Marathon training and more lessons learned

Well i am getting VERY close to race day only 34 days to go. WOW i can't believe it's almost here. I don't feel quite ready yet! I have been battling some issues with Achilles tendinitis that started acting up back around Christmas but it wasn't until end of February that i finally got it looked at. I am not sure why it sprung up and hills sure seem to aggravate it more. I am fine to do a few hills during a long run but actually doing a training run with hills tweaks it a bit. It hasn't really been enough to stop me from running and now that i have new sneakers FINALLY it seems to be pretty good. I attempted hills this week for the first time in about a month and a bit. And it was fine during but i could feel it a little after. So i may just avoid hill training for the rest of my marathon training. I did a rolling hill long run today and i have already iced it a bit so i will see how it feels tonight/tomorrow and judge from there whether i will continue with a little hill training before 2 weeks of tapering.


Today's run was great but SLOW omg i haven't had such a slow pace in a long time. I woke up feeling really tired this morning even though i had almost 8 hours of sleep and as soon as i started my run my legs felt so heavy and i just couldn't get my pace up. A few times i was at my race pace 5:30 min/km but not for long. I don't think the hilly-ish run helped pace wise either. I kept looking at my garmin and seeing 6:30. Which seems to have been my pace for these high km runs the last little while. But then i looked down some other times and it was 6:50 - 7:00. I didn't really push much harder to get the speed up either as i didn't feel like my legs could do it. 


We stopped and stretched when we had about 4km or so to go and it seemed that after that i was able to pick my pace up! Weird. I have never really been one to stop and stretch part way through a run before. But perhaps i need to in the future when my legs are feeling that heavy. I also didn't really stretch before i started my run either. I normally don't really since my muscles are cool and i don't believe it's good for them to stretch before they are warmed up. Lot's of differing school's of thought on this one though! I am thinking next time i feel like my legs are heavy like that i will walk and/or jog a bit and then stop and stretch and then really start my run. Perhaps that is all i needed? Despite the run being tough i never really hit a wall probably because i wasn't pushing it as much as i should have been. Not that i want to hit a wall but i almost feel like i wasn't pushing as much as my body could take? Hard to know at this point. At the end of my run i was able to sprint at 3:30 for the last 200m. I have really been enjoying adding this sprint element into my training. It's something i have always done during races as soon as i see that finish line i just give'er and even when i don't think i have anything left in the tank i still manage to be able to do it. But considering how much stronger my finish was then the whole run i seem to think i didn't quite push enough and perhaps i should have stretched sooner. More lessons learned in my marathon training. 


That's the great thing about training for a marathon i have learned so much more about running and training as well as listening more to what my body needs. I will be able to take todays lessons and apply it to a future long run and see if it works and if not perhaps there is something else that will come to mind that will help. However at the same time i always keep in mind that sometimes you just have a junk run and thats ok! It makes you stronger mentally and it's still time and km's on your legs. That's what really matters in the long run. That you stuck to it and committed that truly is the biggest feat of them all. Marathon training is no joke! It is very time consuming, tiring and sometimes even painful, but in the end you come out a changed person and a better stronger runner!


I am excited for post marathon too i plan on working on my speed more and dialing back the mileage! While i love my long distances and especially half marathon's i really want to work on getting faster before i go back up to a half marathon and perhaps even another full marathon:) There truly is nothing like the feeling after finishing a 29km-32km run. You feel amazing for running that far. By far one of the best runner's high's i have ever had. I can only imagine how great it will feel to actually have completed 42.2km. In marathon training it's recommended to only go up to 32-35km. If you do any more you risk burning out before race day! They also recommend for a lot of first timers to only go up to 32km. So that's all i am doing:) The last 10km is purely mental anyways and after the few tough long runs i have had throughout my training i feel more than ready mentally to tackle the full marathon. Physically i feel like i need a bit more to get the time i want. We'll see though. All that matters in the end if that i have completed it!


I will leave you with a quote today that my friend Steph shared with me on facebook the other day. It is a wonderful thing to keep in mind when training for and racing a marathon.


"A marathoner is a marathoner regardless of time. Virtually everyone who tries the marathon has put in training over months, and it is that exercise and that commitment, physical and mental, that gives meaning to the medal, not just the day's effort, be it fast or slow. It's all in conquering the challenge." -Mary R. Wittenberg

Important lessons learned while training for a marathon

As most of you know i am training for my first full marathon, which is in Ottawa May 27th. So it's quickly approaching! I ran my first 29km yesterday and wow it felt great, craziest runner's high i ever have had during and after running! My Achilles tendonitis acted up a little between 10km-17km and would bug me on and off. It's getting rather annoying! I am doing all of my physio exercises but it's still not quite 100% but not enough pain to stop me from running. Don't worry my physio says it's ok to run (i'm not being dumb about an injury, lol). I truly think it's because i let my shoes wear down too much. I underpronate due to my high arches. Meaning when i run my feet land with my heels hitting the ground on the outside first and kind of roll outwards. People who have this gait tend to have issues with Achilles tendonitis, easily sprained anklse and plantar fasciitis. All issues i have suffered from! Anyways since my feet are so narrow i have to special order 2A width shoes. So i am anxiously waiting for them to come in. I feel that they will help a lot with my ankle!

Today my ankle is tender despite me icing and stretching lots yesterday. I think i will need to ice more tonight and i go to physio tomorrow morning. I learned some important lessons yesterday during  and after my 29km run that i want to share with you all in case you are training for or plan on training for a full marathon in the future! It's a lot different than training for a half that's for sure. Yesterday i got to a point where i felt hungry sick. Do any of you know what i mean by that? It's where you get so hungry that you feel sick. I seriously could not eat enough yesterday! I burned 1500 odd calories during my run and i need to eat approximately 2,000 a day for me to maintain my weight. I am not a calorie counter normally but yesterday i was trying to consume as much as i could and i still wasn't successful in eating enough. I ate only one bag of my Honey Stinger electrolyte chews during the run instead of the two i brought with me. Mistake # 1! I should have eaten both and listened to Steph's advice. But i just wasn't hungry during the run.

Mistake # 2 i had a glass of chocolate almond milk when i got home then showered. After the shower i was insanely hungry but had to make my skillet still. So in an effort to avoid the hungry sick i munched on some brown rice crackers to tide me over. I then couldn't finish my skillet! Odd for me. So i threw the rest away and then went to coffee with my friend Ally. I should have brought more carbs with me to have while at the coffee shop. I sadly can't eat anything there as there are no gluten free options. By the time i got home i was starving again! It had been 3 hours since my skillet, so this is another lesson after running 29km or more eat every 2 hours and as much as you can handle. So i ate some more brown rice crackers to tide me over while my berries thawed for my berries, greek yoghurt and Holy crap cereal. I didn't eat too many though as i didnt want to get too full.

Mistake # 3 i didn't nap yesterday or allow myself the time too. When you run 29km you need a nap your body is beat! So i laid down for a bit (my mom was on her way for dinner) and then the hungry sick feeling hit! I quickly got up and ate some more brown rice crackers. I should have had something else carb wise! Like toast or something like that. I felt a little better after but was sooooo tired. I made gluten free pizza for dinner for my mom and i. Very yummy! I had two large pieces and also had two gluten free beer while making supper. I don't know what it is but i crave beer like crazy after a long run. Probably for the carbs. After supper i was beat so i had an epsom salt bath and was in bed by 8:30. I was so tired and yet sleep didn't come:( I also didnt drink enough water yesterday. I had my normal 2 liters but that wasn't enough with my two coffees and the beer. So i had a headache too:( Finally at midnight i got up and drank a bunch of water which made me feel better and then i fell asleep.

Mistake # 4, having coffee at 1:30pm. I know myself well enough to know that i cannot have coffee after noon if i want to sleep. But i pushed it. So i think that contributed to a poor sleep as well. I didn't even want coffee this morning as i think i am still a little dehydrated. I have almost 1 liter down so far today and some Kombucha tea.

Today i am sore, tired and STARVING. I can't eat enough today already it seems. I had protein pancakes for breakfast and normally that will last me until 10 or 10:30. But by 9am i was starving. I waited until 10 am to have my snack though and i had two of the Tone It Up protein bars. I think i will run to the store on lunch and get some more food to last me through my day. I have leftover pizza for lunch, a protein smoothie for dessert and an apple and almonds for meal 4. But i don't think it'll be enough. Seriously i have never been so hungry. Today i plan on taking it easy and doing some really good stretching with the Yoga for runner's video from myyogaonline.com and then a short walk with Laila as well as some foam rolling. I need to do some active rest:) If i don't keep moving i will get even more sore!

Another lesson i learned and have been applying is to keep moving after a long run. Yes you want to be lazy and lay down all day but don't! Keep moving, walking, stretching etc. Still take that nap if you need it. I find i need it if it's 26km plus. Up to that i am usually ok. If you lay down all day and not move you will be even more sore! So move, eat and drink that H20 your body needs it:) For my running friends out there what advice and lessons learned do you have to share? Please comment below and share!

Have a great Monday! Yah for a short week! I have 32km planned for this Saturday so i will only be doing one run during the week on Wednesday. Normally i do two runs during the week but since i did 29km Sunday and back to Saturday long runs this Saturday i am giving my body a bit of a break! I don't want to hurt myself more or in another way and i want enough energy to get me through my long run Saturday!

Foodie PenPals REVEAL

Hi guys. So i have been waiting for what seems like all month to reveal my awesome package i got from Tamara from Port Moody, BC...check out her awesome blog here. You can also check out Kyla's blog too to see what i sent her:)

Tamara put a lot of thought into my food package and my allergy to gluten! She even contacted the makes of the Holy Crap cereal she got me to ensure that there was no risk of cross contamination in their factories! How sweet and thoughtful is that!

Here are my yummy goods!

So in my package pictured above from i got sundried tomatoes, maple butter, honey sticks, cashew Lara bars and Holy Crap cereal.

I have been wanting to try the Holy Crap cereal forever after hearing about the on the Dragon's Den, a CBC program where entrepaneurs go on and sell their product and try to get one or some or even all of the "dragons" on board to invest in their product! Holy Crap is made out in BC...check out their website if you want to know more information about their cereal! Can you tell this was my fav part of my awesome package? A serving is only 2 tbsp but wow is it filling. I find it more filling than the 1/4-1/2 cup of home made granola i was putting on my greek yoghurt with berries/banana. Which is my go to snack for meal 2 that tides me over until lunch time:) Oh and don't let the price tag scare you...yes it's pricey but since a serving is so small it goes a long way! I let the price tag scare me for too long! I really can't believe i went so long without trying it!

I have tried the San Remo sundried tomatoes as well in a salad, and they were a great addition. They are ready to eat i should have cut them up a little though before putting them in my salad i left them as the whole slices which was a little too much sundried tomato at once ha ha. I will have to try these again soon on my gluten free pizza crust and a sandwhich too!!! I have been slacking on trying my other goodies though. I have yet to try the honey sticks (which actually would have been great in my sicky tea this past weekend, i was really sick all last weekend). I also still have yet to try the cashew larabars and the maple butter too. I am sure i will love both though:)

And if you want to check out what i sent to my Foodie penpal check out Kyla McGillis's blog here.

So here are the deets if you want to participate yourself next month!!!

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions. -You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!  -The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination! -You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!) -Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.  -Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I'm going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada! If you’re interested in participating for April, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. You must submit your information by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th!

Foodie Fun

Anyone who knows me or follows my blog knows I am a little obsessed with food and eating clean so when I found out about Foodie Penpals a few months ago through my ever expanding twitter community (thanks to Tone It Up) i was intrigued but never really looked into it until last month and made the plunge to sign up for the Canadian program starting in March. Let me tell you when I finally read more into the program I was VERY excited. It’s  such a cool idea that it made me want to reach out to the founder and pick her brain on why and how she started it all.

Foodie Penpals was started by founder Lindsay Livingston of The Lean Green Bean blog back in September 2011.

"The idea first popped into my head after receiving some sort of sample box of foods in the mail. It got me thinking about how much I love getting mail and how fun it would be to mail some foods to other bloggers." said Lindsay

It started with 30 participants in the US and in a few short months it's expanded to Canada and the UK and to over 350 bloggers and readers.

"Each month since then we've pretty much doubled but I never thought that I'd be connecting 350 people in only 6 months!"

The premise of the program is a no brainer for foodies. Lindsay keeps track of all the bloggers and readers who want to participate in a spreadsheet and matches them to their penpals. You will get one person but that person won't get you. On the 5th of the month you get your matches along with emails indicating you need to contact your penpal within 72 hours to find out any dietary restrictions, food preferences etc. The max you can spend on the food for your box is $15 and you must get your box in the mail by the 15^th of the month to ensure that your penpal gets it by the end of the month. After you get your box you must blog at the end of the month on the day indicated by Lindsay in her emails. As a reader you can choose to guest blog or not blog at all!

If you are a baker like me you can include some of your baked goodies too! Keeping in mind food allergies of course. While I think this is a wonderful idea I don't think I would risk getting any baked goods due to my sensitivity to gluten cross contamination, unless I got someone in the same boat as me.

Lindsay knows her way around the kitchen "I'm constantly baking stuff in the kitchen and then looking for people to give it away to so I don't eat it all myself! This was the perfect excuse to send out some homemade goodies along with other foodie stuff"

From reading through her blog you would think that the head of Foodie Penpals has always loved baking and cooking. But she wasn't always a foodie.

"I used to be world's pickiest eater as a child. I lived on Cheerios and mac and cheese. I guess it was probably senior year of college, when I first had an apartment to cook in that I started really liking food."

Although her love for cereal hasn’t changed “I eat about 3 bowls a day. If I go more than 3 days without it I get serious withdrawals”.  Her eating habits have dramatically.

She now loves to meal plan and cook meals at home. This has led her to her most recent endeavor, going back to school to become a registered dietician.

"I love teaching people about making healthy choices. I taught preschool after I graduated (college) and 1/2 the kids in my class had never even tasted a bell pepper before. I realized they weren't getting the nutrition education they needed."

She's right it all starts with our children and teaching them how to fuel their bodies at a young age. Kudos to you Lindsay:)

For more information about Foodie penpals click here. Make sure you check out the rest of her blog as well while you are there. I can't wait to reveal what my foodie penpal sends me at the end of the month! Stay tuned! Let me know if you decide to sign up as well.

Thanks for taking the time and doing the interview with me Lindsay!! Lindsay is a busy bee…she not only has school, she works 3 nights a week as a diet aide, blogs daily, runs the Foodie Penpals program and is a momma with her hubby to their furbabies 2 cats and 2 dogs!

Winter blahs circuits

I am still loving circuit training and it definately keeps workouts different and interesting. Tonight i did 4 different circuits 3 i made up and one is one of my fav's from Tone it up. The Beach bum workout, check it out here. So today i wanted to work on my plyo (something i am loving lately and it's helping making me stronger for my running), upper body, glutes and core! I will list the circuits in the order i did them but you can switch them around if you want or just pick a few that you want to do! All the cirucits took me an hr and 15 min.

Burn those lungs plyo

Do each move for 30 seconds and then take a 15 second break between moves. Complete cirucit 2 times for a quick plyo workout that takes about x minutes or more if you want a longer cardio workout

1. Run in place or around the area you are working out in

2. Squat jumps Go down into a squat position and explodejump up then land softly in a squat position and repeat. Make sure your knees stay in line with your ankles and don't go over your toes

3. Split jumps or jumping lunges Go down into the lunge position and jump up switching legs and go down into a lunge on the other side and repeat

4. Burpees Check out what they are here at the 5:19 mark

5. Ankle hops Balance on your toes and jump forward and back this move is great for runners as it strengthens your whole lower body as well as your ankles thus preventing injuries

6. Speed skaters 

8. Mountain climbers Check them out here at the 3:08 mark

Work those guns Repeat this circuit 3 times through

1. Medicine ball push up Have one hand up on a medicine ball and go down into a push up when you come back up roll it quickly over to the other side and go down into a push up again. Repeat 10-16 reps

2. Alternating bicep curl Your standard bicep curl complete 15-20 per side

3. Down dog shoulder push up If you don't know what that is check out this link at the 5:50 mark. Complete 15 reps

4. Dips on a bench or coffee table Complete 15 reps

5. Upright row If you don't know what this is check out this link at the 1:00 mark...but just do the shoulder part not the deadlift

6. Reverse fly Bent over with your knees slightly bent and raise weights out to sides in a fly position

Then i did the Beach bum workout...link is above!

Core shaker Repeat this circuit 3 times through

1. Stability ball ab tucks Click here and watch at the 3:37 mark. 15 reps

2. Stability ball roll out Check out what i mean here at the 3:00 mark. 15 reps

3. V-sit twist with medicine ball You can see what this is here. But use a medicine ball instead of a weight if possible. 15 reps each side so 30 in total

4. Upper ab crunch with medicine ball Lay on your back and put your legs straight up feet towards the ceiling hold medicine ball up and try to touch your toes. 15-20 reps

5. Medicine ball chops Not sure what this is check out here. 10-15 reps per side.




Try them out and let me know how you like them!

Gluten free chicken pot pie

Hi all. I meant to publish this back in the beginning of January but time got away from me again. The recipe made a lot of filling so i froze some of it and i left it out to thaw today for tonight's easy peasy dinner. All i will have to do it heat up the filling in a pot while i make the crust. Top with the crust and bake for about 15 min. The recipe is a gluten recipe that i altered:)

Pre heat the oven to 420 degrees

Ingredients:

-I don't really give the amount of veggies as you can really add as much as you want. I like a ton of veggies and i think it was about 8 cups worth when i originally made this recipe.
Carrots (about 4 i think) sliced
Corn (1 can of low sodium corn)
Peas ( about 2 cups)
Celery (4 stalks) sliced
1 Onion chopped
Mixed peppers diced (about 3 cups
3 Garlic cloves minced
1 tsp Sage
1 tsp Thyme
Cracked pepper
1 cup cubed potatoes
2-3 chicken breasts
2 cups of gluten free flours (you can mix whatever your favorites are, or if you aren't gluten free use spelt or some whole grain flour)
4 Tbsp Earth balance spread or coconut butter
3/4 cup Plain almond milk (tonight i only needed 1/2 cup and i think it's because i used almond flour)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup gluten free veggie or chicken stock
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum (if your are using gluten free flours)
1 tbs of cornstarch

Instructions:


Boil 1 cup of cubed potatoes to add in once cooked

Cook about 2-3 chicken breasts in olive oil as well.

Saute all your veggies with olive oil or coconut oil

Melt 1 table spoon of earth balance in a skillet add cornstarch then veggie or chicken stock. Bring this to a boil and then reduce then add to the wok with the rest of the ingredients


For the crust:

To prepare the biscuit dough, mix 2 cups of gluten free flour (tonight i used 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup tapioca starch, 1/2 cup almond meal and 1/2 cup quinoa flour), 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 tbs of baking powder. then add 3 tbs of vegan butter and mix in with a fork. then add 3/4 cup of almond milk (tonight i only needed 1/2 cup i think it was because of the almond flour it is moister than most flours) a little at a time so you don't add too much and then make a dough with the mixture.

Add the wok content to a 2 inch deep 9x9 baking dish. spread the dough evenly on top of it. bake for 15 mins.

The finished product

Wow so i must admit the blend of flours i used tonight made this crust AMAZING! It's even a little flaky like it's gluten counter part!


Let me know if you try this recipe! Definitely a keeper! I recommend to do what i do as a time saver make a huge batch of the mixture so you can thaw in the middle of the week for a great easy quick supper! I do the same when i make stuffed peppers as well i freeze the mixture and then i just thaw and stuff at night! I will try to post that recipe soon too!

No sugar challenge starting Monday Jan 23rd

Ok confession time, i friggen love my "healthy/cleaner" sugars stevia, maple syrup, honey and even molasses from time to time. I crave sugar a fair amount and make sweet but healthy treats for my week every sunday. I have noticed that i have been adding more and more stevia to my morning coffee lately and craving it even more. What spurred me on to challenge myself to a 7 day no sugar challenge was reading Tosca Reno's article on sugar today, she calls it the white poison, the legal cocaine (since it's so addicting). Check out her article here. I also started following Gracious Pantry, a blog full of clean recipes on twitter a few months ago and noticed lots of "no sugar challenge" recipes being posted. So i am tweaking her idea of the no sugar challenge and putting my own spin on it. But if you guys want to join me here is the link to her challenge here for recipes and ideas.

What has spurred me on to do this is the fact that i can't workout right now due to my injury so i want to make sure i treat my body right and give it lot's of clean good nutrients to help it heal and hey a little challenge will help keep me motivated and inspired while i heal and prevent me from getting down due to not getting my workouts in.

I tweeted about this on twitter to see how many of the Tone It Up girls i can get involved in this to help keep me on track and keep me accountable. Plus it's so much more fun doing something with a bunch of friends and girls who love eating clean, working out as much as i do.

Ok so here are the rules (many adapted from Gracious pantries challenge):

1.No sugar of any kind even clean varieties (brown rice syrup, honey, maple syrup, agave (which im questioning the healthy-ness of lately due to how its refined and processed), molasses, stevia, organic cane sugar, sucanat. Check your labels sugar can be hidden in a lot of foods. Maybe this challenge will help me kick my ketchup habit! Here is a complete list of the names sugar can hide under as well as the actual names.

**No sugar means no added sugar. So sugars naturally occurring in milk, yogurt and fruit is ok. So when you are looking at your nutrition labels look for actual sugar not just the % of sugar.

Update:
**I am trying to recover after my injury as well so i will need my protein powder still which has a little stevia in it. So i have decided that this is ok since it's vital for me to get my protein so my body heals as quickly as possible. So you can choose to still use your protein powder, or even use plain. I am choosing not to spend my money on plain Sun Warrior protein since i have vanilla already. This challenge is meant to reset your taste buds and detox from sugar/stevia but i feel the small amount that is in my protein powder won't steer me away from this goal.

2. 3 servings of fruit a day. Fruit is great for you in it's whole form. Juices even pomegranate are delicious but don't have the fiber content fruit does in it's whole state so your body digests it the same as processed sugars.

3. Drink one tone it up inspired smoothie a day to get lot's of nutrients in and making eating no sugar a little easier. If you put fruit in your smoothie it counts towards your 3 serving limit for the day.

3. No drinking juices even natural fruit ones since they act like regular processed sugar does in the body.

Remember as the Tone it up girls say "You can do anything for 7 days". That being said though i may extend it to 14 days depending on how i feel after the 7 days:) The Gracious Pantry challenge is 2 weeks. But i wanted to try it for one week first as it doesn't seem as difficult and i have a feeling we'll all want to continue after a week!

Who's in? Comment and sign up below in the comment section so i can make a list of who's in to keep us all accountable!