Dang!

Okay, so I could have run today - it rained a little but it was basically okay. Maybe I need to stop believing the weather report?

But it was nice to get up and have a relaxing Sunday morning with my run already out of the way. While doing ironing this afternoon, I was watching the BBC coverage of the London Marathon - it was fun to see all the sights where we just were ten days ago and some of the celebrities cross the line, like Gordon Ramsey and Ronan Keating. From the post-finish intervieuw I gathered that it was Ronan's first marathon and he was all choked up and it reminded me of how I felt finishing the Disney Half. It really is an achievement and a great feeling to finish.

But then I had to turn over the TV to my husband so he could see the end of the bike race Paris-Roubaix, according to him the best race of the season.

Good luck to everyone who still has a long run to do today, I'm rooting for you!

Unusual Long Run

First of all, I normally don't do my long run on Saturday, because it is a busy day with everyone's activities (piano lessons, swimming, judo, errands, etc.) but weatherwoman Sabine was predicting nasty weather for Sunday, and even though she got it wrong last weekend, I didn't fancy the idea of possibly doing another long run on a treadmill...especially when I got up this morning and saw it was sunny and crisp and beautiful out! The other thing running through my mind was that I knew Stefaan would most likely not be up to the 7 loops around the lake I needed to do, and the prospect of running those loops all by myself is getting less and less appealing (so Mark, I guess you were right, I guess I am getting a bit sick of the lake!) So I decided to switch days and run through the neighborhood while Stefaan took the boys to piano.

Of course, it was going to need to be a much longer neighborhood loop than normal to get the hour of running in that I needed...so I started off on my usual route but had some additional roads mapped out in my head to make it longer (and more enjoyable than running by myself around and around the lake). Unfortunately, within the first 20 minutes I had to modify my plan and take a detour past the Kessel-Lo swimming pool to make a pit stop - I guess I had a bit too much coffee this morning and had that irritable bladder thing going. Thank goodness for public facilities - I felt just like Mom! But not to worry, I picked up my trail again - although it meant I had to go UP the Heidebergstraat - one of the steepest streets in Kessel-Lo. Oh well, good training for the Ladies Run next month.

I had my cell phone with me, and I was thinking of Topher's request for springtime pics, so I stopped twice to take some:


This is a really nice road to run, I go all the way down it and then along the houses to the left. Usually there are horses right here along the side of the field but today they were way out in the middle so I couldn't get a good shot of them. It was still gorgeous to run here.

Below is the Wimmershofpad, a very long narrow path that goes between the Platte-Lostraat and the Diestsesteenweg...I had never run it before and I have to be honest, it kind of creeped me out - it was just so LONG and so NARROW and once you got started down it, there were no side exits. I was worried a biker (or worse!) might come up fast behind me, so I took my earphones out so I could hear, and kept looking behind me. It did help me to pick up my pace for a few minutes, just to get out of there!

Here is another nice view although I have no idea why the sky looks so pink in this picture, it is very strange, because it sure didn't look that way when I took it!:

All in all it was a good run (8.7 km in 60 minutes) even though there was a very strong wind going and for some reason I always seemed to be running against it! Of course the advantage to running on Saturday morning is that now that I've gotten my long run out of the way, I can stop worrying about getting it in tomorrow and focus on all the other things I need to get done this weekend! To all of you who still have to get yours in...hope you have good weather, a great run, and a fun weekend!

Everything's Coming Up Tulips

Yep, spring finally seems to have arrived here in Belgium this week, in spite of the weatherman's horrible forecast for the week, it's been sunny and crisp and the tulips are peeking out all over the neighborhood. Today was my "hill day", so I ran a 6.3 km loop up and down the steep streets between the Koetsweg and the Platte-Lo, which took me 42 minutes (see, I am getting faster!)

I'm very excited because on April 19th EVA is hosting a lecture by Christine Vardaros on "Dispelling myths of a vegan diet for athletes". Christine is a writer and professional cross biker (her blog is http://www.christinevardaros.blogspot.com/) and she lives and trains in the Leuven area. Then they will show the documentary "Vegan fitness, built naturally" (with Brendan Brazier, Tonya Kay en Robert Cheeke). Brendan Brazier wrote the book "The Thrive Diet", all about being active on a vegan diet. (I haven't read it yet, but it is on my list for a future order at Amazon.)

I am definitely planning to go, in spite of the fact that I have an incredibly busy week coming up - two workshops with Linda, plus our presentation on "Donderdag Veggiedag" at school in front of 85 5th graders (help)! Why is it that things always end up being clumped together, never nicely spread out so you can relax and enjoy them one by one??? Oh well...

In case anyone else who lives here in Belgium is also interested in the lecture on the 19th, here are the details:

EVA vzw gaat de sportieve toer op. Op zaterdag 19 april 2008 zorgen we vanaf 13u voor een goed gevulde namiddag met een lezing en een filmvoorstelling
over plantaardige sportvoeding. Dit evenement gaat door in de Vrije Universiteit
Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Elsene. De toegang bedraagt 3 euro voor EVA-leden en
4 euro voor niet-leden.

Het programma ziet er als volgt uit :
13u: verwelkoming, voorstelling EVA vzw en EVA Sport
13u30: lezing door Christine Vardaros - Dispelling myths of a vegan diet for
athletes
14u15 – 14u30: pauze
14u30 – 16u10: film Vegan fitness, built naturally (met Brendan Brazier, Tonya Kay en Robert Cheeke)
Meer info: eva.sport@vegetarisme.be.

Cholesterol: the Magic Numbers

Having hypothyroidism means I get my blood taken regularly to check my thyroid hormone levels, and at the same time, my cholesterol. Having hypothyroidism does put you at risk for high cholesterol, and mine has been elevated ever since I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. In February I went in for my latest test and my doctor was thinking that after having trained the past year for the half marathon and achieved and maintained a ten pound weight loss, that my cholesterol numbers would be much better. Disappointingly, to both her and myself, they weren't. Although a bit better than my last test, they remained above what is recommended*:

- total cholesterol 215
- LDL 122
- HDL 72

Right around the time of that visit, I made the switch to a vegan diet (I blogged about that here: http://fitandfabulousatforty.blogspot.com/2008/03/transition-from-flexitarian-to.html). I had to see my doctor again this week to re-check my thyroid levels and I asked her if she could do the cholesterol again, too, as I was curious what effect two months of eating a vegan diet would have on it.

We were both pleasantly surprised! My latest levels are:

- total cholesterol 182
- LDL 100
- HDL 66

I have to say, I am really puffed up about those results! I stand behind all the reasons I went vegan in the first place, I know that I feel good on the vegan diet, and my skin problems are really clearing up, but those numbers, black and white, make me feel even more empowered about the good choices I am making for my well-being. Yay!

*recommended cholesterol numbers:
- total: under 190
- LDL: under 115
- HDL: above 40

New Kind of Tempo Run

This morning I had a tempo run on the program - but one I had never tried before, from that Runner's World Beginners Guide I mentioned a few posts back. It was:

- 5 min warm up
- 8/6/4/2 minutes running fast, interspersed with
- 4/3/2/1 minutes at an easy tempo
- 5 min cool down

Does that make sense? I actually enjoyed it, starting out the first, longer fast segment at 9.4 km/hr and bumping up each time, and doing the last one at 10.6 km/hr. My easy tempo segments were usually between 8.8 and 9.4 km/hr. Not counting the warmups, I did 5 km in 32 minutes.

It's funny because sometimes when I am doing faster segments on the treadmill, I think I can probably actually run faster but my mind holds me back.

Sunday run but NOT at the lake

It rained all day yesterday. My oldest and I had biked into town to get our hair cut and do some errands and we came home soaked and cold. So when the weather report said today was going to be the same, I believed them and decided I was simply going to have to plan to go to the gym to do my run this morning.

Not such a big deal you might think, but I have been going to my gym for so long now and NEVER gone in on the weekend. I don't know why but I have always had this fear that it is going to be extremely busy (especially Sunday since they are only open from 9-12). So today I made sure that I was there at nine when they opened, and...lo and behold, it really wasn't too bad and I saw a lot of the same people that I see during the week!

So I snagged my usual treadmill and got started. I warmed up first for half a km, then started out. I needed to do about 8 km (6 loops around the lake is 8.4 km, which is what was on my program today). I started out running at 8.8 km/hr and gradually bumped that up til I was doing 9.5 km/hr at the end of my run. I ended up doing 8 km in 54:30, which I was pretty pleased with, as I had estimated that it would take me 56 minutes. Then another half km for a cool down, some stretching, and I was home by 10:30. Cool!

The funny thing is...it is sunny out! As I type this, my kids are playing in the back yard. Oh well...you never can tell with the weather. But at least I got over my "weekend gym phobia". Happy Sunday everyone!

London

I've been away from the computer for a few days because we've been in London for a family vacation. As I said to the boys (my little computer freaks), sometimes it's good to have a little break! We had a fabulous time (and were very lucky with the weather). Here are some impressions from our trip:

Tame squirrels near Buckingham Palace (a man was hand feeding them peanuts)....

Raging battles between men and mythic creatures in the incredible British Museum (this one reminds me of my kids fighting each other except they usually have some clothes on)...

Go fly a kite in Greenwich (these are the kites Katy gave the boys for Christmas, we brought them with us to take advantage of the wide open spaces in London!)...

And yes, London by night!

We had a great time...I was a bit nervous about how I was going to do eating vegan while on vacation, but it actually worked out quite well (except for the "English breakfast" at the hotel, but luckily I had brought some powdered soy milk with me and could have toast, cereal and tea). Most London cafés and restaurants offer vegetarian options, and most can be easily veganzied. At the sandwich shop at the British Musuem they even had a hummus, red pepper and raddichio sandwich as an option!

Thanks to Christina and Wim's recommendation, we also discovered the Turkish restaurant 'Tas Pide' near the Tate Modern which is a vegan's ultimate dream restaurant - yum! Hummus and lots of vegan choices with beans, eggplant, potatoes and other veggies - it was hard to pick one thing. I ended up getting a casserole with beans, veggies and potatoes. Our other main meals were:

- a pizza place near Picadilly Circus which was really good (I got the vegetarian pizza with no cheese and the waitress even asked what I would like to substitute for the cheese, so I got fresh rucola on top);

- a delicious Italian restaurant in Covent Garden near the theatre where we were going to see the Lord of the Rings musical that evening, where I had a veggie pasta dish with a side of sauteed fresh spinach which was gorgeous;

- and finally my oldest son absolutely wanted to go to "Ultimate Burger" (also near Picadilly) but he was kind enough to point out that there were three different veggie options on the menu, an eggplant burger, a portobello mushroom and onion ring burger and a soy burger. I opted for the portobello mushroom, which was very good, but a bit heavy on my stomach (it was rather greasy).

So it's back to real life now...I ended up not getting any running in while away (I had hoped to do a short run in Hyde Park, which was near our hotel, but we were so busy, it never happened) and even though we did do tons of walking, plus that big hike up to the top of Greenwich park to see the meridian (remember how steep that hill was, Mom?), we all know that walking is just not the same as running, is it? So it was a 40 minute run around the neighborhood (with hills!) this morning, which took 42 minutes - and actually felt quite good!