New Canadians!

On July 2nd we swore allegiance to our Queen and Country and were sworn in as Canadians! The Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna was full of a gaggle of people from many different nationalities all eager, excited and a little emotional about this day!

We had an incredible support crew in the audience - co-workers and friends. As we were lining up to file into the auditorium beforehand someone in line commented to us about our huge entourage - it was so awesome to be surrounded by 'our people'; Anima, Michele, Sheryl, Pete, Shelly, Chase & Jaxsyn, Rick, Alex, baby Nira, Pete, Julia & baby Natelie, Tony, Liz, Dustin, Les & Nicole (which I'm realizing now how crap I am not to have photos of everyone)
After a little preamble by the master of ceremony, our local MP - Ron Cannon and a rep from the City of Kelowna we got down to business. All en masse reading the oath, singing Oh Canada (Chris and I had been practising the words for days!!) and then lining up to receive our certificates it was done!

Following the ceremony we headed across the road to the newly opened Cactus Club at the Kelowna Yacht Club - overlooking the lake, with views and atmosphere that reminded us just why we picked the stunning Okanagan to call home!

We were blessed with so much love (and so many fabulous Canada-themed gifts! - thank you all) and even our own Citizenship cake (I had won a Facebook contest the day before to win a Canada cake from Colossol Cakes which conveniently was just 1/2 block up our street!- talk about perfect timing!)

The Best of 2014

A little late in pulling these together but here are some of my favourite moments of 2014 in pictures;

Happy New Year to you all!

(here's my best of 2013 post)

Race Recap: Mudd, Sweat & Tears, Kelowna

A couple of weeks ago I was part of a 7 person team taking part in the second Kelowna 'Mudd, Sweat & Tears' event. It's very similar in style to the Tough Mudder & Spartan races out there - basically mud, obstacles, running and some major kick-ass team building/bonding!!

I recruited Chris and I both for my workplace team 'The Bridge Trolls' (we work at The Bridge Services!). I'm not really sure if you need to train for these kind of events - I figured that since the distance was only 12km my regular road running had me comfortably able to manage the distance. And cross training at home doing P90X and Insanity workouts should have me covered in most other aspects, really I think the most important aspect in pre-race readiness is the right mental attitude!

Our team had an assigned start time of 10am - which was quite the treat - being so close to home the alarm was actually set later than it is on an average week-day! Due to the logistics all participants had to be bussed up to the ski resort where the event was taking place. The day got off to a bad start when they were in short supply of buses and it took 80 minutes to stand in line waiting for a shuttle ride...

But we got there....and with a quick dash around to get us registered, changed, bag dropped, potty break etc we were ready to go. Having such congestion at the buses and start line worked in our favour - they introduced an 'extra' start time of 10:15 and since most people had rushed to set off at 10 we had a very small start corral! Perfect once you encountered the obstacles with no line-ups!

The organizers wasted no time in living up to the first part of the event name - MUD. After scrambling over a 9ft wall we were getting down and dirty in a shallow mud pit, bear-crawling along staying low enough to ensure we avoided the barbed wire hanging just inches above the mud. From there we had rope climbs, more mud pits, more walls, tire pulls, and a couple of demoralizing hill climbs with heavy sand bags (up AND back down again).

Surprisingly in the end one of the more challenging aspects of this race was the running in between obstacles. We'd signed up for a 12km race, but at the end my garmin had only logged around 7km (and was consistent with several other teams). Frankly I didn't mind! We'd run from the bottom of the mountain to the top - around 1200ft elevation gain in just over a mile! and then all the way back down again. (You know, there was a perfectly decent chair-lift right there we all could've used!!)

The kicker was the final obstacle. It was an 'Over & Under' type thing. A giant shallow pool of very liquid, slooshy and cold mud. With logs across it - some were 4-5ft high - those were to go over (more difficult than it sounds since they were slick with mud) and then some logs were just inches above the mud pool - and those of course you needed to go under - I mean, of course!. The first 'under' wasn't too bad - we were down and crawling and it was bad. But then there was the second 'under'. And that was the mother of all muddy, dirty obstacles. This log was no more than 2-3 inches above the level of the mud. I stood there contemplating my fate for a few moments. I considered just hopping over the thing and calling it good. And then I decided that 2-3 inches may be just the air gap I needed. I got down flat on my back perpendicular to the log and ducked under hoping and praying and squeezing my eyes as tight as they'd go that I wouldn't end up fully sub-merged. I was one of the lucky ones. I surfaced with a small patch of pinky flesh still visible! Yay for small mercies. The rest of my team did not fare so well and every. single. patch. of. human. body was slick and covered in mud. And I mean EVERYWHERE!

The TEARS part of the even name came right after we crossed the finish line. There was a fire hose hooked up to icy mountain water to wash off a little - and you did have to wash off, or at least try! It really was pretty hard to bear without getting instant brain freeze and it most certainly brought tears to your eyes!

In all, it was a super fun event!

Linking up to Jill's Fitness Friday

Take me back to Chicago (in Kelowna!)

Back in my teens I listened to the band Chicago. I loved their music. At the time I think it was probably an odd choice for someone my age. None of my friends listened to them, and I don`t really remember them hitting the charts much in England but I think with lots of family trips stateside I must have heard them on the car radio and just loved their sound. My Dad used to get my their albums on cassette for me on his travels.

Fast forward 25 years. Last night we went to see them in concert. It was one of my birthday treats from Chris, and they were visiting Kelowna! And as I watched them I realised a few things;

• Whilst I liked their music I actually knew nothing about them. I didn`t know what they looked like, who they were, their names, nor did I give much thought 25 years ago to what instruments they played - how they actually made their music. I just liked their sound. I liked their lyrics and especially their ballads and many a song from Chicago made it to my homemade mix-tapes - especially when I was dealing with a teenage broken heart!!
• I am getting OLD! Though not as old as these guys!! They`ve been making music together as a band for longer than I`ve been alive! Which means much of their music was before I was even making my own choices in what I listened to (I`m telling you - it`s weird how I ever got ìnto`them in my teenage years!)
• They are uber-talented. 9 guys on stage - an amazing percussionist, and I loved the sound of the trombone, trumpet and Sax - we don`t hear enough of those real instruments these days! I have to say though I do recall the vocal talent of Peter Cetera on many of their bigger hits that I listened to so the songs they played sounded a little different - not bad, just different.
• These old boys have more energy and staying power than me. They were on stage just shy of 3 hours and performed an amazing set! Though it did seem to be a bit of a blast from the past when there was a 20 minute intermission! (but no young ladies with ice-cream sandwiches and popcorn for sale in the aisles)

Photo: Robin Jones from Castanet.net

I recognized around 50-60% of the set. And the rest was just great, easy listening - real toe-tapped stuff for me! I loved an evening of awesome music. Much of it has a great 70's feel to it - like a 70's TV show soundtrack (Charlie's Angels anyone) and the brilliant percussionist with his shakers and bongo drums created a real Tiki Bar vibe on a couple of occasions. It was fascinating to watch 9 talented musicians making music. We have so many brilliant musicians these days of course but the glory is often reserved for the vocalist and you don't often to really get to watch the people playing the instruments, actually making the music.

Besides I could listen to someone play Sax for me all night long.....
And for this old lady, it was a late night on the town. Now let me settle down with a nice cuppa cocoa....

21DSD Days 4 & 5 (and Crockpot Tahini Chicken recipe)

It was the weekend here. I was glad of the lie-in opportunity on both mornings! I made a dash into town on Saturday (to spend an hour lining up!!) to purchase some awesome organic vegetables at the weekly warehouse sale at Urban Harvest (good job it's worth it - I bought 3 dozen eggs - you think that might be overkill?!). I then picked up some Macademia nuts at the local Bulk Barn. I have to say shopping is not easy whilst on detox! Everything that I can't have seemed to be jumping off the shelves at me, and Bulk Barn...yes they have a British Chocolate section - all my favourites nustled up in one place taunting me! Dang!

Saturday I started my day with a carrot & pumpkin muffin and carrot & ginger juice. During the day I snacked on boiled egg, cottage cheese and another muffin (whoops! - they are addictively good!). I did manage to remember to eat lunch and had the leftover stuffed pepper from day 2. The evening ran away on me and before I knew it, it was getting late and the Spaghetti Squash bolognese I had planned seemed too much like hard work. So I had a giant salad loaded with feta, chicken and avocado. And then I made dessert....a 1/4 avocado, 1 frozen banana, cacao powder and some full fat coconut milk, and a couple of ice cubes blended up into a wicked little 'treat' - hey, it was Saturday night!!

Today was the first day I've felt a bit BLAH. The day started off great. Another lie-in, a 45 minute Insanity workout and then Pumpkin Pancakes. These were the first recipe from the book that I haven't loved. The pancakes were just a bit too eggey for my liking (the ratio was 3 eggs to 1/2 cup coconut flour after all). They did cook up to perfection and didn't fall apart like lots of my pancake batter concoctions, but I couldn't get excited by the prospect of them - they were fine, but the all the other recipes I've tried have been WOW!. I accompanied them with a glass of green juice and a couple of rashes of bacon. A great start to the day! I then joined some friends for an awesome snowshoe hike with the dogs up at Sovereign Lake and then a quick visit to our local ski resort  - Silver Star where they were celebrating the winter carnival with some snow sculptures.

When I got home I just felt a bit drained. I hadn't really eaten anything out (although it wasn't late when I got back home - maybe 2.30?) so I snacked on kale chips, 2 boiled eggs, and raw veggies. With hindsight of course that's really only a snack by the 21DSD standards and whilst it would normally be considered lunch for me perhaps it isn't enough during the program (or after more than 2 hours of pretty intense exercise today?!). I took a little afternoon nap and I still haven't shaken the blah feeling. I'm coming to the conclusion that perhaps I'm not not getting enough fuel inside me - that's 2 out of 3 days that I've skipped lunch.

This evening I really wanted something. Not sure what! Although it wasn't specifically something sweet I was craving wanting think I just felt for the first time the restriction of the program and it kinda got me down. Perhaps I was just feeling down in the dumps and it turned into my own little pity party. The good news is I didn't succumb to anything!

On the upside was Dinner! I cooked a fabulous Crockpot Tahini Chicken which I saw in a Facebook group and sadly I don't remember by who, so I can't credit it. This is so flippin' easy - love crockpot meals - it does it all for you pretty much!. I adjusted the original recipe to make 2 portions and I want to get the details down here so I don't loose it;

Crockpot Tahini Chicken

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 1 lb Chicken Thighs
• 1/4 Cup Coconut aminos (I'm sure Braggs, or regular soy sauce would also work here)
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 3 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1/5 Tbsp Tahini
• 1 large clove garlic chopped
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot
2. In a bowl mix all the other ingredients into a paste/sauce
3. Pour over Chicken
4. Cook on high for 2.5 hours

Race Recap: White Rabbit Snowshoe 5km

I took part in my first race of the year this weekend. I haven't really been doing much in the way of running training (OK - like 4 miles since the end of November!) but I have been doing a fair bit of winter cross training. A combo of Insanity (which is high energy cardio HIIT training) and Supreme 90 (which has a better balance of cardio AND strength). This year we've also got out a lot to snowshoe - handy training for this particular race as it happens!

The White Rabbit Snowshoe race takes place every January at the Crystal Mountain Ski Hill in West Kelowna. It's in it's ninth year and this was our 3rd time participating. It's a super small race, but that equals friendly - mMy race pack was pulled out and handed to me before I'd even got a chance to say hello!

We were met at the ski hill by thick cloud/fog but very reasonable temperatures hovering around -5. I've finally gotten the hang of what to wear snowshoeing - our frequent hiking this season really helped with that! I always have to wear waterproof pants as for some inexplicable reason my gait means I flick snow up my legs and backside like crazy - but underneath I wore some thin running tights and on top was just an Icebreaker baselayer and my Arctyrex lightweight jacket.

As always Chris and I both were both doing the 5km. We got a chairlift ride to the top of the mountain and then raced our way back downhill. As we were waiting around for the start the cloud at the top of the mountain started to lift and by the time we were racing it was under gorgeous sunny blue skies!

I managed to set off quite near the front, Chris left me behind and I settled myself into my rhythm - though I have to say I don't find that easy when snowshoeing. The first 1-2km there's a sneaky ravine so more uphill that you would think and then the little extra altitude and cold air makes getting in the groove more challenging than my usual road running.

Whenever I run trail races I always seem to find myself alone. Literally I could not see anyone ahead or behind me after a couple of kms. What is it with my pace that no-one else seems to match it?! But in this pristine winter-wonderland I was hardly complaining!

Once the ravine was out of the way we left the high-ground and made a fairly steep descent through a thick forest. I have the good fortune to be quite comfortable on my downhills and I could really take advantage of the gravity assisted power and I motored along, so much so that on the last 1/2 km flat stretch I had to take a walk break to catch my breath (because you can't possibly get in sight of the finish line and be walking!)

Unfortunately I could hear the finish line before I could see it. That thick fog at the bottom of the ski hill?....yep, that was still there! I crossed the finish line 39 mins after I set off! 8 minutes off of last year's time and finishing up as the third female!

SO I was third female! I've never been on the podium of a race before! I was super pleased - this little race has the cutest medals shaped as old fashioned snowshoes and a little crystal-thing dangling between them, with embroidered ribbons - and they are only given out to the podium finishers!

As always with this amazing race they have a door prize draw at the end of the awards. I drew a really early ticket and scooped up my first choice prize (after scouting them all out beforehand) - a snowshoe tote (for Chris, since he in fact won one for me last year, the least I could do was return the favour!)

I can't say enough wonderful things about this race. I look forward to celebrating their 10th year next year - only 51.5 weeks to go!

I'm linking up with Katie from Healthy Diva Life and her 'Marvelous in my Monday' feature.

Hiking the Selkirk Mountains

Back last month we took a trip to Glacier National Park. Everyone's heard of it, right? But most people think of the one in Montana, USA. Well Canada has a Glacier National Park too! And it's right here in British Columbia!

It's about a 3 hour drive from us here so we packed up the car with a tonne of camping stuff, a dog and 2 people and headed off. We stopped briefly en route in Revelstoke to stock up on some last minute provisions and a bite to eat since we'd be arriving after dark and too late to start cooking. We set up camp for our 2 night adventure at the Illecillewaet campground just a couple of km's from Roger's Pass, right on the side of the Trans Canada Highway. You'd think that the traffic noise would be distracting and ruin the 'in the moment with nature' and you'd be right, except for the raging river noise that drowned any other noise out - Illecillewaet means 'Raging Waters' in First Nations-speak! This was no babbling brook that's for sure!

Our first night was a quick set-up of the tent, and a stroll around the campsite to explore and get our bearings, and to try and get the wriggles out of Meli, who was insanely excited with all the new smells and sticks, and even fancied her chances at a quick dip in the river - it would have been quick, before she'd have been whisked away by the crazy rapids! (we kept her on a tight leash!)

Saturday morning was a slow start. It was a pretty chilly morning for us initially, but as soon as the sun appeared over the surrounding mountain-tops it warmed up (and reached a nice, comfortable high of around 23-25 which was perfect hiking temps!). I love waking up in a new place that you arrived at in the dark - You're never really sure what it all looks like until you see it in the daytime! We took Meli for a walk arouond the campsite and headed along the campsite road a little so she could have a chance to run off-leash (that girl isn't exercised unless she's had some off-leash time!), we paid our camp dues, went to the visitor centre to pick up some trail maps and chatted to a ranger and generally took out time getting our stuff together for a nice long hike!

We finally set off on the Asulkan Valley trail around noon. It was billed as a 13.8km trail with around 2100 feet of elevation gain and would steepen after 4km....as were all the trails at this time of year it was a strict pets-on-leash area due to bears in the area. Our girl isn't the greatest on a leash so this was gonna be a looooong 13.8km!!

The trail started through some gorgeous old growth forest, following the river. Very green, mossy and easy underfoot. We crossed the river a couple of times on small bridges and caught glimpses of waterfalls high above us tumbling down the valley sides. As we climbed the forest thinned out and it got rockier. As promised the incline increased dramatically after about 4km. It was at this point I was rather glad of am energetic and exuberant puppy tethered to me - her constant pulling on leash that is normally a pain in the backside was welcome assistance, literally pulling me up! Good job Meli-mou!We weren't able to see where we were headed exactly and we encountered several false peaks and even thought we'd seen a hikers cabin which never materialized!! As our GPS read 7km there was still no trail-end in sight! What turned out to be the final 1km was along a knife-edge climbing incredibly steeply up towards the glacier and finally, finally we saw a 'End of Trail' sign and the Asulkan Hut.

It was a welcome relief and the the views were spectacular. It was mountains for miles, and glaciers above us, and even a glimpse of the thin ribbon of black-top as the Trans-Canada snaked its way through the pass way, way below us. There was a small, mountain stream and an open area where the water collected in shallow pools before tumbling down the mountain so Meli was able to have some crazy run-around time cooling off in the water whilst we ate our lunch.

The journey down was tougher - steep downhills on loose rock is never fun, and to prevent a serious spill we had to keep Meli off-lease for the first couple of km`s till it started leveling out - pulling downhill isn`t quite as appreciated as the uphill version was! Since it was getting later we lost the sun once we descended back down into the valley and the mountains crowded around us. It added an eerie gloom to the hike and we were keen to get back to camp and not see any hungry bears.

Back at camp we finally discovered what it takes to wipe out our baby girl - the Asulkan Valley hike! We pulled her bed out next to the campfire and she curled up and slept the evening away! We enjoyed our fire and a few bevvies and a late BBQ supper before heading to bed ourselves!

Our second day we took a nice, leisurely stroll along the abandoned rail-bed from the old Glacier Hotel. It was about an 8km out and back route and obviously nice and flat - it was perfect to loosen up those stiff limbs before crunching ourselves back up into the car for the journey home!

We were so lucky with the weather - we tried this trip 2 years ago and got washed out so this was the perfect weekend a long time coming! The hikes we picked were gorgeous and the views were to die for! The Illecillewaet campground is the trail head for quite a number of hikes in the park so it was a perfect base-camp!

Race Recap: BMO Okanagan Half Marathon

Last Sunday was my final race of the year. In years past it's been my annual 'goal race', and it was the first Half Marathon I did 4 years ago. I think it will hold a special place in my racing calendar...it's my hometown race, it's got beautiful scenery, the finish line is right next to the lake shore, it's a fast and flat course, and on Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada the temperatures are usually perfect for running. I skipped the event last year, choosing instead to fly to Illinois to run the Chicago Marathon, so this year I was looking forward to getting back to Kelowna!

Since running the Kelowna Wine Country Half last month I haven't really been all that tuned-in to running. The mornings are darker now, and with a big office move, numerous projects and my family visiting from England I just didn't seem to carve out time in the day (which is why I always run in the early morning, before the excuses set in!) I managed 2 short runs this week - a 4 miler and a 3 miler and I felt slow, uncomfortable and heavy, really heavy..Ergh! I was not expecting great things for this race, so I just hoped I'd get a sub 2-hour once again, and finish the season in style!

This was the first time I've run the race in the dry. That could've been a bad sign for me, since I joke that all my PR's have been set in the rain, and until Sunday I hadn't run the Okanagan Half in the dry! It was however colder than usual, with temps around 4 or 5 degrees at 7am. Lines for the porta pottys were chronic and for the second time at this race I was still lining up when they played the national anthem in preparation for the start of the Half. With seconds to spare, my warm-up consisted of a quick sprint across the sports pitch to the start corrals and I luckily managed to duck in just ahead of the 2 hour pace bunny which was perfect.

The moment I ran through the start line and out of the park, onto the course I felt GREAT! The air was fresh, but invigorating and I felt so alive! And I just felt comfortable, from the moment I set off! (rare indeed - it usually takes me a couple of miles to settle down). And so was my race. What can I say, I loved every moment of it. I felt strong and fast and awesome! (and so very different to those little training runs earlier in the week!).

My Nike + app doesn't give me the pace I'm actually running, rather that at each mile I get the overall average pace. Of course that's easy on the first mile and I ran an 8:13. At the second mile the average increased to 8:15 (which afterwards I can see I ran an 8:18), then the third mile it dropped down to an average of 8:11 (which meant that I'd run quite a bit faster to have brought the average down over 3 miles and indeed after the fact I can see I ran a 7:58 which was my fastest mile of the race). After that 3rd mile I settled into an average of around 8:11-8:15 and felt comfortable and confident that this was going to be a good race for me!

Around the 10 mile mark I started feeling it. I slowed a little, but still maintained a strong form and mental attitude. I knew my previous PR was an average pace of 8:33 so I had a glimmer of hope that even as my pace started slowing I had quite a ways to go to slow that much - a PR was in sight! I briefly wondered if a sub 1:50 was possible, but didn't think too hard...

At the 11 mile marker I reasoned with myself that I could do anything for 18 minutes, so just kept on going. I could do this! As I turned into the finishers chute I could see the clock was 1:51:??, I found a shred of energy and sprinted the last 50 yards knowing the clock was most definitely under 1:52 and I'd just scored my second PR this year!

Chip time 1:51:10! Another 2 minutes off my PR from May this year! And I knew I'd pushed hard and deserved it!

It took a little longer than usual to find Chris. Only because he wasn't expecting me to finish quite so early! But he'd also just scored a fabulous result in the 10km - his best time in 15 years with a 44:27 and second place in his age group! Woot-woot - Go Chris!

So once again I'm left wondering what did I do to deserve this result - this new PR of mine? And honestly I'm not entirely sure. I admit I don't follow a training plan, I don't do speed work, I don't do many hill repeats. I do know that I've been having a conversation with myself about discomfort and burn - I think a lot of times in the past I haven't physically over-exerted myself. But this year I've got more comfortable with being uncomfortable. I ask myself 'what hurts'? and usually the honest answer is nothing. So I continue to push.

I also have to give serious consideration to my diet in the weeks leading up to a race. Both times this year I've joined in a Detox program the 7-10 days before the race and both times I've scored new PR's. The program doesn't have pills or potions or anything weird, just lots of whole, natural foods, mostly plant based, and for me I add a little organic meat for extra protein. My primary goal for doing a detox week is an opportunity to mentally reset and get 'back to basics' with good clean eating habits, but with 2 detoxes equalling 2 PR's I'd say that was a 100% success rate in also being athletically and mentally stronger. Coincidence?! (This is the detox I did, and there is a final program starting next week on 21 October. If the date doesn't work for you consider the 'lite' version - you'll still get the full handbook and a fantastic recipe guide with more than 80 recipes in it) - I truly am sold that this has worked for me, I'm not getting paid to promote this, but your Health Coach extraordinaire is my husband - he comes highly recommended ;-) Read about my Spring Detox experience here

I'm linking up today to Jill's Fitness Friday