Tag: spring

a photo of the author's legs and there is a lot of snow in the background It’s a bit early for patio yoga but Christine gave it a go anyway.
fitness · health · snow · yoga

It’s a bit early for patio yoga but Christine gave it a go anyway.

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

And it was GREAT!

It was sunny here last Friday so my husband spend a bit of time shoveling snow off of our patio – mostly to have something to do outside.

When it was sunny and spring-ish on Saturday, we wanted to have the patio door open so I dug the screen door out of the shed and had the brilliant idea (if I do say so myself) to drag a few patio chairs out at the same time.

Now it was sunny and relatively warm and we had chairs on the patio so it suddenly felt like our outdoor space was available to us again.

Obviously, my next step was to drag out a mat and do some yoga outdoors.

Did it feel strange to be doing yoga outside with snowshovels in the background? I’ll let you interpret that for yourself.

a selfie of the author with the sun on her face, and two snowshovels in the background
Image description: a selfie of me (a middle-aged white woman with a round face and light brown hair that is pulled back by a cloth band that happens to contain earphones) in a dark pink hoodie with the sun shining on my face, smirking at the fact that I am doing yoga outdoors while there are still necessary snow shovels propped against my house.

Was it weird to be lying on my mat in the sunshine while the grass in my backyard was still mostly covered in snow?

Well, it felt weird enough to take a photo of it at least…

A person's leg and foot in black socks resting on a deck, with bare trees and a blue sky in the background.
Image description: a photo of my legs with the backyard full of snow visible in the background while propping myself up a little as I was lying on my mat on the patio. In the photo, I am lying on the ground with my right leg bent so the knee is toward the sky and the foot is on the ground. My left leg is bent so the outside of my foot is resting on the top of my right knee and my left knee is pointing to the left. You can see my blue yoga mat and part of the patio through the triangle formed by my legs. On my right is our patio mats, and more patio slats and beyond them you can see the railings, a whole bunch of snow, some leafless trees, the blue sky and our faded wooden fence.

But even though it felt kinda weird, it also felt great to be doing that slow, steady, focused movement in the bright sunlight and the fresh air.

Despite the snow, it felt like warm weather and more outdoor fun might be just around the (very long!) corner.

And if you saw this when you opened your eyes after Savasana, you might have believed it, too.

a photo of bare tree branches and blue sky
A photo of my view upwards from my yoga mat. Image description: a photo of bare tree branches with just a hint of growth on them with the bright blue sky in the background.

PS – Thanks to Steve for shoveling off the patio and setting this whole thing in motion.

cycling · fitness

Checking in on Bike Month

Diane HarperLeave a comment

Week one is done. How did I do? Much better than anticipated, considering that I barely rode all winter, and the weather hasn’t been cooperating.

I missed April 1 because I didn’t even decide this might be a fun thing to do until at least April 2. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do the entire month because my (delayed) surgery is scheduled for April 20.

I did get out for the next three days. Then I missed Easter Sunday with the legitimate excuse that I had to cook the family dinner and haul it 25 km to my Mom’s (and bring home all the dirty dishes).

I got back at it Tuesday but missed Wednesday because of the weather and general tiredness. I couldn’t figure out the right clothes to go to work when it was -10 with the wind chill, but go home at +7.

I could have ridden to the hockey game that night and brought my bike home on the bus (or even ridden home) if a) I had remembered to charge my lights or b) remembered that busing home with my bike was an option. Oops.

By yesterday, I had the full-on cycling itch so went for a ride around the neighbourhood just for fun. It was my longest ride since last October and it felt great to be out admiring other cyclists, the runners, walkers, babies, dogs and geese enjoying the spring air.

A peaceful little island on the Rideau River. My bike is leaning against one of three red Muskoka chairs where you can sit and enjoy the view. If you know where to look, you’ll see the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, and a common merganser swimming by.

I’ll probably only ride for another week this month, but I’m excited to feel brave enough to be out on two wheels again.

fitness · spring · winter

Goodbye Winter? Maybe, Hopefully

Diane HarperLeave a comment

I love winter. I love winter sports. I love the feeling of cold air on my face (and the excuse to cuddle up in something warm when I go inside).

But this winter has felt unusually long and hard. My first snow image is from November 9. I took another on March 28, following a brief squall.

Top: a snow-covered bike path from early November 2025. Bottom: a snow-covered road and trees from late March 2026.

All the jokes about second winter, false spring, and mud season aren’t landing this year because it hasn’t been warm enough to claim that anything was close to spring.

But now it’s April 1st. Surely things will get warmer? My snowdrops are starting to bloom, and I did manage a brief walk with my grandson on Sunday, so maybe. Or am I living with false hopes because it is April 1st and Mother Nature is about to play another winter trick on me?

The only way to know for sure is to get out for a walk or bike ride. Assuming it gets warm enough for the freezing rain to stop, of course.

Christine whines, “Bring on Spring, please!“
fitness · nature · spring · walking

Christine whines, “Bring on Spring, please!“

Christine Hennebury

Last June, I wrote a post about pretending that it was Summer and shortly thereafter, we had some good weather.

Right now, I’m hoping I can use some of the same kind of blog magic and invoke some Springishness.

A selfie of me in an orange jacket on a dull day.
This is not the face of someone frolicking in Spring weather. This is the face of someone determined to be outside even if it is kind of dreary. Image description: a selfie of slightly smirky me wearing my husband’s orange jacket (with the hood up) and my green-framed glasses. It’s a dull day and there are evergreens and leafless deciduous trees behind me.

I’m ready for some green leaves and for more flowers and for some consistent warmth.

I want to do some yoga on my patio.

I want to get my garden sorted.

I want to have more reasons to get outside (Ones that aren’t just ’I’d feel better if I went outside for a while.’)

I mean, I know that I live on a rocky island in the Atlantic Ocean so I don’t want to set my hopes too high but even 5 degrees warmer (on a regular basis) and a few sunny days in a row would be great.

If you happen to be a weather witch or am ancient weather goddess, could you conjure up some friendly weather for me? I’ll bake you some great cookies and/or draw you something fun in return.

In the meantime, I’ll keep pretending it’s Spring – opening my office window, standing on the patio whenever possible, drinking tea on my front step, taking longer walks – and perhaps I’ll trick the sun into coming out for a while.

A photo of a dog on a wet asphalt path
Khalee is unfazed by the weather, she just wants to sniff things and make sure other dogs aren’t walking on ‘her’ path. (My attempts to convince her that it is a public path have been for nought.) image description: a photo of Khalee, a medium sized dog with light brown fur standing on a wet asphalt path and looking alert.
fitness · functional fitness

The changing of seasons and functional fitness

Sam B

It’s spring and Catherine is right, that does mean spring flowers.

However, in my fitness world it also means the seasonal changing of tires and moving of clothes.

Out of season tires live beside the house, in a semi-covered area along with canoes and the snowblower and lawn furniture.

Out of season clothes live in the basement in bins and need carrying up two flights of stairs, emptying, refilling and carrying back down.

There aren’t a lot of household chores that feel like fitness activities to me, but these do.

When I carry the tires from beside the house (carry and not roll because it’s less awkward and because I can and I feel badass doing it) to the car and drive them to the tire changing place, and then empty the car of the out of season tires and stack those, I think, “This is why I go to the gym.”

When you search for images of tires you see lots of pics of people using tires in the gym for fitness but I would feel a bit odd paying for tire-centric fitness activities in the gym and then not moving my own tires around at home.

A woman flipping a tire in the gym. Photo by  Maksim Chernyshev  on  Scopio.

I know lots of people who not only have someone else change their tires, they also have someone else store their tires, but I’m not there yet. Never say never. But not now.

To be clear, Sarah is the arranger of tires. She’s the Scandinavian architect of tires and their arranging.   I’m the meth raccoon.

So far, we’re through the tires. Next up, spring and summer clothes.

(We’ve had this discussion a few times, the debate between those of us on the blog who swap out clothes seasonally and those who don’t. Mostly it comes down to living alone or living in a house full of people and/or storing their stuff.)

Blue and white boat on heap of tires. Photo by  Aleksander Des  on  Scopio
And yes we have dogs and boats and tires, but not that many tires, and they’re stacked neatly.

How about you? Do you have chores that feel more like fitness activities?

fitness

Things I’m looking forward to this week

Sam B

Tuesday marks one month since my second knee replacement surgery.

Celebrate every tiny victory

While recovery from knee replacement surgery is a long slog, here are some of the things I’m looking forward to this week.

♥️ I put my gym membership on hold for a month and that ends Tuesday. Tuesday I’m back to the gym for some upper body weight training and some time on the recumbent bike.

♥️ I pedaled backwards six times today on my bike that’s on the trainer at my house. Pretty soon, I’m guessing this week, I’ll be able to manage a full pedal rotation forwards. You can read here about how I discovered that backwards is easier than forwards.

♥️ End of the week Sarah and I are going to go visit Jeff on the boat. You can read about his summer boating plans here.

Escapade and the Toronto skyline at night

♥️ Cheddar and I are looking forward to some longer dog walks together. We might go visit the Arboretum with my mother and Charlie and Chase. I can’t drive yet so that would be a team effort.

♥️ Speaking of team efforts, my mother and I have some garden centre visiting to do before I get back to work.

A garden centre

♥️ And speaking of work, my plan is to gradually start looking at my email and tackle some small tasks as I start to get my energy back. I’m booking some meetings and looking forward to my return to campus.

Anyway, wish me luck. It’s a long haul and a lot of work but I’m excited about the summer ahead.

Spring(ish) Walks for Christine and Khalee
dogs · fitness · season transitions · walking · winter

Spring(ish) Walks for Christine and Khalee

Christine Hennebury

You may not have realized it but Thursday, March 30 was a big day.

What was so big about it?

It was the first day since last Fall that I could wear sneakers on my daily walk with Khalee.

A top down view of my legs in black leggings and my feet in pink sneakers standing on the road.
Photo evidence! Well, evidence is a strong work, it probably wouldn’t hold up in a court of law. It’s just a photo of my sneakers feet on the pavement, it doesn’t prove that I haven’t worn my sneakers on a walk in months but please cut me some slack here, Your Honour. Image description: a top down photo of my pink sneakers and black leggings as I stand on the salt-speckled asphalt street. The sun is behind me to the right so legs are caring a shadow toward the upper left of the image. The angle of the sun is creating one big shadow out of both of legs so, shadow-wise, it looks like I was hopping on my one giant leg.

And it was one of the first days I could just wear regular pants on my walk instead of adding an extra layer.

It still isn’t *warm* here, only a few degrees below zero but those few degrees make a huge difference for me.

Being able to just throw on a jacket (hat and gloves, too, of course) and put on my sneakers feels way smoother and quicker than adding another pair of pants and lacing up my boots.

It reduces the friction for getting out through the door, it feels like I could drop everything and head out at any time.

(I can always do that, of course, but now it actually *feels* that way, too.)

It just feels EASIER to get out there.

And Khalee is much less impatient with me in the porch. She simply cannot believe how long it takes me to get ready sometimes. (Humans are very weird, apparently.)

A light haired medium sized dog stands on a road looking back toward the camera. There are snowbanks in the background.
Speaking of me being weird, Khalee also can’t believe that I would waste valuable snow-sniffing time by stopping to take her picture. Image description: a n outdoor photo of Khalee, a light-haired, medium-sized dog, is on a neon yellow leash and black/aqua harness. She is standing on the side of the road with snowbanks to her right and she is looking back toward the camera. My shadow, the shadow of the leash and the dog-walking paraphernalia can be seen on the left side of the photo.

So, it’s still cold.

We still have lots of snow.

A selfie of a woman with a large snowbank behind her
This isn’t my house in the background and not every lawn has this much snow right now but still, there’s a lot of snow around. Image description: a smirky selfie with a snowbank so high that only the peaked roof of the house is visible behind the snow. I am wearing a green winter hat, my oversized cats-eye glasses, and a green coat. My light brown hair is sticking out from under my hat to rest on my shoulder.

But I am feeling Springish because the sun has been out a lot lately and I can wear my sneakers on my walks.

Sure, it’s not green grass, crocuses, and birdsong but life is easier when I adjust my expectations to my reality, right?

An outdoor selfie of a woman and a dog, the dog is sniffing the woman’s face.
Soon, soon, Khalee and I will be able to sit on these front steps enjoying a cup of tea…ok, I’ll be the only one with tea but we’ll both be out there. Image description: a selfie of me and Khalee on my front steps with part of my house and my door in the background. The sun is shining on us and I’m squinting and smiling as she sniffs my face.

Spring(ish) Walks for Christine and Khalee
dogs · fitness · season transitions · walking · winter

Spring(ish) Walks for Christine and Khalee

Christine Hennebury

You may not have realized it but Thursday, March 30 was a big day.

What was so big about it?

It was the first day since last Fall that I could wear sneakers on my daily walk with Khalee.

A top down view of my legs in black leggings and my feet in pink sneakers standing on the road.
Photo evidence! Well, evidence is a strong work, it probably wouldn’t hold up in a court of law. It’s just a photo of my sneakers feet on the pavement, it doesn’t prove that I haven’t worn my sneakers on a walk in months but please cut me some slack here, Your Honour. Image description: a top down photo of my pink sneakers and black leggings as I stand on the salt-speckled asphalt street. The sun is behind me to the right so legs are caring a shadow toward the upper left of the image. The angle of the sun is creating one big shadow out of both of legs so, shadow-wise, it looks like I was hopping on my one giant leg.

And it was one of the first days I could just wear regular pants on my walk instead of adding an extra layer.

It still isn’t *warm* here, only a few degrees below zero but those few degrees make a huge difference for me.

Being able to just throw on a jacket (hat and gloves, too, of course) and put on my sneakers feels way smoother and quicker than adding another pair of pants and lacing up my boots.

It reduces the friction for getting out through the door, it feels like I could drop everything and head out at any time.

(I can always do that, of course, but now it actually *feels* that way, too.)

It just feels EASIER to get out there.

And Khalee is much less impatient with me in the porch. She simply cannot believe how long it takes me to get ready sometimes. (Humans are very weird, apparently.)

A light haired medium sized dog stands on a road looking back toward the camera. There are snowbanks in the background.
Speaking of me being weird, Khalee also can’t believe that I would waste valuable snow-sniffing time by stopping to take her picture. Image description: a n outdoor photo of Khalee, a light-haired, medium-sized dog, is on a neon yellow leash and black/aqua harness. She is standing on the side of the road with snowbanks to her right and she is looking back toward the camera. My shadow, the shadow of the leash and the dog-walking paraphernalia can be seen on the left side of the photo.

So, it’s still cold.

We still have lots of snow.

A selfie of a woman with a large snowbank behind her
This isn’t my house in the background and not every lawn has this much snow right now but still, there’s a lot of snow around. Image description: a smirky selfie with a snowbank so high that only the peaked roof of the house is visible behind the snow. I am wearing a green winter hat, my oversized cats-eye glasses, and a green coat. My light brown hair is sticking out from under my hat to rest on my shoulder.

But I am feeling Springish because the sun has been out a lot lately and I can wear my sneakers on my walks.

Sure, it’s not green grass, crocuses, and birdsong but life is easier when I adjust my expectations to my reality, right?

An outdoor selfie of a woman and a dog, the dog is sniffing the woman’s face.
Soon, soon, Khalee and I will be able to sit on these front steps enjoying a cup of tea…ok, I’ll be the only one with tea but we’ll both be out there. Image description: a selfie of me and Khalee on my front steps with part of my house and my door in the background. The sun is shining on us and I’m squinting and smiling as she sniffs my face.

cycling · fitness

30 Days of Biking in April

Sam B1 Comment

Join me in taking the 30 days of Biking pledge.

Spring riding isn’t always pretty. Sometimes it involves getting wet and lost. See photos below! But I like that it’s not yet about speed or even about distance. Spring riding feels adventurous to me. I just feel happy to be out there.

In these pandemic times, more people are choosing to ride. Like running it’s one of the things we can do for exercise that is consistent with social distancing. I was sad to see that Spain and Italy banned recreational cycling though it’s still okay to use a bike to get to the grocery store or the doctors.

Here’s some photos of an early spring ride that Sarah and I did a few years ago. We got lost, we ended up taking our good road bikes through some mud. It was a definite adventure.

Sam and Sarah are springing into cycling fitness
cycling · fitness

Sam and Sarah are springing into cycling fitness

Sam B1 Comment

Sam’s story

Spring riding is complicated. It’s fun and it’s exciting but the emotions of most cyclists, mine anyway, are always a little bit mixed. We all emerge outside with our bikes in spring with varying degrees of fitness. We’re nervous about fitness lost. It’s sunny and warmish but things aren’t quite where we want them to be. The hills seem steeper. The winds stronger.

No matter how much we’ve been riding on the trainer, or in spin class, our bike handling skills aren’t where they were at the end of last fall. Our jerseys seem tight around the middle. Even finding the right gear feels extra complicated. Where are my summer gloves? Is my Garmin charged? Do I have spare tubes? Sunglasses anyone? By next month this ‘getting ready to ride’ thing will be a well-oiled machine with everything right where it ought to be. But not yet.

My first real road ride of 2018 was Sunday afternoon. It was sunny and about 16 degrees Celsius. We went straight from ice storm to warm this year. I debated tights and a long sleeved jersey but instead went with shorts, short sleeved jersey, and a vest. (Jeff tucked my arm warmers in his pockets just in case.)

We decided on the 50 km ‘short’ Belmont loop. It’s called ‘short’ because you can add on 30-40 km with various side trips but this time we were committed to sticking with 50 km. It’s not a great destination. All the good coffee and breakfast places are a bit further out. But not this trip. If there were a 40 km loop from our house I’d have done it but I hate out and back, so 50 km it was. We stopped not for coffee but instead for peanut butter m&m’s.

That loop always reminds me of Tracy and her horrible ride. See Suffering: It May Not Be Fun But Is It Good? I still feel bad about taking Tracy out that day. Tracy, I’m sorry.

But back to Sunday and spring riding. Sarah, Jeff, and I headed out down through my old south neighborhood to White Oaks Road. See map above. I confess I was extra nervous, almost teary nervous, worried about my knee. My knee has been fine in spin classes, fine on the trainer, fine with big gears, and fine standing. But still I worried it might all fall apart on a real on an actual road. Luckily my knee was just fine on the bike. No brace for bike riding. Yay!

We made some discoveries. Crossing one busy street, we were delighted to find out that our bikes triggered the lights to change. That’s new. Less happily we also found some new potholes. I got my third fastest time ever on the East bike path back into town, not because I’m fast. I’m not. Instead, I got a 3rd best time ever trophy because they’ve finally repaved the path.

But it will be a few rides before it all feels normal again. Each time will be easier. Each time out, I’ll be faster. I’m looking forward to it.

Sarah’s Story

Sam wrote about the complications of spring riding, but I didn’t share her reservations. After a long winter of not much exercise I was thrilled to be outside and on the bike.

Riding with Sam, I’ve both gotten used to not worrying about my aerobic fitness (I’m usually much slower than everyone else, but as long as I do my best they’re consistently patient and don’t drop me) and pretty good at drafting, which means I only really fall behind on hills. For the record, I much prefer wind (where I can hide behind bigger faster riders) than hills (that I have to make it up on my own power).

I managed to remember all of my riding kit except my heart rate monitor strap (probably for the best) and something to eat. The m&m stop in Belmont was mostly for me, who’d been working so much harder than Sam and Jeff (for less net effort, might I add, as I drafted behind them riding into the wind) that I was definitely getting bonky by the midpoint.

I generally find my stamina is pretty good for the first hour of a long ride and then I seem to run out of steam. I’m assuming that’s a fuelling issue, and I’m going to make a point this year of learning when what and how much to eat on the bike to keep a consistent power output, rather than waiting to get weak and hungry, since by then it’s too late.

See also Six thoughts on spring riding and training.