Shortly after I announced that I would be *gulp* running a marathon this year, I received a congratulations from Ryan Grant and a reminder to come by Sole Fit Orthotics to test my new shoes. As you may recall, I stopped by Sole Fit in mid-December to have my gait analyzed. The results of a treadmill test showed that I over-pronate slightly on the right side (and apparently my calves are “all gummed up”). Ryan recommended that I switch from my beloved Saucony Pro Grid Triumphs to a shoe with slightly more stability and gave me a shopping list. He told me to get some new shoes and then come back to see if they were working properly (i.e., correcting my over-pronation). His neutral suggestions included the Saucony Echelon, Brooks Dyad, Asics Fortitude and New Balance 1080. If those didn’t do the trick, my next line of options included the Saucony Guide, Brooks Raveena and Asics 1160.

I returned to Sports 4 on Bank Street with my list and a heavy heart. I mean, I thought my Trimphs were “The Shoe”, the ones that I would run in for the rest of my life. The thought of abandoning the brand that had taken me so far – through long runs and my first half-marathons. How could I just switch shoes so casually? (As I re-read this paragraph, I realize that causing me to form an emotional attachment to an inanimate running shoe must be a sign of successful marketing on the part of the running shoe companies.)

At the shoe store, I was distracted from my angst when I got sucked into a long discussion with the sales guy and Papa Shuffler about the different types of running shoes and the potential benefits of running in minimalist shoes. It feels kind of funny to have a long talk that is punctuated by one person getting up and jogging around the room every few minutes.

I tried all of Ryan’s neutral suggestions, expecting that maybe the Saucony Echelon might be the best pick since I’m used to running in Sauconys but to my surprise, the Asics Fortitude 4s felt most comfortable. The Shuffler’s highly scientific system for selecting running shoes: “Do these shoes make me feel like running?”

Since then, I’ve taken my new Asics (pronounced ASS-icks) out for a few runs on the treadmill and they feel okay so far. I’m gradually working on the physical and emotional transition to a new pair of shoes. I returned to Sole Fit this morning, did a few more minutes on the treadmill and Ryan was able to show me the improvement using a side-by-side video comparison from last month. I was surprised at the difference that a simple shoe switch could make. My right foot, which had been landing at somewhat of a tilt relative to the ground, was now landing in a perfectly. So cool. This video evidence went a long way towards alleviating my shoe-guilt.

My new kicks!

Next up on my marathon journey: booking a sports massage to de-gum my legs (will someone please come and hold my hand?)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of the hardest parts about having a running blog is when your running isn’t going too well, your blog suffers accordingly. Don’t worry, I’m not injured. I just feel…blah. Lately, my legs feel like lead on all my runs from the very start of the run. I haven’t managed to do a long run since January 16, though I tried on Tuesday. I spent an hour on the treadmill at an embarrassingly low speed before my legs informed me that if I didn’t stop running right this minute, they would not cooperate in the operation of the brake and gas pedals for the drive home. I felt pretty disappointed in myself. I wasn’t even cheered up when the older, chunky Italian gentleman at my gym who wears black dress socks to walk slowly on the treadmill said, “Hello, beautiful!” after my run (I know he says that to my mother too).

Part of the problem is that I’m not too sure what the problem is. My mileage has increased a bit but not that much. My diet isn’t ideal but it’s pretty much the same as it’s always been. I’m sleeping about as much as I usually do. So where has my mojo gone? Is this a mental or a physical issue? What should I do to get my energy back? Should I even be worrying about this or could this be just a natural lull in the training cycle? Help me, iRunNation! You’re my only hope.

**Suggestions, advice, recommendations or sympathy all welcomed on Twitter @Shufflersunite.**

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

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

Spinach pesto

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

3 garlic cloves, halved

3 tablespoons pine nuts

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

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

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

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

Carrot ribbon salad

serves 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Makes about 20 balls

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

1) Mix all ingredients together in a food processor fitted with the S blade until mixture is getting uniform, and sticks together easily.

2) Shape mixture into 1 inch balls by rolling with palms of hand. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, then snack away!

In the June 2011 issue of iRun, Lucy Ryan of Coquitlam, BC, shared the story of how she knocked almost an hour off her 100K time in the Personal Best department.

File photo

This past weekend, Ryan was the lone Canadian to run the Brazil 135 – a 135 mile ultra marathon – in a time of 45 hours, 31 minutes.  The race follows a gruelling path through the mountains, with 30,000 feet of cumulative ascent and 28,000 feet of descent.

According to a press release, the accomplishment follows a ligament strain sustained during a ski trip on New Year’s Day – Ryan spent a lot of time in physiotherapy in the weeks leading up to the race.  She credits her support crew – including legendary Brazilian ultra-athlete Sergio Cordeiro (two-time world champion for double deca Ironman – or 20 Ironman triathlons in 20 days) – with her success.

Ryan plans to stay busy in 2012 by completing Ironman Mt. Tremblant and Ironman Canada on back-to-back weekends in August, and has applied to the Badwater Ultramarathon, another 135-mile ultra marathon through Death Valley in July.  She’s also working with Steve Brown, Ultraman Canada Race Director, to create the Steve King 100km Classic – a new ultra marathon and relay to honour ultra-athlete Steve King.  The race will be BCs only 100K road race and will take place on September 15, 2012.

Most of my therapy clients have been through the mill of life. Abuse of all kinds, neglect, stigmatization, relationship trouble, family trouble, work trouble, money trouble  – you name it, they’ve been through it. I’m sure your reaction on reading this is something like, “Those poor people! No one deserves to go through that kind of stress!”, which is usually mine too. Oddly enough, it’s not theirs. Whether they are experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, drug/alcohol abuse or something else entirely, most of them feel that they should have handled their problems better. They should have been able to deal with their issues, they should not have gotten sick, they should be “normal”, productive members of society. It’s such a common phenomenon among therapy clients that psychologist Albert Ellis called it “the tyranny of the shoulds” and advised patients to stop, “Shoulding all over ourselves”. (I’ve heard that he even invented a song about this but youtube wasn’t cooperating…)

I have definitely fallen prey to this phenomenon, both in running and in life. “I should run faster”, “I should run farther”, “I should run five days a week”, “I should update my blog more frequently” – there’s always something I could be doing better if I just put in a bit more effort. I find that so-called motivational stories in running magazines can sometimes be a terrible source of new “shoulds” for me. I read about an ER doc who runs at 4am before their shift, or a cancer survivor who ran through chemotherapy, or a former cardiac patient who lost half their bodyweight and finished a half-marathon in 1.5 hours and I feel inspired for about five seconds. Then I start to feel badly about myself: if people can overcome those kinds of adversity, why can’t I stop re-watching all six seasons of Lost, get off my couch and go for a run already? The problem with this kind of thinking is that it tends to make you feel badly about yourself, which tends to lower your mood and then you’re even less likely to get off the couch because your motivation is so low. No one ever wrote a training book called, “Shame yourself fast!”

Luckily, with a little practice, we can all stop “shoulding” on ourselves. The first battle is awareness: just try to notice how many times a day you “should” yourself. (I sometimes joke with clients that I’m going to get a little bell and ring it every time they say the word “should”.) If you notice yourself “shoulding”, stop and ask yourself whether you would “should” someone you love in the same way. Would you say it to your child or a very good friend? Most people tend to be kinder to others than they are to themselves but I think we could all do with a little more self-compassion. Another approach you can use is the very technical “so what?” technique. So what if I never get faster? So what if I never run farther than 5km? Will people stop loving me? Will I lose my job? (Note: Does not apply to competitive athletes). Sometimes we can lose sight of the real meaning of what we do and it helps to gain a little perspective.

Does anyone else out there “should” on themselves when it comes to running? Have you found any other strategies that help you deal with this?

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

Or, more importantly, does it snow in April in Boston? If there is even an outside chance of this happening, I really need to re-evaluate my time goals.  This evening I ventured out into the fresh snow for a run, and, well, it was a bit too sloppy for my tastes.  The kind of fresh snow that is so pretty to look at, yet so hard to run through.  Plows haven’t passed through most streets and sidewalks, yet cars have packed that white stuff down, making for little grip left in one’s shoes.  Even with the Yak Traks…

Yes, there are pluses to running in the snow.  I know that it will make me stronger in the end, and we can’t forget about this being a character building experience.  When you add in all of the wind and sideways ice pellets, I am going to have so much character by race day that my extra character might just need it’s own bib number!?

I can’t hate the snow.  I really can’t.  I have three small children that light up with joy when they see it.  They know it means toboggan time, and I just love watching them glide down that hill, and for a brief moment I forget about the incredible cross training that comes with snow.  I get the pleasure of pulling them up the hill.  I get the pleasure of shovelling our crazy-long driveway (which, if Nicole Stevenson asks, counts as cross-training?!).

By tomorrow the snow plow will have passed, and I will be out running in “ugly” (non-fresh) snow again, but until then, I will think happy thoughts of pausing to let the big fluffy flakes land on my tongue.