WORKOUT: one hour hot yoga

I did a hot yoga class yesterday morning for the first time in months.  I was a little stiff from the PT session on Saturday,  running on Sunday, and my regime of no stretching.  An hour of hot, sweaty yoga would make me good as new!

I nearly passed out twice it was so friggin hot.  Today, I can barely move my shoulders and back.  Seriously, I feel like I did the most ridiculously hard weight workout.  I don’t want to sound over dramatic … but I am in agony.

It’s back to school today.  The streets are filled with kids with backpacks, school buses and 2.7 million more cars.

I take a deep breath in and I swear I can smell, erasers and pencils in the air.  It makes me smile.  I love stationary.  I love Fall.

This morning reminds me of a line from You’ve Got Mail

“Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address…”

That movie, and Fall for that matter, also makes me want to cut my hair like Meg Ryan

… the  pre-plastic surgery and fish lips Meg

What does Fall make you want to do?

What’s really, really exciting?  I began the run in a long sleeved shirt.  It took me 20 minutes to find one to wear, but it was definitely needed for the first 10 minutes this morning.

We did the last Port Stanley Run ever this year today.  What a difference cool temps and no humidity makes.  G, K and I had a fabulous run.  It wasn’t just us.  We’ve done the run once already this summer and a waterstop once.  Each time it was hot and humid.  Soul sucking.  You could see the energy drain from everyone in the final miles.  Smiles at the finish were few and far between, I think the ones that could muster the energy were smiling because they were done.

Today was different.  It seemed like everyone had a great run.  Faster than any other run this summer.  There were smiles galore, yes to be done, but mostly for feeling so good.

A great confidence booster heading into marathon season.

Here’s an easy delicious soup

ingredients

olive oil
2 leeks, white parts only, washed and finely chopped
5 large tomatoes (I used 4 cups of my roasted tomatoes)
2 tbsp of all-purpose flour
2 ears of corn, kernels removed and cobs cut in half and reserved
a bunch of fresh basil
3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper

In a large pot warm oil, add leeks, and saute for 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes, then the flour stirring constantly for 2 minutes.  Add the corn kernels, cobs and stock. Bring to simmer and cover for 25 minutes.

Discard cobs.  In a blender or food processor puree soup in batches.  DO NOT add all the soup to the food processor!  As I learned, it doesn’t hold a lot of soup before it starts to leak everywhere!  Once all the soup has been pureed, pass the soup through a fine-mesh sieve and back into the pot or a serving dish.  Add chopped basil and season to taste.

You can also put the soup in the fridge for 4 ish hours and serve chilled.

it was hot.

that’s all I got.

It’s Friday, dress down day at work and that means you can wear your jeans!

… Happy Friday!

I remember reading the first part of the book, where she leaves her marriage, has a breakdown on the bathroom floor and then straight into rebound relationship, I wondered if she knew me?   Had she stolen my story?  Or was this more common than I thought?

… my story, well that’s a whole other post, it’s an emotional week here in Ali-land, so you might just get it. But the short of the long is … there wasn’t a bathroom floor, I broke down nightly, in my car, outside the backdoor, not wanting to go in.

“The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying; the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)

I left, with one suitcase and a few photos.  A couple days later I started dating B, a week later I moved in.  When that relationship inevitably ended, I was suddenly left without title, I wasn’t his wife or his girlfriend.

Who was I?

That’s why I related to Eat Pray Love, and that’s also where our stories took different paths.  Maybe if I had the bank roll to finance a year long, transcontinental spiritual journey, it would be more similar.  So instead of indulging in a carb fest, I did what any good irish gal living in England would do.  I drank.  A lot.

A few weeks ago, Heather mentioned the guy version … Drink Play F@#k.

I laughed, thinking she was joking.  Then googled it.  Sure enough, it’s a real book.  I bought it.

It’s about a man, whose wife leaves him for some guy called David.  When he realizes she is still taking money out of their joint account, he decides to empty the bank account, quit his job and blow all the years of sensibly saving on a year of living stupidly.

His first goal is to get drunk, and where else would you go to get drunk, but Ireland.  That’s when I knew I would love this book.  The second part of his journey is play, and where else to play but Vegas.  Finally getting laid in Thailand.

When I first started reading, I was expecting a much harsher story or more of a spoof on EPL, although the book is obviously inspired by EPL, he even makes witty reference* to it a few times, it is an entertaining read and an insight into the male side of the story**.  To be honest, I kinda loved his journey, it sounded like a blast, I wanted to be on it.

I think most women I know, who were suddenly single (no kids), had the money and time and were asked the question if you could go anywhere, do anything for a year what would you do?   I think they would pick Italy for the food, wine and men.  I think they would want to go on some kind of find yourself retreat, with a little yoga, but maybe not in India, and finally somewhere lush, tropical and beautiful, just like Bali.

Ask the same question to men, and I predict the majority would choose drinking, a stint in vegas and getting laid.

If you could go to 3 places, where would you go and what would you do?

* if you are a huge Gilbert fan you will probably won’t appreciate these interwoven criticisms

** they are planning a movie, Steve Carrel is rumoured to play the lead. Which in my opinion is wrong.  Someone suggested Vince Vaughn, that could work, what about Clooney? But really what women would leave Clooney for some guy called David?

The route was great.  I had no idea where we were going, how far we were in or how long we had left until the last 5k.  Just ran and talked.  Topics this morning included, but not limited to … movies, losers, cars, cravings, bus trips and parents.

We spent the first half of our run talking about parents, them getting older, changing.  It’s been an emotional weekend for me.  It’s probably day 27.  My parent are thinking of moving closer to me.  Well my dad is … he is talking of selling the house, buying a condo downtown, no gardening, lawn mowing, shoveling.  Something smaller, less work that they can leave for 3 months in the winter and travel south.  My mom isn’t quite on board.  She likes the grandeur of her home, work and all.

On Friday we went and looked at a couple condos.  Nothing great, nothing they would buy.  Afterwards, when they had left, I started piecing together conversations I have had with my dad over the last few months.   A mention of this, a reference to that.  None of them terribly meaningful, but together I started to see the bigger picture.  He is planning for the inevitable.  Ensuring my mom is somewhere she can manage if anything should happen.  Not that there is anything wrong, they are both in great health.  But I think he now sees the future in years not decades.

The reality of their mortality has made me incredibly emotional.

This mornings run made me stop thinking about the what if, when if, that have been filling my head.  Deep breaths in, filling me with possibilty of here and now, slowly exhaling all the if, ands, or buts.

Supermodel?

Chocolate lover?

Marathoner?

Teller of tall tales, tall, witty, crack your ribs laughing tales?

A fabulous friend?

… and a natural born leader … just ask her grade 7 teachers

HaPpY BiRtHdAy DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

I duck my head … inside the car … whenever I drive under a bridge or enter a covered environment … which is surprisingly often.

I know I am not going to hit anything the truck in front, which is taller than my vehicle cleared without a scratch.  I know ducking my head … inside the car … makes absolutely no sense.

I can’t help it.  I even tell myself not to duck … but I do!

I got up early Saturday morning to get a run in before going to the trainer.  Even at 6.30 am, with cool temps I was dripping when I was done.

It rained most of yesterday, giving a small bit of hope that the humid would clear.

I met the Gster at the park this morning, it felt cool, the temp was good there was even a light breeze, but after a couple miles my small bit of hope was washed away by the gallon of sweat I was producing.

Do you ever run with someone, knowing you are in this together, that you’ll pull each other through?   But really you are thinking … for the love of all things apple, please, please, say you only want to do 4 miles.

That was my run this morning, first two miles good, third mile I’m hot, fourth mile I felt like I was carry one of those army backpacks and running in boots.  By the fifth mile, it hadn’t gotten any better, but not any worse either, I think I just got used to it and sucked it up for the next 5 miles, or maybe it was the great company and conversation!

Humidity drains me.  Maybe I’m not drinking enough, which is highly likely.

Ah September … I am looking forward to my first cool, long sleeved to start out run.

What’s your favourite running season?

They are delicious simply sliced and sprinkled with sea salt and pepper, or make a wonderful sandwich all by themselves.  The taste is so fresh and wonderful it seems a shame to cook them, but when you can’t help yourself and buy a basket of tomatoes, you need to do something with them.

I think homemade tomato sauce is one of the most satisfying things to make.

Seriously, make this.  It’s simple, easy and tastes like you spent hours slaving.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Tomatoes, lots of them, cut in half or left whole if the are small.
5 cloves of garlic (more/less depending on your taste)
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt & Pepper

add tomatoes and peeled garlic to a large roasting pan.  Drizzle liberally with olive oil and balsamic.  Good pinch of sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Roast slowly, probably about 3 hours at a low temp, 225 degrees.

The smell will fill the house.  Mouthwatering.

They look something like this when they are done.  Then I puree them in the food processor add some fresh basil and presto a fabulous tomato sauce that’s rich and delicious.  Or freeze to make fresh sauce on a cold, tomatoless winter day.

I cooked some gnocchi, little potato dumpling like pasta.  Used my new giada de laurentiis pasta scoop (it’s a cross between a strainer and a ladle) to drain the taste little suckers.

top generously with roasted tomato sauce and parmesan cheese.

Bon appetite!