10 Things You Didn't Know About Me

snake eyes - 2010

Inspired from Dathan Ritzenheim's recent blog post, I present to you 10 Things You Didn't Know About Me.

1. My left foot is both wider and longer than my right foot.  My left leg is longer than my right leg...by 2 centimetres (3/4").  These imbalances never seemed to be much of an issue to me until I started logging steady miles week after week, and now it seems to be a large part of what goes wrong with my lower limbs.
2. I was born in Germany and have lived in three different provinces within Canada. Nova Scotia, Quebec and now, Ontario.  It seems I've been making my way west over the years, but I don't see myself going much further west than Southwestern Ontario. I could however get used to the idea of going further south. Death to snowy winters, except on Christmas Eve/Day.
3. I was once a bedroom and club DJ. Yup, that's right. I fell in love with techno music some 10 years ago after accidentally stumbling upon a 60 minute long song titled 'Paul Oakenfold - World Tour - Shanghai'. Since then I've had the of playing at far too many house parties for friends and found myself playing at clubs in London and Toronto.  I put that behind me when I simply couldn't balance sleeping with the late nights and binge drinking.
4. I'm a photography nut. I'm still learning tons (it's the kind of craft that takes a lifetime to hone) and I find myself doing part time work as a commercial photographer.  If you're interested in seeing some of my work, head on over to my website: Andre LeFort - Photography
5. My running idols while I was growing up were Kevin Sullivan, Hicham El Gerrouj and Haile Gebrselassie. Kevin because I grew up watching him excel at the 1500m for Canada at just about every international event. Hicham because he was THE man back in the 90s and Haile for his ever permanent smile and inspiring outlook on running.  I still look to these guys for inspiration from time to time, thankfully youtube is littered of videos showcasing their triumphs and failures.
6. I watch very little television. On average, maybe 40 minutes a week, and I typically spend a little more time over the winter months watching movies except that this past winter season I just couldn't sit myself down on the couch.  I pretty much hate television and feel that there are a million and one other things one can do to occupy themselves with.
7. I'm 'married', but not 'married'. My wife and I committed ourselves to one another in the summer of 2009 in front of 60 friends and family in London.  We wrote our own vows (about 10 minutes of talking each), hosted a commitment ceremony and did not have an officiant present as we don't feel the need for legal documents to bind us till death do us part.  So my 'wife' isn't your typical 'wife' (in more ways than one), and I love her for that! The idea of a 'commitment ceremony' was her idea too, how awesome is she?
8. I own a large Big Green Egg grill and smoker. When we visited my sister and her husband a few years back we were treated to the most amazing food (ribs, jalapeno poppers, tenderloin) from their friends' egg ( Hi Bekke & Scott!) and we instantly fell in love.  We had planned to buy one, but couldn't do it until we bought our house, which we did last summer! And now we're the proud owners of a Big Green Egg, complete with hand built table (Thanks boys for helping!). Pulled porked slowly smoked for 20 hours, smoked ribs and jalapenos have NEVER tasted so GOOD!
9. I have never smoked a cigarette in my life. It may not sound too surprising to you, especially if you haven't ever had one yourself, but keep this in mind: By the end of high school, 43.6 percentof all kids have tried smoking. Yup, 1 in 2 kids. Odds are stacked against kids nowadays...
10. I consider myself a fat large runner. Yup. A fat large runner. Pretty twisted view isn't it?  I'm not fat, but when I see guys weighing 30 to 40 pounds less than me I can't help but feel some level of envy towards them. Then again, I do love my body, I just wish I could look the same as I do but weigh 30 pounds less so I could reap the performance rewards, but still look drop dead gorgeous. wink