Dolphins in the Howe Sound

Now that I'm not a full-time Islander; as expected, I no longer despise the ferry. What was once an inconvenient time robber preventing me from freedom ironically, has become my vessel to escape.

With a move to the city my perspective has quickly shifted. I'm no longer a victim of the ferry - it's my choice. I once again appreciate being on the ocean. I adore the wind in my face and the salty air that fills my lungs. The ferry is my comfort, my personal journey onto island time. I'm re-falling in love with this island all over again. In reality, it's probably just that with spring in the air everything is so much lighter and brighter. Winter on the water always seemed to be various shades of gray. I think it also helps that my part-time commute has recently been with dolphins.

Seriously, a pod of dolphin playing in the wake of the ferry and a mom cooked Sunday dinner makes this island pretty amazing.
xo
Becks

The other warm beverage

Coffee, I'm not cheating on you I promise but I have found another love that is almost as satisfying. Non-fat mocha meet London Fog.

I feel like I need to share how much I have been enjoying london fogs. I admit, I'm devoted to coffee but I still love to finish my day with a cup of tea after dinner. A london fog is not just any tea after dinner, it's like dessert in a cup: warm, thick, filling and so so good.

To begin choose your favourite cup, believe it or not this may actually be the hardest part.

What you need: earl grey tea leaves, milk, vanilla, frother, kettle.

Combine 1/4 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of vanilla in your favourite mug.

Froth the milk and it should triple in size.

Heat for 1-minute, you can do this on the stove but the microwave is way faster.

Boil water and pour over earl gray tea bag.

Let it steep for 3-5 minutes, sip and enjoy!

Goodnight!
xo
Becks

Taking a Rebecca Day

Today I walked. I walked and it's Sunday. I'm taking a Rebecca day. I'm realizing my blogging frequency is directly related to how well my runs are going and let's just say I haven't posted in awhile. My hips are debilitatingly tight and despite my massage efforts I can't shake this. So today I slept in, sipped coffee, watched my mom bake bread, sipped more coffee, enjoyed 3 episodes of my new TV obsession Mad Men, went for a long walk in the snow, enjoyed wine Sunday with my family, watched the Oscars and then did some evening yoga. Like I said, I'm taking a Rebecca day!

I realized while I was walking that I'm thinking in blogs. How can I describe this? What animal can will I run into today? I was thinking I would write that I didn't even think about running on my Rebecca Day. That would be a lie because almost every conscious and non-concious thought was about running. As I walked up hills I make sure to pull through with my hamstrings and I'm always trying to contract my core. I find I'm visualizing my races and telling myself  am strong. Even my phone conversation with Jules during my walk circled around running life and what's next.

I realized that my ongoing love-hate relationship with running is tipping too far to the right these days. To run or not to run that is the question. Really, I just want to run well. I'm frustrated with how I feel. Repeat 200's in 31s are terrible; however, for how tight I am these days my times are not too horrible. I feel like I'm ploughing down the track, fighting with my tight hips and trying to dig deep but seriously coming up empty. I mean my track workouts have not been good recently by any means but they are good for how bad I feel. Is this good? Does this make sense? For taking a Rebecca day off running my day sure seemed to be consumed with it. Until next time...
xo
becks

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