Stitch: It would appear so.

Dana: After all these months, why?

Stitch: *shrugs*

Dana: Is it my posture? Am I hunching over too much?

Stitch: Maybe.

Dana: It is what I had for breakfast yesterday?

Stitch: Maybe.

Dana: Did I have too much liquid or too little liquid before running?

Stitch: Maybe.

Dana: Is it because I went running in the morning and I never do that?

Stitch: Maybe.

Dana: Because I really dislike running in the morning and you make it so much worse.

Stitch: It’s probably that.

Dana: So are you going to be hanging around making a nuisance of yourself for a while now?

Stitch: Magic 8 ball says, “Ask again later”.

Dana: I’m training for a marathon now and I really don’t need you getting in the way.

Stitch: That’s not how I roll.

Dana: I’m starting to think that you’re just some kind of lesser demon and what I really need is an exorcism.

Stitch: Good luck with that. The banishing ceremony didn’t work, did it?

Dana: *sigh*

Stitch: That’s the spirit! Let’s go for a run!

Creole red bean soup

1 tbsp canola oil

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped carrot

½ cup chopped celery

1 clove garlic, minced

¾ tsp allspice

¾ tsp dried thyme or 1 ½ tsp fresh

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 green pepper, chopped

2 cups canned tomatoes

1 can (19oz) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups vegetable stock

½ tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp molasses

Serves 4-6

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook until softened.
3. Stir in allspice, thyme, and cayenne. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes
4. Stir in green pepper and cook until softened.
5. Add tomatoes, beans, and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for at least 10 and up to 30 minutes.
6. In a small bowl, mix the mustard and molasses with 1 or 2 tbsp of the broth from the soup. Add to the soup and stir well.

This second recipe came from my mother and I have no idea where she got it originally. You will note as you read the ingredients that she made a slight modification for me. It’s a thick soup so very filling for those cold winter nights.

Beef and barley stew/soup

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup onion

1 Tbsp. butter

4 cups beef broth

4 cups water

2 cups chopped beef (I used what was left over from a pot roast so it was already cooked)

1 can (750 ml) diced tomatoes

1 cup barley

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 cup peas

1. Saute carrots, celery and onions in butter.

2. Add broth, water, beef, tomatoes and spices. Bring to a boil.

3. Add barley. Reduce heat and simmer until barley is cooked  (about 45 minutes).

4. Add peas and simmer another 5 minutes.

My mother’s comments: Since I like soups to be more hearty and less watery, I added at least double the amount of barley.  I also added about a 1/2 cup of frozen corn with the peas.  (I took yours out before I added the peas). (The Shuffler’s comment: I hate peas.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of my 2012 running-related resolutions was to get back to documenting my workouts. I am proud to report that this resolution has gone swimmingly. Here are my stats for January:

# of days run: 16/31

inside/outside runs: 6 on treadmill/10 outside

Total mileage: 102.5km

Longest run: 15km, this past Sunday. It wasn’t pretty. There was much jumping over puddles and climbing over snowbanks. My left knee is still upset at me. It signed on for running, not an obstacle course.

Shortest run: 1.5km

# of strength-training sessions: 9

My February plans:

- continue running 4-5 times per week

- run the Winterman half-marathon on Sunday, February 19

- diversify and expand stretching program

- strength train each body section twice a week (i.e., upper body, core, lower body)

What are your goals for February 2012? How are the New Year’s running resolutions going (or not as the case may be)?

I walked into Montgomery massage therapy and was immediately given one of those forms to fill out where you’re asked to list every piece of medical information about yourself including medications you take, surgeries you’ve had and problems that you may have experienced in every body part ranging from your scalp to your toes. Not wanting people at my gym to think that Mr. Shuffler beats me, I checked the box to indicate that I bruise easily. Tracy Montgomery herself showed me to a room equipped with what looked like a low black-leather bench (I found later that it’s adjustable just like a dentist chair – neat!). She asked me some preliminary questions about my training and goals and then started assessing my legs. She pronounced them tight but not the worst she’d ever seen (I’ll take it!!).

Then we got started on the ART process. I say “we” because I felt that I was doing a significant portion of the work. For the uninitiated, ART essentially involves “de-gumming” your soft tissues. The beating that your legs take when you run sometimes result in your soft tissues (e.g., muscles, tendons, etc.) adhering to one another and creating scar tissue. This is considered problematic because it inhibits the proper movement of those muscles, tendons, etc. The treatment involves breaking up the adhesions by applying pressure and also stretching the affected area in the opposite direction at the same time. Tracy worked through each major muscle group in my legs and hips, leaning into a variety of spots while I tried to bring my knee up to my chest or kick my leg back. These kinds of movements can be surprisingly difficult when someone is pushing really hard on your muscles. However, I know that Tracy was working pretty hard too as our conversation was punctuated on both sides by a certain amount of breathlessness.

The treatment lasted about 35 minutes. Tracy said that often just one treatment of ART can be effective but if there are significant issues, massed treatment is preferable (i.e., having multiple treatments within a short period of time). In my case, she said that I could probably maintain the improvements through sports massage, stretching and hydration. I’m going for a run at the gym tonight so I’ll let you all know how it goes.

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

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

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

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

Makes 1 large pancake.

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

Good shot, eh?

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?)