of bike I really want to get my hands on. I'm being deliberately vague here because of certain people who might be reading. If you're curious, just ask me in private.

- I've got a new agent in Ottawa and I'm pretty thrilled about it. I'm hoping I know this is going to lead to bigger and better audition opportunities in 2010. That said, my agent handles Ottawa and Montreal so I'm still looking for someone to represent me in Toronto. My goal for 2010? Get a Toronto agent and be triple carded (ACTRA, Equity and UdA) by the end of the year.

- Keep taking classes and gain new skills. I love learning. I'm an eternal student and I don't plan on stopping this year. I'd like to pursue more classes in voice, movement, and clown this year, but I won't be limiting myself to just that. Perhaps some dancing might be in the cards?

- Travel more! Is it weird that I actually love living out of my suitcase and sleeping on other people's couches? I don't know if it's in the cards, but I'd love to do another big trip in 2010. I've got the bug! Perhaps this might finally be the year I visit Vancouver for the first time as well?

A couple goals I've had for years now but I've never truly acted on - we'll see if 2010 will be any different:

- I've had a violin for almost two years and I still don't know how to play it. This needs to change! If anyone has some links they could send me on learning the violin online (I know the NAC has something like that, but I can't seem to find it at the moment).

- Learn another language. My Spanish is very basic and I want it to get better.

- Get out of credit card debt. It's doable (and I'll talk about work a bit more tomorrow), but it just never seems to go away, does it?

I'm going to leave it at this for now. I'm curious to know what some of your goals might be for the New Year. Please feel free to post in the comment section and let me know!