dreaming over the ocean

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There is something about African sunsets that, in my opinion, are unmatched in the world.  Now, I have never been everywhere else in the world, but, one thing I do know... sunsets here kick any Canadian sunset. I think it is probably how you can almost directly look at it and the sun is this radiant light, which, if you turn away (or blink) at the wrong moment, will suddenly disappear... when it nears that horizon... watch out.  it will disappear in seconds.    That magnificent reddy, orange, pink, purple, radiant circle of light. Tonight, as I was sitting tonight reading my book, watching the sunset, I thought about big A Africa.   you know the one.  the one where there is this continent of unknowns, and there are either wild animals running rampant, or civil wars where people are having their limbs lopped off with machetes, or people who are all the same, or disease is ravaging everyone, and every person is part...

today, i have had a lovely day. After yesterday, where I didn't really leave the house at all, it was time to wander outside. Despite the fact that I do enjoy "work at home" days, I also find that I can feel quite isolated. Especially this semester, where it now seems like we are finally in a graduate program... everyone in my class is spread out between supervisors, and locations, and different placements, and different practice times, etc. We don't get so see each other much, especially compared to this first year and a half. But, I suppose, if I am going to be spending 4 months in Malawi next fall , I need to get used to it! So, knowing that I had strength and a run on tap for today, I thought that I would use the morning to do some work in a cafe, eat breakfast, then yoga and run it up. But, I woke up with a bit of a headache (and was really worried it was going to end up being a full fledged migrane), so I went back to sleep. 1.5 hrs later, I woke up, an...

in a search for Fage Yogurt substitutes up here in Canada (Other than Liberty), I came across a neat blog . I LOVED this flow chart!

sometimes, i have days that i am shocked at how much i eat. today was one of those days. this says nothing of portion sizes, which were controlled. but, i suspect it does say something about the 3 week strength block i am in... breakfast: 2 eggs, banana, plain greek yoghurt (small bit) post-gym snack: latte, muffin (gasp!) snack: mixed nuts, apple, more pomegrant greek yoghurt. lunch: tomato-veggie soup, salad, soy-whey-almond butter-chia seed drink. snack: larabar, frozen berries with soymilk. dinner: left-over veggies and tofu, with shrimp and eggplant added to fill it out. post-swim movie snack: homemade baked yam fries. ridiculous.

So, I ran my icey, and windy 5km this morning. It was not fast. and, my intestines did not like me eating a bowl of oats and greek yougurt (i didn't have any bagels, which is my regular pre-race breakfast) less than 2 hrs in advance. (this is the second time that eating oats has made me want to chuck while on a run... mental note. no oats pre-run). Anyway, after riding up to the race with my friend Ben (and, i mean UP! the "camillien houde" road up the mountain is rough), we were definitely warmed up. So, we shuffled ourselves away, in the opposite direction from last year. so, the uphill part of the race (About 3km) was more broken up this year. not sure if i prefer it or not. It was quite icey, since we have not had any real snow yet this year, but plenty of cold rain. stomach was in knots about 3km in. but, stuck at it, and at the turn around, realized i was in #1, but with #2 girl (a former rower of mine) right on my heels. She is 130lbs, so up the final h...

So, two things I have been gearing up for this week. 1) my healthy eating challenge with boy i like (BIL? HA!). 2) winter commuting on my bike. therefore, I will comment on them both. and, i write first to say. don't. judge. (yes, leanna, I am looking at you ;) ) I may be a little strange. I may be a little obsessive. I may be a little off the rocker. But, I am what I am. And, there are always reasons for what I do. so, don't. judge. That is my soap box for the day. healthy eating challenge. as we all can agree on, the things we put into our bodies are what make us able to function day to day. we love food. Sometimes I talk a lot about it, other times i don't. One thing, though, for me, which is certain, is I react to the food I eat. Unfortunently, much like many other girls, if i eat to much crap, I feel guilty about it. And, when i feel like crap, sometimes I default to eating crap. for me, it is *Easy* to eat like crap. but, on the other hand: i LOVE healt...

so, this morning, there has been the beginnings of a (i am guessing) passionate and long debate in my team's google group. It is centring around an article that Mary posted, which has to do with athlete's favourite thing to talk about. heck it has to do with something that almost *Everyone* loves to talk about, and what society is obsessed about. The article is called "The single most effective way to loose weight." And, i'm not going to lie, i don't think it is a terrible article. Actually I agree with most of it. There are some bits that i don't completely like, but... whatever. However, i did find myself a little frustrated with the article, and i will tell you why, in a bit. Food, and body image (especially for women) is a topic that people become exceptionally passionate about, because it is a sensitive topic. I have had people say to me everything from "Yes, but... do you like what you eat?" and "Mmmm, are you sure you are...

so, sometimes i like to eat pancakes. but, since I am trying to stay "in the core" which means no grains outside of a workout window, you have to accomodate how you make your pancakes. so, try this: handful of almonds some flax seeds. 2 eggs. milk (i used vanilla almond milk this morning) berries Cinnamon grind up the almonds and flax seed into a fairly fine powder (my coffee grinder does not serve as coffee grinder all the time, i grind things like this in it all the time!!!). Beat eggs and some milk into a bowl, and add the powder. Add more milk, or water into the mix if you don't like your pancakes thick. Whip it up real well. add some berries in (i used blueberries this morning!) cook on both sides (slightly above medium heat) until sides are hard. unlike normal pancakes where you will normally have lots of bubbles coming through, there will not be too many here. Just be aware so you don't burn! top with cinnamon, and enjoy! top with what you like! I coup...

I saw this this morning, after reading a bit of a blog. sometimes it is somewhat shocking. http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/ had a nice time last night with a few friends who came over for dinner. apparently, the theme of the night was "spinach." it was nice and relaxed, and so casual. things like that make me happy. today, going out to enjoy the sunny day with a X-C ski, despite the fact that there has been no major snow in the last 2 weeks. i have not gone sking in *years* so, it should be lovely!

so, today, I ran into one of my classmates at the athletic centre, when I was coming to do my swim. I mentioned that I had done my strength, then grabbed some lunch and was coming back to do my swim workout. She said something to the effect of "dang... i can't believe that you do twice a day." i felt that i wouldn't actually mention that it was my third of the day. sometimes, it is just how scheduling works. you just fit it in when you can. you make it a priority. today, it looked like this: forgot to turn alarm on. run at 8am. go to school have class. quick functional training at 11:30 eat small lunch. swim at 1:15. going away gathering, class at 5pm. clearly, that is not *too* insane. besides... the way i look at it is when you have a workout that can be back to back with another (such as fuctional training+swim), it only counts as one ;) --------- I am not fat. So, I know that this statement is very true. but, sometimes, when it comes down to it is that as ...

we go up and down like a boat on a wave. we go round like a car on a busy motorway. always in motion, never the same. somedays you're happy, other days i'm sad. some days i think about, what we could've had. live for the moment, never the past. we go up and down... --------------------- so, it thought that I would also give a little blurb about what my day is going to look like today. woke up, shortly before 6:30 (yay! before my alarm, which was set for 6:37. i *love* waking up before my alarm goes off!) ate banana with almond butter. drank glass of water. went for 45 minute morning run on the "mountain." came home. ate breakfast: 2 eggs poached in marinara sauce, small bowl of natural yogurt with handful of frozen berries and cinnamon, 2 cups of french press coffee. came back, to get ready for the day. now, for those of you who don't really know my schedule, i spend a lot of time away from my house. sometimes i leave at 7am, and don't return until 8p...

so, right off the bat, I want to make an announcement. I am not rowing. I am not rowing. I am coaching. my butt does not sit in that boat, and my hands do not pull on that oar. I bike along the side of the olympic bassin, yelling at others in broken french. or english. or "franglais..." which is a french-english combination spoken here in montreal... :) Last week, I joined the Mcgill Outdoor Club . And, the first weekend came along, and it was entitled "new members weekend." I'm new, and, i am a member. so, i paied the 35$ (45 if you take the bus, but I vouched to ride my bike), and got prepped to go. It didn't take me long to realize the most new members are about 20 or 21, and surprizingly, many new members are also foreign exchange students. so, it ended up being an interesting weekend. The ride up to "the house" is about 75km eachway, along a bike path up to the laurentians, to shawbridge. side note, apparently, quebec has one of the longest ...

So, all of a sudden it has creeped up on me... (is creeped a word!?!?) that, on sunday, I am running a 1/2 marathon. it will be the second time that I have done a 1/2 in my life. the first one, was a mostly downhill run from the valley above the dead sea, to the lowest place on earth, for the Dead Sea Marathon in April 2007. Yeppers, the feet were burning by the end, and there were camels on the side of the road. yes, indeed, i travelled to Jordan (with one of my best friends, Zach), and ran a 1/2 marathon. It was amazing. this is at the carb loading party, and then at the pool post race :) I went for a (approx 10km) run today.  I think the wind was blowing about 10 million km an hour, and it felt impossible to run. but, not only that, but my legs felt like bricks (the first 3km, my feet couldn't stop clumping on the pavement), and  they are sore (from what?!).  so ,the run turned into a walk-run.  mentally, that helped.  but strange.  i don't quite understand how one day,...