Learning! F4LBR #4

Going camping with my teammates this weekend—bike, camp, bike!

Meanwhile, earlier this week I did a Flat Fix clinic with a rally veteran, Steve. He did a Hill Climbing clinic last month, which was excellent, so I knew this would be a good one. 

One of the great things about this adventure is all the people I’m meeting along the way—it’s a real community! I feel like I really am going to end up with Friends For Life at the end of it.

Here are some great photos Steve took on Tuesday—love the one where I’m framed in the wheel!

Really learned a lot from this! I thought I knew how to change a flat, having done it soooo many times, but a few tips and tricks really make it all smoother. Having tire irons and a decent pump help a lot too—I love my floor pump, but it was great to give the portable a test run. Thanks Steve!

Fitness + craft: worlds collide!

So, with a 300km 3-day ride on the horizon, obviously I need more than one pair of shorts—I’m thinking I need 3, so I have a fresh clean chamois each day!

But shorts/bibs are not only crazy expensive, they also tend to not fit right. They don’t accommodate my hip-to-waist ratio, or my long torso. 

But then Discovery Fabrics was having a sale! And they have a sewing pattern for bike shorts! The only question remaining: where to get a chamois?

I emailed Discovery, and they said that while they don’t sell chamois, I should check their Facebook group, because someone there would have the answer. And they were right! I have a chamois order in at Aerotech, and meanwhile my fabric and pattern arrived from Discovery:

Because obviously if I’m making my own bibs, they’re not going to be basic black

So excited to get to work on these!

Got new tennis shoes!

So of course it's snowing!

Also made this hoodie to throw on after tennis or a group run on a cold day.

Weekend update

5k run this morning. Felt really good! Temperature on the cusp of zero, but the sun was shining and birds were singing. My 10k is four weeks from today… yikes.

Overall this long weekend has been pretty good (although since I keep a four-day work week, it’s really no different for me).

Friday: fixed my flat tyre. Still need to install the new headlights and grips, but at least it’s rideable now. It feels so nice to be able to get around again. Baked honey cake and made onion rings for the first time (so good!). Rode my bike to tea with my cousins, later met a friend for a sauna and a drink. 

Saturday, tennis was cancelled (supposed to be my first lesson, boo) but met a new friend for hot chocolate, did some shopping downtown, got new running shorts (Uniqlo Airism) in the same grey as my Brooks bra, a couple of t-shirts for summer (realized last summer just how old and ratty my t-shirt selection had gotten), and a cute tank top. Picked up liver for dinner.  Did a tiny amount of sewing. Then went to the opera in the evening and was very good about going straight to bed without playing around on my phone (although I did bring cookies and milk). 

It was only this morning that I remembered that yesterday was my parents’ wedding anniversary. Previously that’s been a hard day for me, but this year was fine. And I realized that—subconsciously I suppose—the things I chose to do in the course of the day honoured each of my parents in their own way (sewing and liver for mum, opera for dad), and called them to mind without sadness while I was doing them. So that is a big improvement for me.

Have some feelings about my birthday this week, the usual “how am I this old and still single, no one will ever want me” routine. But I’m also feeling fit and strong today, and trying on new clothes (cropped tank top, at my age? I think it’s pretty cute, actually!) and meeting new people are both tangible reminders that I have new experiences and adventures to explore. I should probably take some progress pics again, it’s been a while.

Overall, feeling pretty good and feeling more like myself again.

Gear review: Brooks Women’s Dare Racerback Sports Bra

After years of running in squash-everything style sports bras, I finally got one with proper sizing - the Brooks Women’s Dare Racerback Sports Bra. Wriggling into this thing was a struggle! Comparing the back view of the 2.0 version, I think they heard that and made some changes.

Nevertheless, I have to say this bra is amazing! Nothing moves! I never realized how much bounce and shift I was putting up with before. S/M/L sizing just doesn't work for me. It’s kind of ridiculous when you're looking at a size chart for a bra that's totally non-adjustable, and they pretend that the same size will be fine for both a 30D and a 40A... no it won’t! So glad to have found something that has proper sizing, is adjustable, and holds everything where it belongs.

Confirmed: balance is lousy

That’s what I noted in my first post about tap dance. Taking this photo—trying to show off the shoes—was tricky!

But I am having so much fun doing this. It’s for my mental health as much as anything. I just feel giddy in my shoes in the studio, listening to the sound of feet stomping, even as I try to avoid seeing myself in the mirror!

With some of the most recent cheque from my side hustle (I consider it all fun money, although most of this recent one went to necessary stuff) I decided to treat myself to some gear just for dance—a ballet wrap, and because leotards are misery due to my long torso (seriously my “girth” measurement—shoulder to crotch and back—is 4” longer than leotards that come closest to my other measurements) I got a skirt with built in shorts. Technically it’s a tennis skirt, but it was cheap! Both pieces together came to $50, just enough to qualify for free shipping, yay!

The TMI Post

Well, it's been a week of 16:8 intermittent fasting, and the only effect I have really noticed is that I am constipated. Yesterday, for my first meal of the day at noon, I opted for a favourite that can usually be relied upon for the hoped-for result—oatmeal porridge with dried apricots, sunflower seeds, and molasses. And a pot of strong black coffee.

No luck.

Thinking I might go back to the 2:5 version as that has worked for me in the past, with no ill effects.

In other TMI news, I seem to have gotten my period, which is very unlike me. I had a bit of spotting a couple of weeks ago—now it occurs to me, timing-wise, could that have been ovulation spotting? Ugh I have no need to ovulate. Whatever.

Anyway today I am crampy and bloated and uncomfortable. Went for a run; didn't even make 4k because aside from feeling blecch, one of the seams on my tights started rubbing me the wrong way and it was just all around unpleasant. Ugh.

At least I have been keeping up with my mini workouts four times a week. 

I was hoping to go for a bike ride this afternoon, but we'll see what my belly has to say about that I guess. I have been gearing up for biking season (literally) with new shorts, new horn, new gloves, a tune-up and new chain, and a new cup holder (a birthday present from my wonderful son)! New shoes have been ordered, and I'm working on a pattern for a cycling dress with all of the features of a cycling jersey - rear pockets, technical fabrics—but cute instead of ugly (kind of like the shoes - although not “officially” a flat cycling shoe, they have the features of one—room for toes, grippy soles, snug secure fit with some support). I'm going to order some fabric called “chitosante” which is made using a fibre from crab shells, and is supposed to have great properties for wicking as well as being odour-resistant. I hope it lives up to its advertising!