Summer Recap

This summer has been a busy one for us. While other parents and kids were attending birthday parties, we have been running and enjoying sights in Vancouver. Weekends are also the times where we do the bulk of our grocery shopping and cleaning.

Since we traveled a lot in the Spring, we spent our whole Summer at home here in Vancouver. It was great actually! We have been very busy and the summer just flew by. Even with all the training we had to do on the weekend, we still got to do most of the things on my Summer bucket list.

2012 Summer Bucket List:

Do the Grouse Grind with Tristan
Outside picnic at a park
Boating at Deer Lake
Symphony at the Park (Deer Lake)
Redeem fish/chips voucher at Pajos in Stevenston Village
Take Tristan swimming at least once
Aquarium
Visit another bike skills park
Go to the beach
Go strawberry, blueberry, blackberry picking
Go camping
Attend a fire station open house
Weekend in Seattle

As Tristan gets older, there will only be more and more things we can do with him. My Summer bucket list will only be growing! Summers really are the best times in Vancouver. Some times I forget how lucky we are to live in such a great city :)

How was your summer? Were you able to accomplish everything on your bucket list?

Countdown is on for the Victoria marathon

We have less than 1 month to go. 26 days today to be exact! Ready or not Victoria marathon, here we come!

Today I am still sore. Yesterday I was very sore. I'm recovering from Saturday's 30km training run with Jean-Louis. It took me around 2 hours 45 minutes of continuous running to reach that distance. After the run, Jean-Louis was all smiles and said that he felt great. Me? I think I hit the wall. I'm not certain but about 4-5km from the end, my left foot had a killer spasm and was throbbing with pain, my back ached, I was thirsty and had no energy, my muscles and joints were sore and I was running really slow. I kind of felt like dying. If that isn't hitting the wall, I don't know what is :(

 

I've had a spasm at the bottom of my left foot for a week already. It never really heals since I keep walking and running right on it. Obviously it hurts more after I finish a run. I was worried about it when we started our long run this weekend but it didn't really start to hurt until about the 15km mark. Then the pain just intensified from there. Yesterday I was limping most of the day. I bought a compression band to wrap around it since something is better than nothing. I read various sources online about how dehydration and lack of potassium can cause spasms and cramps. Oh yeah, I bought bananas yesterday for the extra potassium! But I did eat more bananas during the week so I'm not sure it's that. The weirdest remedy seems to be pickle juice, which Jean-Louis mentioned to me before. It seems that the vinegar in that helps, not so much the pickle. I haven't looked into it too much but it's just odd to drink pickle juice.

 

My body covered in salt after running. I sweat A LOT!

Yesterday I enjoyed a full day off. Hooray!!! Today I'm going to have to drag my poor spasm recovering foot out on a 10km run. Overall, I'm more sore than usual :( I'm pretty sure it's because I slacked a bit in training the past week, almost got sick with the common cold, and ate somewhat badly in the past two weeks. It really does make a difference in my performance and recovery. Sadly, this weekend's run was a bit of a wake-up call for me.

Last time I ran a marathon (my very first one) was 9 1/2 years ago. Jean-Louis and I both did it. We trained by running races every weekend. I'm not sure if it's because I was much younger or not but I trained and raced without any particular problems. I didn't even get a single blister. I had a bit of a sore knee and had to wear a knee brace as a precaution during the race but that was all. It was kind of a breeze. Now many years later and after becoming a mom, I find that I'm sort of starting over again. This time I'm experiencing many problems common to new runners. Stuff I never knew about! I just can't believe it. Here is what I have encountered (so far - gasp):

1. Chafing everywhere! Under my arms from rubbing against my fat or clothing. In between my legs from rubbing there and other places I would rather not mention but also due to rubbing of clothing. I didn't buy new clothes to wear but all of a sudden I have problems. What the heck?! Okay so I'm at least 20 lbs heavier now than I was 9 1/2 years ago. Solution: Apply Vaseline in all areas that get rubbed during running. This works like a charm :)
2. Blisters from wearing cotton socks in hot weather and sweating profusely in them. Solution: No more cotton socks for me!
3. Black bruised toe:( This one was a killer. It started about 3 months ago(?) My toe was getting bruised more and more after each long run. It hurt so much I thought it was broken at one point. There was blood underneath the nail and the whole toe was red. It wasn't even my longest toe being affected either. I have worn my shoes for the past 3 or 4 years with no problems until suddenly. What the heck?! Then I started googling and it scared the bejesus out of me. Did you know that there are people who run often that lose nails all the time? Someone claimed they only had 6 toe nails left. It's only a matter of time before my toe nail falls off. I can see the new one growing underneath already! TMI? Solution: I bought new shoes 2 weeks ago! I specifically looked for the best running shoes for long distance running. No more black toes for me! I'm soooo happy :)
4. Ongoing foot spasm, as mentioned above. I'm still waiting for this to go away! Please go away. Solution: Compression band during rest, potassium, pickle juice???
5. Back ache. This has only happened lately on the long runs. I think I hunch forward a bit running when I'm super tired. Yeah, I'm going to have to work on good posture to correct this one. Solution: Focus on good posture?

I sure hope that is the end of it. OMG. Now that the 30km run is over with, we're dropping our distances. They say runners should run at least a 20 miler (32+ km) during marathon training but 30km is good enough for us :) With just 26 days left in training, we don't want to risk injury either. Next weekend, I want us to do a 10km mountain run. It's going to be a killer pushing the jogging stroller up a mountain. Luckily Jean-Louis is better uphill and since I suck maybe we'll actually get to run side by side. Lol. When the weather cools down even more the next few weeks, we're probably going to start stressing about getting sick. I almost got sick this past week since Tristan was sick. Jean-Louis did get sick around mid week and his nose is still running today! But he still kicked my butt during our run! He's at the top of his game. Yay for him :)

Play date of the year

Last Thursday and Friday, Tristan had a play date with two boys, age 3.5 and 5.5. These two boys were my friend's children from Victoria. We have been friends since Junior High so that makes her "the friend I have been friends with the longest." We have been meaning to do this for awhile so when we finally picked a date this summer, it finally happened! Also, I haven't seen her in a year.

She took her two boys and came over to Vancouver as foot passengers on the ferry. After a bus and skytrain ride, she arrived Thursday in time for a lunch picnic I had organized for us. That morning I made us frosted soft sugar cookies for treats and vegan cassava tortillas for our picnic. We skytrained to Central Park, had our lunch picnic and the kids played at the playground while my friend and I talked. I got to socialize and Tristan had so much fun playing with his two little friends. He was so happy! He gets like that whenever he has little people to play with :)

After a couple of hours at the park, we walked to Metrotown where we rode the train in the mall. Then it was off to Sushi Garden to pickup sushi for dinner and skytrain back home. The kids love sushi as much as us. We all stuffed ourselves full! That night after the cleanup, the kids played together with Tristan's toys until 11PM. My friend and I looked at photos and talked about recent vacations.

On Friday, Tristan was up around 7AM, his usual time really. We were all awake around 8AM. I did a bit of planning while everyone was getting ready. We headed to Little Nest for brunch. I have never been to Little Nest during a week day before. It was still busy but much less chaotic compared to the weekend. We all liked our meals and my friend really liked the place :) It's one of our favorites too.

After brunch, we walked along Commercial Drive and checked out some kids stores. Then we crossed the street into a big playground where the kids ran and played for at least an hour. We ended up walking up and down Commercial a bit more before leaving for the day. My friend had never explored Commercial Drive. In fact, she doesn't come over to Vancouver often. When she does it's usually just for quick stops and she visits with people and doesn't really get to tour much. All the places I took her were new to her and she seemed to have enjoyed her stay. We weren't the only ones enjoying ourselves, the kids had a blast too! They got along so well and were all so well behaved :) It actually dawned on me that her kids were more obedient than Tristan. When it was time to say good-bye, her 5.5 year old was first to say bye to Tristan. He gave Tristan a hug and said "I love you." Haha. It was so cute though.

Tristan was sad to see them leave and they were sad to leave too. This was probably only about the fourth or fifth time Tristan has ever seen them. You wouldn't have guessed though since they played and interacted so well together. You would have thought they have been friends all their lives. Well all 3 1/2 years of their lives :)

Long weekend staycation in Vancouver

We were thinking of going to Seattle or even going camping this past BC day long weekend but in the end, we decided just to have a staycation in Vancouver.

What we did Day 1:

Jean-Louis and I wanted to go to the Veg Festival downtown so we ran down there. We are training for a marathon right now and 17km to downtown seemed like a good distance. When we arrived, we wanted to have lunch at the Veg Fest. To our disappointment, there was only one actual food stand. I mean there were quite a few stands but they were stands giving out flyers, information, and a few bake and health bar stands. The one food stand sold Gardein food, which we have already tried. Somehow I thought some of the vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Vancouver would be represented there with food for tasting. Sadly, the festival was kind of lame. We decided to just run our errands and leave.

We stopped by Chinatown and grabbed some Vietnamese sandwiches (aka Banh Mi). We got a couple of the usual cold cuts, a chicken one, and a tofu one.

We got home, showered, and then took Tristan and his bikes to a nearby park. It was so hot! Tristan got to try his pedal bike for the first time. He had trouble starting on his own but once he was on it, he did great! Yay!

Strider running bike

2 wheel pedal bike

After biking, we went to Marble Slab Creamery for some ice cream. This was the first HOT day of the summer here in Vancouver. We stopped by Price Smart after wards to grab some fruit and then rented a dvd on our way out.

What we did Day 2:

Jean-Louis made us a vegan pancake breakfast. It was good. Then it was off to Metrotown for our weekly grocery shopping. We dropped off food at home and headed to North Vancouver for some shopping errands. On the way back, we stopped by at Rainbow Playland at Queen's park for a late lunch picnic. Tristan got to play in the water park there and we visited the petting zoo. I love how that park was so shady! That was one of the reasons we chose to go there. It was another toasty hot day.

What we did Day 3:

Jean-Louis went for a long bike ride in the morning. Tristan and I slept in and took our time with breakfast. I prepped some food for our dinner barbecue and then we headed out to the Burnaby Village Museum. We stayed there for a bit and played. Then it was back home to cook. We fired up the grill and feasted on a ton of food. What's new, right? :)

Homemade shrimp burgers with chipotle yogurt sauce.

Jean-Louis' vegan hawt dawg...whatever he calls it.

It was just the 3 of us this weekend but we had a great staycation. I even got to watch some Olympics. Most of them were replays but still :) I didn't know what the big deal was but staycations are actually pretty cool :)

Training for a marathon with a small child

In exactly two months from today on October 7th, Jean-Louis and I will be running the Victoria marathon. OMG.

How are we doing in our training? Just alright. We had two long runs so far. One 21km three weeks ago and then 17km just this past weekend. Next weekend, we are scheduled to run 25km. Yikes! The night before every long run, I kind of get scared. Honestly, it never gets easier. Every run is hard work. Our time may improve but it is always hard.

Two and a half weeks ago, we both injured ourselves. Jean-Louis hurt his leg from too much biking and running and now has to run with a compression band. He was limping around the first few days after his injury so it must have been bad. Then again it was reckless of him to run 21km and then go on a 85km bike ride the following morning. As for my injury, it was probably equally dumb. I threw my back out throwing heavy garbage. GARBAGE! I couldn't run for about a week. It hurt so bad, I could hardly take care of myself. I had to apply heat to it several times a day. When I started running again, I was so tensed Jean-Louis said that I looked constipated. Lol. With both our injuries we had a bit of a set back in our training. Unfortunately these things do happen :( Fortunately for us the timing was just about the same time. We train together so it worked out well that we both had to rest at the same time.

For those who don't know, Jean-Louis is my husband and we have raced together and have always done so since 2002. With the exception of the Vancouver half-marathon this past May, we have been in every running race together. This marathon in Victoria will be our second marathon. We ran our first marathon nearly 9 1/2 years ago in Paris. Since then we have been running a lot less but what really makes this a challenge for me is that I'm a mom now and quite a bit heavier than before. I have also been eating more sweets in the past few years since becoming a mom and I'm much older. Ahem. Jean-Louis, on the other hand, is in top shape. He has never been more fit and he weighs less than me now! I'm not kidding. He's totally going to kick my butt in the race!

There are many marathon runners out there who are also parents of small children. Some times it's just the one parent who runs, which would mean the other parent could stay with the child or children. If both parents are runners, they could take turns running marathons. I think taking turns training and running the same marathon would be too time consuming since that would take twice as much time. If both parents run, the child or children have to come along for the training runs. I think that is the only simple solution. That is what we do when we go for long runs.

When we trained together for the half-marathon in Victoria last year, I thought it was hard. We were running 5km and no more than 10 or 11km to train for that. Finding time to run was hard since we are parents to Tristan and we didn't want to drag him along for running all the time. Running 10km would mean about 1 hour in the stroller for him. Luckily, we only had to do that maybe once some times twice a week and he didn't complain very much. We thought even if we wanted to, there would be no way we could possibly find time to train for anything bigger than a half-marathon. A full marathon would be totally out of the question! Sigh. When we registered for the race, we told ourselves we would worry about finding the time to train when the time came. Apparently, if there is a will, there is a way.

 Here is how we are training for our marathon with our 3.5 year old in tow:

Second Beach in Stanley Park

• We continue to run twice a week after Jean-Louis gets home from work. We do between 8-10km during those days and as usual, we run directly to daycare to pick Tristan up. The daycare staff are used to seeing us covered in filthy sweat but so what? :)
• Every other weekend, we go for a long run from home all the way downtown to Stanley Park. We push Tristan in our jogging stroller. For the moment, he seems okay with it. We stay mainly on the BC Parkway trail under the skytrain and then we take the river run to the park. When we arrived at the park, it's 20km. By the way, the route we take is a beautiful run going from east to west and slightly downhill along the way :) The idea is to add 2km to every weekend run until we run 30km non-stop. 30km would mean arriving at Stanley Park and then continuing to run once around it. After the 30km milestone, we go down in distance.
• We carbo-load during the week we are scheduled for a long weekend run.
• We take our 3.5yo out for a lot of outdoor activities like biking and playing at the water park to make up for holding him hostage in the stroller. No, it's not that bad! :) He hasn't complained much at all since we have been telling him about it in advance and have been explaining to him about our race. With Stanley Park and downtown as our destination, he is able to have fun when we're all done. The first time we ran down, he played at the playground and then at the spray park. The second time, we went to the veg festival downtown. We always skytrain back home and he loves riding the skytrain! Next time we run down, we might go to the Vancouver Aquarium at Stanley Park.

Spray park in Stanley Park

We never thought it would be possible but so far it's going well. We are very lucky to have a 3.5 year old that will sit patiently inside a stroller for over 2 hours. We bring books and snacks for him. We usually set out first thing in the morning so he eats his breakfast cereal and fruit in the stroller. We get him to drink his milk and pee before we leave the house though. Some times I feel bad for keeping him in a stroller for so long but then again, we have taken road trips where he has been in the car for even longer. I think sitting in a stroller would be more fun than sitting in a car seat anyway. Don't you agree? :)

We're no pros. We are not following any training program. Everything we do is just based on what has been working for us in the past. The list above is actually a better training plan than the one we had back when we were still in our twenties. Back then we ran races to train. Since we couldn't find any races past a 21km half-marathon, we never ran anything more than 21km before running the full marathon (42km). We did fine but it's kind of dumb now that I think about it.