Ottawa Race Weekend 2013!!!

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Its here, its here! Ottawa Race Weekend is this weekend! I’m freaking out just a little bit. O.k. a whole lot of freaking out.  Ahhhhhhh I’m super excited, anxious, terrified, nervous in other words I’m freaking the fuck out. I know I shouldn’t be this wound up but it’s been months of training (o.k. feels like months and months) and weeks of not drinking (so glad that’s over with!) and injured running partners and social life on hold so yeah this race is important to me.  I’m freaking out partly because the shoes I have been running in (Wave Rider 16) aren’t doing it for me. I should have known they would be too controlling. The new Mizunos (Wave Musha 5’s) I’ve been creeping haven’t come in on time to break in. Sports 4 FAIL. J, the place is falling apart without you! So I’m running this weekend in my old old shoes. And I’m freaking mostly because I really really wish my bestie Leah could run this half with me. It wont be the same without you!! Super sad face. (Don’t even use this as leverage to get me to run ATB with you again…not gonna happen! ) I always get up in my head right before a race and Leah is the best running partner for keeping me in check and telling me to just get out there and have fun. Enjoy. Right? That’s why we do this. Right. Ahhhh o.k. always the voice of reason! Couldn’t make it without Leah’s encouragement and coaching. You are the best, thanks L!!!

I don’t know if other runners get this excitable before a race so allow me to share with you a little bit of history on past race freak outs:

-          Around the Bay 2011 – right before the race started I decided to take off my underwear. Yup that’s right run commando. I was terrified for some reason that my thong underwear would cause major chafing on my lady bits so I ran commando. 30Kms underwear-less. (I have learnt to love body glide and lululemon running pants – no seams heeey!)

-          Leah decided to whip off all her jewelry about 5km into the race, gold earrings, necklace you name it. She’s a much classier runner than I leaving gold jewels in our path. Half of me wanted to stop right then and there and gather the jewelry up! Forget the race I found gold!

-          Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront 2012 -  the strip and bib repin. I had a lightweight jacket on because the weather was so yucky(it was horrible!) I pinned my bib to the jacket. But any runner knows by the mounds of discarded clothes on the side of the race, you get hot. And sweaty. And anything that irritates you a tiny little bit has to go. But I didn’t want to sacrifice my lulu jacket so I did the run strip off the jacket & repin. You try doing that while in a race, it takes mad skills. My running partner Nini (who ran this half on a fractured foot. Really. Superstar!) decided to toss her mitts partway through. Why get weighed down with excess clothing?!!

All in all I’m mostly super jazzed to run this race, and I have to remember that Im running it because this is my thing. The Ottawa Half Marathon is a beautiful course, its organized wonderfully and the crowds are even better. I’m looking forward to sharing this experience with all of you and promise to post a victory pic as soon as I cross that finish line…or get my paws around a cold pint. Stay tuned…

-Dee

Brunch it!

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Lets get right to it shall we?

Last Sunday brunch was such an indulgence I was in food baby heaven. Decided to try out a place that I normally wouldn’t, on the counsel of a friend who said this spot makes the best mojitos in Ottawa and really good martinis. Great drinks = good brunch right? One can only salivate.

The Buzz on Bank St was comfortably full (no queue!) when we arrived as we took our place at the bar. I asked our servers (ya we had two assigned to us…) what the house favourite was. Huervos Rancheros, it was unanimous. Done. My eye and sweet tooth also caught the special; mango, toasted coconut and white chocolate crepes.  Chocolate at breakfast? Hells ya. I know I am part of the 2% of the population that loves white chocolate. We are a strange breed. Anywhooo I may have also caught diabetes type II from the crepes which were ever so sweet but satisfying. The savory pleasure was the rancheros which arrived in a soft flour tortilla jammed full of potatoes, salsa topped with two(two!) fried eggs and of course we ordered the side sausage to cover all our dietary bases.buzzbrunch

buzzsweets

How did that second mimosa get in the pic? Oops...

How did that second mimosa get in the pic? Oops…

The food was filling, the drinks were flowing and the atmosphere was buzzing. I’ll be back for those mojitos!

-Dee

Bond, Jane Bond

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Yo! Guess what? It’s almost Friday and we have a long weekend coming!! Isn’t that exciting? One more sleep, hey-o!!!!

Coach P is recovering quickly and is supposed to have her stitches removed on Tuesday! She is chomping at the bit to run again and I must say I can’t wait to have her back, my runs aren’t the same without her.

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(Girl is resting up! She takes this shiz seriously!!)

Now to the important part of this post, my eats!!! Yuuuuum!!!

Last weekend I somehow (I’m honestly not even sure how I did this!!) managed to convince R to check out Jane Bond, a vegetarian restaurant in uptown Waterloo! Anyone who knows my husband can tell you vegetarian is not his style, but he was feeling wild and heard they had a good beer menu (that may of been the selling factor!).

This little restaurant is tucked away near the Huether hotel and is a total gem! The staff is so warm and helpful and made sure we found a seat and got us a drink quickly!

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(Hot sauce AND beer? This is my kind of place!)

The menu is sooooo delicious it made picking our meal challenging. Tough life, I know!

We final settled on the Black Bean Mole Nachos as an appetizer and I had the Whoopie Burger, a cashew lentil burger.

The nachos are served a little differently then expected but were delicious and the black bean mole was unreal!!!

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(Mole and guacamole! Yummmm!!)

I totally forgot to take a picture of my burger (I was too busy eating it) but it was perfectly done. I find that mastering a veggie burger to be challenging at restaurants and have had lots of ‘only okay’ or down right nasty ones so this was a great find and I will be having it again in the near future!

R got the curry and he loved it, which counts far more then my review because he is a meat fan and no meat is a big deal for him!

If you are looking for a great vegetarian meal and an amazing beer selection head down to Jane Bond! And don’t forget the mole!

- Leah

A shot in the dark!

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What’s up you fabulous people???

Bad news: it’s Monday!

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Good news: I have some sweet new running toys/things to share with you! (Is that even good news?? It’s all I got, sorry!)

So this weekend R took me to my FAVOURITE place on earth Disney World the Running Room!!!

After browsing everything in the store I picked up a few new things and only left a small fraction of my fortune with that fine establishment!

Here is what’s new and my thoughts on them (lucky you!!)

1. Lemon Lime Nuun. This actually broke my heart because they were out of my personal favourite flavour strawberry lemonade. I haven’t tried this bad boy yet but if it’s even half as good as the strawberry lemonade then I’m sold!

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(Nuun!!!! Yum! Yum! Yum! If you haven’t tried nuun do it!! And soon!!!)

2. Clif Shotbloks. I got the strawberry ones and let me tell you they are delicious. Like better then candy!!! I tried a few to see how my stomach would tolerate them because it is pretty picky and doesn’t love most gels and such and so far they are sitting really well and I feel great! I asked the girl at Running Room about them and she said it is one of their most popular gels and I can totally see why!!

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(Yum!!! Get in my belly! I wish I didn’t have to run long distances to earn these bad boys.)

Sooooo….I saved the best for last!

3. CEP calf sleeves!!

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(Eeeeekkk! So so exciting!)

I have debated this time and time again. One one hand I think they are UGLY like very UGLY!!! On the other hand, I love the compression sock for my calves but am really picky when it comes to my running socks….so this would provide the best of both worlds! So after months of thinking about it I have decided to give them a try and you know what??? I love those ugly things! They keep my legs feeling fresh while still allowing me to enjoy the running socks that I love! I also like the post race option to wear flip flops because I hate wearing shoes after a run! If you can wrap you head around the ugly factor they are defiantly worth a try!

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(Ugly riiiight?? Rocking out my new look!)

Have you guys tried anything new and loved it?? Share with me! I am looking for all the tips I can get.

Have a great week!

- Leah

Eye SPI with my little eye…

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Guess what???? It’s Friday!!! The freaking weekend! Enjoy it! Run outside and have brunch!

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(Seriously!!)

Today I stole Dee’s regular posting day because I am a huge slacker and didn’t get my life together in time for Thursday and she is awesome and giving like that. Sorry all!

So, as promised, here are two new food and running finds for you all to check out! Sorry if the explanations are brief, I am still running on very little sleep and feel a little loco!

Running:

The SPI Belt

Apparently this nifty little contraption isn’t new to running but it was new to me so I thought I would share. I am often running to something (mostly restaurants…at least I’m honest.) and I hate trying to figure out how I am going to hold my wallet, keys and phone. So when I stumbled across the SPI belt I thought it was worth a try.

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(Hot pink! I love it!! Worst picture ever, sorry!)

I have been so impressed with this thing! It stays right in place and doesn’t move around. I can easily fit my phone, debit card and chap stick in the belt allowing my to run with my hands free.

If you, like I, bring enough to survive a week with you on any run give this belt a try.

Oh and it comes in a million colours and patterns which is super fun!

Food:

Johnny Fresco’s in Waterloo.

R and I went to JF’s for dinner last weekend and I had the biggest most delicious (and unhealthy) burger I have had in a long time! They serve them up on either a white or grainy bun, I went with the grainy option and it did not disappoint!

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(Seriously, so good I didn’t get any extra pictures!! Crazy!)

R has the lamb burger on a whit bun and said it was out of this world. I can’t wait to go back and try more of the menu out.

If you are in the Waterloo area me looking for a fresh burger joint then Johnny’s is the place to go.

I was hoping to share a few more things but Coach P needs some extra time an TLC these days so I am off to take care of her to make sure she is in top running shape A.S.A.P!!

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(I figured it has to be a few??? Like a least a hundred right???)

Have a good weekend and I promise (no crossies) to not suck next week!

- Leah

Brunch Run

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This past weekend was glorious for a long run and even better for a big big brunch. Got out on the road early Sunday morning for a LSR; the sun was out, the canal was closed off to traffic on both sides, I felt I could breathe much cleaner without the vehicles whizzing by and was able to focus on my footfalls and concentrate on exactly what I wanted for brunch of course. That plus the fact that summer has finally arrived made my run much more enjoyable. So enjoyable I got a really sexy racerback tank top sun burn. Ahh the runner’s tan! Looks great with my bluish pasty white legs. Also I think the warm weather makes me more ravenous (and cold weather and temperate weather…). Good thing for me my running loop ends at Dows Lake not far from Stone Face Dolly’s. Home to ahhhmazing brunch.  And Bridgehead coffee. I’ve been craving pancakes lately which is not my M.O. since I usually never order them and always go for the special or The Dolly’s Light or an omelette (# 2 to be exact) buuuuuut for some reason I had a hankering for fat fluffy pancakes. I straddled up to the bar at SFD’s because at 10am the joint was packed with weekend brunchers and proceeded to order the fluffiest pancakes ever. Blueberry banana mixed thank you. They were deelish! During my feeding frenzy I almost went through an entire carafe of maple syrup. Whoops. Left SFD buzzing and totally satisfied, but if that wasn’t enough caffeine and sugar in my system I had to stop off at Boko Bakery on Elgin St. Only because of this hilarious sign! Love it!! Boko has the most amazing garlic baguette I’ve ever had. For real. Get their fresh baked bread (and croissants and cookies) early because they disappear fast like fluffy blueberry banana pancakes on a runners plate!

-Dee