Leuven Corrida 8K

Last year's Corrida was cancelled due to snow - but we were in Texas running a 5K in Fort Worth last New Year's Eve.  Luckily, this year the weather here in Belgium is very mild - 10 C and very light rain.  Perfect running weather, actually!

So this morning we put on our running shoes and walked downtown where we met up with my neighbor's oldest daughter, Karen, who was running her very first race ever!  She was a bit nervous about whether or not she would be able to finish - I remember that feeling very well.  She started out with us and when Stefaan pulled ahead in the crowd (it was packed - apparently 5000 people participated this year) Karen and I stuck together, chitchatting and running a nice easy pace, and most of all, enjoying ourselves! 

We ended up finishing in 56 minutes, crossed the finish line and collected our bottle of wine - then we found Stefaan waiting for us, and got him to snap a picture.  One of the nice things about this race, is when we are done all we have to do is walk home!

Here are the details from the Garmin:



The other nice thing about this race, is that since it is a slow news day, after we get home, we get to watch a report about it on the lunchtime news!  You won't see us on this video, but there are some very nice shots of our beautiful city!

Have a very happy and safe New Year's Eve, everyone, and see you next year!

Festive Workouts!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas weekend - going by blogs I've been reading it sure looks like it!

We've had a busy time but on Tuesday I got myself back up to the gym to work off some of the goodies I had enjoyed over the weekend.  It was very quiet and calm there - I am assuming next week is going to be a lot busier when everyone decides to make good on their new year's resolutions.  They have a special deal going on right now where you could bring a friend for free.  So when I got back home I asked my nearly 17-year-old if he wanted to come work out with me this week, and surprisingly, he immediately said yes!  Yay!

Yesterday we went bowling with some old friends of ours and all of our kids - it was a lot of fun but I must have been using too heavy of a ball because my arm was killing me when I got up this morning.  But nothing was going to keep me from going to the gym with my son so off we went as soon as he was up and had some breakfast.

He was a fun workout partner to have - he was happy to do my planned workout right along with me.  Here is what we did (this is my new Thursday workout for the next few weeks):

• 15 minute interval run on the treadmill
• weight circut (chest presses, leg curls, rows, and lunges)
• 10 minutes on the stationary bike (my son did the rowing machine)
• repeat the weight circuit
• 12 minute intervals on the elliptical (we scored machines right next to each other)
• abs and stretching

It was a lot of fun, good to spend some one-on-one time with my kid, and now we can feel proud of ourselves that we got out and got some exercise in today!

Tomorrow I'll be back at the gym for my Body Balance class and then on Saturday morning we have the Corrida here in Leuven - my husband and I are signed up for the 8K.  Looking forward to that, but hoping it's not going to be too rainy and cold...brrrrrrr.....

Arid at the AB last night - awesome!

Wow.  Awesome concert by Arid at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels last night.  Jasper has just the most amazingly beautiful voice...  We were about three rows of people from the stage and it was incredible to watch him perform.  Great songs, great music, great show...  I am in awe of his talent.  And he's so cute, too!

It was cool when he brought out two of the young singers he is coaching on "The Voice of Flanders", he let them sing one of Arid's songs so they could get some live podium experience.  They did well but the girl looked really nervous.  So that will most likely run on the TV show, and who knows we might be on it as they filmed the crowd.  In any case it will be a neat way to relive the concert!

It was my second time seeing them live - we saw them a few years back here in Leuven in the Schouwburg, we were also really close up then too.  We said at the time that we would definitely go see them again, if we had the chance - and so we did!  It was a treat for our 19th wedding anniversary we celebrated this month.

This video is of one of my favorite Arid songs, performed last year at the same venue as we saw them last night - gives you a great feel for what it was like yesterday evening!  Enjoy!

Holiday wishes

Merry Christmas!

Wishing a bright and happy holiday

to you and those you love

And lots of good cheer this weekend

as well as in the coming New Year!

Best wishes from our house to yours,

Amy

Our Favorite Christmas Cookie

Well, today is the last day of my boys' exams - woo-hoo!  This afternoon we will all take a deep sigh of relief.  I've been dealing with my nervous energy by making Christmas cookies the last few days and I promised Kim I would post my recipe for one of our family's absolute favorites - Mexican wedding cookies (also called Russian teacakes).  I just made these yesterday!

1 c butter (or margarine if you want it vegan)

½ c sifted powdered sugar

2 t water

1 t vanilla

2 c flour

½ c ground almonds or pecans

¼ t cinnamon

Powdered sugar to roll the cookies in (about a cup)

In a large bowl, beat the butter until softened.  Add the powdered sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add water and vanilla and beat well.   

In a small bowl combine the flour, nuts and cinnamon.  Add gradually to the butter mixture.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls (if necessary chill the dough slightly until easy to handle).  On an ungreased baking sheet, flatten the cookies slightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in powdered sugar.

Bake at 325° F for 18-20 minutes, until the bottom of the cookies starts to look golden brown.  Cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar.  Allow them to cool thoroughly, and then roll them a second time in powdered sugar. Enjoy!

A night at the opera...

Yesterday evening my husband and I went to see the operette "La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein" - and we loved it!  It was funny and sarcastic and the music was very enjoyable - lots of military marching music.  Here is a video (from another production of this opera I found on Youtube) of one of the arias that I couldn't get out of my head when we were walking home afterwards:

The Duchess is in love with the soldier she gives her father's sabre to - she promotes him from a simple soldier to a general, which infuriates the real general.  The young girl at the end of the video is the solider's fiance.  When the soldier chooses his fiance over the Duchess, she turns on him and plots to kill him.  The whole thing is a farce and a satirical critique of the excesses of power - very appropriate these days with the way leaders have been mismanaging countries and abusing power all over the world...so you see that things haven't changed that much since Offenbach composed it in the 1860's!   In any case, it was an entertaining way to spend a Saturday evening! 

Now it's Sunday morning, and today will be all about baking Christmas cookies and keeping my studying kids focused on their books...  but first I need to get myself out for a run while it's not raining/snowing too hard. 

Update: I got out for a quick 30 minute run - in the SNOW!!!  It was snowing big wet flakes and so I ran to the Finnish track because I thought it would be pretty to see the snow through the trees - and it was.  And the Finnish track was suprisingly dry - it must have really good drainage.  I ended up doing 4.5 km altogether, short for a Sunday, but the right numbers in honor of my brother-in-law Mark's 45th birthday today - he was thinking of running his age in kilometers, I wonder if he did it???  Happy Birthday, Mark, no matter what you ran!

Have a happy Sunday!

Stormy weather and sad things

It's been a while since I last posted - between the final workshops and the beginning of my kids' midterm exams this week I just haven't had the time or inclination. We have been having big storms all this week and for some reason it always seems to be raining really hard right when my kids have to bike to school. So I've been driving them, which means I get stuck in traffic on the way home and spend a lot more time than I am used to in my car. I have heard lots of interesting interviews on the radio, however...

The bad news which I first heard on the radio this week was of course the shooting in Liege - it is certainly frightening when these things happen so close to home. I feel terrible for the families that must be devastated losing their loved ones in such senseless violence. Two of the boys who died were 15 and 17 years old and had just finished exams at their schools and were waiting for the bus to come home for lunch. Just the same ages as my boys... I couldn't help thinking of their moms waiting for them to get back from school.

We finally have a government!

After more than 540 days of negotiations, Belgium has a government - they will take their oaths in front of King Albert this afternoon.

That should put a smile back on his face...

What a relief for all of us here!

Weird Dudes

Biked to the gym this morning - it was cold but so beautifully sunny I just couldn't resist! So I put an extra pair of workout trousers over my capris and made sure I had my hat, gloves and scarf and I was fine. It felt good.

But something strange was going on at the gym - there were some weird dudes there I had never seen before. One guy was wearing a bright yellow shirt and seriously had a hairdo like Jon Bon Jovi in the 80s...another one looked very ratty (and smelled kind of funky too)... Some of the other regulars looked a bit puzzled too, so I wasn't the only one. I didn't see any cameras, so who knows what was going on. Just a coincidence?

In any case, I was glad to finish my workout and head on home. Where there are four weird dudes... but they're mine and I love them!

Run thru Town

I didn't really feel like running this morning - it was so gray and chilly and gloomy looking outside. There was nothing inspiring me to get out there and I was going to be on my own since my husband is sick and wasn't going to come with me. I considered going to the gym and doing a treadmill run, but it was already 10.30 and I don't like to get there too late on a Sunday, because it ends up taking a lot of time and messes up our day (we have to head out to the in-law's at 2)...But I knew if I didn't run I would be annoyed with myself and feel sluggish all day. So I decided I would run downtown and go over the new bridge at the train station. Sunday is a good day to run downtown, since all the shops are closed,
the sidewalks aren't too busy and you don't have to dodge too many pedestrians. And I also decided I would take my camera and take some pictures for the blog.We live 800 meters from the train station, in a quiet residential neighborhood. The funny thing is, the city has been developing the area around the station and just a few minutes from our home now are two brand new high rise hotels and some big buildings. It's strange.

My middle son told me he would like to spend the night at one of the hotels, just to see what they are like - I know what he means!There is now a really cool bridge that links our part of town with the center of town, and it goes right over all the train tracks, high above the platforms. I love our new bridge! It was fun to run over it today.After crossing over on the bridge, I continued on my way into town. I ran up the main boulevard that connects the train station to the big square where the cathedral and town hall are located. It was nice to see all of the shops with their holiday decorations in the windows. When I got to the town hall, Zwarte Piet was just arriving with Sinterklaas' horse, to get ready for kids who wanted to visit Sinterklaas and tell him what present they want. Sinterklaas comes on the 6th, which is Tuesday, but our boys got their presents this morning (books, chocolate, speculoos cookies, clementines).Zwarte Piet was very gracious and let me take a picture of him! and then I continued on my way, past the statue of the reading lady by the bookstore...and then I was a bit tired of stopping and taking pictures which made me really slow, so after that I wound around in town, past the University library where they were setting up all the tents for the Christmas market which starts next week, and back to the train station and home again.It wasn't a very fast run, and it wasn't a very long run (4.7 km), but I was glad I got out and got my body moving and some fresh air - I feel much better for it and ready to face the in-laws!

Hope everyone has a very happy Sunday!

Very Easy Vegan Pancakes

On Saturday mornings I often try to treat my kids to a special breakfast we don't have time for during the week, and we often go for American style pancakes. I've been working with a simple recipe from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's wonderful cookbook "The Joy of Vegan Baking" (the title says it all, doesn't it?) - and I think I've finally tweaked it to be perfect for our family! The first thing I did was double the amount - when you have three teenage boys, that means a lot of pancakes getting eaten. And then I made a few changes here and there to healthy it up. So this morning, as we were chowing down, I thought perhaps it's time to share my version...here it is:

1 c. all purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

2 T. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 cup unsweetened plain soymilk (we have tried rice and almond milk in this recipe but soy seems to work best)

3 T. canola oil

1 T. agave syrup

In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl or pitcher, mix the milk with the oil and agave. Add the milk mixture to the flour gradually, stirring as you go, until you get a relatively smooth batter. Cook small pancakes on a hot griddle or non-stick pan and enjoy!

I have no idea how many pancakes this makes, as they get eaten up almost immediately as they are cooked!

Have a happy Saturday!

Tired but Balanced!

Last night's workshop went really well - we had a great group of enthusiastic participants, which was so nice.

After cleaning up the room I always need to calm down a bit before going to bed, which means I generally go to sleep much later than usual, which means I am a bit tired the next day.

But there was no way I was going to miss my Body Balance class at the gym today! Have I mentioned that I really enjoy that class? I do - this (see picture) is one of the moves I really like... I always feel great after this class, thoroughly stretched and renewed. Which is actually perfect after a late night.

I also got my upper body weights in before the class - that makes four sessions done, four more to go by the end of the year.

They had posters up at the gym announcing new versions of all their classes to start at the end of the month. I am going to miss the things we are doing in Body Balance now - but I hope the new class will be just as enjoyable. It probably will, once I get used to it!

Have a great weekend!