Monthly Archives: April 2012

And… Another Race!

Posted on by Renée
5

A few months ago I signed up for the Spieren voor Spieren (that’s “muscles for muscles” literally translated) City Run in Hilversum (the media capital of the Netherlands). I knew it was the week after Milan and I thought it would be fine since at Milan I was “only” running 7KM so no big deal right?

Milan came and went and I was pretty darned exhausted the week after, not to mention crazily busy at work and I thought “really, Pinky? what have you done!?” I was not really in the right mind set to do another race so soon afterwards.

The nice thing about it though, was that my colleague Sam, was also running! What I didn’t know was that it was her VERY FIRST race! And a 10K to boot! So probably by Wednesday/Thursday last week I was feeling it a little bit more and looking forward to at least meeting up with her and her partner and starting the race together.


Hubs was once again gracious enough to get out of bed early on a Sunday to accompany me to the race. Hilversum is not so far away, but not close either, so we still were out the door around 9:15 to start the journey to get there. I used to work in Hilversum (it’s where I worked when I first came to the Netherlands) and I have a soft spot for the place (many of my “firsts” in this country happened here) but I didn’t really research where the route would take me so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. Turns out the course went through the Media Park (never been there) so it was fun to see all the television studios. It also went up the street where I used to work and around one of my most favourite buildings in the country, the Hilversum Town Hall (by the famous architect Dudok)

hilversum - dudok town hall 01

The weather was fairly cooperative and I felt good and it turns out I ran my fastest 10K to date!

For me this is real improvement! In June of last year when I ran Rotterdam, if you recall correctly, it was completely on my bad knee. I had to stop running after this and now I know it was the best thing that could have happened to me. I’ve learned a lot about how to take care of myself in order to run better and stronger and I’ve learned something VERY important:

NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS
YOU ARE YOU
YOU ARE UNIQUE
YOU HAVE YOUR OWN SPECIAL QUALITIES

I have been WAY more relaxed about running since I started up again and I have absolutely NO DESIRE to do any more than I know I am capable of at this time in my life.

When you are relaxed, you just perform better. When you don’t CARE if you PR or not, you just perform better. By that I mean, if you are good in your head, no matter what the outcome, it is ALL good.

As you can also see I have already some other races lined up and I am truly looking forward to them.

Milano City Marathon Relay Recap

Posted on by Renée
5

I know it’s a week later but it’s been crazy since I’ve returned from Italy! Where to start?

I actually took Thursday (the 12th) off of work because I hadn’t actually had much time to prep for the trip and the race. A few days before I received a phone call which inquired whether I would be able to leg 2 instead of leg 4 (10K vs. 7K) as the organisers had kind of messed up our order. Considering that I hadn’t really trained for 10K I stated my preference and hoped for the best. On Thursday, just in case, I went out around lunchtime and did 9K here in Westervoort (it’s a 1.5KM walk to the bridge and then a 7+K loop back up to the bridge again) as I didn’t want to do 10K cold after only doing little 5 and 6K training runs with the Hubs. Afterwards I was able to get my bag packed and prep up some food to take with me to be prepared for hunger and not give in to carbo-snacks.

On Friday I was up just a little earlier than usual and out the door a little earlier than usual and on the train at 6:45 to Schiphol. I’m one of those like to be early rather than late so to be sure I could check in my bag on time and get some coffee I arrived at the airport around 8 (my flight was at 10:20). Admittedly I did eat a muffin from Starbucks (and I did enjoy every bite without any stomach repercussions) but that was as exciting as my time at the airport got. The flight was uneventful (well besides the group of quacking ladies sitting all around me) and I arrived in Milan two hours later. I picked up my bag, and caught the €5 shuttle to Milano’s Centrale FS (Central Station) and then picked up some metro tickets to get to my hotel. Of course being the control freak I am, I had already studied the underground map to determine which metro lines I needed to get where I wanted to be :) Of course I figured out later that Centrale FS was totally walkable but better to have taken the underground instead of schlepping my wheelie bag down the street a kilometer.

My hotel was luckily recommended by a colleague who is originally from Sicily but lived up in Milan for probably the last 15 years. Originally we were told that we might have accommodation paid for by MCM who was sponsoring us in the race, but sadly this was not the case. I was happy anyway with my hotel and the location which was extremely central and I would most definitely go back there again.

I got settled in and was a little bit tired so I decided to take a quick cat nap before going out to have a look around. Once I was up and fresh again I decided to walk down the main road my hotel was just off of Corso Buenos Aires (a major shopping street), looked in a few shops and then decided to go to the Duomo, walk around, maybe get something to eat.

(the weather wasn’t so great and I only had my mobile phone camera with me)

I’ve been to Milan once before and I am still in awe of this building:

Of course this is the major tourist section of town and I just wanted to get a salad but at prices around €20 I really didn’t want to stick around there. I was looking at one place and the waiter was trying to get me to come in but I said no, it was too expensive and I just needed a salad nothing else, so he actually recommended me to go somewhere very close to there as it was cheaper. Unfortunately that salad was €12 and I could have made a better one myself but with fresher ingredients and less money. Ah well. They did have a good espresso :)

as much as I wanted to, I did NOT order my favourite Sicilian dessert that happened to be available at this restaurant…

At that stage I got a message from Monique that the VIP party was at 8pm that evening and could I come? So after I finished up my sub-par salad and coffee I headed out to the Expo where the MCM Village was located. Of course I didn’t fully get that right and ended up walking in the rain quite a bit but finally found it.

Amazingly enough as I was walking out I heard someone call my name! Hanna, who I’ve never met before, recognised me from my photos here and on Daily Mile :) How coincidental is that? I mean, sure, it was possible I suppose, but we didn’t plan on meeting there and I had no idea she would be with her boyfriend who was picking up his race packet for the marathon! We chatted for a few minutes and we went out separate ways. I headed back to the hotel, with a slight detour to the supermarket to pick up some snacks. Then I hung out for a while in my hotel room before going out again to the Expo to meet Monique and go to the VIP Party.

To be honest, we were a bit late in and maybe that’s why, but the VIP party wasn’t much. We did get a complimentary beverage and a water bottle, and there was food available but we did not partake.

Monique and Alessandro, one of the MCM organisers:

Monique had quite the adventure just even getting to Milan so we both were not 100% into the party. Ended up back at the hotel I’d say around 9:30 where I chilled out with a glass of wine and some nuts (pistachio – paleo style, yeah!!)

Saturday morning up early to meet the girls (Maya and her mom and sister and Monique; Hanna lives in Milan and skipped the tour) at the Duomo for a walking tour. As I said, I’ve been to Milan before but I don’t recall much from the trip and I certainly didn’t do anything touristy so the walking tour was a really nice experience. We spent about one hour alone in the Duomo, and then through the Galleria and up a shopping street until we reached the palace, which happened to be where the finish line of the race was :)

Fun Fact: I did not know that Leonardo da Vinci actually lived and worked in Milan for quite some time

When I saw this I really started feeling nervous and excited!

After the tour we went and had lunch, then went to the Expo to pick up our race packets and goody bags and got our T-shirts personalised (and I went and finally had a cappuccino even though it’s totally not done in the afternoon in Italy) and then at some point we all parted ways again at least for a few hours. Hanna was kind enough to not only invite us for dinner, but even made sure she had something for me to eat since she knew I was off grains (serious hospitality!!).

Quickly back at the hotel I prepped my luggage, my race gear bag and my clothes for the next day and then off to Hanna and Francesco’s for dinner!

Race Day

As it had been raining off and on I was still hopeful that we would have some sunshine on the day of the race itself but sadly it wasn’t meant to be. It was already raining when I woke up at 7:30 and it just continued. I had my breakfast and did my final checks before leaving the hotel (I had to check out but leave my luggage there) and I was off to my part of the Marathon (the red bit at the end)

I arrived quite early for my leg but wanted to be sure I could drop off my bag on time. I spent probably the first 1.5 hours in McDonald’s of all places (I know :( ) because I just wanted to sit next to the window, have a coffee and stay warm (did you know in Italy they actually steam the milk for cappuccinos unlike in most other countries??) while I watched the first Marathoners come in around the 33K mark. At around 12:30 I walked back up to my area, waited the obligatory ages to use the loo for the last time and then I waited in my section for Hanna. I thought she would be in anywhere from 1:15pm to 1:30pm but alas she was there much later and it was absolutely bucketing down (and of course I had to use the loo again by the time she arrived but because I didn’t know where she was, I didn’t) – I felt so bad for her, she really got the worst of it.

Then suddenly, she was there! She passed off our timing chip bracelet, I started my iPod and my Garmin and off I went! The first KM marker was 34… remember I was supposed to be doing 7K??? Yeah, it was definitely going to be more than that! It rained the WHOLE time and I was soaked to the bone. I actually ran all the way through except for maybe a minute and a half when i had a little stitch in my side around 6K. In the end I came through in 1:00:58 at a smidge under 9 kilometers.

I found my bag and my teammates eventually and we took some photos (that I’m still waiting for *wink* Maya), Maya headed off with her family and Monique, Hanna and I went over to a Gelato place for coffee and, well, gelato! Francesco was still moving and smiling after completely the Marathon so he joined us as well.

Hanna and Francesco were kind enough to let me shower at their place and afterwards I sadly had to go back to the hotel, pick up my luggage and go to the airport. My adventure was over.

Lots of things learned about this experience, mainly that I need to really do something about my need for everything to be organised and sorted out in advance. I do think I would have done a few things differently but I think all in all Monique had a pretty tough task in front of her to bring four busy people together for a Marathon relay. I’m really glad I was asked to do it, and I’m glad to have met 3 (plus one mom and one sister!) lovely ladies I wouldn’t have met otherwise. Would I run Milan again? I’m not so sure. Maybe. Maybe not. The race wasn’t bad, I found the organisation good, I thought they took quite good care of us but personally I don’t think the route is that beautiful. My leg was quite OK but only at the end did I get to see some amazing architecture and history in front of me. It’s not the Marathon Organisation’s fault of course if the route isn’t gorgeous, I just think I’d like to try a few more places like perhaps Barcelona or Paris in the future.

Well, Well, imagine that!

Posted on by Renée
10

You know that saying that goes around all the billions of weight loss boards, communities, groups and what not?

Well, it’s pretty true. I’ve been doing different stuff over the past couple of years but still pretty much the same. You know, maybe less of this and more of that, or different combinations of foods, more protein, less carbs, no carbs before 11am, only carbs before running, etc. One thing I didn’t do very successfully was cut down on pasta and rice in particular.

Until a couple of months ago of course… now that I’m getting used to NOT eating grains, it’s actually OK. I even went to ITALY and DID NOT EAT THIS:

But instead I went to the supermarket and for example I ATE THIS:

I mean, seriously, I never would have imagined I would go to Italy and NOT have pizza (I was tempted whilst we were out, but I had a salad instead) or pasta (and thankfully my relay team-mate Hanna who lives in Milan invited us for dinner on Saturday and her boyfriend made me a special meal of steak and salad while the rest of the gang carb-loaded). Actually, if you ARE A meat eater, Italy is a great place to be, plus the vegetables are wonderfully ripened by the sun, the olives are divine, the cheese amazing. You don’t even NEED pasta or pizza, there are plenty of other choices.

I have to say too, I feel good. I feel strong. I feel kind of lean. It sounds strange to say it maybe but when I’m running lately my core feels really strong – I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that before.

Anyway, the whole point of this is that I am actually losing weight:

and down 900gr according to the scale at the gym this evening, from the last time I weighed in.

So yeah. About time I did something different!!

How to make a simple dinner look and taste amazing

Posted on by Renée
Reply

Sometimes I get a little sick of how limited I feel at the moment with food. So what I know how to cook I’ve been trying hard to make not only look nice but taste delicious as well.

Saturday night I made salmon. That’s a really great fish with loads of good oils in case you hadn’t yet read the memo. With it I had sugar snap peas (OMG – I thought these were off the list but in Melissa Joulwan’s Well Fed book, they are listed as yes foods), broccoli, sesame seeds and sun dried tomatoes. I made some rice for the Hubs (needed a break from cauliflower) but stayed away from the fluffy white stuff myself.

I use sun dried tomatoes that are NOT in oil already; I basically take them, add a bit of white wine vinegar, 1 TBSP olive oil and boiling water and let them swell up for a bit.

I “marinated” the salmon in lemon juice, garlic and 1 TBSP sesame oil – for two pieces of fish (1 was 140gr and 1 170gr), fresh rosemary and sesame seeds, salt and pepper to taste.

I steamed my vegetables but put a bit of lemon juice and sea salt on top – this made the colour stay incredibly green!

The end result was really amazing! Just a simple meal that really looked and tasted amazing. No one can say that eating healthy is boring!

Hmmm. This May Be Working.

Posted on by Renée
8

After more than 2 long years of nothing happening in the weight loss department, it seems I have had some success for more than a few weeks in a row. I haven’t noted all results here on the blog, but I have been tracking on My Fitness Pal:

Interesting enough is that I started this “silly” Paleo thing in February and my first weigh-in (on home scale) was on the 23rd of Feb (the few weigh-ins prior to that were after I’d started at the new gym). As you know, in the beginning I was struggling to find my way, struggling with the concept of not eating grains – rice, bread, pasta – but after several attempts, and several chats with my PT there is a clear path of moving downwards. Check this out:

Translation:

lengte – height
gewicht – weight
BMI
BMR
Vet% – Fat Percentage
Vet Mass – Fat Mass
Vetvrije Massa – Fat Free Mass
Lichaamsvocht – Body Moisture
Ieasle Waarden – Ideal Values

I think all the numbers look quite interesting, especially the vat percentage change and the amount of kilos (fat mass). Then if you look at the Ideal Values, I’m actually close as far as Fat Mass goes, with being “normal”.

This is more convincing to me than just losing weight – of course we all know how much i would love to be under 80KG and dareIsayit I do think it may just be possible, but I’m most interested in being fit and reaching other goals than just the one on the scale. I want to be LEAN and FIT so not necessarily fitting into the “perfect weight” box with the actual amount of kilos in total.

For you food porn lovers, a few things I’ve eaten recently:

Chicken sausage. Goat’s cheese, mushrooms, red onion tomato, courgette
image

Turkey, bimi, light feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, bit of olive oil

Little omelet the hubs made for me

Cottage Cheese with cherry tomatoes, celery, spring onion, teaspoon olive oil

Cottage cheese with courgette, cherry tomatoes, avocado

Leftover meat (spaghetti) sauce with steamed broccoli and fresh parmagiana cheese

My famous tuna salad with romaine lettuce (I have this often, changing the veg or “salad” type, but always use a small tin or Rio Mare Italian tuna in oil)

A little snack: chicken, chorizo, celery sticks and mustard

I found this recipe and then changed it a wee bit by using Salmon instead of tuna and sun dried tomatoes instead of mango chutney. My vegetables used were string beans and broccoli with 2 teaspoons sesame seeds. So really I just used the recipe for an idea and it turned out really well yummy

And finally – recently I participated in Ali’s photo contest for Running With Spatulas – here’s me, well, “running” with spatulas (I didn’t win, boo, but I still love you Ali!!)

As far as exercise goes, finally a good workout yesterday at the gym but OMG do the kettlebells KILL!! Last week I ran once and cycled 35ish KM. Trying to just stay active but not overtain. Milan is not this weekend but next (!!!!), week after that I have a 10 K, one in May, 2 in June, and one in September! I’m excited to have a few races lined up!!