Making Bread

When I was a kid all I wanted was Kraft Peanut Butter, the sugary kind. Other kids had Oreos in their lunches and Fruit Loops for breakfast.  What we called "junky cereal" was reserved for birthdays and Christmas. Peanut butter was made only from nuts and when we were allowed the beloved Corn Pops they were divided evenly and gone in a day. At my house we had an organic food co-op organized out of our car port. My mom ground her own wheat and made her own pasta! There's something so ironic about the things you envy as a child. I didn't appreciate it then but now I'm so proud. My mom is so smart, so ahead of the game and yes I'll admit, so right ;) I want to learn from her so here we are making bread from scratch and by scratch I mean all the way from wheat grains to golden loaf.

To begin, grind wheat. Here, we've upgraded from our hand crank of 1992 to an electric grinder attachment of a Kitchen Aid.

The result, whole wheat flour!

Add the rest of the bread ingredients: yeast, water, butter, salt, sugar, and of course the flour. 

Knead, baby knead! Let it rise, knead again, let it rise and then bake dough at 360 deg for 35 mins. Keep up the good work mom! I say this while taking notes and sipping Marine #7 dark roast from Bean Around the World. 

Ta-da, there's something so satisfying and so rewarding about enjoying the carbs of your labour. It's like they don't even count!

xo

Becks

Ripped my favourite tights

A long Sunday run with the girls really is the best training run of the week. Today more than ever I was grateful for this day, I wanted to run away from the memory of yesterday's race. Let's just say I have a good base but I'm lacking speed work.

Ever since I started blogging I've been looking at my runs differently. Every run has a story and it's up to me find an interesting way to tell it. Loving Sunday runs isn’t much of a story by itself and without fail I turn to weather when I'm lacking creativity.

I thought today would be no different. It's getting a bit ridiculous and I must admit kind of funny! Every time I meet Tasha for runs it pours with rain. I left behind beautiful sunshine on Bowen Island and as predicted less than half way through our run at Burnaby Lake the skies opened up and once again, rain!

I was thinking of cheesy metaphors to describe our situation, "it was raining cats and dogs" or "when it rain pours". Then literally in the same thought I found myself skidding along the gravel path face first in the mud. The raining cats and dogs thoughts turned into two dogs coming over to make sure the girl in the puddle was ok.

Once I washed the blood off of my hands and picked the little pieces of rock out of my skin I was totally fine, except for my bruised ego. I also got 65 minutes of running in before the fall (I didn't really want to run those last 5 minutes anyways). The only thing that was a bit upsetting is I ripped my favourite tights. These babies have been part of my best running collection for years.

This really wasn't my best running weekend and I'm looking forward to a much better workouts in the week to come.
xo
Becks

Kindness goes a long way

Today was so simple, so beautiful. I was greeted with sunshine as I stepped out for my morning run. I felt a bit like a brick because my legs were tight from my awesome yoga practice the night before.

I was out for 40 minutes and then ran some good strides along the side of the road to feel fast. We have so many beautiful trails on this island but there is a really good stride spot on the side of Millers Road. I know I must look totally ridiculous to the cars passing by as I run as fast as I can up the road but this stride spot is totally worth the embarrassment. It's a gradual incline, really good footing and the perfect combination of packed mud and gravel.

Anyways, I dropped my shirt about 50 metres up the road and started running. As I start, I picture a solid centre giving me a mechanical advantage as my arms and legs drive me forward. I try to run as fast as I can without losing form. When I get to my shirt I stop, turn around and jog back to the start.

After one of my strides I was running away from my shirt when I could feel a car slowing beside me. In the city this situation would be a big white van with tinted windows but not on this island. A really nice older lady stopped to tell me I had dropped something. She thought I had left my shirt on the side of the road. I explained to her what I was doing and she drove off. It was only about two seconds but what a nice thing to do! Only in this small town would someone consider taking time out of their busy day to tell me I forgot my shirt. This totally made my day! Share the love people.
xo
Becks

Rain is my distraction

This was one of the worst weather days yet. I woke up fighting fatigue and the rain pelting against my window wasn't doing me any favours. The thought of coffee didn’t even help as I dragged myself of out bed . I told myself the rain would let up as I got on the ferry, I told myself the same thing as I drove to SFU, but it was grey the entire way. There was no escape from the elements during this practice and as werid as it sounds I was actually grateful for this horrible weather...kind of.

Freezing post workout

Now, I say "grateful" for this torrential downpour because if I wasn't at least out there taking on the storm I would have felt like a weakling - it was my hips again. They were the limiting factor to my workout.  The tightness has been creeping in ever since I started doing lactic workouts but I haven't succumb to them until today.

My hills started off well and I thought I had beat my hip problems for another day but after 10 minutes legs seized and my hips literally gave out. I just couldn’t push it. It was frustrating because my lungs were fine but I just couldn't move my legs! The last half of my run was so pathetic but thankfully it was so rainy and cold I didn't dwell on it too much.

The only positive thing I can take from this practice, other than the sauna afterwards, is that I haven’t felt frustrated with my running in a long time. I've been finishing my runs feeling so strong and satisfied.  I just have to try and get over the bad ones and for now at least this picture is funny.

xo

Becks

Rushing for balance

When did things become so complicated? All I really need in life is coffee, running, family and friends. It shouldn't be difficult but this was most definitely not the case as I was sitting on the 7:30 am ferry planning my Saturday: drink coffee on ferry, walk to parking, drive to track, meet jules, workout 8:30 -10am (rushed cool-down), change/wash face/apply make-up in car, drive to Milestones for Nat's 10:30 B-day brunch, enjoy California Omelette with ham instead of bacon, run from restaurant to car, drive to work, work 12-7, sleep!

My workout was 3 (1000, 3x200) and for this doosey I needed my training partner. I let Julia pick the track because I was so grateful she would join me so early. Upon our arrival we were greeted with a blanket of fog which was almost as thick as the fence enclosing the entire stadium. I guess they don’t want people running on weekends? This wasn't really a big deal as we scaled the fence onto our red carpet event. It's been done before. Somehow Swangard is less than an A-list track venue as an empty stadium in mid-winter.

The workout went really well and I was really happy with our pacing (thanks Jules). I finished the first set in 3:07 32,32,31 then 3:05 33,32,32 followed by 3:09 32,32,32.  When I finished my last 200 it was  a quick reality check as I realized we took forever! I was behind on my plans and should've been on my way to brunch already. My cool down lasted the 5 minutes it took for me to re-climbe the fence and run to the car. Let me just say it was much harder to climb the fence the second time around thanks to the lactic acid.

Showering was never an option so I took what was left of my water, poured it on my towel and gave myself a quick sponge bath (gross I know). I quickly changed in my car (into the clothes I would wear to work), shoved my hair in a bun and applied make-up over the dried sweat and my very red face (as I said before totally gross).  I drove to Milestones as quickly and safely as I could. I was late but I was there. I had an hour to enjoy a really nice convo before work. An hour later I rushed to work and arrived at 11:59, yes! I was pretending not to be absolutely flustered and totally stiff from the lack of cool-down as I meandered into work. Yes, I was back on track!

I'm not an advocate of this fast paced lifestyle but it seems to follow me everywhere I go. Ironically in my quest for balance rushing is really hard to avoid. All I want is to kick ass in the running world while having fun doing it!
xo

Becks