fitness adventures around Toronto

Today I made a choice to not do my tempo run outside. It is just too hot and after Sunday’s long run I just couldn’t bear the thought of heading outside for a 6 km run.

Instead I went downstairs and hit up my treadmill. Before I began had to figure out how many miles 6 km were before I began! Why does the treadmill in my building have to be in miles? If you are mathematically challenged like me 6 km is around 3.76 miles (I hope!).

I also treated myself to a few new songs for my iPod which helped keep me motivated. By the last mile I was clocking a 9:14 mile which is pretty good for me

I highly recommend these two songs:

• Love the way you lie – Eminem (feat. Rihanna)
• Teenage Dream – Katy Perry

I then headed upstairs to try out some butternut squash…

I give you my butternut squash fajitas. Roasted in the oven with some olive oil, salt’n'pepper and cumin they were the perfect way to beef up a veggie fajita.

Perfect post-run meal!

Now off to catch up on some Weeds!

Dear Gatorade Rain,

I used to love you, but I think it may be time to take a little break from one another. I’ve decided to cheat on you. You just aren’t doing anything for me anymore.

I’m leaving you for…

(to be continued)

PS: I may be back.

—

I got a lot of great suggestions yesterday about using coconut water instead of Gatorade as a sports drink for my runs. As so many of you recommended this to me I thought it may be time to check this out. I think for my two shorter runs this week I will try out Vita Coco.

The one thing I am concerned about is how I will enjoy coconut water at room temperature. For some reason I think coconut water needs to be cold to enjoy. I suppose it can’t be any different than drinking warm Gatorade?

A couple of other bloggers have talked about their experiences of using coconut water as running fuel:

• Oh She Glows had a guest post about exercise and hydration (information about coconut water is mid-way through post)
• Healthy Fellow on the “The Truth about Coconut Water”
• Coconut water vs sports drinks

I also got a couple of other recommendations that I’m going to try/take a look at:

• Vitamin Water – Lemonade Flavour (never thought of this one before – anyone else tried this?
• Thrive Fitness - apparently has some homemade natural recipes

I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks for all your tips!

Today’s run was hot and by the end of it I was feeling a lot like this dog I saw yesterday.

I was thirsty, tired and really didn’t feel like going anywhere. I was supposed to do 26km, but only managed to do 18km. I figure since this was my first long run back after twisting my ankle that running 18km wasn’t something to be ashamed of. Even with 18km I think I had a slight case of heat exhaustion.

I must admit that when I came home I was a bit of a whiner…

I didn’t want to do anything except have a shower and then nap.

After some rest I decided to do something useful – I made muffins! The ones I made had strawberries and nectarines in them! Of course the recipe came from my new favourite cookbook, Two Dishes.

I don’t think these are the healthiest type of muffins I could have made, but they were the right choice for a post-Sunday run treat.

Running fuel:

One of the things that I am struggling with the most these days is fuel while I’m running. I find running gels, Gatorade and sports beans slightly difficult to take in. They just taste so artificial after a while. Does anyone know of any good natural alternatives?

Fridays are pretty awesome in general, but what makes them even better?

A proper seated lunch with friends.

Lately I have been really good at bringing my own lunch, so tend to just eat at my desk. I may be eating healthier choices, but I do miss getting out of the office. Do any of you have this issue of just eating lunch at your desks?

Today I went to Mercatto at the MaRS building. I love this building – so light and airy. I have been to this location before, but just for espresso.

I found the menu pretty hard to choose from as nothing really jumped out at me. A lot of pastas, pizzas and main dishes. Everything seemed a bit heavy. In the end, I made a snap decision – margherita pizza. A very uninspired choice.

And it was also a very uninspired dish. It was served luke-warm and was pretty tasteless. I ate around half of it and left the rest. One of my friends ordered a beet salad and the presentation was beautiful – too bad all it contained was beets!

I would go back to give the place another chance, but think I would prefer to visit at dinnertime. That way I can really look over the menu and have a glass of wine.

30 Day Shred Update:

I just completed my first 10 days of the Shred. For the most part I have kept up with the program (apart from my rest day yesterday).

So far what I have found the most difficult is fitting the 20 minutes in when I have another workout planned. Tomorrow I’m moving up to level 2!

Happy Friday everyone!

Some days you just need some wine and cheese.

I  decided to take a day off from Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred and treat myself to an adult grilled cheese sandwich. As I mentioned earlier this week I am loving the Two Dishes cookbook and the recipe I used for the grilled cheese was taken from the books “Good eats for bad days”.

It was just what I needed. The grilled cheese you see above was the one I made for B – his version had black forest ham while mine had smoke turkey. Both were topped with gruyere cheese and slices of pear.

Apparently, this sandwich scored 9.5/10 for B. I lost .5 because I didn’t make him two!

All healthy eating was not lost, though…

For me dinner is never complete without some version of a green salad. Even when I go to Bamburger I order a side salad.

Now, if only I could figure out what to make with my most hated veggie – beets.

Beets are starting to make regular appearances in my CSA share and I never know what to do with them. There must be a recipe out there that even the biggest beet hater would like?