Let me begin by telling you what JaJa has been up to. JaJa has been tearing up the roads and looking fine doing so. JaJa spent part of the summer in Switzerland, painting and running with Heidi in the mountains.
This is Heidi, running. JaJa is, no doubt, far ahead of her. Run, Heidi, Run...or you will never catch her!
JaJa entered a race while in Switzerland and finished first for the women! She was also named "Sportswoman of the Week" in one of the local newspapers. After tearing up the roads in Switzerland, JaJa returned to Toronto. She participated in the Go Girls Terry Fox Run and she ran her first Half Marathon! In fact, JaJa ran two half marathons this year...and she was amazing. In her second Half Marathon (the Toronto Goodlife race), JaJa finished in under two hours! We are very proud of JaJa. We only wish we could keep up with her.
Since Mariana and I could not keep up with JaJa, we had to seek out re-enforcements...a new runner...someone with chutzpah, speed, a good sense of humour, and the appropriate level of the "je ne said quoi" that makes the Go Girls what they are (read: edginess and sometimes style). A successful recruit was found in Karen, a cyclist, hockey player, and runner. Karen has been running with us since September and we welcome her with open arms. Karen has become our resident "girly-girl". But she is a special sub-category of "girly-girl": she is a "bad-ass girly-girl". Bad-ass girly-girls are quite rare and we consider ourselves lucky to have found one. In case you are wondering, a bad-ass girly-girl is, well, a woman who can kick your ass but she'll wear pink while she does it and she will look fabulous before, during, and after the ass-kicking. That's our Karen!
Mariana continues to run with the Go Girls. However, owing to a cranky knee injury, she has shortened her runs and no longer begs to go for 16K jaunts along the waterfront. Mariana completed her tenure file this year. She sent us a photo of what the tenure file looked like: it was a photo of a plate of food. We don't know what Mariana is doing at the university, but apparently it involves cooking.
Mariana also missed a bunch of runs due to her attendance at various conferences this past fall. Or at least that was what she told us. Sure, Mariana, we believe that you went out to California's wine country for an academic conference. And your "conference" in Minnesota in November was really just about law and development....well, actually, that one might be true. Who goes out to Minnesota in November voluntarily?
Olga and Mariana "conferencing" last year...In the fall of 2009, Nana was very busy studying for a big financial planner exam. This fall, Nana was very busy putting what she learned into practice. We often received emails from Nana saying that she would join us for coffee, but that she would have to visit "clients" afterward. She claimed that she had run the night before or promised to run the next morning. All we know is that Nana continually arrived at Timothys looking suave and chic, particularly when compared to the rest of us runners who typically appeared sweaty and a bit haggard after our run. But she and Alain (one of our DHs -- Designated Husbands) would join us anyway before zipping away to advise these alleged "clients" about money matters.
I should note that there is evidence that Nana was running. After all, she ran the full Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon!!! Congratulations, Nana! We are very proud of you!!!
Speaking of marathon runners, Carol and Joanne traveled to New York City to run the NYC Marathon! NYC is considered one of the marquee marathons and we are proud to have sent two of our members to the Big Race. We are also very proud of how Carol and Joanne conducted themselves during the marathon. Now, some running groups emphasize results and speed. They train their runners to finish strong and fast. The Go Girls are a more refined running group. We train our runners to finish in style and having fun. Carol and Joanne did not disappoint us. They stopped for lattes during the race and made at least one bathroom pit stop. Yes, we are the Go Girls: Running Refined.
Olga continued to run with us this fall, although her running schedule was punctuated with regular trips for business. Olga is a classy runner: elegant, even in running gear, she runs because she can and because she enjoys the company and the community of "the girls". There is something pure in her approach: she has no need to prove herself and no need to accomplish athletic goals. Olga runs because for the community of runners and the joy of movement. It is always good to have a runner like Olga around to keep us balanced and to remind us that it is not all about speed, distance, and time.
Finally, a few words about my fall. First, my fall was shaped by a fall that I had in July while on the ice playing hockey. Yes, I was wearing a helmet. But I broke my ass, er, uh...hurt my tailbone and developed post-concussion syndrome. So I was not able to run nearly as much as I would have liked this fall. I'll post something about dealing with injuries in the near future. In other news, I defended my SJD dissertation and graduated from U of T this past fall. I also continued to teach part-time at U of T and began teaching part-time at Ryerson. And I had my kitchen and dining room renovated. All of which is to say: this is why the blog has not been updated.
Some additional highlights from Fall 2010...
We took on the Terry Fox Run.
The 30th Anniversary of the Terry Fox Run 
The DH (Joanna), Mariana, and Nana
JaJa and Joanna had jam sessions...and we began working on The Lonely Cat Blues, the first Go Girls song, intended for release in 2011.
JaJa performs at the Open House celebrating
my graduation and Nana's birthday.
my graduation and Nana's birthday.
DH Joanna performs with JaJa at the Open House.
We smoked cigars to celebrate the completion of my SJD...ah, who are we kidding? We just wanted to smoke cigars.
The Go Girls: Running Refined.
Hey kids: don't smoke! It stunts your growth! This is Exhibit A.
It only took JaJa, our resident artist, five tries to get this shot right.
And oh yeah, I graduated. The red on my gown means that I'm a doctor. Heh heh.
It's Dr. T!
The Go Girls: Running Refined.
Hey kids: don't smoke! It stunts your growth! This is Exhibit A.
It only took JaJa, our resident artist, five tries to get this shot right.And oh yeah, I graduated. The red on my gown means that I'm a doctor. Heh heh.
It's Dr. T!
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