Hard Run

Yesterday's tempo run felt hard. It was a struggle the whole time. I never felt like I got into the groove, even after getting through the usual initial hard bit I always have in every run. It was strange and bit of a downer, but I kept thinking, just do the workout and you have still benefitted from it, even if it felt bad. This is when I realize how much of running is in the mind!

I had to do 5x 5 minute fast segments, with 2 minute slower intervals. I didn't get up to as fast a tempo as I would have hoped, but I ended up doing 5.5 km in the total 35 minutes. And I was sweating like crazy - ugh. Man was I glad when I could finally get off that treadmill!

When is a long run long?

Answer: when you have to carry a sports drink. I realized last week that I was fading by the end of my long run, and then it hit me, Oh yeah, these are the kinds of distances where I have to start carrying stuff with me - ugh. I dread putting on my water belt. But today I did and it does make such a difference, it was worth it.

We had perfect weather to run in today, sunny and warm but with a cool breeze...we did eight laps around the lake (11.2 km) in an easy 72 minutes. Stefaan even managed to hang in there the whole time and his knee only started bothering him slightly at the end, which is great news.

Only one more long run around the lake and then it is the Ladies Run! I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully the weather will be just as nice then as it was today.

Belated Earth Day

I know, I'm a bit behind! But I did want to post a couple of interesting links for those of you who are interested in helping improve the environment through making changes in your eating habits.

www.earthsave.org : has lots of articles on what you can do to improve your health and the environment

www.vegpledge.com : here you can fill out a pledge to either reduce the amount of meat in your current diet, eliminate meat in your diet, or eliminate all animal products...in return you receive a free packet of information plus a free six month subscription to Vegetarian Times Magazine (if you live in the US or Canada).

John Robbins says in his book, "A Diet for a New America" (which I highly recommend):

...if Americans were to reduce their meat consumption by only 10 percent, it would free over 12 million tons of grain annually for human consumption. That by itself would be enough to adequately feed every one of the 60 million human beings who will starve to death on the planet this year.

Help yourself, help others, help the planet by simply reducing how much meat you eat!

Pink Trees & Loud Frogs

Spring is finally in full swing here...the sure-fire signs being the gorgeous, fluffy pink snowball trees on the Koning Albertlaan:
The vibrant blue of the water at the lake:

And the obnoxiously loud frogs at the pond at one of our favorite spots to eat, the Groene Lotus:

Seriously, the frogs are so loud that you can barely hear yourself think! One year one of those frogs turned up in the pond of our next-door neighbors and for several days we thought someone had adopted a goose.

This morning I had my speed workout to do, so in spite of the really nice weather I did go to the gym. Being Garmin-less, it is just easier for me to do it on a treadmill! I did the 8-6-4-2 minute intervals again, and ended up doing 5 km in 32 minutes.

Thankfully the good weather is supposed to hold out through the weekend - what a blessing!

Quick Post

Just a short post today - we have our last spring workshop this evening. I flip-flopped my runs for the week. The weather is just so nice right now that I thought it would be a shame to waste it going to the gym for a speed workout, so I'll save that for Thursday. Instead I walked the boys to school, and went off for my run from there, got one big hill in (Reulensvest), did 6.7 km in 45 minutes. Now I'm off to get things ready for tonight!

What a Weekend!

Meeting Christine Vardaros

On Saturday I took the train to Brussels to attend the EVA Sport inagural event: a talk given by Christine Vardaros, professional cyclist (cross and road), writer, and vegan. I was really looking forward to this, as I have been following Christine's blog (http://www.christinevardaros.blogspot.com/), and wanted to hear more about her experience as a vegan athlete.

Christine turned out to be a friendly, open and funny person! She is also very passionate about what she believes in and sharing it with others. She gave us an inspiring and informative talk about the myths regarding a vegan diet:

• "You can't perform well on a vegan diet": at 38 years old, Christine is living proof that a vegan diet can help you outperform your genetic ability. She is one of the top women bikers in the world, in one of its toughest disciplines, and is still improving. She told us how when she made the transition from vegetarian to vegan eight years ago, and dropped dairy, she was able to beat the allergies and breathing problems that had been plaguing her. Her energy level is consistently high, she recovers more quickly from hard training and her immune system is excellent. She says she is far more productive in her 30's than she was in her 20's.
• "A vegan diet is complicated": Christine says a vegan diet does not have to be complicated and vegans don't have to rely on special, expensive ingredients and long, involved recipes. She shared with us what a typical day's meals are: breakfast is mixed grain oatmeal, ground flax and some chopped fruit with warm water; lunch is usually on her bike, so she takes bananas, dates, figs and sometimes an energy bar (she uses Pro Bar, her sponsor - she brought one for me to sample and I had it yesterday after my run - it was really good!); lunch/dinner at home are often grilled portobella mushroom or eggplant burgers, big salads, pasta and pizzas with lots of veggies, or other grains with veggies. For snacks she eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bread dipped in olive oil, and for dessert she likes red wine and dark chocolate!
• "It's difficult to maintain a vegan diet while travelling, living abroad, or eating out": Christine says it's not that difficult as long as you are creative and flexible, there is usually at least one option on a menu you can eat, and if not, you can request something that works. At the very worst, she says, "even if there is absolutely nothing of substance you can eat but rice for instance, I promise you will get through that day." She told us how, when competing in the Tour de France last year, for several days, the only thing available for her to have for breakfast was plain white French bread. It wasn't ideal, but she survived it.
• "You can't possibly get enough nutrients and protein on a vegan diet": All plant foods have protein and the average person actually gets too much. Christine says in fact she has to be careful not to get too much protein; and that most athletes are carb deficient! Her daily diet breaks down to 70% carbs, 20% fats, and 10% protein. She also only takes two supplements: vitamin C to boost her immune system and vitamin B12 every few days, just to make sure.

Christine says she always gets questioned about her diet, but the fact that she is able to perform so well as an athlete, where her body and her health are crucial to her income, proves that a vegan diet is not only feasible, but preferable. In conclusion, she said: "We all grew up with a set idea of what it meant to eat healthfully...unfortunately, what we may have believed is not always true. It simply comes down to re-educating ourselves about healthy eating. By eating a plant-based diet, everyone wins! The animals are freed from an insane amount of suffering, the environment improves, and your health becomes better than ever before!"

I went home feeling very inspired from having met Christine and hear her speak. Just seeing how down-to-earth she was, and how she eats normal things while at the same time being in such a physically demanding profession, made me feel that not only is eating a vegan diet the right choice for so many good reasons, it really isn't that hard or complicated or a sacrifice. Thanks, Christine!

Good job!

Well, today I am, to put it lightly, a bit pooped! My main problem is not so much our workshops themselves that wear me out but the fact that once they are done and everyone goes home and the kitchen is semi straightened up, I am still so pumped up that I basically cannot get to sleep. I keep re-playing everything in my mind. I'm so glad I got my run in yesterday, so I can have a quiet morning today.

Our presentation for the 5th grade went really well! The kids were more enthusiastic than I expected and it was fun to be able to interact with them. We had given them each a red card and a green card, so we would ask them questions or their opinions and then they could stick their cards in the air, which worked really well (Linda's brilliant idea!) The basic premise of our presentation was "donderdag veggiedag": why it is a great idea to eat vegetarian one day a week. I would love to know how many kids get their parents to try it with them!

Then in the evening we had our second grownup workshop - what a contrast! But again it went really well, everyone was positive and enjoyed the things we made for them to taste. I think the biggest hit so far is the Tofu Chocolate Mousse (thanks to Jenny for that recipe!) - people are amazed that it's made with tofu, that there is so little sugar in it, it's so simple to make, and that it tastes so good!

If anyone is interested in trying it, here is the recipe:

Melt 180 g. of dark chocolate (broken in pieces or chips) with 125 ml. of plain soy milk, stirring until combined. Then add one package (approx 350 g.) of silken tofu and a packet of vanilla sugar (or 1 t. of vanilla plus 1 T. sugar). Mix until smooth with an immersion mixer or in a blender. Pour into dessert dishes, espresso cups or small glasses and chill until firm. That's all there is to it!

Apparently new research done here in Europe has shown that a vegan diet is also very beneficial for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (thanks to Stefaan for the link!):

http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_08_04_07_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=6933