Benefits Associated With Cycling | victoria public health

There are major benefits that are associated with cycling.

Cycling is one of the easiest ways to exercise, because there is no high level of skill or equipment required.

Cycling builds strength and increases muscle tone through strengthening leg muscles and increasing the mobility of hip and knee joints.

Cycling improves cardio-vascular fitness by using the largest muscle groups the legs, which will raise your heart rate to benefit stamina and fitness.

Cycling helps the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Cycling is a lifetime activity and can help ward off health issues related to an inactive lifestyle.

Cyclists are physically active citizens, and are good for the economy as they have fewer sick days and need less medical treatments.

Cycling can help you sleep better. Exercising outside exposes you to daylight and this helps get your circadian rhythm back in sync, and also rids your body of cortisol, the stress hormone that can prevent deep regenerative sleep.

Cycling improves your cardio-respiratory fitness which will help improve your mental fitness, by building new brain cells in the hippocampus – the region responsible for memory.

Cycling helps your overall health.  Moderate exercise makes immune cells more active, so they’re ready to fight off infection.

Here in Victoria you can ride all year round and can cycle almost everywhere. If you are just starting out there are three important things to remember:

Be Visible – wear bright colors, and use headlights on the front of your bike and blinking red lights in the back.

Be Predictable – A common mistake that beginning cyclists make is feeling that they are not entitled to be on the road –  behave like a car, riding in a straight line in the lane where the car’s right wheel would go.

Choose appropriate route – some roads are just not suitable for bikes. Heavy, high-speed traffic on roads with no shoulders will make for unsafe or unpleasant riding.

Before starting any new exercise regime, check with your health care practitioner for information and tips about keeping yourself safe and injury free.

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How Much Do You Spend on Keeping Physically Active?

Many of us believe that you have to spend a small fortune on gym memberships or personal trainers to be physically fit and active. In fact, you can be active without spending any money.

During the colder months, invite some friends to meet you at a local mall.  You can get some exercise and socialize while you are walking, and you can continue your walks out side when the weather becomes warmer.

All activity counts towards being physically fit, so even tasks such as household chores, or gardening will help you shape up.

Don’t forget to check with your healthcare practitioners, many clinics now have Rehab Gyms and as a patient you can use the facility at little or no cost.

Community & Recreation Centres

Many recreation or community centres offer a first class for free, so take advantage of these free demonstration exercise classes.   Your local library’s will have exercise DVD`s that you can borrow for free, or  download activities such as yoga and stretching exercises. For something with a bit more social and entertainment value, try participating in  community-sponsored fun run, or if you need a bit more of a team atmosphere try joining a volleyball or basketball league that plays at your local community center.

Local Parks

Many city parks have free nature walks where you can learn about native trees and plants while exploring a local forest or beach.  Another way to keep active is to help your community by participating in a stream clean-up effort.

In Your Neighbourhood

Try bike riding, and if you don’t own a bike, no worries, many communities have bike shops that also have rentals.  Or, try playing a game of tennis, and sign up for matches at the community courts in your neighbourhood.

Joining a walking group will keep you motivated, and will allow you to meet new people and get you walking on routes that you might otherwise not try.

Staying connected to you community is a good way to keep fit mentally and physically at little or no cost to yourself; and will keep you moving while having a great time!

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Be prepared for your checkup at a walk in clinic

Before your visit to a doctor or health care practitioner, be prepared for your checkup at a walk in clinic by making sure that you take all the important information with you including your medical records.

  • Dates and results of checkups and screening tests
  • List of shots you’ve received (and the dates you got them)
  • Medicines you take, how much you take, and why you take them (including over-the-counter medicines and vitamins)
  • Any health conditions you have, including allergies
  • The name and phone number of a friend or relative to call if there’s an emergency
  • A list of other doctors, dentist, practitioners or specialists you are seeing.
Be prepared for your checkup at a walk in clinic

Be prepared for your checkup

Make a list of any important changes in your life or health. Changes especially stressful ones can have a direct effect to your overall health.  Be sure to include things like:

  • Becoming unemployed
  • A death in the family
  • A serious illness
  • Surgery
  • A medical condition
  • Changes in sleeping or eating habits
  • Pain or discomfort

The health history of your family is an important part of your personal health record so keep track of conditions that run in your family.

Don’t forget to take a notepad and write down the answers so you remember them later. You may also want to take a friend for support, and don’t be afraid to ask lots of question or have the health practitioner  repeat specific information that you are not sure about.

Staying healthy means taking care of yourself all year long.  Your plan may include getting more active, eating healthy, or watching your weight.  Whatever your health goal, remember to be prepared for your checkup at a walk in clinic and let your health care practitioner be part of your health team.

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Diary of a Want-To-Be Marathoner!

Diary of a Want-To-Be Marathoner! So, it’s been about 7 weeks since I began training with the Frontrunners marathon clinic for my first full marathon this October. I am still smiling. Still loving every minute. Still saying ‘Bring it on!’

I ran in the heat while I was in Winnipeg for a week, that was exhausting! 28C at 8:30 a.m. is just too much; actually, it felt more than a little foolish (read: stupid) to be running any real distance in that heat. Boy was I glad to run on the one morning of rain (used that for my long run), and even more glad to get back to more moderate temps in Victoria. And, even in my brush with celebrity (I sat next to a few guys from Canadian rock band Trooper on the flight home), we talked running – awesome!

Currently we are up to 2 1/4 hours of running at a time on our long runs, and are increasing the intensity of the workouts on our Wednesday evening meetups at the store. It’s still hard to find the energy for an intense run at the end of a work day, but totally worth it. And I feel like I am actually running LESS on the clinic’s set schedule. But likely running smarter. Last Saturday we ran 2 hours, and Silvia, our run leader, told me that I should run even slower. Guh. I may never finish the marathon at this pace.

We have been through all the different workouts on Wednesdays, and I was very surprised to find that I *really like* the hill training, and *love* the tempo runs. It is a new challenge to introduce these things into my other, shorter runs, and I know that it will make me stronger. And I can keep doing them, even when I’m not ‘training for a marathon’. Oh, and my running group has decided that we are going to do a half marathon race in place of one of our regular runs in September. Aaaaahahahahahahaha! That’s like saying ‘half marathon for fun’. I think I have crossed the line.

However…. True confession: I still haven’t signed up for the marathon. But before you give me that knowing smirk, it’s not about ‘if’, just about which start time. I’m a bit afraid that I will go out too hard if I start with the masses, and then not be able to finish; starting early on the other hand (the other option, for walkers and slow runners) means getting up even earlier to start in the dark but it will definitely be cooler and there will be waaaay less people to contend with. But for the early start you have to estimate a 5h30+ race time… I don’t know if I can even entertain the thought of running that long. Ultimate goal: to finish the race, period. Oh, and have fun doing it!

Carol works for a local coffee roaster and compensates for her excess caffeine (and love of bacon) by running as far and as fast as she can in her free time, when she’s not singing in a choir or knitting a sweater.

Running Clinic by Victoria Frontrunners

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Is Your Poo Healthy?

Is your poo healthy?Have you ever wondered how often you should poo, or if your poo was healthy?

Okay, after we get passed the awkwardness of this topic most of us would admit we are a little intrigued…

How often we use our bowels and what our poo looks like tells us a lot about our general health and well being.

Without realizing it many of us put ‘clag-like’ products into our bodies 3-5 times a day – such as white bread, multi-grain breads (grains and seeds simply added to the ‘glue’ in many multi-grain bread varieties doesn’t really help that much either) and other white flour products.

We race around and forget to eat fruit and vegetables, drink water or exercise, and then we may wonder why we have bloated tummies and only poo once every few days.

Unfortunately, if we don’t tune in to our bowel health and teach our children to do the same  -then over a period of time our whole body including our brain function will start to be affected.

WHAT MAKES POO HEALTHY?

So now that we’ve started to tackle this topic we need to really engage – you are going to have to look twice at your poo —YEP that’s right you will need to actually look at the shape and then the colour.

A HEALTHY POO:

  • Tells us when it is ready to come out
  • Slips out easily
  • Needs no coaxing
  • Is well formed (poo should look like a brown banana with a point at one end or take on an S shape)
  • Is well hydrated (poo that looks like little balls wadded together has been in the colon too long)

WHAT IS NOT A GOOD SIGN?

  • Having no urge
  • It hurts
  • It takes a long time
  • Is always very loose and fast
  • Looks like little balls or pieces
  • There’s blood or mucus

TIPS TO FOSTER BOWEL HEALTH

  1. If you are a parent it is important to make poo habits and digestive health part of natural family conversation. The easier it is to talk about poo the easier it is too correct poor habits.
  2. Two to three good bowel movements a day is considered optimal digestive health.
  3. Drink plenty of water – on average at least 30ml for every kilogram (or 1ounce for every pound).
  4. Cut out too much Coffee (dries out the bowel), Refined sugars (breeds bad bacteria), Antibiotics (avoid wherever possible as they strip away good bacteria) and Processed foods – you could just remember to cut out CRAP, but that would be cheeky!
  5. Eat stacks of fruit and vegetables, strive for 10-15 pieces a day. One ‘piece’ is considered roughly the size or length of your hand – such as one apple or one carrot.
  6. Remember to chew not just swallow food. Slow down be mindful of what you’re eating. Chewing food and then continued chewing of our food helps kick start the digestive process.
  7. Focus on eating foods that ‘look-like’ how nature intended them. Consume foods that look the same as they did when they were extracted from the ground or the garden. Remember there are no white bread plants!!
  8. Eat whole- grain products preferably kamut, spelt and quinoa and gluten free grains as they help flush fat and cholesterol out of your system. Don’t mistake whole-wheat products for whole-grain.
  9. Perform some form of sweaty exercise 5 days a week. When we are stagnant our bowels become stagnant.
  10. De-stress and slow life down. When we stress we typically are not moving with the flow of life. De-stress and let your life and bowels flow.
  11. Check your ‘bowel transit time’. When the digestive system is working well, bowel transit time ranges from 12 to 24 hours.

 To easily test transit time, simply eat a brightly coloured food such as beetroot (at least one or two whole beets), take a mental note of the time it is eaten, and then check each motion to see when a dark red poo emerges.

Alternative foods you could trial include corn and sesame seeds. Ironically, corn is a grain, not a vegetable, and is extremely hard for the body to digest and assimilate.

As corn passes through the digestive tract mostly undigested, it is a particularly useful food for this transit test.

7 REASONS WE MAY BECOME CONSTIPATED 

We can’t poo when:

  • We haven’t drunk enough water
  • We haven’t eaten enough fibre or bulk (fruits and vegetables)
  • Our spine is not aligned (vertebral subluxations affects nerve messages between the brain and bowel) Chiropractic assists the nervous system re-create body order
  • Our foods are not well combined (an imbalance in consistency or flavouring)
  • We haven’t exercised enough
  • We are emotionally tense
  • We keep ourselves too busy (we rush them from one activity to another

So while poo may be an awkward topic, it makes sense to check-in with our body and identify how our bowels are coping with our lifestyle stressors. If we have children then it is wise to make bowel health a very normal part of family discussion.

Clearly we are not just talking about bathroom habits – we are appreciating that a lack of health affects so many aspects of our lives. When our bowels work well they extract the vitamins and minerals we need to thrive and they remove the toxins we gather from modern living.

Good bowel health gives us energy and vitality and allows us to fight off infections and illness. Healthy bowels create healthy bodies.

When our body is working well then so too are our minds and we are then better able to integrate and connect with the world around us.

Written by
Dr Jennifer Barham-Floreani
B.App.Clin.Sci, B.Chiropractic   

Email: drjennifer@welladjusted.me

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Size Matters When Choosing a Bike | Victoria Walk in Clinic

In order to enjoy cycling without injury; the choice of bike, proper frame size, and adjustments of the handlebar, seat and pedals can play a huge part; so size does matter when choosing a bike.

Here’s how to tell if the bike is truly right for you, and specific points on how you can fine tune the seat and handlebars to make it perfectly comfortable for you.

Frame Size:

The first step is getting the right size bike, so stand over the frame with both feet flat on the ground. A properly-sized road bike frame will allow an inch or two clearance between the top tube of the frame and your crotch. A mountain bike should aim for twice this distance.

Seat Height:

Your seat height should be set to a height that allows your leg to extend until it is almost completely straight when you are sitting on the seat. There should be only a slight bend to the knee when your foot is on the pedal in the bottom position.  A common mistake is for people to think that they should be able to sit on their seat touch the ground.  For maximum comfort, you want your seat to be level.

Handlebar Position
The goal of handlebar height adjustment is to find the position where you can ride comfortably without putting strain on your back, shoulders or wrists

Your handlebars should be at least as high as your seat, or even above it, so you can ride upright. If your handlebars are lower than your seat you’ll be pushed into your handlebars, and you’ll place more stress on your wrists, arms, neck, and back.

Making sure your bike fits is of utmost importance to cycling injury free.

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Knee Pain

Knee pain is a common complaint that affects people of all ages. A few reasons one may be experiencing knee pain include: a sudden increase in one’s training or activity schedule, the commencement of a new sport or activity, a change in footwear, improper training technique, or muscle imbalances and/or alignment issues.

Understanding what is causing your knee pain is the first step in treating it, and there are many possible causes of mechanical knee pain which include:

patello-femoral syndrome, patellar fracture, bursitis, Ilio-tibial band friction syndrome, patellar or quadriceps tendinopathy, ligament injuries/sprains, Meniscal injuries/tears, Osteoarthritis, Osgood-Schlatter’s disease,  Loose Bodies, etc…

 Knee pain is one of the most common cycling injuries. The most common cause of knee pain in cyclists in ilio-tibial band (IT band) syndrome. The IT band is a thick band of fibrous tissue that runs down the outside of the upper leg from the hip area to the knee. Pain usually results when the IT band becomes too tight and therefore rubs over the bony prominences of the knee. The IT band has direct attachments to the tensor fascia latae (TFL) muscle, which runs down along the outer front of the thigh/hip area and acts to help flex and abduct the hip. This muscle, which is used consistently in cycling, often becomes shortened and/or tight, thereby increasing tension on the IT band and contributing to knee and/or hip pain.

 As injury can often be a problem of overuse, or misuse, it is important to avoid the temptation to do too much (especially if just starting out with a new sport/activity, or commencing a training season). To avoid misuse of muscles, and prevent injury, it is important to ensure appropriate training technique and equipment fit (ie: bike fit).  With cycling, it is important to add in a stretching program for your lower extremities to help maintain a healthy and appropriate muscle length while training.

 In order to determine the cause of one’s knee pain, a comprehensive examination of the knee is completed and the appropriate treatment plan is outlined.

Treatment for knee pain can include:

1)    Electrotherapy such as ultrasound to decrease swelling, pain, speed up cell turn over and thus enhance healing and recovery.

2)    Interferential current may be used to decrease swelling or joint effusion, decrease pain, and speed up recovery.

3)    Heat may be used to decrease pain and increase range of motion

4)    Ice may be used to decrease inflammation and pain

5)    Soft tissue work to improve circulation, break up adhesions, decrease muscle tightness or tension, decrease pain

6)    Joint mobilizations to increase range of motion, decrease stiffness, increase circulation, and decrease pain

7)    Passive stretching to increase muscle length

8)    Taping to improve muscle function or joint alignment and decrease pain

9)    Comprehensive exercise program to correct for muscle imbalances, increase flexibility, improve strength / stability / proprioception.

 Below are a few exercises to help prevent knee injuries:

  1. Glute med strengthening – use theraband or stretchy tubing tied around ankles. In standing with legs straight and core contracted, side step (with straight legs) to left against the resistance of the band around the ankles. Continue for a minimum of 15 steps or until fatigue and then return to the starting point by side stepping to the right as above.
  2. Double leg or single leg squat, either on a BOSU or on the ground with a stability ball against the wall (your back leaning against the stability ball).
  3. Hamstring, Hip flexor stretching, and IT band rolling on foam roller

Remember to follow the PRICE principle if you believe you’ve sustained an acute knee injury, until you’ve been assessed from your health care practitioner.

P – Protect: Avoid anything that could cause further harm/injury or increase pain

R – Rest: Discontinue any and all physical activity as much as possible

I – Ice: Apply ice, 15-20 min max, 3-4 times/day

C – Compression: Wrap the injured area with a tensor bandage etc applying pressure around the area (to help decrease swelling and inflammation)

E – Elevation: Sit or lie with the limb or injured area elevated

Written by Jessica McCartie M.P.T.

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Meet The Man Figuring Out What To Do With All That Plastic Waste

The recent winner of a prestigious environmental prize, Mike Biddle and MBA Polymers are changing what we think of as recyclables.

When the Gothenburg Prize called Mike Biddle and told him he’d won this year, he didn’t understand the message at first. “I couldn’t get the Swedish accent. I thought they wanted me to be a judge,” he says. “When they said, ‘Oh no, we want to give you the prize,’ I was literally speechless.”

The Gothenburg, which focuses on sustainable development, isn’t the Nobel, but it’s prestigious enough (Kofi Annan and Al Gore are previous recipients). Biddle is bashful about why he was chosen, but thinks it may be because he’s “stuck with something for 20 years,” and achieved something “quite difficult.”

If my coffee maker or vacuum cleaner dies, you can take it to Goodwill, and that’s about it. They throw the rest away.

“That’s why you don’t see hundreds of companies like us out there, sorting plastics. We figured out how to do it, and took it to a commercial reality. That’s not something you always see with new technologies.”

MBA Polymers, the company Biddle founded 20 years ago, goes after the recyclables others don’t want, or don’t know how to deal with: plastics from coffee makers and toasters, TVs and cell phones, fittings from cars and trucks, and so on. These materials are actually more valuable, and more plentiful, than steel, Biddle says. But they don’t get recycled in high volumes, because they’re more difficult to separate from the waste stream.

You can use a magnet to extract metals, or sort them by hand: They have different colors and tell-tale densities. But plastics are much less distinguishable. They have infinite different colors, share similar densities, and have no electrical or magnetic properties that make sorting easier. Hence, metals are recycled at an estimated 90% rate, while plastics have only a 5% to 10% rate. The rest ends up in landfills, burned in incinerators, or shipped to dangerous and inefficient sorting plants in the developing world.

MBA Polymers takes waste from “shredders” that have already separated out metals, then isolates up to 40 plastic types in a multi-stage process. It produces virgin plastic pellets that can be reused in the same way as traditional plastic, but with an 80% savings in energy, and a lower cost. Biddle calls this “above the ground mining,” and thinks there is a huge potential, if only we could see used plastic as a resource, instead of as a disposable good.

MBA has three plants so far–in China, Austria, and the U.K. But it’s still only scratching the surface of what gets thrown out every year. In fact, the overall problem of un-recycled plastic is getting worse. While many developed countries now collect standard recyclables such as PET Coke bottles and milk jugs, the rates for other plastic types are pathetic. Computer and electronics waste is the fastest growing part of the world’s waste stream.

If you can get the collection right, the economics take care of the rest.

Biddle says the problem isn’t necessarily technological. Plants like his, while costly upfront, are economical. The issue is having reliable incoming waste streams, which means better collection in the first place. “Single-stream recycling has gone a long way to solving the problem of household waste. But if my coffee maker or vacuum cleaner dies, you can take it to Goodwill, and that’s about it. They throw the rest away.”

“But if you can get the collection right, the economics take care of the rest. The problem in developed countries is the first mile from the home to the recycling plant.”

The issue in developing countries is different, Biddle says. There are thousands of “pickers” who already sort through the trash looking for materials they can sell to make some extra money. There is no lack of willingness to sort the waste, or manpower to do it. The problem is that the work is often unsafe, and the economic opportunity and environmental benefits aren’t maximized. “Pickers can play a vital role if we can figure out how to get them to collect stuff and bring it to processing centers like ours,” he says.

Biddle’s currently looking at ideas for coordinating informal pickers into organized teams, possibly working in some kind of public-private partnership. And he thinks he can improve incomes, and health and safety standards, as a result.

“[The pickers] don’t necessarily get treated fairly in my experience. We’re trying to get around that and give them another option, and provide a more environmentally safe way to market,” he says.

Written by Ben Schiller

Ben Schiller is a staff writer for Co.Exist, and also contributes to the FT, and Yale e360.

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What Triggers your Migraine? | health clinic victoria bc

In her book, The Women’s Migraine Survival Guide, Christina Peterson, M.D., offers some advice on an array of migraine triggers that women (and men too!) with chronic migraines should learn about and avoid. Here are the most common:

Stress -Stress may be a trigger, says Peterson. When you’re under stress, take periodic breaks from difficult activities, alternating tough tasks that require brainpower with other jobs that are more physically oriented. For example, switch from analyzing problems to picking up  office supplies or to another activity that’s a no-brainer.

Bright Lights – Bright lights and glare can cause migraines in some people. If you’re outside in bright sunlight, always wear a protective hat and sunglasses, or move to a shady area. If the sun is streaming into the room, and you’re susceptible to migraines, it’s best to put the blinds down to limit glare. You can always put on your sunglasses or slap a ball cap on your head! (Yes, even though you’re indoors.)

Odors – Some people are very sensitive to odors, particularly those from heavy perfume or some cleaning items. You may find that strong aromas can trigger a migraine within several hours. If someone at work drenches herself (or himself) in cologne, tell your colleague you’re hypersensitive to aromas. Consider saying that you’re allergic to strong perfume, which is more likely to obtain the reaction you want, less heavy-handedness with the spray bottle.

Cigarette and Cigar Smoke – The odor of cigarette smoke is also a migraine trigger for some people. Fortunately, few workplaces allow smoking, but people do smoke in other locations. If you eat out, always sit in the “non-smoking” section.

Loud Noises – Loud noises can trigger migraines in some people, and if you’re one of them, you may wish to carry earplugs with you.

Foods – Foods are a migraine trigger for some people, especially caffeine, chocolate, aged cheese, onions and garlic. Also, stay away from monosodium glutamate (MSG), a common food additive.

NOTE: Some people limit their migraines by using white noise machines at work. These devices make a “SSSSH” sound, and help block out noise chaos. Ongoing white noise will still enable you to hear your boss and other key sounds. If you avoid migraine triggers as best you can, but you still feel a migraine coming on, try icing the pain away. Also, give us a call; we will fit you in for an immediate appointment. Be sure to explain that it’s a migraine attack that’s coming on. Chiropractic adjustments may be able to stop a migraine “dead in its tracks.”

Finally, please remember, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us. We’re here to help, and enjoy  participating in your good health!

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Diary of a Want-To-Be Marathoner!

Diversified Health would like to welcome Carol Schwall as she blogs her way through the aches and pains, and her experiences as she trains for her first full marathon  in October, here in beautiful Victoria BC.

I’m a runner.

I love running, I never have to force myself to go for a run. Sometimes I will forget for a moment that I just went for a run, and feel ready for the next run already soon after. Running in the pelting rain is my favorite. I enjoy the solitary factor, with just Runkeeper and a playlist to keep me company. I say that I’m a runner, and yet, I still don’t feel like one. I guess it’s like people who have been overweight for a long time and then slim down a lot – they still identify as ‘fat’. Well, I still feel out of shape, even though I have shown myself that I can sustain bipedal forward motion for over 2 hours at a time. Go figure.

Diary of a Want-To-Be Marathoner! I’ve only been running for 21 months (that’s 1 3/4 years). Over the last year I ran 2 half marathons, a few 10k races and a handful of other, shorter races. It seems like the time has come for me to challenge myself to a full marathon. That’s right, 26 miles. 42.2 km in Canadian. Until now, sheer persistence and willpower have edged me past the 10k mark and into the 21.1 km races. No real training, just running a bit further each time. But I know that to be able to run 42.2 km sustainably, I will need real training. So on the spur of the moment I joined a 16-week running clinic. We meet to run twice a week – Wednesday after work and Saturday at 8:00 am – and there are 2 easy, short ‘homework’ runs. We will do hills, stairs, speedwork, and just plain distance running. See, that last one is the one I like best. No problem getting out there and just running. It’s the hard work that I balk at, so that’s why I’m training with a group led by experienced long distance runners.

This past Saturday we had our first small group long run. This time there were only 3 of us. We are the slowest marathon group in the clinic, but I don’t care. Our run leader, Silvia, has done several Ironman triathlons, and is a regular marathon and ultra trail runner. She goes on 5 hour trail runs for fun. She knows her stuff. As we ran for one hour, we chatted about pace and negative splits, about carrying water and what ‘recovery run’ means. We covered about 10 km, choosing our route as we went. We start these runs at 8 am, but I still think it may get too hot on the longer runs, as we inch closer toward the marathon in October.

This evening we did about 8 km, with 5 long sets of stairs smack dab in the middle. That’s the hard work part. But I didn’t whine, nope, I just trudged up and down with the rest of them. Mind you, I chose to do only 4 repetitions, because my lunch was long used up, and we still needed to run back. But I feel great, and certainly earned my dinner.

This is going to be fun! Heck, it already is! And the 42.2 km? I’ll get there in time.

Carol works for a local coffee roaster and compensates for her excess caffeine (and love of bacon) by running as far and as fast as she can in her free time, when she’s not singing in a choir or knitting a sweater. 

Running Clinic by Victoria Frontrunners

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