2012 Race Schedule

Well, it's that time of year again.  Getting prepped for the upcoming race season and looking ahead to see what races I'd like to run and whether or not I can fit them into my schedule. 

First up is the 2012 Skate the Oval in Halifax.  There's a 5K, 10K and 25K race.  I'm looking at the 10K.  It's the longest distance that they will allow you to skate on hockey skates.  Last winter I took the fam up to the "O" for a skate.  It was packed, but we had a good time.  I had signed up for speed skating lessons the day after but it got cancelled.  I've always liked skating.  It doesn't seem to get cold enough in the winter anymore for outdoor skating in these parts and the rinks are always so crowded.  Someday I would love to do THIS or THIS...

On May 12 is the Wascally Wabbit Ultra.  There is a 30K/50K/80K option.  Planning on signing up for the 30K, potentially bumping up to the 50K if training goes well.

Of course there's the Sheila Poole 10K on July 21 that I must absolutely race.  It's a hilly course but it is the only race that I have run EVERY year since I started running.  I have run it 4 times with my best time being 47:19 which was run last year.  Not a PB but only 31 seconds off. 

August 3 brings the Brookvale Ultra Trail Marathon. It was recently named one of Canada's must do trail races (the only one named in Atlantic Canada - OK, that might be because it's the ONLY one in Atlantic Canada, maybe?).   I am forever tied to the Island and am always looking for a reason to get back.  There's 25K/50K options.  Not sure which I'll aim for.  Depends a bit on what happens on May 12...

The next weekend is the Digby Scallop Days 5K. It's my closest to home run and every year something else (*cough* work  *cough*) seems to get in the way.  The fat me ran it once, way back in 2008 and ran 25:13.  It's a relatively flat course.  I don't really run a lot of 5K races. Not sure why. Not challenging enough? Possibly...  My PB (23:25) will be 3 years old this summer.  Time for a new one?

Just new this year is the Maritime Marathon in Cow Bay on Sept 15.  5K/10K/21.1K/42.2K options.  I like the concept and theme behind this race.  Might be kind of fun.  I see in the bigger races lots of racers run in costumes but I've never seen too many do it around here.  Well, there was the year I saw a transgender gal running in the too small tank and skirt, does that count?  I figure I'll sign up for the HM.  I wonder about being out in the country if crowd support will be non-existent.  It's one of the things I love about the Bluenose Marathon (and the fact that my 2 fastest HM's were on this course...).  Speaking of which, not sure if I'll run that this year or not.

What I will be running is the Valley Harvest Marathon.  Usually run on the day before Thanksgiving, I ran this for the first time last year.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the HM route.  Quite hilly, but for every uphill, there is a downhill.  Gravity and I, well, we get along nicely.  Was hot last year and I faded a bit at the end.  Will do the HM again this year.

Not much lined up in June. Hmmm...Muffin Run???

A New Year. A New Resolve.

Well, I managed to survive Christmas.

Remarkably, I only gained 1 pound.  And I took an entire 2 weeks off from running.  It wasn't intentional, it just kind of happened.  The Week before Christmas was CRAZY - 2 Cantata performances, cookie exchanges, Christmas prep, etc.  There was just no time for running.  And I was much too busy stuffing my face the week after Christmas.  I bailed on the 5K Turkey Run on Boxing Day.  Fail.

I needed to get back on track.  I managed to pack on about 10 pounds since last December (and 18 since my last WW weigh in way back in Jun '10)  I tried fooling myself into believing that I was OK with how I looked.  You know how it is, you kind of rationalize. "Well, I'm not as big as HE is..."  However, my rapidly shrinking wardrobe finally knocked some sense into me.  I'm down to 3 pairs of work pants that fit.  There are about 6 others in the closet that I can no longer stuff my fat ass into.  Shirts too. Ugh.

I needed control. And I needed to be accountable.

So, on December 30th I signed up for WW Online.  I could probably retire on the money I've forked over to them over the years. 

I was a little worried  about the new points plus system.  In the old system, I was used to having about 30 points to eat per day. On PP I get 40 in addition to 49 weekly flex points. And all fruit is 0 points.  Some days I have troble eating all my points.  Thank goodness for chocolate.

I've heard people complain about their results with this program. Well c'mon people... You can't eat all your points and then gorge out on bananas because they are 0 points, you still gotta have some self control...

Anyway, it hasn't been terrible. And I actually lost weight, about 4 pounds, the first week.  AND I ATE CHOCOLATE EVERY DAY!!!!!

I'm trying really hard to stay away from the processed stuff - lunch meats, granola bars, crispy minis, and all that stuff they promote for portion control like the 100 calorie snacks.  Making sure I get in my healthy oils and 2 servings of milk. Limiting my fruit to 4-5 servings per day.  And saving a few points for a little taste of chocolate.

Tonight I made Sloppy Lentil Joes for supper.  They were pretty good.  Made with French lentils.  I read about these lentils on tastespotting.com.  They weren't really all that different from your regular brown lentils. Maybe they cooked up a bit quicker.  Taste and texture wise they were just OK.  Nobody else wanted any.  They ate leftovers.

The Search For Pumpkin Ale

I first tried a pumpkin ale two years ago.

DW and I were in Bar Harbor, Maine for the Mount Desert Island Marathon.  We had met a couple of old friends of mine from my childhood days for some dinner and one of them ordered a pumpkin ale.  Hmm...  Never heard of that before.  I refrained from ordering one at that time because it was the day before the marathon. I was being very careful to not get my stomach upset.

I did try it a day or two later and I liked it.  I bought a case and brought it back with me.

Fast forward two years.  A co-worker is heading to Freeport/North Conway for some shopping.  I asked her to pick  me up a case of pumpkin ale if she had a chance. 

In the meantime, another co-worker mentioned that Propeller Brewery in Halifax makes a pumpkin ale.  Really? 

Facebook updates indicated that Mission: Pumpkin Ale in the US was turning out to be an epic fail.  :(

Well, I'm working the weekend, so I decide to head out to the NSLC on my lunch break to track some down.  I'm wandering about the LC, lady says, "Can I help you find something?"  "Um...yeah...I'm looking for Pumpkin Ale..."  Her response: "Yeah, you and about 100 other people...".  Huh? What gives?

Well, I decide to do a google search for Propeller Brewery.  Click, click and click, leads me to the NSLC site.  turns out you can locate a product anywhere in the province.

So... scroll to the bottom and whaddaya know... it's available in little ol' Weymouth.  A little over 2K down the road from where I live.

SUCCESS!!

This brew is quite a bit different from the one I brought back from Maine.  It's quite tasty. I can't quite figure out if it tastes like nutmeg, cloves or cinnamon.  Or all of them.  Like pumpkin pie in a beer.  Not really remembering the ale from Maine tasting quite so aromatic. 

 I like it!

Once it's gone, it's gone. Until next fall.  I wonder should I stock up?



Salsa

It's a chore I don't like too much, but the end product is soooo worth it.  The annual salsa making marathon.  Well, OK, it's not really a marathon, it just feels like it at the time.  Tonight I had two helpers, DW and DS.  DW helped with the chopping and DS peeled the garlic and chopped it and the hot peppers in the Magic Bullet.  It was nice having all that help and it made the chore seem not so monotonous.

Empty jars just waiting to be filled with fresh salsa!!

Triple batch

MMMmmm...tastiness....

Ended up with 12-500mL jars for later in the winter.  I didn't have enough sterilized jars so I put the remainder in the fridge. We'll eat that up in no time.  So much better than the store bought stuff.

Birthday Run Fail

So ever since I heard about this guy I've been think about doing the same.  Except in kilometers.  I even took it easy this week, choosing to walk instead of run.

The weather is calling for rain tomorrow so I thought I would get out today to complete this.  I wasn't very far into my run before I realized that it wasn't going to happen.  It was really warm today. Warmer than I like for running.

Here's my route:

It's approximately 10.5K per loop, so my goal was 4 loops.  I managed 2 before I packed it in.  Too hot for it today. And besides, what was I thinking??  I haven't put in nearly enough kms to justify this. 

Tonight the fam had the birthday dinner and cake for me.  My meal choice was pineapple braised spare ribs with honey garlic sauce.  They were tasty, but DW only made a half batch of sauce.  they needed a whole batch.

That's a whole lotta pig right there. No, it wasn't all for me!  We had two guests for dinner.

Then, it was time for the Birthday cake/pie.



Yep, that's a pecan pie baked in a chocolate cake!



Well, it was mighty tasty.

I just might go finish the rest of my run tomorrow...

Wow, a month goes by fast...

Well, I can't really believe a month has gone by so quickly.  Only two weeks of summer vacation left before the kidlets go back to school.

We've been getting lots of nice fresh veggies in our CSA baskets.  More colourful stuff too. Carrots and tomatoes and waxx beans this week, but still lots of green.  Did up a batch of dill pickles tonight with some FRESH cukes from the CSA farm. Not those limp things from the grocery store.

I've been trying to get my mileage up again. Ran an 18K long run today for a total of 39K this week.  I have a couple of races scheduled for the fall:  Friends of Keji 25K Trail Run and the Valley Harvest Half Marathon. 

The kids have just arrived back home from a week away.  The girl spent the week at choir camp.  She had an awesome week (despite the fact that she was sooo dreading going).  As parents, we knew that once she got there she'd be fine. And we were right.  Of course.  With our baby-sitter off to camp, we sent the boy to my parent's for the week.  Never a doubt that he'd be OK.  He could wait to get there.  Him and his little friend had a great week playing together. Only one little spat at the end, but it got resolved.

Glad to have everyone back home.  For now.

CSA Basket #5

There's still a lot of green stuff in the baskets.  Hoping to get some carrots next week though.

This weeks basket included: Swiss chard, butterhead lettuce, zesty mix greens, beet greens, green onions, kale, pea shoots, basil and 4 heads of garlic.

Well, I haven't used the garlic I got last week. I think I will roast some in the oven to spread on a nice bread.  The kale was made into kale chips.  Green onions were chopped up and made into salted onions for addition to soups and rapure.  Lettuce and pea shoots were made into a nice salad.  The pea shoots were interesting. I had no idea that they were edible. And everyone liked them!!  It just so happens that I have a big ol' mess of peas growing in the back yard so I'll be using some of them in the future.  They can be eaten as a wilted green as well. 

The basil was made into a nice pesto.  There wasn't a lot of basil, so it was kind of hard to adapt a recipe for such a small amount.  I bought PLENTY of pine nuts at the Bulk Barn and ended up using about 2 tablespoonsful.  I hope I get more basil next week.

The boy helped me make it. We threw everything in the Magic Bullet and let 'er rip. He was a bit alarmed about the weird green colour it ended up. But it was tasty, just a bit too much lemon.

We're having it tonight for supper.