About Us
Welcome to Speed Trials, a personal blog that chronicles my fitness and training; my crafty endeavours; and my ‘petit quotidien’ with my family.
Marlène:
I created Speed Trials in 2006. I was 26 years old, going through a mild quarter-life crisis: an escape to Australia, a change of careers, a bit of self-abandon and not much direction.
The early years of the blog captured a time in my life that was chaotic, changing, and at some times dark. But light finally came at the end of the tunnel in the summer of 2009. I went on an Elimination Diet where for two weeks I completely eliminated the big 7 from my diet (Meat, Dairy, Soy, Wheat, Corn, Eggs, Peanuts, Caffeine). I gradually reintroduced each food into my diet, and that’s when I discovered that my physical ailments were caused by an intolerance to soy.
Around the same time, I started seeing a counsellor (for FREE through the “Employee Assistance Program” at work). Together we worked through a lot of things that I’d been repressing for a long time, and she helped me really begin to change the way I deal with stress.
Armed with the right tools to heal my body and my mind, all of a sudden life just became fun again. I started smiling again, and enjoying myself. I began to look outwards instead of inwards, and Angelo started to recognize that girl he had fallen in love with. And I finally remembered who she was too.
Angelo:
I met Angelo some time in 2005, and we started dating a year later (shortly after my return from Australia). Despite a rocky beginning, our relationship got serious when we decided to buy a house together in the March of 2007.
We lived through 18 months of DIY renovations on a shoe-string budget. And we discovered that we’re actually pretty good together.
After we sold the house, we traveled together and had a blast:
In 2010, we added a furry housemate, Enzo:
And finally, Angelo proposed in April 2010, while we were on vacation in the Dominican Republic.
Us:
Wedding planning was immediately put on hold, though, because Angelo decided to end his 13 year career as a bike messenger and go back to school.
In August 2010 we made another big decision: We were both getting up towards our mid-thirties, and we knew we wanted to have a baby soon, so we started trying to conceive.
Unfortunately in October 2010 I suffered an ectopic pregnancy and lost my left Fallopian tube. We were stricken by the loss, and feared having trouble conceiving, but luckily we tried again and were successful! Our baby boy was due September 10, 2011.
Angelo and I became parents on September 20, 2011. And just like all parents before us, we couldn’t have imagined the joy and love that comes with having a child. Nico is quite literally the best thing that’s ever happened to us. For me, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and raising a baby have all helped me understand who I am meant to be. I have never been so at peace with myself, so grateful for my body and what it can do, and so proud to be a wife and mother.
Have any questions or just want to get in touch? Email me: baddirt@gmail.com
