Perfect Fit Affiliate

**Update the affiliate program has been put on hold for now:( I will keep you all posted on when its back on!**

Hi all i have something exciting to share:) I got approved to be an affiliate for Tone it up's Perfect Fit protein powder. I had to apply with my blog and twitter handle and ended up getting approved for it.

I was so excited to try Perfect Fit protein when the Karena and Katrina first launched it back in the spring. I love brown rice protein as it doesn't upset my stomach like whey or soy proteins do. Their protein is super fine like a flour and you can do so much with it. It's organic, non-GMO, complete amino acid profile, gluten free, free of sugar, dairy, lactose, soy, corn and other allergens. So it's essentially perfect for anyone:)

They sell their protein in individual serving sizes for when you are on the go. So you can always have a pack in your purse, in your car or at your office. So you always have quick and easy nutrition whenever you need it. They also have a larger  50 serving bag as well which is great for making smoothies at home, your protein pancakes or for your baking. You can replace flour cup for cup in any of your favorite recipes.

One of my favorite recipes that i enjoy a few times a week is a recipe from the Tone it Up Nutrition plan that they also have posted on the Perfect Fit website.

2-3 egg whites
1 tbsp of flax seed (optional i don't always add it)
1/2 banana mashed (i often need more so i mash a full banana)
1 scoop of Perfect Fit protein

-Mix all up and fry up in the frying pan like a pancake. You can add fruit (or chocolate chips) right in the batter if you like. Or even Peanut butter.

My favorite way to enjoy them is spread with natural peanut butter and thawed frozen berries so they make a syrup almost.

If you want to know more about how to purchase please contact me. You can also click on the Perfect Fit protein link as well on the right hand side of my blog:)

Let me know if you end up trying it and i want to hear what your favorite way is to enjoy you Perfect Fit protein.

No scale december

I watched a great vlog Tara Stiles posted last week about throwing your scale out and just going by how your body feels and listening to your hunger queues instead of paying attention to that number on the scale. This struck a cord with me. It's such an important message to spread to women. For someone who has battled with being anorexic for a few years and being obsessed with the scale this spoke to me and i had to share via facebook and twitter and share how my husband got rid of our scale a few years ago. At that point i was pretty much recovered from my unhealthy eating habits (thanks to finding Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet) however i wasn't cured of my obsession with weighing myself. I feel that there are many other women out there who get obsessed by the silly number on the scale. That number is not indicative of health. If you have muscle you will weigh more yet you will be lean:)

As long as you eat clean whole foods and work out your body will be the size it's supposed to be, whatever that may be. It's your unique shape and size and you need to embrace and love that gorgeous body of yours. And a better indication of whether you need to get a little stricter with the healthy cheats is being in tune with your body and how your body feels. Your body will tell you it needs you to be a little tighter with your diet. Maybe a few less treats (like wine or certain foods) or smaller portions are needed just to get that body feeling great as it usually does. Another indicator is how your clothes fit or your measurements. You may very well be increasing muscle and going up weight wise yet your measurements are getting smaller or your clothes are getting looser indicative that you are tightening up:)

If you have been a little too slack with the ol' clean eating lifestyle lately, remember it happens:) Don't be too hard on yourself. Especially during the holiday season. If you slip one day or aren't as tight as usual with your eating than jump right back on it at the next meal:) No point in feeling guilty or being hard on yourself. None of us are perfect! Yes it's great to strive to having a great clean lifestyle but it's not always going to be 100% and thats ok too:) Keep in mind that we are all always a work in progress in all aspects of our lives. If we were "perfect" we'd all lose our drive, motivation and determination. Where is the fun in that?

Today one of my Tone it Up girls posted a challenge for herself for the month of December which inspired me to write this post. I had challenged others to throw away their scales for good and she decided to start her own mini challenge of No scale December and asking others to join! I think this is a great idea:) If you want to join her twitter handle is @MariePOuellet & she is using the hashtag #NoScaleDecember . So i challenge you ladies to join her as a start and maybe after it's over you too will be able to Throw away your scale for good. Let me know below or on twitter if you decide to join in on her challenge. You can find me on twitter @amygrant83.

Happy December everyone:)

Race for recovery 5k/10k

 A few weeks ago when Hurricane Sandy hit NYC and many parts of Jersey it really affected me. I felt for everyone who went through it and is still going through the clean up now as we sit cozy farther up on the East Coast in Canada. I think part of why it touched me so much is that it is so close to us and i cannot imagine the chaos that ensued after the storm hit. I could not imagine seeing that damage or experiencing that storm in person.

While i love running and running races including half and full marathons the fact that NYC wanted to still run the NYC marathon after such devestation to their city sickened me. I could not believe it. There were still so many without power or running water and they wanted to birng in generators and millions of bottles of water for the race? How does that even make sense? Where was the compassion? Well at the last minute they finally showed some! But a little too late in a sense. Many runners had already traveled there to run the race. I personally would have deferred to the next year but can understand why many runners chose not to. It made me happy to read about many donating their rooms to those in need and heading home and many headed to Staten Island, among one of many of the hardest hit by the super storm. The runners ran around the island delivering goods to the drop off centers. They still got their run in but helped out as well. Many other runners even ran their own marathon in Central park looping around 4 times to create the full marathon distance!

One of the bloggers i follow NYC Running Mama  lives on Staten Island (where the marathon starts every year) and as i runner herself appeared to struggle with the fact that they at first wanted to still hold the race (i follow her on twitter as well as her blog). She like many of us runners never blamed the runners for wanting to still run their race. The damage sparked something in her and she wanted to organize a virtual Race for Recovery where anyone in the world can participate! How cool is that? The race fee is $20 which is donated directly to the Charity that was formed after the storm, Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund.  The charity is focusing it’s efforts on the NYC, Long Island, and NJ coastline which are amoung the areas most affected by the storm. You can donate the minimum $20 to register or more if you want, you can also fund raise too.

I have been contemplating for weeks whether or not i wanted to run this virtual race and finally decided yesterday that i wanted to help out:) So i registered and set up my donation page here. If you want to donate anything please feel free. It's such a great cause!

Keep in mind i am just running for a cause here. I won't actually be racing this race since when i run it Dec 8th i will be 26 weeks and just entered my 3rd trimester. Runners can run 5k, 10k or 15k for the virtual race. I am choosing to run 15km. It will probably be my last 15km before the baby gets here i imagine. Unless i continue to feel great like i have been. I have still been able to maintain 10-16km for my long runs. And 5-8km for my short runs during the week. I really listen to my body and if i don't feel like doing the distance i planned i do what my body feels like. I base it on how i feel before my run.

For more information on the virtual race if you want to sign up as well please visit here.

I also just got my Gabrialla maternity support belt a few weeks ago for running. So keep your eyes peeled for a review on that soon too:)

Have any of my fellow runners ran a virtual race before? If so what one? How was your experience? This will be my first and i will be running it with my running partner in crime, Steph.

Pregnancy and weight gain (20 weeks)

A few months ago i read a blog from one of my favorite running bloggers i follow NYC Running Mama where she blogged about all the information out there that tells us mom's to be how much weight we "should" be gaining at every trimester of pregnancy. Her blog post really touched and helped me during that time. I had just had my first OB appointment at 12 weeks and 4 days and was shocked at how much i had gained in my first trimester.

When i got to my first OB appointment I had happily stepped up on that scale at the receptionist's desk and weigh in. Something i would be doing at every appointment once a month. I knew i had gained a little weight, i was thinking maybe 5 lbs at most. WELL i was wrong i gained a whopping 11 lbs in my first trimester! Holy smokes. I knew very well from reading many articles on "suggested" weight gain i "should" only have gained 1-5 lbs in the first trimester according to the baby center (sometimes you don't gain at all if you have morning sickness) and approximately 1 lbs per week in your 2nd and 3rd trimesters Source. Now this number does change from website to website as well. However it generally says the same.

Prior to pregnancy i was 2 lbs underweight for my height due to just training for and running my first full marathon. So i accounted for that as well to try not to get too stressed about my whopping 11 lbs weight gain. I had also read that because i had been underweight pre-pregnancy i should gain 28-40 lbs according to most websites. I was scared though after gaining so much weight in my first trimester that i would gain too much throughout my pregnancy and it would have negative effects on the baby as well as me. From what i have read it can be bad to gain so much weight at the beginning. Its much better for you and baby if it is steady. However i really hadn't changed much eating wise in the first tri. So it wasn't that i was eating too much (although i was eating more carbs due to being nauseous all the time). It simply was that it appeared that this was my bodies way of preparing for pregnancy. That is exactly what NYC Running Mama's OB had said too so reading that put my mind at ease.

Bump pic at 20 weeks. I have gained 15 lbs so far.

At my last 2 month appointments i have only gained 2 lbs at each on (so now at 20 weeks i am totaling 15lbs weight gain) . So it seems to have slowed down which is a sigh of relief. According to NYC running Mama she gained 10 lbs in her first tri and then it really slowed down weight gain wise. So i was the same as her as well as other runner's who commented on the blog post. Isn't it funny that women runner's tend to gain so much initially? I was sure glad i wasn't alone. Made me feel a lot better about it. It's just me and my bodies way of dealing with being pregnant and gaining according to it. Not according to some "standard" out there. This is something important to remember for all momma's to be and future momma's to be. As long as you are eating clean and working out while pregnant (if you can) then don't worry about that weight gain, your body is doing what it needs to to make a good home for your little bean or as i affectionately call mine; Tater Tot.

Despite gaining so much my first trimester and so little since then my doctor has shown no concerns and hasn't even mentioned it. She knows that i eat well and i am still very active. So that accounts for why i am gaining slowly now. I am making sure i fuel myself and baby enough for the amount of work outs i do. While i have read that you need an extra 300 calories while pregnant if you continue to be very active i haven't been concentrating too much on this as i do not count calories. I simply listen to my body and eat more if i am hungrier. As well i ensure on my long run days that i get an extra big meal in after my long run. Then i ensure that i am well fueled for the rest of the day and i don't get too hungry. My body is always much hungrier on long run days. So now that i am pregnant i am now just extra careful that i eat more than usual on those days.

I have been very lucky thus far with working out and running. My body is still good with the amount of km's i have been running. I run 6km one day a week, 8 km one day of the week and between 12-16km on Saturdays. However if my body is saying less on a particular day i have a certain km's planned i listen. Just last week on Thur i tried to run my 8km but my body was saying no more when i reached 5km so i stopped and listened and decided that was enough for that day. And then i was able to rock out 14.81km on Saturday morning with no issues! So it really truly pays to listen. I don't want to get hurt or hurt the baby in any way so it's so important i listen to what my body says. 

For current momma's and momma to be's out there, do you agree with the suggested weight gain during pregnancy? Do you think it is something mom's to be should stress and concern themselves with?

I feel that it is merely a guideline to ensure mom to be's know roughly what they should be gaining however it's not something to be too concerned with. Your doctor will advise you if s/he is concerned with how you are gaining weght and should take in to account your body structure, eating habits and your activity level so it's more personalized to you and not just a general guideline. I think it also works to dispel the myth that you are eating for two. I am not eating for two! I am eating for one plus a little extra:) Basically just an extra snack a day. Right now i am eating every 2-3 hours depending on what my body needs that day. So instead of the pre-pregnancy 5-6 meals a day i now eat 6-7 meals a day and sometimes 8 if i really need it.

Super easy lazy tomato chickpea soup

Hi all! its me again:) I am making my quick and easy soup for supper since i didn't really feel like cooking and wanted to share with you all to enjoy too! This soup is great and even better when you are sick. I actually created it when i was sick and wanted something spicy to clear me out! And it sure worked. 



Amy's super easy lazy woman tomato chickpea soup

-1 can diced tomatoes 
-1 can tomato paste 
-1 can chickpeas 
-2.5 cups water or home made chicken or turkey stock
-1 tbsp paprika 
-1 tsp cayenne 
-1 tsp parsley 
-1 tsp garlic powder 
-1 tsp onion powder 
-2 tsp oregano 

-Add all ingredients together and bring to a boil for about 5 min then lower to a simmer and let it sit as long as you can to really let the soup soak up all the spices and for the chickpeas to get really soft.

Feel free to play with the amount of spices you use. I actually just wing the spices and add to taste however these are rough estimates of what i add to it.

Enjoy and let me know if you try it! i am making it tonight for supper! Yummy:) 

Working out pregnant (15 weeks)

Yes you read right i am 15 weeks pregnant (16 weeks on Friday) I still can't believe it some days:) I even zipped up a hoody last week and was like why is this so tight around my belly and looked down and was like oh yah...i can't believe i forgot for a split second i was pregnant. It is definitely strange going from a flat stomach and abs to a little bump. But i am loving my little baby bump.

I only just announced my pregnancy to the world via facebook and twitter at 13 weeks. It was so fun letting our secret out finally. The first trimester went pretty well. I had some major nausea all day every day and was exhausted but luckily never actually got sick. And despite the nausea and tiredness i still managed to get my workouts in and they made me feel better and energized. To deal with the exhaustion i simply went to bed earlier (and still do, i find i need 9 hours of sleep a night) and took naps as needed. It actually is beneficial for the mom to keep working out even if she feels tired as it is seen to help improve with the tiredness and nausea as well as other pregnancy symptoms.

The first thing i did when i found out we were pregnant was go out and get two working out while pregnant books. I want to do this right and not endanger me or the baby but i want and need to stay active for my health, baby's health and my own sanity. I went out and got. "Exercising through your pregnancy" by Dr  Clapp as well as "The runners world guide to running and pregnancy" by Chris Lundgren. Both books have proved so helpful. The Runners world book is based on a lot of information from Dr. Clapp's book. Dr Clapp did case studies on many pregnant women. Athletes, women who had been working out consistently for a number of years, women who just started working out while pregnant and women who didn't work out at all during pregnancy. All his research and studies show that women who work out and run while pregnant have fewer pregnancy symptoms and have a much better pregnancy, labour and delivery. I like those odds:)

I am not quite done the books yet but the main message and advice is to just listen to your body when exercising while pregnant. That is the only restriction if you can even call it that. Basically as long as you can still hold a choppy conversation you aren't pushing it too hard. And for those working out in the summer while pregnant you should try to avoid running or working out in 29 c or above as you over heat and so can baby. So this meant 6am runs for me this summer to beat the heat! Which i loved. Now it doesn't get light until 7am and i don't feel safe running at 6am in the dark:( I miss it. Now i could run on my treadmill but i do love running in the crisp fall air so i opt to run outside after work. I have been running 6km and 8km during the week with my long runs on Saturdays with my friend Steph who doesn't mind my slower pace and much needed extra walk breaks:) She's a trooper!

Now back to Dr Clapp and the method i have been using to gauge my workout efforts and ensure all is well for me and baby. I use the BORG rating of perceived exertion scale in order to measure how hard i should be working out and/or running. The heart rate measurement is outdated and should not be used anymore as it takes nothing in the first trimester to raise your heart rate and takes a lot of work in your third trimester to reach the "ideal" heart rate. So after discovering this i opted for the BORG method Dr. Clapp uses and so far so good:)

Source: http://www.nycrunningmama.com

 It is recommended to stay between 12-15 on this scale when exercising while pregnant which is what i follow. During my first trimester i found my pace slowed a lot and i found it harder to breath while running so i adjusted by doing the 10 and 1 running method. Where i ran 10 min and walked a min and for some runs i would take more or longer breaks if i needed them. I really listen to my body it's good at telling me what it needs. To me this is the hugest key to working out while pregnant. Luckily my OB agrees with this as well and said i can pretty much do anything as long as i feel ok. Even work out on my back as long as i don't feel dizzy. Dr. Clapp evens states that there only appears to be an issue when you are lying on your back and not moving. If you are moving and performing glute and/or ab exercises you shouldn't feel dizzy. If you do simply roll on to your left side until it passes. The reason why women would feel dizzy (and are told not to lie on their backs or perform exercises on their back in 2nd and 3rd trimester) is that the increased weight of your uterus presses on the major vein that returns blood from your legs to your heart. So for this i am going with what my OB and Dr. Clapp suggest. Simply stop if i feel dizzy. I want to ensure my abs are still strong for an easier delivery and don't want to neglect my booty as a strong booty, hamstrings and lower back mean you are less likely to have lower back pain.

In the second trimester i have a lot more energy and lucky for me my all day nausea stopped at 11 weeks! I am now running again straight through however i still follow the 5 min/500m walking warm up at the beginning of my run and the 5 min/500m cool down as i have since i first found out i was pregnant. I feel that this is very important as well to really ensure my body is warmed up first and has a chance to cool down. Especially important for those of us who sit at a desk all day; hello tight hip flexors!

Another thing to be careful of and mindful of when exercising is that your body is now producing a hormone called relaxin. Which relaxes a women's joints and ligaments. Therefore it can be easier to hurt yourself if things are looser. So your running gait will more than likely change which causes running to affect your body in different ways than it did before. This also means that you shouldn't practice Yin yoga during pregnancy i have learned. As that practice stretches out the joints and ligaments instead of the muscles. Which can be too much stretching for a women who is pregnant. Which saddened me last week as i really wanted to go to a class! Oh well. I can still do power vinyasa yoga, as well as running, circuit training with weights, biking and pilates. So i think i can suck it up.
 .
Well this turned into a longer post that i intended. I still have lots more to talk about however i will save that for more posts. I will try to blog more and keep you up to date with working out, running, etc while pregnant. Currently i am still working out 6 days a week. Two workouts a day 4 days a week 30 min in the morning and 30-45 after work. With Fridays being a full 60 min workout before work so i can just relax when i get home Friday night:) Saturdays are still my long runs. My current max being 16km. After 16km i feel like i have run 20-25km and i seem to need a nap after all my long runs 12-16km. So right now i don't feel like i need to push it km wise and do more. I may end up increasing at some point to test it out but not now. I am comfortable and happy with a max 16km distance. 

Life after a marathon

Yah it's summer! Moncton is experiencing the start of another lovely heat wave. The last few weeks have been fairly rainy with a few hot sunny days sprinkled here and there to tide us over. The rain was much needed and the plants and grass seem slightly happier.

My mom and a funny sign during my marathon

Since my marathon i have been keeping up with my running and workouts and gaining more and more energy. I was worn out throughout my training and could not eat or sleep enough! Now i am having to decrease my portions a bit as i don't seem to need as much fuel and while i still need my rest i don't need quite as much it seems which is nice. I am really enjoying my shorter faster runs and having the energy to put in to them. I am increasing my speed nicely and just ran a 5 km race on June 16th with my friends Christina and Steph. It was only the 2nd 5km race i had ever done and an adjustment for sure. You go fast from the get go and really push yourself unlike a half or full marathon where you go out slower and save fuel in the tank to finish strong. I ran the 5km in 26:04 the fastest i have ever run a 5km AND i won the race! WHAT?!?!? I was really shocked. It was a smaller race mind you but amazing for the running confidence to come in first and ahead of the guys! There may only have been one guy running the 5km though ha ha. More who did the 10km but hey that's ok i am still very pleased with my time.

Move to Include 5km race

I have another 5km race this Sunday. The Canada Day race! It is a hilly one. So no expectations to beat my 26:04 PB. As well i am just recovering a bout of strept throat. I think my body is still re-couping from the training and racing of my full marathon. I hope my immune system starts to get stronger soon! This sick business is starting to get really annoying:) Oh well. I listening to my body and took almost a week off. I was back at it Wednesday night with a 10km run. I hadn't run that far since the marathon. Crazy! I was craving a good slow long run and have a 12km planned for the holiday Monday! Yah Canada Day long weekend!

Post marathon

After this 5km race i may start training speed wise for my 10km race September 1st that i am planning on doing and then if i find any other 5km races along the way that i want to try PB'ing i will be more than ready! There isn't too much after this weekend that works with my schedule for 5km races. While i sometimes feel like i should be training for another half right now i am listening to my body and focusing on the shorter distances and enjoying not having to get a long run in or a certain scheduled run in i am running for FUN:) Not that i don't anyways...but it's just different not training for a long distance race.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far. Can you believe that it's almost July already? Do you have any summer race plans? Or summer plans in general?

Marathon weekend recap

Start line was intense and crowded:)

 Wow i cannot believe it's been over a month since i posted! The Ottawa marathon has now come and gone. What an AMAZING experience. My trip to Ottawa started off very bumpy though. I was leaving Friday May 25th for the capitol of Canada and what do i wake up with that morning? A sore throat:( I tried to find some emerg-c at 2 different stores in Moncton before we left and no dice:( I then decided at the airport (of all places) to give in and buy something a little less natural Cold Fx. It cost me $20! Would have been maybe $10 ish at the drugstore...DOH!

All day i had this lingering anxious feeling i didn't know why. We were set to fly out at 3pm getting in to Ottawa at 3:30pm their time. Well Air Canada cancelled their flight i had a moment for a second where i started to freak out. My eyes welled up and then it quickly passed with a sense of relief. It's like my body knew that the flight was going to be cancelled and that is why i was anxious! The reason they cancelled the flight was because the flight attendant jump seat was broken, and had been for days and they failed to fix it. Typical Air Canada. I must also mention that they cancelled after the Porter flight left which had room on it. Nice Air Canada...thanks! We could have flown with Porter instead.

Tone It Up Sister Maddie and i

We didn't let it phase us too much...everything happens for a reason so no need to freak out or get upset. Crappy thing was we only had two options wait and fly out of Moncton at 8pm and connect through TO and only get in to Ottawa at 1am! Yuck...no thanks OR be bused to St John and fly out of there connecting through Montreal getting in at 8:30pm. So we chose that. There was nowhere and no time to eat at the SJ airport so mom and i shared a box of my brown rice crackers i luckily brought with me for supper. There were also no options for gluten free me at the Montreal airport. Luckily i was so prepared with my food. I always travel with a lot of food. I never want to be stuck and starving!

My amazing Auntie Nell running with me for a bit

Luckily the Cold fx seemed to do the trick for the weekend it held my cold off and after sleeping 10 hours Friday night i felt much better on Saturday morning. Saturday morning i went for an easy 3km run with Brian; who is a friend we were staying with. It was a great run and hard to keep it slow and easy. Just as we got back my Auntie Nell got in. It was soooo great to see her and have her come support me! She drove in from their cottage in Peterborough.

We then went to eat The Green Door a a vegetarian restaurant that fellow Tone It Up Sister Maddie Cook suggested. My mom, Aunt, Norma (Brian's wife) and Diane met up with Maddie, her mom, sister and sister's friend. It was an amazing healthy lunch with tons of gluten free options! Yah. I had the best mocha vegan cheescake for dessert! Heaven! I don't remember what i had for lunch as it is buffet style. So i took little portions of everything to fill my plate up!

We then proceeded to the expo to pick up our race kits! We walked about 30 minutes or so to get there. It was a nice walk. Weather was great and it was sunny. After the expo we headed back to Norma's and she made a great pasta supper, gluten free pasta for me:)

Off to bed shortly after that as i had to get up at 5:40am. The race started at 7am and i needed to eat and we were to leave for the race at 6am to give me lot's of time to get there and to the start line. I ran into a little issue that morning though. I couldn't go # 2..ha ha maybe too much detail BUT hey...it's something a runner needs to do before a race or run in the morning. Well i do anyways. I tried 3 times no luck.

After one final bathroom attempt i headed to the start line about 5 min before the race started. And i was so amped up, anxious and nervous. I squeezed in with the 4 hr pace bunny and chased her for awhile and quickly lost her when i ran in to stomach issues at 20km and after 4km of them not passing i stopped at a porta potty at 24km. I then had to wait in line which sucked:( I really didn't want to but knew i had to. Finally success! Ha ha.

After that little pit stop i paced myself with the 4:15 pace bunny for awhile and then realized i needed to slow down so i didn't hit a wall. I think that may have been about 32km. I can't really remember. If you talk to anyone about a marathon they all say a marathon only starts the last 10km and boy are they right.

My amazing momma and i...much needed walk break

My Mom and Aunt met up with me at a few of the cheering stations and even took turns running with me which i really needed. They were so chatty and i just said sorry i can't talk and i really couldn't maintain a conversation. All my energy was focused on finishing that race. My mom ran the last 4km with me and that was amazing. Just having her there and her cheerful support. I took more walk breaks the last 4km and had a lot of pain and pressure in my hips and pelvis. Which was weird for me. And even though i walked a fair amount it actually hurt more to walk so i am not sure why i took so many walk breaks. The pressure was pretty intense but i wasn't going to let it stop me and i didn't.

I finished the Ottawa marathon in 4:37:25 when i first started my training i had hopes of finishing in 4 hrs but those were dashed when i seemed to get a bout of achilles tendonitis which actually surprisingly didn't bother me at all during the race. My heel felt stiff the last 10km but didn't hurt at all. I also recovered very quickly. My whole body was sore and exhausted after the race and Monday morning i was stiff but went for a 20 minute slow walk which i think helped a lot. By Tuesday my legs were pretty much all better just a little sore. And my hips and pelvis stopped hurting after i finished the race. Very odd!

Post race and still smiling

All in all the whole experience of the training and the marathon was worth it. I learned so much about my body and myself along the ride! And even though i thought it would be my first and last i now think that i may end up tackling another in the future. But not for a few years. Now it's time to work on speed and getting fast at 5km and 10km. Once i am happy with my pace i will train for another half. I love training for half's they are my favorite distance. But i really want to enjoy my summer and relax more and be finished with my runs quicker and not feel like i HAVE to run all the time. If i feel like i want to take a run off i can! As i am just working on speed and not really training for a big particular race.

I know this is a lengthy post. I toyed with the idea of doing a part 1 and 2...but nah here it all is! Enjoy. I do plan on buying some pictures from the race and will be getting the ones my Aunt took soon and i will also post those:) So keep your eyes peeled.

Marathon training and more lessons learned

Well i am getting VERY close to race day only 34 days to go. WOW i can't believe it's almost here. I don't feel quite ready yet! I have been battling some issues with Achilles tendinitis that started acting up back around Christmas but it wasn't until end of February that i finally got it looked at. I am not sure why it sprung up and hills sure seem to aggravate it more. I am fine to do a few hills during a long run but actually doing a training run with hills tweaks it a bit. It hasn't really been enough to stop me from running and now that i have new sneakers FINALLY it seems to be pretty good. I attempted hills this week for the first time in about a month and a bit. And it was fine during but i could feel it a little after. So i may just avoid hill training for the rest of my marathon training. I did a rolling hill long run today and i have already iced it a bit so i will see how it feels tonight/tomorrow and judge from there whether i will continue with a little hill training before 2 weeks of tapering.


Today's run was great but SLOW omg i haven't had such a slow pace in a long time. I woke up feeling really tired this morning even though i had almost 8 hours of sleep and as soon as i started my run my legs felt so heavy and i just couldn't get my pace up. A few times i was at my race pace 5:30 min/km but not for long. I don't think the hilly-ish run helped pace wise either. I kept looking at my garmin and seeing 6:30. Which seems to have been my pace for these high km runs the last little while. But then i looked down some other times and it was 6:50 - 7:00. I didn't really push much harder to get the speed up either as i didn't feel like my legs could do it. 


We stopped and stretched when we had about 4km or so to go and it seemed that after that i was able to pick my pace up! Weird. I have never really been one to stop and stretch part way through a run before. But perhaps i need to in the future when my legs are feeling that heavy. I also didn't really stretch before i started my run either. I normally don't really since my muscles are cool and i don't believe it's good for them to stretch before they are warmed up. Lot's of differing school's of thought on this one though! I am thinking next time i feel like my legs are heavy like that i will walk and/or jog a bit and then stop and stretch and then really start my run. Perhaps that is all i needed? Despite the run being tough i never really hit a wall probably because i wasn't pushing it as much as i should have been. Not that i want to hit a wall but i almost feel like i wasn't pushing as much as my body could take? Hard to know at this point. At the end of my run i was able to sprint at 3:30 for the last 200m. I have really been enjoying adding this sprint element into my training. It's something i have always done during races as soon as i see that finish line i just give'er and even when i don't think i have anything left in the tank i still manage to be able to do it. But considering how much stronger my finish was then the whole run i seem to think i didn't quite push enough and perhaps i should have stretched sooner. More lessons learned in my marathon training. 


That's the great thing about training for a marathon i have learned so much more about running and training as well as listening more to what my body needs. I will be able to take todays lessons and apply it to a future long run and see if it works and if not perhaps there is something else that will come to mind that will help. However at the same time i always keep in mind that sometimes you just have a junk run and thats ok! It makes you stronger mentally and it's still time and km's on your legs. That's what really matters in the long run. That you stuck to it and committed that truly is the biggest feat of them all. Marathon training is no joke! It is very time consuming, tiring and sometimes even painful, but in the end you come out a changed person and a better stronger runner!


I am excited for post marathon too i plan on working on my speed more and dialing back the mileage! While i love my long distances and especially half marathon's i really want to work on getting faster before i go back up to a half marathon and perhaps even another full marathon:) There truly is nothing like the feeling after finishing a 29km-32km run. You feel amazing for running that far. By far one of the best runner's high's i have ever had. I can only imagine how great it will feel to actually have completed 42.2km. In marathon training it's recommended to only go up to 32-35km. If you do any more you risk burning out before race day! They also recommend for a lot of first timers to only go up to 32km. So that's all i am doing:) The last 10km is purely mental anyways and after the few tough long runs i have had throughout my training i feel more than ready mentally to tackle the full marathon. Physically i feel like i need a bit more to get the time i want. We'll see though. All that matters in the end if that i have completed it!


I will leave you with a quote today that my friend Steph shared with me on facebook the other day. It is a wonderful thing to keep in mind when training for and racing a marathon.


"A marathoner is a marathoner regardless of time. Virtually everyone who tries the marathon has put in training over months, and it is that exercise and that commitment, physical and mental, that gives meaning to the medal, not just the day's effort, be it fast or slow. It's all in conquering the challenge." -Mary R. Wittenberg

Important lessons learned while training for a marathon

As most of you know i am training for my first full marathon, which is in Ottawa May 27th. So it's quickly approaching! I ran my first 29km yesterday and wow it felt great, craziest runner's high i ever have had during and after running! My Achilles tendonitis acted up a little between 10km-17km and would bug me on and off. It's getting rather annoying! I am doing all of my physio exercises but it's still not quite 100% but not enough pain to stop me from running. Don't worry my physio says it's ok to run (i'm not being dumb about an injury, lol). I truly think it's because i let my shoes wear down too much. I underpronate due to my high arches. Meaning when i run my feet land with my heels hitting the ground on the outside first and kind of roll outwards. People who have this gait tend to have issues with Achilles tendonitis, easily sprained anklse and plantar fasciitis. All issues i have suffered from! Anyways since my feet are so narrow i have to special order 2A width shoes. So i am anxiously waiting for them to come in. I feel that they will help a lot with my ankle!

Today my ankle is tender despite me icing and stretching lots yesterday. I think i will need to ice more tonight and i go to physio tomorrow morning. I learned some important lessons yesterday during  and after my 29km run that i want to share with you all in case you are training for or plan on training for a full marathon in the future! It's a lot different than training for a half that's for sure. Yesterday i got to a point where i felt hungry sick. Do any of you know what i mean by that? It's where you get so hungry that you feel sick. I seriously could not eat enough yesterday! I burned 1500 odd calories during my run and i need to eat approximately 2,000 a day for me to maintain my weight. I am not a calorie counter normally but yesterday i was trying to consume as much as i could and i still wasn't successful in eating enough. I ate only one bag of my Honey Stinger electrolyte chews during the run instead of the two i brought with me. Mistake # 1! I should have eaten both and listened to Steph's advice. But i just wasn't hungry during the run.

Mistake # 2 i had a glass of chocolate almond milk when i got home then showered. After the shower i was insanely hungry but had to make my skillet still. So in an effort to avoid the hungry sick i munched on some brown rice crackers to tide me over. I then couldn't finish my skillet! Odd for me. So i threw the rest away and then went to coffee with my friend Ally. I should have brought more carbs with me to have while at the coffee shop. I sadly can't eat anything there as there are no gluten free options. By the time i got home i was starving again! It had been 3 hours since my skillet, so this is another lesson after running 29km or more eat every 2 hours and as much as you can handle. So i ate some more brown rice crackers to tide me over while my berries thawed for my berries, greek yoghurt and Holy crap cereal. I didn't eat too many though as i didnt want to get too full.

Mistake # 3 i didn't nap yesterday or allow myself the time too. When you run 29km you need a nap your body is beat! So i laid down for a bit (my mom was on her way for dinner) and then the hungry sick feeling hit! I quickly got up and ate some more brown rice crackers. I should have had something else carb wise! Like toast or something like that. I felt a little better after but was sooooo tired. I made gluten free pizza for dinner for my mom and i. Very yummy! I had two large pieces and also had two gluten free beer while making supper. I don't know what it is but i crave beer like crazy after a long run. Probably for the carbs. After supper i was beat so i had an epsom salt bath and was in bed by 8:30. I was so tired and yet sleep didn't come:( I also didnt drink enough water yesterday. I had my normal 2 liters but that wasn't enough with my two coffees and the beer. So i had a headache too:( Finally at midnight i got up and drank a bunch of water which made me feel better and then i fell asleep.

Mistake # 4, having coffee at 1:30pm. I know myself well enough to know that i cannot have coffee after noon if i want to sleep. But i pushed it. So i think that contributed to a poor sleep as well. I didn't even want coffee this morning as i think i am still a little dehydrated. I have almost 1 liter down so far today and some Kombucha tea.

Today i am sore, tired and STARVING. I can't eat enough today already it seems. I had protein pancakes for breakfast and normally that will last me until 10 or 10:30. But by 9am i was starving. I waited until 10 am to have my snack though and i had two of the Tone It Up protein bars. I think i will run to the store on lunch and get some more food to last me through my day. I have leftover pizza for lunch, a protein smoothie for dessert and an apple and almonds for meal 4. But i don't think it'll be enough. Seriously i have never been so hungry. Today i plan on taking it easy and doing some really good stretching with the Yoga for runner's video from myyogaonline.com and then a short walk with Laila as well as some foam rolling. I need to do some active rest:) If i don't keep moving i will get even more sore!

Another lesson i learned and have been applying is to keep moving after a long run. Yes you want to be lazy and lay down all day but don't! Keep moving, walking, stretching etc. Still take that nap if you need it. I find i need it if it's 26km plus. Up to that i am usually ok. If you lay down all day and not move you will be even more sore! So move, eat and drink that H20 your body needs it:) For my running friends out there what advice and lessons learned do you have to share? Please comment below and share!

Have a great Monday! Yah for a short week! I have 32km planned for this Saturday so i will only be doing one run during the week on Wednesday. Normally i do two runs during the week but since i did 29km Sunday and back to Saturday long runs this Saturday i am giving my body a bit of a break! I don't want to hurt myself more or in another way and i want enough energy to get me through my long run Saturday!

Foodie PenPals REVEAL

Hi guys. So i have been waiting for what seems like all month to reveal my awesome package i got from Tamara from Port Moody, BC...check out her awesome blog here. You can also check out Kyla's blog too to see what i sent her:)

Tamara put a lot of thought into my food package and my allergy to gluten! She even contacted the makes of the Holy Crap cereal she got me to ensure that there was no risk of cross contamination in their factories! How sweet and thoughtful is that!

Here are my yummy goods!

So in my package pictured above from i got sundried tomatoes, maple butter, honey sticks, cashew Lara bars and Holy Crap cereal.

I have been wanting to try the Holy Crap cereal forever after hearing about the on the Dragon's Den, a CBC program where entrepaneurs go on and sell their product and try to get one or some or even all of the "dragons" on board to invest in their product! Holy Crap is made out in BC...check out their website if you want to know more information about their cereal! Can you tell this was my fav part of my awesome package? A serving is only 2 tbsp but wow is it filling. I find it more filling than the 1/4-1/2 cup of home made granola i was putting on my greek yoghurt with berries/banana. Which is my go to snack for meal 2 that tides me over until lunch time:) Oh and don't let the price tag scare you...yes it's pricey but since a serving is so small it goes a long way! I let the price tag scare me for too long! I really can't believe i went so long without trying it!

I have tried the San Remo sundried tomatoes as well in a salad, and they were a great addition. They are ready to eat i should have cut them up a little though before putting them in my salad i left them as the whole slices which was a little too much sundried tomato at once ha ha. I will have to try these again soon on my gluten free pizza crust and a sandwhich too!!! I have been slacking on trying my other goodies though. I have yet to try the honey sticks (which actually would have been great in my sicky tea this past weekend, i was really sick all last weekend). I also still have yet to try the cashew larabars and the maple butter too. I am sure i will love both though:)

And if you want to check out what i sent to my Foodie penpal check out Kyla McGillis's blog here.

So here are the deets if you want to participate yourself next month!!!

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions. -You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!  -The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination! -You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!) -Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.  -Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I'm going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada! If you’re interested in participating for April, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. You must submit your information by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th!

Foodie Fun

Anyone who knows me or follows my blog knows I am a little obsessed with food and eating clean so when I found out about Foodie Penpals a few months ago through my ever expanding twitter community (thanks to Tone It Up) i was intrigued but never really looked into it until last month and made the plunge to sign up for the Canadian program starting in March. Let me tell you when I finally read more into the program I was VERY excited. It’s  such a cool idea that it made me want to reach out to the founder and pick her brain on why and how she started it all.

Foodie Penpals was started by founder Lindsay Livingston of The Lean Green Bean blog back in September 2011.

"The idea first popped into my head after receiving some sort of sample box of foods in the mail. It got me thinking about how much I love getting mail and how fun it would be to mail some foods to other bloggers." said Lindsay

It started with 30 participants in the US and in a few short months it's expanded to Canada and the UK and to over 350 bloggers and readers.

"Each month since then we've pretty much doubled but I never thought that I'd be connecting 350 people in only 6 months!"

The premise of the program is a no brainer for foodies. Lindsay keeps track of all the bloggers and readers who want to participate in a spreadsheet and matches them to their penpals. You will get one person but that person won't get you. On the 5th of the month you get your matches along with emails indicating you need to contact your penpal within 72 hours to find out any dietary restrictions, food preferences etc. The max you can spend on the food for your box is $15 and you must get your box in the mail by the 15^th of the month to ensure that your penpal gets it by the end of the month. After you get your box you must blog at the end of the month on the day indicated by Lindsay in her emails. As a reader you can choose to guest blog or not blog at all!

If you are a baker like me you can include some of your baked goodies too! Keeping in mind food allergies of course. While I think this is a wonderful idea I don't think I would risk getting any baked goods due to my sensitivity to gluten cross contamination, unless I got someone in the same boat as me.

Lindsay knows her way around the kitchen "I'm constantly baking stuff in the kitchen and then looking for people to give it away to so I don't eat it all myself! This was the perfect excuse to send out some homemade goodies along with other foodie stuff"

From reading through her blog you would think that the head of Foodie Penpals has always loved baking and cooking. But she wasn't always a foodie.

"I used to be world's pickiest eater as a child. I lived on Cheerios and mac and cheese. I guess it was probably senior year of college, when I first had an apartment to cook in that I started really liking food."

Although her love for cereal hasn’t changed “I eat about 3 bowls a day. If I go more than 3 days without it I get serious withdrawals”.  Her eating habits have dramatically.

She now loves to meal plan and cook meals at home. This has led her to her most recent endeavor, going back to school to become a registered dietician.

"I love teaching people about making healthy choices. I taught preschool after I graduated (college) and 1/2 the kids in my class had never even tasted a bell pepper before. I realized they weren't getting the nutrition education they needed."

She's right it all starts with our children and teaching them how to fuel their bodies at a young age. Kudos to you Lindsay:)

For more information about Foodie penpals click here. Make sure you check out the rest of her blog as well while you are there. I can't wait to reveal what my foodie penpal sends me at the end of the month! Stay tuned! Let me know if you decide to sign up as well.

Thanks for taking the time and doing the interview with me Lindsay!! Lindsay is a busy bee…she not only has school, she works 3 nights a week as a diet aide, blogs daily, runs the Foodie Penpals program and is a momma with her hubby to their furbabies 2 cats and 2 dogs!

Winter blahs circuits

I am still loving circuit training and it definately keeps workouts different and interesting. Tonight i did 4 different circuits 3 i made up and one is one of my fav's from Tone it up. The Beach bum workout, check it out here. So today i wanted to work on my plyo (something i am loving lately and it's helping making me stronger for my running), upper body, glutes and core! I will list the circuits in the order i did them but you can switch them around if you want or just pick a few that you want to do! All the cirucits took me an hr and 15 min.

Burn those lungs plyo

Do each move for 30 seconds and then take a 15 second break between moves. Complete cirucit 2 times for a quick plyo workout that takes about x minutes or more if you want a longer cardio workout

1. Run in place or around the area you are working out in

2. Squat jumps Go down into a squat position and explodejump up then land softly in a squat position and repeat. Make sure your knees stay in line with your ankles and don't go over your toes

3. Split jumps or jumping lunges Go down into the lunge position and jump up switching legs and go down into a lunge on the other side and repeat

4. Burpees Check out what they are here at the 5:19 mark

5. Ankle hops Balance on your toes and jump forward and back this move is great for runners as it strengthens your whole lower body as well as your ankles thus preventing injuries

6. Speed skaters 

8. Mountain climbers Check them out here at the 3:08 mark

Work those guns Repeat this circuit 3 times through

1. Medicine ball push up Have one hand up on a medicine ball and go down into a push up when you come back up roll it quickly over to the other side and go down into a push up again. Repeat 10-16 reps

2. Alternating bicep curl Your standard bicep curl complete 15-20 per side

3. Down dog shoulder push up If you don't know what that is check out this link at the 5:50 mark. Complete 15 reps

4. Dips on a bench or coffee table Complete 15 reps

5. Upright row If you don't know what this is check out this link at the 1:00 mark...but just do the shoulder part not the deadlift

6. Reverse fly Bent over with your knees slightly bent and raise weights out to sides in a fly position

Then i did the Beach bum workout...link is above!

Core shaker Repeat this circuit 3 times through

1. Stability ball ab tucks Click here and watch at the 3:37 mark. 15 reps

2. Stability ball roll out Check out what i mean here at the 3:00 mark. 15 reps

3. V-sit twist with medicine ball You can see what this is here. But use a medicine ball instead of a weight if possible. 15 reps each side so 30 in total

4. Upper ab crunch with medicine ball Lay on your back and put your legs straight up feet towards the ceiling hold medicine ball up and try to touch your toes. 15-20 reps

5. Medicine ball chops Not sure what this is check out here. 10-15 reps per side.


Try them out and let me know how you like them!

**Please note that i am not a personal trainer however i have many years experience working out. Perform the exercises listed above at your own risk. Please consult a physician prior to starting an exercise regime to ensure that you are physical fit to work out.**

Gluten free chicken pot pie

Hi all. I meant to publish this back in the beginning of January but time got away from me again. The recipe made a lot of filling so i froze some of it and i left it out to thaw today for tonight's easy peasy dinner. All i will have to do it heat up the filling in a pot while i make the crust. Top with the crust and bake for about 15 min. The recipe is a gluten recipe that i altered:)

Pre heat the oven to 420 degrees

Ingredients:

-I don't really give the amount of veggies as you can really add as much as you want. I like a ton of veggies and i think it was about 8 cups worth when i originally made this recipe.
Carrots (about 4 i think) sliced
Corn (1 can of low sodium corn)
Peas ( about 2 cups)
Celery (4 stalks) sliced
1 Onion chopped
Mixed peppers diced (about 3 cups
3 Garlic cloves minced
1 tsp Sage
1 tsp Thyme
Cracked pepper
1 cup cubed potatoes
2-3 chicken breasts
2 cups of gluten free flours (you can mix whatever your favorites are, or if you aren't gluten free use spelt or some whole grain flour)
4 Tbsp Earth balance spread or coconut butter
3/4 cup Plain almond milk (tonight i only needed 1/2 cup and i think it's because i used almond flour)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup gluten free veggie or chicken stock
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum (if your are using gluten free flours)
1 tbs of cornstarch

Instructions:


Boil 1 cup of cubed potatoes to add in once cooked

Cook about 2-3 chicken breasts in olive oil as well.

Saute all your veggies with olive oil or coconut oil

Melt 1 table spoon of earth balance in a skillet add cornstarch then veggie or chicken stock. Bring this to a boil and then reduce then add to the wok with the rest of the ingredients


For the crust:

To prepare the biscuit dough, mix 2 cups of gluten free flour (tonight i used 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup tapioca starch, 1/2 cup almond meal and 1/2 cup quinoa flour), 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 tbs of baking powder. then add 3 tbs of vegan butter and mix in with a fork. then add 3/4 cup of almond milk (tonight i only needed 1/2 cup i think it was because of the almond flour it is moister than most flours) a little at a time so you don't add too much and then make a dough with the mixture.

Add the wok content to a 2 inch deep 9x9 baking dish. spread the dough evenly on top of it. bake for 15 mins.

The finished product

Wow so i must admit the blend of flours i used tonight made this crust AMAZING! It's even a little flaky like it's gluten counter part!


Let me know if you try this recipe! Definitely a keeper! I recommend to do what i do as a time saver make a huge batch of the mixture so you can thaw in the middle of the week for a great easy quick supper! I do the same when i make stuffed peppers as well i freeze the mixture and then i just thaw and stuff at night! I will try to post that recipe soon too!

No sugar challenge starting Monday Jan 23rd

Ok confession time, i friggen love my "healthy/cleaner" sugars stevia, maple syrup, honey and even molasses from time to time. I crave sugar a fair amount and make sweet but healthy treats for my week every sunday. I have noticed that i have been adding more and more stevia to my morning coffee lately and craving it even more. What spurred me on to challenge myself to a 7 day no sugar challenge was reading Tosca Reno's article on sugar today, she calls it the white poison, the legal cocaine (since it's so addicting). Check out her article here. I also started following Gracious Pantry, a blog full of clean recipes on twitter a few months ago and noticed lots of "no sugar challenge" recipes being posted. So i am tweaking her idea of the no sugar challenge and putting my own spin on it. But if you guys want to join me here is the link to her challenge here for recipes and ideas.

What has spurred me on to do this is the fact that i can't workout right now due to my injury so i want to make sure i treat my body right and give it lot's of clean good nutrients to help it heal and hey a little challenge will help keep me motivated and inspired while i heal and prevent me from getting down due to not getting my workouts in.

I tweeted about this on twitter to see how many of the Tone It Up girls i can get involved in this to help keep me on track and keep me accountable. Plus it's so much more fun doing something with a bunch of friends and girls who love eating clean, working out as much as i do.

Ok so here are the rules (many adapted from Gracious pantries challenge):

1.No sugar of any kind even clean varieties (brown rice syrup, honey, maple syrup, agave (which im questioning the healthy-ness of lately due to how its refined and processed), molasses, stevia, organic cane sugar, sucanat. Check your labels sugar can be hidden in a lot of foods. Maybe this challenge will help me kick my ketchup habit! Here is a complete list of the names sugar can hide under as well as the actual names.

**No sugar means no added sugar. So sugars naturally occurring in milk, yogurt and fruit is ok. So when you are looking at your nutrition labels look for actual sugar not just the % of sugar.

Update:
**I am trying to recover after my injury as well so i will need my protein powder still which has a little stevia in it. So i have decided that this is ok since it's vital for me to get my protein so my body heals as quickly as possible. So you can choose to still use your protein powder, or even use plain. I am choosing not to spend my money on plain Sun Warrior protein since i have vanilla already. This challenge is meant to reset your taste buds and detox from sugar/stevia but i feel the small amount that is in my protein powder won't steer me away from this goal.

2. 3 servings of fruit a day. Fruit is great for you in it's whole form. Juices even pomegranate are delicious but don't have the fiber content fruit does in it's whole state so your body digests it the same as processed sugars.

3. Drink one tone it up inspired smoothie a day to get lot's of nutrients in and making eating no sugar a little easier. If you put fruit in your smoothie it counts towards your 3 serving limit for the day.

3. No drinking juices even natural fruit ones since they act like regular processed sugar does in the body.

Remember as the Tone it up girls say "You can do anything for 7 days". That being said though i may extend it to 14 days depending on how i feel after the 7 days:) The Gracious Pantry challenge is 2 weeks. But i wanted to try it for one week first as it doesn't seem as difficult and i have a feeling we'll all want to continue after a week!

Who's in? Comment and sign up below in the comment section so i can make a list of who's in to keep us all accountable!

Listen to your body

Listening to your body, easier said than done most times. I thought i was a lot better at it since i have suffered through a few injuries over the years and once had to take 3 weeks off the gym to let my body heal because i kept pushing through the pain. Well i sort of learned not to push myself running wise, kinda. I fell at work VERY hard on Jan 3rd. The parking lot was very icy and i knew it. I was wearing my new awesome winter boots (practical footwear for our atlantic canadian winters) and i was shuffling along the ice, clearly not salted! UGGG. And bam i fell so hard on my left hip. I couldn't even get up for a good 5 minutes. Three ladies rushed over to my aid, all wearing heels of course (ironic). They picked up all my bags (yes i bring a lot to work my lunch cooler, my purse, my laptop and a bag with my shoes to wear inside since i am smart and sport my awesome super warm winter boots).

I was in a lot of pain after i slowly went up to my floor where i work. The first thing i did was call the chiro to get in to get looked at. I knew something wasn't right. I had a lot of pain and pressure at my belt line of my pelvis from left to right. So off i went to the chiro and turns out i knocked my pelvis out of alignment. So good thing i went right away! 

I didn't run until Saturday that week and thought i gave myself ample time to recover. I still did some pilates, yoga, abs and upper body work. Saturday i set out for a 18km run with Stephanie. And during the run i felt pain where my SI joint was. Something i never heard about before. Steph knew about it as her hubby used to play football and has had issues with it before and her brother still plays and has had issues with his too. This is a common issue/injury for football players since they get hit and fall so much. Their SI joints get shoved out of place and sometimes it can take a lot of therapy to get it to stay back in. I only felt the pain for about 10 minutes and ran through it. 

Us runners think we can run through pain which is our downfall more often than not. While yes it's true you can run through some pain but more often than not we need to let go of our egos and just friggen stop sometimes and listen to our bodies already! But again easier said than done. Runners are a special breed and stubborn at best. So i kept working out and pushed it too much. I ran hills a week and a half ago with Steph and omg the nagging pressure on my belt line wasn't good...but it didn't hurt so i didn't stop, the next night i did some awesome plyo workouts called POP cardio and POP HIIT by Blogilates blogger/pilates instructor Cassey Ho. Who is awesome at kicking your ass by the way. So check her out if you haven't already. Her workouts are WAY harder than they look and you can do them at home or anywhere! SCORE! 

Anyways back to me and my ego getting in the way. I felt pressure and pain while i was doing the plyo stuff and worked through it and told my chiro and he said that wasn't good and to stop. He said no running, leg work or jumping. Ok i can handle that. Well even though i was "taking it easy" for me what i was doing for my modified workouts created a chain reaction affect of issues in my body. Yesterday i was in so much pain EVERYWHERE. My pelvis keeps getting pulled out due to spasms in my SI joints as well as my Q3 (located in the lower part of your spinal column). So working out was making my body really start to freak out. Due to the imbalance of my pelvis being out my mid back/spine/vertebrae started to get a lot of pressure and hurt a ton and then that made my ribs cranky and caused pressure all the way in my upper abs/ribs. As well due to my lower back issues in my Q3 my obliques were freaking out too and then the front part of my pelvis too...i never knew about the muscles under my pelvis but holy moly after having them pressed on i know they are there now! Now this is what i understand from my chiro. May not and probably isn't totally correct. It was a lot of information to digest but i want to understand what is going on with my body. 

So that being said i had to take yesterday and today off work as sitting in a chair all day is killing me. And just contributing to my slow healing as well. So i am now being forced to take time off from working out until i am healed up. I don't know how long it will take. I am hoping not too long. I am permitted and advised to stretch and foam roll my tight muscles out and do some light yoga as well as plank, side planks and bridge pulses. But honestly i don't even want to work out at all right now. I am scared i'll set myself back more. So for the next few days i'll be stretching and foam rolling but i think that will be the extent of it until i feel better! I am not in as much pain as i was yesterday so that makes me positive.

The lesson i have learned from this is that i need to take time off from the get go when i get injured. I need to listen to my body more or it will totally freak out and start a chain reaction of hurting in other ways. Yes it sucks taking time off from what you love and your passion. But the amount of time off at the beginning will save you having to take an undetermined amount of time off later. Better to heal first and work out later. Then work out now and heal for what feels like eternity later. While i am better at taking time off and not pushing through as much as i was i still need to work on listening to my body more from the get go.