Big Ashtanga moment

I did so good running yesterday, that my legs today are full of knots and tension.

Hurrah?

I hobbled over to the shala.

I did my practice.

And then Tiriang Mukha happened.

I'm not sure how David Robson noticed me, but I must have made a noise-that-sounds-like-pain. Because it hurt.

He came over and started teaching me how to roll only the outer part of the calf out. And then folding forward, and squeezing the tiriang mukha leg back, and pushing the extended femur forward.

It worked!

And then my nemesis, Marichiyasana Series, loomed before me.

There was the murmur of pain in Marichiyasana B, but it was perfectly tolerable. I had hopes of recreating the nearly-complete Garbha Pindasana I did yesterday.

Then, Marichiyasana D slapped me in the face, "No dice, home slice."

"Why don't you modify today," suggested David Robson kindly.

I think I pouted.

Garbha Pindasana wasn't happening.

Well.

I rocked the backbends instead.

After the first dip back, David Robson asked me, "Do you do your backbends by yourself?"

"No."

"Okay."

Little did I know....

Later, in the long paschimottanasana that followed, David Robson stuck his fingers into my hip and made me cry.

"There is tension here," he says, like I'm not paralyzed and whimpering.

But oh my, it was a goooooooooood day at the shala.

In other news, my hair is growing out:

 

See that nub of hair in the back? That's a ponytail! I can tie it up now! 

Before you know it, it'll be 8 inches or more, enough to donate again! 

And if you thought that was it, I'm going to hit you with a double-punch of cuteness. 

Because Two-Two loves DinoToy. And it's the perfect pillow height. 

Here you go:

Longer Runs

This blog post goes out to all ya'll real runners. You know, the peeps who know what you're doing?

Oh, you're only here to see pictures of my dog?

Um. Scroll down.

So now that we've got rid of the people who obviously have their priorities straight, here's my situation:

I've been running for about 10 weeks now, and last week I did 14.97 miles. I'm injury-free and increasing mileage on my longer runs (today, I did 4.73 miles!!!) steadily.

I've been following a 10 min run-1 min walk formula that works really well. I feel like it's pulling me through increasing my mileage more than anything else.

So, with that said, should I start working on giving it up and going for continuous run? What's the difference, if there is any?

Also, what's all this shnazzle about "tempo" and "fartleks"?

One sounds embarrassing to do in public and the other like a brand of yogurt.

You found her! Congrats!

She is hiding under the table because Thunder and Lightning are going to destroy the world, but possibly not this spot under the table therefore she is safe.

Brunch and Axe-Throwing Madness

Saturday was Axe-Throwingly Eventful!

First, I went to brunch with the girls, then I abused my dog's pride, and lastly, I threw and axe and killed dinner for my clan. Just kidding.

1) Brunch

I met up with three of my favorite people for some mid-morning eats.

This girl is on a ketogenic diet for the first week. She had sausage and shots of cream for breakfast.

Somehow, her potato wedges ended up in my stomach.

This woman is a scientific marvel. She eats french toast for breakfast, crepes for lunch, and cakes for dinner. And she's tall and skinny. Still. *sigh*

I don't know about this crazy. She was sitting beside me and smiling like a maniac, so we gave her some pepper. 

She followed us home.

Maybe we'll keep her. :) 

2) Two-Two's pride

By the time I got home and killed 2 hours sitting in front of the computer doing nothing, it was time to get going for our axe-ellent date. 

That means I didn't have time to walk the Two.

So I left a note for my sister:

You know you've broken her pride when your sister finds the note still attached to the dog when she got home half an hour later.

3) Axe Throwing

There are no words for the awesomeness of axe throwing.

That's right fellas. I hit a bulls-eye on my first swing. I'm an axe-wielding BEAST!

Nevermind I lost the tournament later.

I'M A BEAST!

I did good this week!

My runs this week have felt fantastic. Each time I embark on a longer(ish) run, I feel stronger and faster. I'm still stuck with the 10run1walk formula because it works so well for me, but I definitely feel a huge improvement. 

The highlight of my week was the 4.68 miles I did on Wednesday, and how I didn't collapse on the way home! HOORAY! Am I a runner yet? 

Yesterday, I hit up Walmart for some juice on sale. I got this to add to the great veggie burger challenge. 

These were hands-down the best so far! I had it with leftover tzatziki, rice, and The Sister's homemade hummus! 

Friday night, Steven made me cart him around town, and then he got all pretty and dressed up and abandoned me for another woman. Just kidding. He went to a party, so I did this: 

And it was actually a really nice Friday night. :)

Garlic is good for digestion?

Today, I set out for an ambitious "Let's go as FAR as I can go" run.

It turned out to be 4.68 miles of increasing agony.

When people say their run felt like a shark gnawing on their legs or a grizzly was chasing them, believe it. Because it's your responsibility to grab a big stick and knock the shark on it's big fat head, or tackle the grizzly American-football-style and go to town on some animal a$$.

Without causing irreparable damage, of course. Ahimsa and all that shiznaz, right brothas and sistas HOLLAH.


Did I mention that I'm tired, and it's 11 at night?

That's why I sound like a crazy person.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, HERE IS MY LIFE TODAY:

 My dog got a hair cut (ok, this is a lie, she got the haircut yesterday).

 I went to the grocery store and bought my favorite store-bought veggie burgers.

I made a dinner of tzatziki, spiced rice, roasted zucchini and salad. It gave Steven a stomach ache. I think it was the raw garlic in the tzatziki.

Raw garlic seems to cause indigestion in some people, but I really think it's just the way garlic stimulates the digestive track to move your shit out, or peristalsis, if you like your big fancy words (cuz I really do). And there is nothing wrong with clearing out the pipes.

I took him for some froyo because I made his tummy hurt.

We grabbed Steven's friend, Jess, the mochi ball virgin, and deflowered her.

Can you guess who wrote that?

Lastly, a Big Decision has recently been made. I will update you on what exactly that is when more plans are made, but it's something that will affect the WHOLE WIDE WORLD (not really), so stay tuned!

My Vibrams stank something awful

Even after the thorough scrubbing (with soap! I swear!), my Vibrams stank like a diaper full of Indian food (get the reference, I'll give you a limited-time-offer e-high-five!).

I've never had to wash my feet so thoroughly, but it's the only way to get the Vibram stank out. Too much information? You're totally in the wrong place.

Friday afternoon, I put on my Housewife Hat and made veggie shepherd's pie.

Dinner with my friend Channel 41 Slice. Don't judge me.



I divvied up the pie in a whole bunch of little ramekins for easy week night eats. I wrapped them up in saran wrap and went out to see Steven for our exciting Friday night date (I don't even remember what we did. It involved either mochi balls or bubble tea, possibly both. And then we both crashed at 10:37 PM. Like we do every night.)

The next day, they've mysteriously disappeared.

Luckily, Steven sensed my wrath and quickly took me to CNE. I think it's been more than 10 years since I've been to that place!

This weekend was the warrior parade. When the home country came out, I had to rush out like a  madwoman and take glorious iPhone pics and cheer. Naturally.

After the parade (OK, that's a lie, after Taiwan passed by), Steven and I wandered over to something called Flow Rider.

"Oh, man, if we had known they had something like this, we could've brought swim stuff! Then you could've surfed!" Steven says.

"Um..." I awkwardly say, "I sort of brought a bikini just in case you'd let me go on..."

"What do you mean?!"

"I knew they had this thing. I saw it on the CNE book, but I didn't want to pressure you into doing it. We can do other things. Wander around, you know..."

"No! YOU MUST GO ON."

He took out his wallet and paid. And I surfed. Oh baby, did I surf.

I want one of these at home.

Amy's here!

My friend Amy is here on a 2-week visit from our homeland, Taiwan.

She has missed Canada and our foliage.

So I decided to wash my Vibrams in honour of her arrival. Just kidding. That makes no sense.

I was running through some rainy weather last week, so it was a disgusting chore. Luckily, I don't have a picture to share with you. You're welcome.

That's my excuse for not running today. That, and that I was busy doing stuff like this:

After lunch with our working girlfriends, we had dessert at Prairie Girl Bakery.

The artistry in my iPhone photo astounds you? Yes, it astounds me too.

Being the addict I am, I had to have Red Velvet Cupcakes with Classic Cream Cheese Frosting.

There is nothing in the world like a fresh cupcake. My only fault with the cupcake was that it's severely top-heavy.

 

Amy and I gave up on the grab and bite method and asked for forks. Much easier. I polished off every drop of cream cheese frosting. Oooohhh baby.

By the time I got home, my Vibrams were STILL wet, so naturally, I took Steven out for a nice dinner at Pizza Nova. Then, we walked to the Yonge/Sheppard Yogurty's. 

Steven and I are big Mochi Ball hogs, and both of us immediately noticed that the Balls at Yogurty's are not as chewy and bouncy as the ones at Menchies. Plus, Steven's yogurt melted really fast (maybe because he gets supermodel-on-a-diet portions), so that was annoying. The mango pieces tasted weird to me, but maybe that's because I mixed it with hazelnut froyo...and my tastebuds exploded in confusion.

Hello Interwebs! How did you spend your Wednesday?

This is a whole new world of sore

I did pretty well on my weekday runs this week.

I ran 3.67 on Monday, 3.24 on Wednesday and 4 miles even on Saturday. All of them were relatively easy, but definitely pushing my endurance (and do-not-vomit) limits.

Thursday morning was a whole new world of pain. There was a pulling, nervy, tight sensation in my right hip, which abated as soon as I stretched it. It launched me into a 30 minute yoga thing with lots of groaning, moaning, and concerned Two-Two love-snuffles.

In other news, it rained all Friday and Saturday.

This is a picture of the Dirt Sponge's paw after a wet walk.

If you can't tell, the grass is threaded into her hair. *sigh*

The Olympics have tired me out. Just the thought of a 2:08 marathon, a 1:46 10K open water swim, and throwing javelins (in today's world, a very necessary life skill), I needed to carb load.

This is a picture of my cravings-come-to-life.

The green stuff on the bottom is spinach (a.k.a. guilt). 

Now I sit, the neon-orange chemicals permeating my skin, plunging my body into a toxic carb coma of preservatives and pseudo-cheese sauce.

I am satisfied.

Goal of the week: MORE ASHTANGA!

Full Lotus Morning!

No, that's not my new spiritual name.

But this weekend, for the first time EVER, I got into full lotus pose without any pain.

It's a big moment for me. Really, it is.

I'm so happy I drew you a picture of my dog!

Yes, I know she is sad, but I'm happy! HAPPY!

Unfortunately, dear dog, the answer is no.

I imagine she is angry, and possibly plotting her revenge...

 "Little do you know, Human, that my tail is a high-frequency ANTENNAE. I am sending out an SOS to the mothership. When my brethren return for me, we shall exert mind-control over your SCISSORS contraption and do unto you as you have done unto me. AN EYE FOR AN EYE! EAR HAIR FOR EAR HAIRRRR!!"

And so, the battle between Human and Alien-Dog continue....

Sunday night, I tried my hand at Olive and Mushroom burgers. 

I'm pretty happy that they looked like burgers, even though they tasted like olives.

  

Jenbeans made quinoa salad and na'an-like possibly-pita bread stuff. Delicious! 

Then, Monday night, Steven took me to Menchies and we shared this gorgeous thing: 

  

I love mochi balls almost as much as I love my radioactive Alien-Dog! <3 <3 <3

It's been a good long weekend! What did you do all weekend?