The BMO Vancouver 1/2 Marathon

I know that the race took place on May 3rd, but I just haven't gotten around to posting about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm super excited and all but it just totally slipped my mind with all the craziness of May that's going on. Mother's day, my dad's b-day, my b-day, working casual as a student nurse in hospital, doing some condo-shopping and trying to have a life :P

So anyways, this post is quite late but I'm still very proud of my accomplishment even though it happened 2 weeks ago. I did it! I ran my first 1/2 marathon ... a whole 21.1k done in under 2hours (1 hour and 49minutes to be exact)! My dad was amazing as well, he finished the 1/2 marathon in under 2 1/2 hours! I'm so proud of him, he's such a trouper.

Surprisingly, I wasn't psyched out the day of the run. The moment I woke up on May 3rd, I was ready to run. I scarfed down a hearty breakfast of low-fat yogurt, whole wheat toast and a banana and of course coffee. I fueled up with a butt-load of water and encouraged my dad to do the same. We had to wake up at 5:30am in order to get to the skytrain station by 6:00am and be at the race in downtown Vancouver by 7:00am. Thankfully the weather was amazing; not too hot and not too cold. I wore my gloves just because they always freeze when I run, and they look cool as well :P

When we arrived at the starting area of the race, we were quite surprised that one of the sponsors was McDonald's... I thought to myself, "probably not the most health motivating franchise" but whatever, they were giving out free coffee! The thing I love about races is not just the event, but it's the atmosphere. There were so many racers hustling and bustling along the busy street, all ready and all eager to show their enthusiasm for health and fitness. There were young and old, new runners and the seasoned professionals... and yet, all were equals on this field. Everyone was happy, chatting away with people they had never met before... but that was okay because runners all have one thing in common, a love for the sport.

Look at all the runners! Who knew that there were so many?? They must've all been hiding indoors on their treadmills (like moi) until race day.

During the run, there were many times when I felt like slowing down and walking parts of the course. But, my determined side pushed through and forced me to keep my speed, dig deep and even run up the toughest parts of the course (i.e. the giant hill at Prospect Point). I'd been training for this run for the past 6 months, and I think it went very well. I wasn't sore at all the next day and upon completing the race, I was actually very invigorated and energized.

My dad always enjoys the post-race freebies that accompany each race. After finishing, we were treated to gatorade, water, electrolyte water, Bear Paws, Dare cookies and crackers, fresh fruit, Cozy Shack pudding, yogurt, mini bagels, baby carrots and McDonald's iced coffee. I'm pretty sure my dad spent about one hour snacking and perusing the post-race arena after the race, and of course I had to join him :P By the time we left Vancouver, it was noon and we were ready to head home with our plastic bags full of free snacks.

My future goal is to possibly run a full marathon, although that is quite ambitious. I'm not sure how well I'd fare if I had to run 42k... although I love running, I think that 3+hours on the road might burn me out and make me go crazy. But anyways, back to the present... most of the craziness of May is over... oh and I probably should think about completing this month's Daring Baker's challenge before the month ends. TTFN

Chocolate Pudding Cake

I just ran the Sun Run for the second year in a row... and I think my time was much better than last years. Last year I joined the "purple" group of runners expecting to finish the race in an hour and fifteen minutes, but this year I decided to join the "green" group, as I anticipated completing the race under an hour. I pleasantly surprised myself by finishing the 10k in 50minutes even!! Yay me :) This year was the 25th anniversary of the Sun Run, but strangely enough there were fewer runners at this years event than there were last year!? Go figure. But even though there were fewer than last year, there were still around 50,000 participants registered to run!

So, to treat myself and my dad (who decided that he'd join me on the Sun Run for a second time! Yay dad!) for a job well done, I decided to whip up something warm, comforting, chocolaty and gooey... chocolate pudding cake!


Chocolate Pudding Cake

Pudding
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cake

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
1. For Pudding: in a saucepan, heat the water with chocolate chips until the chocolate chips melt. In a bowl, stir the brown sugar and four tablespoons of cocoa together. Add brown sugar-cocoa mixture to the saucepan and stir until mixed. Remove from heat and add the vanilla
2. For the Cake: mix flour, granulated sugar, four tablespoons cocoa, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add milk and vegetable oil and mix until combined. Scrape batter into an un-greased 9x9 baking pan.

3. Pour hot pudding mixture over batter. Place pan in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack.

4. Serve pudding-cake hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

The cake was amazing, even the cooled down pieces (as pictured directly above) were still slightly "gooey" and chewy the next day. But of course, the best part was eating the cake while it was still piping hot, fresh from the oven... with a scoop of my favorite ice-cream (rainbow flavor!). This recipe is definitely a keeper and I will be making this recipe a staple in our house-hold... not only for a post-run snack, but for anytime I want chocolate cake... because it's just so simple to make!

Energy Bars

Just yesterday I was walking through Superstore and decided that I'd mosey on down to the "health-food" section. When I got there, I noticed that they were having a sale on energy bars! Being on a real "running-high" and trying to maximize my nutritional intake and athletic performance, I was excited to try a whole bunch of different energy bars. I simply love Clif bars (my favorite is the Oatmeal Raisin Walnut) and Luna Bars, and usually stick to my favorites for fear of spending money on something that tastes nasty, so when I saw that they were 5 for $5 I was ecstatic. Usually they're $1.49 each, so $1 per bar was a steal. I left the supermarket proud of my purchase, and headed home.

The next day, I thought to myself "hey, it can't be that difficult to make my own energy bars?!" What a brilliant idea! So, I grabbed all of the "healthy" ingredients in my pantry and began sorting out what flavor combinations I wanted to create. I couldn't really decide on the "right" combination so I basically made a hodge-podge energy bar full of ingredients that I deemed energy-bar-worthy.

I can't quite remember the exact proportions of ingredients that I added to my energy bars, but here is the list of the various ingredients and their rough measurements:

Jo's Energy Bars
Yields 6 bars

Ingredients
- 1 medium banana, mashed
- 1/4 cup steamed zucchini, mashed
- 1/3 cup oats
- 1/4 cup 7-grain cereal (hot breakfast cereal, Roger's brand)
- 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp espresso powder
- 3 tbsp dried cranberries
- 1 tbsp chocolate chips
- 1 1/4 cup Multi-grain cheerios
- 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
- 2 tbsp no sugar added maple syrup

Method:
1. Mash together the zucchini and the bananas, set aside
2. Combine the remaining ingredients together (except for the maple syrup), tossing well
3. Add the mashed zucchini mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until the entire mixture is moistened. Add in the maple syrup, to taste
4. Press into half of an 8x8 square pan, and bake at 350F for 15-20minutes or until the mixture is firmed up (honestly, it's difficult to tell if the mixture is fully cooked... but there's no egg in it, so there's no risk of salmonella :P)
5. Remove from oven, allow to cool and cut into 6 bars. 6. Cool bars completely and wrap individually in saran or aluminum foil.

These bars were great! There fairly dense, so I wasn't tempted to eat more than one and they tasted very much like dark chocolate. I think the next time I make this recipe I will add a bit more sugar (or at least some more sugary ingredients) to counter-balance the unsweetened cocoa powder taste. The espresso powder was a nice flavor boost to the bar, and I'm sure the caffeine did something to give me energy :P I usually will eat half of an energy bar before a run (if the run is longer than 75mins) and then have the other half-bar post-run. It's always important to replenish your energy store after a great run, and don't forget to hydrate!

Another Month, Another Run!

It's another month and I have enjoyed spending today running a 10k around Fort Langley with my Dad and a friend that I talked into running with me :) She's been taking a training course for the Sun Run (which is coming up in April) and I figured that this race would be a good form of "homework" for her... maybe she'll get extra credit :P

The weather was perfect for the race. Although it was chilly in the morning, by the time the race started at 9:00am the sun was beaming down it's lovely warmth on all of the participants. The course started in the heart of Historic Fort Langley (I guess that's why they call it the Historic Half Marathon, 10k and 5k) wove through the township of Langley, down Glover Road, Telegraph Trail and back via 88ave to the actual Pioneer Fort in Langley.

It took a while to warm-up but once I got into the swing of things I kept my pace rather well. The course for the Historic had a lot more hills than last months Chilly Chase, but thankfully since the Chilly Chase I began training running up and down hills. Reaching the pioneer fort at the race's end was exhilarating. The crowd was much larger than at the Chilly Chase, so there were a lot more people cheering the racers on. At the end of the race all participants were awarded with a neat medal and there were plenty of healthy refreshments of fruits, dessert tofu, juice, water and buns... and of course Tim Horton's was there handing out their amazing coffee and Timbits.

My next race is the Sun Run, which is a 10k and I'm not too worried about it; but what's really making me nervous is the BMO Vancouver 1/2 Marathon that I'm going to do in May. Hopefully by then I'll have worked on my stamina and will be able to complete the race in under 2.5 hours... but only time will tell.

For more information visit the race webpage.

I do recommend you sign up for this race if you're in the area; it's a lot of fun, especially if you're running with someone you know. But even if you run alone, I find that runners tend to be very friendly people (I've met many runners and shared stories with them as we waited in the pre-race washroom line-up!).

My Race Results:
25th overall (out of 243 10k runners)
7th female finisher (out of 164)
2nd female finisher between 20-29years of age (out of 37)
Chip-Time: 51 minutes 13 seconds

First Race of the Year: Chilly Chase 10k

Having participated in the Vancouver Sun Run in '08, I decided that I would take up a couple more races in '09 as a sort of resolution. Yes, I'm one of those avid runners who simply loves the feeling of the road/treadmill beneath my feet, but just haven't gotten around to signing-up (and paying) to participate in many races. Last year's 10k Sun Run was fun, and I got a fancy t-shirt as part of the registration package, and so for the first race of the year I decided to do another 10k and participated in the Chilly Chase.

My dad ran the race last year, and he kind of sold it to me by stating that once you finish the race they serve up Tim Horton's Chilli! Ah... the truly Canadian way, finishing a race and enjoying Timmy's. My dad decided to run the 5k (as the race offered the option of 5, 10, 15k) and so after the wonderfully scenic run through Langley on a brisk Sunday morning, I met up with my dad around the chilli cookhouse. This race was so much fun, and the weather was wonderful. I was worried at first that there would be a lot of icy patches on the roads (since there was still a lot of snow lingering about) but surprisingly the race course was ice-free! Another concern of mine was the crazy fog that had been making driving around Langley very difficult; but, for some strange reason, the fog decided to dissappear on race day. We were a very lucky bunch of runners!

I managed to convince a friend of mine to join the race with me, which was lots of fun. Running is always more enjoyable when you're doing it with others, and to see the look of accomplishment on your friends' faces after a race well run is very satisfying indeed. So, anyways... I think I should probably get back to baking something... or at least cooking something. (Oh, and of course prepping myself to run the 10k Historic Marathon in Langley!)

For more information about the Chilly Chase: Click HERE

My Race Results:
45th overall (out of 169 10k runners)
17th female finisher (out of 103)
6th female finisher between 20-29 years of age
Chip-Time: 50 minutes 44 seconds