Attempt at Food Blogging

My running work-outs this week were nothing too exciting... well I suppose watching Dave run along the seawall in a hula skirt was pretty entertaining...

Sunday- Long Run- 18.55km Average Pace 5:02/km.

Monday- Recovery run through the UBC trails with Rachel. Easy on the knees.
11km Average Pace 5:20/km

Tip from a former Olympic trial athlete: Rachel!

-Run strides (fast runs) at the end of a long run. Example: 5X 100.
Nothing crazy but it pushes your legs a little further and reminds them how to run fast.  

I wish I looked like this...

Tuesday- 146m run. Don't ask.

Wednesday- 6km Pace- 4:40/km (We are like sneaky children when Dave isn't there to make us run 10km...)

Thursday- 10 min warm-up. 3X 9 minutes- 4:30/km

So here is my attempt at food blogging...

Food Blogger Fail #1: I decided to add a little excitement into my Tuesday by not eating crackers, hummus and cookies for dinner. Vola! I cooked....a little sweet potato, black bean, yellow, orange, red pepper, artichoke, tomato, pasta sauce, hot sauce fiesta. 

Say hello to my little tomato nephew Tomatoie. (Tomatoie says heeey Mom ;)

My uncle says you should eat with your eyes (food should look good). My eyes did not think this looked good but it didn't taste too bad. 

Food Blogger Fail #2: This sandwich is pretty delicious and what I take to school everyday. 

Squirrelly Bread (best bread ever if toasted)

Smoked Tofu

Avocado

Sriracha

Mustard

- Weird Combo but tastes good I promise!

Food Blogger Fail #3: Ate some delish frozen yogurt (fro-yo) with the running crew Wednesday night. It was so good! I piled on so many awesome toppings. (M&M's, oreo, strawberries, buttermilk, blueberries, raspberries, gummy bears, etc)

Note to self: Take a picture before you eat it all.

Annnd that's all I got. Don't really think food blogging is my thing but I might try...

PS:  Check out this awesome article by my "coach" Please help me with my running technique!

Rest Days and Butter Chicken

This weekend I went camping in the Coastal Mountains! Beaaau-ti-ful.

And I ate the best Butter Chicken I have ever had while camping. (Typical camp food, oui?)

Camping meant I missed my Sunday Long Run with the crew.  :( I think this was the first Sunday where I didn't run with the RR since moving to Vancouver. Can't believe they would run without me...geez.

Luckily, I dragged Keiran out with me once I got home since he is now training for the Montreal Marathon and luckily Keiran has no sense of smell so he couldn't tell how bad I stunk after my camping expedition. ;)

The route was supposed to look like this:

Easy. Out and back to Stanley Park. Nothing to it.Can't go wrong. Piece of cake.  Not quite. I didn't want couldn't find the turn off to go up the hill to Prospect Point so we ended up doing a little extra around Kits Beach. I am hopeless at directions.  

The run felt really good! I think it was a combination of the awesome weather (early evening- still sunny and cool) and my legs having a couple of days off. I really feel better on my runs after rest days because my muscles have had time to repair and strengthen. 

We ran 16.2km at a 5:18km pace.  

On Monday I took another rest day and did some strength work and then headed to the track Tuesday.

 I warmed-up in the trails with some ex-trackies for about 20minutes and then decided to do 10X400 at 10km race pace in prep for this weekend's 10kmer. This meant I should be running about 1:35-400s. 

 1-1:20 (too fast)

2- 1:26

3-1:27

4- 1:26

5- ?

6-1:30

7-1:28

8-1:29

9-1:30

10-1:28

I ran 400m recovery runs between each set. While these were a little faster than my 10km pace, it still felt pretty good. Track work-outs are awesome if you only have to run 400m reps.  Once around the track and done!

Why do I want to be a marathon runner again? So my feet can look like this?

Sunday, Monday

What up Queenie!

Sunday's Long Run was the second time I ran up Queen Elizabeth hill this week-I guess with the Queen visiting the country - it's only fitting I pay my respect my running "her" hill twice.

The run was fairly hilly but once you get to the top it's only about 4km downhill back to the store. Nnot a bad route at all. The weather was perfect for running  but I never really got into the grove. When I first started running my leg felt so sore. I was favoring one leg and it felt like I was limping when I ran. After about 5km I loosened up a bit. 

This is where I hurt. I believe it is my left abductor.  Someone fix me?

The route was 16km long and average pace for Sunday's run was 5:23/km.

Monday, I rook Keiran along one of my favorite routes. It's about a 10km loop around the seawall and back over Burrard bridge.

Average pace= 5:25/km.  My leg felt pretty good and the run was very comfortable. I think it only hurts in the mornings when I wake up and am stiff. Wow, I am aging at an incredible fast rate.

There are so many awesome running routes in Vancouver that I do with the Running Room that I never really have to think of my own. However, if you want to find a new and pretty run near where you live (ahem, Mom and Dad) or just want to plan out a new route http://www.mapmyrun.com/ is a good website to check out.

Tapering?

So, I kind of keep forgetting I am running Scotiabank Half Marathon  this weekend. I know it's a big deal, but it just kind of seems like another Sunday Long Run. I haven't  been thinking about the race when I'm running and hadn't decided on a goal time until tonight.  However, I have been "tapering" this week- during marathon training I  had 'taper tantrums'  and felt restless and nervous the whole 2 weeks prior. This time I am enjoying a little break and an excuse not to work-out too hard. ;)
Long Run Sunday consisted of 14.5km to the Lost Lagoon... pretty sure I spotted the creature...

Alyson and I ran together and finished the loop in about 1:17 with a 5:17/km pace. The run felt nice and comfortable the whole time despite being hungover and egged the night before.. ps: who still eggs people?!  And then of course we went for brunch! :)

I did a little bit of stretching and weights on Monday- nothing on Tuesday and then tonight went for a 10.5km tempo run. It was really hard! I thought it would feel good because I hadn't been running in a couple of days but the humidity must have taken a lot out of me. I was sweatin' and puffin' a lot.  How do people who live in really hot places run?! The run took 49:49 minutes (cool! ha)  with an average pace of  4:43/km.

The rest of the week includes 1 run tomorrow night- I think it's only going to be a 5-6ker with a special guest star... my mom!! She is flying in from Nova Scotia to hang out and watch my race on Sunday! Woohoo. She is also bringing lobsters. Double wooohoo!

Back with a race re-cap of the half on Sunday... goal time- 1:35 ee! Might end up disappointed but we will see... the race is supposedly really fast and downhill the whole way!