Foodie at the Finish Line

Scotiabank Vancouver Half - Week 7 Recap

2012-03-08T20:43:00.000-08:00

Holy lateness, batman! This week is almost over and I realized I hadn't done my recap for last week. What's up, you ask? Am I spending all my time running? Is my nose stuck in a book? Have I started taking swimming lessons, like I said I would?!

Nope, none of the above. Here, I'll give you a hint....

I've done gone hockey crazy, folks. I've watched pretty much all the regular season games, and when the Canucks themselves aren't playing, I'm watching other games to see how it might affect the Canucks. Heck, I watch so much hockey that I can even tell the Sedin twins apart from each other. I know! It's nuts. But I looove hockey and I love my boys (yes, I'm lookin' at you Bieksa).

So...workouts for last week were:

Sunday - 13K run
Oh yes....this was that stellar run where all was right with the world and I ran like the wind. Definitely had some DOMS in my legs but just means they're getting stronger.

Monday - bootcamp

Tuesday - rest day

Wednesday - bootcamp
Great bootcamp session with J. I've drawn out a rough training plan for the rest of the year and still wondering how I'm going to rejig things to fit in a few more runs. And I want to keep up with the weights. And I want to get back into yoga too. Seriously, not enough hours in the day!

Thursday - rest day

Friday - bootcamp

Saturday - 30 mins stationery bike/run clinic
First class in the intermediate session! It was sooo nice to actually see Marilyn...our last class was at 5:30pm, so by the time we were finishing up we could just barely make out what Marilyn was doing. The intermediate sessions filled up quickly so the only time we could get in was noon on Saturdays so I snapped up the last two spots lickety split! We did a quick review of the drills and did a lot of work with the elastic bands and I have to say...it really makes a difference in terms of body feedback and knowing if you're doing it right or not. I'm not going to lie and say it's easy, but I can feel progress slowly but surely. I had a few really great a-ha moments last week when Marilyn was describing the movement/sensation of the leg...things are starting to click more and more, so just going to trust in the process and training!

Three Things Thursday

2012-03-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

1. Victoria Goddess Run

Whoa, this is the year of half marys for me! There's another cool run that I'm going to do this year...an inaugural race called the Victoria Goddess Run. This is a women's run with some limited registrations for men...and there's going to be chocolate stations, champagne toasts, massages and music along the route. And the best part...at the end you get bling! Sounds pretty cool, eh? So that's three halfs and one 10K race on schedule for this year! I'm going to use this more as a training run as a few weeks later I'll be running the Scotiabank Vancouver, so plan on trying to pull out the stops for that one. OK, who am I kidding...I want to fully check out the chocolate stations. For feedback purposes to the organizers, of course. Heh.

2. Mindful Strides

So Hubs and I finished the first level of the Mindful Strides clinic, and immediately signed ourselves up for the Intermediate level. Like I've said before, I get glimpses of what I'm supposed to feel but it's pretty hard to get rid of years and years (and hours and hours) of muscle memory in a few weeks. I will admit though, it gets frustrating because I think as humans we want immediate results and the body positioning is so picky that you think you have it when it juuuust isn't quite right...but Rome wasn't built in a day, right? So we're sticking with it as we really like Marilyn and she encouraged us all to stick with it. Anyways, apparently the intermediate level is where things really start to click (we work a lot with elastic bands) and we're toying with the idea of doing some private lessons with just Hubs and I.

3. Reading

Lookit, lookit! I'm reading. I've been pretty bad so far this year on my reading goal and have only knocked off one book so far. But in my defense, it was a running book so that counts for something, right? Anyways, I just started this book that I found at a used book store and snatched up as soon as I saw it. I find nutrition is the most difficult thing for me to get a handle on because I have to take so many things into account...fueling for runs, recovery after runs, how to eat before races...and a big one that I struggle with is racing weight. It's so easy to put on weight in the off season (especially when it's Christmas), so what do most people do to lose weight? Cut back calories, but then that leaves me tired and lacking energy for long runs. It's like this crazy circular thing. Anyways, hoping this will help shed a lot of light onto what I find to be a totally fascinating subject.

Scotiabank Vancouver Half - Week 6 Recap

2012-02-26T13:13:00.002-08:00

Wooooohoooooooooo! Yeeeeehaaaaaa! I feel sooooo good right now. Hubs and I went out this morning to do our long run, and this week we switched it up and did it on Sunday rather than our usual Saturday run (Hubs is working Saturdays this month). Now I don't know what it was...I've been doing lots of leg work with the NROLFW, and maybe my legs are just stronger? Maybe it's the killer hill and speedwork that we've been doing in bootcamp with J? Or...could it have been the five caramel Tim Tams I ate yesterday? I know, I know...five Tim Tams, Wong? What up with that? Well, it was our free day yesterday and I was maybe a little too free with the goodies and couldn't stop myself after one of these delicious goodies. Anyways, we headed out at around 7am for a 16K trot through the neighbourhood and the weather was absolutely perfect. Dry, sunny, cold and crisp...I didn't feel tired at all and once I was completely warmed up by around 6K, I felt amazing. Light on my feet, fresh and full of energy, I blasted through the run with a 5:54/km average split in 1:34:30. I'm in such a great mood and totally feeling the runner's high today!

Sunday - 30 mins treadmill/weights

Monday - bootcamp

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - bootcamp
Hills and sprints with J. Still hard but I didn't feel myself wanting to curl up into the fetal position after this one.

Thursday - rest

Friday - 30 mins treadmill, weights
Yowwwza. This was my last workout on Stage 1 of NROFLW so I upped my weights...and man, am I ever feeling it today! My legs were super stiff all weekend so I did a fast and hard HIIT bike workout on Saturday to try and ease up some of the soreness.

Saturday - 30 mins HIIT stationery bike

Scotiabank Vancouver Half - Week 5 Recap

2012-02-19T20:41:00.000-08:00

There's something going around these here parts and it's not stopping anytime soon. It's spreading like wildfire and it's getting to become incredibly contagious...and I love it!

Lately a lot of people I know have been bitten by the exercise bug and I don't know why, but I just get so excited for them and love, love, love hearing all about it. In some ways, I'm probably a lot more excited for them than they are because I truly enjoy seeing their progress, hearing how they're doing, or getting excited for them when they reach milestones. My friend V just recently started working out with a personal trainer, and I tell ya, I practically did the happy dance (actually I think I did do a little chair dance!) when she first told me and we spent the whole time we were together chatting about what she was doing and what her goals were. As I've said before, I feel very strongly about exercise and healthy eating...while it may not be a panacea for absolutely everything, it will definitely help a lot of things. I think a piece of why I get so hopped up is because I love seeing people experience what a difference that eating better and exercising can make in their quality of life. V has been doing this for a month now and already totally feels the difference in her energy levels, her quality of sleep has improved and she's enjoying seeing the scale move down 10 pounds. In the end, ya gotta help yourself because no one else is gonna do it for you, so I'm so stoked and proud of V that she's making the change.

Oh right...so this was supposed to be a workout recap, right? Ha! I got a little swept away by V's success....so here goes:

Sunday - 30 mins speedwork/weights
Yes! I got my first bit of speedwork in...I did some fast intervals on the treadmill and then did some weights. I'm almost done Phase 1 of the NROLFW...I know, taken me forever, right? I haven't followed it fully since you're supposed to be doing it a minimum of twice a week and I've been doing it only once...but now that the run clinic is done I can fit in another weight session during the week. I do love the program though and even with the sporadic sessions, I can see and feel a difference in my upper body. Look out, Linda Hamilton.

Monday - bootcamp
Killer class with J. See my last entry. I almost died.

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - bootcamp
Another killer class with J. He's teaching Monday and Wednesday again next week and I'm girding my loins to have the snot kicked out of me.

Thursday - run clinic
Last session of the clinic! We did a bunch of work with the rubber bands and I gotta say...this whole form thing is really, really hard. I thought I was getting it and I can see glimpses of what I'm supposed to feel and do, but this class I felt like I was back at the beginning again and my body wasn't cooperating with me. It's a lot to learn in 6 weeks and I'm just going to keep on practicing and trying. And of course, am for sure signing up for the next level as we were watching the intermediate group just before our class, and they looked great. Here's hoping Marilyn can make a silk purse out of sow's ear. Sigh.

Friday - rest day
Poor Hubs....he had a doozer of a cold, and I think I was totally fighting it off. Thursday I wasn't feeling great so decided that I'd take a rest day on Friday. Totally the right thing to do, as I felt way better on Saturday.

Saturday - 10K treadmill run
Yup. I'm a weather wimp...it was raining cats and dogs and the wind was kicking up so I decided to run on the treadmill. I totally wasn't in the mood and the couch was beckoning to me, but I had to remind myself that exercise isn't negotiable...I wouldn't skip brushing my teeth or showering, and that's how I look at exercise...and in the end, I had an awesome run. I never regret working out but always regret jamming!

Scotiabank Vancouver Half - Week 4 Recap

2012-02-13T20:43:00.000-08:00

Zingzingzing! That was me all day today - partially because I managed to catch some extra zzzz's last night (poor Hubs has a man cold so we headed to bed early), but mostly because I had a super kickass workout this morning at bootcamp that just got me all jazzy and energized for the whole day. Now I'm not gonna lie...when I saw who was teaching bootcamp this morning I was filled with a bit of dread...not because I don't like the instructor (quite the opposite!) but because I knew I was gonna get my hiney kicked to kingdom come and I had me a case of the Mondays. We started off with ten ten-second all out, gut-busting, barf-inducing, leave-it-all-out-there high intensity sprints up a hill that rocked the Mondays out of our legs...I think I may have even seen a white light at one point...ha! Oh, and did I mention that our bootcamp instructor J is well known all over town as an amazing running clinic instructor? A lot of his workouts include intense intervals which I'm thrilled about because it can only help my running. After practically puking up a lung, we did sets of multiple exercises like burpees, pushups, mountain climbers, etc., mixed with more hills or stairs. Today was one of those workouts where it was tough going, but I felt absolutely amazing when I was done...love love love the exercise afterglow!

So workouts last week...

Sunday - 20 mins stationery bike
I know, I know. No speed and no weights done. I started to do a NROLFW workout but could feel my back not feeling quite right (I'd just been to the chiropractor on Friday) so I decided to be safe than sorry and not risk pulling something. In my defense, I sucked a little less this week and did some speedwork on the treadmill and did a full lifting session...woohoo!

Monday - bootcamp

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - bootcamp
J really likes them hills I tell ya. At least I don't have to do any hillwork in my training plan since I seem to be getting a pretty hefty dose at bootcamp!

Thursday - running clinic
Second to last class...and I think I'm getting it. Marilyn was a bit pickier on our form and really tweaked our body positioning. Things are starting to click and were starting to really get a taste of the effortless running that Marilyn is trying to teach us.

Friday - bootcamp

Saturday - 10K run
Oh le sigh. Not sure what it was, but my legs felt super heavy and I had no endurance or energy...I could barely run a full kilometre without wanting to stop. I decided to not fight how I was feeling and used this opportunity to practice what I was learning in my running clinic. Marilyn had suggested that we run short intervals using proper form, and then stop and reset our posture when we could feel ourselves starting to get sloppy. I'm sure I looked weird stopping and starting...but you know what? When I did get into a really good groove with my form, when I checked my watch I was running at just below a 5:00 min/km pace. What?! I've never seen that kind of pace without feeling like I'm all out sprinting. So I don't lose what we've learned, I think I might head out on Sunday for a short run to practice some more. Year of Speed, I've got you in my sights now.

10K for Sherry

2012-02-12T15:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I ran for Sherry Arnold. I thought a lot about Sherry on my run...mostly because I was running solo (Hubs had to work) and before Sherry, I would never have given it a second thought. So I have to thank Sherry for shaking me out of my complacent ways, and making me more aware of running safety. Because really...it could have easily been any one of us, as horrible that is to think about. I've changed my cavalier (or shall we say dumbass?) ways, and now carry a cell phone, outlined my route to Hubs (I ran around the neighbourhood, the only route that Hubs feels safe letting me run on my own) and the minute that I was home I had to text Hubs to let him know. I pay way more attention to my surroundings and look at cars and people as they pass - not trying to be ultra paranoid and thinking everyone is about to do me harm, but just being more aware all around. So...thank you Sherry.

I've been following the groundswell of support that has risen up through social media and it's been pretty amazing - I've seen tons of postings in bloggieland and on Facebook, and was tracking this through Twitter and I have to say, I've never been more proud to be a part of the running community. Informal runs were formed and people were running all over the world, as far away as Thailand! Donations have been coming in to support Sherry's family, and apparently there were over 20,000 printings of Sherry's race bib off Beth's link over at Shut Up and Run. Just gives me hope that there's way more good in the world than evil.

The Best Pasta Dish

2012-02-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

I love my physiotherapist. Love love love her. Love Her! I went to see her this past week for a sore shoulder and I swear, whenever I'm in there it's like two friends catching up but we only have half an hour to cram it all in. Now don't get me wrong...she's an awesome physio. She listens, she'll spend the extra time with me to help me perfect my exercises, and her enthusiasm for what she does is infectious...I feel like she really cares about how I'm doing. We must sound crazy when we're together because all you can hear is chatting and laughing punctuated by groans and muffled cries as she goes nuts on me with the IMS needles! Anyways, we have a ton in common...including the fact that we both have food sensitivities (hers is gluten, mine is dairy and eggs) and we both are avid followers of this great Canadian vegan blog called Oh She Glows. As we chatted about recipes, I'd told her that I was actually trying this delish sounding recipe that night for this creamy avocado pasta that Angela from Oh She Glows had posted, and would let her know how it was.

Oh. My. God.

This stuff is to die for. Crazy to die for. Delicious. Creamy. Rich. Simple to make, it took me maybe 10 minutes to whiz the sauce together, so dinner was on the table in about 20 minutes. Creamy, garlicky with hints of lemon and basil...Hubs loved it and hoovered it down in seconds flat, so this recipe is definitely husband approved. The recipe says that the basil is optional, but I think it actually makes the dish so I'd include it because it makes the dish taste fresh and summery. We had a bit left over after dinner and I kept sneaking back to the pot for bites.

Try this recipe if you love avocadoes...I predict a worldwide shortage soon once the word gets out.

Year of Speed Scotiabank Vancouver - Week 3 Recap

2012-02-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

Plans are made to be broken, right? Hubs and I always try to plan for a Spring and Fall race to keep us motivated with our training, and we'd decided that BMO Vancouver Half and Goodlife Victoria Half were our target races for this year. Well...turns out that the BMO Vancouver is the day before we leave to go to Hawaii, and we're flying out at 6am in the morning. Now normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal...but because we live on an island and early May could still see some storms...we didn't want to risk NOT being able to get back to Victoria on the ferry. Sooooo...we've decided to add in the Times Colonist 10K race at the end of April, and will do the Scotiabank Vancouver Half at the end of June. At first I was a bit sad as this is an anniversary year for BMO and they were doing some awesome point to point race this year that took you through Vancouver...but then I'd heard that Scotiabank was also pretty scenic and slightly downhill. Woohoo! Even better. On my ever growing list of to dos is to revise our training plan - I picked up a running book by Hal Higdon the other day on racing 5K and 10Ks, so want to read that first before I put anything together. In the meantime, we're going to still continue building on our half marathon distance as it'll only help our endurance for the 10K.

Sunday - strength training
*cough* My bad...skipped speedwork this week too. *ahem*

Monday - bootcamp

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - 30 minutes treadmill

Thursday - run clinic
I think I'm starting to get what my instructor is talking about now. This class was kinda the "aha!" moment...she had us running up and down hills using the revised form that she was teaching, and then had us run up and down the hills using our old crappy form...and I could really feel the difference in ease and effort. Hey, I'll do anything it takes to run faster with less injury, and am already on the waitlist for the intermediate class.

Friday - bootcamp

Saturday - 14K run
OK, I dunno what it is but lately I feel like I'm always go-go-go...so much to do but not enough time to get everything I want to get done in a day! Every night there's something that needs to get done, and important stuff (such as blogging and reading blogs!) has fallen by the wayside. Le sigh. Anyways, I was looking forward to Saturday though, because it was just gonna be a me and Hubs kinda day with no chores or errands or any yucky stuff like that to kill our day. We slept in a bit this week again...but unlike last week, I was kinda excited to get outside because it was supposed to have been a beautiful day, and I wasn't disappointed! Sunny but cool, it was perfect running weather...just gorgeous. I tried to keep a fairly quick pace at for the majority of the run, but slowed down at the end and just enjoyed being outside in the beautiful weather, breathing in the fresh air and hanging with Hubs. Ahhhhh...life is good.

Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold - Feb 11, 2012

2012-01-31T20:17:00.000-08:00

As you know, I've been following Sherry Arnold's story and I have to say it's affected me really deeply on many levels. When I first heard whisperings of a virtual run, I thought come hell or high water, I was gonna be there and run for Sherry. Well, the whisperings have come to fruition, and a run in Sherry's honour has been set for Feb 11, 2012 at 9am. Check out Beth's site here and please come join us!

Year of Speed BMO Vancouver - Week 2 Recap

2012-01-29T19:07:00.000-08:00

Week 2, woohooo! OK, that may sound a little more excited than I actually felt this week...but sometimes ya gotta fake it 'til ya make it, right? This week I was sooooo not feelin' the running love. I think I still haven't recovered from last weekend's festivities - it was a busy weekend and a busy week, so by the time this Saturday morning rolled around, the last thing I wanted to do was to put my gear on and hit the road. Hubs and I slept in a bit on Saturday and we kept delaying getting up...we were both tired and not feeling super fantastic or terribly energetic. I almost said to Hubs that we should blow off the run, when I remembered something from the slumber party with A and R this past weekend...A was saying she was up to a half hour on the treadmill and was getting up at 5am to fit it in. Now that in and of itself sends me over the moon with happiness because there is nothing I love more than to see people embracing a healthy and active lifestyle...but the part that's even more meaningful is that A is a working single mom to KEW and kicking ass while she's doing it. As I lay in my nice warm comfy bed, I thought oh wah...here I am, having the luxury of sleeping in until 9:30am and not having someone relying solely on me for their existence...and I'm about to blow off my run because I don't feeeeeeeel like it...what the eff, Wong? Snap out of it, quit 'cher whinin' and get your little Asian ass out that door! So anyways...A, thanks for getting me out the door this past Saturday. And yes, I really do talk to myself like that. In my head only though. Heh.

Sunday - 30 mins stationery bike
Sigh. Yes, I know...I was supposed to do weights and speed, but after the whisky extravaganza of the night before, a bike workout was all I could handle.

Monday - bootcamp
Snow is all gone - back at bootcamp, woohoo!

Tuesday - 30 mins walking on treadmill/30 minutes strength training
Yes! Strength training done.

Wednesday - bootcamp
A crazy hard workout...we were doing thousands, so 25 reps of 10 exercises with a cardio interval four times. I know, insane.

Thursday - rest day/running clinic

Friday - bootcamp
Hills, hills and more hills. Oh, did I mention we did hills? Ugh.

Saturday - 12K run
Owwwwwwwww. Like ow, seriously ow. Legs are sooooooo, so sore right now! Quads are aching like nobody's business. I love it! This week I decided to get down to business and start seriously training...I wanted to get my splits below 6:00/km for this run, and while that might not sound like a big deal, I've been running closer to 6:30/km for the better part of nine months. Gah! Anyways, I decided to bite the bullet and knew that this run wasn't going to be all that much fun, and I wasn't disappointed...it was painful. My legs felt like lead and almost like I was running through jello, and I definitely did not feel light on my feet in the slightest...it felt like I was towing a piano on my back the whole way. I kept thinking to myself, "Really? I ran a marathon three months ago?" As I've said before...half the battle is mental so I hunkered down, set my pace and battled through the run...and incredibly somehow I managed to keep an average pace of 5:36/km. Wha? I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at my Garmin...my target is around a 5:30/km for the BMO Vancouver, so I was pretty happy to see that time. Glad to shake the cobwebs out and get these tree trunks moving at a faster pace. Booyah!

Three Things Thursday

2012-01-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

1. Black Hat

Holy, am I ever looking forward to the weekend. It's been a really busy past few weeks with a lot going on, so I'm ready for some big time R&R. Well...it won't really be that restful this weekend, but we've got a few things on the itinerary that I'm looking forward to. Hubs' birthday was this past Monday, so on Saturday night we're going to a new eatery in town called Black Hat that is supposed to be the hot place to go. Menu looks pretty interesting - stay tuned for full review with pics. The other thing that I'm looking forward to is a Sunday morning coffee klatch with B...it's been awhile since we've seen each other, so I'm sure we'll be like a couple of old hens! Love my buddy B.

2. Feelin' Better

I've been really, really good on my food and I gotta say...I am feeling so, so, SO much better! Lots of water, fruits/veggies, no sweets (OK, Hubs and I shared a brownie for his birthday!) and I've really cut back on the dairy. I was eating a lot of cheese (and Baileys!) and more sugar than I should have over the holiday season and I was feeling really lethargic and crappy. Always amazes me what a difference healthy food makes!

3. Mindful Strides Clinic - Halfway!

I gotta say...I'm loving this clinic. We're halfway through and we're building on what we've learned each class. Today we actually did some short drills and it was so cool to get a glimpse of what we're supposed to be doing. In a nutshell, most people tend to sit back too far when they're running and end up reaching with each stride...whereas this clinic teaches you proper form which is more forward than you'd ever imagine, and you're actually using gravity to help propel you along...it totally makes sense when you think about it! Anyways, here is a video of Marilyn where I first saw her at the Goodlife Victoria Expo...she gives a pretty good introduction of what her clinics teach and gives some insight into body positioning.

Shit Runners Say

2012-01-23T21:48:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, baby. You knew it was just a matter of time before runners did one of these, right?

Year of Speed BMO Vancouver - Week 1 Recap

2012-01-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

Snow...a total four letter word to me. I know, I know...it's so pretty, it's so much fun...yadda yadda yadda. It's a pain in the butt! The only day I don't mind snow is Christmas Day and that's it. Victoria doesn't get a lot of snow so I can't really complain too much, but there is no room for snow in my life...I was completely thwarted from any of my workouts as I couldn't go to bootcamp this week at all (my car is not good in the snow in the slightest and I'd be a hazard to those around me!) or do my long run outdoors, so I feel like I barely did anything this week. I still worked out, but sitting on a stationery bike is not really the same as a kick ass bootcamp session. Oh well, enough of my bitching! This was Week 1 of the road back to the half marathon and first official week of the running season - wooohoo! I'm getting my head back into it and getting my food back to where it was when I was training for the marathon to make sure I get myself as lean as possible. December wasn't super kind to me (maybe it was the copious number of lunches and dinners out?! ya think?) so I'm now back fully on the good food train.

Sunday - 30 mins stationery bike/30 mins strength
Day one of getting my hate on for snow. Ha! The white stuff started to come down heavy on Saturday so we had to do our long run on the treadmill, and I couldn't get outside to do any speedwork so decided to do a workout on the bike and a lifting session.

Monday - 30 mins treadmill run
Day two of snow hate. Anger growing. Couldn't make it to bootcamp, so treadmill run it was.

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - 20 mins stationery bike
Day three of snow hate. Resentment brewing exponentially. Every time I walked past the window and saw the snow, I'd curse under my breath and glare angrily at the sky.

Thursday - run clinic
Even in the snow and cold temps, we still had our run clinic! Like I mentioned previously, there's not a ton of actual running, so it was a lot of standing around and freezing our asses off. It was awesome though, the balance and stability exercises are now progressing to more exercises which are leading to running drills this week.

Friday - 10K treadmill run
So you know how I just mentioned above that I was getting my food back on track? Just wanted to qualify that to say that the "no liquor" part of that program is happening after this week. This weekend was when the annual whisky festival was being held...and...well, I loves my whisky! My BFF came into town for this auspicious occasion, and we decided that I'd bunk with her Friday and Saturday and we'd do a slumber party with our other BFF, A on Friday eve. So knowing myself, I just knew I wouldn't get up early to go for a run Saturday morning, so I got up at the ungodly hour of 4:45am to fit in a 10K run on the treadmill. Yes, it was painful...but it was so great to sleep in on Saturday and enjoy a nice leisurely morning with the gals. Priorities, right?

Saturday - rest
The only exercise I got Saturday was raising my glass to lips. Ha! So many whiskies, so little time.

Friend Makin' Mondays - Getting to Know You

2012-01-16T21:36:00.000-08:00

Oooooh, survey time! OK, I love these things so please bear with me as I yammer on insufferably about myself. Ha! I saw this over at Kenlie's blog over at All the Weigh...I just couldn't resist. Definitely check out Kenlie's blog and all the other survey answers in the comments section...love reading all the responses!

1) What is one of your favourite ways to spend a Saturday?
Honestly...one of my favourite ways to spend a Saturday is just hanging out with Hubs at home. We might not be doing something together per se...but we're both total homebodies and just enjoy chilling. Home is my escape from all the craziness in the world! So what if Hubs isn't home? Puttering around in the garden on a beautiful day...sigh.

2) List your top three favourite TV shows.
- Big Bang Theory
- Bizarre Food
- No Reservations

3) Would you rather be in pictures or take them?
Take them!

4) Why do you blog?
As the saying goes..."writing is the best way to talk without being interrupted." I love to blog because it's a place where I can write freely about what interests me and not worry about boring people to tears about how far I'm running or what my new favourite recipe is. Ha! And it's kind of like an online diary...I always find it interesting to go back to see how I felt and what I was thinking at certain times, especially during races.

5) Share five websites that you visit regularly.
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Pinterest
- Blogger/Google Reader
- myfitnesspal

6) If you could have lunch with one person from your Twitter list, who would it be?
Oprah. Cuz she's awesome.

7) List a few of your favourite snacks.
- almonds
- mandarin oranges
- apple with peanut butter
- cheetos (if I'm being really bad. what?)

8) Do you have a pet? If so, what kind?
Le sigh. No pets here, even though I'd love to have a dog one day! Hubs doesn't like leaving a dog alone all day because he feels it's not fair to the dog to be cooped up. But he's promised once we retire, then we can get a dog. Or if we win the lottery...whichever comes first.

9) Which three material possessions would you struggle to live without?
- iPhone (it's like an extension of my body)
- computer
- car

10) What's your favourite drink?
Hot water. Ha! Kidding, my favourite drink is cranberry and soda with a splash of OJ. My favourite "drink" drink is whisky.

11) Do you enjoy cooking?
Love, love, love, love it. Love it. I can easily say that it's one of my passions.

12) Do you have children?
Soooooo no.

13) What are your favourite hobbies?
- running/working out
- gardening
- cooking
- blogging

14) Would you consider yourself to be shy or outgoing?
Definitely shy over outgoing with people I don't know. Until you get to know me and then apparently I don't shut up.

15) If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change?
My height. I'm a total shrimp. I am always using the step stool at home so I can reach stuff in my cupboards. Just three more measly inches would be great! Bah.

16) Who is your favourite actor/actress?
Actor - I love Jim Parsons, the guy who plays "Sheldon" on Big Bang Theory - hilarious!
Actress - no real faves. Maybe Kate Winslet?

17) What's the coolest thing you've done this week?
I kicked out an awesome tempo run this morning on the treadmill!

18) Do you live near your family or far from them?
Near my family for the most part. My parents are here, my older brother is in Edmonton, my inlaws are in Vancouver.

19) List three of your talents.
- I'm a pretty fine cook
- I'm super organized
- I'm a really fast texter

20) What is your greatest attribute?
Determination. Once I set my mind to something, I go for it.

Clinic Virgin No More

2012-01-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

This past Thursday, Hubs and I went to our first clinic ever...and it wasn't all that bad. Ha! Just kidding, I didn't expect it to be too scary or anything...first time for anything is always the worst but this was pretty painless. The Mindful Strides clinic started at 5:15pm, so our instructor, Marilyn Arsenault, could check in with each of us to see if we had any injuries or anything else that she should know about. Hubs and I got there fairly early...and as the participants came in, I got more and more excited. There was about 15 of us, Hubs being the only token male...I don't think he minded, hee hee.

I really liked Marilyn - she has a really outgoing, infectious energy and you can tell she's really enthusiastic about teaching runners. Now this clinic is different than the usual ones that you see, in the sense that there is really very little actual running but more about body awareness. I think the farthest that we run is maybe 50 metres or so. Some people might think "What? Don't you just go out and run and that's it?" Sure, you can...but if your posture and running motion isn't optimal, think of what it's doing to your body after thousands and thousands of steps. All that repetitive motion? Not good. You can maybe get away with it for shorter distances, but for longer runs...well, that's when injuries start to happen. The first class we talked a lot about head/body positioning, core strength and stabilization, and I could feel the light bulbs going off in my little pea brain. A lot of this stuff my physio has gone over with me so I wasn't new to it, but applying it all to running really helped connect it all together. We even got homework! Each of us is supposed to practice our stabilization exercises...and I gots to tells ya, it was hard. Anyways, really looking forward to the second class, where we actually get outside and do some drills and put some of our new found knowledge to practice. Woot!

Reality Check

2012-01-13T20:42:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, one of my favourite bloggers Beth over Shut Up and Run posted something that struck fear into the heart of every runner. Sherry Arnold, a close family friend of Beth's, went missing early one morning when she was out for her run in the small town of Sidney, Montana. The chilling thing? All they found was her shoe, so immediately the mind races to something sinister. All week long Beth posted updates as people in bloggieland hoped and prayed for what would be Sherry's safe return . As I've posted before, the blog running community is amazing. People who've never met cheer each other on, commiserate over injuries, and support one another through the good and the bad. I don't know Beth and I don't know Sherry, but I found myself thinking of them often and checking in regularly to hopefully find the good news that Sherry had come home.

Today's update was my worst fear. As soon as I read it, my heart sank to my feet and I was so upset. Partially it's because I'm sure as a female runner, I identify with her...it's hard not to think that it could easily be any of us. To be honest, I had a pretty cavalier attitude about running safety and would do the patented eye roll and melodramatic sigh every time Hubs would vehemently insist that I not run on my own...I'd lament constantly "I'm fiiiiinnnnne!!" This is the reality check that makes me realize...he's right. The only teeny tiny positive in this horrific story is that hopefully it may save someone's life by making them think twice about running safety. My heart just absolutely aches for her family, especially her husband and children.

Tomorrow Hubs and I are going out for our weekly long run, and you can bet that I'll be dedicating my run to Sherry and thinking of her along the way. Rest in peace.

Another Clinic!

2012-01-11T22:03:00.000-08:00

I am full of learnin' this year, I tell ya! I was checking out Facebook, and saw that Frontrunners is teaming up with a cooking school called Cook Culture and offering a four part series on nutrition for runners! Here is a short description of each of the two hour classes (3 recipes demonstrated at each class):

Class 1 - Diet planning, essential foods for 14 weeks of training (for Omnivores, Flexitarians, Vegetarians and Vegans)

Class 2 - Pre/Post run meals and cooking basics

Class 3 - Liquid food, give your body the maximum benefit

Class 4 - Beyond carb loading, taper for peak performance

Sounds totally awesome! A lot of runners are foodies (my personal motto is I run so I can eat!) so I think this series is perfect. The instructor, Cosmo Meens, travelled to the 2008 Beijing Olympics to help support Simon Whitfield and the rest of the triathlete team as their chef...so he's gotta know what he's talking about.

So cool. I registered as soon as I saw it. Here is the link for anyone in Victoria who might be interested. So excited!

T Minus Two Days...

2012-01-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

...until I take my very first running clinic! I've been so looking forward to taking the Mindful Strides clinic, and now the day is almost here. I've never done a clinic before, so I will admit I'm a little nervous...as soon as there is any class type situation, I flash back to high school phys ed classes and always being the last person to come in on the runs. Will I be left behind? Will the clinic be full of Boston qualifiers and then me, the slowpoke?! Luckily Hubs is taking it with me, so I'll have one friendly face! I'm also a teensy bit excited because we'll get to meet other runners and it's fun to meet people who share common interests. Yay!

Taking this clinic is exciting too because it means the start of the 2012 running season for us...woohoo! I've planned out all our long runs up to the BMO Vancouver and I roughed out what my training schedule is going to be:

Sunday - weights/speedwork
Monday - bootcamp
Tuesday - yoga/rest day
Wednesday - bootcamp or tempo run when it starts getting lighter
Thursday - weights
Friday - bootcamp
Saturday - long run

The bootcamp classes have a lot of hillwork and sprints, so I think it might work well that I keep at those until it gets lighter out and then I can start adding in tempo runs in the morning. Along with this workout schedule, I have to get back at doing the exercises that my physio prescribed when I was working towards the marathon. Oh...and stretching. I've been incredibly bad at doing both since the marathon...I must get back at it!

Goal - match or better my personal best half marathon of 1:56. Better dust off the Garmin! Hello, Year of Speed!

Holiday Booty Buster Wrap Up

2012-01-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

Oh le sigh. I always get sad at this time of year when the holiday season is over...while it was crazy busy, everyone is in such a great mood and I really enjoy the hustle and bustle. The final swan song that it's really over? The tree has been taken down and the house has been completely de-Christmased for another year. Woe is me.

So now that the season is over, so is the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge. My results? I had 156 points, and was averaging about 25 points a week except for this last week, as I was feeling a little off this week. Actually a lot off...I was sick just before Christmas and fought it off just before I got too bad...and it seems that this little germie is making a reappearance and I was feeling really awful late this week. Next week I'm back at it though, starting with a nice long treadmill run and a lifting session...can't wait to get my body moving and work up a sweat. Anyways, overall I'm pretty happy with my total, and I found it really motivated me to keep at it and rack up those points. Count me in for next year. Thanks Amanda for all the hard work in putting the challenge together!

Marathon Thoughts

2012-01-05T16:40:00.000-08:00

This video is hilarious - I could totally relate at Mile 23, except for me it was Taylor Swift...

The Best Post Ever

2012-01-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

This post from Beth over at Shut Up and Run is the perfect post to start off 2012. It's not just about running, but anything that you want to do but are afraid to.

Just do it. Forget the excuses that are holding you back and let's make 2012 awesome!

HBBC: Dec 30, 6 points (60 minutes bootcamp)

Ten Goals for 2012 - Inspired!

2011-12-29T18:07:00.000-08:00

Ta da! Here it is...my list of goals for 2012. When I was first thinking about what I wanted to do in 2012, I thought meh...I might have a couple things.  As I started thinking about it, more and more goals came to mind as I found sources of inspiration everywhere.  So here goes - wish me luck!

1. Run a 1:50 half marathon - There! I've put it out there. Scary? Yes. Ambitious? Maybe. Considering my last half marathon personal best was 1:56, that means shaving off 6 minutes and pulling 5:13 min/km splits. Huh, just writing that out, I might be biting off more than I can chew! But I'm excited, and what better way then to kick off the Year of Speed! Goal races for this year are the BMO Vancouver in May and of course, the Goodlife Victoria in October. I'm looking to hopefully repeat my half marathon time at the BMO Vancouver, and then pull out all the stops here in Victoria and hit a 1:50 half. Speedwork, here I come!

2. Yoga more - as I've said in the past, I love yoga...love how it makes me feel, love the stretching, love how much it's helped my back. So why, oh why don't I do it more?! Geez. So this year, I want to make more time for it and incorporate it into my workout routine.

3. Volunteer - yep...a carryover from 2011 goals. I thought about this a lot over the past few years, and I really want to volunteer this year.  As I've said previously, I'm grateful for what I have so I want to give back with my time. I've got a few things in mind that I want to volunteer for (food bank or helping seniors), but unfortunately it seems a lot of the things I want to volunteer with happen during work hours. Grrr! Well, that just means that the perfect thing is waiting for me, right?

4.  Make weights a habit - Operation NROLFW is in place. I love this program and so far am loving the results, so I'm going to continue with the heavy lifting. Maybe...if I'm brave...I might take pictures so I can do a before and after. Holy shizen, did I really just write that?

5. Be more involved in bloggie community - I love blogging and I love the blogging community...the people are so awesome and supportive and a wealth of valuable information! But I'm soooo bad with the commenting. I tend to lurk so next year I'm coming out of the closet and going to engage more with the awesome folks in bloggieland.

6. Read 15 books - having a reading goal really helps push me to expand my horizons and read instead of always turning on the boob tube...and I've read some pretty kickass books the past few years. I won't lie though...it was hard for me to fit in 15 books this past year so I think I'll stick with the same number again this year.

7. Eat 7 servings (or more!) of fruits and veggies per day - Amanda over at Run to the Finish totally inspired this goal with her awesome Holiday Booty Buster Challenge. Instead of just focussing on this during the holiday season, I'm going to try to incorporate at least 7 servings of fruits and veggies every day. I felt energized and healthy when I was on a fruit/veggie roll, which is in stark contrast to how I'm feeling right now after some holiday excesses and a lack of anything remotely fresh. To be blunt, I totally feel like ass so I'm rarin' to go and ready to get my fruits and veggies in.

8. Cut back dairy - oh sigh...dairy...I've been falling for your siren song a lot lately.  I love you but I know you don't quite feel the same about me, so I think we're going to have to take a break.

9. Take swimming lessons - so you know the famous saying on the lululmon manifesto...the one that says "do one thing a day that scares you?" Well, this is the scary thing for this year. Maybe my life. I can't swim and have almost drowned twice (one day I'll tell you the sordid stories)...so the impetus for me to learn to swim has always been in the back of my mind. I've always wanted to learn, but was inspired when I was at the Xterra triathlon world championships this year when we were in Maui. While I may never become a triathlete, I do want to know how to swim so I'm not afraid, as I tell Hubs, to get sucked out to sea every year when we go to Maui. And about the triathlon, who knows...never say never, right? Oh, and for those who are wondering...yes, I'm shitting myself. Ha!

10. Create a vision board - for Christmas, my BFF gave me this awesome necklace by Andrea Waines, a Canadian silver jewellery designer....

I love how simple this necklace is (I'm not a big jewellery person - yes, I'm a freak of nature)...but that's not the only reason I love it. Each necklace has an inspirational saying on it, and the one she chose for me says "the only courage you need is the courage to do your heart's desire." How cool is that?! This saying gave me the flash of inspiration for the last goal for 2012 - a vision board! What better way to tease out my heart's desires than putting it into a visual format. And I get to be a kid again and cut out pretty pictures and glue them onto colourful paper. Wheeeeee!

HBBC: Dec 23, 6 points (60 mins bootcamp), Dec 27, 6 points (10K/6 mile run), Dec 28, 6 points (60 mins bootcamp), Dec 29, 2 points (30 minutes stationery bike)

2011 Resolution Review

2011-12-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

2011 - what a year, what a year! Is it me, or is time flying by incredibly fast? I remember last Christmas like it was yesterday, so to realize that a full year has past just blows my mind. So many things happened this year - of course, the big one for me was the marathon, but there are so many things that defined 2011. The good? The memorable Canucks run that I still get a little misty eyed when I see recaps of it on TV. Getting surprise tickets from Hubs to see Prince (one of favouritefavouritefavourite musicians of all time) after I thought I wasn't going to be able to go...and spending the whole concert singing, screaming and dancing with the Purple One. An amazing whirlwind trip to Hong Kong full of great shopping and even better eating. Kicking ass and pulling a personal best of 1:56 at the Oak Bay Half Marathon in torrential rain. A pretty awesome year all in all! But along with the good comes the not so good...my BFF moved to Saskatoon as her husband got offered the job opportunity of a lifetime, and left a hole in my heart as I miss her terribly. Le sigh. Thank god for texting, right? Ha!

So with only a few more days left to go in this year, I thought I'd revisit what my resolutions or goals or objectives or whatever the heck you want to call them were for the year, and how I did. Nothing better than a public shaming for motivation, eh? Here goes...

1. Run a marathon - OH YEAH, BABY! Bucket list item #1 has been struck from the list. Truly this was one of the most memorable and proudest moments of my life, and sometimes I still think back and think did I really do it? While the day was pretty fantastic, the journey to get there was even better. Sure, some days I really didn't want to run and there were other days when I really wanted that whisky or dessert but had to say no...but it was so worth it in the end. I never, ever dreamed in my life that I would have completed a marathon...so doing this has made me realize that I can dream and achieve goals that I never thought were possible. To commemorate the marathon, I bought myself a new Christmas ornament that I'm going to hang up every year as a reminder to keep dreaming and keep achieving.

2. Incorporate more weights into workouts - weeelllll...I will admit that for most of the year, I didn't do much weight work besides what we did at bootcamp. To be honest, it was really hard to fit it in with all the marathon training...but I think I did redeem myself a bit as I've been keeping up with the New Rules of Lifting for Women gig in the last month or so and love love loving it. With next year being the Year of Speed, I'll have more time to concentrate on lifting weights and getting leaner and stronger overall. Yes!

3. Maintain a consistent weight - yipppeeee...I done good on this one, Pa! My weight has stayed relatively consistent through the whole year, and I avoided the marathon weight gain that I packed on last year.  What was the secret? You'd think it would be the fact that I ran or worked out for hours and hours...but it was all about what I put in my mouth that made the difference. I absolutely credit resolution #4 for keeping me on track.

4. Eat mindfully - you can't exercise away a bad diet, right? I really tried hard to think about what I was putting in my mouth and how it would affect my body and training...but at the same time didn't want to be too rigorous and regimented as to take all the fun out of eating...pretty important for a foodie! Food is supposed to nourish the body, but sometimes it's just as imporatnt to nourish your soul.   This year I've been giving a lot of thought to mixing up our diet to incorporate more beans and grains and less meat, while still keeping our protein/fat/carb ratios in balance for when we're training hard. It's not easy, but I love the challenge...bring it on!

5. Start Meatless Monday - kicked ass on this one! With the exception of maybe one or two weeks, we did Meatless Monday every week without fail. I'm so glad I did this resolution because it forced me to be more creative in the kitchen rather than just dishing out a plate of pasta every week because that kinda defeats the purpose. I will admit though that vegetarian pizza has made the rotation quite often (hee hee!) but I've got a lot more meatless recipes in the cooking repertoire now.

6. Write in my gratitude journal daily - OK...so this is where the public shaming comes into play. Oy vey! Two years in a row that I have NOT done well on this goal. But to my defense...even though I didn't write in my journal daily, having this goal really did make me think much more and more often about how thankful and grateful I am for things in my life. Honestly...I am so grateful for what I'm blessed to have. I find myself wondering constantly...how did I get so lucky? And when I hear people complaining about their lives or when I catch myself doing it, I just think to myself that there are so many people on this earth that would love to have a tiny percentage of what we have. However, as far as actually journalling my gratitude...epic fail. Ooopsie.

7. Volunteer - errrh...once things are on the interweb, it's permanent right? Gah!  I did nothing on this goal for 2011. I do, however, plan on fixing this for 2012 (ooooh, see the clever use of foreshadowing?!).

8. Keep up supplements - sigh...things started out so well but then we kinda skidded on this one. We were pretty sporadic with our supplements and would go great guns for a few months and then just peter out once we ran out and were too lazy to restock. Both Hubs and I are committing to doing better for 2012 though.

9. Read 15 books - just finished book #14, and have four days to read book #15...nothin' like leaving things to the last minute!   I was doing pretty good for the first part of the year until the marathon training started, but after that bit of business was over I've been back on the book train. I love this resolution because I love to read, and over the past few years I've read some amazing books (the Book Thief by Markus Zusak - one of the best I've read ever...I still find myself thinking about this book).

10. Be more aware of finances - woot! Hubs and I have been talking a lot more about our finances and what the future holds for us...we're at that age where we need to start thinking about it more, and we've got a path carved out in our minds. Plus I've been asking more questions of our planner and doing a little side reading on my own to augment my knowledge. A solid "B" on this goal.

So? All in all, I'm pretty happy with how I did this year! Some things I can work on, but I love setting goals for myself. If I achieve them, great...and if I don't? It gives me something to work towards. And speaking of working towards something...next post will be my goals for 2012. Woohoo!

HBBC Update

2011-12-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

OK is anyone else looking forward to Boxing Day or is it just me?! This holiday season has been incredibly, insanely busy and all I can think about is sleeping in and relaxing. Every day there's been errands to run, tasks to cross off my list, lunches and dinners to go to, friends to visit and meals to cook - I'm so tired every night I swear I'm asleep before my head even hits the pillow! And...with all the holiday insanity going on, I've been slightly remiss in blogging. Eek! But good news...I've been still keeping up with the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge...go me! I will admit that last week wasn't stellar for fruits and veggies, but I've been kicking ass in the exercise department. My bootcamp buddy D and I made a pact last week that we'd go to all bootcamps no matter what, and so far so good. With all the yummy Xmas goodies about and all the eating out, we decided that we had to do something and the pact is perfect for forcing us to go as it's just a little too easy to jam out when no one is counting on you. I actually never thought I'd hear myself say this but...I'm just about done with all the eating out. Ha!

HBBC: Dec 14, 7 points (60 mins bootcamp, F/V), Dec 16, 6 points (60 mins bootcamp), Dec 17, 6 points (10K run), Dec 18, 2 points (20 mins stationery bike and 20 mins weightlifting), Dec 19, 7 points (60 mins bootcamp, F/V), Dec 20, 1 point (F/V), Dec 21, 6 points (60 mins bootcamp)

The Single Best Thing

2011-12-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about this post, and whether or not to write it. Should I? Shouldn't I? Will I come across all preachy? After a lot of thought, I decided to just throw all caution to the wind and just do it because this is a topic that I feel incredibly passionate about...and this is my blog, so why the heck not, right? Ha! As I've mentioned previously, I'm a live-and-let-live kinda gal...I don't like to foist my opinon on others, and don't go around espousing my thoughts on everything under the sun to anyone who will listen. I'm generally a laid back kinda gal...that is, until you start talking about health.

Look out folks...Health Nut Harpy is in da house!

I saw this cool video the other day, and I felt that I just had to share it because the message behind it was such a good one (and the drawing in the video is pretty effing awesome!):

Dr. Mike Evans, the force behind this video, talks about the single thing that you can do that will make the biggest difference and return on investment to your health. According to Dr. Evans, this one thing done regularly can:

- reduce rates of pain and disability with those with knee arthritis by 47%
- reduce progression of alzheimers and dementia by up to 50%
- reduced progression to diabetes by 50% for patients with high risk of diabetes
- reduce anxiety by up to 48%
- for patients suffering from depression, up to 30% were relieved with a low dose and 47% with a high dose

Sounds pretty awesome, right? So what is this one single thing, you're wondering?

Exercise.

Yes, exercise. The word strikes fear in a lot of people's hearts...people always have visions of toiling for hours in a gym, running for hours on the dreadmill, sweating buckets and hating every second of it. By exercise, Dr. Evans isn't meaning doing triathlons and running for hours at a time...by exercise he simply means walking a half hour to an hour a day, which should be enough to recognize some pretty significant health benefits as mentioned above. As Hippocrates said, walking is man's best medicine....now that Hippocrates was a pretty smart fella I believe, so I'm more than inclined to listen to him, no?

I know a lot of people will say they don't have time to exercise...too busy, too tired, etc. This may sound harsh, but being busy is not an excuse...think of it this way, you are investing a half hour in yourself and your family and friends. Are you really too busy for that? So for those people who being too busy to exercise is the excuse, here is a cartoon that might make them rethink that logic:

HBBC: Dec 11, 6 points (10K/6 mile run), Dec 12, 7 points (60 mins bootcamp, F/V)...been so bad at tracking on the blog so I'm just going to start from yesterday!

NROLFW - Progress Report

2011-12-05T22:33:00.000-08:00

OK, I've definitely bought into the weightlifting gig. I'm starting Stage 1, Week 4 of the New Rules of Lifting for Women and I'm already seeing and feeling results. A big part of the premise behind this program is that women should lift heavy...women don't have to worry about getting "bulky" and looking like some dude on 'roids, and using those little hot pink plastic two pound weights ain't gonna get you anywhere fast. Each time I lift, I try to increase the weight just a tidge, and my upper body is already getting more defined and I'm losing the dreaded upper arm "batwing" jiggle. I actually remember on marathon day feeling my arms shimmying and shaking like jello and thinking man, I gotta do something about that! My legs are fairly muscular because of the running, but I can already feel and see my quads and hamstrings getting firmer and stronger.

I like it. I like it a LOT. Hmmm...I'm feelin' a new year's resolution comin' on.

HBBC: Dec 2, 7 points (60 mins bootcamp, F/V), Dec 3, 9 points (14K/9 mile run), Dec 4, 3 points (30 mins bike, 20 mins weightlifting), Dec 5, 7 points (60 mins bootcamp, F/V)

Be a Santa to a Senior

2011-12-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

So one thing that I should have included in my Blackjack list of rando facts about me is that I have a total soft spot for seniors. This goes back to as far as I can remember...my earliest memory was when I was about 7, and we were at the hospital visiting my grandpa who was sick at the time, and this elderly man in the next bed said to us as we left "thanks for coming to see us!" I clearly remember that it made me so sad that I cried, because I had the feeling that this guy had had no visitors and was really, really lonely. This penchant for old folks continued on as I got older, as I spent a lot of time in old folks homes as Hubs' grandma lived in one in Vancouver and we would go see her quite often. I was always struck by the lack of visitors and how lonely it must be and always left feeling sad.

Fast forward to today...I was sitting at my desk eating my lunch and cruising around on the internet when I saw this thing called Be a Santa to a Senior. Intrigued, I looked into it further and discovered it's a program across North America that helps identify seniors who people can sponsor and buy a Christmas gift for. Bingo! Right up my alley. What you do is punch in your postal or zip code, and up pops a list of participating retailers...each retailer has a tree with paper ornaments with the name of a senior and what they'd like for Christmas. I immediately put in my postal code and the Walmart by our house was participating...excellent!

After work, Hubs and I went by good old Wallyworld and the tree was right at the front of the store. There were only a handful of ornaments left, which completely warmed my heart that people were buying for the seniors! That was quickly taken over by some serious verklemptness...as I looked at the names and what they were looking for, it made it extra personal and I couldn't leave anyone behind. What if no one bought something for that person? What if they got nothing and didn't have a gift to open on Christmas day? I couldn't have that so I ended up taking all the ornaments. Yes, I stripped that tree bare! Poor Hubs, he just stood there trying to console his pathetic, sobbing wife...a few people in the store actual gave us curious looks...I think they thought we were having a big fight or something. Ha! Such a big bawl baby.

Anyways...thought I would post about this organization in case anyone is interested! I know during this time of year that everyone is stretched pretty thin and so incredibly busy, but small gestures mean so much and every little bit helps those who are less fortunate.

HBBC: Nov 27, 2 points (20 mins stationery bike, F/V), Nov 28, 5 points (1 hour bootcamp, F/V), Nov 30, 1 point (F/V), Dec 1, 2 points (20 mins stationery bike, F/V)

Blackjack (21 Things)

2011-11-26T21:35:00.000-08:00

ZOMG...it's list time!! This fun little time waster has been going around bloggieland, so I had to join in on the fun...basically share 21 rando bits of information that you might not know about me. Let's see...where shall I start...

I love the feel of working up a huge sweat when I exercise but I hate sweating at any other time. Even if I break out into a light sweat doing something like walking, I feel like I have to take a shower.
I drink plain hot water all the time. It's a Chinese thing.
I cannot be more than a few feet away from my iPhone at all times. I'm totally and utterly addicted to it and can't imagine life without it now...I'm like Gollum with it. I use it for everything!
I hate flying. I'm not at the Ativan stage yet, but I definitely don't enjoy it but I do it because it gets me to Maui.
I am totally and utterly OCD about my floors. I vacuum daily and can't stand it when I see crumbs.
Even though I would loooooove to own one, I am afraid of gas stoves...actually gas in general. It's a bummer because all the great chefs use gas!
As soon as I get home from work, I get into "home" mode. That means contact lenses out, hair tied up, sweats on and makeup off. I look like a bum but I don't care! Poor Hubs.
I've never lived anywhere except for Victoria.
I am terrified of spiders when they're inside the house, but not that scared of them when I come across them outdoors. I think it's that element of surprise that I don't like.
I used to have spiked hair that stood up about three inches and fanned out on the sides, sort of a modified Asian mohawk. I look back now and wonder what was I thinking! It was cool back then though. I think.
I watched Hockey Night In Canada without fail when I was a kid...we'd all sit on on the couch and my mom would be screaming with excitement. We never cared who won, as long as it was a Canadian team!
I have terrible luck with the tires on my cars. I've had numerous flats, punctures or weird leaks so I'm paranoid about them and am always checking my air pressure.
My first job was as a grocery store cashier when I was 15. I still remember my first day clearly and how scared shitless I was.
I'm not a big fan of chocolate ice cream...plain old vanilla is always my first choice. Unless it's Moosetracks...

I get my hair cut every six weeks on the dot. My hair is hard to handle (stick straight, thick but no volume...it sucks) and grows like a noxious weed so I have to get it cut regularly to beat it into submission.
I LOVE anything with peanut butter. This is shocking because I ate peanut butter and marmalade (barfola) sandwiches every day as a kid and it was definitely not by choice! I despise marmalade now (it has peels in it, for pete's sake!) but I do love peanut butter.
I love to read. I sort of fell out of it for a long time but have rediscovered it again.
I have girl crushes on Sophie Lui (a BC newscaster) and Sarah Richardson, the Canadian home designer...I love their sense of style! I actually look forward to the news every day so I can see what Sophie is wearing. And Sarah...her clothes are perfection. And her designs? Amazing. Dreamy sigh.

My favourite kind of evening is when it's super stormy/windy/rainy/snowy outside, and I'm all cozy inside with candles, a fire, tea and a good book. Ahhhh.....
I love gingers. Hence the whole Prince Harry thing. Gurgle.

I currently own about 130 cookbooks. If I won the lottery I would have a whole library full of them!

HBBC: Nov 25, 7 points (60 mins bootcamp, fruits/veg), Nov 26 7 points (6 mile run, 20 mins weightlifting)

Oh Help Me

2011-11-24T21:29:00.000-08:00

I need help.

I need willpower!

This time of year is soooo hard. I just looked at my calendar, and between December 1st and December 24th, I have five dinners out and five lunches to attend. Gah! And I'm sure between now and then, a few other things will pop up. I fully admit...without a race to train for or a goal to reach, I'm lacking motivation to keep my eating clean or to exercise. Sure, overall my eating isn't all that bad and I'm still working out, but I'm pretty meh and getting super lackadaisical. I guess that's the danger of taking a break at this time of year! Maybe what I'll do is try for a spring marathon in 2013, so my training would start around the beginning of December.

I.must.be.strong.

HBBC - Nov 22, 1 point (fruits and veggies), Nov 23, 3 points (30 mins biking, fruits and veggies), Nov 24, 1 point (fruits and veggies)

I'm on a Roll

2011-11-21T21:30:00.000-08:00

Day Three of HBBC...and the second day in a row that I've got all my fruits and veggies in - booyah! Can I make it three or will my streak be shorter than the Canucks? Stay tuned...

HBBC - 3 points (2 points for 30 minutes stationery bike and 1 point for fruits/veg)

Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge

2011-11-20T13:23:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again for THE Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge! *wildly cheering crowd*

This was a cool thing that Amanda over at Run to the Finish started a few years ago, and it's taken off like wildfire through bloggieland. I admit...I signed up last year, but got lazy...and never updated my points. I was, however, doing the Ten Pound Challenge so was already doing something to make sure that I kept my face out of the holiday feeding trough. I'd kind of forgotten about HBBC until Deb over at Deb Tris posted a comment, and I thought aha! In combination with continuing to log my food, I'm gonna take part in this puppy for some extra motivation.

For anyone who's interested, here's the link to everything you need to know about the HBBC and latecomers can still register up to Nov 22 (the kickoff was yesterday). In short, you get points for getting exercise in or eating fruits and veggies...example of point system is:

1 Point per mile (run/walk)
1 Point per 3 miles biked
1 Point per 20 minutes of weight lifting, Pilates, yoga, stretching or abs
1 Point per 15 minutes of low impact cardio (i.e. low impact aerobics, easy biking, skiing, skating, water aerobics, snow shoeing)
1 Point per 10 minutes of high impact cardio (i.e.spinning, kickboxing, lap swimming)
1 Per day where you reach a minimum of 7 servings of fruits and veggies

Easy peasy japanese-y on getting exercise in, but not sure about the fruits and veggies. I incorporate a lot into my meals, but it's not really measurable i.e. soups, casseroles, etc. Oh well, I'll estimate as best I can. At first I was like 7 servings?! But when I saw that 1 serving is a cup of leafy greens or 1/2 cup cooked veggies, I thought that was pretty doable. Goal is to get my daily veggie/fruit point!

So for the next while, you'll probably see me tracking my points on the blog...as always, keeps me accountable, right?

ETA: HBBC for Nov 19 - 2 points (30 mins easy biking), for Nov 20 - 10K/6 mile run, 20 minutes weightlifting and 7 servings fruits and veg - 8 points...woop woop!

An Old Fave

2011-11-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight Hubs and I were doing our usual Friday night grocery shop...yes...that's right, we are dullsville and old, so on a perfectly good Friday night when there's copious amounts of drinking and general overall debauchery happening, we're at the grocery store cruising the aisles. Hey, it's strategic...I hate shopping when it's busy because inevitably some oblivious moron will stop in the middle of the aisle while they look at pasta sauces and piss me off, so I avoid shopping at busy times.

Aaaaannnyways, I was cruising the aisles and I saw what used to be a staple in my diet about ten years ago....

I used to loooooove this stuff! Seriously, I would eat it all the time...for lunch, for dinner, for lunch AND dinner. I picked up the can and looked fondly at it, as I haven't bought beefaroni in years. I had a little giggle as I remembered one incident where I brought it to work and a guy said "ewwwwwww! my five year old daughter won't even eat that, it's like dog food!" Hmph. To be truthful, I almost bought some for old times sake, but the thought of all the crap in it turned me right off. I know they had some commercials in the past few years that purported that beefaroni was nutritious...it made me realize that learning about food and nutrition isn't easy. Back then when I was downing cans and cans of this stuff, I didn't think it was a big deal...but couldn't imagine doing the same now...and it wasn't really all that long ago, maybe ten years ago? It made me understand maybe a bit more about why people may not choose to eat properly...you do what you know, and if your parents didn't eat healthy, then the likelihood that you won't is probably pretty high. Or people may just not get exposed to that type of information. The other day I was talking to someone about healthy eating and was shocked at what they were saying. Sigh.

All this from a can of beefaroni...Chef Boyardee would be so proud. Heh.

Committed

2011-11-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

Breathe.

I can't believe it...Christmas is almost here...six short weeks...ack! I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year - I love the shopping, the festive atmosphere, and celebrating the season with family and friends. It's at this time of year that everyone makes an effort to get together, and it's so nice to spend time with people who are important to me. The hates? Along with all the celebrating comes lots of eating...dinners, parties, lunches, treats at the office...it's everywhere! Now don't get me wrong...I love food and it's one of my greatest joys in life...but along with the love of food comes lack of willpower and I'm finding myself falling down the slippery slope of food debauchery. An example? I'm writing this post while watching the Biggest Loser and I'm eating chocolate peanut butter out of the jar with a frickin' spoon! Argh. What the eff is wrong with me?! Last year I had the Ten Pound Challenge to keep me on track...but this year, I got nuthin'.

So...with this blog post I'm putting it out there. I've been slipping a bit on recording my meals on myfitnesspal (I seem to have conveniently "forgotten" to log the choco peanut butter on a spoon gig) so I'm recommitting to logging everything and being honest about what goes in my mouth. I've been snacking extra at night and having treats (helloooo, halloween candy!) so that stuff is off limits except for cheat days. And I'm committing to keep up my workouts, no matter how crazy the silly season gets. I hit the ground running on January 1st for the Year of Speed, so want to start the year on the right foot (haha, get it? running? foot?) and feeling great.

Committed. It's a deal.

The Dark Side

2011-11-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, folks...I've gone to the dark side. It's been years in the making, but I've finally given in. Now you guys are probably thinking what the heck...what's going on? Is she starting a diet of Doritos and pop? Has she given up running? Has she been lured by the swan song of the triathlon? What the heck is up?!

Nope...I've finally, finally...given in to skinny jeans. When skinny jeans first came out I scoffed at them...I love me a good boot cut or flared jean, so when I saw these atrocities I swore up and down I would never wear them. I would eye girls who wore skinny jeans disparagingly, gloating in my fashion superiority. "Real women don't wear skinny jeans" was my motto and I stood firmly by this.

Then a funny thing happened. I bought some awesome boots in Hong Kong, and my boot cut jeans kinda looked funny tucked into them...I looked like I should have a banjo or fishing rod in my hands or something. I started wearing leggings tucked into the boots (Lulu's Wunder Unders), and kinda liked that look when paired with a tunic or comfy sweater. However, being wary of the "tights are not pants" movement, I was worried about being one of "those" people who wear leggings inappropriately and decided to get with the times and go get myself a pair of skinny jeans to avoid showing up in a magazine as a fashion don't.

I headed off to the mall this weekend to check things out...damn, jeans are expensive! I finally ended up at the Gap where I started to try some jeans on. I admit...I fully admit...that I even tried a pair of jeggings on. I know, I know...I should turn myself into the fashion police, right? It was hilarious though because I think the good folks over at the Gap know all about the whole jegging backlash, and call them "jean leggings". Whatevs, people...they're jeggings! Anyways, their jeggings made me look like a little Asian bratwurst so I ended up buying a few pairs of their Always Skinny jeans in black and a dark wash and darn it...these things are super stretchy and uber comfy. Sold.

So...I gotta say....I'm a convert now for sure. I know...what's the world coming to, right? Pretty soon I might even start wearing colour. Ha! Psyche.

Day One - New Rules of Lifting for Women

2011-11-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

Alrighty...so you know how I said before I was gonna start this new weight lifting regime, blah blah blah? I've finally finished reading the book New Rules of Lifting for Women and figured out how the whole shebang works. I know, I know...sometimes I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm cute. Ha! I have this weird thing that when I start something new, it HAS to be done on Sunday...sort of to kick the week off and start things fresh and on the right foot. I know...I'm so weird.

So how did the first workout go? Not bad! There are 7 stages in this program, so I started off at the beginning at Stage 1. I warmed up with a 10 minute jog on the treadmill, and then did this routine, which the book calls Workout A:

Group 1:
Squats - 2 sets of 15 reps

Group 2:
Pushups - 1 set of 15 reps
Seated row - 1 set of 15 reps
Repeat this series twice

Group 3:
Step ups - 1 set of 15 reps
Prone jackknife - 1 set of 8 reps
Repeat this series twice

I like it. It didn't take too long, so I did another 20 minutes on the treadmill. I started off with medium heavy weights because I'm not sure exactly where I should be at and didn't want to injure myself by overdoing things. There are two workouts in each stage, so later on this week I'll do Workout B. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up...I've been having some weird achiness and pain in my right shoulder so don't know what's up, so will go and check things out with my physiotherapist. Anyways, first day of NROLFW done!

Remembrance Day Musings

2011-11-11T21:48:00.000-08:00

Lest we forget. As the years go by, I find myself understanding the importance of Remembrance Day more and more. When I was young, selfish and foolish, it was just an excuse for a day off...but as I get older and older I become more and more thankful for the sacrifices that people made so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today. I can't say enough how thankful and grateful I am for what I have...so I suppose a piece of why I feel compelled to pay my respects is that I can't even begin to comprehend what these people and their families went through. I can't imagine how hard it would be to see your son or husband go off to war, maybe never to come back. Or how scary it must have been to be on the front lines fighting. So for that reason I'm eternally grateful to our veterans and will never miss marking Remembrance Day.

Your First

2011-11-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

I was sitting here watching all the coverage of the NYC marathon and that Apolo Ono (drool! love a good soul patch) and Mark Messier were running their first marathons. I can't help it...don't know what it is, but whenever I see any race footage I get all choked up. Sorry, sorry...I know I'm a total mushpot. Anyways, I was thinking about that old adage that you never forget your first (hee hee, minds out of gutters people!) and I was hit with a little inspiration. I'd bought a shadow box awhile ago but wasn't really sure what to do with it...well now I know...

Huh. OK, I have the marathon itch again. Poor, poor Hubs...for better or worse, right baby? Heh.

McRib

2011-11-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

Sigh. Dang I hate this getting old gig! I got up Friday morning bright and early to get on the treadmill, and within a few minutes of starting a slow jog I felt a pop in my left shoulder and immediately knew that one of my ribs had come out of place. Nooooooo! Unfortunately this happens a LOT, so I knew that I had to get my butt into see my chiro pronto...if I didn't, my whole back and neck would start seizing and it's absolutely agonizing. Thank goodness I was able to get in that evening! Rib was out of place and the neck was out of alignment...darn hybermobility. I was pissed because it meant that I had to skip a long run that I had scheduled with M this morning, as I was still incredibly stiff and sore...I've been missing my longer runs and was kinda looking forward to it. Being injured and not being able to run always makes me regret the times that I blew off workouts! And I guess I have to look at the bright side...Mr. Rib didn't pop out before the marathon or during my trip to Maui, right? Always a silver lining, folks.

We're In!

2011-11-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that as part of the Year of Speed, Hubs and I were hoping to take a running clinic called Mindful Strides that a lady named Marilyn Arsenault does here in little old Victoria. When we got back from our vacay, I went to check out her site as she had posted that she'd be having some more clinics in October. Well, lo and behold...they were all sold out! Dang. As I cruised her site some more, she noted that we could send her an email and she would let us know when the January clinics were announced...and yesterday we got the heads up that the clinics were posted! As soon as I saw her email, I signed up both Hubs and I...yahooo! I'm soooooo excited and can't wait to take her clinic...anything we can do to improve our form and hopefully improve our speed is a good thing. Getting super excited about 2012!

Heavy Lifting

2011-10-31T21:31:00.000-07:00

So awhile ago, I mentioned that after the marathon was over, I was going to start the New Rules of Lifting for Women. Well, the time has come.

I've been wanting to start this program for awhile, and need something to focus on for the next few months so I don't hoover up everything in sight over the holiday season and turn into a plump little Asian dumpling. I've been pretty darn lax in exercising and eating properly after the marathon but I don't regret it...everyone needs to live a little! But now it's time to get back on the wagon and get back at 'er. And truth be told...I've been feeling a bit aimless now that the big one is over...definitely a case of post-marathon blues. There's a lot of time until my next goal race in the Spring, so what better than to establish a new goal and banish the blues?

This is a six month program, so I'm going to incorporate this into my regular training since next year will be less strenous since I'm not planning on doing a full marathon. This program works best done three times a week but is doable with two, so I'm going to add in two days of lifting mixed in with running and/or bootcamp. Not a moment too soon either...with all the running, I definitely haven't been focussing at all on strength and it shows! I did some strength training on Sunday...some simple stuff like squats and lunges, and pushups with some bicep and tricep work thrown in for good measure...and I'm sore. And it wasn't even all that hard and I wasn't lifting heavy at all! And stronger is better, especially for speed. We'll see how it helps with my spring half marathon!

So.excited.

Aloha!

2011-10-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

Back from Maui...and it was awweeesssome. Exactly what we needed to recharge our batteries after a busy summer of training and preparing for the marathon. Weather was pretty nice - we've never gone during this time of year but I think we might just start going in the early Fall as it's not quite so hot. We ended up staying at a difference place than our usual spot as they were going through some major renovations...the great folks over at Hale Napili are so good to us and rebooked us at the place next door and paid the difference to make up for inconveniencing us! The new place was wonderful, but we missed coming home to Hale Napili as we get treated like family when we arrive. Love it there.

As far as what we did, the trip itself was the same old, same old...a lot of relaxing, eating and moseying around. We did manage to fit in a few runs as well, and I was saving my first road run after the marathon for Maui. We have a favourite route that we do that takes us into the next area Kapalua, which is absolutely gorgeous and is home to the Ritz Carlton and a beautiful golf course that hosts a few PGA tournaments. It was on one of these runs that we noticed that there was something called Xterra going on, and after asking around we discovered it was an off road triathlon that was having its world championship in Kapalua! So cool. We made sure we went back to check it out, and the vibe was electric with helicopters buzzing around as camera crews recorded the race. We watched the swim and were planning on leaving after the bike transition until we heard there was a very special guest racing in the Xterra...

Lance Armstrong! This is a shot of him transitioning to the run and he was kicking some ass at this point and was in the top ten. Unfortunately, the run got the better of him and he was around 26th or so. The female leader was a gal who was also from Victoria (woohoo!) named Melanie McQuaid who was taking no prisoners until the last bit when the heat and a lost electrolyte bottle ended the race for her, and collapsed within about 200 feet from the finish line (if you're checking out her site, here is her race report - read it, it's amazing). Now some people may think she's crazy, but I'm in absolute and utter awe of someone who pushes themselves so hard and is trying to finish even though physically she is completely shot and has nothing left to give. Melanie, you may not have won the world championship, but you rock in my books. You made me proud to be Canadian that day!

Is it wrong that I reallllly want to try a tri? Guess I gotta learn how to swim first though, eh? Heh.

Ants in My Pants

2011-10-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

Today is my one week anniversary of the marathon! Don't worry everyone...I won't keep doing the anniversary countdown...promise! I can't believe it was a week ago...as the morning went by today, I kept looking at the time and thinking this time last week I would have been at this point and marvelling that it was over. I was ~~stalking~~ following Jessica over at Mommy Running Through as she was also a first time marathoner...it's funny, because when I saw her finish, I got verklempt all over again...so cool to follow people through their training and the actual race. I was also watching the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on TV today, and it was pretty cool to see one of our Canadian boys Reid Coolsaet place third overall, and come within a minute or so of almost beating the Canadian record. Reid was doing awesome until about 35K into the race when he started to fade...and the announcer said something to the effect of he ran a great 35K, but then there was the second half of the race left to go. Ha! I chuckled only because what he was saying was oh, so true...the last 7K were tougher than the first 35K put together for me, and it's where runners start to fade. However...all of this hasn't turned me off the marathon...I know I posted earlier that I wasn't going to be doing another one anytime soon (and I'm sticking to that), I'm really getting ants in my pants to get training and start working on my speed to put myself in a good position for a marathon in 2013. I ran yesterday for the first time since the marathon, and while I'm not sore, there are definitely some twinges and twangs that are telling me I'm not recovered yet...and I must say that I'm enormously tired at night and can barely keep my eyes open. I think my body is telling me that it needs a rest, and that's exactly what we're going to do when Hubs and I hit the sandy beaches of Maui on Tuesday.

So...with that, I'm signing off for a bit while we're away...bring on the chichis!

So What's Next?

2011-10-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

OMG, get me away from dairy. I've been really good at cutting it out before the marathon, but now that it's over....the floodgates have opened! Cheese this, dairy that...gah! It's soooo bad for me but it tastes sooo good....but I've got to stop because I've been noticing I've been feeling extremely tired and not that great. I've been letting myself have treats here and there for post-marathon week, but after this I'm back on good eating again.

I think I've created a monster. My legs are feeling much, much better now...the first few days were torturous, but pretty much all the soreness is gone now but there are a few pangs and twinges remaining that tell me that things still are healing, and I should take 'er easy. I was saying to Hubs that I was going to a very short run on Saturday, maybe 3K or so just to get things moving again as I'm feeling itchy to start running. So thinking that he would do the same because like I've said before, he doesn't really love to run...he says well he's going to go out for a 10K run instead. Wha?! Who are you and what have you done with my husband? Ha! It's awesome...he's bound and determined this time to keep up with longer distances to maintain his current level of fitness. Eeeeexcelllllent.

So...the big question is, what are we going to do now that the marathon training is over? Definitely for the next few months I'll be taking a break from any kind of race training, and will just run because...well, I love to run. I'm going back to bootcamps and other cross training, and am toying with the idea of doing a weight lifting program for the balance of the year to get my strength back up again. I saw my race photos and wasn't happy with how shapeless my spaghetti arms were. As for running plans...Hubs and I have decided that we're going to increase our weekend runs to around the 15K-ish range, just so the transition to any kind of longer distances won't be quite so painful in the new year. We've also decided that 2012 will be the year of speed ..we've built our distance bases, so now is the time to get our pace up and our times down! I've also been looking into races for next year, and we're going to take a running clinic called Mindful Strides that one of the speakers at the Race Expo spoke about. The clinic leader is named Marilyn Arsenault, a really talented runner who found running a bit later in life (she's an opera singer by trade)...she was the fastest woman in the half marathon in 2009 with a blistering 1:15:39 at the age of 40! Her clinic is all about running form - she went through similar training herself and she found that the better her form was, the faster she was able to run with less chance of injury. Sign me up!

Looking forward to running in 2012.

This Made Me Laugh Out Loud

2011-10-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Marathon Aftermath

2011-10-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

I can sooooooo relate right now...ha!

2011 Goodlife Victoria Marathon - Race Report

2011-10-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

I've got so much to say, I almost don't know where to start! There's so much that I want to remember of this day, which I can honestly say is one of the proudest moments of my life. I guess what better place to start than at the beginning of marathon day, hey? Hubs and I got up bright and early at 5:00am - I needed to get up early so I could eat something, and we had to get down early as Hubs' race was at 7:30am (mine didn't start until over an hour later at 8:45am...definitely not a fan of the late start!). I'd had a pretty good night's sleep, but did wake up a few times...I'd been having some tummy troubles in the past few days, and woke up with a bit of cramping. I had my usual scone snack and felt OK, so proceeded to get showered. I know...I'm weird, right? I'm going to be sweating up a storm for four plus hours but I have to shower before I go do that. But it's all about having a routine and I wasn't a-strayin'!

The night before we laid out our gear...I've been meaning to review the iFitness race belt I got recently, but man I heart this thing! It absolutely rocks so I'll be reviewing it shortly:

Yummy Gu flavours...makes you non-runners almost want to start, no? Espresso Love was my fave but Mint Chocolate is quickly eclipsing it.

I made sure I slapped on some Body Glide, to avoid the dreaded marathon chafe (chub rub + 42.2 kilometres + sweating for four plus hours = agony):

Once we were all geared up, we headed down to my work which is a 10 minute walk from the start line...yes! We got there around 6:45-ish and met up with M and her fam...her kids were doing the 8K race and her Hubs was running the half with her as well. After everyone left and I was on my own, I had to get myself mentally into a marathon frame of mind. It was hard to get a handle on my emotions all Saturday and Sunday morning - I went through spells of being anxious, being scared, wondering if I could really pull this off...it was a constant emotional roller coaster. I headed out at around 8:15am after eating a banana and some Gu Chomps, but before I left I had to a little something to do first:

I stole this idea from my running idol Marlene over at Mission to a(nother) Marathon...I wanted to have a mantra to get myself through the next four plus hours of running, and what better than "Go Wong"? A's card played such a significant part in keeping me motivated, so this was a no brainer...these two words would come to save me later. As I walked to the start line, I was alone with my thoughts and had time to put my game face on.

At the Start Line:
The day was perfect for a race - I was watching the weather like hawk all week, and I needn't have worried at all. Cool, overcast and no wind...it was awesome! I positioned myself at the back of the 4:30 corral and waited for the race to start, all the while reminding myself to pace, pace, pace. I wasn't going to set any land speed records, so wanted to settle in with a pace of 6:20 - 6:30/km for the race and kept reminding myself that was the target. After singing a rousing Oh Canada, we were off!

0 - 10K
For the first few kilometres, I mentally kept pinching myself. Was I really doing this? Was I really running a marathon?! I completely resisted the urge to burst out of the gates, but paced myself pretty well and was feeling really good for the first quarter of the race. My splits were pretty much on target and I was having no trouble locking in on my target paces. I was loving the cheering crowds and was surprised at the huge number of people out to suppport all the runners. This is another aspect of running that I just enjoy so much...the sense of kinship and inclusion that embodies the running community - whether you're a runner, a spectator or a volunteer, you're part of the gang.   Contrary to what people might think, it's not an elitist sport...people cheer the back of the packers as much as they cheer the race leader. I heard more cowbells than I think I've ever heard in my life, and I was feeling great and loving every second...there were some great signs out there, the most memorable being a saucy blonde with a sign that said "Naked Cheerleaders, Next Mile" I laughed out loud with I saw that!

1K: 6:28 Saltstick and 4 Gu Chomps
2K:   6:21
3K:   6:21
4K:   6:33
5K:   6:24
6K:   6:25 Gu
7K:   6:34
8K:   6:22
9K:   6:21
10K: 6:32

10K split - 1:06:38

11 - 21K
Around this part of the race, we ended up leaving the water views along Dallas Road and headed towards the long stretch through to Oak Bay and the Uplands. The weather started to get really sunny, and I was wondering if that was going to have any effect on my run. I must say...I was glad to have packed my own water because the race site stated that aid stations are every 3K - whatevs! They were sporadic and oddly placed, but I kept with my plan of running 3K with a 1 minute walk break and if that didn't coincide with an aid station, that was fine. My legs were feeling really good, and I didn't feel tired at all up to the half way marker. It was somewhere around this stretch that we saw the winner of the race coming back towards us, which is a part of the race that I love so much. As he raced towards us, all the runners were cheering him on and clapping. While I was paying attention to my splits and how I was doing compared to times on my paceband, I tried to not get too wrapped up in it and looked around a lot at the scenery, the spectators and my surroundings. I was going to stay in the present!

11K: 6:18
12K: 6:15 Gu
13K: 6:41
14K: 6:18
15K: 6:20
16K: 6:37
17K: 6:19
18K: 6:18 Gu
19K: 6:37
20K: 6:23
21K: 6:16 Saltstick

Half marathon split - 2:18:10

22K - 32K
This part of the course would prove to be my favourite section. The spectators were pretty amazing and the run itself was peaceful, albeit challenging...there were some rollling hills in this section that were a bit brutal. I was so happy when I reached the turnaround part of the course (this is an out and back) and it was at this point that I thought you know what...I might just do this...this might really happen! Somewhere around the 25K point was when I saw Ben from over at Ben Does Life (here's his race recap). I've been following his blog for awhile and admire so much of what he's done and accomplished. Knowing his journey and how far he's come in the past few years, I had to say something, right? I clapped and yelled out "Hey Ben!" (ooh, I have a way with words, eh?  Ha!) and we high five'd as we passed each other. Cool!

I must say though...the best part of this race (besides the finish line, of course!) came at the 32K point. Hubs and my inlaws were going to be there to meet me, as well as KEW and A with those awesome "Go Wong" signs. As I headed up the slight hill towards where I knew they were going to be, I honestly couldn't get there fast enough. As I scanned the streets looking for them, I finally saw Hubs. I was feeling pretty fresh at this point still as you can see from my splits, so gave them a thumbs up and swooped in to give Hubs a quick kiss. As I continued down the street, I was looking for KEW and A but couldn't see them and was hoping that I didn't miss them. As I came close to the end of the block where I'd have to turn I spotted them and the flood of pent up emotions from the past few days came rushing out. Verklempt does not come close to describing how I felt, and we hugged each other through our tears. Feeling renewed, it was at this point that I realized I was going to finish this thing.

22K: 6:44
23K: 6:23
24K: 6:32 Gu
25K: 6:32
26K: 6:24
27K: 6:16
28K: 6:34
29K: 6:29
30K: 6:14 Gu
31K: 6:43
32K: 6:18

30K split - 3:16:17

33K - 42.2K
Having been buoyed by seeing friends and family, I continued on and thought this was too easy, I was feeling pretty good considering I'd been running for over three hours. Spoken way too soon, my friends...10 kilometres is a long way to go especially after running for 32 kilometres. This is where the true test of mental and physical toughness came. As I got to the 35K mark, my legs were so incredibly tired and my right calf was in danger of cramping and seizing up. I could feel it start to go but somehow kept it at bay, and my right knee was starting to ache terribly. I had to count down the kilometres one by one, and kept repeating my mantra "Go Wong" in my head along with each footstep, just to keep forging ahead. At 36K I was scheduled to take a Gu, and toyed with the idea of not taking it because at this point I was sooooo sick of taking these things. Even yummy flavours like mint chocolate were turning my stomach and I choked down half a gel before tossing it. Ugh.

The last stretch was along the water on Dallas Road, and while beautiful it was hot...the weather was gorgeous, but warm...and by this point it would be around 1pm so we were running at the warmest point of the day. As I came around to the 37K point, just moving was extremely difficult and I was inserting quick walk breaks in every few hundred metres or so. It was getting harder and harder to start running after taking a walk break and my legs were in agony, even though mentally I felt good still. The last few kilometres felt interminable and I had slowed down to a shuffle, as you can tell from my last splits.

When I finally saw that "1K" sign, it was everything I could do to keep going...but I could hear the cheering as I rounded the final corner to the finish line. This was it, and I was absolutely going to savour this moment. As I headed down the final stretch, people on both sides started to cheer, and I could feel tears spring to my eyes. I looked around to see if I could see Hubs and when I finally found him, I gave him a thumbs up and let out a big "wooohoooo!" As I came down the chute, I looked up and kept my eyes locked on what I've worked towards for the last year and a half, the finish line...and as I crossed the mats, I smiled and raised my arms in happiness and relief...I was a marathoner! The race director came over to shake my hand, and I even got a hug from Kathrine Switzer! If I'd been of a better frame of mind, I would have told her how amazing I thought she was. My friend A was handing out medals so I shuffled over to get my medal and my first post-race hug...it was so good to see a smiling face at the end!

The bling:

33K: 6:18
34K: 6:49
35K: 6:57
36K: 6:47 1/2 Gu
37K: 6:43
38K: 7:04 Ooow
39K: 7:25 I hurt bad
40K: 7:29 I must be effing insane
41K: 6:48 Everything hurts
42K: 7:17 Yes!

Time result - 4:40:56! I think this might change as my gun and chip time were posted as the same, and because I was at the back of the pack my chip time should be a bit shorter. We'll see what the final results are, but whatever...I'm thrilled with my time and I achieved my main goal of enjoying the race and finishing with a smile on my face. A lot of people will ask what my future race plans are and at this point, I'm not comtemplating another marathon anytime soon. I've got a few goals rolling around my head right now though so we'll see!

Now the big question...how am I feeling apres run? My legs are incredibly sore...I definitely have the marathon shuffle going on! Stairs are definitely difficult to negotiate, which should prove interesting at work tomorrow. Ha! Great news though...while I'm definitely sore, my foot held up beautifully and there's no hint of foot pain at all today. No chafing either, and I was happy to have avoided hitting the wall but I do have a very painful toenail that appears to be turning black underneath my pretty pink polish. Right after the race I wasn't hungry at all - I didn't eat much yesterday, but I'm making up for it today and hoovering up everything in sight...there are some benefits to running a marathon, right? Ha!

So since today is Thanksgiving, I'm going to give thanks for everyone who've supported me through the past 18 months of marathon craziness. All my friends, coworkers, family, people in the bloggie community and what I've dubbed "Team Wong" (my RMT, chiro, physio) are a big part of what helped get me to the finish line...but one person more than anyone else was key and that person was Hubs. When I was up at 5:00am to run, so was he. When I was out there for hours, he'd be with me on the bike riding behind me with my water and Gu. So thank you, Hubs...you are the absolute best.

Item #1 on my bucket list - done. On to some R&R in Maui in a few short day....bring on the mai tais!

I Am A Marathoner!

2011-10-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

I am soooo happy right now. On air. I feel fantastic...well, everything from the waist down is in absolute agony, but I'm alert and feel awesome! I did it - hit my goal of finishing upright, feeling great and enjoying the marathon from start to finish (OK, well the last 5K were brutal but I'll save that for the race recap). Chip time...4:40:56. My goal was 4:30, so not too bad! For my first marathon, I am more than thrilled. Going to enjoy dinner tonight for sure.

Look out for race recap to come your way shortly!

Marathon Eve

2011-10-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

So inspiring. I just went to the Speaker Series at the race expo, and listened to Steve King intervew Kathrine Switzer and Bart Yasso. Kathrine Switzer was amazing - she said a little something that hit it squarely on the head as to why running is more than just one step in front of another...it's that too, but it's also about the feeling of self empowerment, self confidence and self esteem that you get from it. So, so true. She truly was a pioneer in women's running and was recently inducted into the National Womens' Hall of Fame for activating social change...she was in good company, with the likes of people like Rosa Parkes! Seeing Bart Yasso was pretty cool too...every runner has heard of the Yasso 800s, right? He's the "Chief Running Officer" at Runner's World, and had his own moving stories about how running has come to embody social change and the sense of community and inclusion. When it came to the question and answer period, a newbie marathoner asked for the one piece of advice that either of them had for first timers, and both Bart and Kathrine said to not set expectations and to just enjoy the event. Seeing as these are two of the greats of running, I'm going to listen to them fully and just go out there and enjoy the reward for all the training over the past 18 weeks.

Plans for tonight? A quiet night at home with the family and just some general R&R. So I guess this is it, eh? When you hear from me next time, I'll be a marathoner. I'm on a total roller coaster of emotions but I'm ready to get 'er done at this point! If anyone is so inclined, here is the link to the race site where you can go to watch the race live, or here's the link to the race results! I hope to be crossing the finish line anywhere between 1 - 2pm, and bib number is 1703. I'm going to end this post with a quote from my fave, Oprah:

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."

Catch you all on the flip side!

Stats

2011-10-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

So because I'm an accountant and a total numbers geek, I thought it'd be cool to put together some stats on the journey to the marathon. It's weird...it feels like I've been doing this forever and that it went by fast, all at the same time. I guess I'm a little sad that the training is over, because as you know I'm a goal-oriented kinda gal and I love having something to work towards...I've already got my mind whirling as to what the next running goal is gonna be...it's never ending, right?

So here goes...in 18 weeks...

- 569 kilometres
- 65 hours running
- 50 runs
- 20 bootcamp sessions
- 8 bike sessions
- 3 pairs of shoes
- 25 bananas eaten on long run days
- 15 Gu's
- 7 physio sessions
- 4 chiro sessions
- 3 massages
- 3 immune booster shots

No wonder I'm totally looking forward to kicking back and just chilling in Maui! Heh. Can't wait to get to that start line.

The Wall

2011-10-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

ZOMG. Someone take the internet away from me.

So because I'm all in taper mode and have all this free time on my hands now that I'm chilling out, I'm all over the interwebz, reading about people's first time marathon experience's and it's scaring the shit out of me. I'm sure it's kinda like having kids, right? You know what they say, that within minutes of having the kid, you forget the pain and would do it again in a second?! I'm kinda hoping that's the case because for the most part, these people who were writing about their horrific first marathon/hitting the wall experiences lived to tell the tale and run many more after that.

Turning off computer NOW.

Multiple Things Monday

2011-10-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

OK...where do I start? I have so many things to blabber on about and my mind is all over the place right now that I'm just gonna talk about it all!

1. Go Wong Go

So back last year when I was going through attempt #1 at training for a marathon, my motivation started to wane a bit and I posted about how meh I was feeling about the whole marathon gig. It was hard, it was hot, wah wah wah, whine whine whine. Well...it's through times like that when you find out who your friends are. One of my besties A read my post, and sent me a homemade card that I use as daily motivation because I tell ya...there are days when I didn't really want to go out and run and I thought what have I gotten myself into? I look at that card all.the.time. Well, A and her little girl KEW are going to cheer me on at the 32K point of the run, with these signs that are big versions of my card:

Seriously. Are these not the best? These were posted on my Facebook, and as soon as I saw them I got all verklempt. I told you I was going to be a mess in the last few days, didn't I?

Aren't these great? I can't wait to see them. Thanks guys, can't tell you how much this means.

2. Final Physio

Holy, I'm all about the alliteration today aren't I? Ha! I went to see my awesome and amazing physio today for the last time before the race, and told her about my foot and lower leg pain. She was pretty happy with how I was moving and pinpointed a few spots that she thought were causing my issues. Out came the needles, and she released muscles in my calf, bum and front thigh that were causing tightness and pulling on my foot. After the needles, pain and achiness are gone! My physio has been the main reason why I've gotten to within days of the race relatively injury free and I'm so thankful I found her. She's a marathoner as well, so I asked for her advice and she definitely said to not go out too fast, to just go out there and experience it. Definitely must find her a nice thank you gift.

3. Five More Days

Gaaaaahhhhh! I'm so excited. And scared. And anxious. But most of all, I'm just looking forward to experiencing the day. They say that the marathon is the reward for all your training, and it's kinda true. The tough part really is the training and I just want to get to the race already! The one thing I want to make sure I do is really experience it and stay in the present so I can remember it. Honestly, that's the one thing I regret about my wedding day because I was so rushed and anxious that I didn't stop to look around and really feel the moment...I can barely remember anything about the ceremony and had to ask Hubs about it after. Plus I gotta remember it all so I can blog about it after, right? Ha!

4. Race Expo

Race expo this weekend, and it should be a great one. Bart Yasso and Kathrine Switzer is going to be there as speakers...KATHRINE SWITZER, people! For those of you who don't know who she is, she was the first female to run Boston...and the race director Jock Semple actually ran onto the course and tried to grab her while yelling "get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!"...luckily her boyfriend was there and ran interference for her so she could continue on with the race....

Yes...women were not allowed to race Boston previously...in fact it wasn't recommended for women to run at all because your uterus might fall out or something redonkulous. Can't wait to hear her speak. And yeah, and Bart too. Kidding! Bart is pretty awesome as well.

5. Germies Go Away

I am immune boosting like it's my job...so many people around me are sick right now! Just need to stay healthy. So if I run away from you covering my face, it's not that I don't love you or anything...I just can't get sick right now.

6. Taper Madness

OK, I gotta say...I am having NO problems with taper madness...in fact, I'm greatly enjoying this last week where I'm barely running at all (comparatively speaking) and I'm not going to any bootcamps (just in case, to avoid tweaking any muscles). I can sit back and chill and not even feel guilty! And I'm allowed to up my carb intake. What's not to love about taper time?

Phew! OK, think I'm done.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 17 Recap

2011-10-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhh. Had a massage this morning and I gotta say...if I won the lotto, I would be gettin' one of those at least once a week. Heck, daily. I love a good massage, and the girl who worked on me this morning (apologies to my regular girl, but I had to get one today) was amazing...almost as good as my usual RMT, and wasn't afraid to get in there and really work the knots out. I've tried a few other RMTs that weren't bad, but I found that they just didn't press hard enough and I came out feeling no different than when I walked in. Just cuz I'm little doesn't mean I'm some kind of delicate Asian lotus blossom...sheesh!

Well...one more recap to go. I'm almost a little sad because my first marathon is the premise of this blog, but there'll be other goals to achieve, right? There are plenty of PBs left in me and lots of inane observations on life and recipes to review, so I'll still be kicking around on the interwebz for awhile. And who knows...I may get addicted to marathoning *sneaking sideways glance at Hubs*....

Sunday - rest day

Monday - stationery bike 20 minutes
I jammed on bootcamp...my foot was still bugging me from Saturday's run, so I decided to be conservative and let it rest by doing a quick workout on the bike.

Tuesday - rest day

Wednesday - 6K treadmill run

Thursday - 6K treadmill run
I was in Vancouver for work for a big convention, and got to stay a really nice hotel, the Fairmont Waterfront. Now when I checked out the amenities, it said first class gym...and it actually was. Yay! I carted my butt up out of bed early-ish to go down and do a quick treadmill run, and then ordered up some room service as I wanted to make sure I got a good meal in rather than just grabbing some scone or some big sugar bomb as we were going to busy working a tradeshow booth at the convention. It's funny, because I absolutely cannot go without eating breakfast anymore. I was never, ever, ever a breakfast eater, but Hubs totally changed that. When he found out I didn't eat breakfast, he was aghast...and would have to cajole me into eating it. Now, I have to eat something healthy and hearty to start off my day or I'm a mess. See, even old dogs can learn new tricks!

Friday - bootcamp

Saturday - 16K 13K run, at race pace
According to our training schedules, we were supposed to do our runs this week at race pace...eek! I've not run anything remotely close to race pace in months, so I was a little apprehensive. My overall pace for a 4:30 finish is either 6:24/km overall or 6:09/km walk adjusted (meaning that if I take walk breaks, I have to run a bit faster when I'm actually running). Gah. Because the Running Room program does 10 and 1's and I'm doing something more like a 20 and 1 (which works out to be every 3K where the aid stations are), I figured that my pace needed to be about 6:15/km when I'm running to average to a 6:24/km pace overall once I throw in the walk breaks.

Hubs took off ahead of me, as he was going for a 6:00/km pace...so I started off to what I thought was a conservative pace. As I looked down at my Garmin, I kept seeing times below 6:00/km. It was really, really hard to lock in my target pace of 6:15/km...and by the end of the run, I checked my average pace and it was 6:14/km, so 10 seconds per kilometre too fast even incorporating walk breaks. Now the theory goes for every second you go too fast initially, you'll slow down by double that at the end...so I really need to figure out my pacing or I'm gonna be in a bit of trouble come the latter stages of the race.

So the big question is...how is the foot feeling? Truthfully - not great right now. It's sore and achy, and everything below my knee is a dull ache. I have an appointment with my physio on Monday, so I'm hoping the last round of IMS will help release all my muscles to give me some more cushioning/movement to get through the race. It's not unbearable, and nowhere near how it felt last year...all I need is for it to hold out next week and I'm golden. I just have a few short runs left and then it's "off my feet" mode until Sunday.

Eight more sleeps, kids.

Bubble Girl

2011-09-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

Gah. Today I was feeling a bit out of control - there's a lot to do that has to happen over the next week or so...appointments (chiro, physio, final immune booster, massage), training (still have a few short runs to do), errands/clean house/prep house for family visit, last minute race prep (charge garmin/ipod, make pace bracelet, create playlist), prep Thanksgiving dinner, cook two week's worth of food (there ain't no cookin' happening next week!)...the list goes on and on. Oh yeah, and of course work...and then at the end of all this I gotta run a marathon! I was feeling out of sorts because I'm a "planner" so don't like the feeling of the unknown...so of course my trusty lists came out and everything started spilling out of my pea brain. I planned out each day and what I needed to get done, so this will be my bible until race day so I don't even have to think...I gotta just do it. I've plunked it all into my handy dandy iPhone, and will delete things off as I do them. Ahhh...I already feel better!

So a tiny bit of a problem today but nothing major...or at least I'm not gonna make it major. Back/neck went out again this morning...I think it's been a combo of not watching my body positioning and the not-so-hot bed I slept in on Wednesday night (I was in Vancouver for work...and saw a little group called Kings of Leon...woop woop!! Coldplay, I still love you the most but the Kings are pretty effing awesome), and my upper back was absolutely aching. Complete agony, I tell you. I did a bunch of self massage, stretching and put heat on it, and last night it started to feel better until I got up this morning. I could feel one of my ribs had come out of place as it unfortunately happens a lot, so I know all the telltale symptoms. Nooo! This is one of my biggest fears, as this has been so bad that I can barely get out of bed without help...so I got myself in to see my chiro today and got snapped back into place. I booked a chiro appointment for the day before the race as a pre-emptive strike just in case...I'm so totally going to keep this appointment for sure, given what happened today. And now I'm even more paranoid as M twisted her ankle earlier in the week, and her arch is feeling sore and bruised, poor thing. Le sigh.

Seriously...where is the bubble wrap?

Marathon Challenge

2011-09-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

I saw this cool video over at Jessica's blog (thanks!) the other day and had to re-blog it...it's a short documentary called Marathon Challenge done by Nova, and it follows a group of 13 sedentary people (herein dubbed Team Nova) and their journey to complete the Boston Marathon in 40 weeks. As usual, Nova does an awesome job - they go through explaining some of the basic concepts in running and what happens in the body physiologically as health improves. I loved it! So motivating.

Here's the link - it's about an hour, so go get yourself a tea and cookies and make yourself comfy.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/marathon-challenge.html

PS. 10 more days. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

You Are My Sunshine

2011-09-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

Is it wrong that I'm looking at the weather already?

I know the weather is always wrong...but I'm praying to the weather and running gods that this forecast is right. It'd be better if it was just a titch cooler as well - but I ain't gonna get picky at this point and just want the weather to stay dry with no wind. I'm full of nervous energy - I'm trying to write down everything I need to do in the next 11 days to make sure I don't miss anything. And it doesn't help that I'm reading all these running forums, and hearing about all the horrible stories of people hitting the wall. I'm like those hypochondriacs that read about illnesses on the interweb and are convinced that they're dying. Ha! I guess at this point all I can do is trust in my training and not start out too fast...easier said than done.

I get the feelin' that I'm going to be visiting the Weather Network a LOT in the next week and a half.

'Tinis and Toes

2011-09-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

So tonight I went to one of my besties B's house for this cool little fundraiser for the CIBC Run for the Cure called 'Tinis and Toes...it's kind of a networking/meet other women in business kinda thing, but what you do is you pay a fee but in return you get a mini pedi (nails trimmed, filed, polished), a pink martini (I managed to stay on the wagon and had cranberry juice, bah), a gift bag, nibblies and raffles for prizes. Coolness! I was kinda hesitant at first to do anything with my feet after my debacle with Mr. Podiatrist Man last year, but once I found out that it was basically just some filing and polish, I was in like flynn.

See my pretty pink toes? Look, I even have all my toenails! And so far, none of them have turned black...yet (knock on wood). And yes...my second toe is monstrously longer than my big toe....it's actually almost as long as my pinky. Yep, I'm a circus freak but I like to think it helps me with my push off...well... that's my story anyways and I'm stickin' to it.

Think the pink will make me faster for the marathon?

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 16 Recap

2011-09-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

Two weeks from now at this very time I'll have finished my marathon (I can't believe how fast time is moving)...and will hopefully be stuffed full and sleepy fromThanksgiving dinner, dessert and vino. The inlaws are coming over to Vic to cheer me on and we've hosted Thanksgiving dinner every year for both our families for as long as I can remember, so I couldn't not host again this year as I didn't want to disappoint everyone. It's one of the very few opportunities that we have during the year to get everyone together from both sides, and it'll be so nice to have family around to help us celebrate (or commiserate!) on the day's events. Now before you call me nuts for making dinner after running a marathon, we're not doing a full out turkey dinner but having roast chicken, manicotti, salad and some kind of dessert...all of which is going to be prepped a few days before so all we have to do is put it in the oven and let it cook while I convalesce on the couch, sipping some port or scotch (oh sweet sweet scotch, how I've missed you so!).

Without further delay - this week's workouts:

Sunday - rest day
Strangely, I felt pretty good after the 32K run - a little sore, but not bad at all.

Monday - bootcamp
Legs and more legs...Sarge worked us over and it was all lower body. I think next Monday will be the last bootcamp I do and will do some short runs the last week before the race, just to avoid getting sore as my legs were pretty stiff on Tuesday. I had my second to last visit with my physio, and once again she's pretty happy with how I'm progressing. I had felt some pains around my knee on Saturday's run, so she did her IMS magic on me to release some of the muscles. Still thinking about what to get for her for all her help, and I think flowers with a gift card for dinner out somewhere delicious would be perfect.

Tuesday - rest day

Wednesday - 6K run outside
I know Hubs isn't going to miss these anymore - ha! I actually like running in the morning when it's so quiet and peaceful, but it's pretty dark and in some sections it's hard to see the ground...this makes me nervous as I really don't want to twist an ankle or something stupid. Seriously, I need to wrap myself in bubble wrap.

Thursday - 6K treadmill
This was hard. I really didn't feel like getting up and running, so I made a deal with myself that if after ten minutes I didn't feel like staying on, I could stop. Honestly, I was dragging my ass through the whole thing and was practically speed walking, but I did it. Barely.

Friday - bootcamp
Yowza. A tough class because I was feeling really tired and worn out, but got paired up with another girl who was faster than me so I really had to push myself to keep up. We were doing some hill work, and there was one time where I kind of had that vague I-might-puke kinda feeling. In the end I was glad though, because I ended up being pushed instead of dragging my butt like I did the day before.

Saturday - ~~23K~~ ~~21K~~ 20K
Woot! My second to last Saturday long run. I met up with M downtown at our office as she wanted to run the half marathon route, which was perfect. I was supposed to do 23K, so a half marathon was close enough. Another one of our coworkers A wanted to join us, so once we all got to the office, off we went. We ended up running quite a bit faster than what we had been - my LSD target pace per the Running Room training is supposed to be 7:08 - 8:00/km, but I've been running in the 6:30-6:45 target range...I think for the first few kilometres on Saturday's run we ended up running around 5:45 - 6:00/km! This was a lot faster than what I was used to...and my foot started to complain and definitely was not happy with me. By the end, it was aching and it's been reminding me all day how unhappy it is with me right now so I'm icing, massaging and am going to take tomorrow off bootcamp and do a workout on the stationery bike instead to give the foot a rest. I definitely don't need anything to flare up at this point! Anyways, we ended up getting a bit lost on the route so were a bit short and ended up only doing 20K, which at this point was completely A-OK by me! Funny, I seem to get way more tired on the shorter runs than I do the longer ones...hope this bodes well for the marathon. Heh.

1703

2011-09-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

Holy crap. I've got an official bib number now. Shit's getting real! Apparently the number 1703 is good according to numerology...1+7+0+3 = 11, and 11 is the most mystical number of all and stands for balance, fulfillment and vision. Cool! I'll take it as a sign of good things to come.

Officially

2011-09-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

Seventeen days left to go. I am officially shitting myself now. Don't get me wrong...I'm totally excited....but I can't believe that the day is so close! I will admit...I felt a small frisson of nervousness today when I made the realization that the race was right around the corner. So many things to think about!

Deep breath.

A Day In the Life

2011-09-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

So I was inspired to write this post by something that happened to me this weekend, when I had an epiphany of sorts. As I've mentioned before, Saturdays are our "off" days, where we can eat what we like within reason and if we've eaten clean the whole week...after doing the Ten Pound Challenge, I've scaled these back a lot so I'll let myself have what I want without going totally off the hook, as Guy Fieri would say. After our long run on Saturday, Hubs and I were hungry and rummaging around the house for something to eat.

Enter Lipton's Sidekicks.

We bought these awhile ago because if you've seen the commercials, we wanted Salty, the salt shaker...you had to buy a bunch of these things to get the UPC code. See, isn't he cute?!

Sooo...because we've got nothing else to eat, we boil up two packs. Keep in mind, I've never, ever had these before. OK, truthfully? These things don't taste that bad. But after the first few mouthfuls, it totally hit me...people eat these things every day. Every single day! Full of white processed flour, chemicals and other garbage, these things hit people's dinner tables more often than I'd like to think, judging by the space these things take up on the grocery store shelf. The thought of this actually made me sad, because convenient, processed crap is being eaten constantly and fed to children and people think it's OK. Hubs was grossed out, and said that we should give the remaining packages away to the food bank to which I replied that I didn't think I could as they're so devoid of nutrition or anything even remotely redeeming. I started to think back to how we used to eat - lots of processed foods, those horrible frozen chicken cutlets (which Hubs fondly called rat meat cutlets) and nary a vegetable in sight - to current days, where we focus on eating whole foods. That's when the inspiration hit me - I get asked a lot about what I eat, so thought what better than to post pics of an average food day:

A typical breakfast for me is usually either multigrain toast or bagel, with avocado or peanut butter and a bit of jam...

Or a package of Nature's Path organic hemp oatmeal mixed with soy milk, a spoonful of Skinny B or Holy Crap and some kind of chopped fruit. Occasionally I throw in some peanut butter for extra protein and healthy fats. I always have a big glass of Greens+ extra energy blend, and my daily supplements (multivitamin, fish oil, CLA, coenzyme Q10 and vitamin D)...

Mmmm...

Around 10-ish I usually get peckish, so I have a handful of nuts...

Lunch time! Usually a whole wheat wrap with some kind of protein (chicken breast or tuna with dijon and low fat mayo), fruit and cut veggies...

Mid-afternoon I sometimes have a snack - today I had a Clif bar but most days I have a piece of fruit...

Dinner time varies a lot depending on what I've made, but today I had a homemade burger made with extra lean ground beef on a whole wheat thintini, roasted zucchini and some cherry tomatoes (from my dad's garden, no less!)...

Dessert is usually some kind of fresh fruit...strawberries today....

Yum! And yes, that's a cookbook on the table - I bought the Best of Anne Lindsay a while ago, and was perusing it during dinner:

That's it! I wholly subscribe to the theory that you are what you eat, and avoid pre-made, processed foods - whole foods are where it's at! Lean protein, whole grains and lots of fruits and veggies. Yesssss.

Spirit of the Marathon Redux

2011-09-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

I posted this last year, but just watched it again for a little inspiration.

Love this clip...seriously gives me chills watching it.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 15

2011-09-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

TAPER TIME!! *in Oprah voice*

Can you believe it?! I have 20 more days to go....less than three weeks until the race, and I'm busting right out into taper mode at the moment. So many important things to take care of - making sure I keep myself healthy in all aspects, figuring out what my race strategy is going to be, and deciding on what I'm going to wear. I'm praying to the running gods that we have a good day - I would be happy if it was cool, dry and not windy but we'll see what we end up getting....I just gotta roll with it.

Without further delay - this week's recap:

Sunday - rest day
Yesssssss! Much needed rest day...I was feeling pretty tired and sore after the tough 29er that we had the day before.

Monday - bootcamp
Yipeeee! Glad to be back at bootcamp and see my buddy D. Sarge was teaching...and she was on fire, I tell ya. It was all legs...she took us to a hill and made us sprint or do exercises up and down...and once we finished the hill torture, we did all sorts of plyo, lunges, squats. I just knew I was going to be sore the next day.

Physio that night after work - she's pretty happy with how I'm doing, but I was tight in my back so she killed me with needles all in my middle and lower spine. I was just about to say I couldn't take any more when she finished up. Again, I know it's all for the greater good but I'm not gonna lie - I'm going to be really, really glad when I don't have to do IMS anymore!

Tuesday - rest day
Yep. I was sore all right. Ha!

Wednesday - 6K run outside
Wow, is it ever dark out now. Glad that there's only a few more weeks to go, as it's pretty hard to run when you can barely see the ground.

Thursday - 6K treadmill run
On the road again...had to head to Kamloops for work, and had looked into the place I was staying to see if they had a gym. Wheee, yes they did...and the website said it was first class. Excellent! After going to a dinner banquet that was at the conference I was attending, I headed off to the gym for a late night workout. Um....I gotta say, "first class gym" is a bit of an overstatement to say the least. The first treadmill I got on was stuck on an incline, and it kept jerking and speeding up unexpectedly. Grrrr. I moved on to the other treadmill, and luckily that was better, thank goodness. For whatever reason, the heat was just pumping in that room so I was sweating buckets, but I pounded out the run, did some pushups and tricep dips to get in some upper body work and then headed back to the room to shower up and get some sleep.

Friday - rest day
Flew back to Victoria, and was really tired after a late night and an early morning. I was going to do a quick workout, but knew I had a big run the next day and decided to save my legs and energy for Saturday.

Saturday - 32K run
OMG...so excited that this is the last really, really long run that I've got scheduled. Next week is 23K...but that actually feels short by comparison. Crazy, right? Hubs and I met up with M at 7am, and we ran the trail by our house. It was perfect weather - nice and cool - finally! I love the sunny weather, but it's pretty hard to run when temps get really warm. We ran 18K with M, did a couple more kilometres to get to 20K for Hubs, and then we went back home and I finished the remaining 12K doing the loop around my house. Now I don't know what it was - what I ate on Friday (a lot of carbs), the cooler weather or what the key factor was, but I felt good. Even...dare I say...great? When we left M, I couldn't believe how good I felt after having run for 18K. As I continued on, I did feel a slight twinge on my right knee so stopped a few times to stretch it out...but still felt like I had something in the tank after finishing the run and being on my feet for close to four hours. I've been running 6:30 - 6:45/km splits and my last few splits were around the 6:15/km range. What is up with that?! I walked back home (even up the monster hill!) and didn't crash like I have been in the afternoon. Hubs and I went out and got some dinner and rented a movie that night, and it was only at around 9-ish that I got tired so we headed off to bed early at around 10pm. I'm pretty sore today though...legs are achy, back is a bit sore, but going to concentrate on lots of stretching to stay limber.

Twenty more days to go. I can't wait.

So True

2011-09-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

I like this. A lot.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 14 Recap

2011-09-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

O.M.G. It's really starting to feel real now...less than 30 days to go...eek! Like I said in my last post, I'm a bundle of emotions, but mostly I'm just really, really excited and can't wait for the day to come. Just recently I've had some support from unexpected places that's really buoyed my motivation and my spirits as I head into the final stretch. At last week's block BBQ, Hubs was talking to one of our neighbours and for whatever reason, had mentioned to him that I was training for a marathon. Said neighbour yells out to me and asks when I'm running my race, and of course everyone stops talking and all eyes turn to look at me...gaaaahhh. As I've mentioned before, I don't like to talk about it except in bloggieland...I think mostly because I don't want to seem like I'm trying to show off or brag or do the whole "lookatme, lookatme!!" thing, which isn't my style. I was immediately uncomfortable and squirmy...but he was just trying to be supportive, and said that if he wasn't busy with Thanksgiving that he and his wife wanted to come out and cheer me on. Then yesterday morning I was heading out the door to meet M for a run, and my other neighbour was just heading out the door.   We were joking around because she said she was feeling guilty that I was going for a run and she was going to be sitting in a chair getting her hair done...and she said that she thought it was great and wanted to tell me how much she admired me for training for a marathon. Yes...I did get a little verklempt as I got in the car...kinda touching when people show that kind of support and it's so unexpected. It's funny, sometimes the people that you think will be supportive, aren't...and the ones that you're not expecting it from, completely surprise you. Can I say again how much I love my hood?

So here's this week's workouts:

Sunday - 6K run - treadmill
Normally Sunday is a rest day, but I was going to be travelling during the week for work so knew I wouldn't get all my workouts in if I didn't work out on Sunday. And...I was feeling pretty guilty about Week 13's lack of workouts too, so wanted to make sure I had a good week.

Monday - 30 mins stationary bike

Tuesday - 6K run - outside
Off to Terrace for a conference for work...everything went great, except the fact that I started to feel sick when I got to my hotel room (OK, and the fire alarm that went off at 1:30am and we had to evacuate but whatevs). It was another wave of the "almost sick" thing that's been happening a lot to me lately, but luckily my hotel was a five minute walk away from a Save On Foods so I trundled off and picked up a bunch of extra strength Cold F/X and orange juice. Must have worked because I felt a lot better the next day. Yesssss.

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - rest
Went for another immune booster shot from my naturopath...much needed given how I've been feeling!

Friday - bootcamp
Been ages since I've been so felt great to get back to it. I've haven't been for a few weeks for some reason or another, but sure made a difference as I really felt sore in my abs and calves.   Doesn't take long to lose fitness!

Saturday - 29K run
Second to last long run before taper! Yeeeehaw. Hubs had to be downtown at 9am so we decided to run separately - he ran the loop around our house, and I did the treadmill for 13K and met M at 8am to finish off the remaining 16K. I won't lie, the 16K run was haaarrrrd...it was a hilly route and there wasn't a lot of cover from the sun so it was pretty hot...but glad that I did it because the Goodlife Victoria route has a lot of rolling hills so any training that might help me is welcome.  I'm glad it's over though...heh.

Right foot felt great...but left foot was bugging me this time. Gah! We did a ton of stairs at bootcamp, so my calves were tight and I think causing a chain reaction in my foot. Will check things out at my physio appointment on Monday. One more 30+ long run to go - 32K this coming weekend, and then bring on taper time!

Thirty

2011-09-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

Whoa.

Eeeek.

Gulp.

I can't believe it. I have 30 more days to go until the marathon. I'm excited, scared and nervous, all at the same time. It's weird because 30 days feels like such a short time and a long time, all at once...so much can happen in 30 days, but months seem to go by in a blink of an eye and I know it's going to be here before I know it. Craziness.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 13 Recap

2011-09-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

Again...loooove the long weekends. So far, it's been a pretty laid back weekend for us...a wedding dinner last night (replete with a lion dance, no less!) and a block BBQ with the peeps on our cul de sac. I gotta say...I love the hood I live in. Yes, I live on a postage stamp size lot...and yes, I can practically touch the house next door to me. But the area is lovely, we get deer/quail/bats/bunnies/you name it in our backyard, and we get together at least three times a year for various get togethers. We all moved in at around the same time as this was a new development, so the first year we decided to get together and do a block Christmas party, and we've never looked back since. This is a big change from where we used to live, when we couldn't sleep with out windows open at night because it was so insanely noisy and people would take my planters and smash them. Le sigh.

Sooo...this week was less than stellar for working out...

Sunday - rest day

Monday - 30 minute stationery bike
Yep, I sluffed off on bootcamp. My legs were feeling so tired from the last long run, and truth be told I just wasn't feeling it. Aaaand...D wasn't going to be there either so I decided to ride the stationery bike for some cross training to save some pounding on my legs. Now I can run for hours at a time without stopping...but I could barely keep going on the bike for more than 10 minutes at a time! Seriously...I guess that's why it's so good to cross train as your body just gets used to doing one thing.

Tuesday - rest day
Argh. Woke up feeling like ass, so we skipped our morning run. Piss me off. Had physio and IMS galore. Overall my foot feels pretty good, but there definitely is some residual soreness. I'm still collapsing in on my right leg, so she finetuned an exercise she had given me the prior week even more, to really get those muscles working and so I can get the sensation of what it feels like to not collapse inward. Seriously, it's so hard to remember all these things. I've got three more appointments...one on the 17th, another on the 24th and then the last one on the 4th of October.

Wednesday - rest day
IMS on Tuesday, so no running. Which was run as I was still not feeling great.

Thursday - 30 minutes treadmill
Finally! Feeling better so did a quick run in the morning.

Friday - 23K run
Hubs and I wanted to do our long run early so we could chill the whole weekend. We ran this all downtown, and I was dogging it...really tired, and my right leg was giving me some grief. My right shin started to burn within the first 2K and I had to stop to stretch/rub it out. Then I kept getting twinging sharp nerve type pain in my calf. Then the ball of my foot started to hurt. Bah! We ended up cutting the run short because Hubs was so tired (silly goose didn't take a gel so bonked!) and it was getting dark and it was hard to see. I think we did 21.8K altogether, so whatevs.

Saturday - rest day

Back on track this week. Feeling healthy again, as we've made sure to get lots of sleep this weekend. My right leg wasn't happy with me after the long run on Friday...the whole thing ached, so I've been stretching and rollering the crap out of it. Just three more long runs to go - 29K, 32K and 23K coming up...and then taper. I'll definitely be running pretty conservatively to save my foot/leg, as all I want now is just to get to the race. 34 more days.

Let the Long Weekend Begin

2011-09-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

It's done...23K finished. Well OK...22K because poor Hubs bonked, it was getting dark (we finished at 8:45pm) and my right leg was giving me no end of grief. Bleh. This run was by far harder than last week's, and it was shorter! I think it's a combo of evening run, not feeling great and just being tired. So tired and the run totally and completely killed any appetite we had, so we both could barely eat our dinner! No wonder elite runners are so darn skinny. We're going to our favourite spot for a nice greasy breakfast before I go clean for this last month - I'm sure my appetite will be back with a vengeance in the morning.

Must.sleep.now.

Race Plan Take Two

2011-09-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

Funny how things run full circle. Today I started thinking about what my plans were for the race and all the preparations leading up to the big day so I could write a blog post about it. As I was about to start this post, I thought I'd check out what was happening this time last year...I was curious to see what was I going through one year ago and what was going on in my little mind. And you know what...I wrote my race plan last year on the exact same day. Freeeakky! Anyways, as I read through last year's plan, I thought damn...it was pretty good! So a lot of it was cut and paste with a few tweaks...here goes:

Starting September 5th:
- cut out alcohol completely
- no junk food (goodbye chips and meat in a tube - we'll see you in a month)
- cut out dairy
- no refined sugar
- eggs at most once a week
- supplements daily
- get at least 7 hours sleep a night
- stretch/roller legs nightly
- do exercises daily
- 2L water daily

Pre-Race Preparation:
- 1 Nuun every day for one week leading up to the race
- Hydrate min 3L/day for one week leading up to the race
- Minimum 8 hours sleep for one week leading up to race, go to bed extra early Friday night before race (apparently, the sleep you get two nights before the race is most important)
- Cold F/X, echinacea, Vitamin C and oil of oregano every day for 10 days leading up to the race
- Last physio appointment scheduled for October 4th
- Book appointment for an immune booster one week before race

Nutrition:
- Gu gels, Espresso flavour (2x caffeine) - 1 Gu 15 mins before start, 1 Gu every 6K after
- Bring one pack of Gu Chomps (just in case I need a pick me up without needing to take a full gel)
- 1 Saltstick capsule at the beginning, 1 capsule halfway through (bring one extra)
- Get up in middle of night and eat small meal
- Banana and nutella before race

Hydration:
- Water at each aid station (approx. every 3K) - will not be wearing water belt

Pace:
- Walk through each aid station
- 6:30 min/km target - this pace should mean a 4 1/2 hour finish time

Gear:
- Lululemon Turbo running shorts
- Underarmour singlet
- iPod

Post-Run:
- go get a big hug from Hubs and maybe cry a little bit (OK, a lot)
- massage booked for three days after race
- stuff my face full of Thanksgiving dinner, at least two helpings of dessert and a celebratory alcoholic beverage
- head to Maui one week after race - HELLZ YEAH!

Verklempt

2011-08-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Aaaaah, Coffee Talk. Damn, I love SNL...it's where I discovered one of my favourite words of all time, verklempt. I admit...lately I've been getting verklempt a lot...whenever I hear anyone refer to Jack Layton's passing (hoo boy, here I go again....love, hate or meh about his politics, he was a good man), when I think about the Canucks Game 7 loss (yes people, I'm still not over it, OK?!) and today when I was talking to a coworker about the marathon.

It all started innocently enough...she was asking me how my physio appointment went yesterday, and I said that my physio is really happy with how I'm doing and after three more appointments I should be set to race. I don't know what it was...maybe the act of actually saying out loud that this might really happen made me get all choked up. Sure...I've written alllll about Marathon Quest 2011...but I really don't talk about it much. I've been so cautious and hesitant about getting ahead of myself and still remember so vividly the disappointment of last year, that I've been reluctant to discuss it with anyone. My physio and I had a good talk about this - did I tell you she is at once, awesome and amazing? She used to be an avid runner until she was sidelined with problems that she said were reminscent of mine, and is just getting herself back up to 30 minutes of road running after about 6 years. She said that she is the same with her venture back into running, that she was reluctant to get too excited...just in case. If I do this (see...being cautious again), I'm going to get something special for my physio for not only helping me complete one of the biggest and most important goals I've ever set for myself, but for being so supportive during the last year. A lot of people may see me attempting a marathon as just the physical act of running a race, but it really encompasses so much more. It's doing something that I never, ever would have dreamed about doing, and symbolizes how far I've come from that unhealthy (and pretty unhappy) person I was. She totally gets that, which is so great to have that type of support system. I'll have to do some stealthy probing to see what she likes over my next few visits with her...muahahaha.

So anyways...if you think I'm all weepy now, just wait until the weeks, days, minutes and seconds until race day....you guys ain't seen nothing yet. Oy vey...getting all verklempt now...talk amongst yourselves...

Bugger Off Germs

2011-08-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

The title of this post says it all, eh? Funny how things work...yesterday I was sitting at my desk thinking "Wow...isn't this awesome? I've run three long runs, and I'm feeling great! I haven't been feeling sick or anything. This time last year, I got so run down and was sick on the long weekend. That sure was a bummer."

Famous last words.

No sooner did I get home and sit on the couch when my head started to feel funny, I felt a tickle in my nose, I had slight chills whenever I moved and my throat felt tight. Nooooooooo! I slammed down a bunch of Cold FX, megadosed on vitamin C, and took multiple shots of an immune booster my naturopath gave me to take for "acute episodes". Hubs and I went to bed early, and in the middle of the night I woke up totally feeling like ass and wasn't sure if I was going to make it to work even. And on top of that, I couldn't stay asleep because I was hungry - anyone who is marathon training ever have that happen? After a snack, I finally fell into a deep sleep which I think was the key...when I woke up I felt a lot better.

Because I was feeling so crappy, I decided to skip my morning run...it totally pained me to do it, but I thought you know...one day off won't kill me, and the rest is better than pushing it. I totally feel racked with guilt, but I know it was the right thing to do. Gah. Anyways, for breakfast I made myself a protein shake packed full of fruit, Vegegreens protein powder (one serving equivalent to eating a whack of veggies) and L-glutamine (good for immune system plus muscle recovery), a Greens+ drink, and 13 pills to take (combo of my regular supplements and Cold FX/vitamin C et al as previously mentioned).

Must have done the trick, because right now I'm not feeling too shabby. Crisis averted...at least for now.

Forty

2011-08-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

YES! Forty more days to go until the marathon. Five more long runs until taper. Ten more bananas with nutella. Twenty more gels. Twelve more salt tablets. One more pair of shoes. And 185 kilometres left to run until I cross that finish line.

But who's counting?

Dream Big?

2011-08-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

Beth over at Shut Up and Run has inspired another post for me today. She had this great post about times when she's been told that she couldn't or shouldn't do something...her first example being moving to Africa (which she didn't), and her second example of being told that Boston was not in the cards for her due to a stress fracture (which she did). At the end of her post, she asked...

"Have you ever been told you couldn’t/shouldn’t do something you dreamed of? How did you react?"

In her mind, you can react one of two ways - believe them and prove them right, or believe in yourself and prove them wrong. Hmmm...

The first situation that came to my mind was when I was in my early twenties, and admittedly pretty sheltered. My parents were extremely overprotective, which is very typical of a strict Chinese upbringing. I'd been floundering in what I wanted to do for school, and started becoming interested in nutrition (even though in hindsight, I knew nothing about it) and wanted to go to school to become a registered dietician. This would involve me going to Vancouver, which my parents roundly and vehemently kiboshed. They thought I should just stay in Victoria, and why did I need so much education? Why didn't I just become a nice secretary for the government and work in an office somewhere? Being so sheltered, young, and needing their moral and financial support...I caved and left my dietician dreams along the wayside. This is one of my biggest regrets because as you know...health and wellness is something I believe in so strongly now. But then again, my life would be so much different if I'd chosen that path and likely wouldn't have met Hubs or the friends I cherish so much now...so all is not lost, and I did come to find my passion later on in life.

The second situation that comes to mind actually happened not that long ago. I was with a friend that I hadn't seen in many years, and somehow the topic of me training for a marathon came up. Now I'm pretty seasoned with the "are you crazy??!" and "you're gonna blow out your knees!!" type comments, and they don't really bug me anymore because they're usually said in jest. However, this person said "well, I mean I think it's great and all...but what on earth possessed you to do something like that?! I mean, don't get me wrong, but why?" Now keep in mind that the phrase "I think it's great and all" really doesn't mean that they think it's great and all...and the look on her face was one of disbelief tinged with derisiveness that I would ever even dare dream to do something like that. Granted, this sea hag also knew me through my school years, where my athletic career was a big fat zero. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to not drop kick her across the room and simply smiled and said that it was on my bucket list of things to do, all the while thinking in my head that I'd show her smug and self righteous ass when I post my finisher's medal all over freaking Facebook. Maybe I'll even tag her in the photo so she sees it for sure. Yes, I'm a little passive aggressive like that. Heh.

Great post, Beth, you're officially my #1 girl crush. Mwah.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 12 Recap

2011-08-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

Week 12 - kinda can't believe it actually. Three months of training done, and only 6 more weeks to go until I run the race. It was interesting, when Hubs and I were out pounding the pavement this morning, I asked him if he liked running. He paused...and said that while he didn't really like it, he does it because he knows it's good for him and he knows of so many people who have diabetes (which runs in his family) or other diseases that could be helped or prevented by exercise. He then went on to say that while being active isn't a guarantee against disease, at least he's done as much as he can to prevent it and at the very least isn't helping it along.

For the rest of the run, I started thinking about why I love to run. To be honest, there are some days I don't really even like it. It's not super fun to get out of bed at the crack of dawn, and to run when I'm barely even awake. It's not super fun to run when the sun is baking down on you and the sweat is crystallizing on my skin. And it's seriously not super fun to run when I'd rather be chilling on a patio somewhere with a tall cool one. So what do I love then? I love the feeling of accomplishment when I'm done. I love when I feel my body getting stronger weekly and I'm going longer and longer distances.  I love the health benefits and the stress release I get by turning off my mind and letting my body do the work.   But most of all, I love that running has improved my quality of life a thousand fold and helped make me a happy and balanced person.

So...enough of the psycho-analytical babble...what the heck did I do this week?

Sunday - rest day

Monday - bootcamp

Tuesday - 6K run outdoors

Wednesday - rest day
Because I had IMS on Tuesday night when I went to see my physio, I couldn't work out. I decided to take Thursday off completely as well to give my foot a rest (it was feeling a bit achy and sensitive) and I was sore from the IMS as she hit a couple of really tender spots. Sometimes a little extra rest is a good thing.

Thursday - rest day

Friday - 6K run treadmill

Saturday - 32K run
So....how did this run go? Pretty darn awesome! Hubs and I had to get up extra early as he had to work today and he had 15K to run...so we set the alarm for the ungodly hour of 4:45am and were on the road running by 5:15am (see above comment about not loving the early, early mornings...heh). Strangely...even though it was so insanely early, we both felt pretty good. It was pitch black out so we had to have lamps on our hats as we ran, but it was so quiet and peaceful at that time in the morning...all you could hear were our footsteps and see the shadows our lights were creating.   Super cool. I was running 18K on the little 3K loop around our house, and then heading back to the lake to run the remaining 14K with my coworker, M. Again...it was so nice to have the company and the chatting made me forget how tired I was. Well, for the most part. The last 2K were admittedly really tough, and I was glad to have M there because honestly, I would have walked a lot more had she not been there. I actually had to give myself a pep talk and had to say OK...2K is only 15 more minutes, which is nothing...right?   As they say, the mental game is half the battle when it comes to the marathon.

And good news....my foot feels great! I was so happy...I mean they were sore from all the pounding, but nothing out of the ordinary other than normal tired feet from running for almost four hours. And it held out after three back to back long runs, so I'm thrilled.   Thrilled, I tell ya! I'm really starting to allow myself to feel excited now...I have a fallback week next week at 23K (you know it's nuts when 23K seems short!) then peak again with another 29K and 32K and then tapering starts. Bring on October 9th!

The Biggie

2011-08-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

Doing 32K tomorrow morning...up at the crack of dawn to start running by 5:20am. This'll be the farthest I've gone this training cycle...and the farthest I ran last year before I got injured. I was thinking about how I trained last year, and I gotta say...I didn't respect the distance. I was pretty lackadaisical in my training compared to last year, when I think about it. I didn't fuel properly, I skipped workouts, I didn't really put the effort in that I should have. The one thing that I'm really hoping makes a difference injury-wise is I'm training with walk breaks every 3K (which works to about 20 minutes). A lot of people do the 10 and 1's, but the race has water stations every 3K so thought it was perfect as I plan on walking through the aid stations.

Off to bed now! Sleep tight.

The Most Awesome Sign

2011-08-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

Saw this sign and thought it was totally awesome...I had to share.

I'll try to remember this when I'm in the last throes of the marathon and every part of my body is aching and throbbing. Forty five more days to go, peeps.

A Stitch in Time....

2011-08-24T22:25:00.000-07:00

So we've all heard of that saying, "a stitch in time saves nine", right? I've taken this saying to heart when it comes to marathon training, particularly when it comes to seeing my posse of paramedicals. I've been seeing my chiro every two months and my massage therapist as often as I can...but no person more than my physio. I went to see her on Tuesday even though there wasn't anything "wrong" per se (and had seen her only two weeks ago), but I didn't want to wait until something really IS wrong. I'm feeling like I'm on the home stretch now, so I'm taking all the precautions I can to make sure I get to the finish line healthy.

After my great run on Saturday, my right foot was feeling pretty awesome....but after bootcamp on Monday and a short run on Tuesday, I could feel some tenderness. Nothing really bad, more of an annoyance than real "pain". I told my physio, and she recommended that I switch up my running surfaces (I was road running only) and the chip trail that I did with M on the weekend likely helped. I'm still striking funny on my foot - my left side is collapsing inward to compensate for my right side but the right side is now fine and looking good. Argh! Will I ever get this right? Anyways, she gave me another exercise to do, stuck me full of needles and noted that my plantar fascia is getting irritated but not quite at the "plantar fasciitis" stage. This did strike some fear in my heart, as plantar fasciitis is a really common injury that has sidelined many a runner. Sob.

Well dammit - I'm not letting this sideline me. I started looking on the interweb, and saw that massage and icing the area work well...and like most things, it's better to nip it in the bud than to wait until it gets bad. I froze a water bottle and rolled it under my arch while I sat at my desk at work and it does feel a lot better. Hallelujah! So going forward, I'm gonna be massaging my feet and rolling the living snot out of them daily. And the other thing I read was that wearing non-supportive shoes (guilty) and walking barefoot (also guilty) is bad for plantar fasciitis so I've been wearing my indoor treadmill runners around the house and wore runners all day at work, even though I hate it when I see people wear runners with non-athletic wear (serious fashion faux pas in my books). At this point, vanity < marathon, right?

Foodie at the Finish Line

2011-08-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

Do you guys know where this is? Three guesses. Heh.

Photo credit: Goodlife Victoria Marathon Facebook site

Alright you cheeky monkeys...I can almost hear your saucy answers. Minxes, all of you.

In exactly 46 days, this is the street I'm going to be running (or hobbling or crawling) down on October 9th when I'm entering the finisher's chute, and about 27.956785 seconds away from collecting my marathon finishers medal.

A thing of beauty, isn't it? See you all there.

Whitewater - 12 for 12

2011-08-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

So time to turn this blog to food for just a moment! Yep...I'm still cooking my way through Whitewater, and with the exception of one week where I didn't do any cooking and relied on the bounty that was in my freezer, I've done one or two recipes every week from Whitewater. And I gotta tell ya...you foodies out there need to get this cookbook maintenant! Every recipe I've tried has been hit in this house - most recently I tried the Minestrone, Pad Thai Fried Noodles, Indian Chicken Burgers and the yummy dressing from the Glory Bowl recipe. All were delicious...even Hubs is totally impressed by the number of great recipes out of one little old cookbook. When he tried the Glory Bowl dressing recipe, he said that we'd never have to buy store bought dressing again and that we should throw out all the crap dressings that are in our fridge. That is high praise, people.

Minestrone - 4/5 (the only thing I felt wrong with this is that it may have needed just a tiny bit more spices. The recipe called for 3 tbsp of fresh basil which doesn't seem like quite enough)

Pad Thai Fried Noodles - 5/5 (this was better than a pad thai that I had at a very well known thai chain in Vancouver)

Indian Chicken Burgers - 5/5 (we had these with the raita recipe and jarred mango chutney (I was going to make the chutney recipe from the book but the mangoes weren't quite ripe enough, dang. Hubs did his "MMMMMMmmmmmm!!!" happy food sound so I know he liked these)

Glory Bowl Dressing - 5+++++/5 (zomg, this shizzle is yum. For those of you who live in Victoria, imagine Japanese steak sauce but thinner and with a vinegar-y zing. Actually it's very similar to Annie's Goddess Dressing (which I noticed I can't get in stores anymore, wah!). This made me want to eat tons of salad and veggies just so I could eat the dressing. I may even have licked my plate after. What?)

So...I've tried 12 recipes so far, and all 12 have been fantastic. This has trumped all my other cookbook favourites and spends more time off my bookshelf than on. I actually find myself constantly flipping through it and thinking about which recipe to try next.

Shelley Adams, you are a frikkin' food genious.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 11 Recap

2011-08-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Deep happy sigh. Finally...we've had some beautiful, beaa-ooo-tiful weather here in Victoria. Sunny, warm...and the first time we've had to bring out the fan. Now I'm not complaining...we've had a run of fairly nice weather the last few weeks - sunny and no rain, but the nights were getting a bit nippy and it felt like Fall was near. Last night was the first night that I could actually sit outside in a t-shirt and not be too cold. Me likey, me likey a lot.

So here we go - Week 11 recap and 48 more days to go. Kinda feels pretty darn real now and I'm scared and excited all at the same time! I'm starting to think about my race plan - what to eat in the weeks leading up to the race (including going 100% alcohol and junk food free, oh help me God) and during the race itself.

Sunday - rest day
Oh yeah baby. I gladly took this day off any workouts, as my legs were so, so tired after doing 29K the day before. I contemplated going to yoga, but decided to sleep in a bit and just hang about the house and take a full rest day rather than an active rest day.

Monday - bootcamp
This was tough. I was still so burnt out from Saturday that I could barely run in the warmup. My breath felt laboured and my legs felt like they filled with lead. We ended up doing hill repeats which I was actually glad to do - shorts bursts of energy were more my speed that day, rather than long sustained efforts of running. Afterwards I was glad to have gone, even though I was really tired.

Tuesday - 6K run treadmill
Still feel burnt out, I decided to sleep in that morning and jammed on my morning run. However, as the day wore on I felt guiltier and guiltier about missing my workout. I had to remind myself again - I'm seven weeks from running a marathon, and now I'm starting to sluff off on the training? I would have given my eye teeth to still be running around this time last year when I got injured. I decided to squeeze in a run after work and kept myself on track, but only after a sound talking to from myself.

Wednesday - 6K run outside
Beautiful morning run, but I could feel some slight tenderness in my foot. Uh oh.

Thursday - rest

Friday - bootcamp
Stairs, lines and hill sprints. Still could feel some achy foot business. Damn it.

Saturday - 29K run outside
Oy vey. Hubs had to work on Saturday and needed to run 13K, so we had to get up at an ungodly hour for the weekend and start running by 5:30am so he could get to work on time. I did my 3am carb routine (raisin scone) and decided to start experimenting with Saltstick capsules that I had bought last year to use. I don't really like sports drinks (find they're all sugary tasting) and prefer just plain water but still need the electrolytes so this is the perfect solution. I decided to do one capsule before the run, and one at the half way point.

After Hubs finished his run, I ran another 3K loop and hopped in the car to go meet my coworker M at Elk Lake. M and her hubby are running the Good life half marathon, and she needed to get in a 13K run in so this worked out perfectly! I actually didn't mind splitting the run up, as it gave me a chance to take a short break to refuel, and I think mentally breaking the run up into 16K and 13K chunks made it seem much more manageable than 29K. M met me at 8am, and we started off on a loop and a bit around the lake. I'm so, SO glad that we started so early because Saturday turned into a scorcher, and it was really warm when we finished at around 9:45am. The second part of my run went by incredibly quickly, because we were chatting the whole way and time went by lickety split. When my Garmin ticked over at 29K, I felt pretty good and not tired. And...the biggest thing of all...my foot felt GREAT. No pain and no achiness. I had purposely chosen Elk Lake as it was a chip trail so I'm sure that was a bit part of it. I was thrilled...this time last year was when my foot gave out on my second really long run of the training cycle, and incidentally also a run with M (not M's fault though, of course...haha!) so I had some flashes of apprehension going in.

And after the run? I can't believe it how good I felt. Not sure if it was the 3am scone, the mid-run refueling, taking Saltstick or what the heck it was...but I felt bright and alert and came home and actually did a bunch of chores. It was only around mid-afternoon that I started to get sleepy with the heat, and took a short nap. Definitely liking the Saltstick though.

Next week - 32K on the schedule so it'll likely be another similar repeat of a split run. Also have a physio appointment this week, so can't wait to tell my physio the good news!

Trusting My Training

2011-08-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah...so I know I said I was super happy after last week's long run, and I was thinking positively, yadda yadda? So I wasn't being totally truthful. Yes, I was happy and ready to do a jig because my foot seems to be behaving. I'm still fretting though, because last week was the start of three back to back long runs, and it was around this time last year when my foot gave out on me...or in my mind, my body quit on me. In fact, it was the second long run last year where "it" happened...so I'm kinda psyching myself out about this week's 29K run.

Well, I WAS psyching myself out, until I read Beth's post over at Shut Up and Run, about not being your own worst enemy and second guessing yourself. This post was so timely and really hit home for me - particularly this part:

"But if you have put in your time, don’t second guess. Get behind yourself and your mental strength will add to your physical strength. You see, it’s true what Henry Ford said, “Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.” So, stop your questioning. Quiet your insecurities. You deserve to be at the start line of that race. You are a runner. You have put in your time. You create your outcome. Make it a good one."

No more second guessing. At one point this week, I even started to think about the timing of things if I had to downgrade to the half marathon if I re-injured myself. I'm stopping that kind of thinking (and I mean it this time!), because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, right? I'm training hard and sticking to my training plan. I'm eating properly this go around. I'm working with my physio and doing my exercises. I'm working hard on my form. I'm stretching, stretching until I can't stretch any more. Now I just have to let what's going on in my head catch up to what's going on with my body, cuz let me tell you...it's fallin' behind.

So here I go...I'm trusting in my training and squelching the little gremlin that keeps nagging at me. We'll see you at the finish line on October 9th!

Thanks D

2011-08-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days that I'm so thankful for friends, and in particular I'm so grateful for one of my oldest friends, D. We go way, way back...back to elementary school, when we were wee little things and we became fast friends. D lived down the street from me, and we ended up hanging out together all the way to high school. As time went on, we did what a lot of friends do and drifted apart and would see each other sporadically through the years, but we always seemed to pick up where we left off. With D, I can be completely candid and say it like it is, and I know there's no judgement. A sign of a true friendship. We ended up reconnecting around the time of our 20th reunion...neither of us loved high school, but we made a pact to go together - strength in numbers, right? Ha! D was also the one who introduced me to bootcamp, which I honestly credit with helping me change my life.

The other thing that I wanted to thank D for is for keeping me accountable. So often, it's so easy to blow off a workout when it's just me. Every Sunday and Thursday night, I drop D an email and we make a date for bootcamp for the next morning, and it totally keeps me on track. What they say about signing up for things with friends is so true - you don't want to disappoint the other person, so you tend to not jam. I was seriously exhausted after the long run on Saturday, and would have totally blown this off if D hadn't said she was going this morning. For the first bit when we were just warming up, I could barely move my legs...they felt like they'd been filled with lead and that I was towing a piano behind my back. As we headed off to the hill that Sarge likes to torture us with, I was completely dragging my sorry ass. But as Sarge made us run hill after hill after hill, I felt better and better and by the end of the class I was so glad that I went.

Thanks D. You're the greatest.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 10 Recap

2011-08-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

Hurray! Hurray!! Hurray!!!

We went for our long run today and I made the whole distance without my right foot giving out! OK, to be truthful...right now I'm half asleep as I'm so tired...but if I wasn't, I'd totally be doing a jig. I was honestly stressing out about this all week...worrying, constantly rubbing my foot and fretting that Marathon Quest 2011 was over. Every slight twinge was the end of my running career. Once bitten, twice shy I suppose. I even booked a physio appointment next week just in case today's run didn't go well...but I think I'll move it to the following week and use it as a check in session to really keep on top of things. My foot did feel a bit sensitive and tired at points, but given the distance, I expect some soreness and am going to really keep an eye on it so it doesn't get any worse. Eight more long runs to go, eight more weeks of training left, 56 more days until I run and put it all out there on the race course. This is getting so close and so real, I can almost taste it!

Workouts this week? Here goes:

Sunday - ~~rest day~~ 6K run treadmill
Normally Sundays are rest days, but because I had a physio appointment on Monday, I knew wouldn't be able to run on Tuesday so switched things up and ran on Sunday (with IMS, you're not supposed to work out for 48 hours after). Speaking of IMS...after the session, I noticed that I was having a much easier time keeping my leg straight. The other week when I was doing my calf stretches, my knee was always pulling in but after IMS, it was effortless to keep it straight. Thank goodness for IMS - what a lifesaver...the pain is worth it.

Monday - bootcamp
Sarge wasn't teaching, but the instructor we did have was awesome as well. He's a runner, so we ran. And ran. And ran some more.

Tuesday - ~~6K run treadmill~~ rest day

Wednesday - 6K run outdoors

Thursday - rest
Argh. Don't know what's up but I've been having a lot of headaches lately (prompting the whole craniosacral therapy gig) and my stomach was going crazy on Thursday. I looked back at my food diary and there was nothing out of the ordinary - I had my usual brekkie of oatmeal and afterwards my stomach was twisting and hurting all day. I'm sure the painkiller I took for my headache didn't help my tummy either, so was hoping it would calm down so I could make it to bootcamp the next morning. My stomach has been great ever since I cut back my dairy and eggs, so I'm completely puzzled by what's up.

Friday - bootcamp
My stomach settled a bit and felt OK in the morning, so I went to class. Luckily for me, there wasn't much running this class so I got a chance to rest my legs a bit which was awesome given the doozer long run scheduled for Saturday. I was also glad we didn't run much because my tummy was still sore from the prior day, so I was getting a stitch and we were barely even running. Argh. We did lots of upper body though so my back is feeling super tight. Dang, I need a massage.

Saturday - 29K
I've been thinking a lot about nutrition for the run over the last while, so had read online that some people wake up in the middle of the night, eat something and then go back to bed. Brilliant! Running in the morning after fasting for 7 hours isn't ideal, and I'd always wondered how people eat in the morning without getting cramps, so this may be my solution. I tested it out last night - I always wake up in the middle of the night for whatever reason, so I got up, ate a scone and headed back to bed. Before my run I did my usual food routine of bananas and nutella, and on the run I took a Gu gel, some Gu chomps and hydrated with water with some Nuun mixed in (and hydrated like crazy on Friday - 3 litres plus of water). I gotta say - even though by the end I was really, REALLY tired, I still felt like I had some energy left. A few weeks ago when I bonked on my 23K run, I could barely had the energy to walk home afterwards and had to stop repeatedly to get up the hill by my house - this week, no problem. Think I'll test this out for the next few runs so I can get a food plan going, and next week will introduce salt pills.

The other thing I noticed - lately after my long runs, I've had no appetite. None. Like I can barely face food...and that is so unlike me! It's worrying me a bit as I need to eat to refuel my glycogen and rebuild muscle, so I force fed myself a recovery drink (Gatorade's new G3 recovery drink with protein - like this stuff in concept, but don't like the taste...particularly when it starts to get warm) and made myself eat some lunch. It's our cheat day too, and I barely want to even eat dinner. We went out for dinner for Vietnamese, and after eating a bit of my rice vermicelli bowl, I just didn't feel like eating much. However, after dinner I did manage to eat some frozen yoghourt at a new build-your-own froyo place in town called Qoola. Heh.

Getting My Head Fixed

2011-08-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

OK, OK...for those of you that know me in real life, you're probably thinking "it's about time!", right? Ha! Even though I'm sure some of you might be questioning my mental state for even attempting a marathon, it's another part of my head that I'm looking at getting fixed.

When I went to go see my physio this past Monday, we were gabbing our faces off as usual (I love my physiotherapist to bits!!!) and she mentioned that she was going to take some courses in craniosacral therapy. I'd heard good things about this from my naturopath as well as a friend who had said that it worked wonders for her as she suffered from some terrible headaches after a bad car accident. My physio had had this done, and waxed poetic about it which totally piqued my interest. I've been a longtime sufferer of headaches which started when I was a little kid, and for the most part have managed to improve the frequency and severity through diet, exercise and regular massages but still get them way, way more often then I'd like. I'm up for anything (wait, that sounded kinda bad, tee hee!) and try to keep an open mind about alternative therapies, so I'm going to give craniosacral therapy a whirl to see if it helps at all. From what I've heard and read, craniosacral therapy is a gentle massage of the bones in the head that helps ease stress, improve body movement and can help with neck and back pain. My back has been pretty good this past year, but last week my rib slipped out again (ouch!) so thought this might help with that too. Here's a blurb that I found on the interwebz:

"Craniosacral therapy is a manual technique that manipulates the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, a fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. In cases of injury or disease, this normal flow of fluid is disturbed or restricted. The therapist applies a gentle pressure on the client to detect the disruptions in the craniosacral rhythm. Craniosacral therapy is an excellent technique used in the treatment of migraines, neck and back pain, orthopedic injuries, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and neurovascular disorders."

Apparently a lot of people fall asleep when getting this done! Sign me up, baby...sign.me.up.

Appointment is on the 23rd of this month, so you'll be sure to hear all about it once I'm done. Can't wait.

Crossing Fingers

2011-08-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

I'm crossing my fingers, eyes, toes and whatever appendages I can that the foot pain I felt last Wednesday was just that I overdid it by doing my long runs so close together, rather than a repeat performance of last year's epic marathon fail. The good news is that I went to see my physio on Monday and after hearing my tale of woe which I described in sordid detail, she feels that it's probably just overuse...I was able to run on it during the weekend and not feel any pain, and it didn't get any worse. And I'm being proactive, rather than reactive like I was last year, and seeing her when I was already in trouble and in a lot of pain. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac right now though I gotta admit...every slight twinge in my foot and I'm freaking out in my mind that this is it, this is the end of Marathon Quest 2011, blah blah blah. Sigh.

Anyways, my physio did her usual review of how I was moving and said that overall, I was actually pretty good but could feel that I was really tight in my hip flexors, which was pulling my leg inward and causing a lot of muscle tightness. As per usual, the needles came out...I always have to psyche myself up for each IMS session because it hurts like stink, but this time I actually was looking forward to the pain because I knew it would help. It was amazing...one needle that she did in in my thigh resulted in a cramping/muscle twitch that went all the way down my leg and to the side of my foot where I was feeling the pain. I'm hoping that this will help release the tightness so I can get the proper range of motion back. Short run early tomorrow morning with Hubs, which will be good to test out how it's feeling...and then 29K this weekend. Wish me (and my foot!) luck! I'm thinking positive thoughts going forward...Marathon Quest 2011 is on!

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 9 Recap

2011-08-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

No excuses. That's my new mantra until I hit the marathon! The last few days I haven't been feeling the greatest - tired, my mind is fuzzy, and truth be told the whole foot thing is hanging out in the back of my mind. This morning I got up and started the day off with a headache and a list of to-do's a mile long - it's been a really busy weekend with lots of socializing so I'm trying to squeeze in all the stuff that needs to get done. Of course, on the list of to do's today was "run"...I really didn't feel like it, and kept making excuses in my head:

"I'm so effing tired."

"My foot is kinda sore, maybe I should stay off it."

"Well, I'm working out 4 days this week, it should be enough. What's one day? Who cares."

"My head hurts. I don't feel good."

Then I thought about Beth on one of fave running blogs, Shut Up and Run...she has a "no excuses, stop overthinking it" approach to running. She's out there doing a half ironman, after coming back from an injury not that long ago...and I'm whining about running 6K! I got my ass off the couch, got the run done and proceeded to knock everything off my to do list and can go over to our friend's tonight relaxed and ready to enjoy myself. I also had a mental talk to myself - I'm halfway through the training, and now isn't the time to start sluffin' off.

So - speaking of training, here's a recap of this week's workouts:

Sunday - rest day

Monday - rest day

Tuesday - 6K run treadmill

Wednesday - 19K run outdoors

Thursday - rest day

Friday - bootcamp

Saturday - 8K run treadmill

I'm hoping to get back on track and get over feeling like crap...going to concentrate on eating properly, hydrating lots, keeping up on the supplements and sleeping lots....sounds like a plan, Stan.

Three Things Thursday

2011-08-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

1. Rest Day

Took today off runs/working out and am so glad I did! I'm still fretting a bit about the foot, but am trying to remain positive that it's no big deal and it'll all be fine. Sometimes I forget how far the runs really are (does anyone ever drive a distance and then think holy crap, I ran that?!) and that it's a lot of pounding on the body. I've got bootcamp tomorrow morning (will take 'er easy) and a 10K run on Saturday that I'm going to do on the treadmill as it's a bit more cushy than road running. A little rest now hopefully will pay off as I've got some doozer long runs coming up - 29K, 29K and 32K in the next three weeks. *silent scream*

2. Public Service Announcement: Please Share the Sidewalk

I don't know what it is, but I hate, HATE....it when I'm running on the sidewalk or trail and people walk two or three abreast and refuse to move (I also hate this when people do this in races, so it's not just walkers who raise my ire!). Hubs and I run next to each other if there's no one else, but as soon as we see oncoming traffic, we move single file so as to give others room to pass. Most people do move, but for whatever reason when we ran yesterday, there were people who refused to budge so Hubs and I had to give them a wide berth and run up on the grass. Now is it a big deal for us to do that? No...but what irks me is the lack of consideration or courtesy. After multiple times of people hogging up the entire sidewalk, I decided to stay the course and keep running in my lane (moving single file in front of Hubs, of course...my momma raised me right!) and if I brushed shoulders with someone, so be it (and I was ready with some choice words if they so chose to indulge me). I don't know what it is, but this seems to be some kind of odd North American phenomenon. When we were in Hong Kong, which is arguably one of the densest populations in the world, I never bumped into anyone even at peak travel times. I liken it to this unspoken understanding of body language...I remember once when we were on the subway and we had to get off but we were at the opposite side of the train from the door. All I did was make the slightest motion to move towards the exit and everyone in our area moved inperceptibly to give us enough to pass, and as we did the space closed up behind us seamlessly. If this were the case on the Skytrain, I'm sure it would have ended up in fisticuffs or worse.

Anyways, the message is to runners, walkers and the general public alike - please share the sidewalk and we'll all be happier.

3. Gratitude

I know, I know...I've been sucking majorly at the gratitude thing, but I was once again reminded today of what I'm most grateful for in the world...firstly, my friends and family and secondly, my health. I might not see friends and family as much as I like but I am so incredibly fortunate to have such a wonderful network of people who support me always. And my health...well, it's a very, very close second. As I said in my very first post on this blog, without your health, what do you have? Sometimes when I hear people saying they don't have the time or want to make the effort to live a healthier lifestyle, I want to beg and plead (and maybe whine a little cuz sometimes that works too) with them that if they don't want to do it for themselves (as many people are naturally very unselfish), do it for their kids, husbands, wives or other loved ones because it's going to really suck for those people if they're left behind. If you're not around, who's going to take care of them? Who's going to share in their big moments? As weird as it may sound, bulging biceps aren't the main reason why I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle (although if anyone could spare some rippling abs, I'm game!), but it's because I want to be around to enjoy what I'm most grateful for in life, friends and family.

Drained

2011-08-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

The title says it all - I am totally drained and sapped of energy. Hubs is back on his Saturday shifts, so because this week is a step back week, we did our switch-it-up long run on Wednesday night gig, and pounded out 19K tonight. I actually felt pretty good for the first 10K, but I think having such a short period of time from the last long run has really tired my body out and I was tired for the second half of the run. When the distances were shorter I think it was OK, but having just done 26K four days ago probably wasn't enough recovery time. I managed to get through it and get it done, but I'm actually feeling kinda queasy right now and could barely choke back my dinner. I know, crazy right?! Me, not want to eat?! Hubs even tried to give me a some chocolate and I turned it down. You gotta know there's something wrong when I don't wanna eat.

And...I'm hoping it's nothing...but I did have a bit of heel pain today in my right foot. As soon as we finished I started to massage it and it feels a bit better. Crossing my fingers it's nothing...and have a physio appointment booked on Monday already so good timing. And tomorrow I'm supposed to do another run since I didn't get any workouts in on Sunday and Monday because we were in Van...but ya know what? I'm tired, my body needs a rest so I'm going to take an extra rest day and take it easy.

Nighty night!

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 8 Recap

2011-07-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

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!

Three Things Thursday

2011-07-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

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...

Two Little Words

2011-07-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

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?

Happy 8th, Hubs

2011-07-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

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.

Off to the Naturopath

2011-07-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

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.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 7 Recap

2011-07-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

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!

Three Things Thursday

2011-07-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

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!

Eighty Days

2011-07-20T22:14:00.000-07:00

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.

Foodie Does Whitewater Cooks - Week 1

2011-07-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

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!

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Six Recap

2011-07-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Three Things Thursday

2011-07-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

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.

Another One Bites the Dust

2011-07-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

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!

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Five Recap

2011-07-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

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!