Category Archives: Jam Nite

Have you ever looked fear in the face and just danced the sh!t out of the floor?

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I had an amazing run pace of 4:10 min/km! I really wanted to have a long run but life got in the way. Here’s what happened:

I prepared my dinner before I went to the gym so my food would be ready to be eaten when I got home. I am usually a Jamie Oliver kind of girl but I decided to switch it up and make a meal from Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite Cookbook. I love making new recipes. It makes your creative juices flow and you are opening your mind to try new things. It’s like being on an adventure– just not a life-threatening, dangerous, or an exhausting kind of adventure. (Unless you manage to cut yourself with a large knife and hold your breath during the cooking experience- then feel free to backspace the previous comments.)

Back to the run!

I got to the gym and I had the “I forgot something…” feeling. What did I forget? My shorts. I had 3 options: go home and get them, go home and forget about the gym- maybe it wasn’t meant to happen? Or, I could always run in jeans, which would be the most uncomfortable feeling in the world. Luckily I was meeting someone at the gym and they had an extra pair of lulu capris. The funny thing about this is, I’m not a tall girl and these capris were 2 sizes too big for me. So the tight fitting capris became wide gauchos on me. (Gauchos definition: wide, calf-length trousers for men or women modeled after the trousers worn by South American gauchos) Amazing! haha. Honestly, they were super comfy this way. I felt like I wasn’t even wearing pants! (hmm… that could be awkward). No really, I would seriously consider buying these pants two sizes too big. And- I just might!
So, I step up on the treadmill in my wide leg capris and I have a new feeling. I feel empowered some how as I place my klean kanteen in it’s holder and start to stretch. I get off the treadmill to do some leg stretches and I see a little black circle beside my foot. It would be one of two things: a fluff ball or a spider. And then it starts to move. Yep, that’s a spider! I’m not scared of spiders but I didn’t want it to rain because the temperature was going to drop so much and freezing rain is not fun. But I also didn’t want this spider to grow any bigger and make babies and infest the gym. So, I stepped on it. That spider is no longer with us. Sorry, friends!

There were so many playlists that I felt like listening to. I couldn’t believe it because lately I have just been picking a playlist without even really knowing if I actually want to run to those songs. I chose my “GB On My Mind” Playlist. It’s filled with all of the tunes that we would “dance the sh!t out of the floor!” during a Monday Jam Nite in GB. It was a great choice. I mean if you imagine yourself giving it all you’ve got on a dance floor to these jams- how can you not give your run all you’ve got? The band just keeps the energy up and- it really helped with my sprints that I decided to do during this run.
Here’s the playlist:
Listen to the Music- Doobie Brothers
Semi-Charmed Life- Third Eye Blind
I Want You- Savage Garden
You Make Me Wanna Shout- Little Richard
Girlfriend (Remix)- Avril Lavigne feat. Lil Mama
Making It Work- Doug and the Slugs
Down Under- Men at Work
Banditos- The Refreshments
Let Me Entertain You- Robbie Williams

I had a great cool down and stretching to:
3 am- Matchbox 20
Be With You- Mr. Big

There is nothing like a Mr. Big monster ballad to end a great run! Even though I didn’t run as long as I wanted too, I was running super fast sprints! And! Wait for it… I managed to clear my thoughts as soon as my first step hit the treadmill. I threw my thoughts away and I became in the moment. I didn’t have any mind games going on. I was a blank slate ready to take whatever challenge I was given without a care in the world. Success!
One of my favourite songs right now is Glitter in the Air by P!nk and it has a great line in it where she sings, “Have you ever looked fear in the face and said I just don’t care.” And that’s the mentality you have to have. Whatever problem you are facing, you are going to get through it. Why? Because you have to.

Stats of the Run
Distance: 8.64 km
Pace: 4:10 min/km
Calories: 374

Peace/Love/Waves/Song.

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I just didn’t feel like running today. I wasn’t even going to run but I decided maybe I can sweat out whatever sickness is in me. And- I actually didn’t have a bad run! I challenged myself by sprinting and trying to get a faster pace. That didn’t happen. But- the five star effort was definitely there! Today’s Lesson: Some days you can really surprise yourself at how far you can push your body to go. And this was one of those days, friends!

Here’s a little playlist that got me through today’s run:
It was an interesting playlist because the first 15 minutes were moderately slow tunes. And- I managed to run at a nice fast pace which really surprised me. It just shows that maybe I can run at a fast pace without listening to any music at all!
Runner’s World also told me that for every 2 workouts I do with music I should run once without any. This is because your body starts getting immune to music and eventually your jams will stop working as a motivator for you. Hmmm… sounds like a podcast will be coming in the near future!
My cool down started off with Brian Dale’s song Sail On. Brian (aka B Dale) is a good friend I met while living in the beautiful Grand Bend (aka GB to my local jammers). Brian is an extremely talented artist who puts on a great set everytime I see him. Whether it is a solo show or his Jam Nite Band at Gables. (Every Monday night of the summer!) I will never get sick of going to his gigs. I can’t wait until he starts selling out stadiums!

A word of advice- if you can see Brian in Grand Bend– do it! It will always be my favourite atmosphere to watch B Dale! Dancing like there is no tomorrow without any flip flops on! If you’ve never been, you wouldn’t understand…

Check out Brian Dale’s Original Tunes! If you love them, you can buy his album peace/love/waves/song on iTunes and support the arts!

Also… On the way out of the gym I found an Australian 5 Cent Coin! There wasn’t any bad luck with that one… yet! And- I didn’t even embarrass myself today… yet! ha!
Stats of the Run:
Distance: 8.24 km
Pace: 4:21 min/km
Calories: 356