Just a Great Week...

It's interesting how you can go from having a pretty downer week to having a really great one. I think it probably has a lot to do with ATTITUDE as well as smart decision making. For whatever reason, last week, I was just in the dumps. I am sure a lot of it had to do with the fact that I hadn't been able to run for over 2 weeks because of the mole removal/stitches thing and with Jen's studio not opening when planned, work had been less than expected at this point in the year.

I was suppose to be heading to Lake Tahoe (to ski) with 2 girlfriends. I think I mentioned that it was a pretty spontaneous arrangement on my part, and I had joined their bandwagon last minute. I think this was more of an 'escape' trip for me. I wanted to just get away and not deal with any of the emotions I had been feeling over the last couple weeks. I started to get a little bit sick the day or 2 before departure day and felt pretty bad the day we were suppose to leave. Anywho, in the end, I pulled the pin and chose to stay home.

The trip in itself was starting to stress me out a little bit. Let's just say it wasn't the best timing. Jen was leaving on Wednesday night and I still felt like there were some loose ends (learning the computor system etc) I needed to tie up there before she left. In the end, not going to Tahoe, allowed me to have 3 days with her just going over the mind/body system, learning how to deal with payments and inputting them into the computor. We got the compu-trainer classes going right away and I even got to join in on a Conditioning class myself that Jen was putting on before she left. Lot's of fun.

I did so many different things acitvity wise last week that just made me happy, which all reminded me so much of why I love living in Squamish. Part of the reason I wanted to stay home (besides being sick) instead of going on the trip was because (runners will understand) I knew I just needed to RUN and be active. After sitting on the sidelines for 2 weeks, I knew I needed a lot of adventure. More than I knew skiing would provide. Also, sitting in the car for the equivelant of 2 days would have made me feel more antsy. Sometimes, I just need to be out on my own 2 feet.

Monday: Run in Studio on treadmill (1 hr, pissing rain outside)
Tuesday: an: Conditioning class, pm: outside trail run
Wednesday: Easy recovery run in North Van (1 hr). Nice to be back on home turf.
Thursday: am: Scramble on the Squaw, pm: 1 hr Spin at night.
Friday: 3 hour run from automall in NVAN, to top of Grouse (Chalet), return (raining and awesome)
Saturday: Hike to Petgill lake, Squamish...lot's of snow on ground- good adventure (3 hr round trip).
Sunday: am:90 minute hot yoga with Shannon Mujazic, pm: climbing in Squamish (stunning day)
Monday: 90 minute ski tour up to Red Heather hut, hard work, nice pace!

The 3 hour run on Friday was my longest since...I want to say Western States 100? Ya, that was in June! WOW. I got exactly what I needed out of it. A long ass climb/hike, through snow and a super rewarding descent. It was raining pretty good but I was in that zone where the rain is like water falling from the heavens above...you just want to sing, dance and jump around yelling as you run down the streets because your just so stoked to be outside while everyone else is driving!

Anywho, to sum it all up, work is great, adventures are plentiful, and I am back to feeling like myself again. Good luck to everyone who is in Costa Rica for the Coastal Challenge. It sounds crazy epic and I have definetly put it on my "to do" list. It's a hefty price point at around $2000 a person to enter. A girl last night said in order to go last year she had to sell her truck and collect bottles. Now that's commitment!

I am 80% sure at this point that Leadville is looking like the next 100 miler on the list. A friend of mine has already committed which makes it even more enticing. Road trip? I also need a new Melanzana hoodie (made in leadville) and have been craving some Manuelitas fish tacos! Leadville is a great place, having been there twice before, I am dying to go back.

Alright, amazing day outside today, time to go play, then compu-trainer and personal training client tonight!

See you in the trails!

VEGAN ENERGY BARS

Eric asked me if I would post the recipe for the VEGAN ENERGY BARS so I thought I would. I don`t know if I would recommend these for during runs because of the fiber content but try it out for yourself and let me know!



The recipe comes from the book above. I made very little (if any) adaptations to it.

Dry Mix:

- 2 Cups 7-grain cereal (I found it in the bulk section)
1/2 Cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped prunes
1/2 cup whole almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup carob chips (or chocolate chips if non-vegan)
1 1/4 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Mix:

- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
-2/3 cup brown sugar
-1/3 cup flax eggs (mix well together 3 TBSP of ground flax with 6 TBSP of water and let sit until thick)
-1 cup applesauce (unsweetened is what I used)
-1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

pre-heat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9x13 pan by lining it with parchment paper and spraying it with vegetable oil spray. Set aside (I didnt have the right sized pan so I used a 7x 11 and another smaller one for what was left over. I also had no parchment paper so I just sprayed the pan and it was fine)

Combine the wet and dry mixes in separate bowls. Mix them together thoroughly and evenly spread the mixture onto the prepared pan. Bake 18 min. Cool and divide into bars. Wrap and store in the fridge. Makes 15 bars.

I made these for the road trip but ended up getting sick and opted out. I think I gave away most of my bars and everyone who tried them loved them...especially me. Great post run snack!!!! I'll be making more very soon.

ps- if you don't own it, go buy this book!

A Lemony Delight!

Alright, I feel like I am finally back on my feet and back to myself. It's crazy, I am like one of those cranky runners who gets cranky when they can't run. All good though. The first step is acceptance!

All of that aside, I have gotten out for some decent runs in the past few days. Did a nice 2 hour run on my old home turf in North Vancouver on Saturday. Saw A LOT of familiar faces and it reminded me how great the running community is out there. I hardly see anyone out in the trails in Squamish. Maybe it's just the time of year- everyones skiing!

Jen's studio is pretty much good to go and I am super stoked to be apart of it. Personal Training will start as of next week and monday, tuesday, and thursday night compu-trainer classes are a go. Head here for more info...

Email me at nicola@challengebychoice.com if you want to be take part in any of the compu-trainer sessions, book personal training sessions, and/or do any lactate balance point testing.

I made an AMAZING soup last night that I want to share with you guys. It came out of the whitewater cookbook, borrowed from my aunt Jules. I also made the vegan energy bars and hazelnut cranberry granola from the rebar cookbook- both blew me away!



Lemony Lentil Soup (serve 8)

2 c red lentils
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp salt
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, diced
1 tsp pepper
¼ tsp red chilli flakes
1 T oregano
1 T fresh rosemary chopped
2 bay leaves
8 cups veg or chicken stock
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp lemon zest
1 c feta cheese crumbled
2 T fresh dill, chopped

Rinse lentils, in a colander and ser aside to drain. Heat the olive oil in a large pot, add onion and sauté until translucent. Add carrots, garlic, salt, pepper, chilli flakes, rosemary, oregano, and bay leaves. Stir well and sauté until the carrots are tender. Add the stock and the lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Remove the bay leaves, you may puree the soup at this point or leave it just as is. Add the lemon juice, zest and more salt and pepper to taste. To serve, leadle soup into bowls and sprinkle with feta and dill on top

The only changes I made to it were that I halved the recipe and used veg stock instead of chicken because that's what I had at home. It was so yummy!

See you in the trails.

Power woose needs a wf power cookie!

Man, when did I become such a wussy! Oh wait, I guess I've always been one. Whoever said getting your stiches taken out didn't hurt, was a liar. Ouch! It's even better when the doctor who takes them off is wondering why the doctor who did them, did it the way they did. Always very reassuring.

BUT, nothing a little trip up a mountain won't fix. Thanks BCMC, for keeping me Human!

I have a little girls trip coming up this saturday with 2 wicked hilarious ladies. This was very last minute and spontaneous on my part, but hey you live once. Were heading up to California and Nevada for some skiing, some running and some relaxation. Can't wait! It's funny, I looked at the forecast for Vancouver while I'm away and it's sunshine every single day. After all the rain we've had it is a shame to miss it but I am sure there will be lot's where we are...

I spent some time at Jen's studio learning all about the computrainer set up. That thing is impressive and is going to be a ton of fun and a great training tool for all those triathles and cyclists. I'll most definetly be joining in every now and again for some cross training and coaching.

Time to go do a lactate test! This client is going to be doing Chuckanut (husband to)50k and is going to rock it. Both are great runners and it will be their first 50km. I love working with ultra runners to be!

see you in the trails!

RAYS OF SUNSHINE

A photo from my Chief Hike today. The stitches come off tomorrow and I can't wait to go for a run! The doctor called a week ago and gave me the all clear good news.

On another note- I have ran (no pun intended) into a few people I haven't seen in a long time and the first thing they both said to me was, "Are you still running all the time?".

I think it's funny because truthfully, I'll always be running, unless there was some reason I couldn't. I'm in it for the long run (no pun intended again!) and I can't see this is as just a phase...

The weather here has been phenomenal the last 2 days. We have had such mild temps and relativly clear skies. Yesterday my brother and I went for a road ride along the sea 2 sky highway (highway 99) from his house in Lions Bay to Ambleside and back... simply splendid.

See you in the trails!

Looking back....

While I was out walking/plunging in the snow today, I realized that I really haven’t taken the time to look back at the last year (2010). There were some good times and some bad times, but WAY more good times. Here are some of my highlights:

- Re-kindling my love with skiing on Blackomb Mountain with Peter’s Family. It was my first time back on skis in 13 years and it felt sooo good. It’s also the reason I took the financial plunge into buying all new gear this year.



- R2R2R with Peter in May. That trip was awesome. I even got to stay in the hooters hotel in Vegas! HOOTHOOT!



- Climbing in Revelstoke and Lake Louise in August. That road trip with Peter was amazing. The climbing in both those places was really fun.
- Climbing in Smith Rock with Nicole and Ross. Perfect weather, great rock, good friends! We missed you Rach and Oliver!



- Western States 100, my first 100 mile race. Epic to say the least and I got to share the experience with Peter who was also running. Missed going back there this year by 4 minutes!



- Chuckanut 50km, took 20 minutes off my time simply by cutting out all that power hiking….great run.
- Went to Banff to visit Leslie a.k.a Banff Trail Trash and ended up having some killer runs with her and a bunch of other wicked ladies. 13 hours of running in 3 days. This trip was huge for me because I was feeling a bit unmotivated at the time in regards to training, and this weekend perked me back up and got re-kindled my stoke. I also realized I wanted to live in a smaller mountain town.



- Moved to Squamish! Amazing place to live. Experiencing new things everyday.
- Summited Mount Begbie in Revelstoke. That was my first time mountaineering, crossing a glacier, and wearing crampons over my train runners.



- Multi-pitching with Peter all over Squamish followed by pints at the brew pub. King Heffy, you have my heart.
- Many kitchen disasters- I did however make the best caramelized banana peanut butter blondies and Pumpkin millet muffins!
- Dexter every Sunday at the leahy’s.
- Went back to school momentarily to see if I wanted to be a teacher- turns out I don’t. Looks like it’s back to the drawing board.
- My week long stint volunteering for the Fat Dog 100 mile and 100km. It was such a great experience getting to meet everyone who participated in this event, and to those brave souls who actually finished. Can’t wait to do it myself one day.
- Biking over to Salt Spring Island with Fawn in April.




That’s all for now, I am sure I am missing some. I could probably just go back over my blogs for the entire year and get a pretty good sense of all the adventures I went on. Can’t wait for twice as many this year

LOSING PARTS

People often like to make this analogy whenever I am being a baby about something...here is a recent example,

"You can run 100 miles but getting stitches freaks you out"

Yes, it's true. In fact, if given the choice, I would RATHER run 100 miles than have to go get cut open. It's no secret that I have about a million moles all over my body (I like to call them beauty marks!). It had been a while so I got checked out by the dermatologist before Christmas. There were 2 he wanted to remove because they fit the criteria for being a potential problem. One of them he was very adamant about taking off right then and there. However, he said I wasnt going to be allowed to exercise for 2 weeks, which just wasnt going to work because I was going skiing for the next 4 days! He agreed to do it after Christmas.

I pretty much dreaded the mole removal day the entire holidays. I don't know why I am such a baby around needles but I always have been. I can remember being in grade 9and bursting into tears BEFORE they even put the tetanus shot needle in. The nurse said, the shot will be over before you can say 'mississipi'. So I did, and it was and it didnt even hurt, all that antidipation for nothing.

I have gotten better over the years. I used to be scared about getting blood tests (iron checks) but those are a peice of cake now! However, I still look away when they bring the needle over.

I had a mole removed a few years ago and the only memory I have is being able to hear the doctor cutting/sawing it off.

Anywho, so I go to the doctor and he starts explaining what he was going to do. I brought my ipod along with me, advice given to me by the receptionist, as a distraction from the sound I can remember hearing from last time. The first one he takes off is on my back, no biggie, takes no time. The second one however is on my chest, right smack dab in the middle. It also happens to be close to my heart which is beating out of my chest at this point. The freezing stings a little but by the time he starts doing his thing, I can't feel anything. Somehow though, the notion of what he is doing starts to make me feel queezy but I manage to keep it together.

I must have been making all sorts of gnarly faces because he kept asking me if I was ok and if I could feel anything. He finally asked me if I wanted to know what he was doing and for some reason that really helped calmed me. I could tell that he was doing different things then he had done on my back and that worried me a little. The worst part about the whole thing is that you can feel them tugging on your skin when they put the stitches on.

I survived though! I'll cross my fingers and hope everything is ok with the little guys. He recommend I dont do any exercise for 2-4 weeks for optimal healing but I'm pretty sure that would be impossible and unfortunetly I care more about my sanity than how the scars heal.

Here's to a happy and healthy start to 2011!

See you in the trails!

ADVENTURES OF PETE AND NIC AS OF LATE

I love the holiday season. Usually it just fly's by but this time, it's been gone by slowly and has been one of the most enjoyable breaks I have had in a long time. I have a good bout of work coming up ahead so even though I feel like a slacker now, taking so much time off, I know I'll be thanking myself later.



I finally got my ski touring set up and just days later I was off to Mount Baker to spend some time with friends at my family cabin. I got 2 good days of downhill skiing in and it was quite the awakening. In the 14 years I have taken off from skiing, I have only ski'd once, which was last year on Blackcomb. It felt great but not as easy as when I was 5 inches shorter, 40 lbs lighter, and 14 yrs younger. I can remember being so fearless and I was always throwing myself off jumps and skiing between the trees. Nowadays, I am not so concerned with speed and when I do ski between the trees, I am more or less hanging on for dear life! When it's all said and done, I am so stoked to be out there no matter what.


(Pete and his mom on a chair in whistler)

The 4 days spent in Whistler were great (thanks again Keith and Flo), we got 2 great days of downhill skiing in and one other day of ski touring introduction. Peter is a certified Canadian Avalanche instructor (level 1) and he spent some time teaching me the essentials of safety for back country travel. Peter's Neice and Nephews are amazingly cute and I had a blast skiing the hills with them. Tyler, 8, was skiing circles around me! And, Beck's, 6, was skiing blacks!



Christmas eve, Christmas day, and Dutch Christmas (27th) were spent with the Gilder's and it was nothing but good times.


(Above the hut in Cirese Creek)

On the 28th, Peter and I ski toured out to Cerise Creek, off the Duffey Lake road. It's about a 2 hour skin in to Keith's Hut. This hut is great. It sleeps about 20 people, has a fireplace, solar powered battery panel lights, and a huge table for people to sit/eat/chill at. After a great simple meal we hit the sack at 8pm, which seems early but most everybody else were already in bed and there really wasnt much else to do.




We woke up to a gloriously sunny day and skinned up above the hut where Peter demonstrated to me how to make an avalance profile pit. This invloves digging out a pit and doing a lot of various tests to test the layers of the snow pack. We did a few laps on here and honestly, I have never skiid on powder that was so fresh and smooth. The landscape was breathtaking and I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to get out there and do stuff like this.


(View of Atwell)

After all that skiing, I needed a day off because my calves were soooo sore. Sore to touch, sore to walk, and there was definetly no way I was going to be able to run. Two days ago, Peter and I went to Geribaldi Park to ski tour. It was a blue bird day and the temps were mild. We toured over towards Elfin Lakes and did some laps on Paul Ridge. There were a few people heading towards the hut to stay the night as it was new years eve. Apparently 65 people spent the night in that hut and I think it maxes out around 60. Must have been cozy.


(Us on top of the second summit of the Chief)

We had a pretty low key NYE and spent the night in making pizzas and bringing in 2011pete and nic style...in bed by 11pm! Never fear though, the pub across the street was bumpin and when the clock struck 12....we knew it!



On new years day we were blessed with another blue sky day and headed up to conquor all 3 summits of the Chief. It's nothing crazy but I had never been to all 3 summits and it was an excuse to get out- on foot. However, the next day we were back on the skis to do some more laps on Paul Ridge. I'll say it now and I'll say it again, ski touring is hard work! I'm wondering if it will make me a better runner...on the hills perhaps.


(Lunch break on Paul Ridge- PB and Banana sandwiches make great ski food)

Today I went for the first run I have been on in days. I went out with Jen Segger who is in prime condition for the Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica and needless to say, I was sucking wind a bit. No, actually it went a lot better than I thought it would. I love squamish running. I even got out for my first Squamish outdoor bouldering experience ever. I was a bit apprehensive about climbing in this cold weather but I warmed up super quick. It was a great way to enjoy the last nice day of the week.

I signed up for The Test of Metal 67km mountain bike race. I think it's pretty random that the only race I have signed up for thus far is a mountain bike race, and I dont even own a bike yet!

Can't wait to do more of the same in the coming weeks...I love life.

See you in the trails!