Hump Day Musings + Another Recipe

Happy Hump Day!

Things are a little quiet around these parts lately so I'm taking the time to get myself organized at home and make sure that the freezer is stocked with good eats.  I finally purged my closet & dresser a couple of weeks ago and I'm almost down to the last bit of stuff that I have to get rid of.  Some things I've donated and other things that I actually spent decent money on, I took to the Kind Exchange to sell.  I've made myself a nice little stash of extra cash.   Some of it went to fund my stash of new running socks.  I'm totally overdue for some new ones. 

Tomorrow night I'm headed to the Running Room at Yonge & Wellington to chat with the marathon clinic about tapering and race strategies.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.  I've been working on my "chat'.  I don't like to get up in front of people and just wing it so I've got to have some notes to refer to.

I had planned on doing a long tempo run last night but it was pouring rain and I really didn't feel like getting soaked so I stayed in, did some laundry and watched a bit of mindless TV.  Sometimes I just need to turn my brain off.  I'll head out and do my run this evening since the sun decided to come out today.   I never used to be such a fairweather runner.   Maybe I'm getting less tolerant of inclement weather as I get older.  Time to move somewhere WARM.

I'm happy to report that I've gotten back into a solid routine.  I've been back at the gym on a regular basis and I've been really good about making sure we've got healthy food prepped.  These last two weekends have been quite productive and I've gotten back to my regularly scheduled Eggs For Breakfast routine.  Which leads me to the REAL reason for this post.   I posted my favourite go to breakfast on Instagram yesterday and promised the recipe today.   It's SUPER easy and that's one of the reasons I love cooking with eggs.  You can't really screw it up.

Sweet Potato, Spinach & Caramelized Onion Fritatta

1 medium sweet potato, cut into cubes & roasted
1 small vidalia or sweet onion, sliced fairly thin
2-3 cups of baby spinach
1 carton of egg whites (I used Burnbrae Farms)
3 eggs (I used Burnbrae Farms Omega 3)
1/4 cup of grated old (sharp) cheddar (I used P.C 2 year old white cheddar)
2-3 tbsp of Olive Oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Cast Iron Pan

Use 1 tbsp of oil to coat the pan so the eggs don't stick.  I usually pour it into the middle of the pan and spread it around with a paper towel.   I've also used coconut oil for this.

Toss sweet potatoes with a bit of the olive oil (enough to coat) and add a pinch of salt.  Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through until lightly browned.  Keep oven on.

While sweet potatoes are roasting,  heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non stick pan.  Lower heat to medium - low and add onion slices.  Saute until golden brown.  Remove from pan and place in oiled cast iron pan.

Add the spinach and cook until wilted.   Add to the cast iron pan.

When the sweet potatoes are done, let them cool and then add them to the pan as well.

In a mixing bowl, whisk 3 eggs & the carton of egg whites together.  Grate cheese and add to the egg mixture.  Pour egg mixture over veggies.  Cook for 20-22 minutes at 400 degrees.  Slice up and store in an airtight container.  Keeps for up to a week.   Just reheat it in the microwave and you've got a delicious and nutritious breakfast in under a minute!

What's your go to breakfast?  

And a little reminder that Tri Talk Tuesday is back NEXT TUESDAY, October 6th and we're talking OFF SEASON.  So swing by and link up!

November Nuttiness + a Nutty Recipe

Here we are almost half way into November.  I feel like I haven't been doing much yet I've been insanely busy, thus my lack of blogging.  Weekends just seem to fly by.  Weeks have been rolling into one an another and I'm becoming all too aware that we are creeping closer and closer to Christmas.  I had my first red cup (Gingerbread Latte!) of the season on Saturday and, miracle of miracles, the barista got my name right.  When I told her my name, her response was "Oh, like the play?" My jaw dropped.  NOBODY ever knows that there was a play called Phaedra.   Turns out she studied latin for three years, ha ha.

One thing I have started to work on is getting back into heavier lifting.  I also decided that I wanted to add one more strength session a week but I wanted it to focus on the smaller stabilizing muscles that I don't always work.  So, I went to my first TRX class.  Holy moly.  It was a great workout.  I'm fairly strong so I was able to do pretty much all of the exercises.  Had I been smart, I probably would have backed it off a bit on some of them because it totally kicked my butt.  I went Saturday morning and by Saturday evening, I could feel the DOMS setting in.  Sunday morning I got up and I felt like I got hit by a truck.  Needless to say I skipped my Sunday morning swim.  I made it in this morning though and it wasn't pretty.  I'm still really sore.   But, I can't wait to go back and do it again!  I'm going to have to wait a couple of weeks because next weekend is the MSC Triathlon series awards out in Orangeville.  Remember that goal I had at the beginning of the season?  The one where I wanted to get on the podium for the series in my age group?  Well, it's official.  I did it.  I actually won my age group.  G also managed to get third in his AG too so both of us will be getting awards.  YAY!  That's a really nice way to cap off my season of racing.

One thing I have NOT managed to do is get my butt to yoga.  My normal yoga studio closed a couple of weeks ago so now I'm trying to find a new place that is close to home / work and that has classes that fit in my schedule.  Ugh.  I really need to get on this because I'm having knee issues again.   The sports doc said it was patellar tendinitis.  I don't have a problem running, it's after the run that is the issue.  I've been to physio and have been given some exercises to do for my hips but I also need to work on my ankle mobility as well as my calf flexibility.  Apparently my calves are super tight.  So in lieu of yoga, my foam roller and I have been getting re-acquainted for the time being.   So. awesome.  At least I'm working on getting it sorted out now before I start ramping up my training for Boston.  I don't think it helps that I spend a large portion of my weekend standing around on tiled floors either.  I spend a fair bit of time in the kitchen cooking on the weekends so of course I'm standing, however, if happen to be just surfing the net or even blogging, I almost always stand and lean against the counter.  It drives G nuts.  I have to make a conscious effort to sit my sorry butt down every so often.

All that standing around paid off nicely this weekend though.  Those of you that follow me on instagram would have seen my post from a couple of weekends ago when I made my own cashew butter.  That's almost gone by the way.  I made another jar of awesomeness yesterday.  I had this idea early on last week and figured I'd try to execute it this weekend.  Now of course, I didn't actually write all the quantities down.  Like I said, I'm a freestyler in the kitchen.   Anyway, I made my own chocolate peanut butter.  I think it still needs a bit of tweaking but I'm happy to share the initial recipe.  Perhaps you folks out there can let me know what you'd add or do differently.

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter

1 454g bag of roasted unsalted peanuts
2 tbsp of peanut oil (approximate - I didn't measure)
1.5 tbsp of raw cocoa powder (this I actually measured!)
1 packet of stevia (by packet I mean like the packets like you'd find in a coffee shop)
salt to taste

Pour the bag of peanuts into a food processor.  Give the peanuts a good whizzing until they are ground down a fair bit.  Add the oil and the cocoa powder continue to process.   The mixture will start to get smooth.  At this point, add the stevia.  Process some more until it's mixed.  You can then add the salt if you like and process some more.  I like the combo of slightly salty and slightly sweet.   I haven't tried this on anything except a spoon and even then it was still pretty darn tasty.

 I do feel like it might still be missing a little sumpin' sumpin' but I haven't quite figured out what just yet.  More chocolate?  Maybe.  More sweetness.  Possibly.    If you decide to make this, let me know what adjustments you make, if any.

Happy Monday folks!

A Fresh Start + A Recipe

Oh Happy Monday...

I can't complain too much about it being Monday since I had a 3 day weekend.   It was the perfect way to end my "recovery" (i.e. do sweet f-a) week.   I got back on the workout wagon yesterday morning with my swim group and then spent the afternoon setting myself up for a week of good eating.  I tackled another recipe from the Runner's World Magazine cookbook, I made a batch of my smoky chicken chili, a fritatta and my no-cheese-cheese sauce for some post workout mac and cheese that will likely be dinner on Tuesday night.

I hit the pool again this morning (thank goodness it's an easy week so I won't have to worry about drowning) and will do my first run since Scotia tomorrow night with my run group.  I'm also heading back to the gym.  Hopefully my legs will be recovered from the beat down my massage therapist put on them on Saturday.

As I said on instagram when I posted a pic of the chili, I am a bit of a freestyler when it comes to making chili.  Actually when it comes to making almost anything really.  I'll follow a recipe the first time around and then gradually start to tweak it every time I make it.  What can I say, I'm a tinkerer, so it's rare that I actually write things down when I make the changes.   I'm pretty sure this chili recipe is an amalgamation of a few different recipes with some things added and some things omitted.  The great thing about chili is that it's easy to adjust it to suit your tastes.  Don't like black beans?  Add kidney beans?  Or no beans.  It's your call.

Smoky Chicken Chili

2 tsp of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of a large sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
1 yellow pepper, roughly chopped
1 orange pepper, roughly chopped
1 lb of extra lean ground chicken
1/2 of a 15 oz can of black beans with liquid
1 19 oz. can of whole tomatoes (you can also used diced)
2 TBSP of chili powder
1.5 TBSP of smoked paprika
2 tsp of ground cumin
1/8 tsp of finely chopped chipotle pepper with adobo (more if you like it spicy - I am a wuss)
salt & pepper to taste

Garnishes:
chopped cilantro
chopped avocado 

Saute garlic and onions in olive oil over low-medium heat.  Add ground chicken and cook until almost done.  Add spices (chili power, paprika, cumin) and stir to coat the meat.  Add the chopped peppers and stir to coat again.  Add black beans and tomatoes and mix well to break up tomatoes (if using whole ones).   Add chipotle pepper and mix in.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat to low, cover and let simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Garnish with cilantro and avocado.

This freezes really well so I usually try to make a big batch and portion it out into containers and freeze them.  That way I don't have an excuse to eat crap when I come home late from work and haven't planned dinner.

How was your weekend?  

What's your favourite chili recipe?

Friday Favourites & My Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream Recipe!

TGIF!  Another weekend is almost here and I couldn't be happier.   It's been a productive week here in B&BT land in all aspects of my life.  I'm getting my training in, work is actually manageable (i.e I'm not a big ball of stress) and I've been eating and sleeping really well.  I think the sleeping has something to do with my new pillow but that will be a separate blog post that will involve a giveaway - wheee!

This week has been a-ma-zing weather wise here in the Big Smoke so that brings me to my first Friday Favourite (try saying *that* 5 times fast).

1)  Running in shorts and a tank top on October 1st, sweating buckets and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes post run.  I can't remember the last time that happened....if ever.   Last nights run was also a warm one.  No tank top but I did wear shorts and a very light weight t-shirt and was soaked when I got back.   I also had a nice frizzy fro from the humidity in the air.  Yes, humidity in October.  Amazing.

2)  Finally catching up on some of my favourite blogs and discovering some new ones!  I loved this post from Ty at Seeking Boston Marathon and this post from Debbie at Live from La Quinta.  Thanks to Debbie's post I've gotten some great blogging tips and discovered some new food blogs that I can't wait to check out further.

3)  Perfecting my chocolate cherry "ice cream".  I am a sucker for ice cream, however it doesn't always play nice with my tummy.  Both on the inside and out, ha ha.  I've been messing around with this for a while, trying to get it right, but it was missing that creamy texture that only real ice cream has.  I finally figured it out.  Well, actually my pal Peter did so I have to give him props for the idea.  Are you ready?  It's AVOCADO.  I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner as I've used avocado for a pudding base before.    The best part about this recipe is that you don't need an ice cream maker.  You don't even have to freeze this, you can eat it straight away.  Unless of course you prefer a firmer texture.  I think this is more like a gelato or soft serve ice cream in terms of texture.  Anyway, here is the recipe for my latest addiction.  I'll be linking up with Kierston over at Candy Fit today too so make sure you stop by her blog to see what she's cooked up for #RecipeFriday.

Chocolate Cherry "Ice Cream"

1 cup of Frozen Sweet Dark Cherries (I use Presidents Choice)  The cherries need to be frozen in order for this to work. 
1/2 of an avocado
2 tbsp of unsweetened almond milk OR if you want it to be really decadent, 2 tbsp of full fat coconut milk (the stuff in the cans!)
1/2 - 2/3 of a scoop of chocolate protein powder (depending on how chocolatey you want it).

You could also try using cocoa powder and a powdered sweetener of your choice.  Too much liquid and the consistency won't be right.

I think this next step is one of the reasons I get a really nice consistency with this.  I use an immersion blender to blend this all up.  I've tried it in a regular blender and it doesn't turn out well with these quantities.  I'd probably have to double it at least to get it to work in a regular blender.  If you are lucky enough to have a Vitamix or a Blendtech it may work well in there but you'll probably have to add ice.

I put everything into my blender cup, press down firmly on the mixture and turn the blender on.  I almost use the blender like a giant spoon and mix everything as I'm blending.  It's almost like it aerates the mixture so it's creamy and smooth, much like a gelato.

If you want to get fancy, you could spoon it out into a bowl, garnish with some chocolate shavings and enjoy.  Or, you could do what I do and eat it right out of the blender container.  One less dish to clean....

 

What were your favourite things about this week?

B&BT's Peanut Butter & Banana Amazeballs

I had been thinking about this combo since I made my first round of Amazeballs (that's what I'm calling these little bites of joy) but I didn't actually get around to making them until this weekend.  I had all the ingredients on hand but then I kept eating all the banana chips.  After going through 4 packages of them in the last 3 weeks, I figured enough was enough and that I had better actually MAKE these before I ate a 5th package of banana chips.  If I really like something, I have a hard time NOT eating it.  That's why I don't keep ice cream in the house. 

I'm really happy with the way these turned out.  Very peanutty with a hint of banana.  If you want to amp up the banana flavour then I suppose you could add banana extract in place of the vanilla extract.  Or maybe go 50/50 with the extracts, half banana and half vanilla.  It's your call!

B&BT's Peanut Butter and Banana Amazeballs

1.5 cups of puffed quinoa
3/4 cup of quick cook oats
3/4 cup of banana chips, whizzed through the food processor into really small pieces.  I prefer to use unsweetened banana chips, sweetened ones are too sweet for my liking.
3 TBSP of ground flax
1/3 cup of brown rice syrup
1/3 cup of peanut butter (I used organic smooth)
1 tsp of vanilla

Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Put the rice syrup and vanilla in a pot and bring it to a boil over medium heat.  Add the peanut butter and mix well.  Pour liquid over dry ingredients and mix well.  Let mixture cool slightly before rolling into balls.  Store in a container in the fridge or put in the freezer and thaw as necessary.  Definitely let them come up to room temperature before eating them otherwise they are chewy.  Makes approximately 24. 

The next time I make these I may actually add a bit of salt to them.  They aren't overly sweet but I think the salt might make the flavours pop a bit more.

I can't wait to get out on the bike for a long ride so I can eat these! 

DIY Energy Balls

Now that I've started incorporating long rides into my training, I've started using Clif Bars again.  I have to eat solid food on the bike.  For some reason, gels aren't enough for me.  As our rides get longer and longer, that means I'll be consuming more and more Clif Bars.  At $26 + tax for a box of 12, I'll go through them pretty quickly given that I will use between 1 and 3 bars depending on the length of the ride.  I figured I could probably make something cheaper with things I already had in my pantry at home.  So I started scouring the internet for recipes.  I found a few that sounded good but I'm never really one to totally follow a recipe so I opted to make a few changes to suit my tastes.  Most of the recipes I found called for Rice Krispies and brown rice syrup and those were the only two things I didn't have in my pantry so it was off to the bulk food store.   While I was there, I discovered organic puffed quinoa cereal so I bought that instead of Rice Krispies.  I figured it was a better choice nutrient wise than the Rice Krispies.  And I love quinoa so I thought why not....!

The main recipe I was following called for 2.5 cups of dry ingredients + 3 tbsp of ground flax and 1/2 a cup of dried fruit.  I ended up adding 2.75 cups of dried ingredients + 2 tbsp of chia + 1 tbsp of ground flax, 1/2 a cup of dried fruit and then 1/8 of cup of vegan chocolate chips.  I should have adjusted the liquid ratio a bit more but I didn't so when I went to pour the liquid over the dried ingredients it didn't quite seem to be enough.  I spread the mixture out into a greased pan but there were a lot of bits and pieces that weren't totally covered with the liquid mixture so they didn't quite set.

Hmmmm.....

Then I thought I'd be cutting them up into small pieces anyway so I pulled a small handful out and rolled it up.  The chocolate chips had melted somewhat so the mixture was quite messy.  But I think that helped bind the mixture together when I rolled it up.  Rolling the mixture into balls seemed to make a big difference.  They stayed together and I could make them as big or as small as I wanted to.  I am totally crediting Lindsay Cotter and her Healthy Bites for the inspiration (I bought her e-book and these things are AMAZING).  The flavour combo is something I've been thinking about for ages and it turns out that Christina at The Athletarian has exactly the same taste.  When she visited the Clif Bar headquarters a few weeks ago, she got to make her own bar and chose exactly the same flavour combo.  Great minds think alike.

What is this flavour combo you ask?  Chocolate, Cherry and Coconut.  I'm calling it the Triple C.  Yeah, it's nothing short of amazeballs.  So without further ado, here is the result of yesterday's happy accident.

Triple C Energy Balls

1.5 cups of puffed quinoa
3/4 cups of quick cook oats
2 tbsp of chia seeds
1 tbsp of ground flax
1/2 cup of large flake unsweetened coconut (I think smaller flake would work better but this is what I had on hand)
1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/8 cup of chocolate chips (I used vegan ones as that's what I had on hand)
1/3 cup of brown rice syrup
1/3 cup of nut butter (smooth is better - I used peanut butter but I think I'll use almond butter next time)
1 tbsp of honey
1 tsp of vanilla

Mix all the dried ingredients together, including fruit and chocolate chips.  Put the brown rice syrup, honey and vanilla in a pot over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Add the nut butter and stir until combined.  Be careful not to let it burn. 

Pour mixture over dried ingredients and mix well.   Let it cool slightly before rolling into balls.  Makes roughly 30-34 balls depending on the size.

These haven't been road tested yet, but I will rectify that tomorrow as we're headed out for another long ride (yay for long weekends!!).

What do you think about this flavour combo?  
Is there another combo you'd like to see?  I've got an idea for another one that I may try making tomorrow if I have time. 

Bouncing Back & The Burger Recipe

I don't want to jinx myself but I'm going to put it out there anyway.  I'm back baby.  At least I *think* I am.  Yesterday was long run day.  After taking over a week off running, going through some A.R.T, knee taping and working on strengthening my hips, I was jonesing to get out.  I was just like a kid at Christmas.  I couldn't wait to get to bed on Friday night so I could get up Saturday morning and run.

Thursday I had some A.R.T work done on my quads.  It wasn't pretty but I couldn't believe the difference it made.  To make sure I stayed limber, I went to a hot yoga class on Thursday night.  I woke up Friday morning feeling like a million bucks.  I had NO knee pain when I went up and down the stairs.   WOOHOO!  Bring on Saturday.

Saturday morning was really chilly.  I layered up, opting to wear my Zoot thermal compression capris, along with my compression calf sleeves, topped with a pair of New Balance wind stopper tights.  I figured the compression capris would help keep my knees somewhat in alignment.  Definitely a good call.  I did my prescribed exercises as a warm up before I headed out the door.  As soon as I hit the pavement, I started smiling.  It took me a little while to get into a groove.  My legs didn't start to feel good until about 6km in.  My pace was steady.  I certainly didn't have it in me to push the pace and that was ok as my goal pace for today's run was 5:12 km's.  My plan was to do the 29km that I skipped last week.  I had my phone with me in case I decided I needed to cut the run short and had to call in the sag wagon.

yeah, it was THAT flipping cold.

 I'm happy to say, that didn't happen.  There were a few unpleasant moments but they came and went fairly quickly.  I actually felt really good until about 20km and then the fatigue started to set in.   My hamstrings were especially tired.  Probably because they were actually working for a change, ha ha.  I did the same route I did 2 weeks ago.  When I mapped it out, it said it was almost 31km but when I ran it, I actually had to add on to make it 30km so I figured if I did the same route, minus the add on, I'd probably come in close to 29km.  The closer I got to home, the more I realized that my Garmin must have malfunctioned or lost it's signal on that previous run because I was actually going to be over 30km.  Sure enough as I got up to the house, my Garmin ticked over to 30.21km without me even doing the add on!  WTH??  So of course, I had to go back and re-map the route that I actually ran two Saturdays ago.  Turns out I actually ran 32.65km.  Guess that's one 20 miler in the bag!

Pretty good come back run!

I spent most of Saturday afternoon horizontal on the couch.  I am happy to say that my knees were actually feeling pretty good even after 30km.  My calves on the other hand, really need some work.  Good thing I've got another PT appointment scheduled Tuesday morning and I'm thinking I may actually head to a hot yoga class this afternoon.

A couple of you have asked for my Umami burger recipe.  I thought I had it nailed but I still feel like there is something missing.  Despite that, I'm going to share it anyway.  I may try using fish sauce in place of the anchovy paste next time I make them.  That might be the missing ingredient.  And I may add a just bit more garlic powder.  If make them and decide to add / subtract anything, let me know how they turn out!

Umami Burgers

1.5 lbs of extra lean ground beef (I think that's how much I had, not 100% sure though)
1/3 of a large sweet onion, finely chopped
1/2 of a portobello mushrooms, finely chopped & sauteed
1/4 cup of ground flax seeds
1 egg
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp of anchovy paste
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
a pinch of salt
pepper to taste

Mix everything together and form into patties.  Toss on the grill or in the frying pan and cook to desired done-ness.  I like mine medium rare.

This recipe made 7 decent sized patties that I wrapped up and froze. 

Enjoy!!

Do you have a favourite burger recipe?

Ode to the Great Orange Gourd, Part Four: Pumpkin Spice Protein Smoothie

I don't know about you but I love me a good smoothie.  I'm actually kind of addicted to them.  I have one pretty much every day, post workout.  Sometimes I have them in place of a meal if I'm pressed for time but most of the time they end up being a snack.  I've made them with everything from bananas and strawberries, to avocados, spinach & cocoa powder (don't knock it till you try it!).   In fact, I usually use my smoothies as a way to get some extra veggies in.  Pretty much every smoothie I make has a large handful of spinach in it, or if I happen to have it, some Greens Plus.  I like using spinach because it blends well.  I've tried using kale with no success.  I don't like my smoothies to be chunky.  They're smoothies, not chunkies.

Given my obsession with pumpkin it was only natural that I decided to make a smoothie with it.  I've been doing a variation of this recipe for the last couple of years.  The addition of the espresso powder was inspired by Stuft Mama's pumpkin mocha smoothie.  I gotta say, it rounds out the flavour nicely!

Pumpkin Protein Smoothie

1/4 cup of 1% cottage cheese OR if you want to keep it dairy free, use 1/4 cup of silken tofu
1/3 cup of pumpkin puree
1 large handful of baby spinach
1 tbsp of raw cocoa powder
1/4 tsp of espresso powder
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I use Dymatize ISO 100)
1 cup of vanilla almond milk

Put all the items in a blender pitcher with a bit of ice.  Blend up and enjoy!

Next Monday I'll be wrapping up my ode to the glorious orange gourd!  

Ode to the Great Orange Gourd, Part Two: Pumpkin Cheesecake Pudding

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canucks!  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I spent the afternoon at my parent's place for our annual Thanksgiving get together.  I think I may still be in a turkey coma.  As usual, it was very enjoyable.  We even brought back an old holiday tradition:  the garage ping pong tournament!  Well, we used to play in the basement before my parents renovated it and they folded up the table and put it in the garage.  No matter, my dad set it up and I played my nephew (and won twice) and then we played doubles at which I completely sucked.  Far too many rules to remember.  It didn't matter though, we were too busy laughing and launching ping pong balls around the garage.  I winged one off my dad's head and another one landed in my hair.  Ping pong is a contact sport in my family.  Fun times.

The Old Man schooling my nephew.

Today I'm going to share one of my favourite pumpkin snacks with you, inspired by my mother in laws pumpkin cheesecake.  It's a great way to sneak in some extra protein as well.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pudding

1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
2 tbsp of Philadelphia light cream cheese
1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder.  I use Dymatize 100 ISO lactose free whey protein.

*substitutions:  you could use unflavoured / unsweetened whey powder and add 1/2 to 1 tsp of pure maple syrup depending on how sweet you want it.

Mix ingredients together with a fork until well blended.   If you like your pudding on the cool side, refrigerate for half an hour.  I prefer it at room temperature so once it's mixed, I dig in.

Hope you enjoy!

The Sunday Ritual: On Hiatus

I can't believe we're halfway through a long weekend!  I had Friday off and spent the day running around.  Saturday was a nice lazy day.   I slept in and finally made out for my run around 9:00 am.  The afternoon was spent shopping and puttering around.  It was the perfect lazy afternoon.  I made a batch of my homemade tomato sauce with ground turkey to go with some spaghetti squash.  Luckily there were leftovers so I've got lunch for Tuesday!

This morning I swam and now I'm lounging on the couch icing my achilles.  Yup, I did something to in on my run yesterday.  It's sore to the touch but I'm not having any issues walking.  It was slightly bothersome while I was swimming but it wasn't painful.  It was just kinda *there*.    I am hoping that it's not anything too serious.  I've got another half marathon coming up next weekend and it's going to be part of my last long run before NYC so I really don't want to miss it.  I may just take the week off running to be safe. 

This afternoon we're headed to my parents place in Guelph for the big family get together so I won't be cooking.  I have a couple of recipes I want to work on and I'm fresh out of turkey burgers so I'll probably spend Monday afternoon cooking.  These next few weekends are going to be very busy so I'm going to have to get my cooking in whenever I can.  Which means The Sunday Ritual will be taking a bit of a hiatus.  I'll bring it back when things calm down after NYC. 

Given that we're heading up to the parental units this afternoon for our annual Thanksgiving feast, I don't think I'm going to be at a loss for food this week.  My mom usually makes a ton of food which usually results in some good leftovers that get packed up into a goodie bag for us.  I really love this holiday, probably more than Christmas to be honest.  My parents live in Guelph about 50 minutes north west of Toronto so the drive up is beautiful.  The Hubs' entire family also makes the trek out to Guelph so there ends up being about 14 of us in total.  Makes for a rather loud and chaotic get together.   Hubs and I usually toss the baseball around with his niece and nephew, then we usually congregate in the family room and chit chat while the football game is on.  The game usually starts the banter between Hubs and my dad.  Both are very opinionated when it comes to football so the conversation is always entertaining.   My sister and I polish off a bottle of wine between us which usually results in me napping in the car on the way home.  I look forward to it every year.  It may be loud and chaotic and my family may be slightly crazy but I love them to pieces and I'm thankful for each and every one of them. 

What are you thankful for?

Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions?

Ode to the Great Orange Gourd, Part One: Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Now that October is here, it's officially fall in my mind, despite the cooler than normal temps we've been experiencing already.  Fall means crisp air, cozy sweaters, Thanksgiving and a proliferation of pumpkin-related things.  Starbucks brought their pumpkin spice latte back in early September but it just didn't feel right indulging in one of those on a balmy September afternoon.  Personally I think they jumped the gun.  Now that October is here, I may indulge in those a little more often.  My overall pumpkin consumption is somewhat constant throughout the year, but it definitely spikes with the arrival of fall.  Especially Thanksgiving.  Really,  what is Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie?  The two go hand in hand.   There was one Thanksgiving my mom decided to be oh-so-untraditional and not make a pumpkin pie.  I can't even begin to tell you the trauma that caused my sister and I.  I still haven't gotten over it.  To this day I always ask my mom if there's going to be pumpkin pie for dessert.

Obsess much?

Clearly.  So, I'm dedicating today's post to my favourite vegetable.  So versatile and yet so humble.   I am presenting you with 4 of my favourite pumpkin recipes over the next 4 weeks.   I know it can be used in savoury recipes (I've made an amazing pumpkin soup) but personally I like it slightly sweet.  Or at least topped with something sweet.  If you're a pumpkin fanatic like I am, you're bound to love these recipes.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

I can't take credit for this entire recipe.  It has been adapted from Georgie Fear's recipe in Fuel Up (amazing cookbook by the way).  Her pancake recipe is nothing short of amazing on it's own but I was craving pumpkin so I tweaked it a bit.  I topped mine with 100% pure Canadian maple syrup, which is seriously a match made in heaven.  This is what helped fuel me to my overall Masters Female win at the Oakville Half Marathon. 

1 cup of quick cook oats
1 cup of egg whites
1/3 cup of pumpkin puree
1/4 cup of 1% cottage cheese
1/2 tbsp of baking powder
2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1 tsp of ground cinnamon**
1/2 tsp of allspice**

**you could substitute 1.5- 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice for these spices.

Put everything into a blender pitcher and puree it until smooth.    Pour onto a pre-heated non stick frying pan and cook until top starts to bubble.  Flip and cook another couple of minutes until done. 

Makes roughly 6 medium sized pancakes. 

Tune in next Monday for another pumpkin recipe!

Pumpkin Nirvana!

What's your favourite pumpkin recipe?

The Sunday Ritual, A Mile & Another Busy Week

Another weekend is almost over and I hardly feel like I've had time to breathe, let alone relax.  Last week was a crazy week at work and I spent all day Friday on location at a farm.  I didn't get home until almost 7:30 pm, then we went right back out to a friends place for dinner.  I finally collapsed into bed around midnight.  I didn't want to sleep in too late on Saturday because I had a 32km run scheduled.  I dragged my butt out of bed around 7:30 am and I finally got out the door around 9:30 am.  The run started off really well but then I started to fall apart around the 26km point.  I don't think I hydrated well enough.  I toughed it out and finished with a slight negative split.  Not bad for a hilly run.  Then it was off to a neighborhood art show (bought another small painting) then it was off to the Running Room to spend my winnings from last weeks half marathon.   I've stocked up on GU and Roctane so I should be good for the next little while.  After that, it was time for the highlight of the weekend: The West Toronto Pacers First Annual Beer Mile.
We had a great turnout.  About 20 people, including some non-members.  What a blast.  Apparently the beer I chose wasn't "legal".  It was 5% but the bottle size was only 341ml instead of 355ml.  So I had to dig through the coolers to find some "legal" cans.   I found 2 cans of Steam Whistle and opted to drink those in conjunction with the ones I had brought.  Almost everyone else was drinking 330ml cans.  I had some technical issues opening my first can which put me back a lot.  I was one of the last people to actually start running.  That first lap wasn't too bad.  Lots of burping.  The worst part was my legs.  After 32km I didn't have much spring in my step.  The second lap wasn't too bad either and I was actually able to pick up speed.  The third lap was when it started to go downhill.  And the 4th lap was just plain ugly.  I didn't even make it through my 4th beer.  I think I drank 2/3 of it.  So gross.
By the time I crossed the finish line I was pretty drunk.  I actually had to lie down.   My final time was just over 12 minutes.  My friend Kiki took a hilarious shot of me curled up with my head on someones knapsack and an open can of beer in my hand.  But I made it through without puking and I was able to walk.  I probably could have walked to the pub but since Gary drove, I got a ride.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and it will now become an annual event.  So I've now got one more thing to train for next year.

Pre Beer Mile:  Busting out the Festive Head Gear.

Me and my Non Compliant Beer. 

Finally Done.  I totally felt like dying.

Getting hugs from the Women's Winner.

Drunk faces.

I was exhausted after yesterday's activities.  We got back from the pub and I was in bed asleep by 8:30 pm.  I felt like I was coming down with a cold so I figured I good solid nights sleep would help.  I slept till 6:30 am.  I debated skipping my Sunday swim but since I have to be at work for 6:30 am tomorrow, that means I'm missing my Monday swim.  So, I dragged my butt out of bed and made it to the pool.  Nothing like a tough pool workout to totally tire you out.  I swam 3300m this morning in about 1:15:00.  Now I'm completely exhausted.  

This coming week is going to be much like last week.  Super busy.  It's also a short week for me.  We're closing on Friday for the Thanksgiving long weekend.   I still have a few burgers left in the freezer + some leek and mushroom soup that I made last week.  I need to replenish our veggies though, they are running low.  Next weekend I'll actually take the time to get some good solid food prep done.  This week, I'm going back to my breakfast fritatta except this time around I'm going to make little individual ones in my muffin tin.  We'll see how that works out.  I'm also going to cut up some veggies to bring with me to location tomorrow so I make sure that I've got some healthier options for snacking.  I did ok on Friday although I did end up indulging in chips later on in the day.  So other than my snacks, it's going to be a week of winging it.  I'm more than likely going to be very late tomorrow night, Tuesday night I'm running, Wednesday night I've got a massage scheduled after work and Thursday night we're out for dinner for a friends birthday so Friday night will probably be the first night all week that I actually make dinner.  That's what I'd call a busy week!

Sorry I'm not posting any recipes today.  I've decided to save that for tomorrow.  Given that tomorrow is October first, I figured I'd start off the Month of the Pumpkin with a recipe featuring that glorious orange gourd.  In fact, every Monday throughout the month of October, I will be featuring one of my many favourite pumpkin recipes so be sure to come back for those!

What sort of craziness do you guys get up to this weekend?  

Beer Mile pics courtesy of Carmen Schwalm and Kiki Cloutier.

The Sunday Ritual & Another Race!

I can't believe it, another whirlwind weekend is almost done.  I think this whole two day weekend thing is really just plain wrong.  Two days is far too short to really decompress from a stressful week of work, get your weekend errands done and get some good down time in there.  A three day weekend would make so much more sense.  You'd have a bit of extra time to get things done and get some good chill out time in there.  But, I don't make the rules so I'm stuck with a 2 day weekend.  Might as well make the most of it, which I definitely managed to do.

I spent Saturday morning running around and getting a Computrainer lesson from G.  I spent the afternoon meal planning, did a little cooking and tried to stay off my feet as much as possible as I was going to be racing this morning.   I hit the sack around 9:30 pm and slept relatively well until my alarm went off at 4:45 am.

G was going to be racing with me.  It had been 10 years since his last half marathon!  10 years!!!  He's spent the majority of those years doing triathlons which has kept him in pretty decent shape.  He wasn't sure what to expect today and neither was I to be honest.   I'll save my full race report for tomorrow but I'm pleased to say that we both had great days.  G finished in 1:40:49, which is a PB for him by at least 7 minutes if not more.  Not bad considering he's getting up there in years and has just started really running again over the last couple of months.   I managed to snag the Overall Masters Female win with a time of 1:33:36 on a course that was about 500m too long.  So realistically I would have been sub 1:32 had the course been correct.  I might have even had a PB.  Oh well.  I'm not too fussed about that though.

We were back home by 10:45 am.  Gotta love that.  I've managed to have a nice hot epsom salts bath, make myself some food and now I'm sprawled out in the good corner of the couch (G is off to Washington for work) in my Salmon compression capris.  I think I'll probably spend the next few hours here until I feel ready to stand in front the stove and finish up the rest of my Sunday Ritual.

On tap for this week:

Mashed cauliflower (currently cooking), roasted fennel (all done) and this soup.  I may add some sauteed ground chicken to the soup to get some protein in, instead of the pasta.  This bit of cold weather has me craving soup and comfort food.  I also have to make my frittata.  I alternated between eggs and quinoa last week for breakfast.  I didn't mind the quinoa but I think I prefer eggs in the morning.   Yesterday I used up the rest of the basil from the garden as well as a bunch of cherry tomatoes to make a Mediterranean inspired dish with eggplant and extra lean ground beef from Gourmet Nutrition Vol 2.  I'll top it with a bit of feta cheese when I re-heat it.  It's the perfect thing I can freeze as well so I have one container in the fridge and the other in the freezer.  Lunch is taken care of for 2 days this week.  Awesome.  If I get my soup made, that will cover me for another couple of days and perhaps a dinner.  And, I still have a couple of chicken burgers from last week in the freezer.  All sorted for the week.

Melanzana Riccha (eggplant in a meat sauce)

Roasted Fennel

 I had another good week of training this week.  I didn't get a bike ride in despite getting a new toy this week.  Shocking, I know.  I'll make sure I get a ride in this week.  I had several really strong swims this week and 2 really good runs, along with a solid race.  Here's how my week panned out training wise.

Monday:  Swim:  Fin & stroke work with snorkel.  2150m  This was tough.  Snorkel work is always hard. 

Tuesday:  a.m.:  Run and weights.  Did 20 minutes on the treadmill (4:06km) and then 40 minutes of weight work.  p.m:  ran with my group.  Did East to Ellis which is a really hilly route.  10.80km in 49:49.

Wednesday:  Swim:  2250.  Lots of stroke work again. 

Thursday:  40 minutes of weights and 9.28km run with 4x hill repeats and a serious set of stairs.

Friday:  Swim:  2100m.  Another day of stroke work.  Led the lane for most of the swim. 

Saturday:  OFF

Sunday:  3.04km warm up then 21.5km race. 

Totals:

Swim:  6500m
Bike:  nada
Run:  48.68km
+ 1hr 20 minutes of strength training for just under 8 hours of workout time.

Another productive week.  Looking forward to doing it all over again next week.

What did you get up to this weekend?  Did you race?

The Sunday Ritual, an Open House & Another Week of Chaos

I can't believe it's Sunday already.  Where the hell did the weekend go?  Seriously.  What happened?  I know I didn't sleep through it.  Oh yeah, right, we opened our doors to our friends, family and neighbours yesterday for our Open House / Housewarming.  Kids running wild in the back yard, neighbours getting hammered in the kitchen, friends catching up with each other and family being family and totally goofing off.  Wowza.  Talk about a good time.  Due to our Friday night Costco spree and the generosity of everyone that attended, we now have an overabundance of snack food (mostly chips) and booze (mostly wine).  I guess that means we're just going to have to have another party in the not too distant future.  

Standing at Attention!

I spent yesterday afternoon running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.  Up and down the stairs, inside, outside, showing people around.  I didn't sit down at all until about 6:00 pm.  I hardly drank any water and I didn't really eat very well so I suspected that today's run was probably going to be a little on the sucky side.  Surprisingly, it wasn't.  Sure my hamstrings were super tight but other than that, I actually felt ok.  I was out for 2 hours and I covered just over 24km.  It was the perfect day for a run and even though I was a bit tired and sore, I enjoyed every minute of it.  Because I didn't drag my butt out until almost noon (so very late for me!) there was a whole different vibe to my run.  Not too many runners out at this point in the day but lots of families and cyclists.  And fishermen.  Yup.  Apparently the Credit River is a hotspot for salmon fishing.  As I was coming back from my turnaround point, I saw a crowd had gathered on the bridge over looking the river and down by the Port Credit Marina.  So of course I stopped.  I finally saw what everyone was looking at.  Some tattooed dude with a fishing rod was wrestling with what I guessed was going to be a very large fish.  Sure enough as he pulled it out of the water everyone gasped.  The thing was massive.  I ran along over the bridge and down to where the other crowd was.  I had to see this up close.  Got up close and was even more impressed.  It was a salmon and it had to be at least 30lbs, if not more.  Crazy.

That's the first time I've ever seen anyone catch anything in the Credit River.  I see guys fishing there and around the corner from there all the time and I've never seen anyone catch anything until today.  That was the highlight of my outing.  The second highlight was the weather.  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.  It was sunny with those beautiful fluffy cumulus clouds and a nice cool-ish breeze.  Amazing.  Perfect way to cap off a weekend and get me ready for another week of insanity at work.
Speaking of which, I have absolutely no plans for food prep today, other than my fritatta.  Gary is going to be away for work, and I'm going to be shooting 3 days out of 5 this week which is going to mean long days and catered food.  I've got a few pantry items that I can bring in to fill in the off days (thank goodness for canned tuna!).   What I need to make sure I do is bring in healthy snacks.  I tend to fall off the fitness wagon when we shoot because I end up eating things like chocolate covered croissants and overindulging on cheese and crackers.  So the will power is going to have to be on high alert this week, especially because I will probably miss a couple of workouts due to work.  I know for sure I'll be missing my Thursday night run group and there may be a swim workout that gets missed, we'll see. 
I was actually pleasantly surprised to see that despite the craziness of this past week, I actually managed to get in most of my workouts.   I opted to skip my swim on Wednesday because I was exhausted and I didn't get a ride in yesterday because we were getting ready for our housewarming but those were the only two workouts I missed.  I got in all my run workouts which I'm pumped about.  This is how it all went down:

Monday:  off

Tuesday:   12.96 run (9km at tempo pace)  + 40 minute weight workout included testing my 5 rep max for deadlift and bench press.  I managed 95lbs for my deadlift and 65lbs for my bench press.  My chest was sore for days after that.  And I'm sure that's probably why my hamstrings are super tight.

Wednesday:  Off

Thursday:  First day of Auto-Reg training in the a.m..  Very strange but I think I get it.  I need to figure out a game plan when I get to the gym.  Did about 45 minutes of weights. 
P.M. Run group workout was a doozy as well:  15x 1:00 minute with 1:00 minute rest.  This workout sounds easy but it's not.  It lulls you into a false sense of security....Oh I can bust my a$$ for a minute, no problem, especially if I get a minute rest after!.  You have to resist the temptation to go out like gangbusters and blow your brains out because if you do, by the time you get to the 10th interval, you will be crying.  You'll want to quit and you will be a LOT slower.  I know because I made that mistake the first time I did this workout.  I didn't make that mistake this time around.

Friday:  Swim, which totally sucked.  Coach moved me up a lane with the really fast people and we did pull and paddles which is my absolute nemesis.  I have gotten better but my kick is my strong point, not my pull.   Whenever I use a pull buoy my rotator cuff gets very angry at me, especially if it's super tight, which it just so happens to be right now.  So, I only did part of the workout, then decided to swim some of it, still felt like crap, so I got out.  Meh,  Some days are good and some days aren't, nothing you can do about it.

Saturday: Off - I had thought about doing a ride but didn't have time. 

Sunday:  24km scheduled, 24.08km run.  Great way to close out the week!

Totals for the week:

Swim:  1600m
Bike:  ZERO
Run:  49.60km
+ 1:25 in gym time.

Not bad.  Hopefully next week will be similar!

Did you get out and run this weekend?  How far did you go?

The Sunday Ritual, Stupidity and Another DNS

My first few steps were tentative but I quickly found my rhythm.  Of course every little twinge I felt ate away at that black hole of doubt.  I eventually realized that my head was getting the better of me.  I soldiered on.  The goal was 19km.  It was a beautiful sunny day and I was running along a lovely undulating road in cottage country.  It doesn't get any better than that.  I had been feeling so good leading up to this day.   Perhaps that's why I thought 19km was doable.  About 8km in I thought maybe I should turn around and call it a day.  16km was still respectable especially after taking 2.5 weeks off.  My stubborn side chimed in and talked me in to that extra 1.5km out.  "You need to get your mileage in"  it urged.  "You're way behind."  Panic took over and I pushed on.  At the turnaround, I stopped to check out the state of my feet.  I could feel the burning on my right foot.  I took my shoe off to see a bulge on the ball of my foot.  Ugh.  I shoved my foot back in and laced my shoe up tighter.  I crossed the 2 lane highway and started to make my way back, cursing myself for being an idiot.  I had to stop a couple of times to stretch.  I couldn't plant my right foot properly due to the gigantic blister that had formed.  My stride was altered.  I started to walk, silently cursing my stupidity.  Somewhere around 14km I started to feel a bit better.  I knew I had to face the dreaded Emes Hill on the way back.  It doesn't look like much but it's a grinder.  I figured if I had to walk, I had to walk.  Peter's words echoed through my head "Try to take it easy on the hills.  If you can avoid them, avoid them for now."   So much for that. 

Emes Hill.  Jammy Bugger.

I started up the hill and actually felt alright.  It kicks up towards the top so I slowed down as I got closer to the top.  I was huffing and puffing.  But I made it to the top.   I was only about 3km away from the landing.  My legs were just starting to feel tired which was a surprise.  I figured I'd feel tired way earlier.  I had one more small hill to climb before I reached the landing.  Mentally I was done.  My feet were burning and I was not looking forward to taking my shoes off.  As the landing came in to view I realized that I hadn't quite done 19km.  I *should* have stopped but no, I had to run out past the landing until my Garmin clicked over to 19km.  Really?? What good did that do me?? None I'm sure except to silence the paranoid beast in the back of my head.
On a positive note, my legs felt totally fine after that escapade.  I was walking normally, no pain, no issues.  I figured the next day would be a different story.  My feet, on the other hand were a mess.  I had two huge blood blisters on my right foot and another blister forming on the big toe of my left foot.  It took me two attempts to drain the blisters.  I had to drain them again the next morning.  Disgusting.  I couldn't even face putting my running shoes on again so I spent the next day in flip flops.  My legs felt stiff and my calf felt tight, but there was no pain.  I was hopeful that I could race on Sunday.  I used the Stick on my calf, iced it and took a Robaxacet on Friday night in the hopes that would help loosen things up.
I awoke on Saturday to incredibly sore legs and a very tight calf.  Oh no, no no no.  All I could hope was that my legs loosened up over the course of the day.  They didn't.  So at 5:00 pm last night I pulled the pin on racing today.  Another DNS (did not start).  It was probably just as well.  I woke up this morning with very sore quads, a tender achilles and a sore hamstring.  I was tempted to sit on my butt this morning and mope but I thought it would be better if I went out and got moving.  So I laced up the new shoes, put on my new Oiselle Roga shorts (which I love btw) and went for a shuffle.  It was awful.  I tried not to cry in frustration as I ran.  My legs felt like tree trunks.  I kept moving at a very easy pace.  I turned around just past the 3km mark.  I stopped at almost 4.5km and started to walk home.  I was feeling too many "weird" things in my legs.  And they were just plain tired.  About 1km from home, I started to run again.  Everything was tight.  I started to get down on myself.  I fought back more tears as I shuffled along.  I started to worry that I'd done more harm than good and that I'd set myself back even further.  I got back home and spent a good 20 minutes stretching.  I lightly foam rolled my legs and thought about my next steps.   Realistically, the fact that I got out and managed to run almost 5.5km in 30 minutes with no calf pain per se, is a positive.  The pain I felt was because I overdid it on Thursday.  It was everywhere else BUT my calf.  Which is a good thing.  So I think a good massage will help flush out the rest of the soreness in my legs and hopefully get the circulation going again.  To aid in getting the blood flowing to my aching legs I'm wearing my Compressport For Quads and my calf sleeve on my bum calf.  The single calf sleeve is very gangsta looking but I don't care.  It feels great.  Fingers crossed I wake to fresher legs tomorrow.  Just in time to return to work.

I didn't have anything planned for today cooking wise because I figured we'd be racing and wouldn't be back home until mid afternoon.  I took a look through the freezer and the pantry and I think I've got more than enough odds and ends that I can successfully put together some decent lunches.  I'll have to pick up a few things but I don't think I'll have to do a full on grocery shop.  I'm taking some inspiration from the lovely Katie over a Wish and Whimsy and making these yummy looking Tuna Cabbage Boats.  I like the fact that I can put whatever strikes my fancy in these.  They are high in protein and I can fill them up with as much veggies as I please.  Perfect clean eating food.  I made some delicious salsa verde last week that I put on some grilled chicken.  Flavourful and oh so simple.  I still have some left over so I'll be using that on the grilled chicken I'm going to cook up tonight.  As for dinner this week, we'll that remains to be seen.  We still have a ton of peppers, zucchini and mushrooms as well as some green beans and a small harvest of yellow beans from the garden.  Some grilled salmon or flank steak would be perfect pairings for these veggies.  This will probably mean a stop at the butchers after work but that's easy enough.  I want to keep this weeks menu simple.   I got up early this morning and tackled my breakfast for the week.  I've gone back to my usual breakfast fritatta.  I added a chick pea crust to this to make it a bit more substantial.  This one has mushrooms, onions, yellow pepper, zucchini and goat cheese.  Had I been thinking I would have added some thyme to it.  Delicious.

Fritatta Love

The grand plan for the week:  KISS = Keep it simple, stupid.  Eat clean, train smart, listen to my body and hopefully I'll be back on track.  I've got one more opportunity to race next weekend so if I'm smart this week, I should be able to toe the line at the Toronto Island Triathlon next weekend.   Fingers crossed.

The Sunday Ritual on Vacation & The End of an Affair

It's Sunday again.  Normally I'd be lacing up my shoes right now and heading out for my long run but, I haven't been given a go ahead by my PT to do that just yet.  Even though I feel totally fine, I want to make sure that any residual issues are worked out before I actually start pounding the pavement again.  That being said, I will probably go for a very short very easy jaunt in my new kicks.  Yes folks, the Newton love affair is over.  I have found another lover and his name is Mizuno.  He may not be as flashy as Newton but I think he'll be better for me in the long run; more stability and less stress on my calves and achilles.  After 2 + years in the Newton's and this weird little calf issue I've been having, I felt it was time for a change.   The guy that sold these to me said he wasn't surprised to hear about the calf issues.  That seems to be a big problem with a lot of these minimalist shoes.  More load on your forefoot is going to stress your calf and achilles more than they're used to and for a lot of people that results in an injury.  Even in the Newton's I was still a heel striker and yet I was still able to run fast.  As my sports doctor so aptly put it, your body is going to do whatever it's going to do, changing your foot strike doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get faster.  I used to think it was the shoes that made me faster and I'm sure that they probably helped a bit, but I think I can safely say it was a combination of the 15 pound weight loss, the speed work and weight lifting that has gotten me to where I am today. 

Much more tame than I'm used to!

I had big training plans for this week, especially since we're off on vacation.  I'm mentally raring to go and despite being off for two weeks, I'm feeling really good physically as well.  Nothing like some forced rest to make you feel like a million bucks.  I'm totally chomping at the bit to get back to it so hopefully my PT gives me the green light tomorrow.  We're heading up to our friends cottage on Wednesday for three days so I'll be bringing my wetsuit and my bike for sure.  I'm actually really looking forward to getting in to the water.   I know right???  Me the big 'fraidy cat!  I can't believe I just wrote that.  But it's true.   I think I'm starting to turn the corner.  I guess we'll see what happens when I toe the line at the sprint triathlon next weekend.

Since we're on vacation this week, I haven't done any menu planning.  I am going to finally make those energy bars from the No Meat Athlete that I talked about a couple of weeks ago.  I didn't end up making them because that was the weekend I injured my calf so I spent that afternoon sprawled on the couch with my leg elevated.  But, if I'm going to be riding my bike this week, I'm going to need something so I'll make those and bring them with me to the cottage.   I've also got a bunch of tomatillos that need to be used so I'm going to make some salsa verde.  I'm thinking that might be mighty tasty on some grilled chicken.  Other than that, we're just going to wing it for the next couple of days.   That's what being on vacation is all about.

Have you got a vacation coming up?  If so what have you got planned?

The Sunday Ritual: Flying Solo and an Epic Run

I can't believe Sunday is here already.  Weekends go by far too quickly these days!  At least it's a long weekend next weekend, woohoo!   Another Sunday means another round of the Sunday Ritual.  I have to be honest, I don't have any big plans for today because Gary is away for work all week.  I only bust out the fancy stuff when I'm cooking for both of us.  You know, being a good wife and all that.  Left to my own devices I'd be happy with a plate of scrambled eggs for dinner, which is probably what will happen this week.  There are three nights this week where I won't be home until later so dinner will be eaten post workout (Tuesday & Thursday) or before my appointment (Wednesday).   But fear not, I do have some plans for today as well as this week. 

The big goal for today will be to make my own energy bars.  Especially after yesterdays bonk fest on the bike.  I can't survive on gels alone on the bike, I need solid food.  I've found this great recipe formula from the No Meat Athlete that I'm going to try.  They have beans in them.  Beans!  All I hope is that my rides don't end up becoming gas powered.  But I won't know until I try and I'm always game for trying new things, especially food related things.  I'll also be making my usual breakfast fritatta.  Lunches this week will involve consuming the remainder of my various burgers, some grilled chicken breast and the remaining lettuce from the garden.

Speaking of yesterday's bike bonk, I figured that my run today would suffer big time from the thrashing I put on my legs, along with my less than ideal dinner (Woody's bison burger, sweet potato fries and a pint of Amsterdam Blonde.)  The goal for today's run was to test out my "new" long run pace.   I'm following a program called FIRST.  This program is based on running 3 days a week and it focuses on 3 key runs:  a tempo run, interval workouts and a long run.  I did something like this last year training for my series of half marathons and felt that my body responded well to the lower amount of pavement pounding.   I was hesitant to try it for my marathon because I had a time goal and felt that I had to get the mileage in so I ran 4 days a week.  That fourth day was really just junk mileage.  I didn't need to do it.  So, I'm going back to 3 days and following this program.  I do enough cross training that I'm still maintaining a good level of fitness so 3 days of running is fine.

My current long run pace is based on my lactate threshold test that I did last year.  It ranges between 5:05/km and 5:10/km (for the American folks that translates to 8:11-8:18/min mile pace).  This particular training plan uses your 10 km pace + 60 to 75 seconds per mile as your long run pace.  My 10km pace + the 75 seconds is currently about where I run now so I thought why not try my long run at my 10km + 60 seconds per mile.  That works out to 4:48 min/ km's or 7:43 min/miles.  I didn't think I'd be able to maintain that given yesterday's beat down but I thought I'd try to see if I could maintain sub 5:00 minute km's.

I started off feeling a bit rough but quickly found my stride.  I was booking it.  4:35's, 4:40's.  It felt easy.  I chugged along at this pace and was amazed at how good I felt.  My stride felt fluid and effortless.  I live for runs like this.  I turned around and 9.5km and felt like I could go on for ever.   As I made my way back, I started to feel a little tired and my pace started to slow a bit.  I didn't care, I was still running sub 5:00 minute km's.  I thought for sure the wheels would fall off the wagon at some point.  I kept waiting for it to happen but it never did.  I came running through Marie Curtis Park with Muse's Uprising playing on my shuffle.  I felt invincible.  I covered 19.04km in 1:32:45 for an average pace of 4:52/km's (7:50 min/miles).  Mission accomplished.  This called for a bit of a Sunday Gun Show from my inner super hero.

Seriously ridiculous flex face.

I had planned on celebrating by having a frosty beverage but while harvesting beans and the lettuce pictured above, I somehow tweaked by calf.  So much so that I can't really walk without pain.  So, I've taken an anti inflammatory, I've iced it and now I'm wearing my compression socks with my legs elevated.  So given the anti-inflammatory, a frosty beverage will have to wait till tomorrow.  Hopefully it's nothing serious.

What did you get up to this weekend?