So here I am – slowly fading out of training mode. How is this possible? well, there were some barriers (52 cm of snow, start of a head cold, daylight savings time) but I’m ready to get back into it again. So far this week I did my long run with sistah 1 and I’ve done my thursday run. My goal is to get out there tonight and do a 6km so I can redeem myself. Hey – nobody said that this was going to be easy! it’s tough!

 So tomorrow is Earth Hour from 8-9pm. The goal is to shut off your lights for one hour in order to raise awareness of our earth slowly being destroyed.  So this morning, on my way to work I ’scoffed’ as I watched a hummer drive by. Seriously – WHO drives a hummer anymore?? I thought to myself, it’s sort of like watching someone light a cigarette – there are TONS of media out there about the dangers/warnings of smoking so when someone actually LIGHTS one up, I’m almost dumbfounded. And then someone drives by me with a hummer. Was this woman serious?

And then it got me thinking about health and fitness (I think that I may suffer from a bit of ADHD here) – how about – people stopped going to the gym (did you know that 40,000 people are enrolled at a Goodlife fitness) and started exercising OUTDOORS. Imagine that?! planting trees, planting a garden/weeding a garden, walking your dog, the dog walking you, running outside, swimming, canoeing, snowshoeing, skiing, rollerblading, cycling, doing sit ups outside, lifting weights in your house, lifting weights outside, lifting your dog, riding a horse, riding a cow, brushing a horse, lifting some hay, jumping hay bales. IMAGINE.  And at the same time, breathing the fresh air outside because think of ALL the power you would save by not driving to the gym, then turning on the television while you step on the treadmill (or rower, or stepper, or eliptical) and turning the machine ON while music and lights blare overhead.

 Just like John Lennon once sang: … imagine…

Hopping down the bunny trail…hey Happy Easter all. I have to say that I felt like Peter Cottontail or the Easter Bunny himself as I ran my 5 k tonight. I just got home from the 2 and a half hour drive from the family celebration and put the kid to bed and out I went. I ran 5 k in 35 minutes and felt great. I love running in the evening, much like sister one. It’s nice to run into the sunset. I just mapped my 12 k for tomorrow. YIKES. I’ll let you all know how that goes. Must do some homework.

Over and out

People who know me know I never miss a chance to complain about daylight savings time and the hour of sleep I lose every spring when we have to change the clocks. But this year, I have to say, I’m not complaining.

Who wants to get up early to run in the freezing cold before your husband goes to work when you can wait until he comes home and head out in the setting sun, onto sidewalks that (if they’ve actually been cleared since Sunday’s massive snowstorm) the sun has melted from shining all day long.

A little Bruce on the old MP3 player and that’s a great 5k run.

Now if only this snow would all melt and I could put away the thermal underlayer and stop feeling like the abominable snowman every time I run outside.

That’s right. I’m going to fess up right here.

 I’ve missed 3 runs so far. This is not a good week.

Let’s blame the first two on mother nature. Hello – Fifty two cm of snow! I couldn’t even drive out of my driveway all weekend!

Run #3. Intention was there. Due to this $#”* daylight savings time, my morning is now limited with daylight only occurring at 7am and me having to be out of the house by 7:40 on most days. I know what your’e thinking..’excuses!’ but seriously. I have to drive to a place I can run (my road is like a mini-hwy, a wee bit dangerous dodging transports), park the car, run with the pooch, get her back in the car, drive back, shower, get her organized for a day of boredom – hair, makeup, clothes (this is for me, not the pooch), coffee and out the door. Not easy.

So this morning I decided to bring my running stuff to work in hopes to go at lunch time. Unfortunately due to a full patient load today – not time at lunch except charting. I go see my horsey after work, buy the dog some bones, drive 50km home and I’m at home at 6:50pm. Limited time. Crap – that’s run #3 gone.

Then I realize – shit. My outdoor running stuff is at work – shit.

So my options are: continue walking with pooch in the morning (she deserves a break). In-Laws have a treadmill – in the meantime (I can’t pick up my work stuff till friday) – I’ll be an indoor runner. That should teach me a lesson.

That’s my life these past few weeks…are the plows out yet? can I go running now?

Will the snow ever end? you know – That remark will come back and haunt me when I’m whining about +30 degree weather and it’s TOO hot to go outside and run. You can never win. What I can do though is get bundled up again in my 3-layer running zoo-suit and run my scheduled 3km today (ahh – the joy of running a nice, easy 3km – LOVE those days) and that’s my goal for this afternoon.

So I should keep yapping about my running and how it’s going – well it’s going! I feel pretty good. Tuesday was a little rough after coming home from a late (10pm) soccer game and then up at 6:30am to head out for a 5km run. Even though the pace was reasonable (5:55min/km) it was a bit of a struggle. But I did it (pooch in tow of course). I can’t believe that we’re already at week 6. Crazy! only 10 weeks left to go. This weekend it’s the 10km mark. As my sister reminded me, only another 6:30min of running tacked onto my 9km from last weekend. Totally do-able.

And for the weight loss part – well since I’m now the proud owner of TWO NEW nigella cookbooks (‘feast’ and ‘how to eat’), my healthy eating has been going very well. I’m actually about to make some fairy cakes and have some for dessert tonight to go along with our Maple-Glazed chicken and ribs. MMmmm! yumm! And although the month of february did not see any improvements in waist lines or scale #’s – I’m starting to feel great again. Legs feel tight, abs feel stronger, shirts fit better.  It’s starting….this running is starting to pay off!

After I swallowed my jealousy over sister one’s viewing of Bruce, I realized it was time for me to write a thing or two. To give you all an update. It’s Tuesday evening, 8:00. I have just finished about half of my homework for the evening.

I’m pleased to say that I completed my run this evening. I ran 5 k in about 40 minutes! Yeah. It felt good too. I kept up a constant pace. I ran gradually uphill at the beginning and ended downhill. I still don’t know how I am supposed to accomplish that times 4 but whatever!

It was so nice to run in mild temperatures. I was only wearing a fleece and it was perfect. I love the camraderie of jogging. I love the huge smile that runners give each other as they pass. I guess today is an ‘up’ day. Wait ’til tomorrow.

Another 15 to 25 cm? Running in blizzard like conditions again? It makes me want ‘hide ‘neath the covers and study my pain..make crosses for my lovers and throw roses in the rain…’ spend my life praying in vain for….spring to come!!!

Because it’s a day off from running!! Not that I don’t like the running and the strong leg muscles it is giving me, but after 9km yesterday and a ROCKING Bruce Springsteen concert that required more than two and a half hours of dancing and grooving, these legs need a break.

So they’re taking it easy, tapping gently to a little Bruce.

Like this one:

Sister three you should be a motivational speaker. I knew there was a reason why I loved Nigella, not just for her fantastic banana bread. I want to bring back the renaissance big time. Then skinny-winnys would be weirdos and curvaceous women would rule the world. I don’t suppose that will happen any time soon though. So, I will continue to run. I guess. If you want to give into your butter and cream cravings everyone I suggest a little Ina Garten, http://www.barefootcontessa.com/. To quote her: ‘How bad can that be?’

Keep up the good work girls. I’m cross training today. Ski night. My legs will feel it for days to come.

oh wait, no, my bad: Into the freezing temperatures of -31 degrees (with the windchill). I remember a couple of years ago when I was a seasonal/weight driven running.  I would look out the window of the public transit bus in january thinking ‘what kind of crazy lunatic runs in the freezing cold temperatures when people say to stay indoors’.

Well, I can imagine the thoughts of the local commuters passing me by on my ‘brisk’ 3km run this morning. I missed yesterdays due to cold winds and temperature and I couldn’t miss another one – well, I could – but the guilt. And the fact that I’m now eating whatever I want and you know that whole balance thing – eat when you burn – and I think that my teetor-totter is teetering towards the eating…rather than the burn. 

So all in all – a decent run. Feeling pretty good and looking forward to a balmy -21 they’re calling for tomorrow.

So this morning: brisk 4km run in 21:40 minutes. Not bad. I was clipping along with my pooch. At a  balmy -2 degrees I was sweating through everything. Even the shower afterwards was lukewarm due to the rise in body temperature. Felt pretty good -except for the first 3.5km.  The last 500 metres when I knew it would be done I was feeling ALOT better.. Sheesh – how am I supposed to keep that clip up for 21km?! I keep telling myself..we’re only in week 5. I can do it. Wait until winter is over and it will feel that much better. Except we’re supposed to get more snow tonight and then more snow on friday/saturday. It’s going to end soon though – I can see the light at the end of the tunnel..there it is…so clooosseee…

On a brighter note though – got my Nigella fill last night: lazy mashed potatoes (reg mashed potatoes except throw some nutmeg in there) and slow-roasted chicken with white wine, lemon, garlic and thyme. Yummah! well worth the wait.  Maybe there are jobs out there where I can cook, run and play at home. Oh yeah, it’s called being a stay-at-home mom. That sounds pretty good – now where do I sign?

Seriously – who doesn’t love Nigella Lawson. My boyfriend and I hosted a dinner party last night and in hopes to keep it healthy we had homemade spaghetti sauce with whole wheat pasta – oh yeah, and the rest was carbs galore : garlic bread (I only had one piece, whoowee!) caesar salad and the lovely ‘Fairy Cakes’ (a.k.a cupcakes). I think that I just love saying that (in my head I have a romantic british accent): “anyone fancy a fairy cake?”

Mmm..they’re so yummy (and seriously easy : http://www.nigella.com/recipes/recipe.asp?article=1261). And so I have decided to crack open my three (one is borrowed thanks to sister 2) Nigella Lawson cookbooks and attempt one yummy recipe a week. Lucky for me I have a cup of unused whipping cream in my fridge and a pound of butter so I’m already 1/2 way there to make a very yummy dish.

Now, some people may say : good luck losing weight cooking with Nigella (*1). I was listening to CBC the other day and they were talking about dieting and fat free foods and how we should go back to cooking what our great-grandmothers cooked with and if we can’t pronounce it – don’t buy it. Looking through Nigella recipes – it is very hard to see any ‘glucose-fructose’ or ‘natural and simulated flavours’ (*2)  ingredients that she calls for. Looking through it I see: mixed herbs, chicken, lemon, onions, cucumbers, haddock, peppercorns, butter…I think that my great-grandmother would be able to recognize all those ingredients.

So what am I trying to say? Stay active and eat everything in moderation. I think that Nigella sums it up very nicely:

“‘I think it is a fear of flesh,’ says Nigella, ‘maybe of vulnerability and softness.’ Is that ultimately a fear of sex? ‘I don’t know. But I do think that women who spend all their lives on a diet probably have a miserable sex life: if your body is the enemy, how can you relax and take pleasure? Everything is about control, rather than relaxing, about holding everything in.’

Nigella feels the fear of weight is a female thing. “In my experience,” she says, “the weight thing is an almost totally female problem. I never feel bad about my weight around men, only women. Women act like it is somehow a moral failing to have hips.”

In the end, it’s probably Nigella who gets the last word. “[I]n real life,” she points out, “this is normal size.”

Thank you Nigella! I keep talking about ‘losing another 5 lbs..’ or ‘if only I could be 129′. Well, I think that I’m getting to the point where I’m pretty happy with my weight, I don’t look too shabby in a pair of jeans, I can go out and run 9km and still talk about it the next day, and I can enjoy one fairy cake with dinner, and another one while sitting down relaxing in front of the Oscars. To give that all up for one day to shout ‘ Today I’m 129- whoweee!’, I’m not really sure if it’s worth it.

 *1: these people are just unhappy because they’ve never been blessed with a fairy cake

*2: an ingredient found on the new Special K ‘ Satisfaction’ cereal

ps. for those wanting to experience the wonder of Nigella: www.nigella.com

Up until today, I was finding the Sunday long runs to be a manageable task. Seven kilometers was a good distance, coming in under an hour with a slower run and one-minute walk breaks every 10 minutes. As I drove over to my friend Mary’s house to meet her for the run, I told myself what’s 9km, only 2k more than last week. Easy peasy.

Right.

I nearly died. At about 7.5 km I thought my legs were going to break off at the hips. I think I broke my butt muscles. Now I remember why I always thought the long runs were hard. It didn’t help that we went out before the sun got nice and hot and melted off the latest snowfall. It was snowy streets and sidewalks nearly all the way.

On the upside, it’s over and now I can rest for two days. On the downside I think I need butt-replacement surgery.

So my question is: Do you burn more calories running in -19 below?

And the answer is: (credit to www.runnersworld.com ) No, unfortunately running when temperatures are low is not an effective strategy for upping your caloric expenditure. Studies suggest that shivering burns more calories, but if you’re dressed adequately when you run-and you should be-the rapid rise in body temperature that occurs when you start running keeps you from shivering within a few minutes. There is, however, evidence that athletes take in more calories after cold-weather workouts, possibly because food helps warm us and because our appetites wane in warm temperatures. This is one reason we tend to put on a few pounds of winter weight. The solution, of course, is to keep up your running and be conscious of what you eat afterward.
-Cindy Dallow, Ph.D., R.D., is a Colorado-based marathoner and nutrition consultant

Can you believe that?!?!! I may EAT more because I’m cold???? Here I was thinking that I was eating more because I was exercising more. Okay, so not only do I have to watch what I’m eating in order to lose weight AND I have to watch it because I’m cold and I want to warm up.  But then I came across this: If you are too scantily clad (or have little body fat) and your body becomes chilled, you will need more calories to stay warm. For example, scantily clad research subjects who exercised in the cold (14 degrees F) burned 13% more calories than when they performed the same exercise at room temperature–about 450 vs 400 calsories per hour.

You see that?! Well I guess it’s more ‘ You read that?!!’. Next time you’re driving, catching the bus or walking down a street and see some pasty, white blond chick running through the local streets in a cute black bikini- do not fret. It’s just me, burning that extra few hundred calories while out enjoying a nice, brisk winter run.

Can we please switch the Ottawa Marathon to September so we can stop having to run in freezing cold weather? I had to head for the treadmill to get today’s run done. There was no way I was running in -21 again this week. I nearly froze to death yesterday WHILE I was running! You know, schools don’t send kids out to play when it’s below -20. I think the same rule should apply to runners.

Discuss.

Meanwhile, I find Madonna can really kick my butt when I want to stop running. I’m such a child of the 80s.

Check out her hardbody here. Oh and the hardbodies of her manslaves:

 

Oh my god, sisterthree. I have been eating healthily at LEAST 80 per cent of the time for the past two weeks and you make me sound like I’m Morgan Spurlock from Super Size Me.

You are in big trouble.

So sistah two thinks that sistah one and three are health gurus.

Well, I have some snitching and confessin’ to do.

Wednesday night, before hoping on the train, I devoured a double cheeseburger and large fries from my favourite fast food joint, McDonalds. WOW. Good. On top of that, I ate carbs galore while at a workshop in toronto for three days. MMM!! And yesterday: 1 brownie, 1 cupcake and 2 coconut macaroon with chocolate drizzle cookies (the farmers market kind - double yum), plus a toblerone bar (thanks to my boyfriend).

And I know for a FACT that sister one has eaten: 1 harvey’s hamburger and sampled truffles and chocolate brownies (sorry sister one, I may be almost 30 but I’m still a snitch at heart).

So maybe it boils down to this: I’m only preaching and loving running when it’s a good day for me!!!

And really, this upbeat ‘I love running!’ “working out is awesome” is really just a front for “oh my god I can’t believe I’m out in -24 weather freezing my ass off” to make it seem exciting. Think of it as motivational running.

It wasn’t very much fun, with all the slipping and sliding in the snow, but the run is done. Next time I will not go skating and shovel out a driveway for 35 minutes before I run. Oh well, live and learn.

What’s 16 cm of snow? What’s a little slipperiness on the sidewalks? Is it enough to stop me from running?

Well, it was this morning, but now I have talked myself into heading out for a quick 3k. Or maybe not so quick if it’s very slippery.

Here I go, putting my shoes on…

So I’m back after a very disappointing week 2. I ran my long run yesterday. 7 k in -28 degrees is NOT fun. I did it and in less than 45 minutes. I think that was pretty good. I was tired at the end. Then we went dancing later and my left knee was killing me. I need to get back to the proper running schedule so that I don’t dance on a long run day.

I feel like the weakest link in this running pact. My sisters are all loving the running and eating well, following this dietitian’s plan. They are bonding over new workouts from Shape Magazine. I feel like the loser who still wants to eat chocolate and would prefer to watch t.v. than do squats. Does that make me the black sheep of this venture? If you are all betting fans, bet against me!

Oh well, I’ll just keep slugging away at this.   Hopefully in May, I won’t have to be driven across the finish line in an ambulance.

I hurt everywhere. Thanks god for a day of rest.