Monday 31 March 2014

Yoga Party

Every month we ladies meet for our dress club and the hostess gets to pick the theme. March was my month and when my husband suggested a yoga theme, I thought he was brilliant!
First I decided that I would hire a yoga instructor to come into my home to teach some yoga. After asking just one person for a suggestion, I had an instructor that would provide the music and the poses.
Once I had found Erin to guide us through some yoga, I found a site on Etsy that would provide me with decorations...
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/151706255/yoga-party-printable-collection?ref=shop_home_active_13

Next step was to plan the menu. It seemed like a no brainer to have Indian food, Organic wine and clean eats at a yoga party. So I decided that I would make Clean Chicken Masala and Coconut rice while providing the organic wine. (Costco has a decent selection of organic wines). The other ladies brought salads, salad rolls, Indian ice cream and avocado chocolate pudding. It all came together nicely.
I started the night serving a fruit and veggie infused water. And after yoga I opened the wine. The water was a big hit.
 And was ready with yoga tea from Steeped Tea.
The night was a lot of fun and big hit. I had really great feedback! I will definitely plan another night like this one :)

Oh! And what is a party without party favours!? I had leg warmers for each lady to take home with them. Instead of getting to choose a colour, I taped words to each pair and asked them to pick the word that they were most attracted to.
Our awesome playlist provided by Erin was as follows...

In for the kill- la roux
Finally moving James brown remix- pretty lights
Her brother- avicii
Elegy- tycho
Hey now- London grammar
Fly away- wafefoker
My love is your love- Whitney Houston
Where's the love- Trevor hall
All wash out- Edward sharp and the magnetic zeros
Frog- carbon based lifeforms
Somewhere over the rainbow

Thanks everyone for reading!

Namaste

Sunday 16 March 2014

Reasons to Join A Run Club

Today I had my usual Sunday morning run (23K) with my marathon training group. Every Sunday morning I look forward to seeing my group and chatting with them. I have not run with a group since my Learn to Run Clinic in 2007, and I am really enjoying it!
I found an article from the Running Room that I think gives all of the perfect reasons why everyone would benefit from joining a run club/group.

1. Be mentored by someone who is more experienced than you.
Last week I ran with a woman that will be running Western States (100miles in California) and she is filled with knowledge, advice and experience. Our group pacer is also an experienced ultra runner which is all very helpful for my training.
Every week I am able to ask any one of these group members for some advice and they are always more than happy to help!
2. Mentor a new runner.
As I am gaining more experience myself I am also able to now pass along advice to beginner runners or people that may just have questions.
3. Expand your social network.
What a great way to meet other people that enjoy running. (Or don't, but do it for the exercise ;)
Also a great way to meet new people and make new friends.
4. Deepen your commitment to running
Studies have shown that people that join run clubs have an increased commitment and also have improved their race times.
5. Stay motivated
My run club gives me the motivation to get out there on cold days, wet days, or just those days that I don't feel like running. My group also helps me to run those hills that I might normally slow down on or even walk up.
6. Stave off boredom
One of the troubles with long distance running is that it can be lonely and boring. Running with a group helps to distract one's attention from the "long" distance.
7. Learn new routes
Almost every week we run a new route. I am learning more about my area and I gaining an appreciation for the country that I didn't even know existed in my city.
8. Share accomplishments
When your non-running friends are tired of hearing about your running life, your run club/group is the perfect outlet to chat about everything to do with running. They love to talk about and hear about running!
9. Save money
It's almost a guarantee that a few of your fellow group members will be running the same races as you. This allows you to car pool and/or split the cost of accommodation. It also eats up my time for shopping and spending money in other ways I probably don't need to.
10. Stay in the loop
The running group will almost always send out information on upcoming events, races and more. It is a great way to stay informed.

I used to think that I was a person that liked to run alone, but after joining my training group, I realize that I was completely wrong. I hope to continue to run with this group and others that may join in the future. I am learning a lot and it keeps me honest to my running.
Happy Running Everyone!

Sunday 9 March 2014

Vegan Sweet Potato and Black bean Enchiladas with Avocado-cilantro Cream Sauce

After an amazing 26K run in the warmer temperatures today this was a perfect dinner to end my day. Even my husband loved this meal, and he usually doesn't enjoy my "Vegan dishes". :)
(This recipe is taken from my new favourite recipe book. The Oh She Glows Cookbook is written by Angela Liddon and the recipe is from page 147.)

Sweet Potato and Black bean Enchiladas with Avocado-cilantro Cream Sauce

For the Enchiladas:
2 Cups sweet potato (peeled and chopped small)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion
2 large cloves garlic
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 bell pepper
1 (15oz) can black beans
2 large handfuls spinach, roughly chopped
1 1/2-2 cups enchilada sauce (I chose to use Epicure as it is all natural with no added ingredients.)
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
5-6 gluten free corn tortillas
For the Avocado-Cilantro Sauce
1/2 cup Fresh cilantro
2Tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a large rectangular baking dish.
2. Make the Enchiladas. Place sweet potato in a medium saucepan and add enough water to just cover. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain and set aside.

3. In a large skillet, heat the oil and add the onion and garlic, sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

4. Add the bell pepper, cooked sweet potato, black beans, and spinach. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook until the spinach is wilted.
5. Remove from the heat and add 1/4 cup of prepared enchilada sauce, the lime juice, chill powder, cumin and salt.
6. Spread 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce evenly over the baking dish. Scoop sweet potato filling on each tortilla and roll, placing it seam side down. Spread remaining enchilada sauce over tortillas. If you have left over mixture, top on the tortillas as well.
OR
Make as a casserole and layer the corn tortillas with the mixture (which is what I chose to do). Spread the enchilada sauce on top.
7. Bake the enchiladas uncovered for 20-25 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, make the avocado cilantro sauce. In a food processor, process the cilantro until minced. Add the avocado, lime juice, se salt, garlic powder and 3-5 Tbsp water and process until creamy.
9. When the enchiladas are ready to serve, plate them individually and drizzle or spread some of the Avocado-Cilanto Cream Sauce on top of each. Garnish with cilantro.
ENJOY!

Of course we had wine with dinner :)
Our choice of Road 13, Honest John's Red was a fabulous pairing with the enchiladas. This wine from the Okanagan in British Columbia (and one of our favourites). It is a blended wine and is pretty easy to drink.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Preparing to run in freezing temperatures

Well, I was going to do it, then not. Then I will, No, Am I crazy!?!?
Did you all stay nice and warm this past weekend? I sure hope so! With the windchill here in Red Deer, AB it was -42C! Sunday was the day scheduled for the Hypothermic Half Marathon, and I had only half convinced myself to run it. When I woke up Sunday morning I figured the worst case scenario would be that I start running and freeze my toes off, so I turn around and go to the gym instead.
The first step to running in temperatures like this is to be prepared! I had never dressed in so many layers! I started with 2 toques, a tech tube over my face and neck, then on my top half had my sports bra, my skeleton short sleeve, my long sleeve sugar skull, my dragon fly pullover and a double layer jacket on top of that. On my my bottom half I had a pair of compression socks, then thick running tights with my my INKnBURN denim on top of that and put one more pair of socks on top of that!
The one that I truly believed saved me was putting Aquaphor on my face! It is like Vaseline and it absolutely protected my face from the wind and other elements.

The second step to running in freezing weather is to run fast!!! Seriously! I found that my toes did not even have a chance to get cold as my blood was circulating so quickly. I arrived late to the race start, so I had to run like crazy to catch up to the rest of the runners.
Overall, running in these crazy temperatures is not my favourite thing to do, but I didn't mind it as much I thought I would dislike it. Being prepared for the severe windchill and cold temperatures really helped. I started coughing around KM 13, but it was only periodic and it wasn't anything that bothered me too much.
It takes a very special person to volunteer in this cold weather. A special thank you to all that came out to freeze your bums off. Especially to the ones with water, and the lady at the finish line that was able to tell me I was the first girl across the line and that was also happy to take a picture of my frozen face :)
I feel as if I was very well prepared and I was not over, nor underdressed for this crazy occasion! I am happy and fortunate to have survived, and maybe one day, if put in front of me, I might do it again ;)