And We Have A Winner(s)

Happy Hump Day Gang!  Only 3 more days till I'm off to Clermont, Florida for my first race of the year and a training camp.  I'm really looking forward to the camp.  The race, well, I don't know.  I always have a bit of pre-race anxiety, especially for the first race of the season.  It's also an Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10k run) and while I know my swimming and cycling are pretty good right now, my running is not.   This will be my first run off the bike.   Ideally you've done at least ONE brick leading up to a race but given the state of affairs with my glut, I didn't get a chance to do any brick work.  So, this should be interesting to say the least. 

I am really looking forward to the time away from work.  I haven't been sleeping well due to stress so once I"m away, I should be able to forget about work and recharge my batteries.  Training and not sleeping don't go hand in hand so I think I'll probably be dragging my butt for the first few days of training camp.  But that's ok.  At least I won't be working!  WOOOHOOO!

I'm really excited to bust out all the cute Zoot gear I just bought.  Not to mention these shoes.  I christened them yesterday on a rainy 9km run.  They are amazing.  They are Zoots latest triathlon shoe and they're pretty sweet.  I'll probably post a full review on them after I've logged some more miles in them. 

In the meantime, let's get down to business!  I've got 3 winners for my Endurance Tap giveaway and here they are!  Congrats Aileen, Prasert and Lily!

If you could send me a note (phaedrakennedy at sympatico dot ca)  with your details, I'll pass it along to the guys at Endurance Tap so they can ship you your product!  Thanks to everyone that entered!

Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

Recipe Friday and a Giveaway Winner!

I'm finally feeling like myself again, which means I'm back to work and working out!  YAY!  I was starting to go a bit stir crazy.  Yesterday I hit the gym for an easy run on the 'mill + some body weight work as per coach Ming (and holy smokes was that hard!).   Then I did my 1 hour ride when I got home.  He originally suggested I do an easy spin but I actually missed the pool so I asked if I could swim instead and he said that was ok.   I didn't want to wait until Sunday to get another swim in.  It's always painful to get back in the pool after missing a few days so I figured the less time away, the better.  Today's swim wasn't great but at least I got something done so Sunday should suck less. 

Today I'm linking up with Kierston at Candy Fit for #RecipeFriday.  Those of you that follow me on instagram would have seen my black bean & quinoa burger shots from earlier in the week...well guess what folks?  I'm sharing the recipe.  They turned out quite well, other than they were a bit too crumbly for my tastes.  I might omit the ground flax seed next time I make them.  These are not vegan as I used an egg as a binder but that's an easy fix with an egg substitute.

But first things first.  Before I post the recipe, I've got a winner for the giveaway!

Congrats to Colleen @30minutes4me - you & a friend are headed to the Passport for Change event on Sunday!  Send me an email (phaedrakennedy at sympatico dot ca) with your contact info and I'll pass it along to the folks at Tonic.  They'll be in touch with you about how to claim your prize.

Ok on to the recipe!

Black Bean & Quinoa Burgers

1 - 19 oz can of black beans + 1 cup from another can both rinsed and drained
3/4 cup of cooked quinoa
1 TBSP of ground flax  - optional
1 tsp of ground cumin
1-2 tsp of smoked paprika (depending on how smoky you like 'em - I used 2)
1/4 tsp of onion powder
1/8 of tsp of garlic powder
1/8 of a tsp of Franks Red Hot
1 egg
olive oil

Combine the can of beans with the quinoa, spices and egg in a food processor and puree until fairly smooth.  It's ok if the beans aren't totally mashed up. 
Transfer contents to a bowl and add the remaining beans + flax seed and mix well.  I mashed up the beans a bit more with a fork.
Heat some olive oil a frying pan over medium heat .  Form into 4 large patties.  Place in frying pan and cook for approx 8-10 minutes until golden brown.  Flip gently with a spatula and do the same for the other side. 

These actually freeze fairly well too so I wrapped them up individually and put them in the freezer.  I will top mine with avocado, cheese and sometimes even salsa.  Delicious. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be 9 degrees and rainy.  I can't believe I'm actually excited about the rain!  I'm really hoping it will wash away most of this snow.  I'm supposed to run 23km tomorrow and I suspect it's going to be a nasty slushy mess.  But hopefully it will clear the roads of all the ice and snow and we'll have some good running surfaces once again.  I'm so done with all this white nonsense!  Just give me clear roads and sunshine, PLEASE!

What are your plans for the weekend? 

Snow Day Bake-o-Rama & A Giveaway Winner

Ok I know I'm always moaning about how quickly the weekends go by but this weekend seriously FLEW by.  I got home on Friday and then the next thing I knew it was Sunday night. WTH.  Looking back I guess you could say I was pretty busy.  Friday night G and I wandered up the street to check out the new restaurant that opened.  Seems like everyone else in the neighbourhood had the same idea.  About 20 minutes after we sat down, our neighbours showed up and 15 minutes after them another couple that lives the next street over showed up.  I think we were all pretty happy that the 'hood finally has a decent restaurant within walking distance.  It's a pizza place and while the service needs some improvement (it was good when we got it, they just seem a little disorganized right now) the food was excellent, as was the wine.  We'll definitely go back. 

Dessert - Strawberry Tiramisu

Saturday morning I dragged my butt out of bed and went to a TRX class.  I had planned on running afterwards before the snow storm really hit but when I got out of the class and back to the car, I discovered that my front passenger wheel had gotten a flat.  So, I called my knight in shining armour and he came up to change the tire.  Really I should have just called the roadside assistance that comes with the car but I never think to do that.  I then had to drop the tire off at Kipling tire so they could patch it up.  That whole process set me back an hour and a half and by the time I got home, the snow was really coming down.  Add to that the bitter wind chill and winds and I opted to stay inside and tackle my Christmas baking.

Gotta be festive!

 As if being on my feet for 4 hours wasn't enough, I decided to get on the bike late Saturday afternoon.  It wasn't pleasant given the hard effort I put in on Thursday (that will be another post in itself).  My legs felt flat and heavy but I toughed it out and managed to ride for just under an hour.  I can't let my cycling slide over the winter like I did this past year. 

Sunday, G & I hit the pool but I really wasn't feeling it, especially since it was almost all stroke work so I pulled the pin after 45 minutes, went home and did some more baking.  G came back and then we went off to get our Christmas tree.  Our neighbour told us to go to Ikea because they had trees for $20.  So off we went.  I think we picked the perfect tree.   We brought it in and had to let it settle before decorating it.  So, I finished up my next round of baking, threw some chicken in the slow cooker to make this insanely delicious dinner and then got myself dressed to finally get out and do my run.  It was slow going and really messy but I got it done and that's all that really matters. And I saw this beautiful sight. 

Looking back on the weekend, I guess I was more than a little busy.  I had hoped to get out and finish my Christmas shopping but that didn't happen.  Looks like I'm going to have to try and tackle that this week. 

In the meantime....I have a winner for the Health & Fitness Holiday Blog Hop!  It's Sarah Griffiths Briggs!  YAY!  Congrats Sarah!  I'll be contacting you shortly for your mailing address.  Thanks to everyone who entered and a huge thanks to Kristy for organizing it! 

What did you get up to this weekend? 

Giving Back & A Giveaway Winner

Happy Saturday folks!

First things first, I've got a winner for my Octaspring giveaway!  Congrats to Gillian Raymond!  Gillian look out for an email from me.  Thanks to everyone who entered.  I'll be hosting another wee one on my facebook page on Monday so watch out for that.  

I'm coming to the end of my leisurely week.  I'll be back on the workout wagon tomorrow.  I've quite enjoyed the physical and mental break but I'm looking forward to getting back into my routine as well.   I hoped to get a workout in on Friday but that didn't happen.  Thursday's late night took it's toll on me.  But it was SO worth it.  Totally one of the best shows I've seen in a long time.  And of course there was dancing.  Lots of dancing.  I'm sure that counts for a workout, right?

This morning I layered up and drove out to Sunnybrook Park to volunteer for the Toronto Women's 8km.  I love this race series and I figured it was a great opportunity for me to give back.  I knew a few people racing too so it was nice to be able to cheer them on.  I got to work the start / finish line area which was AWESOME.  Seeing the emotion on the faces of some of these women when they crossed the line was amazing.  I remember feeling that same way when I finished my first race.  Despite the horrible weather, there was lots of dancing and high-fiving at the finish line.  It was a lot of fun and it's definitely something I'll do again.

For now I'll be spending the afternoon on the couch with my feet up in front of the fire, watching the rain.  Maybe there will be some cooking this afternoon, we'll see.  I've been on a bit of a roll testing out recipes from the new Runner's World Cookbook and I'm due for a good meal prep session.

What did you get up to this weekend?

Have you volunteered at a race before?  

Vacation Time & A Winner!

Happy Friday Ya'll!!

I'm just a little excited today.   Why?  Well let's see....

1.  I have today off.

2.  I am finally getting re-fit on my bike 

3.  G & I head out to Lake Placid for our holidays tomorrow

4.  I've got a winner for my first ever giveaway!

Drumroll Please - courtesy of the greatest drummer on earth - Neil Peart.  Sorry, it's a *wee* bit long.

And the winner is: Laura R Muise  

Congrats Laura!  Email me your info at phaedrakennedy at sympatico dot ca and I'll make sure this gets out to you right away.

Thanks to everyone that entered!  I'm hoping to start hosting a few more giveaways in the coming months so stay tuned!  If you want to check the entries you can do so here.

Good thing I've got the day off today, I've got a million and one things to do and only a day to do them.  First off, my 3.5 hour bike fitting, some running around, then a long run and I somehow have to finish the laundry, clean out the fridge and finish packing.  There are two things I hate about going on vacation:  laundry and cleaning out the fridge.  Funnily enough they are the same two things I hate about coming BACK from vacation, ha. 

I'm really looking forward to going back to Lake Placid.  We haven't been back since we did Ironman in 2006.  I'm super excited to be heading back.  It's the perfect place to take an active vacation.  You can hike, you can ride, swim, kayak, run, you name it.  I can pretty much guarantee that we'll ride one loop of the Ironman course and I know we'll definitely be swimming in Mirror Lake.   I'm also thinking that I'd like to try and tackle the climb up Whiteface Mountain.  Apparently it's very similar to riding up l'Alpe d'Huez in terms of gradient (10% in some points!).  We drove up the mountain the last time we were there and my ears popped almost all the way up.  Getting up won't be easy but getting down will probably be much harder for me.  I'm SUCH a horrible descender, I may have to walk down.  I don't mind going fast in a straight line but thrown in some winding roads and I completely freak out.  I suppose this could be a good test of my mental fortitude.   We'll see.

Anyway, I must get this show on the road.  I'm not sure how much blogging I'll get done but I'll definitely be on Instagram so if you follow me, consider this a heads up:  there will be lots of pictures of trees, lakes, bike stuff, beer and coffee. 

Happy Friday!