Author Archives: Crystal Clarke

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  By Crystal Clarke | June 11, 2016 - 5:30 pm |
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Caillou's sunny spot

Today I ran with my healthy dog to the community garden to pull weeds and then play a round of disc golf with my honey. As I was running home I thought about last year at this time and how I was a miserable person on crutches and unable to do much of anything. 2015 was a shit-storm in general, but it ended well and 2016 has been pretty darn good so far! I have about 4 blog posts saved that I started in the past couple of months, but none of them seemed to be really accurate about where … Keep reading →

Recipe: Tomato and Rice Soup

  By Crystal Clarke | February 10, 2016 - 5:01 pm | , , ,
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rice soup

When I cook rice and quinoa I like to cook a whole bunch at once so that I can use it in different dishes through the week. Last week I took it a bit too far and had about 4 cups of leftover cooked mixed grains of brown rice, quinoa, basmati rice and wild rice . I knew I had to use them up yesterday and decided to make a Tomato and Rice Soup. I thought maybe the grains would be too “grainy” tasting, but it actually worked out really well and added some nice texture to the soup. I don’t … Keep reading →

Being Balanced – Physically

  By Crystal Clarke | January 25, 2016 - 2:38 pm | , , , , , ,
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physical-pain-quotes-20150312154852-5501b564317dc

When I stand on one foot I wobble; balance is not something that comes easily to me. When I get on my bike, though, it takes a lot to push me over! Right now I have imbalances that are creating turmoil within my body, mostly in my muscles. The first step to solving a problem is identifying it, right? This summer, as you may remember from my incessant whining, I broke my left foot. I have always had issues with my left IT band and knee, which likely contributed to the rolling of that ankle and the impending break. I spent 6 … Keep reading →

Make Plans, Achieve Goals

  By Crystal Clarke | January 4, 2016 - 12:00 pm | , , , , , , , , ,
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Make goals, make plans

It is the beginning of January, the time of promises and good intentions. I like to make plans. I’m very good at making plans, I’m not very good at executing plans. So what is my plan? My plan is to achieve my goals. That is my number 1 goal for 2016. It is possible to achieve it if my plans are reasonable. Over the past few years I have set myself up for failure. I’m just not able to do what I used to be able to. My mental illness, medications and focusing on stability takes a lot of my … Keep reading →

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 →