Monday, August 5, 2013

The post about George Hamilton, the good run and Paleo pie

Today is a holiday in Ontario.  It's actually a holiday across Canada, but it's called something different depending on the province/region you live in.  It's George Hamilton Day here in Hamilton Ontario and it's not an official statutory holiday. George Hamilton is the founder of our fair city, not the Hollywood actor (too bad). Regardless what it's called, I have nothing special planned for today. Julien is going to do something fun with daddy this afternoon because I have laundry to do, and I feel like doing nothing today.  I have been busy, busy, busy over the past four days straight! OMG!!!!! I am horrified.  I just witnessed my cat EATING a mouse.  She normally kills them, but she has never eaten one before.  We just usually find their mangled corpses in the garden. I am horrified.  Fur and all. Sorry, I'm just a little grossed out and it literally just happened as I was typing this.  Moving on...

On Saturday my dad, Julien and I headed out to Millbrook for my cousin's son's birthday party. The two hour drive took us three because of holiday traffic.  It sucked.  By the time we got there we were all pretty miserable.  They served BBQ burgers and salads.  I ate a couple of bun less burgers and some tossed salad.  They also had cashews (which I had way too many of) and banana chips made with coconut oil.  I tried them and found them to be completely addictive.  Yes they are Paleo, but I am notorious for having too much of a good thing. I just cannot be trusted with snacky goodness, even if it is Paleo.

Gearing up for my 16K.  Coffee is crucial before a long run.

Yesterdays 16K LSD was a pretty decent run.  It's strange to me how I can sometimes struggle with a 6K run and have a pretty pathetic pace, but for my long runs, I always manage to keep up a good pace.  Even with walks to eat my gummies and drink water, and the stop lights I had to contend with as I ran through the city, I did a 6:49 per kilometer pace.  I guess it takes me longer than 6K to find my true comfort zone.  The longer I run, the better my pace gets.  Go figure.  My toes did cramp right at the end of my run.  But that's better than it has been.  No orthotics and almost 16K?  Not too shabby.  My right ankle is a bit sore today. Likely because I was consciously running differently.  Something I need to continue to work on is my running form. I'm hoping my physio guy Graham will be able to shed some light on this for me this coming Thursday. He's going to do a running assessment on me when we run together.  It will be interesting to see what he says.

After my long run.  I felt really good!

My girlfriend and her two kids came over for a BBQ yesterday.  We made steaks, sweet potatoes, grilled veggies and cucumber salad.  We also had yellow watermelon, carrot sticks with guacamole, and my gf made a completely Paleo dessert.  Peach pie!  She made a ground almond crust with peaches caramelized in some coconut oil and a meringue topping.  I haven't eaten anything like that in almost two years so it was quite a treat.  Although it was Paleo, I sent her home with the left over dessert, because that would have definitely been something I would have obsessed over.  I'm not gonna lie, I would have eaten the other half of the pie last night.  It was good, but sadly I can't be trusted around stuff like that.  I feel like I indulged, which is a good thing. For once, I felt like I didn't miss out on anything.

Paleo peach pie.

It was yummy.  Not really sweet, except for the sweetness
of the peaches which was good because it didn't trigger any
sweet cravings in me.

I have been going to bed early the last few days (10 pm). That is super early for me.  Maybe I've been sleeping too much because my morning coffee has been a lazy, unproductive time of the day.  And getting out for my run on most days is nothing short of a miracle.  Procrastination is my middle name right now. Things will not be so rosy next week when I head back to work and need to be up at 5 am again to get my runs in before heading to the office.  It will be unpleasant for a week, but I'll get to sleep in again.  I'm off for the last two weeks of August again.  As difficult as my job can be sometimes, I can't complain about my vacation time or my benefits.  I get to spend the majority of the summer with Julien and unlimited physio is crucial for runner.  I really am lucky. Off to catch up on some correspondence.  I have four days of messages waiting for me.  That's also on my job roster for today along with the laundry...and changing the sheets...and making dinner...and tidying the house...I could go on, but I won't.  Happy Monday everyone!

My eats from the past two days.