Wildlife Rescue

This morning my son noticed something black entangled in his soccer goal netting at the back of our garden. So I went out to see what is was, thinking it was a dead bird or something. As I got closer I saw it was a young hedgehog, all twisted up in the netting and he was still alive! So I called Felix and we both got heavy work gloves on and a pair of scissors and tried to figure out how we were going to get the little guy loose. In the end we had to make three cuts in what we will now be calling the "hedgehog trap" to release the little guy. He must have been exhausted because he didn't struggle at all. Once he was free it took him about ten minutes to recover before he waddled off to the back of the garden, and his home under our compost heap. What a relief!

It's another gorgeous morning here and so I think I will go get a run in when it warms up a bit. My kids are on vacation all week long and tomorrow my two youngest boys have a big badminton tournament to go to, which means a long day on those notoriously uncomfortable bleachers!

Yesterday Stefaan and I ran to the Finnish Track and did a few rounds there, so we didn't do as long of a run as we normally do. My hip feels better today, so it might just be a question of making sure I don't overdo it for a while.

Is it Friday already?

Actually it's Friday evening! How did the week go by so fast? Except for Tuesday the weather has been brilliant, sunny and crisp, and I have been doing my best to take advantage of it. Today I did go to the gym in the morning, for upper body weights, the elliptical and then the Body Balance class, which was a killer for my hip today. My hip has been bothering me again and I'm not sure what I need to do at the moment...

The problem is I enjoy my runs so much that I don't want to stop running! I went out to the lake again yesterday, it was glorious to be running in the sunshine at a perfect temperature. And the hip doesn't hurt while I am running, it just nags at me afterwards...

On Wednesday the free yoga class on Yoga Today this week was especially for runners, bikers and hikers, so I was excited to do it. It was a lot of focus on hip mobility and stretching (pigeon pose, anyone?) and perhaps too much of a good thing? The funny thing is I notice myself being much more careful about the movements I do when I do a yoga class by myself at home, whereas in the Body Balance class, where other people are around, I find myself trying a lot harder to keep up with the teacher and not modifying as much as I probably should.

On another note, I was so excited to get Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" cookbook for my
birthday from my sister! I have one of his other books (Food Matters) and love his philosophy about food. And did you know he is a runner, too? His recipes are often in Runner's World. Anyway, as you can imagine, I am excited to get cooking! I will keep you posted of the recipes I am trying - it will certainly keep me busy for a while as the book is nearly 1000 pages long!

45 again

I normally go to the gym on Mondays and run on Tuesday, but it's supposed to be rainy tomorrow and today is beautiful - so I flipped things around. I waited til it warmed up this afternoon and went out for a glorious 45 minute run. The weather is just gorgeous - sunny and crisp with lots of leaves blowing around. So glad I was able to take advantage of it!

Yesterday we tried out the hiking shoes in the woods out at the Zoet Waters - and finished our hike off with some coffee, hot chocolate, ice cream waffles and pancakes - mmmmm.... what a treat! And sometimes you need a bribe to get teenagers to come with you...

45

Yesterday was my birthday so early in the morning I told my 16-year-old I was planning on running 45 kilometers in honor of my new age! He gave me that fish-eye look that teenagers are so good at, and so I said, well, how about 45 minutes?

It was a good day, it was sunny, my husband took the day off and so we ran the 45 minutes together! Then he took me out for lunch at one of my favorite veggie restaurants, Lukemieke, and then we went on a little shopping spree in town. So now I am the proud owner of really professional looking hiking boots!

Mid-week update and a recipe!

I made this Red Beet Hummus this evening and the color was so gorgeous I just had to share it with you! The recipe is very easy, too...and a great way to use up any leftover roasted beets you might have on hand.

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 medium roasted or cooked beet (about 150 g or 5 ounces)

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

juice of half a lemon

1 T olive oil

1 T tahini

1/2 t. cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or with an immersion blender until smooth. Enjoy!

Today I did the free yoga class on the Yoga Today website - which felt really good!

Yesterday I gave up on the weather and went to the gym for my run. It had been a while since I did a run on the treadmill, and it actually felt kind of monotonous. Dare I say I might be growing out of loving the treadmill??? I sure hope not, with winter right around the corner...

Monday I putzed around until I didn't have enough time to go to the gym so I did the 30 Day Shred at home and then went for a short run - and my muscles are still sore today! That workout is deceptively intense...

Mayumana!

Gillis and I had a great time at the Mayumana show last night! It was exciting and we both enjoyed it. What a treat! I wouldn't have normally picked this kind of performance to go and see, but I was surprised at how entertaining it was. And we had great seats!

We took the train to Antwerp and got there early, so we walked around China Town a little bit and then shared a pizza for dinner.

Earlier in the day, Stefaan and I ran about 8 km together. It was such nice weather!

Today I am switching around my normal routine to take advantage of the last sunny day - I think I will run today and go to the gym tomorrow, when it is supposed to be raining.

Have a great week!

TGIF!

Yay - it's Friday! And we are having beautiful fall weather to boot, and expecting a beautiful weekend - although with wild temperature swings - this morning when I biked to the gym, I had my fleece hat and gloves on, while this afternoon I was sitting in a tank top on my patio talking on the phone to my sister - go figure!

I'm so excited - I won two tickets to a Mayumana performance in Antwerp this Sunday evening and I decided to take my middle son with me. We will take the train there and I think it will be a fun evening out!

Other than that exciting news, it's been a pretty normal week - I had an absolutely great run on Tuesday (yes, Fran, I ended up just going outside from home after taking too long to make a decision and not wanting to waste time going to the gym) - I ended up running 8.5 km in a bit less than an hour, and enjoyed every step - YAY!!! It was one of the most awesome runs I've had in a long time. Felt great.

Yesterday, I spent the day in Brussels with a very dear friend - it was sunny and we had a great time walking around the city and doing a bit of shopping, lots of talking, having a nice lunch and an ice cream cone for dessert - what a treat.

And today was Body Balance class at the gym which I am really enjoying. My lower back was sore from walking all over Brussels and the stretching and downward dogs really helped. I felt like I got all the kinks out after the class was done.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!