Haitus

I'm taking a little break from running - but I WILL be back as soon as the training resumes.

Thanks for visiting!

Several Newsworthy Items!!

A clip of Jill in the New York City Marathon! She's famous!!!!
Catch her almost at the end, wearing the poppy! You look great Jill!



In other exciting news, Steve created the first ever 10km TOY RUN to celebrate the end of the 10 k clinic he was teaching. The runners brought gifts for the VOCM Happy Tree instead of a registration fee. I was very sad to have to miss this event due to work travel commitments, however, I am really looking forward to being involved in dropping off the gifts at the Happy Tree!

Here's the link to a short news story about Steve's race on VOCM news.

Here's the photo of the racers and volunteers. Congratulations to everyone!

New York City Marathon

Today was the 2010 New York City Marathon.
While I didn't make it in the lottery for this year, I will be submitting my application tomorrow for the 2011 lottery (even though I know I won't be able to run it in 2011) - it's one step closer to my guaranteed entry by 2013!

Sometimes it's hard having a goal that could be so far-off, but I'm feeling re-motivated by the fact that my fabulous friend Jill ran the marathon today! A BIG CONGRATS TO JILL! As we were chatting about it the other night I got a new sense of the energy that the marathon brings.

Juat take a look at these fans and choir along the marathon route.



Isn't that amazing? How could you not keep running with that kind of support?

Can't wait until I experience it myself.

There are many reasons why we choose to run - this could be one!

Recreating Italy - Homemade Pasta

It's been quite a while since I last posted. Life seems to be getting in the way.

Yesterday we re-created our Italian experience by making homemade pasta - in 2 courses. It was delicious!

We started off with some Italian bread drizzled with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Brought us right back to Tuscany.

Everything prepped for pasta making. Since we did all of our prep right on the kitchen table, we used a disposable plastic table cloth. Makes the clean-up really easy!

Making pasta is really easy. Using flour, create a little well for an egg and then slowly mix together with a fork. Then knead the "dough" until you get a good consistency.

Use pasta press to roll out pasta. mmm mmm. Use a round cutter or glass to cut circles for ravioli. Or, for linguine, simply run pressed pasta through the cutter on the other side. Voila!

Fill pasta circles with spinach & ricotta filling, fold, and seal with a fork.

Finished ravioli and linguine. Waiting to be cooked.

Primi: Linguine with bolognese sauce.

Secondi: Ravioli sauteed in a little butter, covered in freshly grated parmesan.

So Proud

I'm so proud of my wonderful husband and his team (3 guys and a girl runnin' the huffin' puffin) who came SECOND in the first ever Provincial Marathon Relay yesterday!!! Congratulations to Clark, Steve, Gord (G2) and April!!

Also, big congratulations to some of our other running friends, Mary, Jody, Gord and Colleen who's team (running with the big dogs) came in THIRD in the marathon relay!

Here's a picture of the whole group!

What a great bunch of people I am privileged to run with!! See the full Marathon, Half-Marathon and Relay results here!

As my return flight landed at noon, I rushed home to shower and go with the group to attend the FABULOUS race reception at the Bowering Park Bungalow. BBQ hamburgers have never been so tastefully presented.

I would like to try to run in the marathon relay next year.....who's in??

A great rainy day meal

Last night, during the beginnings of Hurricane Igor, we went for a run with the 10 km clinic.

It was raining HEAVILY and we were all soaked through by the time we got back to the running room in the dark. It was a lucky coincidence that we had supper ready and waiting for us in the slow cooker for us when we got home.

It was a new recipe, so I had been hoping it would turn out OK. Turns out, it's probably my favourite slow cooker recipe so far!

Slow Cooker Provencal Beef Stew

Here's the Recipe (source: Kraft Canada)

1 lb. (450 g) boneless stewing beef, cubed

3 Tbsp. Flour

1 lb. (450 g) sweet potatoes (2 large), peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 can (28 fl oz/796 mL) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

1 Zucchini, cut into 1-inch-thick slices

1 Onion, chopped

4 cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 cup 25%-less-sodium beef broth

1/4 cup Kraft Calorie-Wise Sun-Dried Tomato & Oregano Dressing

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Toss beef with flour in slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients except basil. Cover with lid. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in Basil just before serving.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much flavour this had!

The slow cooker is one of our best friends on running nights - no worrying about what to eat when you get home late!

Will Run for Cupcakes

Had to write a post!

Anyone who knows me well, knows of my somewhat unhealthy obsession with the Web site Etsy. For anyone who is not familiar with Etsy, it's very similar to eBay but consists of all things handcrafted/artisan (love).

Not a day of mine goes by without spending a little bit of time seeing what kinds of goodies I can come across on Etsy (in fact, some of you are getting Christmas presents that have come from Etsy - get excited, because they're awesome!)

Anyways, THIS is what I just discovered. WILL RUN FOR CUPCAKES! I have often said that I want to get a t-shirt custom made that says just that. Seriously great.

On another note, tonight was the first night of Steve's 10 km clinic at the Running Room. What a turnout! It was a fabulous first night and I am looking forward to helping out with the group and meeting new people!

Link to an Amazing Giveaway!

Being a blogger, avid blog follower of many blogs, and photographer, I was SUPER excited to come across this giveaway. For anyone who reads blogs regularly, MANY do giveaways (I'm hoping to do one for this blog soon!)

Anyways, here's the link, and Monday, August 30 is the last day to enter!

I have been admiring these Epiphanie camera bags for a while now! I've never won anything in a blog giveaway yet, but if this time was the winner, it would be amazing!

Good Luck!

Gift Bag Giveaway: Epiphanie Bag and Photojojo Instant Camera from Mighty Girl.

My favourite pose

(in yoga that is)

photo source: yoga journal

To be completely honest, I haven't been running much lately. Once a week, twice if I'm lucky. I think I needed a break, and it seems to be working well for me right now. Next week I will be helping Steve as he begins teaching a 10 km clinic, and that will get me back into a regular schedule. In the meantime, I'm practising yoga, at least once a week (sometimes twice) and really enjoying it.

I have recently been introduced to the online world of the Yoga Journal (http://www.yogajournal.com/)

It's amazing! I think I would like to subscribe to this magazine.

My favourite part so far is the visual description of poses, along with the health benefits of each pose. For example, in "Half Lord of the Fishes" pose, above, some of the health benefits are stretching the shoulders, hips and neck (and my shoulders can use all the stretching they can get), energizing the spine, stimulation of liver and kidneys.

Another recipe coming soon!

Some Upcoming Films.....

That I would like to add to my view list.....

Beautiful Islands - watch the trailer - because I live on a beautiful island.

Flippped - watch the trailer below

Nowhere Boy - the story of John Lennon's early years.

Waiting for Superman - a documentary about the state of the education system in America

Cupcake in a mug!

source: coffee and sunshine

Craving a little chocolate?

Make this "cupcake" in a mug, in your microwave in seconds!

I recently experimented with the recipe - you might want to add chocolate chips or similar to make the chocolate flavour more intense!

Here's the link to the recipe I used - Chocolate cake in 5 minutes

However I'm now tempted to try this recipe, which uses chocolate chips (see, I know what I'm talking about!) and vanilla.

Try it for yourself, and let me know how it works!!!

My Tely 10 in Pictures

See the Tely 10 Web site for all things Tely 10 - including times. I had a personal best this year. 90 minutes!

My orange shoelaces make me feel like a superstar runner.

Waiting at the start line

Photo Source: NL Running

Coming to the corner of Bannerman Road for the finish.

Thank you to Andrea for this picture!

and a link to a photo of me from the Tely 10 photographer.

Show My Photos / King's Photography / Tely 10 - last 3 miles / Photo Details

Inspiration!

What a beautiful and important message to focus on your own personal strengths and abilities.

Mews 8 km

It's only 2 weeks until the Tely 10 and I am getting into race mode. After the 10 km race a couple of weeks ago, I decided to try the 8 km race this past weekend as well.

It was HOT.

It being my first time racing the 8 distance, I again had no goal time, but I am totally happy with 42 minutes! I can feel the hill and speed repeats paying off.

Here are some pictures of me during the race!

Source: NL Running

It was a great run, and I'm looking forward to the Tely. Yoga tomorrow to stretch out my weary muscles!

Thoughts of the day brought to you by.....

Lululemon has this GREAT campaign going on.

It seemed very timely to share this image, as I just finished my first Moksha ("hot") yoga class. and let me tell you, I did not sweat as much on my 19 k run earlier in the day as I did in this class. I am looking forward to more!

Read lululemon's full blog post "why you should sweat once a day" and get out there and move!

Summer Salad

A few weeks ago we spotted a great summer salad recipe in our new edition of Runner's World. Last night we finally made it! What a great, light, fresh and unique salad.

Watermelon and Feta Salad

Watermelon is a good source of lycopene, an antioxidant that may lower risk of developing certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, and macular degeneration. Pair the salad with a few slices of toasted French bread for a light lunch.

SALAD
2 pounds watermelon, rind removed
1 cup Greek feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup fresh mint leaves, cut into a chiffonade (thin strips), or left whole if small *(Note: the mint adds a very strong and unique flavour. If you are not a fan of mint, you might want to leave this out)
1 cup mixed baby greens

LEMON OLIVE OIL DRESSING
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or lemon oil

Cut the watermelon into large chunks. Place an equal amount of melon on each of four chilled dinner plates. (Alternatively, cut the melon into four large circles, each one inch thick and four and a half inches wide, and place one circle on each plate.)

Sprinkle one-quarter of the cheese, mint, and greens on the watermelon.

Then make the dressing: Place the salt and lemon juice in a jar with a lid and shake to blend. Add the oil and shake once more.

Taste for seasoning, then drizzle the dressing over each salad. (The dressing will also keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.)

Serves four.

Tranquil Moments

Breakfast outside by the pool in the HEAT. It's amazing, this was such a special treat for me. I wonder if I lived in Florida all the time, would I appreciate this so much? Probably not, we always tend to take the things around us for granted after a while.

Lounging by a pool in Florida! Back Tuesday with new posts!

Impromptu Race!

Since Steve and I had a wedding to attend on Saturday night this week, I decided to get my long run in on Saturday morning. As it so happened, the Molson Timex 10k race took place on Saturday, and a day or 2 before, I decided to register for it.

I have literally never run an official race for a distance less than 16 km before, so I wasn't really sure how I would do, or what my time would be. I DREAD racing. I get really nervous and anxious thinking about it, so we decided this would also be good practice. It was a really nice day for a run, and I'm glad I didn't spend much time analyzing the race course, because there were a few more HILLS than I thought there would be!

All in all, I'm quite pleased with how I did for this first time.

I'm now prepared to run an 8 KM race in a couple of weeks.

The "official" results are here on the NLAA Web site, however, we were told that there was an accidental extra 200 m on the course, so my time should really be a little less than this!

57:05 - not bad for hills and wind. I think my goals for the Tely 10 are within reach!

My wonderful friend Selina took some great pictures at the race, including this one:

Thanks Selina! Let's see what the Mews 8 k brings....it's a faster course!