How Sean Astin Made me Run my Personal Best

OK, 80's Ladies, is there anyone who did NOT have a poster of Sean on their wall?  My heart still flutters a little as I think of Mikey sucking on that inhaler.  Or maybe that’s all the coffee I’ve had today.  So, I was really excited to get the opportunity to hear Sean speak at the Disneyland Half Marathon Fitness Expo last fall.  I like to hear the speakers at events such as this because I always gain some kind of insight or inspiration from them.  So, I certainly wasn’t going to miss Sean, and I think I secretly hoped he would give us the “Rudy" locker room speech.  We didn’t hear that, but he did say something that made me think about my run in a different way, and I credit him with my success that weekend.

As I mentioned before, I follow Jeff Galloway’s method (www.jeffgalloway.com) which involves run/walk intervals.  I used to think that if you were going to “run” a half marathon, you had to “run” the whole time but this is certainly not the case, and when I started running, I worked myself up to running for 10 minutes, and walking for 1 minute.  This gives you some recovery time, and it’s not like you stop moving!  So that is the only way I have been able to run.  Truthfully, at the start of the race, I tend to run the first 4 or 5 miles non-stop as I feel kind of foolish walking when everyone else is running around me, but that’s something I have to get over.

Anyway, last summer, I was having a really hard time improving on my overall time, and I had come to grips with the fact that I would not beat my personal best...until I heard Sean speak.  Keep in mind this was the DAY BEFORE my first race of the weekend, which is probably not a great time to rewrite the run script!  But Sean mentioned that at one point in his training, he decreased the length of his run intervals, so that he was taking walk breaks more often, and overall he found his time improve.  It was probably something I should have considered earlier than the day before a race.  I managed to talk to Jeff Galloway in person as well and asked him if he thought I should take more frequent walk intervals.  He looked at me like I had two heads when I told him the time I was hoping to improve on (it wasn’t a terrible time to begin with) but he said that, yes, research has shown more walk breaks improves overall time as the body doesn’t fatigue as quickly.  

So I reprogrammed my watch to a 5 minute run, 1 minute walk interval, for the 10K the following morning and had a great run!  And the following day, I maintained those intervals for the half marathon.  I demolished my previous personal best, placed 317 out of 15,979 runners and won a division award, in addition to the 4 medals I achieved that weekend.  

So, here is my piece of advice to all of you:  Always go to the fitness expo and listen to the speakers, whether it’s at the Queen City Marathon, or a celebrity at a RunDisney expo!  You never know what tidbit of information you will gain!

One other “Sean” story:  After the top photo was taken, he said, “Thanks for saying ‘Hi’, Canadian girl!”  To which I awkwardly looked at my shirt and my bag, for any marking to make him assume I was Canadian (after all, I'm fairly sure he didn't have MY poster hanging on his wall as a kid).  Nada.  I said “I don’t understand…how do you know I’m Canadian?”, and he replied, “How do you think I know??”  Awkward silence…

“Oh no, did I say, ‘Eh’??”, to which he laughed and said, “Of course you did!!"  

That’s our Mikey, still solving mysteries after all these years…

5 Things I've Been Doing Completely Wrong... 

...in the kitchen (we don't have time for all the other things I do wrong on a daily basis).

As I mentioned before, I am working on my "Professional Cook Certification".  The kids want to know if I will be a Chef when I am done.  As far as I'm concerned, I am the head of this kitchen so I am its Chef right now.  I am 42% complete my course, am loving it and have learned so much.  For example, I have been doing the following completely wrong:

1.  heating a stainless steel pan
2.  avoiding my Chef's knife
3.  hard-boiling an egg
4.  sauteing mushrooms
5.  simmering stock

Now, you may be wondering how I could possibly be doing these things incorrectly, and I would love to tell you, but I just can't have you being smarter than me, can I?  I just finished my unit, and wrote my exam, on dry-heat cooking methods and I am doing very well.  In fact, I am right at the top of my class.  I have been cursing one classmate, Sergio from Brazil, who has not lost a point (I have lost two...don't get me started, they were "trick" questions).  The kids laugh and laugh, as I yell "Curse you, Sergio from Brazil!  Curse you!"  However, upon recent examination of the leaderboard, I see that Sergio has not completed an assignment in a couple of weeks and is falling behind, and now I am worried that I really did curse him!!

So here I sit, in my best Elaine Benes voice, "Get well, Sergio, get well soon, we want you to get well!"

Ready to Run

My MasterChef Canada contract specifies that I cannot endorse a product without their approval.  I’m pretty sure they did not mean running shoes, but in any event, this is not a K-Swiss endorsement!!  Let it be known that I refuse to run in any shoe other than the K-Swiss Tubes 100.  In fact, before I signed up for the Walt Disney World Marathon, I checked with K-Swiss that they were still in production.  From left to right, these shoes have ran:  Training, QCM Half, QCM Half, RunDisney Wine & Dine, RunDisney Dumbo Double Dare. 

I set myself two goals to achieve before I would allow myself to register for the full marathon:
1.  throughout the winter, I had to run three 5Ks on the treadmill per week.  This doesn’t seem like much but I hate the treadmill and don’t go outside in the winter so it was about all I could handle.
2.  one month before registration opened, I had to run/walk 100 miles.  In all, I did 115 miles, again on the treadmill, which is torture.  My marathon training has not started yet, and I anticipate approximately a July 1 start time.  I follow Jeff Galloway’s RunDisney training programs and they have always worked for me so I will start to train when he tells me to!

I am sitting 20 pounds over the weight I like to be to run a half marathon so it is really, really hard for me to run right now and I am trying to keep myself from panicking too much.  The upside of it is, as the weight comes off (and I pray it comes off), it will get easier to run!!  The other positive is, if I adjust things just right I can now create a small fraction of cleavage, and my endocrine system is functioning again!  But all in all, at this stage of my life, I really don’t need boobs or working ovaries, so I would be much happier with 20 less pounds to carry around!  

Until the training program is announced and I have a definite plan, I will maintain my minimum three 5Ks per week, and hope this extra weight starts to fall off.  The dog is getting fairly fed up with my snails pace after all!  In the meantime, I’m back to the kitchen to cook you up something interesting (which doesn’t help the “bass” situation).  In my next run instalment, I’ll tell you all about what Sean Astin said to me that made me run my personal best!!

Rhubarb - Palooza

It's that time of year again!  The rhubarb is coming and we're all anxious to bake with those first few pickings!  In another couple of weeks we will be drowning in it, unable to keep up, and growing increasingly weary of trying to come up with new ideas of how to use it.  One of my biggest pet peeves is food waste, so I try my best to keep working with it...and after all...it is free!!  But a month from now, we will all be spent, not wanting to see another single piece of rhubarb pie ever again...or at least until next spring!  I have been asked to speak to a group in Weyburn tomorrow about my MasterChef Canada experience.  I am surprised that people are still interested in this adventure, but I am so glad they are because I love to talk about it!  I am also doing a baking demonstration, and considering the timing, I thought rhubarb would be fitting (and a way to give the audience a few new recipes for their own kitchens).  I hope you don't mind, but I will share them with you as well!  Pick on, Rhubarb-Lovers, Pick on!

Rhubarb Pudding

this dessert can be in the oven and baking in less than 5 minutes

4 C. thinly sliced rhubarb
1 C. white sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon 1 C. all purpose flour
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Place rhubarb in a buttered 9x9 baking dish.  

Mix white sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over top of rhubarb.

In a medium bowl, mix flour and brown sugar and rub in the butter.  Press topping onto rhubarb mixture.

Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 45 minutes until lightly browned.

Rhubarb Scones

a “non-pie or crisp” rhubarb alternative that makes for a lovely brunch or tea item

1 1/4 C. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 C. all purpose flour
1/2 C. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. cold butter, cubed
1 1/2 C. finely chopped rhubarb
1/2 C. whipping cream
1/4 C. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk the first six ingredients.  

Cut in butter until crumbly.  Add rhubarb and toss to coat.

In another bowl, whisk cream, milk and vanilla.  Stir into crumb mixture just until moistened.  

Turn onto a floured surface and knead gently 4-5 times until dough comes together.  Divide dough in half and pat into 2 six inch circles.  Cut each into eight wedges.

Place wedges on parchment lined baking sheets and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.

Rhubarb Salsa

a savoury alternative for a light snack served with chips or crackers

2 C. rhubarb, diced
1 C. chopped apple
3 green onions, sliced
2 limes, juiced
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 to 1 tsp. coarse salt

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and blanch rhubarb for one minute.  Drain and cool.  When cooled, mix in additional ingredients and serve with tortilla chips.

Croissants

...a Marathon in the Kitchen, they are not fast to make, but so very worth the time...

Welcome to Kitchen Marathons

I don't love running but I love to cook and I love to eat, so the running comes as a necessity. I don't consider myself a runner but I have completed four half marathons and have made some fairly decent time.  My personal best (which I have no intention of ever beating) is 1:43:43.  Some time ago I had the thought that I may regret it later in life if I did not attempt a full marathon. And so, I find myself registered to run my first (and I anticipate my last) full marathon in Walt Disney World on January 10, 2016, 234 days from now. 

I have always loved to cook and have found myself pretty good at that too. In fact, I was recently one of the top 25 finalists in Masterchef Canada Season 2. So I guess that's what I'm good at: cooking and running, and I spend a lot of hours out of my week doing both of those things. One to support the other. Or perhaps it's the other way around?  And hence the birth of this blog, after so many people assuring me they would read it.  In this spot I will try to explain what I'm creating in the kitchen, how I am working towards my professional cooking certification, and what I am doing to prepare for the biggest Disney race of the year.  And in the coming months, travel adventures will take me to some great eats as well as new places to run so I should have many photos and stories to share!  I hope you will follow along with my Kitchen Marathons!