Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 10 Recap

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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! 

Mid Week Long Run

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

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

Bucket List Item #37

YES!

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

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

Meatless Monday Revisited

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

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

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

Tabbouleh and Chickpea Salad - from Whitewater Cooks

Serves 4 - 5

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

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

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

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

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

Switchin' Things Up This Week

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

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

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

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

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

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Four Recap

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

Sunday - 20 mins HIIT on stationery bike

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

Monday - rest

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

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

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - 6K run outside

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

Thursday - 6K run treadmill

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

Friday - 16K run

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

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

Saturday - rest

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

What I Would Eat Wednesday

I saw this post over at Janetha's blog awhile ago (lovelovelove this blog!) and it totally inspired me to write this post.  She used to eat all sorts of crap but changed her eating habits...but still likes the nasty stuff and lists her top ten faves.  As you all know, I love me my food...but it doesn't all have to be highbrow stuff.  In fact, sometimes the more ghetto the better.  I totally subscribe to the 80/20 formula - if I eat properly 80% of the time, 20% of the time I can enjoy myself and not be thinking about the fat/carb/protein ratios!  It's all about balance, right?  Food is one of the biggest passions and joys in my life so to deprive myself of the things I love is unthinkable.

So...what are my top ten foods I would still eat if calories and health weren't an issue?  In no particular order...

1.  Pizza

Out of all the things on this list, pizza is the one that I could eat most often.  Cheesy hot deliciousness.  The place Hubs and I frequent has a really good pizza called the Barcelona which is spinach, feta, garlic, onions and chorizo sausage...to die for, and my absolute fave.  Hubs' favourite is a good ol' Hawaiian...I'm not a fan of pineapple on pizza but in a pinch, it'll do. Ha!

2.  Sushi/Sashimi

I love sushi.  LOVE IT.   Probably top of my list of foods that I love to eat.  The unfortunate thing is that Victoria doesn't have any really great sushi restaurants.  There's some OK ones, but I've been a bit spoiled by the great, great Japanese restaurants in Vancouver...and because Hubs is a trained Japanese cook, he knows his way around Japanese food.  We always make sure we hit up at least one sushi place when we hit Vancouver.  My personal favourites are either chirashi sushi (bowl of sushi rice with assorted seafood on top) or negitoro roll (tuna with green onion). 

3.  Chips, Cheezies...Basically Any Salty Snack Food

Did I ever tell you guys about our bad food box?  It's a banker box that we stash all our naughty foods, and on any given day that puppy is filled to the top with all sorts of chips and sweet sin.  Every week we peruse the chip aisle at the grocery store, looking for our next hit of crunchy goodness.  The only time we ever bust out the bad food box is Saturdays (we store it in the garage), and then sadly on Sundays, it goes back to it's rightful place.  Hubs used to have to hide it on me, but it's like some kind of unwritten rule that on non-cheat days, you can't go into the box.  Personal favourites - Smartfood and sour cream and onion chips.

4.  Cheese - Any and All

Ahhh.  The downfall of many a diet.  And it totally sucks that I'm intolerant to dairy, because cheese is definitely a weakness of mine.  It's funny...because I used to despise cheese as a kid.  Couldn't stand the smell or taste, but we didn't eat a lot of cheese as a kid.  This may be a sweeping generalization, but because my parents were immigrants, they weren't brought up on cheese in China and didn't like it...thought it smelled like old socks.  I remember eating MILD cheddar and thinking it was too much.  Luckily I've seen the error of my ways and love all cheeses now including the strong stuff, but particularly havarti, goat cheese and port salut.

5.  Fries

Who doesn't love a good fry?  Seriously.  And even if you hate McDonald's, you gotta admit that their fries are pretty awesome.  I used to be strictly a ketchup kinda girl, but I've come around and like some thick brown gravy on my fries as well.  Vinegar is good too.  Actually, all three at once is even better.  OK, drooling now.


6.  White Rice

As a proper Chinese girl, I grew up on massive doses of white rice.  Rice at lunch, rice at dinner...no meal was complete without a scoop of the white stuff.  When I was about 15, I read that white rice wasn't the best thing to eat since it was refined carbs so decided to tell my mom that it was bad for us.  I was bold as brass, and threw it out there one day during dinner...and boy, did I get told off.  How could I, a silly teenager, question the food that sustained generations and generations of Chinese people before me?  The gall!  Well, now that I'm grown up, we eat only brown rice but a secret part of my heart still longs for white rice.  My dad feels a meal isn't complete without it, so when we have our Xmas family dinners I have to make a pot of it for him...and well...I maybe add in an extra cup so I can have leftovers.  My favourite white rice concoction is soy sauce, sesame oil with a splash of rice vinegar all mixed into a big bowl of white rice.  Sodium, fat and refined carbs...YES!

7.  Instant Noodles

Speaking of refined carbs...instant noodles are another one of my favourite bad foods.  So totally bereft of any nutritional value, but oh so good.  I don't even boil them...I like to put the noodles and seasoning package into a bowl, throw some hot water on it and let it sit for an hour or so until the noodles have absorbed all the liquid and are kinda mushy and super salty.  Don't judge me.

8.  KFC

Our favourite treat as children...after a long day of working out in the garden, the last thing my parents would want to do on weekends is cook.  Call up the Colonel!  We always loved eating our KFC with a big bowl of white rice to counteract the saltiness.  And I do really like their macaroni salad too.

9.  Hot Dogs

Mmmmm...meat in a tube.  Hubs and I regularly crave hot dogs, and they make the cheat day rotation on a fairly regular basis.  Harvest All Beef dogs are the best.  We even chose hot dogs as our meal of choice on the night of the Stanley Cup Final game.  I know, I know...it wasn't a cheat day, but we wanted to celebrate with the Canucks if they won or commiserate with them if they lost.  OK, I'm still not over it so I'll just stop now.


10.  Tim Tams

Have any of you guys tried these things?  These are a new addiction...I bought a pack on a whim a few months ago and these things are to die for.  They're kind of like Twix, but you can get regular, caramel filled or dark chocolate.  I love the caramel one as it's kinda chewy.  Hubs has fallen for them too, after resisting the call of the Tim Tam and laughing at me that I was so in love with these things.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Three Recap

I feel sooooo much better this week I can't even tell you.  I was so insanely tired last week I could barely function, but I've been feeling pretty good this week.  As I mentioned earlier, I probably wasn't eating enough and that extra day of getting up at 5am was catching up to me.  I have to admit - it's really hard balancing the food because I need enough to keep fueled and feeling good, but not so much that I end up with the dreaded marathon weight gain which I packed on last year.  I'll have to keep tweaking things until I find a good balance between keeping my energy up and keeping my weight down!

Sunday - rest day

Ahhhh, yes.  Love the rest day.  Is it wrong that I still get the itch to work out though? 

Monday - bootcamp

Sarge taught bootcamp again and it was kick ass as usual.  We did a lot of hills and leg work, and unfortunately on one of the exercises I could feel my right hamstring scream back at me to stop the eff what I was doing.  Argh!  We'd just done a whole whack of lunges and then we were doing this exercise where you have to balance on what leg while bending and touching your toes.  It's feeling better, but I can tell it's still not super happy with me.

Tuesday - 6k run treadmill

Same old, same old.

Wednesday - 10K 6K run

I shortened up the run as my right foot was kinda bugging me and the hamstring still felt sore.  Hubs joined me again.  I'm considering switching out the days and doing a 10K run on the treadmill on Tuesdays and 6K runs on Wednesdays as I like running with Hubs in the morning and we can just head home together afterwards. 

Thursday - rest day

Friday - bootcamp

Oy vey.  We had an instructor that usually doesn't teach our classes, and he was tough.  Tough.  We did a short run, then had us do a few sets of hundreds - each set was one hundred pushups, one hundred tricep dips and one hundred side lunges...and needless to say, my upper body is super sore today.  Sore in a good way though...I actually like the feeling of being sore because I know I've pushed my body and it's going to get stronger.  I know, I'm a freak. 

Saturday - 13K run

Hubs and I headed out onto our favourite trail - tons of people out today running, walking and cycling.  It was weird, we were a bit out of sorts because we kept forgetting stuff.  Hubs forgot a towel and I forgot to put on my Garmin.  Crazy!  And I even noticed that my arms felt naked, but I couldn't figure out what it was.  Sooo brain dead...think we need a vacation!  Anyways, overall run was good...poor Hubs though, he played hockey last night so he was a bit gassed.

Third week over!  I'm a little worried...my leg/foot isn't happy and I can feel it when I'm running.  I've got a physio appointment booked on Monday, so we'll see what she says.   Got in all my stretches and exercises sessions, and am going to amp up my stretching even more now.  We ran into an old coworker of Hubs' that is also a runner, and she asked if she could offer one piece of advice, and that was to stretchstretchstretch.  She didn't and apparently her muscles were in this big lump because they were so tight, and she hasn't been able to run for quite awhile.  I have it on my schedule to stretch every day, but will definitely spend more time getting it in there...love running and can't imagine what I'd do if I couldn't do it, so want to prevent any injuries I can!

Three Things Thursday

1.  More Cookbooks

I know.  I have a serious problem.  I can't stop buying cookbooks lately!  I went to Chapters today to pick up one cookbook and walked out with four.  I justified it because they were having a buy three get the fourth free and I just had to do it, right?  Spend to save, right?  Hubs was waiting in the car for me after my little shopping spree and just shook his head when he saw the bag from Chapters.  Hee hee.

2.  Feeling Spritely

I'm feeling much, much more lively this week...thank goodness!  I think I just had to get used to all the new exercise regime, and I've been eating a bit more this week which seems to be helping my tiredness.  I seriously felt like dropping dead last week, but this week have been feeling pretty good.  Yay!

3.  New Rules of Lifting for Women

Ahhhh, yes.  I've got my next fitness challenge in my sights!  After the marathon training is all over and done with, I was thinking that I'd like to focus on weights for awhile.  I bought this book awhile ago as I heard some really good things about it:

Overall I'm happy with where my cardio is at, and because of all the running my legs are fairly muscular and strong...but my upper body?  Seriously...I need a lot of work on my noodle arms and flabby back.  I have no tone on my arms and shoulders and would really like to build up my upper body strength so come November, I'm going to do the lifting routine in this book.  Can't wait! 

Summer is Here!

Whoa...I was just checking out the last time I blogged about food and recipes that I've tried, and it's been awhile.  Not sure what's up with that...I think the last few months I've been so distracted with hockey, that I haven't had time to blog as much.   And homework...darn course also took up tons of my time.  Now you guys have me all to yourselves - aren't you guys lucky?!  Ha!

I've been feeding my cookbook addiction like crazy lately...I think I've added about a dozen new ones recently, including this one which I've completely fallen in love with:

I saw her promoting this cookbook on TV, and the recipe that she was demo-ing looked so good - granola, which normally isn't my thing...but it looked deelish.  I had to have this cookbook and I'm so glad I bought it - the recipes look fairly easy, tasty and pretty healthy (I know this isn't a "health" cookbook per se, but the only complaint is that I would have liked nutritional info...small thing though).  I've marked off a ton of recipes to try, and tried this awesome recipe for a fresh tomato basil soup that is amazing.  AMAZING.  Crazy easy and with the bounty of delicious tomatoes and fresh basil available at this time of year, it's definitely going to make our food rotation a lot this summer.

Farm Fresh Tomato Soup with Basil - from In My Mother's Kitchen by Trish Magwood

Serves 4 - 6

3 tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups good quality vegetable or chicken stock
Chopped chives or parsley for garnish

In a 3 quarter saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onion and carrot, cok, stirring until onion is soft, about 10 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes, basil, sugar, salt and pepper and stock.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Using a hand blender, puree until smooth.  Serve garnished with fresh herbs. 

As Ina says - how easy is that?  Ha!  My notes - I used Kitchen Basics low sodium chicken stock, which we really like as I can adjust the salt.  I'm sure you could sub the butter with olive oil and it would still taste good, but I think the butter really added another level to this soup.  I don't cook with butter often, but I think because there's so few ingredients in this dish, that the extra flavour and sweetness really comes through and adds a lot to the soup.

Yum.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Two Recap

Week Two recap - this week has been a particularly tough one.  I'm not sure what it is, but I'm incredibly tired and so is Hubs.  I'm sure my body is trying to get used to the extra running and early mornings - I'm up at 5am four weekdays now to get the runs in, whereas before I was getting up only three.  Allergies are also acting up and making me crazy and tired. I'm also going to take a look at my food intake to make sure that I'm eating enough  - I checked out my food logs and I think I might not actually be eating enough to keep my body fueled for the workouts.  What?!  I get to actually eat more?!  Bring it on!

Sunday - 10K run

Hubs and I got up and headed out on our favourite trail - gorgeous morning, and a good run overall.  I'm having a hard time keeping my target pace...I've been so used to trying to maintain a faster pace that trying to stay at around 6:15 to 6:30 (recommended LSD pace for a 4:30 marathon) is hard. 

Monday - bootcamp

One of my favourite trainers taught on Monday, and as a nickname for her we call her "Sarge", as in sargeant...I'm sure that gives you a bit of an idea that she's pretty tough!  We ran around Thetis Lake, which is not my favourite...mostly because it's pretty hilly and a tough run...ha!  I tell ya...I'm really lazy at heart.  I kept a pretty fast pace so felt pretty tuckered out after. 

Tuesday - 6K treadmill run

Argh...SO hard to get up...I was still feeling pretty tired from Monday bootcamp.  Meh.

Wednesday - 10K 6K outdoor run

The tiredness was building up now...I didn't have the energy to do a full 10K, so shortened it up to 6K.  Hubs got up and came with me, which was nice.

Thursday - rest

Thank goodness...I actually got to sleep in until 6:15am!!

Friday - bootcamp

My other favourite trainer taught and she also kicked our butts...we didn't run far, but we did intervals on hills - five one minute sprints, five really fast 30 second sprints, two one minute sprints, then one long 2 minute sprint.  I felt like dying.

Saturday - 13K run treadmill

Both Hubs and I were so exhausted by the end of this week that we decided to do our runs on the treadmill...nice, slow and easy.  I know, boring right?  But we were both so bloody tired that the thought of running outside just made us want to curl up into the fetal position.  Oh well...we didn't run outside but at least we did it.

Whew!  So tiring week.  Food-wise, I did pretty good overall...snuck in a bit more dairy than I'd like, but otherwise kept things clean.  Definitely will re-look at food intake to make sure I'm eating enough.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:

Well....as many of you know by now...the Canucks didn't win the Stanley Cup on Wednesday. I fully admit - I shed a few tears into my playoff towel, and I get verklempt when I see replays of the players on the ice when the game was over, shoulders slumped in what must be agonizing disappointment over being so close to the one thing you've dreamed about winning your whole life. Yes, I know...it's "just a game"...but I felt like I'd gone through all the ups and downs with them during the last two and a half months. We screamed like banshees when Burrows scored in overtime in Game 7 of the Chicago series, my innards turned to ice when Kesler limped off the ice in the San Jose series, and we groaned collectively when we received a drubbing in Game 3 of the Boston series. The Canucks gave us one of our best seasons ever and what a totally fantastic time it was.  This video is a thank you from the Canucks organization to all their fans, and it captures perfectly the feeling of this playoff season.  Thank you boys for a great run, and for taking us on this wild and crazy ride.





The Bad:

The Ugly:

As many of you also know, beautiful downtown Vancouver was besieged by rioters after the game.  To be honest...I'm still in shock that this happened.  Maybe it was because I had been a part of the magic that was the Olympics, and had assumed that we'd come a long way since the ugly incident in 1994.  Maybe it was because I'd seen all the coverage of the other Canuck games where tens of thousands had amassed with very little issues.  Maybe it's because I believe that people are inherently not idiots.  I saw this picture on Facebook, and it captured perfectly the absolutely insanity of these riots:

I'm sad and disappointed that this is what this great hockey season will be remembered for - a bunch of no good hooligans who trashed one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  As the saying goes...you can't fix stupid.

It's not all ugly though...even though this isn't a happy time for Vancouver, the response to this unfortunate incident shows the true character of the city:

Volunteers coming to clean up the next morning:

The impromptu Wall of Pride, where people wrote messages of support on the boarded up windows at the Hudson's Bay:

A police car with post its, thanking them for the work they did to help protect the people and the stores:

Thank you, Vancouver...you're a classy city.

Final Shout Out

OK boys...this is it...my final shout out to the Canucks!  I know it's not running or food or health or anything my blog is normally about, but I need to show my support for them somehow...so now it's out there, immortalized on the interwebz.

So guys - let's do it for Hamhuis, Rome, and Raymond...let's go make some history.

GO CANUCKS GO!!!!

Go Canucks Go!

If you live anywhere in BC, you know what's been going on with the Canucks.  Our boys are facing the Bruins for Game 7, and it's going to be a crazy night tomorrow no matter what happens.  I will fully admit - I'm totally and utterly invested in these playoffs, and have been riding all the ups and downs with the Canucks.  I have a love/hate relationship with these games - I want to watch and support them, but my heart bleeds when they don't do well and I hate how dejected they look after a bad loss.   After they lost two horrible games in Boston, it was like I had lost.

I was cruising around on Facebook this evening and A posted this great post from ededition.com - it gave me a lot of perspective, and that no matter what happens tomorrow, our boys gave us an awesome playoff ride that I won't forget anytime soon.  Now don't get me wrong - I'm not giving up - WE WANT THE CUP!!!  I'll be cheering our boys on like crazy tomorrow and will be wearing my jersey all day and waving my playoff towel like a fiend.  In short, our boys rock and I'm proud to be a Canuck fan!

GO CANUCKS GO!

Reminiscing

Yay!  A few ladies at work are being bitten by the bug and starting up exercise programs - another gal who works in our building has had some amazing results working with a personal trainer (that combined with Weight Watchers) so I think inspired these ladies to start their own fitness journeys.  Love seeing people getting into exercise!   As I was thinking how awesome this is, I started thinking back to when I first started bootcamp, and what that was like.  One my oldest friends D, who I met way back from elementary school, had been going for a long time, lost a bunch of weight and looked absolutely fantastic so she inspired me to give 'er a go.  I thought she was crazy to get up at 5:30am in the morning to exercise, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try it out and give myself a kickstart.  Obviously working out on my own wasn't working for me, since I'd always come up with some kind of excuse.  I was tired of being tired, out of shape and unhealthy but I needed something more regimented and to be honest, I need to be told what to do when I exercise.  Leave it up to me and meh...whatever.  I'm a people pleaser at heart, so having a trainer yell (and encourage) me works.  I signed my little self up and met with the owner of the bootcamp who weighed me (ack!), took my measurements (double ack!!) and gave me a food log where I was to write down everything I ate and bring it to class for the trainer to review (triple ack!!!).  After that, it was just a case of waiting for impending doom - otherwise known as the first class.

I still remember that first class clearly - I got my out-of-shape carcass up bright and early and trundled off to class.  I started in February, so the weather was still pretty chilly...in fact, the first day of class it was snowing, and we ended up working out in an underground parkade to stay out of the snow.  Big class too, and I will totally admit that I was completely intimidated.  Scared shitless in fact - thank goodness D was there to nudge me in the right direction - what are lines?  Stinkbugs?!  Those sound painful.  You want me to do pushups???!  I was completely out of shape so any type of exercise was tough.

Well...the next day was even tougher.  Actually, the next week.  Getting up and walking was sheer and absolute torture.  I could barely walk, I was so incredibly sore.  Every part of my body ached...my legs, my abs, my arms, my back...every single muscle that had sat unused for the better part of a decade was saying "WTF, Wong?"  Friends at work had a good laugh because I walked like I'd just gotten off a horse - there was no delayed onset muscle soreness, it was instant!  I won't lie - it was hard and some days I didn't love it, but I kept at it because I met some really cool people there, and the trainers are tough but fun.  Three years later I'm still going and glad that I made that first move to start, as frightening as it was.

So to anyone who is reading this that might be thinking of starting an exercise program?  I won't lie - it's not easy to start.  It's real scary.  And I remember clearly worrying about being the last one in the class, being scared, and having flashbacks of my pathetic athletic life in school and the ineptitude that I exemplified.  What if I can't do it?  I'm so slow, what if everyone leaves me eating their dust?  Or what if everyone looks at me and are thinking that I totally suck?  As the famous slogan goes, just do it.  I saw this motivational poster the other day and it sums up perfectly the reason to just get yourself out there...

True dat.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week One Recap

Yahooo!  Week One is over and done, and so far so good.  I'm lovin' my little schedule, and crossing stuff off...why didn't I do this sooner?!  Yes, I am a geek.  So to recap Week One:

Sunday - 20 mins HIIT - stationery bike

This was scheduled in as a rest day, but because I had an IMS session on Thursday, I couldn't go to bootcamp on Friday (can't exercise for 48 hours afterwards) so decided to do a quick HIIT session.  I always try to target five days for workouts per week...now whether or not that happens is a whole other question!

Monday - bootcamp

Oy vey...our instructor had us run up and down the beach with a tire held with straight arms above our heads...seriously, that almost killed me!  It was an awesome work out though and anytime I get to try and bulk up my spindly chicken arms is a good thing.

Tuesday - 6K run - treadmill

Tuesday tempo run - the treadmill is a bit dullsville, so I might try to alternate one week inside, one week out.

Wednesday - 10K run - outside

Hubs and I got up at the crack of dawn to get out there and done before we had to get to work...gorgeous morning!  My coworker M suggested that to mix it up, I could stash everything I needed to get ready at work on Tuesdays and then run to work on the Galloping Goose Trail.  This trail links the Western Communities to downtown, and it's about 11K from where I'd be starting.  We have a shower at work so I could get ready there.  Brilliant!  I love morning workouts as it gives me so much more energy during the day.

Thursday/Friday/Sat - rest days

Le sigh.  This whole Canucks Stanley Cup gig is really messin' with my training schedule.  KIDDING!  Mess away, as I can give a little on the training if I can see my boys hoist the cup (Hamuis - have your people call people - heh).  I scheduled my physio appointment for Thursday after work whereas normally I would go on Wednesday, but the Canucks were playing that night and, and...well you know.  After IMS I'm not supposed to exercise, run, stretch or pretty much do anything for 48 hours, so I'm moving my long run to tomorrow...normally I might have pushed it and run anyways, but I still have some residual soreness from those darn needles.  This means I'll have to do six workouts next week to make up for my three days off, but worth it to give my muscles a chance to recoup after an absolutely killer IMS session.

So overall - Stretches done every day, missed one day of physio exercises (oopsie). Food-wise, I did pretty good - I kept it clean throughout the week and will have a little debauchery today, but nothing crazy.  One week down, 17 more to go!

Three Things Thursday

1.  Canucks

Yes...I know.  All I have to say is, they're just taking the hard way to get there, kinda like the Canadian Men's Hockey team did at the Olympics, right?  And look how that turned out!  You can do it boys, hang in there!  Go Canucks Go!

2.  Physio

I went to see my physio for a check in since now I'm officially starting marathon training again...my foot is bugging me, but it's now the inside of my foot.  My physio says it is still to do with how I'm striking and all related to a weak core which is making me roll my body all over the place.  We went through all the exercises again and refined them even more to really strengthen specific muscles and then she killed me with the needles again.  I definitely have a love/hate relationship with IMS...it works like a hot damn, but I always feel so bad as I can't stop myself from wincing or gasping in pain.  Poor physio, she's so nice that she always apologizes!  I haven't gone through childbirth, but there were a few spots last night that I can imagine could be similar...ouch.

3.  My Secret Garden

Along with food and running, gardening is absolutely one of my passions.  I love it!  I love the satisfaction of seeing things grow, I love the feeling of seeing how the garden changes from week to week and day to day, I love being able to use fresh herbs from the pots that we have on our deck.  Last summer Hubs and I put in a new garden bed in our backyard - it was absolutely backbreaking work as we had to wheelbarrow five yards of dirt from the front of our house to the back - but we're reaping the rewards this year for sure.  This is strictly an ornamental bed...we have an area behind our house where we're going to put in a veggie garden but that's next year's project...we figured we'd give our backs a rest this year.  First year the plants grew a bit but not too much, but this year they're really filling in and things are just starting to bloom.   I had a landscape designer  help me with the design, and overall I'm pretty happy!  Things are blooming at different times so there'll hopefully always be something of interest in the garden.  There's a few things I'll have to move around - apparently I picked a very tall and vigorous brand of shasta daisy and placed it right at the front of the bed - whoops!  Anyways, just had to brag a bit about the garden as I'm admiring it from the couch as I blog.  Happy sigh.

Marathon Quest 2011 - First Day

Finally, finally, finally...summer seems to have hit Victoria!  The weather has warmed up for the first time this year into the 20s...can you believe that?  It's June, right?  Normally I'm solidly in my shorts and flip flops by now, so this little bit of sunshine is very welcome.  So because I'm not used to the warm weather, Hubs and I went out for our first run of this training cycle late - normally we like to be running by around 7 or 8-ish, but yesterday we ventured out at around 11am...what a mistake!  Even though it was gorgeous out, it was also really hot and not an easy run.  Note to self - get out before 8am next week!

So as you guys probably know by now, I'm a stickler for lists and schedules - must be the Taurus in me.  I didn't want to have to think too much so did a full training schedule for the next four months listing all my runs, what days I need to stretch (every day), my physio exercise days (every other day), bootcamp/yoga days, rest days, and when I need to schedule physio and massage appointments.  As the days run along, I'm going to cross off what I've done so I can keep track because now that I'm old, my memory is failing me!  And I'm all about the visual and loooove to cross things off a list.  I'm going to post it up in the kitchen right next to my "Go Wong" card that A made for me last year - sounds like the perfect place to me.

PS.  GO CANUCKS!