Jul 31, 2011

Dinner at Brassaii

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I have a serious case of post-Body Pump soreness this morning – my glutes, hamstrings, quads and chest are seriously pissed at me right now for putting them through that yesterday!

Body Pump pain aside, I am thoroughly enjoying my long weekend. Last night, Josh and I had dinner at Brassaii on Queen West. We’d first gone there three and a half years ago for Valentine’s Day and always planned to go back. Josh recently found a Groupon for $60 worth of food there so our return was long overdue.

We hit traffic on the drive into the city thanks to Caribana the Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival (aka the worst thing that’s ever happened to a name since the SkyDome became the Rogers’ Centre). The traffic had nothing to do with actual volume, it was just slower than usual because of jerks like me who insisted on slowing down to catch a glimpse of the parade.
 

I’ve never been to Caribana but my sister was once in the parade. We still have her costume somewhere. I totally should’ve worn it out last night!

At Brassaii, we sat on the patio and ordered some drinks to start. I guess Josh and I were both feeling carnivorous cause we both ordered big slabs of meat for our entrees. I ordered the bison, which was served with swiss chard and a lone lobster ravioli (random).

Josh ordered the beef tenderloin, which came with fois gras, mushrooms and potato gratin.

Neither of our meals are particularly photogenic but they were tasty. I’d recommend the beef over the bison – it was way more tender and the dollop of fat on top was a nice addition ;)

Nothing on the dessert menu really stood out so we walked around in search of a good dessert option. I was really craving something sweet and wasn’t willing to settle for just anything. We decided that crepes would do the trick. Mine was filled with nutella and strawberries (can you believe I hadn’t had nutella in years before last night?) while Josh’s had strawberries and shaved coconut.

We probably should have shared one since neither of us finished but at least I left with my sweet tooth taken care of.

I know a lot of people like to indulge in one little treat every day. The thing is, small treats don’t leave me satisfied (a single cookie or a mini cupcake just doesn’t do it for me) so I’d rather save my “fun” calories for one big splurge every week.

What’s your indulgence style – small daily treat or balls out weekly splurge?

Filed Under: Dining Out · Tagged: , , ,
Jul 30, 2011

Costco Fail and Other Weekly Highlights

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Good morning and happy long weekend to my fellow Canadians.

The majority of last week was spent wrapped up in this:

I couldn’t put this book down. The basic premise is this: guy gets a letter telling him to think of a number between one and a thousand. He does as instructed and the letter writer somehow guesses the number. Guy gets murdered. Turns out, others have received the same letter and met with the same fate, prompting a search for a serial killer.

The best part about this book is discovering how the killer was able to guess the correct number for all of the victims. If you like twisted thrillers that keep you guessing, this is a great choice. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in this series… when it comes out in paperback. Cause I’m cheap.

Speaking of being cheap, this week I experienced my first trip to Costco.

That’s right. Up until Tuesday, when I went with Josh to pick up a few things for a family barbecue at his mom’s house, I had never set foot inside a Costco. The first thing that struck me about this store is that it’s like being inside a giant maze. They make it impossible to find what you’re looking for, probably so that you’ll be tempted by all sorts of useless junk that you never would have come across had you not been wandering around aimlessly. Like the year’s supply of beef jerkey I almost bought.

Well, given my predilection for eating spoonfuls of almond butter right out of the jar, you can imagine how thrilled I was to find this ginormous jar of MaraNatha almond butter for the same price I normally spend on a jar half the size at Whole Foods.

Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let Josh use his mom’s membership card and we were rejected at the cashier. They were really mean about it too. Like relax guys, we were just trying to buy a few groceries on his mom’s behalf, it’s not a matter of national security or anything. And you really should’ve taken our money considering the number of Krispy Kreme samples we helped ourselves too. Your loss.

Besides, I fully intend to go back with Josh’s mom to get my almond butter so y’all were just delaying the inevitable. I will get my discounted almond butter and I will never pay $50 join your stupid club. Take that, Costco Mississauga!

Exercise

Sunday RPM
Monday Body Pump + 3K Easy Run
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday 8K Tempo Run
Thursday Body Flow
Friday 11K Run
Saturday Body Pump

The first thing that probably jumps out at you (if you’ve been reading for a while) is the lack of New Rules of Lifting for Women workouts. I hurt myself doing Workout A last Thursday, which got me wondering if I should put the whole program on hold for the next two months while I train for my half marathon. I don’t want to overtrain and I’m concerned about injuring myself by trying to do too much at once. 

I decided to pick the brain of a friend of mine who’s a personal trainer and whose opinion I trust completely based on past advice she’s given me. She advised me to continue to strength train two days a week but don’t make any major increases in weight or do anything that my body isn’t already used to. That way, I’ll avoid overtraining and injuring myself but still maintain muscle mass while training for the half marathon.

Part of me will feel like I’m quitting if I put the program on hold but I also want to really focus on improving my running until the end of September. I still haven’t decided yet but either way I’m not going to beat myself up over it. I’m a fickle exerciser – I already knew that about myself awhile ago. I go through phases where I throw all of my energy into a particular workout, get bored with it after a few months, get really enthusiastic about something else and the cycle starts all over again.

Right now, I’m having a lot of fun with running so I’m just gonna… well, run with it. I might not be consistent with the types of workouts I do but I owe myself some credit – I am consistent at being fit, period.

How about you? Is there a particular workout that you stick to religiously or do you go through workout phases?

Filed Under: Running, Strength Training · Tagged: , , ,
Jul 29, 2011

My First Real Run

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During this morning’s run, my mind was wandering (as it often does when I’m running) and I got to thinking about my first “real” run. What do I mean by that?

Well, prior to the run in question, running was something I did as a last resort when I couldn’t fit a cardio class into my schedule. When that happened, I’d head out on a short 5 kilometre route around my neighbourhood and would usually walk for about half of it. I made no effort to improve my distance or speed. The idea was to just get through it so I could say I got in a workout that day.

Then, in May of last year, Josh and some of his co-workers signed up for a half marathon in Whitby. On race day, I went with him to cheer him on, spent about an hour and a half reading a book at Tim Hortons then went to the finish line to greet him there. I was so proud of him when he crossed the finish line although nothing about the expression on his face sparked any desire within me to ever attempt such a feat:

Josh after completing his first half marathon
Josh and his co-workers (and their supporters) after crossing the finish line

After a barbecue at his co-worker’s house, Josh came back to my place and took a well-deserved nap. Since I had missed my morning workout to go to Whitby with him, I decided to go for a quick run/walk while he slept.

I set out to do my usual 5K route, but this time it was different. When I got to the point where I’d usually start walking, I decided to keep going. I thought to myself, “if all of those people – many of whom are not runners or even regular exercisers — could finish a half-marathon, there was no reason why I shouldn’t be able to run 5 kilometres without stopping.” And that’s exactly what I did.

So what changed? Was I any more fit at that moment than the previous times I’d gone out for a run? Nope. The only thing that changed was my mindset. I committed to finishing that run and once I decided to do it, nothing was going to stop me.

I remember getting home and being so excited to tell Josh I’d finally run 5K without stopping to walk. I felt good about myself and that motivated me to continue improving. A month later, I signed up for a 10K and spent the next two months gradually increasing my distance until I could run 10 kilometres without stopping.

After the 10K, I continued running for a few months but then it got cold outside and I stopped. Now that it’s summer again, I’m once again enjoying the challenge of increasing my distance a little bit more every week. And I owe it all to that one little run… (and to Josh for being a badass and running a half-marathon!)

Question for runners: What was a turning point for you on your journey to becoming a runner?

Filed Under: Motivation, Running · Tagged: ,
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