Does it Hurt When I do this?

(source)

Hola Bloggies:

Although I haven’t shared with you, I have unfortunately been experiencing some back pain in the last month. At first it started off as tenderness in my lower back. I could feel it when I got up from extended periods of sitting – it was most noticeable right after driving or being at work. Then it progressed to pain that caused me to alter my “Operation Bring it!” workouts. I basically managed to get one week in according to the schedule and quickly found myself modifying the rest of the schedule to avoid anything that could cause stress to my back (that was most of the workouts).  And then it got worse . . .

About a week ago I had several days of absolutely excruciating pain that had me flat on my back in agony. I tried using heat. I tried taking extra-strength painkillers. I tried changing positions. Nothing worked. Honestly, the pain was so bad I was absolutely nauseous. And then it largely went away.

Still I wasn’t happy with the progression of my back issues and I attended a variety of Doctor’s appointments. Currently, I’m awaiting X-Ray results in the hopes of ruling out any skeletal issues. Although my Physiotherapist fears that may be the cause the Doctor is not so inclined. Nonetheless, in the meantime I am under strict Doctor’s orders to stay away from P90X. Instead, I have been prescribed a series of abdominal and weight lifting exercises that use very little weights and are heavily supported. Basically, they’re meant to target the deep muscles of my core in the hopes of alleviating the pain.

One not so great part is the fact that this pain has coincided with the start of my training for the Long Beach Half. To train for the race I will be using a modified version of Hal Higdon’s Novice Half Marathon Training Program. Basically, I know my body can’t take running every day so I will be limiting my runs to three times a week. On my non running days I will be participating in cross-training consisting of Zumba, cycling, and maybe some deep water running (the Kinesiologist recommended that I give it a go). Of course I’ll also be incorporating weight training into my workouts, as the Doctor permits.

Today, I did my second run of my half training. Although the workout came from FitSugar, I made sure to run it by my Medical team before giving it a go. Here’s what I did today:

 

Beginner Treadmill Workout

00:00-5:00   3.5 Speed   1.0 Incline

5:00-10:00   3.5 Speed   1.0 Incline

10:00-12:00  5.5 Speed  1.0 Incline

12:00-16:00  3.5 Speed  1.0 Incline

16:00-18:00  5.5 Speed  1.0 Incline

18:00-22:00  3.5 Speed  1.0 Incline

22:00-24:00  5.8 Speed  1.0 Incline

24:00-28:00  3.5 Speed  1.0 Incline

28:00-30:00  5.8 Speed  1.0 Incline

30:00-35:00  3.5 Speed  1.0 Incline

35:00-40:00  3.0 Speed  1.0 Incline

 

If you think that looks like a walk-run, you’re right! It wouldn’t be my usual choice for training for I’m trying to be good and listen to my Doctor. Truth be told, holding back was really the hardest part of my run. I wanted to go faster during those forty minutes. And after the scheduled workout was over I still felt so good, I wanted to keep going. But I forced myself to stop and move to another cardio machine.

Here’s hoping I get good news on the X-Rays and can return to regular workouts soon!

 

Question: Have you ever suffered a back injury? More specifically, have you ever trained through a similar injury?

The Dog Ate my Homework – I think she was trying to tell me something

Hola Bloggies:

This weekend was an important one for the me that is striving to be “the whole package.” Saturday I forced myself to re-evaluate my progress in my journey to wellness. You see this past week I received a call telling me my wedding gown had arrived (!!!) several months ahead of schedule.

WOW. Talk about a reality check.

So I’ve decided to clean up my eating. Say buh bye to refined carbs, excess sugars, mindless eating, and fatty stuff. Say hello to photographing my eats in an effort to keep myself accountable.

Cue breaky . . .

1/3 cup of oatmeal, one tablespoon of Chia Goodness, one banana, half a tablespoon of Maranatha Almond Butter, and a dollop of maple butter (it actually contains no butter and is made by cooking maple syrup to a high temperature, cooling it, then raising it again). This dish wasn’t just good – it was ahmazing! Kind of made me wish that every meal was breakfast. So far so good!

Cue lunch . . .

 

One lean Italian sausage sautéed with a cup of mushrooms. Paired with 1/2 a banana and about a cup of strawberries. Not too green huh!? My fridge was admittedly low on veggies and since I was trying to hold out for Sunday’s farmers market I didn’t bother re-stocking. Ideally I would have sautéed a pile more veggies in with the sausage. But no could do. Still doing alright.

 

Cue dinner . . .

Go ahead – say it! “Karen, what were you thinking!? That’s not enough food for dinner!” You’re right . . . you’re so right. I ate 4 1/2 oz. of angus strip loin steak, half of a lean Italian sausage, one orange, and one strawberry. GINORMOUS fail!!! This is where it all fell apart. Sure I felt okay when I finished eating it – maybe even a little stuffed but it just didn’t have the staying power I needed. Soon enough I found myself hungry – which is why I proceeded to eat (un-pictured) two more oranges and 1 1/2 bananas.

Lessons learned from Saturday’s eats? Eat more veggies!!! My body needs something fibrous and slow to digest in order to keep me full between meals. Fruits are delicious and great for summer days but they just don’t have the staying power of veggies. I also learned I need to drink water. A LOT MORE! I need to make sure I keep my absolutely full Nalgene bottle (BPA free) on me at all times. That way I have no excuses. Staying extra hydrated will not only make my skin look baller but it will also help to stave off the hunger.

Let me be clear, I don’t intend on depriving myself but I’m smart enough to realize that revamping cleaning my eating won’t be easy. I expect to crave soft doughy rolls, the sugary treats at the office, or indulgent restaurant food . . . I just need to keep the bigger picture in mind!

 

Sunday I woke up determined to do better food-wise. I also woke up to discover a very sick Fiancé – le pauvre. While he stayed in bed all day I went about my business.

Cue breaky . . .

For breakfast I had pretty much the same 1/3 of a cup of oatmeal, whole banana, one tablespoon of Chia Goodness, and one tablespoon of Maranatha Almond Butter as yesterday. The only difference was that instead of using maple butter I added carob chips. Delish! Clearly this is going to be a staple around these parts.

After breakfast I loaded Daisy into the car and listened to a Joel Osteen podcast (it was my church substitute) as I drove to a local farmer’s market. We had a glorious time walking around the place, meeting the food producers, buying delicious goodies, and finding a new health food store. Around lunch we headed back home, where I proceeded to make myself a delicious meal with my new ingredients.

Cue lunch . . .

In my massive salad bowl (it’s kind of more bucket-like than bowl-like) went two cups of locally grown greens, half a tomato, two soft boiled organic free-range eggs, three slices of oven-roasted turkey breast, a handful of sugar snap peas, a couple of tablespoons of a homemade vinaigrette, and two tablespoons of nutritional yeast. This was my first time using nutritional yeast and all I have to say is – where have you been all my life!?!?!? Seriously delicious!!! It’s almost cheesy or nutty in taste. I’m not really sure how to describe it other than to say that it added a depth of flavour to my salad that had me totally liking the bowl. True story.

After lunch one of my co-workers called and said he wanted to drop off some home-made caramel ice cream as a thank-you for allowing him to use our PO Box. Far be it from me to turn down delicious homemade treats.

Cue the snack . . .

It was such a warm day the poor little ice cream partially melted on the drive over but that in no way lessened it’s out of this world yumminess!!! You see those dark pieces? That would be home-made salted caramel. It tasted like dulce de leche (think Argentinean milk candy). I had about a scoop of this deliciousness and forced myself to leave the rest for the Fiancé.

I spent most of the afternoon doing chores, writing emails (wedding stuff), and taking care of the sick one. Unfortunately, I also had to take a nap in an effort to try to get rid of the excruciating bout of back pain I faced this afternoon. Once upon a time, I suffered a back injury; years later I still have flare-ups. Truth be told I’ve had my fair share of back pain this week. Boo back pain. Thankfully, I woke up feeling all better and incredibly hungry.

Cue Dinner . . .

Dinner featured approx. a cup of those lovely locally grown greens, one strawberry, more vinaigrette (balsamic + olive oil + organic mustard), one tablespoon of nutritional yeast, one lean Italian sausage, and 4 oz. of pork tenderloin (little known fact – pork tenderloin is amongst the leanest cuts of meat you can buy, and I include chicken breast). Okay I’ll confess, I liked the plate some more!

Also eaten but not pictured was a handful of pizza flavoured pretzels. Ugh. And I was doing so well. But the Fiancé got a snack attack in his sick state so I bought him some goodies. I couldn’t take it. The temptation was too much. Clearly, I need to work on that but overall I’m pretty impressed by how today went.

Win. 

 

Operating Bring it! – The Do Over

For a long time now I had been feeling guilty that I started P90X and then stopped doing the workouts on a daily basis. Then, when I re-started the programs I just picked up from where I left off. It just didn’t sit right. It kind of felt like cheating.

Clearly Daisy agreed with me . . .

Those little bits of paper would be my worksheets. The ones where I keep track of how many reps I did and at what weight. The worksheets are key in helping me to know how my progress is coming along and if I need to up or lower my weights. Ideally I want to work to failure on each rep and I heavily depend on those torn pieces of paper.

I don’t know if they tasted like sweat (she likes to lick me right after a workout) but she got into my precious papers and had a ball. But wouldn’t you know it – she barely owned up to the damage.

You see how she wouldn’t even look at me!?!? Ha!

My mangled sheets were just the impetus I needed to do the whole thing over again. For a long time I knew it wasn’t right to pick up where I started off. Looking back on this challenge I wanted to be able to count 12 solid weeks. No breaks in between. In the end I hoped to have an amazing and inspiring story to tell – Janetha style.

I knew what I had to do, Daisy had made it abundantly clear. It was time to start “Operating Bring it!” from scratch. Again

“Operation Bring It!” – The Do Over – Day 1, June 20th, 2010

Ah good old chest and back. And endless repetition of push ups and pull ups. The workout that is notorious for leaving me weak in the arms the next day.

I’ve done this workout before so I knew what to expect. But that doesn’t mean it hurt any less. There is just something about an hour’s work of push ups (intermingled with other moves of course) that makes me want to crawl in a ball. Today was no different.

228 push ups later (all but 36 on my knees) I was done for the night. I started off pretty well but near the end I started to feel nauseous. That’s when I decided to call it quits and leave my ab workout until tomorrow morning.

Overall it was a hard workout but I’m proud of myself for sticking with the DVD. As Tony Horton says “Keep showing up. Keep pressing play.” One day at a time, I’ll get there.

Of Awkwardness and Speed Skaters

Hello lovelies:

lol I’m back with another random blog title! It will all make sense in due time I swear!

I do hope all of you peeps have had a wonderful week thus far. Mine has actually been pretty nice. I haven’t been massively overworked which has given me plenty of time to be able to enjoy some quality puppy and Fiancé time – not to mention get my P90X workouts in!!!

 

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 4 – March 23rd, 2010

Now if you’re quick on the draw you noticed that I skipped a day. That’s because I was horribly exhausted on the 22nd (long court day) and couldn’t bring myself to do YogaX. I just wasn’t feeling it! So I made an executive decision and moved my rest day from the end of the week to the middle instead. My body was begging for a break and truth be told I think it allowed me to face the rest of the workouts that were to come.

Come the 23rd I was ready for my P90X so I popped my YogaX DVD into my player and got ready to ruuuuumble! Yogi style!

I had previously done this DVD in my hotel during my most recent travels, which meant I knew what to expect. And that was some serious awkwardness and borderline boredom. I really hate to say it but this is the only P90X DVD thus far that I really haven’t liked.

This workout is an hour and a half; which is a particularly excruciating length of time when you’re not down with what you’re doing. For about an hour you do the usual sun salutation type movements. Funny thing is I feel like there’s a ton of repetitive flow patterns and not enough power. I do Power Yoga (using Rodney Yee’s brilliant DVD) on a fairly regular basis and YogaX my friends isn’t power yoga. Yes I managed to feel uncomfortable but I don’t think that was due to some power style moves in there. Rather, I think the flows just don’t work sometimes. And then there are the times when you want to tell Tony Horton to move on already! But nope. He repeats things over. And over. And over. Again.

After an hour of flow type movements he tells you the worst is over. Then you move into half an hour of poses that you hold for long periods of time. I’m not used to that type of yoga so it’s an adjustment and it will take me a bit of time to get things working like clockwork. In the meantime my dancer will look none too graceful. Most of the movements are pretty Kosher and I managed to play along. That was until we hit about the last 10 minutes. That’s the time period where all the lovely DVD people get on the floor and proceed to contort into something I’d previously only seen done by Cirque de Soleil gymnasts. I tried to find a picture to show you what I meant but couldn’t – despite my creative Googling terms! lol Point is it feels uncomfortable on my neck and I don’t want to push it without supervision.

Overall I didn’t love this workout and I’m tempted to just do Power Yoga with Rodney Yee, on YogaX days!

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 4 – March 24th, 2010

This day was devoted to Back and Legs plus the now very familiar AbRipperX. Thankfully we were back to hour long workouts – and this one seemed to practically fly by!

I really enjoyed this DVD! It included a ton of variations on squats as well as lunges. I’d like to think they’re going to make me super bootylicious! lol It just so happens that my Hispanic genes managed to miss my butt region all together! lol

Seriously though this workout pushed me to keep on going and in the case of the evil wall squats to hold them as long as the peeps on the DVD. And by the end of it I felt really proud of myself!

One of the fantastic moves on this workout was called Super Skater. In it you attempt to mimic a speed skater by maintaining a quasi lunge in one leg and simultaneously moving your other leg back while moving your arms. This guy on YouTube does a pretty good of demonstrating the move. Although, really you should be aiming to have no toe tap in the back:

Before doing this move I had no idea that the speed skating motion could be so painful when repeated over and over again! Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself! It hurts!!! And you can feel it working!!! One of my new favourites, pain notwithstanding. Bottom line on this move? Apolo Anton Ohno, I salute you! lol

Now before you say “But I have a bad knee! I can’t do this DVD!” let me tell you my background. Sure I’ve suffered many injuries in my day but amongst the worst are my knee and ankle injuries. I’ll probably share more on those injuries with you in the future but let’s just say my past fractured kneecap and my 2nd degree ankle ligament tear haven’t stopped me from doing this workout. Which is my way of saying “If I can do it, so can you!” Just make sure to rehab ahead of time.

Up for Today? KempoX – woohoo!!!

Of Bridesmaids, Fitness, and $220

Hola Bloggies:

Random title I know! :o) But I wanted to write a blog entry that doesn't include some sort of travel or restaurant recap. Even my own sister has been known to call our mom (after reading this blog) and say something along the lines of "Does Karen ever work? It seems like all she does is travel!" And while it's true that I love to go wandering around places near and far there's more to life than that.

So here goes a rare picture-less post. . .


Of Bridesmaids

All of you readers know I'm getting married on November 10, 2010 (!!!). This means that inevitably my life is going to get slightly more engrossed by wedding planning. Thankfully I have a wedding planner at the resort to take care of most things but there are still some decisions we have to make on our own. Currently, we're working with our fabulous Invitation Designer to get out the Save the Dates (STDs - unfortunate acronym, I know) as soon as possible. On the wedding party front I've also given A LOT of thought to my bridesmaids as of late. We've been engaged nearly a year and I've yet to ask anyone!!! After much thought I think I have finally made my choices - now to ask them. Initially I thought of giving them a present to ask or write them a letter. To be honest I think I may end up with a combination of the two!  Think something along the lines of bridal t-shirts from Inkbox Designs.

Of Fitness

Here in the Rockies the weather has turned decidedly spring-like. Of course this time of year always turns my mind to thoughts of warm summer days, skimpy clothing, and outdoor sporting events. Certainly I want to look great come the summer (and especially come November 10th). Question is what is my plan?

Recently, I was reading a Runners World cover story featuring Kara Goucher. In the article she talks a lot about the mental game needed to be a runner. It appears that has always been something with which she has struggled. Nonetheless, anyone who looks at her amazing level of success can see that she's conquered the mental game. Often, I think I'm plagued by the whole psyching myself out thing. To be honest I told my trainer I would run a 10K (my only race thus far) almost two years prior to actual running one. Every time one came up I'd always find a way to chicken out. My knee hurt. I had ankle issues. I wasn't ready. You name it - I thought of it as an avoidance technique. Once I actually got around to running the race I realized how absolutely awesome I felt. In one word: accomplished. And yet I haven't run one since.

Last year I announced to the blog that I would be training for a half marathon. I had lots of supporters and I was rearing to go. Training got off to a fantastic start - I was even getting up at 5am to go for morning runs. And I liked it!!! Then I started having knee issues. Bad issues. It got to the point where I couldn't take a single stride without being in imense amounts of pain. It (being my right knee) even hurt when I wasn't running. So I got frustrated and stopped training. This coincided with ridiculously (!) time consuming preparations for a big jury trial and I never did run that half. I felt like I let down my blog readers and I'm saddened by that thought to this day.

Then there is my weight training. I used to work out like a fiend before I moved to the Rockies. I still weight train here but not like I used to on the Coast. Fact is I love weight training. I may not look it but I'm actually really strong. I love that I can lift heavy. And I have great form (lol - did I mention I'm humble too? :oP). I want to get back into doing it hard core.

The sum of all these contemplations is a new approach to fitness. I've done the P90X DVDs but not in a row. Tomorrow I will attempt to start a 90 day cycle. I'm going to be blogging about my experiences every day. On the days where the P90X workouts are shorter (some days can be super long) I will also run. Because it makes me feel awesome.

I'm going to need your support bloggies!!!! Please promise me you'll get on my back if you don't see an update of my daily workouts on this little bloggy of mine!


Of $220

I have a dilemma bloggies. A $220 dilemma. One of my benefits as work is a Professional Development Allowance. We are allocated quite a hefty amount of money every year to make us better professionals. I have spent a large amount of this years money on my gym membership, some legal textbooks, P90X, some workout equipment, and a couple of other goodies. Somehow I thought I had spent all the money - turns out I have $220 left to go!!! Here's the catch - I have to spend that money by the end of this month or else I lose it!!!!

For a long time I have thought of getting a heart rate monitor or something akin to one. I have debated the benefits of  Garmin vs. Polar and I've yet to make a decision. What do you recommend amigos? Here is what I'm looking for:

1) A heart rate monitor function with a comfortable strap
2) The ability to monitor heart rate even when working out indoors
3) Perhaps the ability to tell you when you are in your target heart zone
4) Something that will indicate my pace when running
5) GPS function is optional as I have my Nike+ to tell me how far I've gone
6) Preferably $300 or under

Currently I'm torn between a Garmin 405, Garmin 305, Polar FT60, or Polar RS300X. Thoughts?


Looking forward to this next step in my attempt to be "The Whole Package!" And as always bloggies, I am ever grateful that you are coming along for the ride! :o)

Of Wonky Knees

Hola Bloggies! I say it's time we get caught up . . .

Running Towards a Half - An Update

You'll probably have noticed that there's been a dearth of running updates in the last week. That's because I started having some knee issues. :o(

In about a week and a half ago I noticed that most of my runs were ending with extreme knee pain. Not only that but it was swelling quite a bit too! Worried about injuries I gave myself a week off from running. In that time I kept up with my weight training (although no squatting or lunging was involved) and stretched things out.

On Sunday I went for a run with the fiance. The plan was to run to the video store (return some rentals) and run back. In total this should have been just shy of 3 miles. I thought it would make a good first run back.

I started off and although stiff I kept going. Then the knee pain started. Of course I decided it was just discomfort and ran through it. Then it got worse. First there was what felt like a pull or a tear behind the knee. More pain and more convincing myself I could keep on going. Then my body decided it needed to take more urgent action to get me to walk. So the tear/pull feeling was kind of huge the second time. I limped the rest of the way home (ran 2.25 miles). :o(

I woke up with a fair amount of leg pain yesterday so I made an emergency physio appointment. Turns out my left knee tends to go inwards. As in it's not so stable (something about my hip being weak and my left foot being flatter than the right). Apparently this is causing my hamstrings to work extra hard to try to stabilize my knee and hence why things are pulling.

Physio lady said I wouldn't have noticed it except that I started running more often. I'm under Dr.'s orders to take it easy. Stretch the leg twice a day, ice twice a day, and run only lightly. I've also been told to make the pain my guide. If I feel pain I have to stop.

So there you have it . . . I think I will head out for a light run tonight and see where that gets me! :o)

Eats - Breakie!

And quickly before I head to work . . .

This was my breakie! An oatmeal pancake (no flour!) smothered in lingonberry sauce. Avec a glass of coconut water. This stuff is yummy! It's also super high in electrolytes so it would be a great recovery drink.

I'm off to work! I just have to make it past today 'cause tomorrow is Canada Day!!!!!!!! Which means I get a day off! As a bonus it looks like there's a rafting trip a brewing!!! Sooo excited! :o)

A mi Papa (To my Dad)

It is no exaggeration to say my dad is my rock. He has always been (and always will be) a solid constant in my life.

I never had to worry. I always knew my dad would be there for me . . . no matter what.

He is a strong man. A man of great honour and wisdom. He's someone I admire and want to emulate.

I may not live close to him but I hope he knows how much he is loved. I hope God blesses him always!

I hope he has a Wonderful Father's Day!!! :o)

Running Towards a Half - Update

Wednesday - June 17th

Today was a cross-training day. My legs are still not feeling 100% so I kind of enjoyed the idea of being able to do yoga and weight train instead of going for a run.

Nonetheless I still wanted to get out there and run a bit so I incorporated a short loop around the neighborhood into my cross-training. It amounted to just slightly over a mile which was perfect.

PS: I felt strong during weight training. It was great!

Thursday - June 18th

Thursday I rested. Thursday was great. lol :oP

Friday - June 19th

It has been kind of stormy here lately. All of a sudden the winds will get howling and then the thunder/lightning and rain will stop.

Thursday was supposed to be a 2 mile run + strength training day. I had no choice but to bail on the run (the storm outside told me to) and concentrate on strength training and stretching instead.

I also spent some time icing my knees because I've noticed they're acting up again. In fact the left one in particular is swelling.

Saturday - June 20th

The fiance and I had a SUPER packed day. It was actually a lot of fun and we walked a ton!!! But we still found time to get a sunset run of 2.27 miles. My lungs and upper body felt good. But my knees were suffering. Big time.

I was so slow and I could tell. Kind of frustrating because I was working so hard to keep going. :o(

When we got home I took a ton of Vitamin C (for anti-inflammation) and iced my knee for a good long while. By this point the left knee was visibly swollen. I think I'm having IT band issues again.

Sunday - June 21st

Today was supposed to be a four miler. But my knee was still bothering me. I ran slightly over 3 miles and then called it quits.

At this point I'm afraid to aggravate things. In fact I think I will make an appointment to see the physio. It's probably okay enough that I could keep running (with some pain and discomfort) but I rather deal with the knee issues before they get out of control.

Wish me luck peeps!

That's it for now bloggies. Look for a new post tomorrow! I'll re-cap my weekend activities and show you the results of a super fun and super cute photo shoot the fiance and I participated in . . . I promise you'll love them! :o)

Sleep tight friends!!!

PS: That picture is of my dad holding my hand when I was a baby. All together now - awwwww :oP lol

And the Mountains Shall Bring Peace to the People

. . . And they did bloggies! They did!!!! My Rocky Mountain day with the boy's family was just what the Doctor (and the trainer) ordered. I relaxed, enjoyed a Friday off, ate some great food, and made some lovely memories!

Yesterday morning did not start with my usual Green Monster. *gasp* :oO I'm shocked too! Truth be told yesterday morning we got up and headed out in such a hurry I didn't even have a chance to blend my ingredients. So instead I made myself a protein shake (with water) and drank 1/2 of it on our way to our first stop.


A rather un-exciting and un-green start to my day! Eventually we arrived at our first destination, a Bavarian inspired ski resort town. We were too early for things to have really gotten going for the day. Nonetheless, we had a good time walking around and popping in and out of the shops.

Speaking of shops . . . they had some lovely bakeries! Oh the temptation!!! Let's just say it's a good thing my office is not located nearby or else I'd have problems! lol The boy and his family decided to indulge and I took the opportunity to steal a small piece of the boy's apple fritter:


I'm kind of fond of this picture! Especially since you can see the super cute German bakery in the background. :o) And the pastry? To. Die. For. Most apple fritters I've had in my life have been overly greasy. This one was perfect. Not greasy. Not heavy. Very light. And full of good sized chunks of apples. Apple fritter perfection!

By this point it was nearly lunch and I hadn't eaten very much all day. I was mungry! Crazy mungry!! You can imagine I was thrilled when the boy's family decided we should stop for lunch before heading to the hot springs.

We chose a cozy restaurant in a lakeside town not far from the hot springs. The specialty of the house seemed to be breakfasts. I ordered the kids breakfast that came with one egg (medium poached), one slice of whole wheat toast, pan fries, a slice of oven roasted ham, and a small slice of orange. In the interest of disclosure I should add that while waiting for my food I stole two fries from the boy's fish and chips.


Next we headed to the hot springs. The views on the way up to the pools were nothing short of spectacular:


We spent a couple of hours at the springs. I was so relaxed by the time I got out, I could have had a long nap! :o) As an added bonus the hot mineral water helped my muscles release. Which means I can get back to running now - yaaaaaaaay!!!!

On the way out from the hot springs we came across some local wildlife. I'm not originally from the mountains. I'm from the big city and sights like these still leave me awestruck:


That bloggies is a pair of big horn sheep!!! Can you imagine they were just sitting there on the side of the mountain? No need to go to a zoo or anything. When you live in the Rockies you regularly get to see sights like these in the wild. I love that about this place!! I chose this particular picture because it was my favourite but the truth is that there were a couple of dozen of these guys on the mountain!! :o)

Next we headed to a local coffee joint that turned out to be uber-cool! I was a happy camper. My trip yesterday managed to combine the best of urban sensitivities with mountain explorations.

For starters, I shared a piece of lovely berry pie (it was tart, just the way I like it) with the boy and his nephew:


Next, the boy had loose leaf gunpowder tea. The tea itself came in a beautiful and heavy Japanese style pot. The tea cups were little egg like cups. They were translucent and beautifully delicate. I would love a pair like these some day!


As for myself, I had the yummiest tea beverage I have had in my whole life!!! It was essentially a London Fog made with loose leaf earl grey tea (with the most delicate aroma) and steamed soy milk. Mind you since the coffee company, Kicking Horse, is Canadian they called the drink a Newfoundland Fog:


It was delish and filling too! Which is a good thing because it managed to tithe me over until dinner. In the intervening period I had a bit of an adventure with the boy and his nephew. We were happily walking along the main street when I saw a totally adorable cocker spaniel running towards us. But it didn't have an owner tailing it! :oO

The little doggy ran into the street and I screamed while the boy tried to signal a pick-up truck to prevent it hitting the doggy. Not suprisingly the little doggy got scared and ran around the tires of the truck. Immediatelythe driver got out, grabbed the dog, and handed it off to the boy. So here we were in the middle of a town several hours from home holding a dog that didn't belong to us.

We checked it's tag and realized it was a local dog. I figured the number on the tag had to be associated with a local resident so we ran towards the local city hall. But it was closed! Luckily we had passed a pet store and gambled that they might know the owner.

Sure enough they did! We walked in and explained what had happened. Their reaction? "Oh Teddy . . . you got out again!" :o) Turns out they knew the owner and promised they would return the dog.

So that was our good deed for the day! Truth be told had the doggy not had a tag I would have been tempted to keep it. And this is coming from a person who's afraid of most dogs! But this one was so calm and beautiful. It didn't bark or snap or anything. It was perfect. Some day I want one just like Teddy.

With a happy heart we eventually met up with the boy's parents and headed to a local Scottish pub where I had some comfort food:


The salad was beautiful! And underneath those lovely piped potatoes? Shepard's Pie. Nothing like comfort food to end the day.

All in all you could say I was a very happy camper! :o)

See you tomorrow bloggies . . .

A Blogger Bake Sale

Top of the morning to you bloggies! This morning's post will be a quick one and I promise to return later with a recap of yesterday's eats!

But first let's talk baking . . .

As some of you may know a couple of months ago Meghan of "The Inner Workings of a College Graduate" held an incredibly profitable bake sale with the proceeds going to her efforts towards the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training.

Well it's that time again - Meghan has announced the bake sale is back!!! Woohoo - I missed out on participating in the first one as I was new to the whole food blogging thing back then. But there's no way I'm missing out this time.

And this time Canadians can participate too! In fact the sale will be sectioned off for Canadian goodies and American ones. That way there will be no worries of baked goods unable to cross the border. It seems last time there were a lot of disappointed Canadians.

Won't you consider participating? All it would involve would be a donation of time and baked goods. It would benefit a great cause and support a fellow blogger!

And if you're not into baking you could always bid on a baked good. Yummy eats for charity! Sounds good to me! :o)

I intend to participate but my question to you out there is: What would you like to see in the bake sale?

I can try to modify a recipe or bake a classic. I'm quite proud of my baking skills but tend to avoid baking too much because it tempts me so. Any ideas?


And in parting, yesterday's workout:

1) I woke up and did A.M. yoga (calves began to tighten)

2) At lunch I went for a short walk

3) I did Day 1 of my circuit training

4) I attempted an interval run but by this point my calves were crazy tight. I could barely stand up straight. So I had to pull up and call it a day.



PS: I made those Linzer cookies two Christmases ago

Things that Make me go OW!

Things that make me go OW!?! Skiing!!!

I have to confess that yesterday afternoon I took a couple of really high quality spills on the ski hill. The morning was flawless (or as close to flawless as a first time skier can get :oP) and over lunch something happened. I lost it. So I fell. No biggie right? That's what I though . . .

Man was I wrong.

My entire body hurts. Really hurts. That part I can deal with. But my Lord my neck is in pain!!! As a result I decided to skip the gym today and baby myself. I did 45 minutes of yoga in an effort to stretch myself out.

Here's hoping I don't sneeze again tonight - 'cause that hurt like a mofo!!!

Owie . . .

Inspiration: Biggest Loser on Oprah

Just in case you were feeling low and in need of some inspiration, The Biggest Loser will be featured on Oprah THIS Thursday!

She will apparently devote the whole hour to interviews with past contestants, as well as, Jillian and Bob. I may be out and about when the show airs but I will make sure to tape it and you should too!

You can find a preview for the show here: link

By way of update I can also report that my knee is doing so much better! And so are my ribs!! I know I did not mention it on here but they hurt so much I feared I had broken them. Turns out it was not anything a few days of bed-rest could not cure. I will be heading back to the gym tomorrow and may even attempt a light jog. Wish me luck!

I believe this is what is called a set-back

So it turns out that high-heels with pointy toes, like so:












Don't always mix with jeans that flare, like so:


In fact, sometimes, those pretty shoes can find a way to tangle themselves in the extra fabric of the flare. Thus, causing the wearer (ME!) to tumble forward.

It was not a pretty sight. Not at all! And the worst part is that this is not the first time something like this has happened. In fact, I had a very similar scenario several years ago (I was late for class and running in heels and wide-legged pants). Except that time my fall resulted in a fractured knee-cap. This time I was much more fortunate. My scraped foot, achy wrist, and painful ribs are all testaments to the fact that my knee did not absorb all of the impact.

Sigh.

Don't expect to see my miles increase on my Nike+ account for at least a little while. Yesterday I could barely bend my knee. Today things are better but it's still ridiculously swollen. More worrisome however is the abject pain in my ribs. :o( I think I may have impacted those.

I'll be back at the gym tomorrow (hopefully) even if it only is to stretch. Boo! And I was doing so well too . . .