The last peak

Saturday, September 26th. Race Day.

I woke up SORE, but decided I could either stay home on a beauty day & be upset that for the 5th time in 4 years I've been hit while in a motor vehicle. OR could get my butt out to Port Moody to run the last 5 Peak Race of 2010.

For anyone who knows me you know what I picked.

Plus I had recruited two friends; Alex and Leah, who are both road runners, that I persuaded to run the sport course as their first trail race.

I made delicious oatmeal (steel cut oats, quinoa flour, chai seeds, hemp seeds, raspberries, blueberries and peaches w/a little cinnamon OH MY!) and packed up by bag...I admit- I'm a serial over packer - but how can I decide which Luon to bring and which to leave at home?? I love it all!! And then headed out the door.

We departed Vancouver a little later then planned...but we were equipment with Elysian Coffee (yummy), two newbie trail racers and one partly broken princess full of endorphins & anti-inflammatory's.

After I checked I made the rounds saying hi to some of the peeps I knew including; Tom, Coo, Mike from Peak, Nicola G & her bf Peter Watson.

I wished my friends good luck in their first race and headed to the starting area. It was during this time that they announced the race route had been changed, due to a flooded bridge. One of the things I love about trail running - expect the unexpected.

I "ran" the 15.5km Endro course. I won't get into all the minor details but lets just say my hips and back were very angry at me. I played tunes on my iPod shuffle to try to block out their anger (newly updated with some wicked wicked tuneage) and ended up walking a large section along the back side of the course my body was screaming to stop but I proceed (with a smile of course or at least thinking about smiling).

The day was splendid, the area is beautiful and the sun was shinning and I really enjoyed myself.  I managed to pick up my pace for the last 5 km's and ran at a great tempo pace. I was passing alot of the 1/2 marathoners who seemed to be suffering so I hope my cheers and words of encouragement helped them along.

I ended up finished the race in 1hr 39 minutes - slower then I would have liked but I'm happy I went even though I probably should not have - next year should seem like a walk in the park for me.  My time was good enough for 73rd overall, 17th place female and 7th in my age group.

Immediately following the race I went for a soak in the lake which felt fabulous!!

Congrats to Duncan Coo who frickin' killed the course and came in 1st in his age group.  Smokin man!  And to Tom Craik who is battling injuries and still smashed the course (Up until 15 minutes before he wasn't even sure he was going to run it...so much for that "fun run" we talked about). These two training and racing machines are definitely inspiration to the turtles like me.

My friends and I went to Booster juice for a quick refuel and then headed back downtown to a fabulous spa on Richard's at Drake called Spruce Body Labs.  I definitely recommend you check out this spa!!  If you have benefits look into your RMT coverage and get into the see the peeps at Spruce ASAP. It was the perfect way to finish a splendid day!

And i loved this which we on the wall of my message room-

And because I'm addicted to keeping busy and living life to the fullest of course I squeezed in a concert at night.  After dinner I headed to the Biltmore (which was piping hot inside - pls get AC or air circulation) to check out Canadian band The Wooden Sky, who put on a great show.

I'm sleepy just thinking about it all;)

PS - Have you made Banana Ice Cream yet? Would love to know if you enjoyed it!

Banana Ice Cream

Last week I was hanging out at home craving something sweet. I went to the freezer to get a frozen strawberry fruit bar only to realize I had none... but I had a bunch of frozen bananas with no propose. So I used the Google machine to see what you can make with frozen bananas that is quick and easy. I found love - or what others call Banana Ice Cream. I love it because its so simple and fast to make plus you can experiment with tons of different ingredients. This should get you started:

Approximately 1 serving:
1 frozen banana
1 teaspoon of agave nectar
1/4 cup of almond milk
1 teaspoon of chia seeds
sprinkle of cocoa nibs

Helpful hints:

• Peel Bananas, cut in half and freeze in zip lock baggies 
• Make your own Almond milk by soaking almonds over night in water and then running through your juicer with water. Fresh, natural and delicious 
• Trying adding frozen blueberries, mangos, strawberries, raspberries or avocados 

Homemade almond milk (you could use water/regular milk/soy milk/store bought almond milk)

















Combine in a food processor and blend

















Blending took me about 3-5 minutes

You will end up with a nice smooth consistency

Top with fresh fruit or chia seed & cocoa nibs

NOM NOM NOM - A healthy, quick, tasty & inexpensive whole food treat

Leftovers can be put in the freezer and added to your morning smoothie. If you liked this recipe, try this one for Raw Chocolate Pudding made with my favourite food - avocados!

~K

5 Peaks Buntzen Lake Race

Tomorrow is the 5 Peaks Buntzen Lake race. I had been planning to run the Endro course which is 15.5km until yesterday when I was rear ended in my car.  Fortunately the accident wasn't super bad but I am slightly broken from past accidents so when I woke this morning my body was definitely sore to say the least. I have been icing, resting and taking anti-inflammatories today, my hope is that coupled with some serious mind over matter *positive thinking* I will I wake up tomorrow and feel ok to run the race.
A little about the course the race starts (south) along the Diez Vistas (Spanish for 10 views). From the .5km to 3km you will climb about 460m, then you will drop back down to the lake over the next 4.5km. The run back to the finish line is a fast & rolling 6km. Total Elevation Gain 987m.

It was on a recent training run that I did by myself in this area where I got a bit lost and super freaked out.

The set up:
I had been out for at least an hour and a half alone (40 minutes lost)
POURING rain (in an area well known to have bears and courgar)
No food or water (I know I should have brought some with me)
I hadn't seen another human for at least 1 hour (probably longer)

And finally I came looping around onto the part of the trail that is more commonly used but still about about 30-40 minutes from where I had parked.  And thank god I see a group of approxmaitely 10 people - YAY!! HUMANS. 

But they are all staring at me...I think to myself - seriously have they never seen a runner out in the rain - its Vancouver after all, you can't be scared to get wet. 

As I keep running towards them...they are still staring at me with funny looks on their faces. So I eventually look down to see this:

Yep turns out my washer didn't take all the soap out of my running clothes and this group of people must have been wondering what the heck was up with bubble girl running through the woods half way through her bath.

I'll post a race report if I end up running.  Happy Fall everyone!

~K

Bike Porn + Portland

My new LOVE

I stole the name of this blog post from my "pen pal" Paul (thanks mate!) 

In August I went on a little roadie to Portland (PDX) to see a band I love, called Temper Trap with my good friend Steph - equipped with a not so secret agenda. To finally buy a road bike.  MISSION COMPLETE.

The Deet's: 2011 Specialized Ruby Elite

The trip was success in every way.  We ate at some fantastic restaurants, did a little shopping, went to a wonderful farmers market and got to enjoy an outstanding performance by Australia's Temper Trap (second time I've seen them this year and they didn't disappoint).

Steph & I at the Roseland Theater for Temper Trap

The crowd going crazy for Temper Trap

The Drum Song being performed by lead singer Dougy Mandagi

After the concert we headed to Portland's premier hot spot the Dixie Tavern where we proceeded to dance the night away.

During our exploration of Portland we came across this wall- which I thought was kinda funny.  But in all fairness the city is super progressive; a heavy push on bike transportation/public transit/walking in the city, tons of recycling overall I just noticed the city seemed to really care about environmentally issues.

And we made it to one of the best coffee shops I've been to- thanks to yelp.  It's called Stumptown Coffee, the shop was warm, filled with the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans, delicious baking and the walls were covered by very funky art pieces. The atmosphere was good too, the place was full of people getting together for catch up, to read a book and people watching. But the most important part was when we received our coffees; I lifted the cup to my nose and inhaled-> perfection.  Took a sip-> mouth full of warm wonderful full bodied coffee. Totally worth the wait!

Fabulous coffees in hand we headed next door to Bijou Cafe for breakfast (have I ever mentioned Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day? I would eat if all day every day if i could)

We went to a great place for lunch (can't remember the name now) but i loved this which was on the wall- 

Overall a great weekend getaway I'll definitely be heading back to Portland soon ;)

Where we left off...

Wow its almost been a month since my last post.  Its simple to explain really- life has been happening & moving at a speed I can barely keep up with.  The day after Jana's wedding I headed up to Squamish, BC to crew at Stormy 50 miler.

I wanted to race but with all the wedding activities, work and roadtrips there was simply no time to effectively train. So I opted to crew for my buddy Tom, who was running his first 50 miler - Yahoo! I also had a bunch of friends running in the race as a relay team.  I'l save the race reports to the gents but I had a fantastic day hanging out in the trails chatting w/other crew members and the runners;

Tom's race report here - http://bit.ly/aeLCnv
Chris' race report here - www.priceyruns.com

The good stuff - photos!!

Tom smashing coconut water at the 1st aid station I met him at

Heck ya I'm loving today!

the boys B-Rad, Pricey & Coo getting ready to smash the relay team course record

Tom cruising through one of the aid stations (we spotted a banshee on this section of the trail)

One of the other spectators baked homemade mint chocolate cookies ~ to die for ~ note to self bring baking the next time you crew a race it's a sure fire way to make friends

Brooke (just a couple weeks after she crushed the Knee Knacker course), Coach Campbell, Pricey and Me taking in all the Nine Mile Hill action

Coo after he smoked his relay leg - Nine Mile Hill - he seriously passed everything that was on the course in front of him (note: the banshee on the left of the shot still grinning with runners high)

Hoz getting supplies at the end of Nine Mile Hill section tied for 1st place

Hoz and his crew including Mike from Peak Performance tied for 1st and still time for pics.  No Big Deal - right?

Winning relay team - setting a new course record to boot! and yep two of them had babies that were less then 6 months old!!

Hoz and Darin tie for first place in the 50 miler

Tom finishing his first 50 miler being greeted by his loving & adorable family including their tiny baby who was only a few weeks old at the time of the race

Can't wait to be part of the action next year.