injury

SO I have the stupidest injury ever. I don't even think it's related to exercising. I believe I have something called a Bursitis on my elbow (self diagnosis, thanks google). Basically it's an inflammation of my elbow. Originally I thought that I had somehow hurt my elbow yesterday during Body Pump but everything I did felt fine. Upon further investigation it seems like they sometimes call it 'student's elbow' as students get it from leaning on desks. I am in a cubicle at a desk at my job, and I definitely lean on my elbows all the time! This has resulted in my elbow being swollen, red and painful. I'm doing RICE (rest ice compression elevation) today in hopes that it will go down.

I managed to make it to Zumba tonight but it was difficult to get into it as I couldn't move my arm as much as I'd like. I should be able to run without any issues but it's just a PAIN (literally!). I'm thinking that I will need to change my schedule that I had outlined before. I really don't feel as if I'm running enough. That being said, in addition to my elbow injury I'm also feeling like I'm on the cusp of getting sick. So I think I will take tomorrow off to rest (unless I wake up feeling better) and then run 10km on Wednesday.

Hope everyone's training is going well! 10 days until my graduation ceremony in Maine and 17 days until I run 10km in the Bluenose!

yoga wednesday!

I was thankful that I had scheduled for today to be a yoga day. After yesterday's run my calves were super tight and uncomfortable. And it was difficult (mentally) to get out of bed this morning. Once I did, I looked outside and it was like this:

Gotta love the east coast! Needless to say I was very happy to stay put and work out inside. I ended up finding this yoga video on youtube. The 50 min class is lead by Tara Stiles. I chose it because of the appearance (I don't usually trust workout videos from someone done in their living room). I also did a quick viewing of it last night and I was familiar with most of the poses. 

I had to cut the class a little short because, as I said, it was tough to get out of bed so I was a bit behind schedule. I ended up not doing a few split downward dogs but I still felt like I got a good stretch and a good workout in. My only complaint about this video is that Tara says the phrase "awesome guys" A LOT. Like, as a method of encouraging the girls in the video. I probably wouldn't have noticed if I was in a class with her, but in a recording it was VERY obvious.

While looking for a yoga video last night I was surprised at how many exercise videos there are on youtube. It's insane! I will definitely be checking out more in the future and posting some here. Do you use youtube videos as a way to work out at home? What are some of your favorites?

Afterwards I made an awesome breakfast that consisted of red potatoes, smoked salmon, two eggs and some greens. I used Jen's method (from peanut butter runner) of creating the perfect eggs  and they were EGGMAZING! Excited to try it again.

Looking forward to a 5km run tomorrow. Hoping to include some hills in my run to work on those leg muscles!

makeshift 10km training

As I mentioned in my post yesterday I have decided to do the 10km in the Bluenose Marathon this year. I ran two 10ks last year and want to get some more under my belt. I haven't given myself much time to prepare. I told myself I would run ALL winter. NO matter what the weather. Well... that definitely didn't happen.

So I've decided to do a condensed version of a 10km training. The last month I have been running 5ks so I really need to up my distance. I also remember last year that the only time a 5k run felt easy was after I started training for 10!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wed.	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 1	Off	7km run	Yoga	5km run	Body Combat	Off	Body Pump
Week 2	Zumba	10km run	Yoga	6km run	Body Combat	Off	Body Pump
Week 3	Zumba	8km run	Yoga	7km run	Off	Off	Yoga
Week 4	Zumba	5km run	Yoga	3km run	Walk	Off	10km RACE

This training program is designed around my likes and my schedule. I'm going to Maine at the beginning of May for my graduation ceremony which is why I took a Friday and Saturday off in a row. I'm really hoping to keep up my strength training while running this summer. The program I followed last year when training for my 10k was one I found online that did not have any scheduled time for strength or cross training, and I really regret not sticking with it!


Do you make up your own training schedule or stick to a plan you got somewhere else?

game of life run!

I participated in my first 5km race of the year! My sister Nikki and I ran the Game of Life race this morning at the beautiful point pleasant park. The event supported Commonwealth Games Canada's grassroots sports programs in Africa and the Caribbean.  This program uses sports as a means for social development of people in these countries. When I was younger I played basketball and soccer in city leagues and in school, and also coached a basketball team of boys aged 9-10. I believe that participating in sports gives children confidence and team work skills that can extend to multiple areas of their lives. SO of course I thought this was an awesome cause!


I love that the event was held at Point Pleasant Park. The route followed the perimeter of the park which is a wide trail with great views of the ocean. Thankfully it was bright out (cloudy) and not too windy. A breeze off the ocean can be mighty cold, so I was glad it wasn't too bad today! They had tons of volunteers that were helpful in guiding the way. It was a simple out and back, with the first half being up hill. This made the second half of the race a treat! Knowing the last half was downhill was definitely something I looked forward to.

A few negatives were that the 10km race was an out and back, TWICE. Maybe some people don't care as much as I do, but I think that would be extremely boring. I think they could have taken advantage of all the trails in the park and made it a loop or something. This would have meant more volunteers though, which maybe wasn't possible. My only other negative were the other people at the park. Since the race was small (I would estimate 100 participants in the 5 and 10 combined) they did not close the park. The park is notorious for people bringing their dogs, and some areas are off-leash. I believe these people had every right to be in the park; however I wish some people had shown a little more consideration and tried to move their dogs out of the way of the runners. Nothing that could have been controlled by the race coordinators though!

Overall it was a great start to run season, and I'm happy with the result. Nikki and I ran together (except for the final sprint). The clock time when running through the finish said 31:47, yet my chip time was 31:55 or something. This doesn't really make since to me as usually the chip time is lower? Either way I'm happy with that time!

Now I just need to get my butt in gear as I decided I'll be doing the 10km in the Bluenose! IN ONE MONTH! Ack. Stay tuned for my procrastinator training plan.

p.s. I returned the sneakers I posted about earlier. Still on the hunt for ones I like...

a tragedy

I am overcome with sadness at the news that has come out of Boston. To think that an event that is usually so filled with joy and happiness has now been forever soiled by such a horrific act. I can't even begin to fathom why or how someone can do something so heartless and cruel.

Of course, out of tragedy comes beautiful stories of people coming together and helping each other in such horrible times. It is always inspiring to hear strangers helping strangers and that there is still compassion among most of us.

Try to keep Boston and all of the people affected in your head and in your hearts as you run this week.

#runforboston

update: homemade granola bars

Last night I posted about homemade granola bars. And let me tell you, they are delicious.  A little TOO delicious. So today I decided to count the calories and grams of fat per bar. The recipe I made yielded 6 bars. Per bar:

calories: 357
fat: 17g
fiber: 5g

SO that explains why they are so delicious! phew. Homemade? yes. Healthy? yes. High calories? OOOh yeah.

I'm going to try to modify the recipe I used to lower the calories per bar. The recipe already suggests an apple sauce substitute. And I could lower the amount of almonds I used. Any other suggestions?

Here is the original recipe, from peanutbutterrunner:

Peanut Butter, Coconut and Fruit Granola Bars
Ingredients:
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup dried fruit (I used a mixture of golden raisins and dried cranberries)
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or honey)
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce (or use all agave or honey)
1/4 cup peanut butter (or nut butter of your choice)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons chia seeds or flax seeds
Directions: 
Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until mixture is well-combined. Line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with wax paper or foil and firmly press oat mixture into the bottom of the pan. Freeze for at least 2 hours or until ready to cut. Cut into 6 bars and individually wrap and store in freezer.
Yield: 6 bars


Let me know if you have any suggestions!
 

new sneakers!

I decided that it was time to invest in a new pair of sneakers. I bought my previous sneakers last June and decided it was time for something new. One thing I have to say about my sneakers is that because they were grey they really haven't shown much wear, even though I have worn them in all types of weather. Something to keep in mind!

I purchased these Nikes:

 I'm hoping the black will maintain as well as the grey did. I bought them for $59.99 at Winners. One con I have about them is that the tongue is attached to the inside of the shoe. I guess this would prevent it from moving around while running; however it makes it really hard to pull the shoe on. One major pro is the insole is something called 'Comfort Footbed'. It's basically like memory foam for your foot:

I actually haven't worn them running yet. I have a hard time committing  to a new shoe!! I went for a run today (miracle!) and wore my old sneakers. Do you have a hard time deciding on a new shoe?


Following on my homemade vs pre-made trend I ended up making granola bar this evening. I used this recipe from Peanut Butter Runner (one of my favorite blogs). I left out the coconut because I'm not really a fan. For dried fruit I used raisins and also added in some dry roasted almonds. Prior  to putting it in the freezer it smelled AMAZING:

I actually ended up licking the remnants out of the bowl. Can't wait to try them!