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.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Let the Long Weekend Begin
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.
Must.sleep.now.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Race Plan Take Two
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Verklempt
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...
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Bugger Off Germs
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.
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.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Forty
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?
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Dream Big?
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.
"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.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 12 Recap
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!
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!
Friday, August 26, 2011
The Biggie
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.
Off to bed now! Sleep tight.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
The Most Awesome Sign
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
A Stitch in Time....
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?
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?
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Foodie at the Finish Line
Do you guys know where this is? Three guesses. Heh.
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.
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.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Whitewater - 12 for 12
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.
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.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 11 Recap
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!
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!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Trusting My Training
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!
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!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Thanks D
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.
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.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
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.
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 -
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 -
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.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
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!
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!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
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.
"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.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
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!
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!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 8 Recap
Halfway! Woop woop. Kinda can't believe it...feels like it's been awhile and also feels like I just started. The second half of the training is the hard part...distances are really going to start to build so I've got to gird my loins for it. And I was a good girl and didn't jam on bootcamp this week, so got all my workouts in as planned.
Sunday - rest day
Monday - bootcamp
As usual, Sarge blasted our asses with repeat intervals and a circuit. I know I will be thanking her later when I finish the marathon, but I was cursing her in my mind when I heard the words "one more time, ladies!" come out of her mouth. I still love her though.
Tuesday - 6K run treadmill
Wednesday - 6K run outdoors
Thursday - rest day
Friday - bootcamp
Saturday - 26K aka HELL
Soooo...it's been awhile since I've run this far. We headed out at 8am, which was probably a mistake...knowing how long it would take me would put me solidly in the 11am range to finish, which would mean it's HOT. And it was HOT. Hubs rode his bike with me and packed my water and Gu, so I could run unencumbered and I'm so glad I did. I was pretty OK up to about 20K and then I just fell apart. It was almost immediate that I could feel I had no gas left in the tank, and the last 6K were torturous. There was no shade, so I was in the blazing sun the whole time. I had to pretty much walk at the end of each kilometre just to finish. And then...after running for three hours and feeling like ass, I had to climb the steep monster hill back up to my place. Now you people who know what I'm talking about know it's an incredibly steep hill....I had to stop many times just to get home. Not fun! As soon as I walked in the door I slammed back some L-glutamine, stuffed some of those Whitewater granola bars in my face with no guilt (my Garmin said I burnt 1400 calories so whatevs!) and lay comatose on the sofa for a few hours. Thank god that's over with...cuz now I can head to the big smoke with a free conscience. Giddyup!
Sunday - rest day
Monday - bootcamp
As usual, Sarge blasted our asses with repeat intervals and a circuit. I know I will be thanking her later when I finish the marathon, but I was cursing her in my mind when I heard the words "one more time, ladies!" come out of her mouth. I still love her though.
Tuesday - 6K run treadmill
Wednesday - 6K run outdoors
Thursday - rest day
Friday - bootcamp
Saturday - 26K aka HELL
Soooo...it's been awhile since I've run this far. We headed out at 8am, which was probably a mistake...knowing how long it would take me would put me solidly in the 11am range to finish, which would mean it's HOT. And it was HOT. Hubs rode his bike with me and packed my water and Gu, so I could run unencumbered and I'm so glad I did. I was pretty OK up to about 20K and then I just fell apart. It was almost immediate that I could feel I had no gas left in the tank, and the last 6K were torturous. There was no shade, so I was in the blazing sun the whole time. I had to pretty much walk at the end of each kilometre just to finish. And then...after running for three hours and feeling like ass, I had to climb the steep monster hill back up to my place. Now you people who know what I'm talking about know it's an incredibly steep hill....I had to stop many times just to get home. Not fun! As soon as I walked in the door I slammed back some L-glutamine, stuffed some of those Whitewater granola bars in my face with no guilt (my Garmin said I burnt 1400 calories so whatevs!) and lay comatose on the sofa for a few hours. Thank god that's over with...cuz now I can head to the big smoke with a free conscience. Giddyup!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Three Things Thursday
1. Headin' to the Big City
Hubs and I are heading over to Vancouver this weekend...to be honest, I really don't feel like going and just want to stay home, but we've got friends coming in from Hong Kong so are making the trip over to see them so it should be fun. The upside - we've got the whole day on Sunday to ourselves, so we're going to hang out, go shopping, try some of the food carts that are cropping up all over the city (I've got the Vancouver Street Food app on my iPhone!) and then go somewhere nice for dinner to celebrate our anniversary (Phnom Penh, anyone?). Sounds like a plan to me!
2. Whitewater Granola Bars
As Christopher Walken in "The Continental" would say...wow...wowwy wow wow wow...are these things freaking delicious! Super easy to make...basically you slap everything in a bowl, mix 'er up and bake it. I took these over to B's house for our coffee klatch, and left the remaining bars for her and her hubby. B's cousin T happened to be in town, ate all the leftovers when everyone else had gone to bed and asked for the recipe! I take this as high praise for these bars, as Cousin is a professionally trained chef so knows when something is good. The only caveat - these things are pretty high calorie - I put the recipe in a calorie calculator and let's just say...one piece was FIVE HUNDRED CALORIES!!! And I ate TWO that morning!!! The recipe does make pretty big pieces though - 20 pieces out of one cookie sheet pan. And they are pretty high protein...so I had a brilliant idea to cut the pieces smaller and eat them before our runs instead of a banana as they'd probably keep us full longer.
5/5 on these puppies. If I could give them higher, I would...they are that good.
3. Long Run
26K on the menu this Saturday...it's been a long time since my distances have been this high, and vaguely remember last year feeling relief when I was running "only" 20K for a long run. Next week I have a bit of a reprieve and have a step back week where we're doing 19K, so we're thinking about doing our long run after work on Wednesday so we can sleep in next Saturday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the old foot holds up. So far, so good...
Hubs and I are heading over to Vancouver this weekend...to be honest, I really don't feel like going and just want to stay home, but we've got friends coming in from Hong Kong so are making the trip over to see them so it should be fun. The upside - we've got the whole day on Sunday to ourselves, so we're going to hang out, go shopping, try some of the food carts that are cropping up all over the city (I've got the Vancouver Street Food app on my iPhone!) and then go somewhere nice for dinner to celebrate our anniversary (Phnom Penh, anyone?). Sounds like a plan to me!
2. Whitewater Granola Bars
As Christopher Walken in "The Continental" would say...wow...wowwy wow wow wow...are these things freaking delicious! Super easy to make...basically you slap everything in a bowl, mix 'er up and bake it. I took these over to B's house for our coffee klatch, and left the remaining bars for her and her hubby. B's cousin T happened to be in town, ate all the leftovers when everyone else had gone to bed and asked for the recipe! I take this as high praise for these bars, as Cousin is a professionally trained chef so knows when something is good. The only caveat - these things are pretty high calorie - I put the recipe in a calorie calculator and let's just say...one piece was FIVE HUNDRED CALORIES!!! And I ate TWO that morning!!! The recipe does make pretty big pieces though - 20 pieces out of one cookie sheet pan. And they are pretty high protein...so I had a brilliant idea to cut the pieces smaller and eat them before our runs instead of a banana as they'd probably keep us full longer.
5/5 on these puppies. If I could give them higher, I would...they are that good.
3. Long Run
26K on the menu this Saturday...it's been a long time since my distances have been this high, and vaguely remember last year feeling relief when I was running "only" 20K for a long run. Next week I have a bit of a reprieve and have a step back week where we're doing 19K, so we're thinking about doing our long run after work on Wednesday so we can sleep in next Saturday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the old foot holds up. So far, so good...
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Two Little Words
Good morning.
Two little words...but enough to make such a difference in a person's day. Hubs and I headed out for our usual Wednesday early morning run, and both of us were feeling pretty meh and not really in the mood for a run. Now normally when we're out running this early, we see a few familiar faces out walking their dogs. Maybe one or two people max, if any at all. This morning...for whatever reason...we kept coming across other people running, walking, riding their bikes...and all one right after another. I admit...I'm one of those people who sort of gives people a sideways glances and suss them out to see if they're friendly because more often than not, I've been met with a stony silence when I say hi to people I come across when I'm running (and yes, it really bugs me when people don't say hi back). As we came across the first group of people, I was greeted with huge smiles and the cheeriest good mornings I've ever heard! It's 5:30am and people are happy to see me...the mind boggles. As we came across person after person, each one smiled and said good morning...and I have to say, it really put me in a great mood. Yes, these people are strangers...but just a smile and a good morning can actually change how someone's day goes. Feeling buoyed by these simple acts of friendliness, and we finished our runs off fast and strong. So lesson learned...I'm smiling and greeting everyone I come across no matter what because maybe through one small act, I can make someone else's day. What goes around comes around, right?
Two little words...but enough to make such a difference in a person's day. Hubs and I headed out for our usual Wednesday early morning run, and both of us were feeling pretty meh and not really in the mood for a run. Now normally when we're out running this early, we see a few familiar faces out walking their dogs. Maybe one or two people max, if any at all. This morning...for whatever reason...we kept coming across other people running, walking, riding their bikes...and all one right after another. I admit...I'm one of those people who sort of gives people a sideways glances and suss them out to see if they're friendly because more often than not, I've been met with a stony silence when I say hi to people I come across when I'm running (and yes, it really bugs me when people don't say hi back). As we came across the first group of people, I was greeted with huge smiles and the cheeriest good mornings I've ever heard! It's 5:30am and people are happy to see me...the mind boggles. As we came across person after person, each one smiled and said good morning...and I have to say, it really put me in a great mood. Yes, these people are strangers...but just a smile and a good morning can actually change how someone's day goes. Feeling buoyed by these simple acts of friendliness, and we finished our runs off fast and strong. So lesson learned...I'm smiling and greeting everyone I come across no matter what because maybe through one small act, I can make someone else's day. What goes around comes around, right?
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Happy 8th, Hubs
Just a short and sweet post - it's our eighth wedding anniversary today! Can't believe it...seems like our wedding was just yesterday. And the whole wedding this past weekend thing has probably got me all primed for our anniversary and feelin' all lovey dovey too. I honestly couldn't ask for a more supportive husband...he insists on training with me as much as he possibly can, and seeing me through this marathon...can't tell you how much that type of support means. Some days even I barely want to go out and run, so am so appreciative that he's there right next to me for hours at a time.
Happy anniversary, Hubs.
Happy anniversary, Hubs.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Off to the Naturopath
Ain't no germies gonna get me down! After work today I had an appointment with my naturopath to get an immune booster shot, and will get monthly shots leading up to the marathon. Last year I got sick about six weeks before the race, and was so horribly run down that I missed a few key runs. Turned out in the end that I didn't run it anyways, but I am doing my darndest to stay really healthy through this training cycle.
As I was getting my shot (ow, this one really hurt today!), I started asking her about supplements in particular the amino acid, L-glutamine. One of my coworkers who just started personal training has been taking it, and said that even though she is busting some serious ass in her sessions, she's not that sore after as she was taking this stuff. It's supposed to help with muscle recovery, so I was interested in finding out more. The naturopath confirmed that it'd be a good thing for me to take, particularly since the majority of my workouts are longer than an hour. She actually gives talks at the Running Room, which I didn't know...so she gave me a summary sheet that talked about optimal food choices, nutrient ratios and hydration. Cool!
One thing that I've been suspecting is that my protein intake was a bit low...I'd read so many different things on the interweb, so was interested to hear something directly from someone who knows the goods. Endurance athletes are supposed to be getting 1.2 - 1.4 grams of protein per kilo of body weight, putting me in the range of 66 - 77 grams per day. Based on what I've been logging into my fitness pal, I've been getting maybe around 45 grams. Protein is too low, so I've got to work on getting a bit more into me...again, no problem for lunch and dinner, but not enough at breakfast so I'm going to whip up some protein shakes for breakfast I think.
The other interesting tidbit that I didn't know about was that after strenuous exercise, we're supposed to eat something high sugar/high glycemic, to replace the body's glycogen stores...I knew about eating protein and some carbs within 30 - 45 minutes afterwards for muscle recovery, but she said to eat something really high sugar. After a long exercise session, the body is depleted of glycogen and searching it out. When you eat something high sugar right after, the body and liver more readily absorb it (and less likely to turn into fat) and there's a two hour window to top up. In the first 30 minutes, we supposed to take 15 - 30 grams of a high glycemic carb, and an hour afterwards eat something that is a 2:1 ratio of carb to protein. If we don't top up our glycogen stores, the next time we run or work out we're only working with maybe 75% of a full tank. Not good!
I never stop learning about nutrition...so interesting! I'll try out the high sugar thing after my next long run and I'm going to start taking the L-glutamine, so will do a short review in about two weeks on how its working. I wonder if it comes in chocolate flavour? Heh.
As I was getting my shot (ow, this one really hurt today!), I started asking her about supplements in particular the amino acid, L-glutamine. One of my coworkers who just started personal training has been taking it, and said that even though she is busting some serious ass in her sessions, she's not that sore after as she was taking this stuff. It's supposed to help with muscle recovery, so I was interested in finding out more. The naturopath confirmed that it'd be a good thing for me to take, particularly since the majority of my workouts are longer than an hour. She actually gives talks at the Running Room, which I didn't know...so she gave me a summary sheet that talked about optimal food choices, nutrient ratios and hydration. Cool!
One thing that I've been suspecting is that my protein intake was a bit low...I'd read so many different things on the interweb, so was interested to hear something directly from someone who knows the goods. Endurance athletes are supposed to be getting 1.2 - 1.4 grams of protein per kilo of body weight, putting me in the range of 66 - 77 grams per day. Based on what I've been logging into my fitness pal, I've been getting maybe around 45 grams. Protein is too low, so I've got to work on getting a bit more into me...again, no problem for lunch and dinner, but not enough at breakfast so I'm going to whip up some protein shakes for breakfast I think.
The other interesting tidbit that I didn't know about was that after strenuous exercise, we're supposed to eat something high sugar/high glycemic, to replace the body's glycogen stores...I knew about eating protein and some carbs within 30 - 45 minutes afterwards for muscle recovery, but she said to eat something really high sugar. After a long exercise session, the body is depleted of glycogen and searching it out. When you eat something high sugar right after, the body and liver more readily absorb it (and less likely to turn into fat) and there's a two hour window to top up. In the first 30 minutes, we supposed to take 15 - 30 grams of a high glycemic carb, and an hour afterwards eat something that is a 2:1 ratio of carb to protein. If we don't top up our glycogen stores, the next time we run or work out we're only working with maybe 75% of a full tank. Not good!
I never stop learning about nutrition...so interesting! I'll try out the high sugar thing after my next long run and I'm going to start taking the L-glutamine, so will do a short review in about two weeks on how its working. I wonder if it comes in chocolate flavour? Heh.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 7 Recap
Ahhhhhhhh, I love weddings. All that love swirling around and witnessing the start of a couple's lives together is just such an amazing thing! We went to a wedding last night for a high school friend of mine, and it's put me in a great mood - I guess you could say I'm looking at the world with heart shaped glasses today. Back in the day, I used to hang out with a posse of three guys and another girl who was my best friend at the time, and the groom was one of the gang. As times went on and we all got married, worked on careers and had kids (um, not me though...shiver), we'd drift in and out of touch...so what a happy thing it was to hear that the last unmarried guy in our little group was getting hitched. The groom works at a place that was my very first job ever, so a lot of the guests were people I hadn't seen in well over 25 years. I admit - I was kinda nervous going because of this reason...I was trying to explain it to Hubs that it was almost like a high school reunion. Who would I see, would people talk to me? Would I be that person? There were a few people that I was nervous to see, including an ex that I dated very briefly and a girl who had been angry that I was friends with her ex-boyfriend, and we'd had a simmering feud that rivalled the Cold War since.
Well...all the worry was for naught. It was like a big happy reunion, with lots of hugs and catching up with people I hadn't seen in soooooo long. We had a group photo done with our old posse, and had so much fun talking to everyone and finding out what people were up to. The ex was actually seated at our table and as we went around the table and did introductions, there was no hint of recognition...so I said my first name and said that we worked together, remember? I could practically see the light bulb go on over his head! He was pretty surprised and kept repeating my name in shock. Overall it turned out awesome...he is a hilarious guy, there was no weirdness and he kept our table in stitches with his running commentary. Now things didn't work out so hot with the girl...a few cold glares were thrown at me through the night...oh well, you can't win 'em all!
The wedding itself was beautiful - what wedding isn't? There were a few heart tugging moments when the groom choked up as he said his vows and needed a kleenex, and at the reception when he was toasting his mom and everything that she's done for him. His dad died young, so his mom has been his rock for as long as I've known him. So touching, and so wonderful to see a guy who appreciates his mom so much. You know what they say...you can tell a lot about a guy in how he treats his mom, so the bride is one lucky gal, I tell ya.
Anyhoo...the whole point of this post was to recap my workouts this week, and the whole point of the wedding story was that we were tired because we had to get up at 5:30am to get out there and do our long run before we went to the wedding ceremony. In the gap of time between the ceremony and reception, I honestly could barely stay vertical! So this week's workouts? Here goes:
Sunday - rest
Monday - bootcamp
Almost died...we did a run and then ran a really steep hill backwards five times. Yep, we had Sarge again.
Tuesday - 6K run treadmill
Wednesday - 6K run outdoors
Thursday - rest
Friday - 15 minute warmup run, 30 mins weightlifting
Yeah....I jammed on bootcamp again. Thank goodness D is back at bootcamp this week!
Saturday - 23K
Given how tired we were after a week of early mornings, this run went really well. We did the loop around our house (3K-ish loop) which meant I had to run the route seven times. Boring? A little...but flat! Hubs did 15K this week, and rode on his bike with me for the last 8K. Whatta guy! So nice to have the company, and he carried my water for me...nice to have my own personal water boy. Ha!
Well...all the worry was for naught. It was like a big happy reunion, with lots of hugs and catching up with people I hadn't seen in soooooo long. We had a group photo done with our old posse, and had so much fun talking to everyone and finding out what people were up to. The ex was actually seated at our table and as we went around the table and did introductions, there was no hint of recognition...so I said my first name and said that we worked together, remember? I could practically see the light bulb go on over his head! He was pretty surprised and kept repeating my name in shock. Overall it turned out awesome...he is a hilarious guy, there was no weirdness and he kept our table in stitches with his running commentary. Now things didn't work out so hot with the girl...a few cold glares were thrown at me through the night...oh well, you can't win 'em all!
The wedding itself was beautiful - what wedding isn't? There were a few heart tugging moments when the groom choked up as he said his vows and needed a kleenex, and at the reception when he was toasting his mom and everything that she's done for him. His dad died young, so his mom has been his rock for as long as I've known him. So touching, and so wonderful to see a guy who appreciates his mom so much. You know what they say...you can tell a lot about a guy in how he treats his mom, so the bride is one lucky gal, I tell ya.
Anyhoo...the whole point of this post was to recap my workouts this week, and the whole point of the wedding story was that we were tired because we had to get up at 5:30am to get out there and do our long run before we went to the wedding ceremony. In the gap of time between the ceremony and reception, I honestly could barely stay vertical! So this week's workouts? Here goes:
Sunday - rest
Monday - bootcamp
Almost died...we did a run and then ran a really steep hill backwards five times. Yep, we had Sarge again.
Tuesday - 6K run treadmill
Wednesday - 6K run outdoors
Thursday - rest
Friday - 15 minute warmup run, 30 mins weightlifting
Yeah....I jammed on bootcamp again. Thank goodness D is back at bootcamp this week!
Saturday - 23K
Given how tired we were after a week of early mornings, this run went really well. We did the loop around our house (3K-ish loop) which meant I had to run the route seven times. Boring? A little...but flat! Hubs did 15K this week, and rode on his bike with me for the last 8K. Whatta guy! So nice to have the company, and he carried my water for me...nice to have my own personal water boy. Ha!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Three Things Thursday
1. Lock and Load
Wahooo! I've been meaning to do this for ages since I saw Oprah's show on getting a proper bra fitting and what it can do to improve how clothes fit. I've been wearing the same brand of bra for years and I hate...no...DESPISE...wearing it. The back rides up, the straps fall down...the girls were just all over the place and I always felt uncomfortable so was constantly adjusting the darn thing. The last few weeks I'd just had enough and decided to go get some good bras and get a professional fitting done so I know what size I should be buying.
I toodled off to a local lingerie store after work today and the owner measured me up...and surprise, surprise...I was totally in the wrong size. I had the band size too big, and the cup size too small (gulp!) and was wearing my bra way too high up on my back resulting in the dreaded back fat situation. I tried on a few bras and really liked two (purple, no less!)...one which really held the girls in, and another that pushed them up to heights that they hadn't been in since I was in high school. I actually look a bit narrower through the waist now because the girls are no longer down by my belly button. Ha! Unfortunately the store I was at didn't have a huge selection of bras in my size as they tend to focus on girls whose cups runneth over, but at least now I know what to look for. And the twins are much, much happier and look much, much better. I'm a happy girl.
2. Whitewater Part Deux
Week two and I've got two more recipes picked out - a lemony lentil soup and granola bars made with peanut butter, one of my favourite things on earth. I'm heading over to my friend B's for our monthly Sunday morning coffee klatch, so thought the granola bars would be yummy for brekkie. I forgot that we've also made the chicken marbella as well a few weeks ago before I decided to cook this book, so thought I'd mention that we loved this recipe. Loved. Out of five stars, I'd rate this a five plus...and would be a perfect dish for guests. Mmmm.
3. This Song Makes Me Smile
During the Canucks playoff season, I would hear this song all the time on CBC during the commercial breaks and thought I had to find out who sang this song. Something about the tune and lyrics gives me a lift every time I hear it so I thought I'd share. Love it!
Wahooo! I've been meaning to do this for ages since I saw Oprah's show on getting a proper bra fitting and what it can do to improve how clothes fit. I've been wearing the same brand of bra for years and I hate...no...DESPISE...wearing it. The back rides up, the straps fall down...the girls were just all over the place and I always felt uncomfortable so was constantly adjusting the darn thing. The last few weeks I'd just had enough and decided to go get some good bras and get a professional fitting done so I know what size I should be buying.
I toodled off to a local lingerie store after work today and the owner measured me up...and surprise, surprise...I was totally in the wrong size. I had the band size too big, and the cup size too small (gulp!) and was wearing my bra way too high up on my back resulting in the dreaded back fat situation. I tried on a few bras and really liked two (purple, no less!)...one which really held the girls in, and another that pushed them up to heights that they hadn't been in since I was in high school. I actually look a bit narrower through the waist now because the girls are no longer down by my belly button. Ha! Unfortunately the store I was at didn't have a huge selection of bras in my size as they tend to focus on girls whose cups runneth over, but at least now I know what to look for. And the twins are much, much happier and look much, much better. I'm a happy girl.
2. Whitewater Part Deux
Week two and I've got two more recipes picked out - a lemony lentil soup and granola bars made with peanut butter, one of my favourite things on earth. I'm heading over to my friend B's for our monthly Sunday morning coffee klatch, so thought the granola bars would be yummy for brekkie. I forgot that we've also made the chicken marbella as well a few weeks ago before I decided to cook this book, so thought I'd mention that we loved this recipe. Loved. Out of five stars, I'd rate this a five plus...and would be a perfect dish for guests. Mmmm.
3. This Song Makes Me Smile
During the Canucks playoff season, I would hear this song all the time on CBC during the commercial breaks and thought I had to find out who sang this song. Something about the tune and lyrics gives me a lift every time I hear it so I thought I'd share. Love it!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Eighty Days
Eighty days. Wow.
The countdown has started....eighty more days until I do this thing and run the marathon. I'm starting to think about it a lot more now, and allowing myself to think about what it might be like to cross that finish line. For the longest time I didn't really let myself think about it, in case I face disappointment like I did last year...but I'm staying positive and I'm doing all the right things (or at least I think I am!) to finish the marathon and cross this puppy off my bucket list. I bought another pair of runners tonight so I can start rotating my shoes, and booked an immune booster shot at my naturopath so I can hopefully avoid getting sick like I did last year when my mileage started getting really high. I've been feeling extra tired lately...the early mornings are really tough, I'm not going to lie. But honestly...whatever it takes to get my butt across that finish line, I'm gonna do.
And that's all I got to say about that.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Foodie Does Whitewater Cooks - Week 1
I think I'm in love.
I, Foodie at the Finish Line, have had the best homemade veggie burger ever. Actually, I think I'm not even going to qualify the fact that it's homemade...it IS the best veggie burger bar none. The little blurb that preceded the recipe said that if you make these once, you'll never be satisfied with anything you'll buy in a grocery store and I wholeheartedly agree. Packed with protein (17 grams) and fibre (10 grams), it's super healthy and full of flavour and texture. So good...this cookbook is worth purchasing for this recipe alone. We had this on whole wheat buns with the famous burger sauce recipe from this book (a smoky spicy chipotle mayo) and it was fantastic.
I also made the healthy fridge muffins too and these are also delish. Very low in fat (only 2 tbsp) and full of oats, grated apples and carrots and other whole ingredients, these were a healthy, whole grain option. I don't really like cake-y muffins, and love that you can assemble the batter the night before and make them in the morning and have fresh baked muffins. I liked that these weren't too sweet either, with a touch of sweetness coming from a bit of agave and raisins rather than tons of sugar. I had these with a touch of strawberry freezer jam that I made with some of the ladies from work, and it found it was a perfect vehicle for jam or other preserves.
The true test? Hubs really liked all three recipes that I tried this week (my other veggie burger attempts were meh). Soooo...my ratings for these are:
Healthy Fridge Muffins - 4.5/5
Whitewater Veggie Burger - 5/5
Famous Burger Sauce - 5/5
Loving this cookbook so far!
I, Foodie at the Finish Line, have had the best homemade veggie burger ever. Actually, I think I'm not even going to qualify the fact that it's homemade...it IS the best veggie burger bar none. The little blurb that preceded the recipe said that if you make these once, you'll never be satisfied with anything you'll buy in a grocery store and I wholeheartedly agree. Packed with protein (17 grams) and fibre (10 grams), it's super healthy and full of flavour and texture. So good...this cookbook is worth purchasing for this recipe alone. We had this on whole wheat buns with the famous burger sauce recipe from this book (a smoky spicy chipotle mayo) and it was fantastic.
I also made the healthy fridge muffins too and these are also delish. Very low in fat (only 2 tbsp) and full of oats, grated apples and carrots and other whole ingredients, these were a healthy, whole grain option. I don't really like cake-y muffins, and love that you can assemble the batter the night before and make them in the morning and have fresh baked muffins. I liked that these weren't too sweet either, with a touch of sweetness coming from a bit of agave and raisins rather than tons of sugar. I had these with a touch of strawberry freezer jam that I made with some of the ladies from work, and it found it was a perfect vehicle for jam or other preserves.
The true test? Hubs really liked all three recipes that I tried this week (my other veggie burger attempts were meh). Soooo...my ratings for these are:
Healthy Fridge Muffins - 4.5/5
Whitewater Veggie Burger - 5/5
Famous Burger Sauce - 5/5
Loving this cookbook so far!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Six Recap
Whew, busy day at home is over and I'm finally sitting down and getting down to the important stuff...blogging! This week's cooking took for-EVER...washing, cutting, dicing, chopping...I started at 8am and didn't finish until almost 2pm. Gah. The garden was also calling to me desperately...weeds galore, tons of deadheading to do and garden beds to edge. I don't know about any of you gardeners out there, but I can't stand garden beds that aren't cleanly edged. It must be my anal, perfectionist tendencies coming out! Anyways, I'm tired from a full day of chores around the house but happy because we've got a fridge full of healthy, home-cooked food (my BIL is coming to visit this week), the garden looks nice and the house is tidy and clean. Ahhhhh, domestic bliss...well, until next week when I get to do it all over again. Sigh. Housework really is never ending.
Week six! Holy, time is flying by pretty quickly - entire training cycle is 18 weeks I believe, so I'm 33% of the way there. We were chatting with one of our neighbours who's also a runner (and an Ironman) and he commented that there's no feeling like crossing that finish line at the end of the marathon... can't wait to see that for myself.
Sunday - 20 mins HIIT
After a weekend full of debauchery at the cabin and not a smidge of exercise, I felt the need to just move and break a sweat. Normally Sunday is a rest day, but I hopped on the stationery bike when I got home and ticked off 20 mins of HIIT. Felt SO much better after.
Monday - bootcamp
As usual, Sarge kicked my ass...we did hundreds (hundred pushups, triceps, lunges, etc.) and hills galore. My legs were super sore because of the all the lunging, but I don't mind as it just means I'm getting stronger.
Tuesday - 6K run treadmill
Wed - 19K run outside
Whew! I blogged a bit about this on Wednesday night, we were so zonked after doing this mid-week run. We've got another busy Saturday coming up with a friend's wedding, but we've got 23K on the schedule and not sure if we can fit that in on a weeknight...we'd be running until close to 9pm, so we decided that we'll run on Saturday instead and drink lotsa coffee to stay awake through the day's festivities.
Thursday - rest
Friday -bootcamp 6K run treadmill
Yes...I was bad and skipped bootcamp. D wasn't there as she's in Disneyland so I jammed...what they say about doing stuff with a friend is so true, because you don't want to not go and disappoint them. So even knowing that, I just didn't feel like going and decided to do a treadmill run at home instead.
Saturday -10K 6K run treadmill
Another thwarted run...but thwarted by myself. I had all the intentions of doing a 10K run on the treadmill, but just couldn't drag my arse out of bed to get 'er done before I had to head out to meet a friend for coffee. Yes, sometimes I really suck.
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 -
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 -
Another thwarted run...but thwarted by myself. I had all the intentions of doing a 10K run on the treadmill, but just couldn't drag my arse out of bed to get 'er done before I had to head out to meet a friend for coffee. Yes, sometimes I really suck.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Three Things Thursday
1. You are Now Registered in the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon
Aaccckkkk! I've done it now...registered for the marathon so no turning back now. I'm feeling pretty good and think this year is the year...I've got a training plan, am staying healthy and doing what I can to make sure I get there like going to physio, watching my nutrition and stretching every night without fail (OK I didn't stretch when I was up at the cabin but you know what I mean). October 9th is the day of reckoning. Hubs is registered for the half marathon, so here's crossing my fingers that we'll both hit our target races this year!
2. What the Eff, Summer?
OK...it's the middle of bloody JULY and it's still freezing. Seriously, we were running last night by the water and at one point Hubs and I were shivering...and we had long sleeves on. Weather is around 18 degrees and the next week is supposd to be rainy and cool. I suppose I shouldn't complain...the east coast is getting hit by a whopper of a heat wave and is expected to hit 40 degrees, which would make running virtually impossible. Fine, fine...I'll shut up now!
3. Whitewater Cooks - Week One
Week One of Foodie Does Whitewater. This week's recipes I'm going to try are the healthy fridge muffins and the veggie burger...I hear rave reviews on the burger, so look for post to come soon.
Aaccckkkk! I've done it now...registered for the marathon so no turning back now. I'm feeling pretty good and think this year is the year...I've got a training plan, am staying healthy and doing what I can to make sure I get there like going to physio, watching my nutrition and stretching every night without fail (OK I didn't stretch when I was up at the cabin but you know what I mean). October 9th is the day of reckoning. Hubs is registered for the half marathon, so here's crossing my fingers that we'll both hit our target races this year!
2. What the Eff, Summer?
OK...it's the middle of bloody JULY and it's still freezing. Seriously, we were running last night by the water and at one point Hubs and I were shivering...and we had long sleeves on. Weather is around 18 degrees and the next week is supposd to be rainy and cool. I suppose I shouldn't complain...the east coast is getting hit by a whopper of a heat wave and is expected to hit 40 degrees, which would make running virtually impossible. Fine, fine...I'll shut up now!
3. Whitewater Cooks - Week One
Week One of Foodie Does Whitewater. This week's recipes I'm going to try are the healthy fridge muffins and the veggie burger...I hear rave reviews on the burger, so look for post to come soon.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Another One Bites the Dust
So.tired. We have another busy weekend, so knocked off another long run tonight. Supposed to be 19K, but I think we may have done closer to 20K...my dang Garmin ran out of database room so it wouldn't record any more laps so we had to estimate. Needless to say, Hubs and I are exhausted right now. Off to bed!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Five Recap
I think Hubs and I are fans of mid-week long runs now! We're doing another long run on Wednesday after work - we're both busy on Saturday, which means we'd have to get up earlyearlyearly to get our run in (19K this week) so we thought we'd do a repeat of last week and do it after work. We won't be able to do it too much longer as the distances are starting to build...we don't want to be running until midnight or something! But nice to know that we have options.
Oh! Weekend up at the cabin was fab-u-lous! We basically sat around and talked the whole entire weekend and it was sooooo nice and relaxing. And...along with cabin-ing goes lots and lots of food. Pretty much all I did on Saturday was eateateat...I actually woke up in the middle of the night with the worst stomach ache, and barely ate anything on Sunday because my body was still living off all the excess food that I ate. Ha! I seriously overdid it, but it was worth every bite. Well...except this morning when I had to go to bootcamp and it felt like I was towing a piano behind me when I was running. And I was totally out of breath! It just totally highlights to me how important food is and the effect that it has on the body. Back on the good food train now.
Anyhoo...Week 5's workouts were:
Sunday - 60 mins stationery bike
Monday - bootcamp
Tuesday - 6K run treadmill
Wednesday - 16K run
Thursday - 6K run
Friday/Saturday - rest
I really slowed it down my long run on Wednesday, and really concentrated on proper running form. I collapse inward and tense my glutes when I get tired, so made a really concerted effort to stand tall, engage my core and relax my glutes...and so far, so good! My foot hasn't been sore so I'm hopeful that all the work we've been doing is paying off. Yahoo! I've been holding off on registering for the marathon to see how things go...but I think I'm going to go whole hog and sign up. Yahoo!
Oh! Weekend up at the cabin was fab-u-lous! We basically sat around and talked the whole entire weekend and it was sooooo nice and relaxing. And...along with cabin-ing goes lots and lots of food. Pretty much all I did on Saturday was eateateat...I actually woke up in the middle of the night with the worst stomach ache, and barely ate anything on Sunday because my body was still living off all the excess food that I ate. Ha! I seriously overdid it, but it was worth every bite. Well...except this morning when I had to go to bootcamp and it felt like I was towing a piano behind me when I was running. And I was totally out of breath! It just totally highlights to me how important food is and the effect that it has on the body. Back on the good food train now.
Anyhoo...Week 5's workouts were:
Sunday - 60 mins stationery bike
Monday - bootcamp
Tuesday - 6K run treadmill
Wednesday - 16K run
Thursday - 6K run
Friday/Saturday - rest
I really slowed it down my long run on Wednesday, and really concentrated on proper running form. I collapse inward and tense my glutes when I get tired, so made a really concerted effort to stand tall, engage my core and relax my glutes...and so far, so good! My foot hasn't been sore so I'm hopeful that all the work we've been doing is paying off. Yahoo! I've been holding off on registering for the marathon to see how things go...but I think I'm going to go whole hog and sign up. Yahoo!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Mid Week Long Run
This is gonna be short and sweet - we did our long run tonight (16K) and it wasn't half bad...no cramps and I had lots of energy! I've been trying to make sure I keep a slower pace so I'm sure that helped. Sunny but windy, so we stayed cool...I feel extremely perky and hope I can sleep tonight. Hubs...not so much. He's practically comatose, but I fully credit that to the bottle of San Miguel beer we were supposed to share as a treat for running (OK, it's the next day and I just re-read this and we sound like freaks that we're SHARING a beer...it's not cheat day unfortunately, so no boozahol)...but which he practically downed all by his lonesome on an empty stomach and dehydrated. I think I had two sips.
Off to bed...another run tomorrow morning! 10K scheduled, we'll see. Heh.
Off to bed...another run tomorrow morning! 10K scheduled, we'll see. Heh.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Bucket List Item #37
YES!
So yesterday I gushed on and on about how much I liked the Whitewater Cooks cookbook, how vegetarian friendly it was, that it looks really healthy, yadda yadda blah blah blah. I was hit with a bit of an inspiration today...I was moseying around on the interwebz and found this blog called Shelley and Me, where this lady named Jane makes all the recipes from Whitewater Cooks at Home. Ah-HA! I remembered back a few months ago, when I was doing my bucket list and one of the items was to cook my way through a classic cookbook, a la Julie and Julia. Now what better cookbook to use then Whitewater Cooks? Like I said before, the recipes all look pretty doable, healthy, and there's not ten thousand of them...ha! I have to cook for the Hubs and I anyways, so what better way than this to maybe find some awesome recipes that I would never have tried? And now that I'm doing this and put it out there in internetland, I'm going to have to make everything in the desserts section, right? Heh heh...
It's ON! Iron Chef Cindy has entered kitchen stadium. I'll review the recipes as I go and let you know the winners, of which I expect there to be many. So excited.
So yesterday I gushed on and on about how much I liked the Whitewater Cooks cookbook, how vegetarian friendly it was, that it looks really healthy, yadda yadda blah blah blah. I was hit with a bit of an inspiration today...I was moseying around on the interwebz and found this blog called Shelley and Me, where this lady named Jane makes all the recipes from Whitewater Cooks at Home. Ah-HA! I remembered back a few months ago, when I was doing my bucket list and one of the items was to cook my way through a classic cookbook, a la Julie and Julia. Now what better cookbook to use then Whitewater Cooks? Like I said before, the recipes all look pretty doable, healthy, and there's not ten thousand of them...ha! I have to cook for the Hubs and I anyways, so what better way than this to maybe find some awesome recipes that I would never have tried? And now that I'm doing this and put it out there in internetland, I'm going to have to make everything in the desserts section, right? Heh heh...
It's ON! Iron Chef Cindy has entered kitchen stadium. I'll review the recipes as I go and let you know the winners, of which I expect there to be many. So excited.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Meatless Monday Revisited
One of my goals for 2011 was to go meatless every Monday...and I gotta say, I've been rocking this goal (let's not talk about the gratitude goal though...ahem). Hubs is totally on board...and besides one or two minor slip ups on my part, we've been 99.9999999% perfect! And actually really liking it. It's forced me to be more experimental with food, and look at more recipes that incorporate other sources of protein such as beans and tofu. The one thing that I've noticed on Mondays is that my protein intake is lower than my target so I'll have to find more recipes that provide a better ratio of carbs/protein/fat. Generally when I'm looking at a recipe, I'll look to see if the protein and carb ratio is roughly equal as a guideline.
So....since we're talking about Meatless Monday, I've got a great new recipe that I discovered in one of my new cookbooks, Whitewater Cooks....
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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.
So....since we're talking about Meatless Monday, I've got a great new recipe that I discovered in one of my new cookbooks, Whitewater Cooks....
This book is a compilation of recipes from the Fresh Tracks Cafe at the Whitewater Winter Resort just south of Nelson, and has had fantastic reviews. In fact, when I was in line up to buy this cookbook, the cashier waxed poetic about this book and the second one called Whitewater at Home. Strangely, the recipes seemed more complicated and "fancier" than the original Whitewater...curious. They have a to-die for potato salad that has no mayo and is deeelish (Hubs loves it), and this awesome summer salad that I tried and I really like. This salad would taste great in a whole wheat wrap or pita smeared with some hummus and topped with sprouts...yum. I've flipped through the cookbook and I think this one is a must-have for any vegetarian...a lot of the recipes are meatless and I've read that the veggie burger is amazing.
Tabbouleh and Chickpea Salad - from Whitewater Cooks
Serves 4 - 5
Salad
1.5 cups bulgur wheat
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 cup tomatoes
1 cup cucumber
2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup green olives, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Dressing
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon
1/2 cup olive oil
Place bulgur in a bowl and pour 3 cups of boiling water over it. Stir once and let it sit for about 20 minutes or until tender. If there is any water left drain it out in a colander. Add all other salad ingredients to the cooked bulgur and toss to combine well. Whisk together dressing ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.
My adjustments - I didn't use bulgur but make it with brown rice...for some odd reason, my grocery store doesn't carry bulgur! Gah...and I was too lazy to go drive to another store to find it. I also cut the oil back to a scant 1/4 cup as I thought 1/2 cup was a lot of oil, even though I'm sure it would be super tasty.
Two thumbs up on this recipe...I think this cookbook will become one of my favourites very soon.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Switchin' Things Up This Week
What a wonderful, lazy day. Lazy, lazy, lazy and it was perfect...just what the doctor ordered. Hubs was out for most of the day so I had the house to myself, so I read, blogged, watched TV, sat on the deck, lather, rinse, repeat. Seriously, why are not all weeks three day weekends? One day to get stuff done, one day to have some fun and another day to laze about. Sounds perfect to me!
So this week is going to be a bit mixed up for training. I'm heading up island to a girlfriend's cabin this weekend - super rustic, and so much fun! I'm going up Friday night after work, and won't be back until likely Sunday afternoon. Pretty glad that I'm at the beginning stages of training so this week's long run is only 16K. I'd kind of forgotten how much of a commitment that training for the marathon is, in terms of weekend events or other social engagements...sometimes hard to balance both but not impossible. And while running is very important to me, it's not the end all be all...friends and family first!
Anyways, this week's training will be as follows:
Sun - stationery bike/x-training
Mon - bootcamp
Tues - 6K run (morning)
Wed - 16K run (after work)
Thurs - 10K run (morning)
Fri - bootcamp
Yep...running after work...bleh! Weather is going to be around 20 degrees, which is hot for running...also won't be able to eat or drink much during the day to avoid getting cramps. It'll all be worth it when I'm at the cabin on the lake...ahhhhh!
So this week is going to be a bit mixed up for training. I'm heading up island to a girlfriend's cabin this weekend - super rustic, and so much fun! I'm going up Friday night after work, and won't be back until likely Sunday afternoon. Pretty glad that I'm at the beginning stages of training so this week's long run is only 16K. I'd kind of forgotten how much of a commitment that training for the marathon is, in terms of weekend events or other social engagements...sometimes hard to balance both but not impossible. And while running is very important to me, it's not the end all be all...friends and family first!
Anyways, this week's training will be as follows:
Sun - stationery bike/x-training
Mon - bootcamp
Tues - 6K run (morning)
Wed - 16K run (after work)
Thurs - 10K run (morning)
Fri - bootcamp
Yep...running after work...bleh! Weather is going to be around 20 degrees, which is hot for running...also won't be able to eat or drink much during the day to avoid getting cramps. It'll all be worth it when I'm at the cabin on the lake...ahhhhh!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Marathon Quest 2011 - Week Four Recap
Hurray - lovin' the long weekend so far! Two days in and we've had lots of relaxin' and enjoying the sunshine. Yes...that's right, sunshine...the weather's actually been pretty good this long weekend.
Sunday - 20 mins HIIT on stationery bike
Huh...been awhile since I've been on the bike and I can sure feel it. Legs were super tired and I couldn't keep up my usual pace. Normally Sunday is a rest day but I had a physio appointment on Monday so knew that I'd have to take Tuesday off as well.
Monday - rest
Sigh. Was supposed to go to bootcamp this morning, but my stomach was bugging me through the night and wasn't great in the morning so I decided to skip class. It continued to bug me during the day but by evening I felt a lot better, thank goodness. Hate stomach stuff.
Physio was good - she said that I was doing really well with my stability and that I was moving really well. Had a few great a-ha moments when we talked about my form when I'm running, and connecting it back to my exercises. She gave me another one to work on, and then zapped me with some more IMS, which was much easier this time. I felt bad though..when I first walked into the room...the person who was next door must have been pretty new to IMS and she let out a whole series of screams and panting. The receptionist looked at me and said "do you still want IMS today?"
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 6K run outside
I gotta say, I'm really liking these mid-week runs. It's sooooo nice and quiet out in the mornings, and it's just me and Hubs running, running, running. Such a great way to start the morning.
Thursday - 6K run treadmill
Normally treadmill runs are boring and I can't wait to be over with it, but this week's run was good and I had lots of energy. I'm supposed to try and fit in a 10K run during the week so next week I promise to do a 10K treadmill run.
Friday - 16K run
Yep...we did our long run on Friday instead this week. To be honest, we wanted to get it over with...and wanted Friday to be our "chore" day, so we could have the full weekend to relax...Saturday Hubs and I had scheduled in to sleep in, make ourselves a nice breakfast, hang about the house and then go to see a movie (X-Men: First Class...great movie, if you like the X-Men series). And yep...I only got in four workouts and didn't make it to bootcamp...but spending time with Hubs is way more important...all about balance.
Anyway - the run was good...we headed downtown and ran along the water, which was so beautiful. Felt a little tired on this week's run...and probably extra tired because I kept trying to remember my body position. I've been having some achiness on the inside lower leg, and I really noticed that if I run with better form, the foot/leg pain is a lot better...but when you're tired, it's hard to remember to stand up straight, unclench my butt, shoulders down, etc., etc. Always a work in progress!
Saturday - rest
See Friday's entry - did nuthin', and it was great.
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.
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