Speed Training Optimism

For different reasons I've been skipping some of my training sessions. From heat and humidity to my latest shoulder/neck injury, I just haven't been following my plans. Even my diet has been off. I spent the better half of last week devouring junk food even though it was making me feel awful. Needless to say, tonight's training session was mandatory.

I ran six kilometers and, overall, managed to keep my pace under my minimalist goal. I'm feeling pretty hopeful about my 10K next Saturday because I have an ideal time in mind that I didn't think was achievable despite not being anything extreme. If I can keep that pace for four more kilometers I'll finish a very happy runner.

I also took advantage of this speed training session to break in some new gear I bought for the race. I tried on these capris in the spring but didn't feel like shelling out the money for them. Now that they're bringing in fall collections I bought them for about half the original price!

Recovery included a huge bottle of watered down Gatorade before I even left the track, and then a huge salad while lying in bed.

How do you get yourself back on track?

Homemade Almond Milk

OI'm going to file this under "Things That Are Absolutely Amazing." I made homemade almond milk and it's the most fantastic thing I have tasted.

I hated dairy milk growing up. Despite being a meat eating family, my father always maintained that drinking dairy milk is unnatural for humans so we only really used it for cereal (which I usually ate dry as a child) and in recipes. Unlike most of my friends, I was never forced to finish a glass of milk before I could leave the dinner table. I'm thankful for this because a glass of milk just makes me feel queasy.

When I discovered almond milk I fell in love. It became a base for my smoothies, replaced regular milk in my cereals, and I've even come to crave a glass of almond milk once in a while. Weird, huh?

I decided to make almond milk on a whim. Most recipes on Pinterest were the same so although I cannot take credit for this, I don't really think I have anyone else to credit either. Let's chock this one up to the universe.

1. Soak one cup of raw almonds overnight (6-8) hours

2. Drain and rinse almonds.
3. Place in a blender with 3-4 cups of water depending on how thick you want the milk. Blend on high for a few minutes until creamy.

4. Place a nut bag or cheese cloth over a large bowl, close at the top, and pour the mixture through the bag.
5. Squeeze! Squeeze all of the liquid out and pour into a resealable container.

Bonus: I added in a dash of vanilla but I think next time I might blend a date or two into the mixture instead.

To be honest, I personally did not find that making my own almond milk was any cheaper than buying it from the store... nor was it much pricier. However, homemade almond milk is definitely tastier! I might try experimenting with other nuts to see what delicious milks I can make.

Have you ever made your own nut milk? What flavours do you like to add? 

Stairs vs. The Stair Climber

I remember last year when I was getting ready to prepare for the CN Tower Stairclimb. I was so excited to jump on the stair-climber at the gym and was amazed with myself when I had climbed for 40 minutes and felt great. I thought the event would be a breeze and my running had my legs in better shape than I thought.

These ideas were dashed the following week when I decided to join my mom in a parking garage. After only 20 minutes I thought I was going to die. Let me tell you with confidence, the machine at the gym does not come close to actually climbing stairs.

After walking the dogs and practicing yoga in the morning, my mom and I heard to the garage in the evening. With humidity reaching anywhere between 85-100% this week coupled with my high activity levels, I decided to stick with 20 minutes. 

By the time I finished I was dripping with sweat and my legs were shaky, but I felt great. I might run for 3+ hours each week but this is a great activity to shake up my exercise. 

Today my calves are a little tender but nothing extreme. I stretched out with some yoga this morning and will likely foam-roll later. 

I'm hoping to ramp up my stair training within the next few weeks -- in determined to beat my time of 23 minutes and 15 seconds from last year. 

Have you ever aced a workout in the gym only to be shocked when it didn't translate into real-life activity?

Speed Training

I'll be honest... I don't really add speed training into my routine. I have long runs and cross training, and even short runs, but speed training is something I've mostly avoided. I've decided to actually follow through with my self-made training plan and for two weeks in a row I've been working on my speed.

My plan has been 800x200 sets but today was so ridiculously hot that, by the time I had walked from my car to the track I knew it was better for me to do 600x400s.

With a one kilometre warm up, five kilometres of speed training, and a one kilometre cool down I was exhausted. My car was reading only 23 degrees but the humidity was killer.

Drenched with sweat, I finished three quarters of my litre water bottle before I stopped off at the store and mixed the last of my water with roughly a cup of Gatorade. I'm finding it hard to find a recovery electrolyte drink that agrees with  me and watered down Gatorade seems to be the only thing. 

My late afternoon recovery lunch was amazing and simple. Avocado, cucumber, tomato, and mushroom in a quick lemon/dill/Dijon mustard dressing, and a vanilla almond milk. So simple but exactly what I needed.

So far I've tried two locations for speed training: a trail through the marsh and a track behind a nearby high school. I think I like the track because I don't have to check the distance on my Garmin. 

Where do you do most of your speed training? Do you choose to skip it?

Training Log -- August 25, 2014

Alright, I admit it; I jumped the gun this morning.

After struggling with 5K on Saturday due to my sinus infection, I decided today was the perfect day for a long run.

Nope.

It was an awful idea.

Still recovering from my sinus infection I got up this morning, drank a protein smoothie, and organized my gear. 

I headed out around 9 and was excited to knock out at least 21K. Instead I made it about 11.5K before I ran out of water, couldn't find a fountain, and kept struggling with breathing and fighting through mucus (gross, I know).

Luckily my boyfriend, equipped with water, saved me and drove me home.

I'm clearly frusterated. More than anything I want to be active and run for 3+ hours, and for the first time in my life I'm having trouble grasping the idea of taking it easy. Is it because I'm trying to hold myself to a "no excuses" mentality? Who knows.

I have some walking, cycling, yoga, and speed training mapped out for the rest of my week. The rest of this is lower key so hopefully I can push through without making things worse.

Run or Dye

Today is my mom's 48th birthday and instead of sleeping in, she kicked it off with a fun 5K.

After running Color Me Rad twice, as decided to try Run Or Die because it was being held in our city. It was nice not having to travel into Toronto for once. 

I love the idea of colour runs. Nothing makes me happier than seeing other people discover the love and fun of running.

I think I prefer Color Me Rad: Slightly more organized with more volunteers to throw paint, wider paths for running and passing, and the paint seemed to wash off easier (my mom's blonde highlights are streaked with pink and green while my left cheek and hairline is also a bright pink). 

However, it was the first year held in Oshawa so it's likely issues with path width and whatnot will be fixed for next year.

I also had issues with my sinus infection. I thought I was mostly over it but I found myself having trouble breathing and feeling really mucus-y. Although I had to stop and walk a few times, it made me slightly happy to confirm that the decision to hold off on my long-runs has been the right one.

I'm so proud of my mom. Her running only began early this year and she's already training to run a half-marathon with me this fall. I am completely inspired.

Side note: check out this awesome and extremely decadent chocolate, peanut butter cake I made for my mom. Seriously amazing.

Soup for the Soul

Despite my three weeks of rest I am still a wreck. This sinus infection is kicking my butt and all I want is comfort food. Seriously. My co-workers bought donuts to celebrate the second last day of my contract and I ate two of them. I'm not regretting that but I knew I needed to find something somewhat healthy for dinner before I could dig into any more junk.

My sister has also been under the weather and began an elimination diet a couple days ago to see if she could find the source of her health problems. She has to cut out wheat, dairy, some meats, some fruits and vegetables, alcohol, processed sugar, caffeine, and likely other things I'm forgetting. Only a couple of days into it and she's struggling to figure out a way she can change up her meals.

Soup was the most obvious choice. Simple, healthy, and comforting, it's one of my favourite things to make because I don't have to follow a recipe. Today I made an easy vegetable soup.

After grabbing just a few items I didn't have at the grocery store, I came home from work and immediately began prepping. I chopped onion, carrots, celery, a potato, and cauliflower. Warming some olive oil, I sauteed the onion with minced garlic until the onion was translucent. Next I added in the potato for five minutes before adding the celery, carrots, and cauliflower.

The potato didn't fully cook but that would be fixed later. Once the vegetables were tender I stirred in some dried basil, dried oregano, and dried parsley flakes before pouring low-sodium vegetable broth to fill the pot. Everything was free-poured and to taste... no measurements were needed.

I brought the soup to a boil (after wondering for five minutes why it wasn't boiling and then realizing I hadn't turned up the heat) and then lowered the soup back to a simmer for half an hour. The boiling and simmering cooks the vegetables, like the potato further. I also cooked some brown rice to mix in.

I've made "this" soup so many times but switching out different vegetables depending on what I felt like or what I had on hand. Other awesome options would have been zucchini (which my sister doesn't like), corn, or tomatoes (both a no-no on her elimination diet).

Making soup has me excited for the cooler weather. Last year I made soup almost weekly and I can't wait to experiment with new recipes this fall.

What are your go-to comfort foods?