Today Was a Good Day

My afternoon was decidedly laid back and relaxed. And it was all thanks to a 3pm power outage that saw our boss let us leave early,

I have to confess I scurried away, lest the power come back on or my boss change his mind.

Once I was a safe distance from the office I decided to head to the gym for a run. Let’s just say it could have gone better. Clearly, the bananas in my breakfast are not agreeing with me. Noted.

After quickly rushing home for a snack I grabbed Daisy and headed out for one of our doggy hikes. It was kind of a cold and slightly wet day so we all played it safe and wore an extra water-proof layer.

Yes, even Daisy. She’s cool like that!

The emptiness of the trails was quite in contrast to the summer months teeming with other dogs, hikers, and mountain bikers. It was kind of nice to feel surrounded by the solitude of the forest. Of course that may just be the fact that we brought a hunting knife and bear spray for protection talking. Ha!

In all seriousness though, grizzlies and their cubs have been out and about in alarming numbers lately. Combine that with the fact that there are cougars, coyotes, wolves, lynx, and black bears on the trail and you can’t blame us for being prepared.

Like Daisy’s coat? It’s Gore-Tex and even has a reflective strip for greater night time visibility. Yeah, it’s mighty high tech of my puppers.

As an added bonus, it keeps her a tiny bit cleaner when she ends up muddy after our hikes.

Of course, what would one of our hikes be without our usual follow up dinner. Tonight’s menu is brought to you courtesy of the latest record run of wild sockeye salmon in British Columbia’s Fraser River.

You could taste the freshness of the fish in every bite.

All in all a wonderful night that left me feeling relaxed and ready for what tomorrow will bring.

 

Question: Have you ever had any crazy wildlife encounters? Do share!

Good Things Come in Three – now with a HUGE announcement

Hola Bloggies:

How have things been going on your end? I hope you had an awesome weekend – and if you’re Canadian, I hope you had a fantastic long weekend!

As for things in the casa, I have to confess today was not a great day. I woke up with a full on fever accompanied with watery burning eyes. It was so bad that it had me blasting my heat inside the car . . . in the middle of summer!!! Eeek! To make matters worse work ended up being a decidedly rough day. I wish I could go back and get a do-over.

But no used on crying over spilled milk, right!?! Besides, I have three wonderful news to share with you today. In light of that awesomeness I propose we move on past my meh day and head on to my news.

 

Good Thing #1 – The Winner of the POM Giveaway

Thank-you so much to all of you that entered my POM Giveaway last week. I have to confess it warms my heart to be able to host those giveaways; I know I have been on the receiving end of some great prizes from fellow bloggers (the last one coming courtesy of Marianne of From French Fries to Flax Seeds) and I love the chance to pay it forward.

So without further ado. The winner of the POM coupons (as chosen by Random.org) is . . . .

Jessica of Dairy Free Betty!!!

Woohoo Jessica! No need to send me your addy amiga – a hand-to-hand trade-off will surely take place on Vancouver Island over the next few weeks!

 

Good Thing #2 – Long Beach Half Marathon

I am officially into week two of my Long Beach Half Marathon training. Yes bloggies, it’s actually going to happen! I’m going to become a halfy (HA!) come October 17th, 2010.

To get me to the finish line I’m using a modified version of Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Training Program for Novices. His training plans seem to be blogger favourites so I figure I can’t go wrong. Now as fantastic as his plans are I am modifying them a little. For the most part I’m going to try to get myself across the finish line by running in between 3 and 4 times a week; some may run five times a week but I have learned through experience that my body can’t handle running everyday. I’m confident that reducing my number of running days will help me steer clear of any over-use injuries.

To follow my training you can check back on this blog or for more regular updates you can check out my Daily Mile widget on the right hand column of this blog.

I’m seriously excited to do this half marathon!!! It’s first in a series of fitness goals I’ve recently set for myself; I’m even planning on competing in a Sprint Triathlon next summer. And yes, I recall saying once upon a time that I would never do a tri but Ironman CDA changed my life!!!

 

Good Thing #3 – No Limits Canada

This one is HUGE bloggies! In fact, I daresay it’s EPIC!!!!!

In the recent past the healthy blogging word has given birth to some awesome movements and events (think Operation Beautiful and the Healthy Living Summit). It has been completely humbling to see what this community can accomplish. Recently, a group of us got together and decided that it was high time that something similar come to the Canada.

Today, myself, Susan (The Great Balancing Act), Morgan (Life After Bagels), Scott (Your Inner Skinny), Jen, and Nienke (Revel) are proud to announce the inception of:

No Limits Canada: Health, Wellness, and Fitness Conference

This wonderful conference will be a multi-day event taking place in Toronto, Canada in May, 2011 (final date to be announced soon). The event will be open to anyone, regardless if they’re bloggers or not or even country of residence. We hope you will join us for what is guaranteed to be a weekend full of speakers, hands-on health and fitness classes, photography workshops, foodie goodness, swag, and fun explorations a fantastic cosmopolitan city!!!

Right now the best way to stay updated is through our respective blogs, the official No Limits Canada website, or through our twitter account.

I’m super excited about the event and I hope you are too!!!

 

 

Question: Will you consider attending “No Limits Canada: Health, Wellness, and Fitness Conference?”

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?

Foto Friday

 

Hola Bloggies:

Today’s late edition of Foto Friday is brought to you by the beautiful city of Vancouver as seen from Stanley Park. Le sigh. How I love that area of the city!

How have you girls and boys been as of late? I’ve been keeping very busy in the casa and I plan on sharing it with you via blog posts pre-written during my weekend down time. The short of it is I’ve begun half marathon training amidst some nagging back pain. It’s been painful but I’m heaps better and I’m super excited to get going. Keeping with the lessons learned at Ironman CDA I will not complain about any of my workouts.

Half Marathon? Sure! Bring it on!!!

As for this weekend I plan to head down to Northern Idaho/Eastern Washington for a potential blogger meet-up on Sunday. How about you? What are your plans for the weekend!?

The Return of “Operation Bring it!”

Hola Bloggies:

You will remember some time ago I commenced what I called “Operation Bring it!” Basically my attempt to do a full cycle of P90X. I got off to a great start and then work  life got in the way. And although I kept doing most of the workouts I wasn’t doing them on the basis of the original plan and so I stopped telling you about them. But I’m not a quitter (no sir!) so it’s time I start updating you on the drops of sweat I’ve shed with Tony Horton.

This week I’ve decided to re-start the program where I left off. To make-up for the fact that I started it and then took a break I may add an extra week at the end. Either way I’m back on the band wagon and feeling rather proud of myself.

Want to know how I’ve fared in my return to “Operation Bring it?” Read On!!! 

 

Day 8 – “Operation Bring it!” - June 5th, 2010

My first official day back called for a return to the good old Chest and Back routine. I had done this DVD enough times that I knew what to expect – a massive amount of push ups!!

I have to confess that this time the DVD didn’t feel as long. The push-ups were still hard but somehow it didn’t seem to drag on (like the first time I did the workout). One thing that quickly became evident was how quickly I improved! On Day 1 I did a grand total of 162 push-ups with all but 26 of them on my toes. On Day 8 I did a grand total of 216 push-ups (!!!!!) with all but 27 of them on my toes. I was amazed at the difference!!!

I still say this is my favourite of all of the P90X workouts. There’s just something about the variations on a simple push-ups that I love. And the dive-bomber is still my fave!

Aside from P90X, I also went on a short two mile trail run (it started to rain so I had to turn around) through a local hiking path. It was glorious! My joints were pleased that I was nowhere near pavement and they rewarded me with a pace of 10min/mile. Which for me is basically blistering! I was one thrilled cookie!!!

 

Day 9 - “Operation Bring it!” – June 6th, 2010

All too soon it was time for the “Mother of All P90X Workouts!” The dreaded plyometrics day.

On Day 1 I felt like I was going to die during this workout. I had to keep on pausing the DVD to take longer breaks. Consequently it took much longer than an hour to complete the DVD! On Day 9 I didn’t have to pause for any extra breaks and I didn’t feel like I was going to die. In fact, I don’t know if I confessed this during my first recap but I got dizzy a couple of times. That’s seldom happened to me during workouts so I knew I was massively pushing myself. This time I still felt challenged but in a much safer and healthier way.

One additional change this week was my use of a heart rate monitor; I wanted to make sure I stayed within my calorie burning zone. I was thrilled to discover my heart rate stayed in the zone for the whole time with the exception of a few moves that caused me to head into my lactic acid build-up zone. It was an awesome workout and I could definitely see an improvement.

My goal for the end of the cycle? To be able to do the moves with the same absolute explosive energy as the peeps on the DVD. I believe I can totally get there!!

 

And then She Rested

What would have been Day 10 fell on a Monday – which as you know is the day I have my standing doggy hike date.

On this particular occasion we headed out on a two hour hike in the Rockies. Sometimes we take our hikes at a rather relaxed pace but on this occasion we were going at a really fast clip! In fact a really fit member of the group proclaimed it a death march! lol While I don’t think it was that bad I will confess to falling quickly asleep that night.

As if Monday night doggy hikes weren’t fantastic enough already we have decided to take on a group dinner at the end of each hike. This week one of our hike participants treated us to a lovely bbq featuring sockeye salmon, a mixed greens salad, rice, a dill yogurt sauce, and wonderful white wine. It was simply lovely! Unfortunately, I was so starved I neglected to take any pictures. But I promise to make up for it in spades!!!!

 

So there you have it – you’re all caught up now! Tonight I will be doing another of the P90X workouts but first I have to bake some “I Don’t Want to be a Lawyer Anymore Cookies” for the winning bidder in Bobbi’s bake sale and then of course I have to watch glee. Oh glee . . . how will I ever survive a summer without you . . .

 

Hasta Pronto!

They'll Call me Freedom

Hola Bloggies:

So let's talk beats (i.e.: music) or what I consider an integral experience to my workout experience.

You see, I'm one of those people that got an iPod (1st generation nano - thank-you very much) for the sole purpose of working out. Given that I'd never owned a Walkman or a Discman it was rather a leap for little olde me. But truth be told, when I first started working out you couldn't have paid me to stay on a treadmill for more than five minutes. It pretty much bored me to tears.

Enter my BabyPod (yes - it had a name). She was a gift from my parents and she pretty well changed my life. From there on in there was only life pre-nano and post-nano. That little device, along with the Nike+ system, got me from couch to my first 10k race.

Ever since then I've considered my tunes to go hand in hand with my training. Which means that I'm always on the look out for new songs and artists. Today, I thought I'd share with you one of my favourites. The artist known as K'naan.

K'naan is absolutely a product of the Canadian multicultural experience. Born in Somalia, he was fortunate enough as a teenager to escape on the last commercial flight to ever leave Somalia. After a brief stint in the United States, he along with his family found a home in Toronto. There he honed his art - because this man truly is a gifted artist. Until one day he was invited to present a spoken word piece at the United Nations. Story has it, once he was done he was greeted with a massive standing ovation. From there K'naan would go on to release his dayview album before releasing Troubadour.

If you want to know what K'naan is all about - listen to Troubadour. There are songs on there that have made me share a tear or two (okay - maybe three) but there are also up beat songs totally suitable for running or working out. Here are my recommendations:

1) "Somalia" - good steady beat and a great hook

2) "T.I.A." (This is Africa) - the rap and drum beat in the background is just begging for a good run

3) "ABCs" - this was the first K'naan song I ever heard and to this day it gets me to pick up my tempo

4) "Wavin' Flag" - there is no way you can hear this song and not have your spirit lifted

Now unless you're totally living under a rock, K'Naan's music will be totally impossible to ignore over the next while. You see "Wavin' Flag" has been chosen as the Official Anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. And yes that means the song has been re-mixed a million times but my favourite version may very well be the "Young Artists for Haiti" version done with an all-star Canadian ensemble to benefit the Haiti relief efforts.

What do you think about K'Naan? Are you a fan? Favourite songs? I have to say "Fatima" pulls at my heart strings every time. It's the perfect combination of poetry, joy, melancholy, and sadness.

California Dreaming!

Hola Bloggies:

So this here is a blog post I’m SUPER excited to share with you – but you’ll have to read on to find out why!

Now I don’t know if you bloggies have had the opportunity to visit California (if you’re super luck you may even live there) but there are some very cool things to see.

California has Disneyland and California Adventure . . .

California has the Santa Monica Pier . . .

California has lovely oranges that fall just outside of property lines so Canadians like me can take them on their way home (true story) . . .

California has absolutely massive Sequoia trees . . .

California has the brilliant Walt Disney Concert Hall . . .

California has the wonderful (and free!) Getty Villa . . .

But more importantly for today’s purposes . . . . . . . . .

California has the Long Beach Marathon!!!! And yours truly will be running the half!!! EEEEEK!!!!!!

You know who else will be there for the Marathon?

Danica (Chic Runner)

Aron (Runner’s Rambles)

Maritza (Marathon Maritza)

Tara (On the GO!)

Kristin (Keeping up with Kristin)

and Nicole (Runner Nic)!!!!

To say that I’m ridiculously excited is a massive under statement!!! I’m also, frankly, nervous at the same time!

So there you have it bloggies – come October 17th, 2010, I’ll be racing it up in Long Beach! Woot woot! Bring it!

 

PS: Anybody else want to join us?

A High-tech Running Toy for my Wrist – like the cool kids have (plus a P90X weekend wrap-up)

Hello Friends:

So I thought I better get to writing my weekend wrap-up of P90X before Coco (Sleepless Again & blog “taste” talk) started bugging me about slacking! lol She promised she would if I didn’t update. No worries – though I have remained faithful to my P90X workouts!

But before I tell you all about “Operation Bring it!” I should thank you for all your help and advice in my whole Polar HRM vs.. Garmin dilemma! I got all sorts of advice from my readers. Although, I think the funniest comment award has to go to Marathon Maritza for major LOLs:

“Garmin. Hands down.
I have the 305 and it's practically my BFF, but if you can splurge, I would DEFINITELY go for the 405. It's much less bulky. I have impure thoughts about running my beloved 305 with my car just to get the 405. Shhhhh don't tell”

From the comments it was obvious that Garmin was the clear winner amongst bloggies. Still I decided to talk it over with the Fiancé. That night I was trying to outline the different features of each brand for him when it dawned on me . . .  with a Polar I would have to purchase separate GPS units (that you wear on your arm!) to get the same thing that’s already built into a Garmin. So even if I don’t really need the GPS right now I may down the line and I quite like having it integrated into one little unit.

In the end I chose this baby (picture borrowed from GPS Lodge):

While I was tempted by Maritza’s obvious love for the 405, the negatives sealed the deal for me. In the end the price difference (this one cost me about $175+taxes whereas the 405 was in the $300s) plus the negative Amazon reviews were enough to make-up my mind.

I’m very happy with my choice and super excited to be one of the cool kids with special wrist running toys!!! lol I can’t wait until it gets here and I can take it for a test-run. Hopefully the weather will be spectacularly beautiful by then too!

 

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 2 – March 20th, 2010

Okay, so I’ll confess . . . when I first got up on Saturday I thought to myself “Oh! I don’t hurt that much!” lol And as the day wore on I realized I hurt a LOT more than I wanted to admit. My abs had taken an AbRipper X style beating! And I couldn’t be happier about it! Masochist I know! lol

On the schedule for today was Plyometrics X, or as that evil man on my television Tony Horton calls it, “the mother of all P90X workouts!” This is another one of those videos I had done ahead of time so I knew what to expect. It’s seriously intense full out cardio non-stop for one whole hour!

What are plyometrics you ask? Well essentially it’s jump training. Think of doing a lunge or a squat. Now imagine going deep into a lunge only to jump into another one right away. Or doing jumping jacks except that the whole time you’re in a squat position and the only thing you do is move your legs in and out – but still maintaining a squat. Even if you’re not doing P90X, plyometrics are great to incorporate into your workout routines. Let’s check out what a plyo lunge looks like:

The P90X Plyometrics workout is essentially an hour of workout moves like the one above. This DVD pushed me to the limit and I had to hit pause a couple of times and extend the 30 second water breaks built into the program. By the end my lungs were burning – kind of like when I hiked a mountain in the Swiss Alps or like the first time I worked out with my trainer (I thought I was going to die!!!).

I’m looking forward to the day when I can do all these moves with the same explosive energy I seem to muster in the first twenty minutes of the DVD! Needless, to say I think this is a workout that will provide huge benefits and will likely even increase my running pace! Awesome!!

 

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 3 – Shoulders and Arms

This DVD is meant to target what my trainer always referred to as the “vanity muscles!” Those being the ones that you see in a tank top or wedding dress for that matter! Like most girls, I covet awesome triceps and lovely looking shoulders so I was all about this workout.

Like most of the P90X DVDs this one is an hour. But unlike the Chest and Back DVD this one had a super long warm-up; I think that’s because those arm muscles are fairly hard to warm-up and it would be super easy to get an injury!

I don’t know if I should be happy or not but I kind of liked how this DVD didn’t leave me feeling like I wanted to curl up in a fetal position! lol It was a manageable workout that left me appropriately sore without feeling like I was going to keel over. I did notice that it was a bit hard to figure out exactly what weight I should be using. For most exercises I did 12.5lbs in each arm but there was an odd one where that was too heavy. It will take a little bit of tweaking but I’ll get there!

 

On the schedule for tonight? YogaX and the AbRipper X I should have done yesterday but ran out of time!

Have you ever tried plyo? If no – will you try it now? If you have in the past - did you like it? I admit at one point I used to be afraid of it due to my knee and ankle rolling issues. But I’ve now rehabbed everything enough that I can do the moves!

A Spectacular Sighting on the Oregon Coast

On our second full day in Oregon we woke up nice and early and headed out of our lovely Portland hotel. We were headed to the Coast and hoped to spend the better part of the day chelaxing (chill + relaxing) in one Ocean playground or another.

Before leaving the city we stopped by Starbucks for a quick bite to eat:

My meal consisted of a small tray full of a hard boiled egg, a teensy bit of cheese, about 1/3 of an apple, a tiny amount of grapes and a mini WW bagel. I washed all of this down with an iced Americano. All in all I was impressed with this meal offering - it offered the perfect combination of protein, grains, fruits, and fats. Too bad they don't sell this in Canada or else I'd probably find my way to Starbucks more often!

Pretty soon we were on our way headed towards the Coast. It quickly became clear that we weren't the only ones that had that idea. But no worries - we enjoyed our drive through the forests. Coastal forests are VERY different than anything you find in the Rockies. Here everything is so arid so you don't see lush forests. Driving through them in Oregon was a treat! :o)

The particular route we took to the Coast took us straight to Tillamook. Home of Tillamook cheese, ice cream, and all sort of other delicious dairy goodies! I'm not sure if they sell Tillamook products elsewhere but in my experience they tend to be available mainly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

Tillamook dairy products are made by a farmer co-operative that has existed for over 100 years! And I have to tell you - they know what they're doing. Should you ever come across Tillamook products I highly recommend you give them a try. :o)

Given that I think so highly of Tillamook products I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that we stopped at the Tillamook factory for lunch. The place was crazy bloggies! Kind of like a dairy Disneyland. The parking was massive and the place was absolutely packed!!!! I should have known the wait for lunch would be extensive - silly me.

First the fiance and I sat down to look through the menu:

Hahaha - do you notice a trend? Everything was pretty well based around one type of grilled cheese or another. We figured when in Rome - the fiance and I both ordered the Centennial Grilled Cheese. This entree featured a cheese created to celebrate Tillamook's Centenary and it came paired with a pickle and a tomato soup.

I had assumed my grilled cheese would be super quick to prepare. You can imagine my shock when I was told that it would take 45 minutes for our order to be ready! Clearly there were throngs of dairy-lovers ahead of us. Not to be deterred, the fiance and I decided to have dessert before the meal. :oP

We shared this delicious Oregon Strawberry cone. It was awesome! You can't tell from the picture but there were really generous chunks of strawberries embedded in the creamy goodness. I'm not usually one for ice cream (I prefer Froyo) but if I were to have any ice cream this would be it.

After a bit more waiting our order arrived and I have to admit it looked great:

The grilled cheese was delicious probably because it was made from aged white cheddar. The soup was creamy and paired perfectly with the sandwich. Now I have to admit that being Hispanic I didn't grow up eating grilled cheese sandwiches (I think this may be my 3rd one ever) but this is definitely comfort food for a lot of people. Such was the case with the fiance - he happily declared it reminded him of many home school lunches.

Now while the sandwich was delicious I only managed to eat half. I quickly reached my cheese saturation level. We felt bad throwing the other half away but cold coagulated cheese didn't sound like an appetizing mid-afternoon snack. :oP lol

I'm glad we went to the factory! The cheese was delicious and it was certainly an experience. But I think I'll leave the grilled cheese sandwiches for an indulgent home day - that way I can control serving slices.

After the factory we drove North ward up the Coast. I don't know if you bloggies have ever been to the Oregon Coast but it's simply SPECTACULAR!!!! Such wide, clean, beautiful beaches!

I last visited the Oregon Coast in the summer of 2007 and ever since I'd been dreaming of going back. Last summer I couldn't make it because I was too busy studying for the bar and moving but this summer I was determined to pay some of my favourite views a return visit. :o)

One of my favourite places on the Oregon Coast is Cannon Beach. It's a small and incredibly yuppy resort community full of wonderfully tended gardens and cedar shingled homes. Frankly it looks like something out of Martha Stewart Living!

Aside from idyllic beach locales, Cannon Beach also has incredibly fresh seafood restaurants. For an early dinner we headed to a place we had tried on our previous trip:

This particular place is family owned. In fact it's staffed largely by relatives and they catch most of their own seafood!

Not to mention the whole restaurant/fish store is full of lovely little touches that make it feel extra homey:

To start dinner the fiance and I both had an oyster shooter. Now I know the very thought of a raw oyster is gross to some people. But trust me! This one was deliciously fresh and hence beautiful:

I followed up my Oyster with a little "boat" full of shrimp and fresh crab. I was in pescatarian heaven! :o)

With a happily full belly we left the restaurant and headed to what is easily my favourite part of Cannon Beach - the views from nearby Ecola State Park. They are spectacular! To die for really! In fact I think they're right up there as one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life!

Le Sigh. :o)

We spent a good long time up at the park. Truth is I can scarcely get enough of those views! After the fiance promised we would return some other time, I agreed to leave. Our next stop was the town of Seaside, where we spent the night.

Seaside is one of those beach resort towns that were built around the turn of the Century. It apparently was the kind of place were nearly fully dressed ladies would come with their families to enjoy an outing at the beach. Today you can see remnants of that past in it's long and glorious promenade, vacation homes that line the Coast, and it's fair like central street.

I happen to think Seaside is just about the perfect place to enjoy the sunset. Which is exactly what we did! :o)

On our last morning in Oregon we woke up nice and early and headed out for a long run on the Promenade! The salty sea air and the wonderful views made this an awesome place to run!

We ran all the way to the end of the Promenade and on our return trip we were alternating running with boot camp style workouts (walking lunges, push ups against a bench, and triceps dips on the bench). In fact we were working up quite a sweat until we were interrupted by a tourist coming out of his vacation home who said "There are whales down on the beach!!!"

Of course that's all it took for me to go happily bounding through the sea grass to the shore. Now since I was out for a run I didn't have a camera with me - which means there are no pictures. :o( But believe me when I say that memory will forever be imprinted in my mind!

What we saw was a group of about five killer whales feeding. They were very close to shore and kept on circling the same area. You could see them churning about the water while they ate their breakfast. The most spectacular thing however was how much of the whales we got to see!!! Usually you only see the fins but on this occasion the whales rose out of the water (perpendicular to the waves) and you could very clearly see their mouths opening and closing (really wide actually) while they fed.

I was in awe.

It was such an unbelievable treat to see these wonderful creatures. And just imagine - had we not been out for an early morning run we would have missed out! I felt incredibly blessed to e able to partake in that moment.

The fiance and I stood there watching until the whales left (they were probably out there 30 minutes). Afterwards we ran on the beach all the way back to our Ocean Front hotel. For breakfast we tucked into some grocery store finds we had picked up the night before:

After breakfast we headed out the door and began our long (!) journey back home.

Once lunch time came around the fiance wanted fast food so we settled on Burger King since I knew they served veggie burgers:

Dinner came many hours later when we stopped at my favourite Pho restaurant in Spokane. I had my usual - tom yum shrimp pho. Yummers!!!!

We hadn't been planning on our Oregon trip but it turned out to be an awesome impromptu adventure! I couldn't be happier we took a leap and headed out on the open road. A weekend getaway was just what the Doctor ordered. :o)

Pimp that Blogger: Chic Runner

Time to share another one of my favourite bloggers with you! This time it's all about Danica over at Chic Runner.

Danica is a cool L.A. chick that runs on beach paths (jealous? I am! lol I need to get me back to the Coast). She blogs about her running adventures, Claude, her running twin, potty breaks, life in LA, her vacations, adoption, Mr. R, and anything that makes her laugh. Seriously, she's one cool blogger!!! In fact when my google reader is bursting at the seams her blog is one of the first ones I read.

I can always count on Danica for a good laugh. :o)

One thing that has become obvious reading Chic Runner is how much Danica admired and loved her mother. You see when Danica was in University she tragically and suddenly lost her mother to cancer. To honour her mother's memory and help raise funds for research, Danica has decided to participate in the Avon Los Angeles Two Day Cancer Walk.

Recently, Danica wrote an incredibly moving post detailing her motivation for participating in the walk. I hope you'll read her story and consider donating on Danica's page. She's hoping to raise $2000 in pledges for the race.

If you would like to help please head over to Danica's Avon Cancer Walk page.

Gracias! :o)

The Novelty of Just Taking Off

Running Towards a Half - Update

It will probably come as no surprise when I confess I'd fallen off the running wagon lately. First it began with the scorching heat of the Rocky Mountain summer. Then when it wasn't blisteringly hot it was crazy stormy.

Not the most running conducive weather. What I should have done to keep up momentum was to head to the gym instead. But I didn't.

Then I went on vacation and swan instead of run. When I came back home I found myself enveloped in a province rampant with wild flowers. You could almost taste the smoke outside (and you could definitely smell it).

All in all the reasons not to run racked up and I never got beyond a walk.

But this week I decided to make a change; I read one of Marelen's (Mission to Another Marathon) post - she's so consistent and has come so far. And yes it guilted me into running.

So for the past two nights, the fiance and I have been at it again. On both nights we've run about 3 miles. It's been somewhat slow going 'cause my (left) leg feels stiff and tends to cramp up. But it feels so good just to be out there running again.

In the process I've tried a new approach to running - just taking off. No iPod. No Nike+. No gadgets. Just me, the fiance, and my running shoes. I have to admit it's been somewhat liberating.

In some ways I miss the music but I don't miss my Nike+. That little guy drives me insane sometimes. You see at times it won't sync with my iPod and other times (like currently) it just doesn't update my profile.

All of this has me considering a less cumbersome approach - perhaps a Polar heart rate monitor or a Garmin. Any suggestions? Will these tools be lost on a newbie like me?

Looking forward to hearing the feedback! :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

Kashi Alert

Hola bloggies!

I thought I would take this opportunity to update you on a sale alert I received from Amazon this morning!

Kashi products are up to 40% off on Amazon at the moment! If you've been looking to stock up on their yummy goods this is probably a good time to do so.

Follow the LINK to find the discounted goods!

Hope you all have a wonderful day peeps. I woke up early again with the fiance and went for a run (proper update tonight). I have a crazy and ridiculously packed week ahead of me. I'm actually kind of looking forward to Friday again! lol

And yes . . . I know it's only Monday! :oP  But a girl can dream ahead right?

Vacation Recap - Part Dos

Hola peeps!

Wooo it's been a crazy couple of days around here. In fact I worked quite late on Friday, took Saturday off, and then I worked pretty well most of Sunday (today). It's 9pm as I write this and I just got home not too long ago.

Eeek!!! But what can I say? I'm prepping for a pretty big jury trial (as big as they come) so I've been putting in some extra hours. I love my job though so it's really not that bad. That's not to say however that I wouldn't have loved to kick back on my Sunday afternoon. But there's always next weekend! :o)

Running Towards a Half - Update

Friday, June 12th

I decided to turn Friday into a cross training day. I kind of mixed it up and did it boot camp style! :o)

I would run for about 5 minutes then do walking lunges for a couple of minutes, back to running, then squats, back to running and then tricep dips . . . well you get the idea. It was an awesome workout and it really pushed me in ways I wasn't expecting. I don't usually do squats and lunges outside but I have to confess it made me feel strong. I kind of hearted it.

After that workout I came home and stretched. I'm still getting used to training again so I've been trying to stretch and get limber. It's taking a bit of time but I can feel myself making progress.

Saturday, June 13th

On Saturday I rested. I like Saturdays. :o)

Sunday, June 14th

Today I woke up at 5 am (!) in the morning to head out for my "long" run.  But guess what!??! I wasn't alone! The fiance headed out with me! :oD

Words can barely begin to explain just how excited I am with this new development. The fiance has a goal to get really healthy and I want to be there to support him every step of the way! Besides, maybe I'll even get a race partner for my half marathon out of it.

In total we ran 3.5 miles today. We both felt good. In fact we could have easily kept on running another 3 miles or maybe more. But since we're upping our mileage slowly we chose to stick to the training plan.

I think I'm going to try to get my runs in before work from now on. It may be tough but it's a great way to start the day. Besides that Rocky Mountain sunrise was something else!!!

Vacation Recap - Part Dos

I woke up on the Friday morning in Vancouver and realized I had a million and one things to do. But I wanted to make sure I squeezed in some quality time with my mom.

And what better way to do it then by going for a run?

I'm SO proud of my mom!!! She ran 1.5 miles (non-stop - go mom!) from our hotel to Hallelujah Point. 

When we got to Hallelujah point (aptly name) we had a moment. My mom and I prayed and gave thanks to God. Getting to the point of being called to the bar hasn't been easy. At times it's been a struggle. But I have been blessed. I know I have been blessed. And it was important for my mom and I to take that time and have that moment. 

It's one of those memories I'll treasure always.

After running a ton of errands I was able to return to the hotel and get ready for my ceremony. But not before the fiance could give me a Call to the Bar present!!!!

Eeek!!!!! :oD

Want to see what was inside (excuse the blurry picture - I was kind of excited)?

I was thrilled with the fiance's choice. I had kind of hinted that Tiffany & Co. was right near the courthouse but the bracelet he chose was even better than what I had expected. It's not too delicate and it's classic enough that I can wear it with my judicial robes in court!

From there it was time for some last minute preparations before running down to the courthouse for my long awaited Call!!!

To be continued . . . 

PS: Part of this post decided to underline itself. Don't know why. Please ignore it!