Kitchen n' Kids

This is how our dishwasher looked in our kitchen Saturday after a 40 km run, soccer tournament, and loading a few moving trucks for a friend in 30+ C weather. Thank you, Eload!

 

Another favourite food of mine, seen a lot in our kitchen these days....I call it Triple P.  Peach on Peanut Butter Pumpernickel toast. Sooo good!

 Kid #2,

 Kid #1, and

Kid #3 enjoying waffles, fruit and milk in our kitchen for breakfast.

 

Silvia Rueggar Story - A Great Read!

Silvia Rueggar - an inspiration for me!
Canadian Marathon Record Holder, Christian, U of G Grad, and National Director of Start2Finish Running and Reading Clubs

I finished another solid week of training this morning with a 40 km run for a total of 165 km. I did my intervals (6x1km) later in the week so as to recover from Sunday's race. Got in my cross-training (M,W, F bike and Tu, Th pool) and core/stretching/roller routine every day too. I have some plantar fasciitis in my left foot, which was aggravated by last Sunday's race but after having it for 2 years (in my right foot) I seem to know how to deal with it (stretch and roll the calf, wear Strassburg sock to bed, ice) so it's coming along.
This week we'll take it down to about 130 km so as to prepare for the Virginia Beach Half (Sept 2). Coach Rick and I believe that if I can run around 1:13 I'll be in decent shape for a shot at breaking Silvia's 27 year old Canadian record of 2:28:36.  Read about it here. Of course, Lanni will battle me for it!

Get your copy of Canadian Running magazine!

Thanks for a great article, Canadian Running magazine!

A bit of this n' that

Finishing the Rock the Road 10 km race in London. Race went well. Felt strong and steady but I gotta say, I don't love 10 km's (yet)! Seems that they hurt as much as a 5km but last longer! You just don't get into a rhythm like you do in the longer ones. But, I was able to knock off some seconds (51 to be exact) to get another personal best (34:08). Coach and I are pleased as 34 minutes was the goal. Next race is the Virginia Beach Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon, Sept 2nd. Good prep for STWM!

Great race, Chantelle and Brandon! Thanks!
Photo: Coach Rick Mannen.

I often get asked what I eat as a dietitian and marathon runner. Gotta give credit to my great friend, Stacey, for this one. Here it is: greek yogurt (and a bit of vanilla yogurt), frozen berries, protein, kale, and a bit of peanut butter put through the food processor. If I feel like drinking it, I use milk and less yogurt (and the blender instead of the processor). LOVE IT! Don't knock it til you try it! And...

 my evening snack satisfies my desire to crunch with rice cakes and celery (and a bit of peanut butter)! Often enjoyed with a big cup of tea.

 Just had to show you our sweet Leah, kissing her dolly.

 Oh, our lovely coffee station...favourite place in the house!

OK, talk about being real. Here's what my kitchen looked like today. LOADS of laundry to fold, fresh pancakes, a cup of coffee, my day-planner, my roller, and Leah's picnic basket. I finally finished the laundry....several hours later!

Taking it down a bit

Well, I successfully finished 3 weeks of 160 km/wk and all is well. Long runs were: 35, 42, 34 km and tempo and track intervals were bang-on. Today I enjoyed the day off, which started with me watching Dylan (20th), Eric (22nd) and Reid (27th) run a great race in London. Very proud of those guys! I'm now at my computer, watching the Closing Ceremony.
Here's what I wrote on my FB page, " What a weekend! Celebrated 11 wonderful years married to my best friend, Jonathan DuChene, enjoyed Jacob and Molly G.'s beautiful wedding, saw family from both sides, attended Uncle Bob's memorial and showed our kids my parents' head-stones, watched Eric Gillis, Dylan Wykes, and Reid Coolsaet run amazingly well in the Olympic Marathon, and now watching the Closing Ceremony. I wonder what I will post 4 years from tonight?! (; Blessed and excited!"
I'm taking it down this week, likely running about 120 km as I taper for the Rock the Road 10 km. Looking forward to getting that 10 km time down!

More Marathoning! Go, Guys!

So here is the Start List (pg's 32-33/65) for the 2012 Olympic Games Men's Marathon. Seems like it's been a super long wait to finally watch Dylan, Eric and Reid (I'm sure they are MORE than ready to get their show on the road!!). Several weeks ago I planned my schedule so that I could have the morning off to watch these guys. I've put in 3 solid weeks of 160 km/wk so look forward to it (follpwed by a taper week to prepare for the Rock the Road 10 km, Aug 19). Check out this link if you are interested in the live chat during the race w/ Canada Running Magazine. I'm sure the Canadian record will go down, likely by all of them! But who will hold the new record?! Start time is 0600 h EST.
Of course I am cheering for Meb and Ryan too!
Go, guys!!

2012 Olympic Women's Marathon

So, since I'm not running in this race, I decided to run my own 42 km this morning. I intended to run about 37 km but by the time I met up with the guys and because I felt great, it ended up a little longer (and faster!). It seems that I am consistently running negatives splits on all my runs these days, which is great. I love feeling faster and stronger in the second half.
Recovery is more important than ever these days with the high (for me) mileage and intensity; fairly easy to do with the Olympics to watch! As soon as I return from a run, I drink my Emend (orange or chocolate made w/ milk and water - oh so good from the fridge), stretch/core, shower/bathe, eat breakfast (oatmeal+protein+p.b., grapefruit, greek yogurt + cottage cheese), fix a coffee, check email, and relax (oh, and care for the 3 kids!). I'm not able to nap until the baby has her nap around 1:00 pm but when I do it's short and sweet (the boys get to watch tv so the house is quiet!).
I plan to continue running 160km/wk until the week before the Rock the Road 10 km race. I'm loving my new Saucony Cortanas - they are SWEET! It took a while to figure out which shoes were perfect for me and I'm very grateful.
Time seems to be flying already. It's August so the summer is half over, my 4 yr old starts school in September, then STWM is in October!!

Tomorrow is the 2012 Olympic Women's Marathon. I plan to start my run at 5:30 a.m. so that I can come back to watch the last hour. Should be good. Quite a fast field. I'm going to go with Ethiopia's Tiki Gelana (she won with 2:18 in Rotterdam when Lanni and I were there) or Russia's Liliya Shobukhova for the gold.
Hopefully you'll be watching me in Rio after your own run 4 years from now (;

More Like Meb (and Ryan)!

Meb Keflezighi - Men’s Marathon Born: May 5, 1975 | San Diego, CA | @runmeb “It is a great honor to represent the USA in the Olympics for the third time. I would not be where I am today without God, my family and all of my supporters who have believed in me all along. My life and journey to the Olympics is a testimony to the power of God and the things that are possible when we are faithful to Him.” Check out this link for More Like Meb!

Godliness

Godliness
"Father, may they discipline themselves for godliness, having nothing to do with worldly things..."

-- 1 Timothy 4:7