Extending My Vocabulary

Before I waded into this endurance thing there are some words that I never would have expected to become a regular part of my vocabulary.

First off? Massage. I used to think these were a luxury, but if I'm not getting my regular monthly massage I can feel it. And not a wimpy relaxation massage either!

Next up? Chiropractor. I never thought I would have a reason to visit the chiro, but after my piriformis started acting up I now know that these guys can do so much more besides crack your back.

Finally? Physiotherapist. Today was my first ever visit to the physio. My right knee is still tweaky from the Disney Marathon. My massage therapist noticed the clicking first...then I went to the chiro and learned that I have a whole lot of tightness on my right side. But ART wasn't really getting to the heart of the issue. I don't have any major stabbing pains or anything, just discomfort on the top inside by my knee cap at times while running or while walking up and down stairs. It turns out that one of my tri teammates is a physio and she works in a clinic in my office building. When I found that out on Tuesday I mentioned my tweaky knee and she told me to stop by. The long and short of it is that I've got a rather weakly developed quad right where it is joining my knee cap on the inside. This is pulling my knee cap out of alignment. It isn't anything too major and I'll have to be really diligent about stretching, plus she is going to give me some strengthening exercises. As she was checking around she asked me about my IT band. Knock on wood I've never had any issues with it, but as soon as she put some pressure on it...yikes!! So that is where your IT band is!! Turns out, that is tight too. I walked out of the physio office with my new best friend, the foam roller. And homework!

In other news, we had a time 750m or 1500m swim on the workout board for this morning. During my warm up I was trying to keep my head down but it just kept feeling like my rear end would not stop sinking. Geez! I had promised Richelle that I would keep up the work with the flip turns - deep end only and on the warm up, but I was so preoccupied by the sinking that I forgot. After I rolled through the warm up I figured I'd go for the 750m timed swim. Luckily the sinking feeling stopped and I got into a groove quickly. I hit my 750m and debated whether I should continue on the 1500m or continue with the rest of the warm up. Since my last timed swim was 1500m my swim coach told me to continue on to see how I compared. Another 750m later and I was done. 34:52. That is two whole minutes faster than my last two 1500m timed swims in the last two and three weeks. Sweet! Part of me thinks I may have miscounted, but my 750m splits were even, so I guess I'll go with it!

Tomorrow is a rest day and I've got a massage planned. Looking forward to giving my legs a rest for a day!

Frigid Hills

Weather is always a hot topic of conversation here in Calgary. For the last couple of days everyone has been talking about how cold it was going to get on Wednesday. I tried to tune them all out because I really didn't want to know. I needed to run hills on Wednesday and there was no way that I was going to wuss out and run on a treadmill. A treadmill is painful enough with no incline, never mind throwing a hill workout in!

I had something going on over lunch today so I knew my best course of action would be to get the run done first thing in the morning. I was up around 5 am and wandered downstairs to take care of something important first. The Melissa's Road Race registration was up and running and I wanted to make sure I got into the 10K. I pulled together the stuff I needed for work, then bundled up. I didn't check the temperature, I just knew I'd need to dress as warmly as possible. So I layered up in:

• Under Armour shorts
• Long johns
• The warmest pair of Sugoi tights I own
• The thickest pair of Smartwool socks I own
• Long sleeve tech top
• Midweight half zip top
• Sugoi Firewall jacket
• Gloves
• Two hats
• Fleece scarf

It looked perfect outside. We had gotten a light dusting of snow overnight so it was great for throwing the Yak Trax on. I got started just before 6 am with a 15 minute warm up, followed by a few short accelerations. After that it was into my 4 x 2:00 hill repeats. My pace wasn't anything to write home about, but the repeats went not too badly. They were over and done with before I knew it, then it was time for a 10 minute cool down run back home.

I felt pretty well bundled up against the elements and I was pretty comfortable out there. The worst part was probably that my eyes were watering a fair bit...and well...extreme cold...watery eyes...you get frozen lashes. Talk about a weird sensation! Once I got back home I checked the weather. It was -21C, or -31C with the windchill. That's -6F/-24F for all of you Imperial folks. I would say I redeemed myself after bailing on an outdoor run on Monday in -7C. (Although really, if I wouldn't have run at the Y on Monday then there would have been no great Leana versus the Weightlifter on the treadmill story...)

In the evening I ran through a quick strength workout, followed by some abs and some stretching. Alright folks, I'd better head off to bed. Tomorrow is another swim/spin combo!

Tuesday Swim/Spin Combo

Today was a pretty busy day. I was up and at the Y for my swim clinic. It had been awhile since I broke out the sushi suit, so I thought I would see if it helped make me fast. I got in the water a couple of minutes late which made it hard to get the entire workout in. We had a 10 x 100m set where we were supposed to start at a moderate pace, build to a fast pace, then finish up at an easy pace. Here’s how it broke down:

• 1 - 2:14:74
• 2 - 2:10:48
• 3 - 2:05:43
• 4 - 1:58:38
• 5 - 1:59:96
• 6 - 2:11:20
• 7 - 2:12:55
• 8 - 2:12:45
• 9 - 2:12:28
• 10 - 2:10:60

After the fifth one you can see that I was a bit tuckered and just kind of held on for a consistent pace the rest of the way through. All in all, it was a good workout, but I have to try and get in earlier so that I can make it all the way through my workout...

This evening was our final spin class at Bow Cycle. To celebrate Angie wanted to throw together an impromptu pot luck. But first we had to workout. Um...really I don't remember what we did...but it was hard... After class we hung out, had some beverages and chit chatted. Definitely a good time.

Tomorrow? I'm trying hard not to think about what is going to happen tomorrow... Stay tuned...

I Hate The Track

I hate the track. Or rather, my ass hates the track. But I’ll get back to this later.

I had a three miler on the schedule today. The weather forecast was –7C (19F) and snow in the afternoon. I was sitting in a meeting at about 11 am and my coworker looks out the window and comments on the amount of snow coming down. It was almost like whiteout conditions. The meeting finished up and I hummed and hawed about whether I really wanted to go out or not. The sidewalks were looking pretty gross and I just was not up for it. So, the treadmill after work it would be.

I was ready to go all Brad Pitt on the treadmill in Burn After Reading. I had my playlist loaded with up T-Pain and Beyonce, and thanks to all of you guys, I realized that I was missing Britney Spears. I rectified that situation before heading out, so now I’d be able to hear Britney tell her to give her more while I was running on the treadmill.

As soon as I pulled into the parking lot at the Y I knew the treadmill situation would be tough. It was full… And indeed, all of the treadmills were taken. Bummer, I would have to start out on the track. I just wanted to get this run over and done with. I could do anything for 45 laps, right? As soon as I started running around the highly banked track my piriformis was hurting. These were going to be 45 long laps if it was going to feel like I had a fork jabbed right in middle of my piriformis the entire time. The first mile clicked off in 9:43, which at the time I was disappointed about. I had kind of thought I was going to be faster. Just then I noticed that a treadmill had opened up, thank goodness! I ran over there to snag it. Who would have ever thought I would be so excited about an empty treadmill?

I wound up next to some body builder guy who was just about to get started on his run, just as soon as he got off of his cell phone to make plans to meet his buddies at the bar later. I’m guessing he was a body builder because he was wearing his weight lifting gloves. On the treadmill. If you read Missy’s blog, all of a sudden I thought I was a part of this episode. I had my Disney Marathon shirt on and cranked the treadmill up to 6.5. Maybe a little fast, but like I mentioned, I was a little disappointed that my first mile was a bit slow and I was ready to make up for it.

As I got going I looked over at Mr. Bodybuilder next to me. He was running at a 5.0 pace. Nothing wrong with that. He kept glancing over at my treadmill though, to see what I was doing. It was almost like he didn’t want to get chicked on the treadmill. He was running along, but every once in awhile he would grab on to the bars on the side. Then he glanced over at my treadmill and pumped it up to 6.0. Now he’s running, reaching for the bars, catching up, then trying to hang on to the console in front of him. He looks over at me and bumps the treadmill up to 6.5. He’s struggling and dropping back. Next thing I know he’s gone off the back. He gets back on the treadmill but shortly after that he calls it a day. 6 minutes in. Poor guy.

The rest of my run was uneventful. I finished it up and spent a good amount of time stretching it out, but my piriformis still hurts. Sigh…time for some more ART I think…

Bending Like Beckham on a Sunday

I was up sometime just after 7 am this morning…ugh… I had initially thought that this would be a good opportunity to get up and knock my spin out early…but that didn’t happen. Oops! I opted to eat breakfast…send some e-mails…have some lunch…hit the grocery store… Finally somewhere around 4 pm I was ready to spin. I had an endurance ride on the schedule so I figured this would be a good opportunity to throw a DVD in for entertainment on the bike. Today’s choice? Bend It Like Beckham.

I was supposed to ride for somewhere between 1:15 and 1:30 or so. It was pretty well just spinning and every fifteen minutes I’d have a single leg set or a low cadence set to switch things up. I made it the entire way through the movie while I was on the bike and the ride felt pretty good.

I was supposed to go for a 20 minute run afterwards but by this point in time it was nearly 6 pm. That meant it was getting dark and I was also getting ready for dinner. Since I had to bail on my core and stretching yesterday in order to make it to Winefest on time I opted to take care of that this evening instead.

As for dinner? I had gumbo on the menu – with chicken and smoked turkey sausage. It turned out not too badly, but I’d probably use a different kind of canned tomatoes in the future. Probably I’d go for diced instead of crushed if I were going to make it again. But overall, not too bad!

Since I was a little “wined” out after Winefest last night it was time to crack into a beer. This is one I picked up from Tin Whistle Brewing Co in Penticton, BC. You can’t really find their stuff outside of Penticton, but if you are planning on being there for Ironman Canada, I would highly recommend checking them out for a tasting!

Winefesting

First off, here’s a shot of the yummy Quinoa Salad that I made the other evening. I really liked this dish a lot – super easy and quick to throw together, especially if you make a few servings of quinoa in one go. Anyhow, tasty stuff.Saturday I had a 12 km (7.45 mi) run on the schedule and I was supposed to add in 2 x 2:00 hill repeats at the end of my run. At the end of each hill repeat I was supposed to stop and do 1:00 of lunges or squats. I just ran my neighbourhood, and since I live at the top of a hill it wasn’t too hard to find a place to get my hill repeats in. Probably the hardest part about it was stopping on the sidewalk of a fairly busy street to do my squats. I may have felt a little bit silly. Once I finished up the run I did a few more squats, some forwards and backing walking lunges, zig zag lunges and push ups. Then I had to hurry up and get ready to head out, because my brother and sister-in-law and I had tickets to Winefest.

A ticket to Winefest gets you entry, a Reidel wine glass that you get to take home, all of your sampling, plus appetizers. There were about 64 different booths with wines from all over the place. One of the more interesting ones was billyrock – wine in a can…

I ran into a few friends that I hadn’t seen in quite some time and all in all, it was a really fun night. I didn’t taste anything that blew me away, but I really enjoyed the evening out with family and friends. I’m not sure if people didn’t realize you could take your glasses with you at the end of the evening, or maybe they just didn’t want them. Once the ugly lights turned on a few folks were making mad dashes for any glasses that were left behind. Not that I’m pointing any fingers… :)

Today I’ve got a spin on the trainer and a 20 minute run. Plus I’m on the hunt to see if okra is available here in Calgary…

And by the way, thanks to Rainmaker for the tip on Windows Live Writer! Writing and editing posts is so much easier rather than through Blogger…

Beyonce vs Backstreet

I'd like to think I've been listening to some half decent music lately, however when it comes to working out it has been a constant barrage of T-Pain or Beyonce in my head. I am somewhat ashamed to admit it, but I guess whatever pushes you through your workouts, eh? This morning Beyonce's oh so catchy Single Ladies was running through my head in the pool. We had a 300m choice warm up and at one point I opted to do a few lengths of breast stroke. When my head popped up out of the water the Backstreet Boys were playing over the sound system. Loudly. Telling me to quit playing games with their hearts. It was kind of a musical nightmare in my head...but I did swim pretty well today.

This evening I had a short spin on my schedule involving some simulated hill repeats. Today my legs realized that I had indeed worked them fairly hard on Tuesday and Wednesday so I didn't want to push too hard for a third day in a row. I adjusted the gearing and trainer tension so that it did indeed feel like I was pedaling through sludge but I kept my heart rate pretty low. After that it was back inside for a strength workout. I still needed to make dinner so I got my tofu baking and quinoa boiling then ran through some step ups, lunges, squats, hamstring curls, push ups and tricep dips, followed with some stretching. After that I threw together my Quinoa Salad with Pickled Radishes and Feta...which was really good. I topped it with a slice of tofu that I had dusted with lemon pepper and baked. All in all, it was pretty good stuff. I totally spaced on a picture though...sorry!

***Just a note on the Nike Women's Marathon this year. Has anyone else noticed that the event has disappeared off of the Nike webpage this week? I'm assuming they will be announcing the lottery soon..?? My friend Suz in San Antonio and I are hoping to go again this year since we had such a blast two years ago. Anyone remember what the deal was for groups of friends hoping to gain entry together last year?

Where Is This Coming From??

First off, I forgot to mention that I tried the Kona Cola nuun at spin class last night. Hands down, my favourite flavour of all time! I e-mailed Angie to let her know that I loved her spin workout and that I felt like I worked hard. Her response?

What the heck got into you last night Leana!! You just rocked!!!!

Today I had a 5 mi run planned over lunch with cadence drills. About 4 times during the run I was supposed to count cadence for 15 second intervals and try to increase my cadence as the run went on. I have to admit, this is the first time in awhile that I've been looking forward to run. Folks, this run did not disappoint! I felt AMAZING from the word go. When I checked my pace in the first mile I was already at a sub 10:00 mile and I decided to go with it and see what happened.

Mile 1: 9:40 Hmm...feeling pretty good.
Mile 2: Can I speed up? 9:22...not bad...
Mile 3: 8:51...Holy...can I hold on?
Mile 4: 8:41...Seriously?
Mile 5: Getting tough...to...hang...on...8:48

Overall, 5 miles done at a 9:05 pace. I have not run that pace before...ever... I can only assume that my legs weren't really all that aware of the hard bike workout I did the day before and they were ready to run. And admittedly, I wanted to hang in there to see where this run would go. The fast pace, the sunshine...talk about a great lunch time run! I'm loving how this week of training is going, although I promise to dial it back so that I don't tire myself out too early on!

Oh, I didn't forget about the cadence drills...not to worry... I picked them up over the run in case you were wondering..!

Down to Business

I am so excited for this week. The light workouts after the marathon are done and I'm excited to start building intensity back in.

Anyhow, first things first...dinner on Monday night. I gained some inspiration from the latest Food & Wine magazine and made a pork tenderloin and some spaghetti squash on the side. Loved the pork...but the squash wasn't my favorite. I've got a few wines in my basement that I've been hanging on to for awhile. I had a bottle of See Ya Later Ranch 2002 Pinot Noir, which probably shouldn't be cellared for too much longer. So time to open it up. Just out of curiosity I counted how many bottles I've got right now - 80. I don't even have enough rack space... I'm really not sure why I have a 10 lb weight underneath that cart there. One of my favourite things is hanging on the wall above the racks. A little brush with fame that I had back in maybe 1987..??I had the biggest crush on Michael J. Fox back then. We had just flown into Vancouver from Bogota, Colombia and had gone out for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Michael J. Fox is a good BC kid and he just happened to be at the same restaurant. When I saw him in person I pretty well clammed up and just stared at him. Classy Leana. Thank goodness for the nice maitre d' who helped me to get an autograph. I still have the children's menu that he signed.

Back to the workouts... Um...I kind of arrived a bit late to swimming this morning. Oops. As soon as I got in the water I felt amazing. Everything was clicking. I had that same catchy T-Pain song in my head almost the entire time. Every once in awhile a snippet of Beyonce's Single Ladies crept in my head. Um...it is kind of an annoying song...but it did make me swim fast... I love it when things come together in the pool!

Tonight's spin class at Bow was fantastic!! Work was pretty quiet today so I had some pent up energy I was looking to release. It was a workout from the word go - including the warm up. We did some long single leg low cadence intervals...which I loved... We did plenty of stuff in a hard gear and I worked my tail off. I'm not sure that I've seen my heart rate get that high on a spin before, or spend so much time in a high heart rate zone.

Tomorrow I've got a 5 mi run with a cadence drill at the end. It looks like we might get above freezing tomorrow so it should be a good run. Fingers crossed my legs will have some juice in them!

Polar For Sale!

If anyone is looking for a deal on a Polar unit my friend Richelle has one that she is trying to sell. It is a Polar RS 200SD - speed and distance. Retails for $280, but she is selling it for $150. It has only been used a few times. Get in touch with Richelle at richelle@triathlete.com.

Runner Leana = Yoga Failure

Somehow or other a 6:30 am hot yoga class seemed like a good idea today on my day off from work. It was either 6:30 am or 6:00 pm and I liked the sound of getting it out of the way nice and early. Early... There were five other crazy people there for the early class...on a holiday...so at least I didn't feel too crazy myself. I like the instructor who teaches this class. It was nice and relaxing and there was plenty of useful stretching for my tight legs. It was fantastic. Before I knew it, it was time for savasana. It is my favorite part of the class because the lights are dim and you just lie there and try not to think about anything for 5 or 10 minutes. Sounds pretty easy, eh?As I was lying there the instructor came over to adjust my pose because I guess my shoulders were all tightened up. I didn't realize that it was possible to screw up the pose where you just lie on your back, but leave it to me to figure out a way to do it. I will admit that once he adjusted my shoulders I felt infinitely better...

I came home, scarfed down some oatmeal and started gearing up for my 3 mi run. It felt amazing outside. The sun was shining and I felt so good running... Ah, maybe it was the yoga? I felt strong running up the hills and the run literally flew by. Fantastic! The entire time I had this song in my head, courtesy of America's Best Dance Crew:

Such a catchy tune! Anyhow, time to hit the grocery store and attempt some laundry. Exciting stuff!

A Tale of Two Breakfasts

Maggie gave a little woof at 5:08 am this Sunday morning. She doesn't quite grasp the concept of sleeping in on the weekends. Not even sleeping in until 6:30 am. Going back to sleep was futile. I lounged in bed for a bit, then got up and decided to make some breakfast before spinning. I've been gaining some inspiration for hot cereal in the morning from Kath Eats Real Food and her tribute to oatmeal. I cooked up a bowl of hot cereal with a banana whipped in, some dried fruit (apricots, raisins and cherries) and some toasted almonds. Yummy. A mug of Cocoa Camino hot chocolate with chili and spices on the side. Good stuff!After that I hopped on my bike for a short low cadence workout. It included some single leg work, some 4:00 crazy low cadence sets with squats in between. I love single leg and low cadence stuff! Finlay kept me company the entire time in the garage while I was spinning. I think he likes having a bed set up in there!

After I was done spinning I had to hurry up and shower and rush off to a breakfast date. I was meeting my brother and sister-in-law, niece and a friend at Cora's. I've heard great things about this place and have been pretty keen to try it for awhile. Just a note my Canadian friends with a Cora's in their city...if you get there too much after 9:30 am you'll be waiting awhile for your breakfast!

The menu had so much good looking stuff on it. Hello, a big plate of cheese with fruit?I wound up going for some brioche French toast with a ton of fresh fruit (um...plus some bacon and an egg). I couldn't finish all my breakfast, but wow...it was so good..!
Tomorrow is Family Day here in Alberta. The plan is to hit up the 6:30 am hot yoga class tomorrow. After all, if Maggie doesn't let me sleep in I figure I might as well get up and do something productive!

Running the Sahara - Winners!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my Running the Sahara movie giveaway. You guys left me some really fantastic inspirational phrases and I really appreciate it! A few highlights:

• Greg, aka Road Warrior said, "Since I run so I can eat, my mantra is pizza and beer at the finish." Hello, I can relate since I'm often chanting out various beverage concoctions I could pick up at Starbucks when I'm done.
• Ryan said, "I'm so glad I'm not Canadian!" since that meant he could actually enter the contest. Ryan, you crack me up! If you haven't checked out his blog yet, you really should go do it. You can congratulate him on his super fast marathon this weekend.
• RoadBunner likes "Pain is temporary, pride is forever." Yup, that is a good one!
• My friend Aloha Jeff uses this mantra to get him out the door: "Fitness can't be stored, it must be earned over and over, indefinitely." Ted Corbit. I love it Jeff. I'm going to remember that for days when I just don't want to go.
• Jess loves the quote from Meet the Robinsons: Keep Moving Forward. I love it too. It is actually engraved on my RoadID.

So thanks again to everyone that entered! If you want to see what everyone wrote, here's the link. I have 5 downloads to give away, and thanks to the wonderful Random.org the lucky folks are:

• Laurel @ A Brand New Life as a Runner
• Badgergirl
• Jess @ A Picture a Day
• Audgepodge
• Roadbunner

Send me an e-mail at runnerleana at gmail dot com and I'll get you your prize. Be sure to let me know how you like the movie! I'll be waiting for the day that it is available in Canada...

Freakishly Flexible 5K...Plus!

Today in honor of Non-Runner Nancy the blogosphere held a virtual race for her. Maggie, being the good morning dog that she is, was ready to get up just after 6 am. I looked outside and it was snowing...and -15C. Brr! I putzed around on the computer, whipped up a bowl of oatmeal, and knew that things really weren't going to improve. Time to put on my big girl panties and run. Or make that my long johns. I also pulled out the Yak Trax. The first mile was pretty slow going, but after that things picked up a bit. I wasn't running the 5K to be speedy since I had to run a total of 12K for the day. I finished the first 5K up in 31:12

The snow was pretty light and I was dressed well enough that the -15C didn't feel too bad. The rest of the run went pretty quickly, and then it was home to relax!

Thanks to all the folks who participated in the Virtual Valentine's Exchange! I hope everyone has a great day!

Miracle Socks?

One of the tri stores here in town - Tri-It - was having a sale this weekend. 20% off of everything in the store. (By the way, yes, that is me on the front page of the Tri-It website!) I really wanted to pick up some Kona Cola nuun so I headed there after work to stop in and also say hi to Richelle. I've been curious about trying compression recovery socks. I've heard that people really like them. But...they are expensive. Tri-It carries Zoot CompressRX. With the 20% off sale, this was my chance to give them a whirl! I also checked out the swimsuits. It was a toss up between this one and that one, but here's what I wound up with:I went for a 12K run this morning and put my socks on afterwards. Ahhh, it feels like a non-stop massage on my calves... It will be interesting to try these out after longer runs or after a hard bike ride!
***If for some reason I missed sending you your Valentine's, please let me know!***

In the Fast Lane

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Join in the Virtual Valentine's Exchange!
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Enter the Running the Sahara movie giveaway!
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My friend Angry has been telling me I need to swim with the fast folks to start pushing myself to get speedy. Well...today was my chance I guess! I shared a lane with my friend J. J...is fast. Let's just say she kicked some serious behind at Ironman Canada this past year. We had a 1500 m time trial on our schedule today, and since we didn't have that many people show up for class this morning J hopped into my lane. Yeah, lets just say that I'm not quite ready to swim with the Kona qualifiers quite yet...

I had another 45 minute run with strides on my schedule for over lunch today. This time my Garmin was charged which already made the strides this week successful. My hip flexor was a bit tight to start off with, but everything loosened up and felt good about 15 minutes in.

For those of you interested in the Sport Wash versus WIN detergent debate, I tried an interesting experiment today. I wore my two stinkiest shirts - one that had most recently been washed in Sport Wash, the other in WIN. After the run I was really....stinky... My apologies to those who rode in the elevator with me. I guess that is what happens when you wear two shirts, plus a long sleeve bike jersey over top! Anyhow, the Sport Wash shirt was the definite smell offender after the run. I really sniffed the WIN shirt but nothing. Kinda gross I know, but all in the name of research. And the interesting part? The stinky shirt was the middle layered shirt. My base layer was completely non-stinky! So I give two thumbs up for WIN!!

The Great Lunch Swap Project

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First off, be a part of the Virtual Valentine's Exchange! Full details are here.
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Also, be sure to enter my Running the Sahara movie giveaway as well here!
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You may have noticed that I've been talking a bit more about food, and cooking in particular lately. Truthfully since I went on my soup and buttered toast binge throughout reserves in December I've been feeling so...meh...about cooking. I needed some inspiration from somewhere.

I think we can all agree that this is a good time to try and save money as well. One of my first steps? Cutting out the trips to Starbucks (and other various coffee establishments). I have a pretty sizeable collection of tea, so who needs all those coffee drinks? Check out my tea collection at work:Earl Gray is my favorite. I have four kinds in there!

Anyhow...back to food. My friend DGB and I both had the same goals:

• Find some inspiration in food.
  
• To branch out with our cooking a bit more and try some new recipes.
• To cut back on the eating out by bringing our lunch more often.

Together we came up with the Great Lunch Swap Project. The rules are:

• We each find one new recipe to cook each week.
• DGB cooks her new recipe Tuesday night and brings the leftovers for lunch for both of us on Wednesday.
• I cook my new recipe on Wednesday for lunch on Thursday.
• Share said recipes with each other.
• If you do not bring lunch on your day then you have to pay for lunch!

This was week one of our little experiment. DGB was wanting to try quinoa, so she whipped up some balsamic marinated chicken with quinoa, peppers and asparagus with some tomatoes on the side. She even brought me a juice box!
Tonight I got cooking. I found a recipe in the Whole Foods Cookbook for a Moroccan Couscous salad that I worked with. I whipped up the dressing - equal parts of lemon juice, orange juice and olive olive, some freshly grated ginger, honey, and some cumin, cardamom and cinnamon. I wanted to add in some protein to the salad though - and I went with some tofu.I sliced the tofu, blotted it dry, dipped it in the dressing and put it on a baking sheet. I baked it at 425F for 30 min, which was maybe 5 minutes too long for my somewhat thin slices. I wish I could convey how good the tofu smelled when it was baking... Yum!I threw together the couscous with some red and yellow pepper, raisins, dried apricots, orange zest, toasted pistachios, and tossed it with some more dressing. Overall I really liked the flavour combinations. Fingers crossed DGB likes it tomorrow!
I knew there was a reason I got three rest days on my schedule this week! I got my training schedule for the next month and it is going be to interesting...and a lot of fun!!

Virtual Valentine Exchange?

I am not the hugest fan of Valentine's out there. True, I've typically been single on Valentine's Day, but even as part of a couple I think that you shouldn't need one day on a calendar to show the other person how you feel. But past the bah humbugs, last night I was remembering when I was a kid at school we used to decorate envelopes to hang on the front of our desk. During lunch or a break in class you would try to drop a Valentine in your friends' envelopes without them knowing. It was a cute way to tell your friends (or the boy that you had a crush on) that you cared.

So what would you guys think of a virtual Valentine's exchange? At Christmas Nikemom put together a Christmas card exchange that I thought was a lot of fun, so kind of along the same idea.

• E-mail me at runnerleana at gmail dot com with your name, blog address and e-mail address by Friday, February 13th at 6 pm PST.
• I'll e-mail you back with your secret Valentine Friday evening.
• Send your secret Valentine an e-card, or a note, or whatever you like on Saturday, February 14th.

You may discover a new blog or get to say hi to a friend! I realize there isn't a lot of time, so if you could help me out and pass the good word along to your readers as well, then that would be fantastic!

February 14th is also the Freakishly Flexible 5K for Non-Runner Nancy. Head over this way if you would like more information and to participate.

And don't forget to enter for your chance to win a free download of Running the Sahara here!

Tuesday Notes

Early Morning Swim:

This is the first time I've actually made it the entire way through my workout! We did 6 x 200 m intervals and I got faster over the intervals. It was great! No flip turns today though. Just thinking about them makes my head hurt after Wednesday!

Tuesday Night Spin Class:

I had a great time at class tonight! I was chatting with the ladies around me, asking about their Ironman Canada experiences. What do you wear under your wetsuit? Do you change between disciplines? Do you wear uber-padded bike shorts? What's your nutrition strategy on the bike? It was a lot of fun. Plus I found out that women can chafe in...unique...places..! Get friendly with the Body Glide ladies! We did a quick spin up challenge to see just how high we could get our RPM up to. Apparently there are a couple of guys in our group that can see 200 or more?? I got up to 163 and felt happy that my bike was firmly locked in the trainer. Fun stuff!

After Spin Class:

I've forgotten that you can't leave anything within reach of Maggie, my parents' Scottish terrier! Remember the Halloween candy incident? Tonight she knocked a bag over and took out a toque (which she left alone, normally she really likes knitwear), Adidas tech hat (which she tried a few bites of, but pretty well left it alone so it is still wearable), but grabbed a toothbrush out, tore it out of its packaging and ate the head off. Yikes, how this girl manages to get up to so much trouble I have no idea!

And tomorrow:

Is a rest day!

Be sure to check out my free movie giveaway here!

Running the Sahara - Movie Giveaway!

Folks, I have a giveaway for you! I think a lot of us have heard about the three amazing men that set the challenge to run across the Sahara. They did the run to raise awareness for the water crisis in Africa through the H2O Africa Foundation. Their incredible journey was captured on camera and you can now download it off of iTunes.

But...I have some free downloads off of iTunes to give away free to some lucky readers! If you want to enter for the chance to win:

• Tell me in the comments what inspirational phrase gets you through those tough times in a race or training- at mile 20 of a marathon, or pushing up those hill repeats, whenever. Those inspirational phrases have always escaped me, so I'd appreciate a few ideas!
• Become a follower of my blog and you'll get two entries!

Everyone who leaves me a comment by the end of Saturday, February 14th will be entered. My apologies my Canadian compatriots, but unfortunately this is only available for folks in the US. Fingers crossed, it should be available for us within a month or two!

Spread the word, and good luck!

A Few Updates

The weather was amazing outside today! There is still so much melting snow and gravel on the road that I'm a little hesitant to ride outside. Plus I still will need to swap out my rear tire before I take it outside now that the current one has been worn down a bit from the trainer.

Anyhow, I had a 70 minute spin workout on the schedule focusing on gear pyramids. Keep your cadence and increase the gearing. I did the workout in my big chain ring and it was hard!! This is probably the highest I've managed to get my heart rate up on one of my at home spinning workouts. I followed it up with a quick 15 minute run.

I set up part of Finlay's crate in the garage with some pads and he kept me company the entire time. He definitely seemed a lot more comfortable curled up in his crate, and I really like the he wants to hang out while I'm spinning.
In the afternoon I stopped by Best Buy and picked up a small radio to dock my iPod into. This way I can play tunes, but I don't have to worry about the earbuds falling out all the time. Because yeah...those stylish white earbuds are a pain when you work out!
In the evening I whipped up some Baked Penne with Sausage and Ricotta. The recipe suggests making your own ricotta since apparently it is pretty easy. I just bought mine from the store though.In the future I might try to jazz up the tomato sauce a bit more with a few more herbs, and some more garlic but it was a tasty dish! I served it with Tinhorn Creek's 2006 Cabernet Merlot from Oliver, BC. Delicious!

Interview Me!

This has been making the rounds lately, so I asked Amanda if she could interview me:

1. What period of your life has been the most fun? (i.e. childhood, high school...)

Wow, so hard to narrow it down... Every single part of my life has had a lot of good, tempered with some maybe not so good. I would say the last 5 years have been some of the most fun and amazing in my life. The first few years were spent in San Antonio where I had an amazing set of girlfriends, worked at a place that I really enjoyed, and was really just enjoying life. Since then I quit my job and moved back to Canada. I've really been evolving as a person in that time - changing my focus on what a successful career means to me, pushing myself in a new direction with my career, and discovering a passion I didn't know that I had for running and for biking. I've also had a fantastic opportunity to be closer with my brother and sister-in-law, and to be there to see my niece Avery grow up. I am so glad that I live close enough to be able to be a regular part of my niece's life.

2. What made you decide to do something crazy like the Goofy Challenge?

Truthfully, I am not sure what my thought process behind signing up for the Goofy Challenge was. My cousin and her husband had just completed it in 2007 and I was pretty sure that I wanted to run my first marathon at Disney World in 2008. Where I got from that...to signing up for the Goofy Challenge I have no idea. But it must have been a pretty quick decision because I signed up for the race in February 2007. I think I was mesmerized by the thought of getting three medals. But running a half marathon the day before you run your first marathon? Goofy indeed.

I thought about signing up to do it again in 2009, but ultimately I knew I wanted to go back and run the marathon and run it really well. I didn't think I could do that if I tried to do the Challenge again. Initially I thought I would try for the Challenge again in 2010 but I've put that goal aside. Reserves time in December was a lot harder this past year and there is no way I could have imagined training for the Goofy during this time. I don't anticipate that this December will be that different. Plus, with 2010 being the year I want to do Ironman I'm not sure if I want to have so many different crazy difficult physical challenges to aim for.

3. What does spirituality mean to you?

Spirituality... I am definitely not the most spiritual person. Maybe it is because I am so scientific, I'm not sure. It isn't for lack of trying, I just haven't found anything that has taken yet.

4. If you could ask Dean Karnazes 1 question what would it be?

Where do you get the motivation and the inspiration to push yourself to new physical levels all of the time?

5. What's the best thing about being Canadian?

Maybe it is getting to be from one of the most beautiful countries on this planet. Or living in a place where so many cultures come together and thrive, yet still remain distinct. Or that Canadian people are so passionate about the country they are from. Maybe that we are such a diverse country with a rich history and so many opportunities. I can't really narrow it down. I have lived in six different countries but I have always been proud to say I'm from Canada.

To play along:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

7 on the 7th - A Virtual Race

Amanda over at Run to Finish has been throwing together some fantastic challenges to keep us motivated during the winter season. Yesterday she was the race director for 7 on the 7th - a virtual race! I had 10K on my schedule and I figured that I could probably bump it up a bit to run 7 miles. Why not?

It was cool in the morning but it was quickly warming up as the sun was out. After all of my complaining about the icy, slippery sidewalks in my neighborhood last weekend...I decided to run around my neighborhood. We've had some good sun to help melt stuff a bit so I was feeling optimistic that road conditions might have improved slightly. I was also hoping that after some ART my right leg would be feeling a bit more cooperative. And speaking of which, it looks as though a very tight right hip flexor is to blame for pretty well everything hurting in the leg. I guess it is all connected!

As I got moving things were feeling pretty good. I started off nice and slow and then wound up picking up speed throughout the run. The blue sky, the clear mountains for a backdrop...it was absolutely amazing out there. There were still some slippery portions out there - so I apologize for any lawns I walked on. Seriously though, these people should not have let the ice build up on their sidewalks! It was a lot better than last week though. I had no expectations for a time or pace since my neighborhood is pretty hilly. No matter what though, since my house is at the top of a hill it always makes for a tough ending to any run and I was huffing and puffing up the final hill pretty well.

When I first started this running thing I was doing the Jeff Galloway run/walk approach. I started out at 4:1 intervals...moved to 9:1...to 19:1... I've also been working on cutting out walk breaks entirely on longer and longer runs. So yesterday I ran 7 miles, no walking. Good stuff!

Anyhow, final results for my 7 miler? 1:11:17. I'll take it!

Thanks for putting on the race Amanda!

Who Supports You?

Thursday

First off, Thursday... Ugh. My parents drove in on Wednesday night and we were still out for dinner after 10 pm. Since I swam Wednesday and it was such a late night I bailed on swim class on Thursday. I also had a 45 minutes run with strides planned for Thursday over lunch. As soon as I got outside and turned my Garmin on it beeped at me. Low Battery. Bugger. I've had my Garmin last for 45 minutes after getting a low battery warning so I opted to risk it, rather than turning back around and grabbing my Timex. About half way into my 10 minute warm up I looked at my Garmin and it was dead. Oops. Things were also hurting from my right knee down. I was not enjoying this run. Since I had no way of timing strides and I was hurting I figured I'd just run. It wound up being about 2.4 miles. Oops...

Friday

Amanda wrote a good post asking about support from family members - who supports you, and what do they do to support you?

I dropped my folks off at the airport, then headed home. I had a 45 minute spin on the schedule - RPM endurance. I left the door to the garage open and Finlay came downstairs to hang out and watch me spin. Sometimes he sat by the car...Sometimes he came closer and sat near my front wheel... And sometimes he curled up near the TV. When I got off the bike he spun around in circles and was really excited. Almost like he was congratulating me on a great spin! I think I'll set up a little doggie bed in the garage for him in case he wants to keep me company while spinning in the future. Then he doesn't have to curl up on the cold concrete floor.
After that Maggie snuggled in next to me on the couch, rubbing her face on my leg and congratulating me in her own way.
After that I threw together a quick salad - spinach, carrots, cucumber, sugar snap peas, goat cheese and some sliced up terriyaki sirloin left over from my mom's dinner on Wednesday night.
Support comes in different ways from our family and friends, but sometimes your supporters might just surprise you!

Reunited!

And for my final big announcement for today... Look who is back home!And it is two for the price of one! I'll be looking after Maggie for a little bit while my parents head off to New Zealand and Australia for a vacation.

Aquathon Anyone?

For all my buddies in Calgary - if you are looking for a new race to try out, then take a look at the Pool to Path Aquathon! It is being organized by my coach Angie and Richelle and takes place in Cochrane on June 7th. The race is a 500m pool swim followed by a 5K run. There is a Kids of Steel event as well. Should be a good time, so come check it out!

Scrambled...

Ha. You know that super fun bonus workout I was talking about yesterday? Well, when I got out of the pool yesterday morning I was feeling really good. And a little sad that I had to cut it short. So I opted to go back to the pool this morning as well. I was keen to try just a straight 1500m swim with flip turns to see if my speed has improved at all since I last tried swimming straight laps. The swim went pretty well and I've definitely picked up a fair bit of speed since my last straight swim. But I'm still not quite ready to hang with the fast kids yet since they were passing me in the lane next to me. I didn't push quite as hard as I could have because I was feeling pretty bagged from yesterday's spin workout.

Once I got out of the pool I felt...weird. I don't normally eat anything before swimming, but I did have a glass of orange juice in the morning. I thought maybe I was a bit short on fuel so I hit Starbucks for a caramel macchiato (hello caffeine and sugar) and a piece of pumpkin loaf (and carbs). When I got to the office I couldn't quite shake this fog, this almost sense of dizziness. Thankfully a couple of ibuprofens helped later on in the morning. So that's what I get for being all gung ho...vertigo. Oops.

Luckily I was in better shape by lunch time to crank out my 5k run around the river. I wasn't expecting amazing things since my legs were so pooped from spinning, but it was warm enough to head out in capris, a short sleeve top and a long sleeve top. When I get out to run a 5K around the river I don't pay too much attention to pace. I just run. And I kept picking up speed as I ran. I was able to crank out a 5k in 30:02. So if I can run a near 30 minute 5k on tired legs I should be good for a nice PR on my next 5k race..!

I know a lot of you guys comment on all the workouts I do, and how much energy I must have to get it all done. If it is any consolation...I am extraordinarily tired after these workouts this week! Wow, and it is only Wednesday. Hence why I've been relaxing on my couch in some comfy pants all evening long, catching up on Project Runway Canada and 90210. Gotta have some trashy TV for my poor scrambled brain!

Busy!!

Wow, today was one busy day!

I was up at 4:30 and at the Y for swim practice today. Our instructor has been throwing plenty of speed intervals our way lately and I love it! I think it is really helping me to get faster. When I first got in the water it was a bit miserable because my goggles kept leaking and my eyes were burning. It threw everything off - my head was raised, my rear end was sinking... Finally my goggles stopped leaking and I was able to knuckle down on my workout. Yeah...I love speed work in the pool!

I didn't manage to get all the way through the workout because I needed to get out of there early and in to the office. So 1550 meters done. I hustled in to the office, scarfed down some breakfast and took care of a few things, then made my way over to the passport office. I got there early enough that getting in my application was relatively pain free, unless you count having to look at my absolutely atrocious passport photos. And I thought my last passport picture was awful...

Later that morning I went in to visit my chiro for a little ART. I needed to get my piriformis looked at, especially considering that it started to make my lower back hurt this morning. After some ART and a good crack...it still hurt... But thankfully after a bit of spinning tonight it is starting to feel good again.

And speaking of spinning, Angie's spin class tonight? Was insane!! And I loved...almost...every minute of it. We did some "cresting over the hill" simulations. 1:00 of low cadence, super high resistance. After that we crested the hill, and spun at a high cadence for 2:00 at a high resistance, like we were chasing someone down on the flat. This was to help us to keep the intensity up, not only up the hill, but when we crest it as well. We did 7 repeats of that...holy smokes! After that...I can't remember what the specific workout was...but it was 8 repeats of 1:00 hard at a high resistance...and I worked my tail off. Wow, it felt so good to work hard today - both in the pool and on the bike!

Watch out tomorrow...I have a super fun unscheduled workout planned. You guys might fall off your chair when you see what I decided to do...and am calling super fun. And something else big is happening tomorrow too. Stay tuned!

Get the Stink Out Challenge

Way back in December the Runners' Lounge had a free stuff giveaway. The deal? It was called the Get the Stink Out Challenge. Confess to the Lounge just how stinky you are and you might be rewarded with some Penguin Sport Wash.

The Background

Up until semi-recently I didn't even know there was a special way to wash your tech fabrics. No fabric softener? Really? And yeah...I sweat... As we can see here in Exhibit A:Gawd, that picture is completely embarrassing. What's up with the swoob? Not only do I sweat, but I stink. I have a couple of shirts that smell all the time, clean or not. Come on, you know you guys have one of those shirts in your laundry pile too... I actually started using a sports wear specific wash a few months ago. I think it works okay, but it hasn't done too much to get out the perma-stink from some clothes.

The Prosecutor

I got two single use packs of detergent to try out. That was enough for a load of lights and a load of darks. Check out the Sport Wash website to see all of the benefits with this detergent. It is even supposed to restore factory applied waterproofing.

The Defendant

My favorite tech shirt is this white long sleeve top from Nike. I'm not sure really why it is my favorite, it just is. I think it was actually the first tech shirt I bought. And sadly it has this ingrained smell in it, even before I put it on for a run. The challenge would be to see if Sport Wash could get rid of the perma-smell. I give you Exhibit B, my favourite tech shirt:
I did my full load of tech wear laundry - some stuff super stinky (more stuff with perma-smell, stuff from hot yoga), bike shorts (I was not willing to investigate how stinky), and swimsuits (very chlorine stinky).

The Test

I washed in cold water. Despite the small size of the sample, it is high efficiency stuff, and it foamed up in the machine.
I will admit that I did not have high hopes for the detergent's ability to get out the perma-smell in my clothes. When I sniffed them between the washing machine and the dryer...it smelled...not good...

The Verdict

Imagine my surprise, but the perma-smell stuff? It doesn't smell that bad. It doesn't smell 100% fresh either, but it doesn't stink of sweat. I think that with a few repeated washings that it might actually smell pretty fresh. I still have to try it out on a run to see if the stink comes back after a mile or so, but it looks pretty positive so far.
My bike shorts? They look clean. We'll assume they are...

My swimsuits? This was where Sport Wash didn't really hold up because they smell just as chlorine-y as before.

Will I buy it? Maybe. I'm going to try WIN first, just since it is a wee bit cheaper (and, uh...I already bought two bottles). Sport Wash is available at the Running Room in a 20 oz bottle for $11.99 and gets 20 loads clean. I believe I've seen it at the Tech Shop here in Calgary as well, but couldn't tell you how much it is. But it definitely seems to work a lot better than the previous sportswear specific detergent I was using!

For All You Stinky Canadians Out There

It seems like everyone has been reviewing one brand of a new sport detergent or another out there lately. In fact I have my very own attempt to get rid of the stink in my clothes that I'll be writing about soon. If any of my fellow Canucks out there are interested in trying WIN, it is available at Shoppers Drug Mart. A bottle is on sale for $6.99 (regular $8.99) until February 6th. It washes 21 loads and is available in the regular formula or WIN Green (dye and fragrance free). The packaging is also slightly different up here. Just thought I would let you all know in case you were keen to try it! And *cough, cough* it actually looks like it might be a better deal here than in the US...*cough, cough*

Sadly ProWash is not available in Canada at the moment though.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday

I had a 90 minute massage scheduled for after work on Friday. I aim to go once a month just to keep any nagging tightness in check, and this was also my first chance to get in and see my massage therapist since the marathon. I had a few things I wanted her to look at, one of which was piriformis. After my piriformis got worked on...ow...I was even more keenly aware of it...

I accidentally fell asleep on the couch that evening, and finally woke up around midnight and made my way upstairs to bed. Unfortunately I was pretty awake after this and I wound up lying in bed and listening to the crazy wind whipping around outside for awhile. Ugh, talk about a crappy sleep that night.

Saturday

I had a 10 km run on the schedule for Saturday. Even though it was somewhat cool and windy out there was some nice sunshine. We had gotten a light dusting of snow earlier in the morning. Ugh...conditions on the sidewalks in my neighborhood these days are not good. Thanks to all of the snow, then the crazy cold temperatures, followed by some slight warming, then some more cool temperatures...we have quite a bit of packed and icy snow around here. The light dusting of snow complicated things even more as it hid a lot of the packed ice. This run was not fun and it was slow going as I was either worried about slipping or was slipping around a bunch. My piriformis was pretty painful on the run too. It felt like I had this huge knot of pain right in the centre of my right butt cheek. Sounds like I need to get back to my chiro for a little bit of ART. I was just happy when the run was over and done with.

I had meant to get in a bit of strength work after the run, but after grabbing a quick bite to eat I was freezing. I headed upstairs to take a hot shower and when I got back downstairs I had a text message from my sister-in-law inviting me to see Twilight later that evening. I fully admit that I am a little late to the party where Twilight is concerned. I was only 100 pages in to the book. I threw all other plans aside and attempted to get as far into the book as I could before the movie. Alas, I didn't make it to the end, and as I drove to the theatre I remembered that I had neglected my strength workout. Oops. I enjoyed the movie and had a great night out with my sister-in-law.

Sunday

I had 60 minute spin workout on the calendar labeled spin/strength intervals. This was a great workout! Single leg drills, long sets of high cadence, and long sets of low cadence including 3 x 3:00 stand intervals. Still loving my bike fit and my new seat... I followed the workout up with 10 minutes of core.

After that it was time to hit the grocery store and get to work on making dinner. I found a yummy sounding recipe in the latest Food & Wine magazine that I was keen to try - chicken sofrito. Chicken legs and thighs seasoned with chili powder and cooked up with a mixture of rice, onions, garlic, jalapeno, red pepper and tomatoes. I served it with a 2006 Alamos Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina. Delicious! The chicken was a pretty simple dish to make, so I would highly recommend it.
I hope you all had a great weekend!