Around this time last year, I wrote about the 'FOUR 'Rs' which were, running, relay, Ragnar and Reebok. Now I get to add one R. Can you guess what it is? 

REPEAT!
That's right, the Endorphriends are back and ready to tackle Reebok Ragnar Niagara again!

What is Ragnar?
It's a relay race where twelve runners trade off each running three times each for a total team distance of just over 300 kilometers. For this one and only Canadian version, runners start in Cobourg (yes that's the one past Pickering, Oshawa, and Bomanville...) and finish in historic Niagara Falls. Each team is supported by their teammates who travel in two vans to each exchange point. You won't likely sleep, eat, drinking much, and you may lose your voice from cheering but all of that won't matter when you and your teammates cross that finish line and piece those 12 medals together.

Who are the Endorphriends?
Team Endorphriends evolved in early 2017 when a group of friends learned that Ragnar was bringing their relay series back to Canada! We came up with a lot of names, but no one could resist 'endorphriends' especially when our superstar graphic designer (okay, yeah, that's me) came up with branding for the team including a logo and monster characters for each team member. You can read about our 2017 Ragnar experience here, here, here and here. 

In the fall the team added a few new members who then tackled Ragnar Trail in Cottage Country. You can read about that here, here, here and here...and okay, here too. Hey, these are long races, I'm allowed to write a lot!

And now, again with a few new monster members, it was an easy decision to race to the Falls again! 

Reebok!
Team Endorphriends recently found out that Reebok Canada will be kindly sponsoring  our team again for our upcoming race! I'm extremely happy about this because many of my pieces from last year remain my go-to's.  The capris are the only capris I will race in I wore them for my recent 5Peaks and  Mississauga races. The 1/4 zip rarely gets out for a run since I'm often wearing it casually. The comfy joggers and sweat shirt are my lounge wear of choice on a Sunday afternoon following a race.  The 'ActivChill'  tank do work to keep me chilled.

I recently received  some amazing new gear for training and the race. Stay tuned for details on these items as I get to try them out! ​Below is a sneak peek of some of the items that people have endlessly commented on! Okay, one more  sneak peek...I wore several pieces at the recent Sporting Life 10K! 

Thank you!
A very special thank you to Janice, Nancy and Lisa who have very generously given their time to volunteer for the race that weekend on behalf of our team! Also to Nanlee for will be driving our van #1! 

Stay tuned Endorphriend fans! 

My big picture running goals have hovered at the back of my mind during my injury. Every once in awhile they will resurface and change slightly, brought on by something a friend will say or do that 'makes sense' in my mind. This time off has let all of those thoughts seep deep into my being where I don't think they'd have gone had I still be focused on training as I had been before hurting my foot.

I've said it before on my blog that so much of the focus in running revolves around runners setting goals. In most cases these goals are the exact same as the majority of other runners.

WHY do our running goals need to be the same?

WHY do our methods to reach them need to be the same?

Is a goal or method bad if it's unconventional?

Here's a link to an article about Yuki Kawauchi who amazed the world yesterday with his Boston Marathon win. He's good example of someone who did things his way (the article reveals how different his training is from other elite racers). Anyone watching him at the finish would have been able to see his pure joy of accomplishment.

A further example is the second place women's Boston finisher Sarah Sellers. The media was left scrambling to figure out who she was. Turns out her background is totally unconventional as well.

These two were a perfect reminder to me right when I needed it most. You don't need to have all the bells and whistles to be a runner and you don't have to want what everyone else wants to find joy in the run.

I'm currently at work and reading the news as I eat my lunch. A lunch which consists of a large bowl of kale, collard greens, cucumber, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, kidney beans and a tablespoon and a half of a homemade salad dressing. I actually have this same lunch every weekday and really enjoy it. As I'm eating, I come across the following article in the Toronto Star and find myself looking down into my bowl of salad with a, "Well, what the ?!" reaction.

The article describes a study whereby 600 participants "cut back on added sugar, refined grains and highly processed foods while concentrating on eating plenty of vegetables and whole foods," such as, "brown rice, barley, steel-cut oats, lentils, lean meats, low-fat dairy products, quinoa, fresh fruits, legumes...olive oil, salmon, avocados, hard cheeses, vegetables, nut butters, nuts and seeds, and grass-fed and pasture-raised animal foods." Participants were not told not to worry about counting calories,  limiting portions or increasing their exercise levels "beyond federal guidelines for physical activity."

And--wouldn't you know--over a year most participants lost weight and "saw improvements in other health markers, like reductions in their waist sizes, body fat, and blood sugar and blood pressure levels.​" 

"The research lends strong support to the notion that diet quality, not quantity, is what helps people lose and manage their weight most easily in the long run. It also suggests that health authorities should shift away from telling the public to obsess over calories and instead encourage (people) to avoid processed foods that are made with refined starches and added sugar."

Wait a minute--that's what I do...

If you follow me on social media or have been around me during meal times, you'll know that the majority of what I eat can be described as what is described above (with the recent exception of excluding animal products). I eat better now (and even more so in the past five years) than I have my entire life. Yet every single day I struggle with keeping my weight in check. I've spent countless amounts of time focusing on what I eat and  how it will affect my body. I count and track calories, points, nutrients, pounds, activities, steps. And please don't tell me to stop because I know if I don't, I gain. Do I eat things that would be discouraged in this article? Absolutely. Do I eat them often? No. Those items represent perhaps 5-10% of my overall diet. I often joke that my biggest food 'sin' is my definition of a tablespoon of unsweetened all natural peanut butter. 

I guess the reason for writing this my annoyance in hearing about the weight loss success of others making the same change to their lifestyle that I've followed for years. It makes me want to say, "Hey! That's not fair, that's what I do every day!" I know that overall I am very healthy--and for that I am incredibly thankful and proud. It is purely the weight maintenance struggle part of the equation that is incredibly frustrating. I guess I always think that it should be easier. 

Will I change what I eat after reading about this study? You'd probably expect me to say no, but in fact I probably will, as I am always trying to make improvements. Slight tweaks here and there. 

Back to my kale salad...

It's now been a month since I last ran. Given the chance, of course I would absolutely rather be running, but if there were a few weeks that made me just a little bit smug about not running, these would probably be it!

​I've found that being able to at least write about running related topics has kept me feeling productive and in touch. So, as a twist to my 'Suggestions for a runner not running' post, here are the top 10 reasons why having a running injury in February is actually a good thing...

There is literally a mountain of snow in my backyard, piled high by my husband to give the dogs room to play. Over the past three days we've received 25 cm of snow, on top of the snow we already had on the ground. Today there was wind, a moment of sun, pouring rain, ice pellets and fluffy snow all within a few hours. 

We all know that if you didn't post it on social media it didn't happen. Well, it's been so cold that you wouldn't want to be taking your mitts off to take photos anyway. Who knows, there may be other friends out there who are injured but I'd just been thinking they were too cold to post running photos. 

Let's just say I've become well acquainted with my Starbucks and Tim Horton's apps this month.

My husband has had the car all to himself most weekend days because I'm not driving all over the GTA to get to races. I rarely have to clean snow off the car, and I get to park close to where I'm going and not feel guilty!

Just try to tell me those doubles curling matches weren't really cool! 

Enough said. 

I have a new pair of my favourite shoes just waiting for the day I can run again. And I'm kinda happy I won't have to break them out in the snow, slush and salt!

My closet is overflowing just a bit right now!

The panda has been really happy.

Currently accepting suggestions for things to crochet.

I'm hoping that the injury will be short lived too!

I've managed to stay relatively positive the past few weeks while not running due foot pain. While there are definite negatives, I've tried to keep my mind open to staying busy to occupy my mind and time. I thought I'd create somewhat of a list of things I've done in hopes of giving others hope that it's not all doom and gloom.

My hubby Erick and I went for an impromptu drive and stroll (literally 500 meters out and back) with the dogs along the Martin Goodman Trail. When you are used to running the trail, it's refreshing to stop and explore a spot with no agenda or pace. 

I also had a chance to check out the new subway line extension when I headed up to York University and the OMA track meet. I love how spacious the new stations are. Amazing that there is still space within the city to do this. 

It's been years since I wandered around a mall. I do so much online shopping or shop at single stores downtown or 'big box' type stores. One weekend day I grabbed one of my Christmas gift cards and we checked out the not-so-new-anymore Sherway Gardens renos. At a couple points I sat to rest my foot while my hubby went into stores and people watched. At lunch time we checked out the food court, we so rarely eat fast food anymore, and was so happy to discover Chipotle! I now have a new go-to for vegan take out. 

Given little Ailo this one didn't take much convincing! But you know those friends you've been saying, "It's been so long! We must get together!" DO IT. 

My friends know I am already big into cooking and food prep. Sometimes this past year I've had two running events in a weekend which makes it challenging to fit it all in. The past couple weeks I've rejigged my tasks so I can spend my Sunday doing these tasks at a more leisurely pace. This has meant I've had more time to be creative in what I make and even make cookies for the first time in a couple years. 

I'm sure this has really helped. I've continued to look into races, jump on a sale for run fuel and read interesting articles about running. Last weekend I took all of my medals and bibs from their storage box and sorted them by year and took photos for a blog post. I realized at that point that I was headed towards my fifth runniversary. The mental wheels started turning considering what I could do to celebrate. You'd think that all of these running things would get me down, but instead they have kept me inspired. 

Okay, so maybe your parents already knows how to text. My Mum didn't. I recently gave her my old iPad and we got together to have a lesson on using it. It was weird yet fun to have the roles reversed and to be showing her how to do things. All of those little things we all thought we so cool when we first had smart phones or devices are new again. Emojis. Solitare. Sending photos. Gifs. And the good morning texts from your Mum. 

Okay, so even some of our non-running events still involve running! Some of the fun stuff that's happened the past few weeks have been a Gary Robbins and Ginger Runner movie screening and interview of Where Dreams Go to Die, a post race coffee date and half-price pizza afternoon downtown. 

Weekends are precious. It seems that there is always so much to do. You say you want to do something and never get around to doing it. This time off has been an awesome opportunity to do some of those things. We drove out to Bowmanville to see my niece play in a volleyball tournament. I'd never been to one and it was really exciting! Two weeks later we got to see my nephew play hockey. We've seen him play before, but it was a couple years ago. It was amazing to see how much he had improved! 

One of my early thoughts when I realized my pain wasn't going anywhere was about the races I'd be missing. Well, as it turns out, I don't have to miss the races! I can still go, I just have to change up what I'm doing while there! Cheering at the recent OMA Mini Meet #2 and Robbie Burns was so fun I literally did forget that I wasn't racing. There's nothing like watching a huge crowd of runners take off at the start then experiencing the calm before the storm of their return. I think this has been a huge plus in my mental game. 

I have to admit that spending the past few weeks mostly inside with warm hoodies, socks and tea hasn't been much of a hardship given the very cold and snowy winter! Our dogs have gotten the short end of the stick with losing out on their long walks. They have however received numerous extra snuggles. My hubby has been stuck with having me around more, which has meant cookies, so I don't think he minds! Things on my to-do list have been checked off and I've kept up with my blog, which, frankly has provided an amazing outlet for figuring out my thoughts. Which reminds me, it's time for tea!