Saturday, July 30, 2011

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 8 Recap

Halfway!  Woop woop.  Kinda can't believe it...feels like it's been awhile and also feels like I just started.  The second half of the training is the hard part...distances are really going to start to build so I've got to gird my loins for it.  And I was a good girl and didn't jam on bootcamp this week, so got all my workouts in as planned. 

Sunday - rest day

Monday - bootcamp
As usual, Sarge blasted our asses with repeat intervals and a circuit.  I know I will be thanking her later when I finish the marathon, but I was cursing her in my mind when I heard the words "one more time, ladies!" come out of her mouth.  I still love her though.

Tuesday - 6K run treadmill

Wednesday - 6K run outdoors

Thursday - rest day

Friday - bootcamp

Saturday - 26K aka HELL
Soooo...it's been awhile since I've run this far.  We headed out at 8am, which was probably a mistake...knowing how long it would take me would put me solidly in the 11am range to finish, which would mean it's HOT.  And it was HOT.  Hubs rode his bike with me and packed my water and Gu, so I could run unencumbered and I'm so glad I did.  I was pretty OK up to about 20K and then I just fell apart.  It was almost immediate that I could feel I had no gas left in the tank, and the last 6K were torturous.  There was no shade, so I was in the blazing sun the whole time.  I had to pretty much walk at the end of each kilometre just to finish.  And then...after running for three hours and feeling like ass, I had to climb the steep monster hill back up to my place.  Now you people who know what I'm talking about know it's an incredibly steep hill....I had to stop many times just to get home.  Not fun!  As soon as I walked in the door I slammed back some L-glutamine, stuffed some of those Whitewater granola bars in my face with no guilt (my Garmin said I burnt 1400 calories so whatevs!) and lay comatose on the sofa for a few hours.  Thank god that's over with...cuz now I can head to the big smoke with a free conscience.  Giddyup!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1.  Headin' to the Big City

Hubs and I are heading over to Vancouver this weekend...to be honest, I really don't feel like going and just want to stay home, but we've got friends coming in from Hong Kong so are making the trip over to see them so it should be fun.  The upside - we've got the whole day on Sunday to ourselves, so we're going to hang out, go shopping, try some of the food carts that are cropping up all over the city (I've got the Vancouver Street Food app on my iPhone!) and then go somewhere nice for dinner to celebrate our anniversary (Phnom Penh, anyone?).  Sounds like a plan to me!

2.  Whitewater Granola Bars

As Christopher Walken in "The Continental" would say...wow...wowwy wow wow wow...are these things freaking delicious!  Super easy to make...basically you slap everything in a bowl, mix 'er up and bake it.  I took these over to B's house for our coffee klatch, and left the remaining bars for her and her hubby.  B's cousin T happened to be in town, ate all the leftovers when everyone else had gone to bed and asked for the recipe!  I take this as high praise for these bars, as Cousin is a professionally trained chef so knows when something is good.  The only caveat - these things are pretty high calorie - I put the recipe in a calorie calculator and let's just say...one piece was FIVE HUNDRED CALORIES!!!  And I ate TWO that morning!!!  The recipe does make pretty big pieces though - 20 pieces out of one cookie sheet pan.  And they are pretty high protein...so I had a brilliant idea to cut the pieces smaller and eat them before our runs instead of a banana as they'd probably keep us full longer. 

5/5 on these puppies.  If I could give them higher, I would...they are that good.

3.  Long Run

26K on the menu this Saturday...it's been a long time since my distances have been this high, and vaguely remember last year feeling relief when I was running "only" 20K for a long run.  Next week I have a bit of a reprieve and have a step back week where we're doing 19K, so we're thinking about doing our long run after work on Wednesday so we can sleep in next Saturday.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the old foot holds up.  So far, so good...

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Two Little Words

Good morning.

Two little words...but enough to make such a difference in a person's day.  Hubs and I headed out for our usual Wednesday early morning run, and both of us were feeling pretty meh and not really in the mood for  a run.  Now normally when we're out running this early, we see a few familiar faces out walking their dogs.  Maybe one or two people max, if any at all.  This morning...for whatever reason...we kept coming across other people running, walking, riding their bikes...and all one right after another.  I admit...I'm one of those people who sort of gives people a sideways glances and suss them out to see if they're friendly because more often than not, I've been met with a stony silence when I say hi to people I come across when I'm running (and yes, it really bugs me when people don't say hi back).  As we came across the first group of people, I was greeted with huge smiles and the cheeriest good mornings I've ever heard!   It's 5:30am and people are happy to see me...the mind boggles.   As we came across person after person, each one smiled and said good morning...and I have to say, it really put me in a great mood.  Yes, these people are strangers...but just a smile and a good morning can actually change how someone's day goes.   Feeling buoyed by these simple acts of friendliness, and we finished our runs off fast and strong.  So lesson learned...I'm smiling and greeting everyone I come across no matter what because maybe through one small act, I can make someone else's day.  What goes around comes around, right?

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Happy 8th, Hubs

Just a short and sweet post - it's our eighth wedding anniversary today!  Can't believe it...seems like our wedding was just yesterday.  And the whole wedding this past weekend thing has probably got me all primed for our anniversary and feelin' all lovey dovey too.  I honestly couldn't ask for a more supportive husband...he insists on training with me as much as he possibly can, and seeing me through this marathon...can't tell you how much that type of support means.  Some days even I barely want to go out and run, so am so appreciative that he's there right next to me for hours at a time.

Happy anniversary, Hubs.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Off to the Naturopath

Ain't no germies gonna get me down!  After work today I had an appointment with my naturopath to get an immune booster shot, and will get monthly shots leading up to the marathon.  Last year I got sick about six weeks before the race, and was so horribly run down that I missed a few key runs.  Turned out in the end that I didn't run it anyways, but I am doing my darndest to stay really healthy through this training cycle. 

As I was getting my shot (ow, this one really hurt today!), I started asking her about supplements in particular the amino acid, L-glutamine.  One of my coworkers who just started personal training has been taking it, and said that even though she is busting some serious ass in her sessions, she's not that sore after as she was taking this stuff.  It's supposed to help with muscle recovery, so I was interested in finding out more.  The naturopath confirmed that it'd be a good thing for me to take, particularly since the majority of my workouts are longer than an hour.  She actually gives talks at the Running Room, which I didn't know...so she gave me a summary sheet that talked about optimal food choices, nutrient ratios and hydration.  Cool!

One thing that I've been suspecting is that my protein intake was a bit low...I'd read so many different things on the interweb, so was interested to hear something directly from someone who knows the goods.  Endurance athletes are supposed to be getting 1.2 - 1.4 grams of protein per kilo of body weight, putting me in the range of 66 - 77 grams per day.  Based on what I've been logging into my fitness pal, I've been getting maybe around 45 grams.  Protein is too low, so I've got to work on getting a bit more into me...again, no problem for lunch and dinner, but not enough at breakfast so I'm going to whip up some protein shakes for breakfast I think. 

The other interesting tidbit that I didn't know about was that after strenuous exercise, we're supposed to eat something high sugar/high glycemic, to replace the body's glycogen stores...I knew about eating protein and some carbs within 30 - 45 minutes afterwards for muscle recovery, but she said to eat something really high sugar.  After a long exercise session, the body is depleted of glycogen and searching it out.  When you eat something high sugar right after, the body and liver more readily absorb it (and less likely to turn into fat) and there's a two hour window to top up.  In the first 30 minutes, we supposed to take 15 - 30 grams of a high glycemic carb, and an hour afterwards eat something that is a 2:1 ratio of carb to protein.  If we don't top up our glycogen stores, the next time we run or work out we're only working with maybe 75% of a full tank.  Not good! 

I never stop learning about nutrition...so interesting!  I'll try out the high sugar thing after my next long run and I'm going to start taking the L-glutamine, so will do a short review in about two weeks on how its working.  I wonder if it comes in chocolate flavour?  Heh.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 7 Recap

Ahhhhhhhh, I love weddings.  All that love swirling around and witnessing the start of a couple's lives together is just such an amazing thing!  We went to a wedding last night for a high school friend of mine, and it's put me in a great mood - I guess you could say I'm looking at the world with heart shaped glasses today.  Back in the day, I used to hang out with a posse of three guys and another girl who was my best friend at the time, and the groom was one of the gang.  As times went on and we all got married, worked on careers and had kids (um, not me though...shiver), we'd drift in and out of touch...so what a happy thing it was to hear that the last unmarried guy in our little group was getting hitched.  The groom works at a place that was my very first job ever, so a lot of the guests were people I hadn't seen in well over 25 years.  I admit - I was kinda nervous going because of this reason...I was trying to explain it to Hubs that it was almost like a high school reunion.  Who would I see, would people talk to me?  Would I be that person?  There were a few people that I was nervous to see, including an ex that I dated very briefly and a girl who had been angry that I was friends with her ex-boyfriend, and we'd had a simmering feud that rivalled the Cold War since.

Well...all the worry was for naught.  It was like a big happy reunion, with lots of hugs and catching up with people I hadn't seen in soooooo long.  We had a group photo done with our old posse, and had so much fun talking to everyone and finding out what people were up to.  The ex was actually seated at our table and as we went around the table and did introductions, there was no hint of recognition...so I said my first name and said that we worked together, remember?  I could  practically see the  light bulb go on over his head!  He was pretty surprised and kept repeating my name in shock.  Overall it turned out awesome...he is a hilarious guy, there was no weirdness and he kept our table in stitches with his running commentary.  Now things didn't work out so hot with the girl...a few cold glares were thrown at me through the night...oh well, you can't win 'em all! 

The wedding itself was beautiful - what wedding isn't?  There were a few heart tugging moments when the groom choked up as he said his vows and needed a kleenex, and at the reception when he was toasting his mom and everything that she's done for him.  His dad died young, so his mom has been his rock for as long as I've known him.  So touching, and so wonderful to see a guy who appreciates his mom so much.  You know what they say...you can tell a lot about a guy in how he treats his mom, so the bride is one lucky gal, I tell ya.

Anyhoo...the whole point of this post was to recap my workouts this week, and the whole point of the wedding story was that we were tired because we had to get up at 5:30am to get out there and do our long run before we went to the wedding ceremony.  In the gap of time between the ceremony and reception, I honestly could barely stay vertical!  So this week's workouts?  Here goes:

Sunday - rest

Monday - bootcamp
Almost died...we did a run and then ran a really steep hill backwards five times.  Yep, we had Sarge again.


Tuesday - 6K run treadmill

Wednesday - 6K run outdoors

Thursday - rest

Friday - 15 minute warmup run, 30 mins weightlifting
Yeah....I jammed on  bootcamp again.  Thank goodness D is back at bootcamp this week!

Saturday - 23K
Given how tired we were after a week of early mornings, this run went really well.  We did the loop around our house (3K-ish loop) which meant I had to run the route seven times.  Boring?  A little...but flat!  Hubs did 15K this week, and rode on his bike with me for the last 8K.  Whatta guy!  So nice to have the company, and he carried my water for me...nice to have my own personal water boy.  Ha!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1.  Lock and Load

Wahooo!  I've been meaning to do this for ages since I saw Oprah's show on getting a proper bra fitting and what it can do to improve how clothes fit.  I've been wearing the same brand of bra for years and I hate...no...DESPISE...wearing it.   The back rides up, the straps fall down...the girls were just all over the place and I always felt uncomfortable so was constantly adjusting the darn thing.  The last few weeks I'd just had enough and decided to go get some good bras and get a professional fitting done so I know what size I should be buying. 

I toodled off to a local lingerie store after work today and the owner measured me up...and surprise, surprise...I was totally in the wrong size.  I had the band size too big, and the cup size too small (gulp!) and was wearing my bra way too high up on my back resulting in the dreaded back fat situation.  I tried on a few bras and really liked two (purple, no less!)...one which really held the girls in, and another that pushed them up to heights that they hadn't been in since I was in high school.  I actually look a bit narrower through the waist now because the girls are no longer down by my belly button.  Ha!  Unfortunately the store I was at didn't have a huge selection of bras in my size as they tend to focus on girls whose cups runneth over, but at least now I know what to look for.  And the twins are much, much happier and look much, much better.  I'm a happy girl.

2.  Whitewater Part Deux

Week two and I've got two more recipes picked out - a lemony lentil soup and granola bars made with peanut butter, one of my favourite things on earth.  I'm heading over to my friend B's for our monthly Sunday morning coffee klatch, so thought the granola bars would be yummy for brekkie.  I forgot that we've also made the chicken marbella as well a few weeks ago before I decided to cook this book, so thought I'd mention that we loved this recipe.  Loved. Out of five stars, I'd rate this a five plus...and would be a perfect dish for guests. Mmmm.

3.  This Song Makes Me Smile

During the Canucks playoff season, I would hear this song all the time on CBC during the commercial breaks and thought I had to find out who sang this song.  Something about the tune and lyrics gives me a lift every time I hear it so I thought I'd share.  Love it!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Eighty Days


Eighty days.  Wow.

The countdown has started....eighty more days until I do this thing and run the marathon.  I'm starting to think about it a lot more now, and allowing myself to think about what it might be like to cross that finish line.   For the longest time I didn't really let myself think about it, in case I face disappointment like I did last year...but I'm staying positive and I'm doing all the right things (or at least I think I am!) to finish the marathon and cross this puppy off my bucket list.  I bought another pair of runners tonight so I can start rotating my shoes, and booked an immune booster shot at my naturopath so I can hopefully avoid getting sick like I did last year when my mileage started getting really high.  I've been feeling extra tired lately...the early mornings are really tough, I'm not going to lie.  But honestly...whatever it takes to get my butt across that finish line, I'm gonna do. 

And that's all I got to say about that.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Foodie Does Whitewater Cooks - Week 1

I think I'm in love.

I, Foodie at the Finish Line, have had the best homemade veggie burger ever.  Actually, I think I'm not even going to qualify the fact that it's homemade...it IS the best veggie burger bar none.  The little blurb that preceded the recipe said that if you make these once, you'll never be satisfied with anything you'll buy in a grocery store and I wholeheartedly agree.  Packed with protein (17 grams) and fibre (10 grams), it's super healthy and full of flavour and texture.  So good...this cookbook is worth purchasing for this recipe alone.  We had this on whole wheat buns with the famous burger sauce recipe from this book (a smoky spicy chipotle mayo) and it was fantastic.

I also made the healthy fridge muffins too and these are also delish.  Very low in fat (only 2 tbsp) and full of oats, grated apples and carrots and other whole ingredients, these were a healthy, whole grain option.  I don't really like cake-y muffins, and love that you can assemble the batter the night before and make them in the morning and have fresh baked muffins.  I liked that these weren't too sweet either, with a touch of sweetness coming from a bit of agave and raisins rather than tons of sugar.  I had these with a touch of strawberry freezer jam that I made with some of the ladies from work, and it found it was a perfect vehicle for jam or other preserves.

The true test?  Hubs really liked all three recipes that I tried this week (my other veggie burger attempts were meh).  Soooo...my ratings for these are:

Healthy Fridge Muffins - 4.5/5

Whitewater Veggie Burger - 5/5

Famous Burger Sauce - 5/5

Loving this cookbook so far!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Six Recap

Whew, busy day at home is over and I'm finally sitting down and getting down to the important stuff...blogging!  This week's cooking took for-EVER...washing, cutting, dicing, chopping...I started at 8am and didn't finish until almost 2pm.  Gah.  The garden was also calling to me desperately...weeds galore, tons of deadheading to do and garden beds to edge.  I don't know about any of you gardeners out there, but I can't stand garden beds that aren't cleanly edged.  It must be my anal, perfectionist tendencies coming out!  Anyways, I'm tired from a full day of chores around the house but happy because we've got a fridge full of healthy, home-cooked food (my BIL is coming to visit this week), the garden looks nice and the house is tidy and clean.  Ahhhhh, domestic bliss...well, until next week when I get to do it all over again.  Sigh.  Housework really is never ending.

Week six!  Holy, time is flying by pretty quickly - entire training cycle is 18 weeks I believe, so I'm 33% of the way there.  We were chatting with one of our neighbours who's also a runner (and an Ironman) and he commented that there's no feeling like crossing that finish line at the end of the marathon... can't wait to see that for myself.

Sunday - 20 mins HIIT
After a weekend full of debauchery at the cabin and not a smidge of exercise, I felt the need to just move and break a sweat.  Normally Sunday is a rest day, but I hopped on the stationery bike when I got home and ticked off 20 mins of HIIT.  Felt SO much better after.

Monday - bootcamp
As usual, Sarge kicked my ass...we did hundreds (hundred pushups, triceps, lunges, etc.) and hills galore.  My legs were super sore because of the all the lunging, but I don't mind as it just means I'm getting stronger.

Tuesday - 6K run treadmill

Wed - 19K run outside
Whew!  I blogged a bit about this on Wednesday night, we were so zonked after doing this mid-week run.  We've got another busy Saturday coming up with a friend's wedding, but we've got 23K on the schedule and not sure if we can fit that in on a weeknight...we'd be running until close to 9pm, so we decided that we'll run on Saturday instead and drink lotsa coffee to stay awake through the day's festivities.

Thursday - rest

Friday - bootcamp 6K run treadmill
Yes...I was bad and skipped bootcamp.  D wasn't there as she's in Disneyland so I jammed...what they say about doing stuff with a friend is so true, because you don't want to not go and disappoint them.  So even knowing that, I just didn't feel like going and decided to do a treadmill run at home instead. 

Saturday - 10K 6K run treadmill
Another thwarted run...but thwarted by myself.  I had all the intentions of doing a 10K run on the treadmill, but just couldn't drag my arse out of bed to get 'er done before I had to head out to meet a friend for coffee.  Yes, sometimes I really suck.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1.  You are Now Registered in the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon

Aaccckkkk!  I've done it now...registered for the marathon so no turning back now.  I'm feeling pretty good and think this year is the year...I've got a training plan, am staying healthy and doing what I can to make sure I get there like going to physio, watching my nutrition and stretching every night without fail (OK I didn't stretch when I was up at the cabin but you know what I mean).  October 9th is the day of reckoning.  Hubs is registered for the half marathon, so here's crossing my fingers that we'll both hit our target races this year!

2.  What the Eff, Summer?

OK...it's the middle of bloody JULY and it's still freezing.  Seriously, we were running last night by the water and at one point Hubs and I were shivering...and we had long sleeves on.  Weather is around 18 degrees and the next week is supposd to be rainy and cool.  I suppose I shouldn't complain...the east coast is getting hit by a whopper of a heat wave and is expected to hit 40 degrees, which would make running virtually impossible.  Fine, fine...I'll shut up now! 

3.  Whitewater  Cooks - Week One

Week One of Foodie Does Whitewater.  This week's recipes I'm going to try are the healthy fridge muffins and the veggie burger...I hear rave reviews on the burger, so look for post to come soon.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Another One Bites the Dust

So.tired.  We have another busy weekend, so knocked off another long run tonight.  Supposed to be 19K, but I think we may have done closer to 20K...my dang Garmin ran out of database room so it wouldn't record any more laps so we had to estimate.  Needless to say, Hubs and I are exhausted right now.  Off to bed!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Five Recap

I think Hubs and I are fans of mid-week long runs now!  We're doing another long run on Wednesday after work - we're both busy on Saturday, which means we'd have to get up earlyearlyearly to get our run in (19K this week) so we thought we'd do a repeat of last week and do it after work.  We won't be able to do it too much longer as the distances are starting to build...we don't want to be running until midnight or something!  But nice to know that we have options. 

Oh!  Weekend up at the cabin was fab-u-lous!  We basically sat around and talked the whole entire weekend and it was sooooo nice and relaxing.  And...along with cabin-ing goes lots and lots of food.   Pretty much all I did on Saturday was eateateat...I actually woke up in the middle of the night with the worst stomach ache, and barely ate anything on Sunday because my body was still living off all the excess food that I ate.  Ha!  I seriously overdid it, but it was worth every bite.  Well...except this morning when I had to go to bootcamp and it felt like I was towing a piano behind me when I was running.  And I was totally out of breath!  It just totally highlights to me how important food is and the effect that it has on the body.  Back on the good food train now.

Anyhoo...Week 5's workouts were:

Sunday - 60 mins stationery bike

Monday - bootcamp

Tuesday - 6K run treadmill

Wednesday - 16K run

Thursday - 6K run

Friday/Saturday - rest

I really slowed it down my long run on Wednesday, and really concentrated on proper running form.  I collapse inward and tense my glutes when I get tired, so made a really concerted effort to stand tall, engage my core and relax my glutes...and so far, so good!  My foot hasn't been sore so I'm hopeful that all the work we've been doing is paying off.  Yahoo!  I've been holding off on registering for the marathon to see how things go...but I think I'm going to go whole hog and sign up.  Yahoo! 

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Mid Week Long Run

This is gonna be short and sweet - we did our long run tonight (16K) and it wasn't half bad...no cramps and I had lots of energy!   I've been trying to make sure I keep a slower pace so I'm sure that helped.  Sunny but windy, so we stayed cool...I feel extremely perky and hope I can sleep tonight.  Hubs...not so much.  He's practically comatose, but I fully credit that to the bottle of San Miguel beer we were supposed to share as a treat for running (OK, it's the next day and I just re-read this and we sound like freaks that we're SHARING a beer...it's not cheat day unfortunately, so no boozahol)...but which he practically downed all by his lonesome on an empty stomach and dehydrated.  I think I had two sips. 

Off to bed...another run tomorrow morning!  10K scheduled, we'll see.  Heh.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Bucket List Item #37

YES!

So yesterday I gushed on and on about how much I liked the Whitewater Cooks cookbook, how vegetarian friendly it was, that it looks really healthy, yadda yadda blah blah blah.  I was hit with a bit of an inspiration today...I was moseying around on the interwebz and found this blog called Shelley and Me, where this lady named Jane makes all the recipes from Whitewater Cooks at Home.  Ah-HA!  I remembered back a few months ago, when I was doing my bucket list and one of the items was to cook my way through a classic cookbook, a la Julie and Julia.  Now what better cookbook to use then Whitewater Cooks?  Like I said before, the recipes all look pretty doable, healthy, and there's not ten thousand of them...ha!  I have to cook for the Hubs and I anyways, so what better way than this to maybe find some awesome recipes that I would never have tried?  And now that I'm doing this and put it out there in internetland, I'm going to have to make everything in the desserts section, right?  Heh heh...

It's ON!  Iron Chef Cindy has entered kitchen stadium.  I'll review the recipes as I go and let you know the winners, of which I expect there to be many.  So excited.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Meatless Monday Revisited

One of my goals for 2011 was to go meatless every Monday...and I gotta say, I've been rocking this goal (let's not talk about the gratitude goal though...ahem).  Hubs is totally on board...and besides one or two minor slip ups on my part, we've been 99.9999999% perfect!  And actually really liking it.  It's forced me to be more experimental with food, and look at more recipes that incorporate other sources of protein such as beans and tofu.  The one thing that I've noticed on Mondays is that my protein intake is lower than my target so I'll have to find more recipes that provide a better ratio of carbs/protein/fat.  Generally when I'm looking at a recipe, I'll look to see if the protein and carb ratio is roughly equal as a guideline. 

So....since we're talking about Meatless Monday, I've got a great new recipe that I discovered in one of my new cookbooks, Whitewater Cooks....



This book is a compilation of recipes from the Fresh Tracks Cafe at the Whitewater Winter Resort just south of Nelson, and has had fantastic reviews.  In fact, when I was in line up to buy this cookbook, the cashier waxed poetic about this book and the second one called Whitewater at Home.  Strangely, the recipes seemed more complicated and "fancier" than the original Whitewater...curious.  They have a to-die for potato salad that has no mayo and is deeelish (Hubs loves it), and this awesome summer salad that I tried and I really like.  This salad would taste great in a whole wheat wrap or pita smeared with some hummus and topped with sprouts...yum.  I've flipped through the cookbook and I think this one is a must-have for any vegetarian...a lot of the recipes are meatless and I've read that the veggie burger is amazing.

Tabbouleh and Chickpea Salad - from Whitewater Cooks

Serves 4 - 5

Salad
1.5 cups bulgur wheat
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 cup tomatoes
1 cup cucumber
2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup green olives, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Dressing
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon
1/2 cup olive oil

Place bulgur in a bowl and pour 3 cups of boiling water over it.  Stir once and let it sit for about 20 minutes or until tender.  If there is any water left drain it out in a colander.  Add all other salad ingredients to the cooked bulgur and toss to combine well.  Whisk together dressing ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.

My adjustments - I didn't use bulgur but make it with brown rice...for some odd reason, my grocery store doesn't carry bulgur!  Gah...and I was too lazy to go drive to another store to find it.  I also cut the oil back to a scant 1/4 cup as I thought 1/2 cup was a lot of oil, even though I'm sure it would be super tasty. 

Two thumbs up on this recipe...I think this cookbook will become one of my favourites very soon.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Switchin' Things Up This Week

What a wonderful, lazy day.  Lazy, lazy, lazy and it was perfect...just what the doctor ordered.  Hubs was out for most of the day so I had the house to myself, so I read, blogged, watched TV, sat on the deck, lather, rinse, repeat. Seriously, why are not all weeks three day weekends?  One day to get stuff done, one day to have some fun and another day to laze about. Sounds perfect to me!

So this week is going to be a bit mixed up for training.  I'm heading up island to a girlfriend's cabin this weekend - super rustic, and so much fun!  I'm going up Friday night after work, and won't be back until likely Sunday afternoon.  Pretty glad that I'm at the beginning stages of training so this week's long run is only 16K.  I'd kind of forgotten how much of a commitment that training for the marathon is, in terms of weekend events or other social engagements...sometimes hard to balance both but not impossible.  And while running is very important to me, it's not the end all be all...friends and family first!

Anyways, this week's training will be as follows:

Sun - stationery bike/x-training
Mon - bootcamp
Tues - 6K run (morning)
Wed - 16K run (after work)
Thurs - 10K run (morning)
Fri - bootcamp

Yep...running after work...bleh!  Weather is going to be around 20 degrees, which is hot for running...also won't be able to eat or drink much during the day to avoid getting cramps.  It'll all be worth it when I'm at the cabin on the lake...ahhhhh!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Four Recap

Hurray - lovin' the long weekend so far!  Two days in and we've had lots of relaxin' and enjoying the sunshine. Yes...that's right, sunshine...the weather's actually been pretty good this long weekend.

Sunday - 20 mins HIIT on stationery bike

Huh...been awhile since I've been on the bike and I can sure feel it.  Legs were super tired and I couldn't keep up my usual pace.  Normally Sunday is a rest day but I had a physio appointment on Monday so knew that I'd have to take Tuesday off as well. 

Monday - rest

Sigh.  Was supposed to go to bootcamp this morning, but my stomach was bugging me through the night and wasn't great in the morning so I decided to skip class.  It continued to bug me during the day but by evening I felt a lot better, thank goodness.  Hate stomach stuff.

Physio was good - she said that I was doing really well with my stability and that I was moving really well.  Had a few great a-ha moments when we talked about my form when I'm running, and connecting it back to my exercises.  She gave me another one to work on, and then zapped me with some more IMS, which was much easier this time.  I felt bad though..when I first walked into the room...the person who was next door must have been pretty new to IMS and she let out a whole series of screams and panting.  The receptionist looked at me and said "do you still want IMS today?" 

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - 6K run outside

I gotta say, I'm really liking these mid-week runs.  It's sooooo nice and quiet out in the mornings, and it's just me and Hubs running, running, running.  Such a great way to start the morning.

Thursday - 6K run treadmill

Normally treadmill runs are boring and I can't wait to be over with it, but this week's run was good and I had lots of energy.  I'm supposed to try and fit in a 10K run during the week so next week I promise to do a 10K treadmill run.

Friday - 16K run

Yep...we did our long run on Friday instead this week.  To be honest, we wanted to get it over with...and wanted Friday to be our "chore" day, so we could have the full weekend to relax...Saturday Hubs and I had scheduled in to sleep in, make ourselves a nice breakfast, hang about the house and then go to see a movie (X-Men:  First Class...great movie, if you like the X-Men series).  And yep...I only got in four workouts and didn't make it to bootcamp...but spending time with Hubs is way more important...all about balance.

Anyway - the run was good...we headed downtown and ran along the water, which was so beautiful.  Felt a little tired on this week's run...and probably extra tired because I kept trying to remember my body position.  I've been having some achiness on the inside lower leg, and I really noticed that if I run with better form, the foot/leg pain is a lot better...but when you're tired, it's hard to remember to stand up straight, unclench my butt, shoulders down, etc., etc.  Always a work in progress!

Saturday - rest

See Friday's entry - did nuthin', and it was great.