Registration open for the 5th Anniversary Canada Army Run – with exciting changes

By

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February 3, 2012

Registration is now open for the 5^th annual Canada Army Run in Ottawa. Even with the new caps of 8,500 for the half marathon and 9,500 for the 5K, you will want to register soon – the fastest growing run in Canada sells out early every year.

The event also has a new date, meaning runners no longer have to choose between Canada Army Run and the Terry Fox Run – so mark your calendar for September 23^rd.

Among the 5^th Anniversary initiatives, runners will be happy to see new medals (don’t worry, they’re still styled after dog tags!) and special edition 5^th Anniversary technical shirts. They’ve also introduced new categories to the Disabled Athletes division – a Visually Impaired category for both the 5K and half marathon, and a Hand Cycle category for the half marathon.

You don’t have to be a groundhog…

By

Karen Karnis

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February 2, 2012

It’s no wonder Groundhog Day is a big deal to some people. Okay, so the obsession with furry forecasters with a 37% accuracy rate is a little funny. But February 2 is the halfway-point between the winter solstice and spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, the bisecting of winter, as it were. All rodent predictions aside, it’s been six weeks since the longest night of the year – only six weeks to go until the day is as long as the night and the calendar says it’s spring.

Punxsutawney Phil of Pennsylvania and Fred the groundhog in Val d’Espoir, Quebec, both saw their shadows this morning – so according to them, 6 more weeks it is. Meanwhile, Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia and Wiarton Willie in Ontario beg to differ – they’re both calling for an “early spring” which, as far as I can tell, means above seasonal temperatures and pleasant conditions.

We’ve already got our early spring in my neck of the woods; so early, in fact, it beat winter. While I am not complaining, and I sure hope we don’t pay for it with a very tardy winter in April and May, we’ve only had a few wintery days here (like last Friday, for example).

What’s funny about it, though, is despite the frequent thaws that mean we can see a bit of grass poking through every week, despite the calm conditions, and despite the higher-than-normal rainfall for this time of year, I still have a bit of that winter mindset. I won’t go so far as to say it’s the “blahs” because that’s not quite it – just that feeling like I want to sleep more and eat more and watch more TV. I guess I really am solar powered – if it’s not the temperature or the snowfall that gets to me, it must be the lack of sunshine. Either that or I was a bear in a past life – you know, because I like to eat myself stupid as it gets colder, then sleep for 3 months.

As much as I enjoy winter running, it’s a good thing I register for winter and spring races in the fall, because I can sure get lazy in the winter. Anyone else?

Just another January long run

By

Karen Karnis

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February 1, 2012

While winter is one of my favourite seasons for running, last Friday I found myself facing some classic winter-running dilemmas as I considered how to approach my long run. The buses were cancelled due to slippery conditions, and visibility was only so-so thanks to the snow and wind.

Now, there are days when I am happy to run on the treadmill, but today felt like one of those days where a run would be a mental struggle no matter how I went about it. I decided I would run outside, but to be safe I would need to stay in town so I settled on 5 laps around a 4K block. I knew it would be harder to cheat, bail, or otherwise self-sabotage than if I was cozy in my basement – and really, it wasn’t cold out. So in addition to my usual running attire, I threw on my Yak Trax and a pair of low-light sunglasses, and headed out the door.

The sidewalks really weren’t that slippery – it’s hard to slip in two inches of packing snow. Thanks to the Yak Trax, the snow wasn’t building up in my treads; however, you can carry a significant amount of snow around in your Yak Trax. Don’t ask me how this works, I only know that it does – I felt like I had a brick in each shoe.

I was really glad I had those sunglasses – at least at first. The snow was driving straight sideways in that way that is like getting a good sandblasting to the face. But because it wasn’t cold, the heat radiating out of my jacket was fogging up my glasses, so I couldn’t see with them, and I couldn’t see without them. I left them on because the fog was preferable to the eyeball exfoliation.

Naturally, on lap one, I didn’t know where the icy patches or puddles were, thanks to the snow. Luckily I never slipped, but I did positively soak my feet in a deep snow-covered lake puddle.

On the second lap, I noticed the snow was getting deeper. In fact, I couldn’t see any trace of my tracks from the first lap. My legs were starting to get sluggish thanks to trudging through the snow, and now, in addition to feeling like I had a brick in each shoe, I was also pretty sure there was a small person holding on to each foot . I successfully avoided the puddles this time, but it was too late – my feet were so drenched that I could feel the water squish between my toes with every step.

By lap three, the snow was about 4 inches deep. In the middle of that lap, even my Garmin gave up – the battery died. As I approached the end of my street for the third time, I wondered why I thought it would be a good idea to follow a loop that went past the end of my street. In order to convince myself to run past and not turn in, I told myself that if I did lap 4, I wouldn’t force myself to do lap 5. Of course, this was just a mind trick – I am both a Jedi knight and a weak-minded Storm Trooper when it comes to tricking myself – I knew that when I finished lap 4 I would tell myself “it’s only one more lap.”

Sure enough, I trudged past my street a 4^th time. For a few minutes I felt elated. I believe my exact words were, “Woo hoo! I’ve done it! Last lap!”

The celebration was a little premature, however, because my legs felt like lead and my feet were downright numb. I couldn’t help but laugh – probably a little bit maniacally – as I stopped at the same red light for the fifth time. But when I was ¾ of the way through that lap, I knew I would make it, and I let myself walk up the big hill for the first time that day – after all, there had to be some reward for putting myself through this!

When I got home, I peeled off my socks, wrung them out, and looked at my toes – they looked like weird albino raisins. I looked at the clock and realized my pace barely rivalled that of a snail, and yet my legs were thoroughly trashed.

So I took a long, hot shower. Then I made a smoothie and a cup of coffee and sat down to work, relieved to be off my very tired feet.

For a brief moment I found myself thinking, “I love winter!” At least until I heard the snow plough go by and looked at the ridge of giant snow and ice balls it had pushed into my driveway. I won’t tell you what I found myself thinking after that.

Five-ingredient protein pancake

By

WhatsCookin

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January 30, 2012

I have to apologize right up front: I have no idea where I found this recipe. I keep a folder on my computer and usually try to save the recipe source but it appears that my system broke down on this one. Apologies to whomever I may have ripped off.

Saturday morning, I decided to forgo my usual oatmeal for something different. I was intrigued by this recipe because 1) I had all the ingredients on hand and 2) I love pancakes but usually don’t order them because I don’t find them filling enough. So I whipped this up in about five minutes.

It was very tasty but at 140 calories per pancake, you should probably make a couple. I was hungry again within a couple of hours.

1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup liquid egg whites
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together pancake ingredients.
Preheat a skillet (medium-low heat), spray with non-stick spray, and pour in the batter while shaping it into a pancake with a spoon.
Heat until partially cooked and flip pancake.

Makes 1 large pancake.

Paula Radcliffe -2:13:25

By

dmclaren

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January 27, 2012

While I was in London England this April to run the Virgin London Marathon, I was lucky enough to meet two of the Kenyan marathoners chosen to represent Kenya in the 2012 Olympics. Abel Kiru (back-to-back wins in the World Championships Marathon in 2009 and 2011. He won in 2009 with a time of 2:06:54, then defended his title with a winning margin of two minutes and 28 seconds – the largest ever margin at the World Championship event )and Patrick Macau. (2:03:38 WR holder) This is where I also got to meet one of my running heros Martin Lel. (He won the London Marathon in 2005, 2007, and 2008, the New York City Marathon in 2003 and 2007 )

Later on I went to the marathon Expo. While I was there I stopped and chatted with Alan Brookes of the Canada Running Series fame, and also visited the Nike “booth” (it was more like a small field). One of the reps mentioned that Paula Radcliffe would be visiting their booth. For this opportunity, I was willing to wait at least an hour while the crowds gathered. After about 45 minutes I tried to imagine how she would get here. The Nike store was in the middle of the expo.
Then I noticed them setting a few chairs on stage and as I turned around …there she was.
So I immediately ran over to Gary (her husband/manager) and asked if I could get my picture taken with Paula. (remember the rules of etiquette for meeting elite runners)
He said “Hurry up, you have 2 seconds”.
I immediately turned to Paula and asked her if I could get my picture taken with her, handed my camera to the Nike guy and asked him to take the picture. I mumbled something to Paula, she smiled and said Thank you and this is the shot of us.
She was then whisked away to the stage and it must have taken me at least 20 minutes to get my heart rate down to normal. Wow. It is so cool to meet your running heroes.
For those of you runners who may have been living under a rock , Paula is the fastest woman marathoner in the world 2:15:25.in April 2003. No one has come close to beating that time. Paula also holds the WR for 10k (30.21) and the WR for the half marathon 65 minutes 40 seconds

Good shot, eh?

A few of my Favourite things…

By

arobitaille

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January 26, 2012

My road to Boston is going well. So far. I can’t say that it is because of one major thing or another. It is because of a huge assortment of ‘favourite things’ that make for a perfect Boston training recipe. I know, I know, it is so early in my training to be talking about how great everything is, (those super looonnngg runs haven’t taken over my optimism yet) but I have decided that I need to be grateful (in print) for all of those favourite things, in an attempt to make the universe feel like it should keep all of these things going for me.

First, I have to be grateful for the littlest of my children. If I didn’t have this maternity leave, my training would suffer, as would the time I could spend with my family. I have decided that when I do go back to work, (timely, right before Boston) we are just going to become one of those families with a messy house, and piles of laundry. Running can’t take a back-burner, the kids can’t take a back-burner, dinner certainly can’t, so vacuuming and tidying will take the brunt of it, I suppose. So what. I think my children prefer a messy house. That must be the reason they get so many toys out all at once, right?!

I also am grateful for my bestest running buddy, Michelle. We can’t make it out together every day, but on the days we do, it is like a running vacation. Lots of chatting, no boredom. Even the cruelest, ugliest running weather is more bearable with her. She really deserves a shout out here, as she has been joining me for interval/tempo workouts that Nicole Stevenson has created for me–it is so nice to suffer this pain with a partner. There. It is now in print, so hopefully she will continue to join me!

Of course, the hubs is one of my favourites also. Although we don’t really get to run together, he is in this with me. He is Superman. Really.

I love all of my friends and family that tell me they are excited for me. Friends that ask me how my training is going, etc. Being able to feel good about a training run when someone asks makes the next training run that much easier to handle. I guess people call this concept, “support”. It is so nice!

I would be lying if I said there weren’t tangible, actual “things” that I am grateful for too. For starters, I love my new Gore-tex jacket from Adidas. With the rainy/snowy/windy weather this month has thrown at us, I have felt so lucky to have a nice shell to hide behind. I am sure everyone in my neighbourhood will be sick of seeing me in it by spring. Other things I love…

– The new cup sizes at Tim Horton’s. Super-human-sized XL?! oh, yes! Not recommended for the small-bladdered, this cup makes the old XL look like a kiddy cup. I have mine full of green tea, and I LOVE it!

– Seat Warmers, and Keyless entry to my car. Meeting up for a group run is so easy to drive to when I don’t have to carry my keys, and easy to drive home from with a toasty seat!

– Chap Stick and Kleenex–and pockets to put them in!

I know there will be hard times ahead in this training. There will be days when I want to cry find the runs a bit challenging, there will be days when my family wishes I had a different hobby, like, say, floor-washing, lego-building, or gourmet-cooking. I am looking forward to all of the days that lay ahead, knowing I have my ‘favourite things’ with me.

Carrot ribbon salad with pesto dressing & cashews

By

WhatsCookin

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January 26, 2012

This is another recipe that I saw in my blog feed a few weeks ago and said, “Hey, that looks tasty and doable!” The food blogger in this case is Jamie, who writes Stonesoup. I love this blog because most of her recipes involve five ingredients or so and can be made in minutes. And because it bothers me on a deep, visceral level to pay $4 for something I can make myself, I also decided to make my own pesto. However, at 9:30pm on Monday night, I was reminded why most people don’t do their grocery shopping at that time: the fresh herb section was pretty picked over. There was no basil to be found. I decided to make spinach pesto instead. I found a recipe for the spinach pesto here and the original carrot ribbon salad recipe can be found here.

**If you want to be the first to know when new recipes go up, follow me on Twitter @Shufflersunite.**

Spinach pesto

4 cups washed, torn spinach leaves, stems removed, well packed, 16 to 24 ounces

3 garlic cloves, halved

3 tablespoons pine nuts

1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil, crumbled (I used a few frozen basil leaves instead)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp. salt (I left this out)

Place a few spinach leaves, garlic, pine nuts, basil and a little oil in blender or food processor container. Cover and puree until leaves begin to look crushed. Continue adding spinach leaves a few at a time with small amounts of oil to blender, using a rubber spatula to help to combine pureed mixture. Add Parmesan cheese and 1/8 tsp. salt. Cover and process until spinach pesto mixture is smooth.

Carrot ribbon salad

serves 2

6 tablespoons pesto
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 large carrots, scrubbed
large handful roasted cashews (I toasted them instead because my oven is on the fritz)

1. Combine pesto, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a large mixing bowl.

2. Using a vegetable peeler, shave carrots into wide ribbons.

3. Toss carrot ribbons in the dressing. Taste, season & serve with cashews sprinkled over.

Insatiable

By

KSkinner

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January 24, 2012

I’m almost finished the first month of the weight training program I’ve started!

First of all, I’m proud of myself. I don’t really enjoy lifting weights. I don’t really enjoy the gym in general, but I’ve gotten my butt to the gym four to five times each week and banged out the workouts.

I’m getting over a cold, so the second half of last week’s workouts weren’t that strong (and to be honest, I should have rested sometimes instead of forcing myself into it), but overall, I’m feeling good.

My arms are bigger. I’m actually quite surprised how much muscle I’ve developed in four weeks. But my arms are definitely bigger. My back and chest feel stronger, and to be honest, I’ve even seen a difference in my legs. They aren’t bigger, but they are more toned looking.

There has been one aspect of this whole program that I’m struggling with though: Eating.

Turns out, weight lifting (in addition to my regular hiking, running, touch of yoga routine) leaves me with an insatiable appetite. I am Always. Hungry.

Last week, the combination of feeling really lethargic because of my cold mixed with two and a half weeks of feeling vaguely unsatisfied ended with me eating a lot of peanut butter and jam sandwiches and Doritos. Predictably, I was left with a bloated stomach and a renewed resolve to eat my veggies.

I think the solution to my never-abating hunger may be fat. I try to eat two avocados a week and some almonds most days, but today I bought two cans of coconut milk (very high in fat – who knew?) to mix in with my morning protein shake. I also take a daily supplement of omegas. The combo of all those things should leave my fat stores high by the end of the week and I’m hoping that it will make me feel more satisfied – I’m not sure my pants can handle another Dorito-heavy weekend.

Seed and cranberry balls

By

WhatsCookin

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January 24, 2012

I saw this recipe a few weeks ago on a blog that I follow called “choosing raw“. I decided to give it a whirl because 1) I already had all the ingredients, 2) prep time took about 10 minutes and 3) I’m trying to come up with healthy and filling afternoon snacks so that I don’t graze from lunch to dinner. I was surprised to discover that I didn’t have raisins so I ended up using cranberries instead. It was very good but the balls are a bit crumbly so next time, I might use some kind of binder like peanut butter or a Tbsp of honey. If you want to see prettier pictures, check out her original post here.

Makes about 20 balls

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/3 cups raisins (or cranberries!)
1/4 tsp sea salt (I omitted this as always)

Mix all ingredients together in a food processor fitted with the S blade until mixture is getting uniform, and sticks together easily.
Shape mixture into 1 inch balls by rolling with palms of hand. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, then snack away!

Marathon = fun??

By

kcolwill

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January 22, 2012

I never thought I’d use the words fun and marathon in the same sentence. After Amy (other iRUN winner) and I figured out we were both running the Disney marathon we decided to meet for the first time at the start line. After a few emails regarding the color of our throw away clothes it worked out great. With a 5am start – we met up at the opening of our coral before the fireworks and started talking. 4hr and 5min later we finished talking. Two ladies, both with young families and a love for running – you would have thought we were old high school friends. There are comments on Disney’s web page that there are some lonely sections on the course but I can tell you that I didn’t find any. When I finished NYC in November the thought of doing Disney in 8 weeks almost made me vomit! My body was sore and my mojo was gone. But after Disney I took my 1 week off and I’m 110% pumped to start my “real” Boston training.