Vodka and maple syrup, ja!

Instead of going for my run yesterday night, I decided to hang out with my sister and her German boy. I was supposed to rest on sunday instead but I'll count yesterday as a rest day.

Pestered the German boy, L, to drink maple syrup and vodka...Because it's so Canadian, duh.

Anyways, went to bed later than I should have.

Of course... Couldn't wake up in time to go for my run this morning.

Does my little indulgence not result in consequences? Always does. I didn't even drink that much yesterday but I guess my fatigue and the alcohol just blended together. Along with this, my ankles have been aching lately.

Work today then (maybe) going to visit the girls. Rest day tomorrow (thank all Gods).

Loving this: This is for my girl, N. Awesome song I discovered last night!

Distractions

Running was not very successful this morning. My ipod decided to turn on and off on its own halfway through my run, setting me off-course and making my run down English Bay unnecessarily distracting.

Other distractions as well: I was supposed to meet someone this morning in the middle of my workout but did not see him.

To add to the already side tracked state, thinking about what I was going to eat and prioritizing my to-do list in my head, I was trying to fix my foot strike. I really want to do the mid-foot to ball method but I seem to be having a bit of trouble with figuring it out. I'm pretty sure I was forcing my feet to land on the balls of my feet but slightly below the balls.

I've also joked about my posture before, declaring myself as a T-Rex. I used to run like a dinosaur, arms and hands hoisted up to my neck / breast area until my sister noted that I looked ridiculous. And of course, this was all before my research about marathons / running / fitness, etc.

Total miles: 3.04

Max HR: 170 beats per minute

Average: 160 beats per minute

Aside from all that, it was a serene morning. Dulled the hunger pangs with a hemp kale smoothie when I got home. Deeelicious.

Will post later.

Ciao.

Sunday Runday? Anyone?

Ran on the seawall to English Bay this morning and saw no one out and about. I realize it's lazy Sunday but it was beautiful out. Probably saw about 3 runners in total.

Anyways, not the point.

The point is that I went for a glorious run this morning and did a very slow and easy 2.79 miles. 

During my run, my stomach started twisting. Like air-dried laundry. I'm going to assume it was from the banana I literally smashed down my throat before stepping out. 

Came back and had a delicious kale smoothie. I got a free sample of this new smoothie powder called Achiva.

Some facts about Achiva and its benefits:

- Vegan and gluten free

- Raw hemp seeds

- Inulin: healthy source for bowel movement and gut health promoting soluble fibre. Ideal nutritional support for the body's insulin needs.

- Brown Rice Protein: Extra protein source

- Rubisco green leaf protein: contains barley, wheat grass, spinach, pea, faba bean, oat, alfalfa...and other nutritional foods.

Anyways, when I smelled it this morning before I put it in my smoothie, I was a little reluctant about it. It did not smell good. At all. Braving the musty herbal scent, I put one tbsp of the hemp protein powder in my green smoothie.

Other ingredients:

- 2 Kale Leaves

- 1/2 cup blueberries

- 1/2 banana

- 2 fat juicy strawberries

- 1/2 almond milk

- 1/2 water

Taste? It was SO good. Couldn't even taste the hemp protein powder at all. I think it actually made the smoothie thicker which I liked.

Anyways, I'm off to read some more. (I still haven't returned my library books. Oops.)

Not loving this: I work 6 days in a row. And today HAPPENS to be a beautiful day. Great.

Run, girl, Run!

Exercise/Training

My run/walk/jog was 6.56 miles. For the first time, I ventured off into Stanley Park. I turned around after 30 minutes in and turned back to jog back to the Cambie Bridge. Jogged at probably at 6.0 pace for 20 more minutes and walked back home. Limped / waddled back because my blisters were baaaad. 3 blisters bad.

I was starving when I got home so I made myself a huge dinner. Yes, HUGE. Volume eating at its best.

Quinoa with veggies/veggie meat and caramelized onions. YUM.

I was full after my quinoa dish but still ate this cucumber/red pepper salad with non-fat Italian dressing. Flax seeds too. 

I'm off to bed. Running again tomorrow morning at 6 hopefully.

Plans

I used to be nonchalant, 'flexible', but it always ended up, discomfortingly, into not caring enough. Not caring (going to be vague here) actually produced repulsive mannerisms and wasted time.

I gave that up and turned to good old numbers, exact dates, times, routines.

Then that got obsessive too.

It was a vicious cycle I couldn't get rid of. 

Now? I think I turned it for the better. I'm not obsessive over calories but I do have an idea of what goes in my body and the outtake. I measure how much I run, the duration, heart rate and started my first training log yesterday night.

I'm still having a hard time choosing a program for my half-marathon. I'm also having a tough time with my nutrition; I can't tell what's enough or not for my body as I've been running 2-4 miles a day.

I wish I had the day off today to finish my marathon books (they're SO over due at the library...) but oh well, this is life.

Exercise/Training

I'm not going to go running today because I ran 9 days in a row. These legs need rest. I'm going to do cross training today (to those who don't know: anything other than running or walking such as swimming, cycling, weight lifting...etc). I'm trying to strengthen the muscles in my legs and my upper body so I can train better.

What I did this morning:
- 30 regular crunches
- 30 bicycle crunches
- 30 leg raises
- 10 butt lifts 

- 10 push ups

Loving this: My breakfast. Almond butter, strawberries and banana on toast. NOM!

Out of service

My apartment is so disorganized and it only reflects the state of my mind.
I'm going to do some major cleaning today when I get home from a very long day at work.

How nice would it be if I came back from work and it looked like this:

Any of these would be fine. Haha.


I have so many things that are overdue and items that are due TODAY. A too long of a list of things I need to finish, write, fix.

Nothing's every that easy. It so rarely ever is.

No matter how hard you'd like things simple, still and quiet, something always comes creeping through that window and onto your pile of stuff.

I'm going to school for the first time in 3 years. 7-8 courses a semester. That's a little scary. I'm no longer going to be an adolescent with an excuse; I cannot push my youth up. Nor can I shore it with naivete.
I've got to "grow up" now.

Whatever that means. Heh.

I'm off to get ready for work. I'll post another update on nutrition and training later.

June 15, 2011 Stanley Cup Final Riot

This event shall remain in our memories as rioters, who deem themselves as "fans" of the Canucks, broke out into rioting in the downtown core right before the game ended until 12am.

These select few who participated in this riot should be held accountable for their despicable actions as they have not ONLY ruined our image but our home as well.

Picture taken from mashable.com

These following pictures were taken from my photographer friend Tyrell.

If anyone has time today, please try to make time to go downtown to help with the clean up. For more information: VANCOUVER CLEAN UP POST RIOT

RUIN THEM BRUINS!

FINAL GAME. THIS IS OUR GAME ON HOME GROUNDS. OUR CUP.

BRING IT HOME BOYS!

Ever notice that stride?

Running

I never used to pay attention to my posture, footstrikes, my arm carriage ever. I just thought, hell, if I can run steady and fast enough, I can increase my miles and I'll improve.

WRONG.

Never knew all of these things can dramatically improve my performance.

After finishing a couple of chapters about the mechanics of running, here's what I gathered.

Breathing:

I've always breathed on a 2:2 rate. Two steps for every breath in and two steps for every breath out. Apparently, that's one thing I'm doing right. My book also states that, "as you run faster, you may have to breathe more often, which leads to such variations as 2:1 and 1:2 patterns" (The Everything Running Book).

Another tip I learned today:

"A secret to breathing better when you run is to remember to put a little more force into your exhalation. Your body will naturally inhale to make up for this, which in turn will improve your breathing efficiency"

Footstrike:

Footstrike denotes how your foot lands on the ground. Example) Do I run on my toes? Or on my heel to toe? Do I stomp my feet down? 

Beginners and intermediate runners should be using the heel-ball technique. This supposedly absorbs the shock and prevents less stress on the calf muscles. 

Stride:

Everyone's different. Some have really long strides, others may have the short ones.

I tend to have short strides but I do bounce a lot, which can cause injuries.

Apparently, bouncing/bounding can mean that I'm "overstriding"

Shortening your strides AND eliminating bouncing can conserve energy that can be "better used to propel yourself forward" (The Everything Running Book).

"A good rule of thumb is for your heel not to strike the ground too far in front of your knee. Some running experts feel that a short stride is a sign of inflexibility. Proper stretching after a run can help to improve your flexibility, which can lengthen your stride..." (The Everything Running Book)

Posture:

Whenever I do hills, especially downhill, I tend to lean back. Research says that it is best to maintain the same effort level when running uphill, lifting knees up a bit and shortening your stride.

Now for the downhill part...Using gravity as an advantage, it's best to lean a little bit forward to maintain posture "in relation to the ground, as if you were running on the flat." 

These are all helpful tips that I will have to keep in mind next time (hopefully within two days) I run.

I'm off to read some more!

Ciao!

My lowdown and my shame

Well, I woke up at the usual time. 6:30 on the dot. (Usual meaning usual as per the past week.)

First, I panicked. "Oh shit, I need to go run and if I don't run now, I won't be able to make it to work on time. Bollocks. How cold is it right now?"

And then, I realize, wait, it's my day off today. Oh, and right. I can't even go for a run because my left calf muscles are all knotted.

I couldn't go back to bed so I made breakfast, read some of my running book and then headed out to walk on the seawall for 40 minutes.
It was nice; The sun was peaking out and I hadn't been on the seawall to exercise for more than a week so it was very refreshing.

I've also been really emotional (that's an understatement) all afternoon, contemplating about some personal issues, mulling over options, etc, etc.

The fact that I can't even run today to let the frustration out is even more upsetting. Running is the time when I plan my day, reflect and come up with solutions to problems I may have. But no, not today.

I'll post later. Ugh. Frustrations.

Aspirin, ice pack, massage chair. Repeat.

I just got back from an emotionally/physically painful time at the gym (and no, I didn't run. I walked at 3.0 mph for 10 minutes...Not a good idea...I know.). I noticed the subtle pain in my leg (mid-calf) on saturday. This was the day after my rigorous 2.0 mile run (last friday / Incline 6.5 - 7.5 @ 7.0 - 8.0 mph).

It got worse on sunday night but I ignored it. Although, I didn't push myself and run over the weekend, I tried my best to give my body a rest.

Today, it was a lot worse. I was limping everywhere I went.

As explained in my last post, I haven't been training properly. I've just been keeping up with my running, increasing mileage each week without accurate and safe training knowledge.

I have been doing light stretches before/after my runs but I may have pulled muscles and tensed them up while doing them.

I'm studying all night tonight for my training.

I'm so upset I can't run for a couple of days but it's all fair since it is my fault for exerting myself this hard.

After some tears, I iced my leg and took some aspirin.

Rest. Research.

Sounds good.

Not loving this: Some idiot at the gym asked me about my limp and after I explained, his best advice was, "Run through the pain!". REALLY? Yeah, I'll just run 2.5 miles and assume that my injury will go away.

This may be a curse

Today was a long one indeed, woke up and went to work. My body was running low on energy seeing that it was only fuelled by morning coffee and one apple for the entire day. And obviously, this made every single millisecond of my day gruelling.

This is not, however, a relapse of my eating disorder. I just forgot to pack my lunch on my rush to work in the morning and packed only two apples the night before as a snack for today.

Magically, at the end of my work day, my boss let me go home early. Met up with my friend for a quick chat before rushing off to make dinner.
- Fried tofu teriyaki with quinoa.
- Green smoothie
- Cereal with almond milk
(told you I was starving)

Exercise/training:
Unfortunately, I have not been able to train for my half-marathon yet. I'm still researching tons about the workouts, nutrition and different types of programs before I start. Moreover, as soon as training officially starts, I will be making separate posts about training. Day 1, day 2...and so forth.
I suspect this will begin in July or end of June.

Power reading started last night.
I've been a little study bug on my desk, researching and taking notes. Teehee.

Loving this: 

Summer. The beach. Bikinis. AHH! I love summer.


Not loving this: I think the Canucks are cursed when it comes to playing on Boston ice. I swear to god, nothing's working for them right now. I mean, they missed SO many open net chances in first period. What the hell, guys? But whatever, I'm still a believer that we can do this. Still 2 periods left, Canucks. You can do this.

Canapés and a cosmopolitan kind of night...

Today was a tiring and productive day indeed: Cranked out the attitude and make up to do my best job on my first day at my new job, worked 8 hours, came home to an apartment filled with the smell of delicious toasty canapes in the oven.

I came home to realize that it was a little birthday pow-wow for my sister so imagine a saturday night with canape, my homemade risotto simmering on the stove and some delicious pink cocktails.

Girl talk, giggles, and cosmos galore. 

A little preview of our canapes we devoured.

Anticipating work on monday, marathon research and running tomorrow and getting my schedule back on track this coming week.

Now, I'm off to make some crafty drinks and talk. We are definitely talking about some sexual experiences and it's getting good now...so I have to go. 

PS. I make killer cosmos. (As the crowd says.)

Crossroads

I received a bunch of emails yesterday from the admission officer from one of my schools that I chose, notifying me I got into my second choice for a program. Seeing that this was my second choice and I already got into my other backup program for school...I'm having a very hard time deciding.

To put it shortly, the two programs I need to decided between are vastly different.

Business or medicine.

Business...or...Medicine.

I've already reserved my seat in the medical program just in case I change my mind about business school and now...I'm just having second..no, umpteen thoughts about school. This is my life.

It comes down to one program and I don't know anymore.

I'm just going to breathe, look things over, research for a couple of hours and decide. Maybe making a list of pro's and con's should help...?

Anyone ever this indecisive about their life? Suggestions on how to decide? Maybe I should just do rock paper scissors.

Sound good?

Yeah.

Loving this: My new marathon book came in the mail. BOOYAH.

Loving this 2: I kind of have a big crush on Brendan Brazier. Ironman Triathlete sexy vegan.

Not loving this: My brain, right at this moment.

Beach day

Let's face it. It's June and the sun is ready to make a full-time appearance from now on. This, in turn, means that it's time to get those cute and skimpy bikinis and hit the beach.

With coming back from New York, dealing with my struggles, training and readjusting my diet to a vegan diet, my weight's been all over the place.

Up, down, tears, up, sweat, up, down, up, up.
And now it's at a very high number and I still haven't been able to kick that nasty "weigh myself every morning" habit to the curb.

I know I need to fix this habit, no matter how hard it is. I just cannot deal with the havoc it wreaks on my psyche, shattering it to bits and creating frustration for no reason.

...Anyways, I've been doing well with the eating. Vegan, still.

Planning to pack a delicious stir-fry rice mix for lunch for the beach today. Going to venture around Kitsilano with a friend and have a picnic on the beach.

This is what I had yesterday for lunch and I can't wait to taste it again:

Green Monster smoothie and veggie burger with sauteed tomatoes, 1/2 avocado on a bed of sauteed spinach. (I used tomato slices as buns instead of actual bread to save calories.)

It was so, so good. 

I've already done so much this morning. Felt like a sexy minx after my run too.

To do today:

- Run 2.5 miles

- Return some library books

- Go buy cereal

- Create menu for sister's birthday dinner

- Make new playlist for workout mix

- Clean apartment

- Beach day with friend

Enjoy your day. I sure will.

xoxo,

MK

Kale and Sundried Tomato Hummus

Serves: 1 1/2 cups
Disclaimer: I forgot where I got this recipe from; It was an online vegan blog but I forgot. Sorry! :(

Ingredients:

- 1 can chickpeas

- 2 tbsp tahini (optional)

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1/4 cup water

- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (about 5)

- 1 small head Kale, de-vained and steamed

- herbs, for seasoning

1. Rinse chickpeas and put into food processor. Add salt, tahini, water, oil and blend until smooth.

2. Remove and discard tough stems from kale with scissors. Steam until tender and bright green. Shock under cool water, then squeeze as much water out as possible. 

3. Break ball of kale apart and process in blender with sun-dried tomatoes. Gently pulse until ingredients are well combined (but you can still see chunks of kale and tomatoes). 

4. Serve immediately with toasted baguette slices or refrigerate. 

Voila!

Boston Creamed!

My friend and I had the worst time trying to find a place to go last night for game 1 (Canucks vs. Bruins).
Everywhere else on Granville was packed so that left us with no choice but an obvious destination, that being the most tired bar that we've frequented back in the day, Relish.

After the game was over (WE WON!), off we trotted to Guilt and Co for a grand game of life-sized jenga.

An epic night? I THINK YES.

I'm going to end this entry with my chickpea patties recipe.

This recipe was so simple and it definitely cured my cravings for carbs late at night. One patty is about 180 calories.

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients:

- 1 14 oz can of chickpeas

- 1/3 ground almonds

- 1 slice whole wheat bread, ground to crumbs

- 2 teaspoon flax seeds

- 1 nori (seaweed) sheets, torn

- 2 garlic cloves, ground

- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

- 1/4 tsp turmeric

- 1/4 tsp ground ginger

- 1 tbsp almond butter

- 1 tbsp olive oil (optional)

- Juice of 1 lemon

- salt and pepper

- vegetable or olive oil for frying

1. In your food processor, pulse the chickpeas to a course meal. 

2. Add to a large mixing bowl along with the ground almonds, bread crumbs, garlic cloves, flax seed, torn nori (seaweed), nutritional yeast and mash together with a fork. 

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together almond butter and lemon juice. 

4. Add this together to the big bowl and combine well until a thick paste comes together.

5. In a large skillet, line the bottom with vegetable/olive oil and heat on med-high. Grab two spoonful's of patty and mold to a small-med disc. Fry each side for 5 minutes or so until light brown.

6. Serve with a bed of brown rice or small salad. 

ENJOY!

Not loving this: The fact that some people will never change. Be mature about things. Don't get upset because we're not friends anymore and I happen to be at your workplace with my other friends. Don't make a huge fuss over it and blurt out things like, "ARE YOU ****ing kidding me? Is that who I think it is?" (Right, who says that anymore?)
Get over yourself. Grow up a little. I've forgotten how cumbersome it was to be around that 24/7. Yes, we had a falling out but there's no need for drama. Get over it; I certainly have.
How depressing.

Winning Wednesdays

Despite being very good with saving money ever since I got back from NYC, I did indulge in a little overdue happy hours with my girlfriends. I couldn't help but be drawn by the temptations of girly cocktails and pleasant evenings out.
It was definitely a treat, after not drinking more than one glass of alcohol for two months before that.

First night would have been friday. I won't mention much else because that night was a bit chaotic.

Saturday: An adventure downtown. We didn't make it to the "Singles Party" but still had our own fun.

Monday: Assembled furniture and without a doubt, after polishing off two bottles, we were tipsy enough to think going downtown (on a monday!) was a good idea. Turned out...to be....fun. Despite walking around for a bit to find a bar with at least 3 people in it, we went to Society then George. Free shots and all that. It was lovely.

The cute jukebox at the diner (Templeton on Granville) the wife and I went to. 

Yesterday: Very light dinner with my best friend followed by a lychee-tini and thai food with my other best friend. It was lovely.

Today: We're going to win. I know it. (Hence the title) I'm probably not going to go out tonight to pinch a couple of pennies but who knows... I may just get excited.

Things to do today:
- Interviews
- Finish 4 chapters of Marathon book
- Return books to library
- Send email to admissions officer
- Run 2.5 miles
- Clean room/reorganize closet
- Rearrange file folder
- Finish 2 chapters of PR book
- Watch game with friends

First day being vegan again.

xoxo,
MK