Like riding a bike

The past two weeks at the gym, I've been able to do something I haven't done in an entire year: run.  And it really is like riding a bike - you don't forget how to do it, your body remembers.  And even though I was a bit apprehensive, it went well.  I did two short interval runs.  Last week was a first try, just 15 minutes, and very slow running broken up with equal amounts of fast walking.  Yesterday, I did 20 minutes, 3 minutes of running, faster than last week, alternated with 2 minutes of fast walking.  And no hip pain so far.

Last year, I was in excruciating leg and hip pain, and on the advice of my osteopath, I stopped running.  She said I could walk, swim, bike, use the elliptical, stretch, do upper body weights, and even do yoga if I was careful not to do any extreme stretches with my lower body.  I just needed to give my body a break from running.

So I did all these things but I really missed running.  I missed the stress relief, the feeling of exhilaration during a good run on a warm day, and the way it kept my weight stable.  I struggled to replace running with other activities, which just didn't seem to give me the same kick (or calorie burn).  It was depressing but I kept trying to focus on what I could do and I kept going to the gym, getting long walks in on the weekend which used to be reserved for long runs.

I kept listening to my osteopath and my body.  After a few months of no running, I suddenly realized the chronic hip pain I had been dealing with for years, was much better, almost non-existent.  That was such a great feeling.  But I knew I had to be careful.   So I waited.

There won't be any more half marathons in my future, that I know.  The training required for long distances is not healthy for my body (and I make no judgement on anyone else's exercise routine here - if there is one thing I'm sure of, it's that we all have to figure out what exercise works best for our own body, and because we are all different, that varies hugely from person to person).  But what I hope for right now is that I can incorporate a bit of enjoyable running into the rest of the things I do each week to keep my body healthy.

If there's one thing I've learned this past year, it's been to expand my repertoire of enjoyable exercise.  I don't think I would have ever signed up for the long distance walking event I did with my friend last spring had it not been for all of this.  But I'm happy I can carefully add in a bit of running again now.  I'll start with the interval run once a week and listen for what my hip tells me about it.

Goodbye Fall

There was frost on the grass this morning when I got up - you can really feel it in the air the last couple of days that winter is about to begin.  Fall is my favorite season so I wanted to share a few pictures from this fall before it's too late.

We spent a lovely Saturday afternoon walking at Horst Castle:

 There is a network of great walking paths all around the countryside surrounding the castle...













...and it was just the right time of year to spot those bright red toadstools with the white spots.

 Unfortunately that very same day, my youngest son, Felix, fell at badminton practice and injured his ankle.  He's got some badly torn ligaments and will be in a cast at least until the end of the year.  He was in a lot of pain at first, but is doing better now.  And getting very skilled at walking around with crutches!

Felix being in a cast meant that we had to change plans for my birthday lunch out - we had it at home instead, and I made this amazing vegan layered pumpkin cake - yum yum!  (The original recipe calls for sweet potato puree but I subbed pumpkin and it was delicious.)

Italian-Belgian Blog Friend Meet-Up!

I've been blogging for seven years now, and I've been very lucky to find a group of lovely, like-minded fellow bloggers all over the world, who really feel like friends.   As Andrea recently mentioned on her blog, the frequency of posting and commenting seems to ebb and flow as people's lives naturally evolve, but the warm feelings for blog friends remain.

And so I was tickled when the blogger you all know as the Black Knight contacted me to say he'd be in Belgium for work and hoped to meet up.  I've only ever had the chance to meet up with one other blog friend, Fran - we actually got together twice and one of them was for a race in 2011 - but it was such a neat experience,  I was very much looking forward to meeting Stefano.

As things eventually worked out, I met up with Stefano (and his colleague who helpfully took our picture) at the airport a few hours before their flight back to Rome.

The funny thing about meeting a blog friend, and I had the same experience when I met Fran, is that you feel like you know so much about the person, having read their blog posts over the years, and yet, they are also a stranger to you in many ways.  But you quickly get over that as you start to talk about common ground - which with Stefano and me was running with injuries (or not running with injuries in my case), kids, grandkids, travelling, and politics.   Stefano in person is just like he comes across in his blog - intelligent, kind and funny.  And a very dedicated runner.  I'm so glad we got to meet!

Kid-Friendly and Healthy Vegetarian Lasagna

When I decided to go vegetarian seven years ago, one of the biggest challenges was reconciling my

conviction that a vegetarian diet was best for our health, with the taste preferences of three growing boys and an omnivore (but thankfully very flexible) husband.   After a lot of trial and error, my lasagna recipe is one I can say I have finally “gotten just right” – the kids are always happy to find out that it’s on the menu for dinner and the leftovers are gobbled up the next day.   And I’m happy because I’ve snuck in veggies they normally wouldn’t eat (sometimes I even throw a handful of chopped spinach in with the tomato sauce) and am putting a healthy meal on the table.

So when I saw that one of my favorite vegetarian cooking blogs (Lisa's Kitchen along with Tinned Tomatoes) was calling for readers to contribute their favorite lasagna recipes this month as part of a monthly "Pasta Please" challenge, I felt like it was the perfect time to share.

Amy’s Kid-Friendly Vegetarian Lasagna

(makes 9 servings @ 325 calories per serving)

Ingredients:

For the vegetable filling:

1 T olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 medium courgette (zucchini), grated

2 small carrots, grated

½ t each dried basil and oregano

Dash of turmeric and black pepper

1 pkg (180 g) Alpro Soya soy mince (or other vegetarian ground “meat” substitute)

1 jar (500 g) basil-tomato pasta sauce

For the béchamel:

50 g. margarine

50 g. flour

1 t salt

¼ t pepper

Dash of nutmeg

700 ml of plain unsweetened soy milk

15 no-boil lasagna noodles

150 g. grated mozzarella (either skip entirely or use vegan cheese for a vegan version)

Preheat the oven to 180° C/375° F.

First prepare the vegetable filling: fry the chopped onion in a skillet in the oil gently until softened.  Add the courgette and carrots, basil, oregano, turmeric, and pepper and stir-fry until well combined.  Add the soy mince and pasta sauce and stir well.  Lower heat and simmer while you make the béchamel.

In a saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat.  Add the flour and stir to obtain a thick paste.  Add the seasonings and soy milk (I usually heat my soy milk in the microwave before this step to save a bit of time), raise the heat and stir with a whisk until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken.

In a 13x9 inch baking dish, spread a thin layer of vegetable filling on the bottom.  Follow with three lasagna noodles, one next to the other.  Then spread 1/4^th of the remaining vegetable filling covered with about ¾ cup of béchamel.  Repeat with noodles, vegetable filling and béchamel three more times, until you have three noodles left to place on top.  Cover the last layer of noodles with grated mozzarella, and then the remaining béchamel.

Bake 35-40 minutes until bubbling and browned on top.  Enjoy!

New Machines!

Last week my gym installed all new machines: cardio, free weights, and weight machines are all brand new. I did feel a bit sad that my old familiar machines were gone; also they've moved to more basic machines as far the displays and no more individual TV screens on the cardio machines (which I didn't use anyway). I guess that is part of the bargain for our gym changing its formula and my membership going from 46 euros/month to 23 euros/month - I suppose they have to save somewhere. And personally I'm very happy to pay the lower membership fee every month! I did feel a bit discombobulated as I made my way through my usual workout. But change can be good, right?  I couldn't help but notice a new cardio machine I had never seen before - it looked like a cross between an elliptical and a stair stepping machine.  Apparently it's called a Vario (by TechnoGym).

It can also be used with different strides: more of a stepping movement, an elliptical movement, or a running movement. I tried it out and it was definitely a different feel than the elliptical I am so used to; it was also challenging! It will take a little bit of getting used to, but I think I'm going to enjoy it! I'd be curious to know: have any of you ever tried this machine?

Royal Encounters

Yesterday was kind of exciting!  In July, King Albert II of Belgium abdicated the throne in favor of his son Filip.  King Filip and his wife, Queen Mathilde, will visit each provincial capital in Belgium to mark the start of his reign, and on Friday they kicked their tour off in our town, Leuven, which is the capital of the province Vlaams-Brabant.

So my friend Kristel and I walked downtown on Friday morning to line up with the crowds that were already waiting in front of the town hall:

The weather was gorgeous and people were in good spirits.  As we waited in the sunshine and enjoyed the performances by the circus school, the local parcours group, and an awesome drum band, flags were flying.

Little by little more and more security, press, and local politicians and dignitaries began to arrive at the town hall.  It was really fun to watch the TV reporters interview people, and to point out celebrities to each other.  Finally, the cameras all assembled themselves, our mayor came out on the front steps, a few police motorcycles with flashing lights flew by, and then this car drove up:

You must be pretty important if your license plate is number 1!  The King and Queen were welcomed with lots of cheers and waving flags and after a brief stop to wave at the crowds, they were welcomed into the town hall, where they were to meet the mayors of every town in our province.

We knew they were going to greet the crowd when they came out, so we waited with everyone else while the reception with VIP's went on inside.  Our mayor must have made a long speech because it took about 45 minutes!  But we were having a good time chatting with the people around us, and I was busy taking practice shots with my camera held up over my head, because all I was hoping for was just one decent picture.

The King and Queen finally came out, to more cheers, and they started walking along the barriers where all the crowds were waiting, greeting people and shaking hands.  Then they split up, King Filip greeting veterans and school children opposite us, while Queen Mathilde kept advancing in our direction.  As she came closer, I was ready with my camera.

And just as I took this last shot, I noticed the lady just in front of me had put her hand out to greet the Queen, and on an impulse I put my hand out as well, and Queen Mathilde shook it!

I was quite amazed, and tickled to death - all I was hoping for was a picture, honestly, and just to see our royal couple in person together.  Having the opportunity to shake her hand really made my day!  She comes across as a lovely, intelligent and kind person, and together, they're going to make a wonderful King and Queen for our country in the years to come.

Hallerbos

 I've lived here in Belgium for almost 25 years and one place I always wanted to go to was the Hallerbos, a forest in Halle which for a very short time every spring is filled with wild blue hyacinths, also called bluebells.

 The flowers are only in bloom for a very short time so most years, by the time they've announced on the news that the Hallerbos is in bloom, it's usually too late.  This year, however, I finally got my chance!

It was absolutely gorgeous. The blue carpet just spread out in every direction and what surprised me the most was the wonderful smell of all those millions of blue flowers - amazing.

After a long walk through the blue that just seems to go on forever, we felt like we were lost in an enchanted forest or a Harry Potter book. I half expected a unicorn or a wizard to turn up!