Mind, Motion & Matter

Running, Essentially . . .

Category Archives: Masters Running


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Here, There & Everywhere

That’s how the day felt.  I got to work early for a three-hour shift leaving before noon to head out to Scarborough via TTC for a funeral.  I barely knew the deceased but was happy to be pay my respects to the family of my step-grandfather, the only grandfather, on my mother’s side, that we knew.

I got a ride back from my brother and he dropped me off on Queen Street West.  I picked up a gift certificate from the Australian Boot Company where I bought my Blundstone boots, their contribution to the gala Silent Auction.  Then I had a quick lunch at Sweet Lulu’s, a Pad Thai’ish, design-your-own noodle dish, had a peek at The Paper Place, formerly the Japanese Paper store and then home with a short stopover at Starbuck’s for a latte.  I did some work and then got ready for my first outdoor track workout of the year at Varsity Stadium.

I checked the forecast before leaving, 17C with wind gusts up to 69K!  The wind was very fierce at times, and I saw a large flat piece of wood fly onto the hood of a car.  With this strong wind at my back, I was not looking forward to the post-workout jog home into the wind.

The workout consisted of 6 x 600 meters with a 90 second recovery.  It was quite a huff and puff effort but it felt good to feel my legs turn over quickly.    In spite of missing a speed session last week, I felt fairly sharp so perhaps my speed is on the rise.   The circuits felt easier, due to the notable absence of the dreaded hopping up stairs from same leg to same leg. There is something refreshing and dreamy about lying on your back doing a stretch, looking at the great expanse of sky from a large field in the middle of downtown Toronto. However, there is something disgusting about lying on this same track and noticing that the there are numerous cigarette butts and matches littered about on the astroturf.

Thankfully, the wind had died down on the way home and it wasn’t half bad.  Waiting for me was a meal of Osso Bucco prepare by our resident chef, Alain.  I have a good life.


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Ready, Set . . . BAKE

Alarm went off at 6 a.m. and I dozed back to sleep, waking after 7 a.m. and having to be out of the house for 7:30 a.m.  I considered deferring this longer run to Sunday but roused myself and plodded up the hill to St. Clair.  I was late but had sent an alert by email and BlackBerry Messenger to my companions.  It was only around mile 12 that I began to feel perky.  Miles run for the day, fifteen.

The cause of early morning sluggishness was a later than usual night due to my first ever bake-a-thon.  Leading up to our May 3rd, Gala my calendar of activities will be severely constrained to Easter dinner or event planning task sessions or meetings or runs.

Get set . . . bake!

My dear friend Dolores and I over the course of nearly 6 hours baked about 28 dozen cookies!  We discovered this to be a relaxing and rewarding way to spend time together.  Although early on as I exercised some quality control advice from my 30 years or more of making this particular cookie type, Dolores may have wondered what she had got herself into.  But she patiently heeded my instructions with appreciation for the fact that magnification of a slight over-size cookie could result in a  shortfall at the end of the evening.  Our minimum target was 300.

Batch #2 with 2 1/2 pounds of butter.

It didn’t take long for us to get into a groove and the afternoon and evening flew by, punctuated by a vegetarian dinner of Spanish Bulgur, a classic recipe from Diet for a Small Planet. Together we were able to nearly finish the whole mega-batch of 11 times the usual recipe for Mexican Tea Cakes from a Betty Crocker Cookie Book that was given to me by an aunt around 1967.

The Finished Product

We lamented the fact that our friend Robyn who is suffering from the severe sleep deprivation of mom-hood was unable to join us but felt good that the two of us had pulled it off.  And where will these cookies go you may ask?  Each gala guest will receive in their goodie bag two cookies, lovingly prepared by Dolores and Lynn.

Tulips for the Assistant Baker


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Baking not Blogging

Sunnyside Beach not so sunny.

Yesterday, making all the pieces of my day fit together meant arriving at work super-early, running from work, along the lake, through High Park and a brief interlude at home followed by dashing off to a meeting at C-5  with the bandleader of Ethio Fidel Jazz band who will perform at our gala People4Kids.

The day got off to a sweet start as we got an early morning delivery of chocolate from CAMINO fair trade, organic chocolate destined for Gala goodie bags.  We received this note from CAMINO.  WooHoo!

Thank you for considering us as sponsors for your event. We are truly impressed with all your hard work and dedication towards orphaned children affected by AIDS in Ethiopia. We are happy to be able to contribute a small gift for your gala. We are able to offer you 300 chocolate minis (55% dark).

I just popped a chocolate into my mouth and yes, yum, it is superfine stuff.  Thanks Camino chocolate, you are the best!  I’ll also be seeking out their chocolate coconut bar.

Western Horizon seen from Sunnyside Beach

The foggy dew of the morning evolved into an atmospheric mistiness over the lake in the afternoon.  I took the beach shots just before starting the 12 x 200 meter pick-ups with 75 second recovery.  When I remarked to my coach that it was a fun workout, he confided that it is one of his favourites.  My coach, a former Olympian also holds some world records for his age group in the 800 meters.  I gather that one of his training secrets is circuit training which includes hopping up stairs on one foot.

On the heels of my workout I bounded breathlessly into our local Starbuck’s at College and Dovercourt to be greeted by the manager who told me that yes, Starbuck’s will donate a $75 gift basket to the Gala.  This manager is very excited about the opportunity she will have next week to meet Howard Schultz of Starbuck’s.

C5 Charcuterie Plate

As for food I added shredded apple and orange juice to my carrot oatmeal to improve on the “fruitlessness” of Wednesday. Also consumed through the day was; 1 bottle YOP, Activa yogurt (2.9% MF), peanut butter and banana sandwich, portion of a large charcuterie platter and that is it.  Not much really as my appetite is still a little curtailed and I’m feeling about 90%.  A nurse who is part of the team looking into the illness incurred by me and many last Friday was quite interested to hear that I had previously been struck down by the Norwalk virus.

Apple, Carrot, Orange Juice Oatmeal

After returning from C5, I was inspired by the sight of 4 very ripe bananas to bake banana bread for a friend’s visit.  Well, actually she will put to work, helping me to bake 30 dozen cookies.  After baking I was completely out of gas.  Time for bed – blog or no blog.

To Blog or To Bake Banana Bread

p.s.  I just got off the phone with Dufflet pastry and they are donating a cake certificate to the silent auction.  Life is sweet! But — will my friend feel the same way after helping me bake 30 dozen cookies?


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A Carrot a Day

In my effort to be more focused on healthy eating, I’ll be blogging a bit about what I’m eating.  Actually, I’ve probably exaggerated the state of affairs as 1) Both my husband and I have given alcohol up for Lent (with a couple of exceptions) over the last four weeks and 2) My breakfasts have been consistently healthy.

Ever since I discovered the recipe for Carrot Cake Oatmeal on my friend’s blog in December, I’ve been having this for breakfast six out of seven mornings a week.  For the 4th or 5th time I encourage you to try give this a try!  CLICK HERE for the original recipe and more photos of this breakfast superfood.

Ingredients for a Healthy Breakfast

It has now become a morning ritual to grate carrots to add to my oatmeal.  Quickie recipe for 1 person: 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cups grated carrot, 1 cup milk or almond milk or soy milk, a dash of cinnamon and a bit of vanilla.  Then cook at high in the microwave for 6 minutes in a very large bowl.  Add an extra minute for every every portion cooked.  Check out my previous blogs on Carrot Cake Oatmeal to see all the fancy stuff you can do with the recipe.

My lunch was a wrap with chicken, cheese, cucumber, lettuce and tomato and a glass of diet ginger ale.  The ubiquitous staff birthday cake appeared and I had a piece of somewhat synthetic chocolate cake.  I confess, that I had a piece larger than the one initially offered since I was asked if I wanted a larger one and I said yes.  I had a latte from The Communal Mule and then picked up a Tim Horton’s carrot muffin (free due to husband’s roll-up-the-rim prize earnings) on the way home. For dinner I had a bowl of instant miso soup and three slices of cold pizza (artisanal style, cheese & tomato sauce)  left over from Monday’s lunch at Pizzeria Libretto on Ossington.  As I review my day I see that I’m a little short on fruit but all in all, it could be worse but still lots of room for improvement.

I ran 5 miles this morning and felt quite comfortable.  I’m on the mend.  And, breaking news . . . apparently, many people got sick at the event I attended on Friday and there has been talk that it might be the Norwalk Virus.  Something airborne is suspected and authorities are investigating.  I’ve already had the Norwalk Virus and I’m told you can only have it once so perhaps I should be letting someone know this?  My husband, my son and I all caught it one year when we visited my mother-in-law in her nursing home.  My father-in-law got it as well and our holiday visit to Edmonton was rather a dismal one.   The Norwalk Virus was 20 times as bad as what I had over the weekend.

I’m so happy to be healthy again.  A toast to health, yours and mine.

“The first wealth is health.” Ralph Waldo Emerson


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Back to Basics, A Three Mile Run

Last night I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. feeling quite exhausted and with a bit of indigestion.  Although, a mere sliver of the discomfort that I felt the evening before while in the throes of food poisoning.  I have only myself to blame for the indigestion in being less prudent than one should be the day following illness.   For lunch I had a slice of pizza, an arugula, pear and walnut salad and vanilla ice cream.  I had intended to eat lightly and blandly but I was seduced by the lunch special at a new pizza cafe on Ossington avenue.

Because I run at least 40 miles a week and quite a bit more at times, I don’t have to be too careful about what I eat.  I also have a pretty sturdy stomach and a good appetite.  Was illness my payback for stealing the tidbit of prime rib my husband had sliced off for himself after dinner while cleaning up and before putting the roast in the fridge?  I think it is going to be a very long time before I feel in the mood to eat roast beef as it is high on the list of poisoned food culprits, along with the ham sandwich I bought at a tiny snack bar and a danish with a mushy cream cheese centre stored unrefrigerated. A bout of illness is a good motivator to think more seriously about diet.

I woke this morning at 5:30 a.m. and the first thing I said to my husband (even though I wasn’t sure he was awake) was, “Wanna run together?”  He is not a morning person so I won’t go into the details of his initial reaction but run we did. It has been quite awhile since we’ve been able to share a run with his limited routine due to his torn meniscus but three miles was the perfect distance for us both today.

It felt fantastic to get out and move!  It was better than a massage to get those joints and muscles in motion and the sensation of all that blood flow propelled me back to feeling a sense of well-being in short order.  Ah, running . . . how I love thee, let me count the ways.


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Sick Day, Third Missed Run of 2011

I felt fine last night although tired from my 14 miler as well as a solid day of work.  Then, I woke at 3:00 a.m. with what seemed to be food poisoning but now I’m thinking some kind of flu as the sick stomach symptoms subsided by around 10 a.m. but I’m extremely achy and tired.  I also felt a bit delirious with thoughts swirling in my head like a whirlpool.

While trying to keep warm on the couch near our 3rd floor bathroom, I found myself imagining how terrible homelessness must be.  A warm bed with plenty of blankets, a state-of-grace, to say the least.

We had planned to visit our roommate Alain’s restaurant for brunch this morning as it is their first ever brunch.  As well there was a very slight chance that we might be offered tickets for the Raptor’s game, to be viewed from an Executive Suite.  But I’ll be happy for the return of simple health and a comfortable sleep.  A ordinary blessing to give thanks for.  When we do make it to MIDI BISTRO for brunch, I’ll be savouring that moment.


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George Sheehan’s Important Running Tips

Here are 10 of 20 tips from the guru of the first-wave boomer, running boom. CLICK HERE to see all George Sheehan’s Tips

1) Keep a record of your morning pulse. Lie in bed for a few minutes after you awaken and then take your pulse. As your training progresses, it will gradually become slower and after three months or so plateau out. From then on, if you awaken and find a rate of 10 or more beats higher, you have not recovered from your previous day’s runs, races or stresses. Take the day or more off until the pulse returns to normal.

2) Do your exercises daily. The more you run, the more muscle imbalance occurs. The calf, hamstrings (back thigh) and low back muscles become short, tight and inflexible. They have to be stretched. On the other hand the shins, the quads (front thigh) and the belly muscles become relatively weak. They must be strengthened. Learn the Magic Six: Three strengthening exercises, three stretching exercises.

3) Eat to run. Eat a good high-protein breakfast, then have a light lunch. Run on an empty stomach at least two, preferably three hours after your last meal. Save the carbohydrates for the meal after the run to replenish the muscle sugar.

4) Drink plenty of fluids. Take sugar-free drinks up to 15 minutes before running. Then take 12 to 16 ounces of easily tolerated juices, tea with honey or sugar, defizzed Coke, etc. before setting out. In winter that should be all you need.

5) Find your shoes and stick to them. High-arch feet do better with narrow heels. Morton’s Foot (short big toe, long second toe) may need an arch support in the shoe. If a shoe works, train in it, and wear it to work

6) The fitness equation is 30 minutes at a comfortable pace four times a week. Your body should be able to tell you that “comfortable” pace. If in doubt use the “talk test”. Run at a speed at which you can carry on a conversation with a companion.

7) Wait for your second wind. It takes six to 10 minutes and one degree in body temperature to shunt the blood to the working muscles. When that happens you will experience a light warm sweat and know what the “second wind” means. You must run quite slowly until this occurs. Then you can dial yourself to “comfortable,” put yourself on automatic pilot, and enjoy.

8) Do not cheat on your sleep. Add an extra hour when in heavy training. Also arrange for at least one or two naps a week and take a long one after your weekend run.

9) Most injuries result from a change in your training. A change in shoes, an increase in mileage (25 miles per week is the dividing line; at 50 miles per week the injury rate is doubled), hill or speed work, or a change in surface. Almost always there is some associated weakness of the foot, muscle strength/flexibility imbalance, or one leg shorter than the other. Use of heel lifts, arch supports, modification of shoes and corrective exercises may be necessary before you are able to return to pain-free running.

10) Training is a practical application of Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome. Stress is applied, the organism reacts, a suitable time is given to reestablish equilibrium. Then stress is applied again. Each of us can stand different loads and need different amounts of time to adapt. You are an experiment of one. Establish your own schedule, do not follow anyone else’s.


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April Rain Song

Come what may, let us enjoy our runs in April.

April Rain Song

Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain.

Langston Hughes


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The Day in Miles

Ran 5 easy miles before work.  Walked a mile to work.  Walked from work, just over  a mile to Village by the Grange to meet a friend for dinner.  My husband met me at Village by the Grange and we walked just over a mile to the Air Canada Centre to see the Raptors play the Milwaukee Bucks.

Benefits of walking, priceless.  For any other method of  transport there are tokens or a $19 taxi ride home.

I resisted the Japanese version of Twinkies but ate nearly a whole box of Crunch & Munch at the game.

This Japanese restaurant gets the thumbs up!

Raptor head steals the show (Raptors lost 104-98)


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Chariots of Fire

I am feeling inspired today, my heart warmed by the generosity of those who have been able to support our efforts to raise funds for a sponsorship program for AIDS orphans in Ethiopia, knowing that there are so many good causes out there calling on us all.  I was reminded today that the phrase Chariots of Fire is from William Blake, a favourite poet of mine and many.

Primary Series Blue, 2008 (oil on paper mounted on wood with resin 12" x 12" x 2") Value $400

One special contribution comes from artist Frank Caracciolo who lives in Montreal but hails from New York.  He is donating a resin-coated oil drawing to our Silent Auction.  In my blog on The Urban Landscape I had posted a photograph of a work I had seen at Propeller Gallery on Queen Street.  I decided to contact Frank and he replied immediately to say he he was willing to donate the piece shown here.  I hope he doesn’t mind me saying this but the photo doesn’t quite do justice to the beautiful patina and tactile surface of his drawing technique.  CLICK HERE to link to his website.

I leave you with the words of William Blake as well as a link to the hymn Jerusalem that was composed to this poem.

JERUSALEM

William Blake

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.

JERUSALEM sung at the end of the film, CHARIOTS OF FIRE