NERC, GRT Training, and I2P Updates, Recipe and More!

NERC UPDATES

TRI PARK TRAIL RUN AND THE NERC WINTER BANQUET

Saturday there were a couple of NERC events that we attended. Saturday morning was the NERC Tri park trail run hosted by Guy Gadomski. This run was various distances. Before the run fellow friend and runner MAC pulled out an enormously huge camera. He works at WKYC - and wanted to film the runners for a commercial for the station. (Should be released soon, our scene did make the cut!) Our group (of about 20ish) ran back and forth in front of the camera a few times screaming "Go the extra mile!" I have to say, it was a pretty good warm up actually :) After the taping my husband, son and I ran with fellow runner Peg who is training for her first half through team JOA! Peg did great out there on the snowy trails! Later in the evening my son and I attended the NERC winter banquet (husband had to work). I used this as my cheat day, but still did well. I did not have any meat, but did have a piece of cake which I would have to guess included the typical eggs, cream, etc. My son on the other hand got a whopping plate of roast beef. And when I say whopping, I mean it! Anyway the event itself was a success - special thanks to Terese Dennison and Julie Weber for coordinating it all.

GLACIER RIDGE TRAINING UPDATES

This past week in training brought the NERC Tri Parks fun run and another trail run the following day. The trails were still quite snowy on Sunday, and for the first time this year I saw some cross country skiers out there. There were quite a few, I can imagine they were trying to get all the skiing in that they can given the way the weather's been! Overall this week went quite well and I'm pretty pleased. I just wish the snow hadn't melted!

I2P UPDATES

Check out this article in Breathe magazine on the upcoming I2P expedition, Expreso De Los Andes! http://www.breathemag.ca/news/general/expreso-de-los-andes

The Expedition website is now up and running as well, check it out here! http://impossible2possible.com/sa/home

The website is full of great stuff! There's an 8 week challenge that students can sign up for and this time they don't have to sit around and wait for their school to start the I2P program, they can do it at home for free! Finishers will get an I2P bracelet and certificate of completion. There's also a teacher's challenge, Science of the Run page, and when the expedition starts you can go to the website for the live tracker, photos and videos. It's such a great program and one I strongly believe in. Parents check the website out with your kids! You'll be amazed!

VEGGIE UPDATES

So far so good still, things are only improving! My husband was getting a little antsy and craving a bit of meat, so I bought him the fake stuff - but no way am I touching that! I add it to his meals after everything is cooked. My husband is now at his lowest weight since Junior High. Incredible! As for me the weight loss is slower, but am feeling really excellent and that's what counts the most! And I got an added bonus the other day, I walked into a store and the cashier asked if I attended college at Lake Erie. I had no makeup on, and my hair was still wet from running outside in the rain, so I'll take it! It's been almost one month now without any type of caffeine and it's still unbelievable to me that I don't need it. There's a great store by us which helps - we don't have to go all the way out to Whole Foods. It's a small shop and the people are very friendly. It seems I'm always getting free stuff when I go there, too! Last week I got an eco shopping bag, this week they gave me treats for my dogs. Really excellent place and if you live in the area you should check it out:

Heartland Health Foods

1477 Mentor Ave. Unit D
Painesville Twp., OH 44077
Painesville Commons Shopping Center

Hours:

Mon 930am-7pm
Tue 930am-7pm
Wen 930am-7pm
Thur 930am-7pm
Fri 930am-7pm
Sat 930am- 6pm
Sun Closed

RECIPE

On my quest for a healthier Pizza Crust I've decided to just use Ezekiel Tortilla Wraps. It's working out great! I love the Ezekiel bread and wraps and am purchasing them weekly. The bread can be purchased at Giant Eagle or Heartland Health, and the wraps I've purchased at Heartland Health.

Pizza

Bake tortillas in 350 degree oven until crisp.

Take tortilla out of oven and top with the following ingredients:

Eden organic pizza sauce

red pepper

yellow pepper

green pepper

banana pepper

red onion

spinach

olives

grilled eggplant

garlic

Daiya cheese (vegan) and meat substitute if desired.

Place back in oven and bake until cheese is melted (or if cheese less until vegetables are cooked according to your preference)

Enjoy!

LUNA SANDALS

I've been meaning to order some sandals from my Copper Canyon buddy Barefoot Ted since we got back from the event last March. Time slipped away and #1 I'm forgetful, and #2 I'm slow. FINALLY I placed an order for some sandals after getting advice on which ones to get from my friend Patrick Sweeney. I recently received my order and the sandals are incredibly beautiful! I can't wait to use them! If you want to check out some of the sandals (huraches) you can go to Ted's website at http://www.lunasandals.com/ . They also have shirts, extra laces, and bracelets you can order as well. Good stuff! Thanks Ted, Patrick, and Bookis!

Glacier Ridge Training, OSU vs Michigan Hockey Game, and Impossible2Possible Updates!

GLACIER RIDGE TRAINING:

The first weekend of Glacier Ridge long runs and I woke up to this big bunch of awesome:

Yes, that's my car under there!

Getting ready for the morning trail run I opened the door to discover over 2 feet of new snow that fell overnight! INCREDIBLE!

12 inch ruler didn't cut it!

Granted 10 minutes down the road we heard there wasn't even close to this much snow, the trails would've probably been ok to run on. However, the roads around our house were buried under 2 feet of snow (plows didn't come until somewhere around 4 or 5) and I could not get out of my house. I hung out on the treadmill for awhile, and got hopelessly bored. So my dog and I literally ran around in circles in my yard. 1 acre of pure snowy fun, and believe it or not our track was a lot bigger than the one at the local Y! (and a lot more fun at that) My neighbors watched as we went around in circles, I'm sure they once again were wondering what exactly was wrong with me. The day after snowpocalypse my husband and I went for a trail run at North Chagrin Reservation - nowhere near the amount of snow but the cold was biting. We started early morning when the skies were still dark - all but the beautiful big moon and sparkling stars shining down at us. It was a decent run, and we saw lots of beady eyes staring at us from the woods. It appears the deer like the snow as well!

OSU VS MICHIGAN HOCKEY GAME

My family and I were pretty excited to go to our first outdoor hockey game at Progressive Field Sunday evening. The excitement didn't last long, however. The so called "family" environment had planes flying overhead advertising "gentlemen" clubs. Hot cocoa was more expensive than beer. ($9 to be exact) My husband sat through one period until he conveniently dropped his mitten in the urinal, got cold and went to the car to wait for us. My son, sister, and I sat through another period until they decided it was time to leave. I'm not even sure who won - but one thing I am CERTAIN of is I wouldn't do it again. The whole atmosphere just plain sucked. Not too mention all the Ohio fans throwing snowballs at Michigan fans and pep band members. (Yes there were arrests made). Next year, I'm saving my money.

IMPOSSIBLE2POSSIBLE UPDATES

Awesome updates from I2P!!! In conjunction with Ray Zahab and Kevin Vallely's run across South America (1056 miles to be exact!) there will be a great FREE program for kids to follow. If your kids are interested in getting into running, use this program as a great intro ! It's an 8-week Physical Activity Challenge that they can do from home if their school is not registered for the program! (Which schools and teachers SHOULD register for because it's AWESOME!) For finishing the kids will get a certificate and I2P bracelet. Register your kids using the link below. Kids MUST have approval from a parent/guardian or teacher first!!! Encourage your kids to take the Student Challenge and follow along with their own training! Remember it's all free, I2P receives donations from individual sponsors and companies like Gatorade to keep programs at no cost to you!! Good luck kids!!!!!!

For student registration go to the link below:

http://impossible2possible.com/sa/challenge/student

There's also a teacher's challenge! Teachers click here to register, and while you're at it check out Principal George's story and goals. He'll be rockin it at the Ottawa half marathon in May!!

http://impossible2possible.com/sa/challenge

To check out the main Expreso de Los Andes website!

http://impossible2possible.com/sa/home

There's pretty amazing stuff on this website that you need to check out - these expeditions just keep getting better and better, the programs keep getting better - it's so amazing and...what's our favorite word? FREE!!!! Enjoy every minute of this incredible expedition and your own personal 8 week challenge!

Happy Running all!

Laurie

GLACIER RIDGE TRAINING, MMA, VEGGIE ATTEMPTS, NEW RECIPE, I2P UPDATES AND GEAR REVIEW!

GLACIER RIDGE 50 MILER TRAINING

Training is now underway for the Glacier Ridge 50 miler in April and I'm completely excited! This week was the first week of quality workouts in awhile and I have come to realize that #1 I LOOOOVE quality runs and #2 I'm out of shape! Time to buckle down and get to work! Looks like I might get lucky and get to run in some snow this weekend, too. All in all it will be a fun weekend of trail running and MMA (more on that later) and we'll also be going an outdoor college hockey game at Progressive Field - Ohio State vs Michigan. Busy but fun!

MMA

With the New Year brings some changes, and one of which is MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)! We started going to Triple Threat MMA in Painesville. It's a pretty fun place and good people as well. The cross training seems to be doing me good as far as running is concerned. My son had his reservations when we first visited the gym, as he has never been a contact sport kind of dude. But the first time he hit me he started really REALLY liking it for some reason.......

VEGGIE ATTEMPTS

Another change we've made is we're making another attempt at going veg. I've read quite a few books on the topic now and am armed with way more knowledge than when we attempted a vegetarian lifestyle over a year ago. And, we are not alone as many of our vegan/vegetarian friends have offered their help along the way. My son wants nothing to do with it - so when he is not at home he eats as he pleases. He's enjoyed the dinners I've made so far, so at home he's not really struggling :) My husband and I said when we first started out that we would have a once a month cheat day. It's been only 2 weeks and I personally have no interest or craving for a cheat day yet, the dinners have been incredibly delish! So we'll see after a month how we feel and where we're at, then make that decision. Also we won't be demanding at special functions, parties, etc. (because we go to soooo many). *note the sarcasm there* We won't stress if we don't know if there will be something there for us to eat or not. If there's not, well hey that's our cheat. So I guess we'll be able to call ourselves vegan for 90% of the time. We're watching this carefully. My main goal this time around is not necesarily weight loss but to FEEL healthy. A woman grows old of diets, trying to look like the airbrushed models in some magazine. If I loose weight, so be it - that would be a mega bonus. But that's not our ultimate goal. It's all about feeling good from the inside out. My body is in a period where it's trying to adjust to the changes right now, and while I haven't lost any weight I'm noticing some positive changes. They may seem small, but they are exciting for me. One example: my nails are long. I mean LONG. Annoying long. And strong. Before this they cracked easy, were brittle - and it's only been 2 weeks. I'm ready to cut them off I can't do ANYTHING with nails! Maybe I'll try and paint em one time first though. :) Other examples: I stopped needing coffee, I have WAY too much energy now (not a bad thing!) and I am sleeping better at night. Great positive things happening and I'm looking forward to many more!

RECIPES THAT WORK

I haven't posted a recipe for awhile so here it goes! This is something I threw together this week not really knowing where I was going with it, but it was a big hit with my men. I don't even know what to call it!

Corn Tortilla Sandwich thing a ma jigs:

Ingredients:

Small corn tortillas, 1 large can black beans, 1 yellow pepper, 1 banana pepper, 1/2 red onion, 1 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 can corn

Mix all ingredients except tortillas in bowl. Cook in microwave 5 minutes.

Toppings: Chop 2 tomatoes, green onion, and cilantro - mix in bowl and set aside.

Chop 1 avocado, sprinkle with sea salt, set aside.

Cook tortillas in oven until crisp. Take out of oven and top with bean mixture, then the tomato mixture and avocado, and your hot sauce of choice. Top with one more tortilla and enjoy!

IMPOSSIBLE 2 POSSIBLE UPDATES

Of course my amazing friend and coach Ray Zahab is at it again! The newest expedition: Expreso De Los Andes! Ray will attempt to run approx 2,000km across South America ocean to ocean, passing over the Andes during the run! In the upcoming expedition there will be a main focus and goal of inspiring and providing the tools for students to start their own running programs. Such a great program, the website for the expedition will be launched soon so check them out at:

http://impossible2possible.com/home

I2P Gear is now on sale again as well, get yours while you can! I have the gear and trust me it's GREAT stuff! See the catalog here.

GEAR REVIEW

Sony Walkman NWZ-W202 MP3 Player

I typically don't wear headphones when I'm running, not even in ultras. They always seem to be a pain in the ass, and when I'm on the trails I like to actually be "in" the trail if you know what I mean. The first sign I get that I'm over trained & need a break is if I have to wear headphones when I'm on the trail. When I'm running solo on the road however I'll typically wear my headphones. ANYWAY - my husband and I bought some new headphones, cord free by SONY. It's a pretty fantastic little device! I thought for sure the headphones would come off while we were running, but so far no problems. All the controls are in the earpieces. If you're into running with music and don't like the cords that come with your normal Ipods or Mp3 players this is definitely a great option. The player weighs35g, you can fold it, twist it, and another bonus for those rainy days: It's waterproof.

Have a great weekend and Happy Running all!