Author Archives: Crystal Clarke

Cleansing

  By Crystal Clarke | December 14, 2015 - 4:55 pm | , , , , ,
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Over the past two weeks I have been doing a clean-eating cleanse that involved no sugar, no caffeine or alcohol, no soy or wheat, no eggs or dairy (that one was not hard for me), a green smoothie each morning, a lot of water (half my body weight in ounces), and daily yoga. In addition to this I started out doing the December 1-mile a day challenge and a push-up challenge. The cleanse was a success for me! I feel really great and I think I’m going to keep going with most of it, except for caffeine. With the medication that … Keep reading →

A New Discovery of an Old Problem

  By Crystal Clarke | October 13, 2015 - 5:30 pm | , , , , , , , , ,
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swimming pool

I feel a bit sheepish to admit what I’m about to admit because I consider myself to be a very self-aware person. My body is my temple and I take care of it. My mind needs to be taken care of daily, which I do. I feed my soul with daily doses of self-care. However, I have missed some important and obvious issues that I am only now becoming aware of, specifically in the way of sensitivities and allergies. I’m going to talk about just one of them in this post. As I sit here with laryngitis and an immune … Keep reading →

Race Report: Frank Dunn Triathlon 2015

  By Crystal Clarke | September 14, 2015 - 9:40 pm | , , , ,
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FDTri-0575

It only took a month to finish, but here’s the race report for Frank Dunn! Pre-Race: It felt like any normal race for me. I got up, did my morning routine: coffee, toast, and a banana, sipping water through the morning. Got down to the transition area early as people were just starting to get there. I got my transition area somewhat set up and went to look for Blair, my training buddy. I decided to do a short bike ride up the gradual hill that starts off the bike. It was good to find that rhythm going up and … Keep reading →

The No-Goal Triathlete

  By Crystal Clarke | August 5, 2015 - 4:13 pm | , , , ,
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In 4 days I’ll be participating in my first triathlon in almost a year. This will be the 10th time I’ve been in this event. My best time was in 2006 with 3:52; my worst time was 2014 with 4:59 (yes, training DOES make a difference!). Not surprisingly, the bike time makes a huge difference (see the table below). This year’s race, though, will be in a team which is a first for me. I’m excited not to run! It’s always been my Achilles heal (pun intended), but I do love the run. So many people excited about finishing. It … Keep reading →

Two steps forward, one step back

  By Crystal Clarke | July 18, 2015 - 12:01 pm | , , , , , , , ,
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physical-pain-quotes-20150312154852-5501b564317dc

This last weekend I went to the Winnipeg Folk Festival with some great people. It was probably one of the stupidest things I’ve done in a long, long time. My over-confident self thought that I would be able to hobble around the festival without problem. That was a stupid thing to think. Or maybe just very optimistic? Either way, it was a difficult lesson to learn. Let me sum up the weekend: the music and people were awesome, I was in pain and quite miserable most of the time. The website says the following: “There are ten stages of music to … Keep reading →

A single step

  By Crystal Clarke | July 7, 2015 - 6:50 am | , , , ,
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A Single Step

A mere 4 weeks after I broke my foot I hobbled around the block. I am still wearing my boot cast, but I only used one crutch kind of like a cane as I made my way around the block. I’m not a big fan of cliches and whatnot, but I couldn’t help but think that this was one of those “single steps.” It’s the most I’ve “walked” in a month. It was exhausting. None of this sounds good for the race I’m signed up for in 6 weeks. However, I found a runner to finish up the race with me! This … Keep reading →

Welcome back… kind of

  By Crystal Clarke | June 13, 2015 - 3:45 pm | , , ,
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2015 - foot injury

One week ago my foot broke. Sometimes small mistakes have big consequences. In two seconds half my summer will be in a cast using crutches to get around. In my true fashion, I am trying to see the bright side: my one leg will be stellar strong, my arms will be buff, and in a couple of weeks I should be able to start biking again and maybe swim. If I can get on my bike soon then I won’t go completely insane AND it won’t destroy my race in August. Another silver lining is that this has me itching to train. … Keep reading →

Getting it back!

  By Crystal Clarke | December 8, 2014 - 4:08 pm | , ,
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Swim workout in a not-just-for-sandwiches baggie. The workout is from the book Be Iron Fit by Don Fink.

Last week I was accidentally consistent! The past few weeks I’ve been trying to get on the treadmill a couple of times a week and I put my bike on the trainer and started riding it a bit. My big incentive came from a very unlikely interaction with my training buddy. He was telling me how he does his long indoor bike rides when his wife isn’t home. They are both retired so I wasn’t quite sure the reason for his needing to wait for a time when they weren’t going to be together. He told me it was because … Keep reading →

Procrastination Challenge

  By Crystal Clarke | November 10, 2014 - 9:43 am | , , , , , ,
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pro in procrastinate

My November Time Management Challenge started out really well last week. It went out the window on Thursday. Yes, it lasted 3 days. I’m not discouraged, though. I know that this will be a constant work in progress. Procrastination is my biggest hurdle. When I feel tired or drained or sore, which was the case last week after my friend tortured me at a circuit training we did on Tuesday (actually, Thank You Julie!), I have a difficult time getting off of my chair. So my bike is still sitting in pieces in my workout room. I moved it out of … Keep reading →

My November Challenge

  By Crystal Clarke | November 5, 2014 - 7:00 am | , , , , , , , , ,
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Time for change

Every month I set up a money budget. I don’t follow it to the penny, but it gives me a sense of control and understanding of my spending habits. It helps me to plan ahead. I’ve been following my budget for over a year and it has reduced my life stress by a lot. Last week I was thinking about my training schedule and it occurred to me to make a time budget. For a few years now I have felt like I don’t use my time wisely and my theory is that it’s because I don’t allot enough of it … Keep reading →