Grand Canyon Ultra: You Gotta Know When to Hold Em'...

Deep thoughts from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

I'd love to share a long winded and inspiring race tale from the Grand Canyon Ultra with you but...this will be my shortest ever race report.  You will have to read Kim's Flying Phalanges blog for that-as she had the best race of her life! Yay Kim you rocked that 50mile course! You so earned that.

Here goes mine:

12 miles.  That's how far I made it.

2 hours 40 minutes.  That's how long I limped along on the course to reach aid.
30 minutes.  That's how long I ran before I knew my race was over.

The end.

#explorethevispine Port Alberni Inlet to Log Train Trail 37kms

 

Sun drenched bluffs and views that go on and on and on...

Thank you for joining me on the #explorethevispine challenge!  This year I will be running ultra sections of the Vancouver Island Spine Trail as a way to raise awareness, support and resources for VISTA, the amazing team behind this truly visionary, 700km trail.  Be sure to check out the #explorethevispine page on this blog to find out more and to learn how you can join me in supporting this great cause.

Go Team ELM Go! Exciting news from ELM!

Team ELM has been rockin race courses all over the globe this spring!  From the Comox Valley Snow to Surf Relay to a Half Marathon in Sweden, Team ELM has crossed all sorts of exciting race finish lines already this year!  Read on to find out what Team ELM has been up to and what is coming next...

Comox Valley Royal Lepage Snow to Surf Relay: Team ELM rocked their way to another gold medal in the Masters Women category this year!  That is 7...or 8? times on the top of the podium for these amazing ladies!  SO awesome to spend the day cheering and being cheered on the course.  The S2S never disappoints- it is always a great day!  Check out photos of the fun online here!

Year of Fears: Part 2, 3 and 4

I am not quite sure how it can be the middle of April already but that is what the calendar says!  Time to catch up on my 'Year of Fears' posts.  At the start of the year, I posted about a desire I had this year to start to get cozy with the icky, awkward and sometimes even scary things that I normally tend to avoid.  It all kicked off with a ridiculous ziplining adventure 200 feet above the jungles of Panama- you can watch my gopro video of this exciting adventure here.  What else have I been getting cozy with this year?  Here is an update...

My TEDx Presentation: Human Potential and the Power of the Mind

Back in the fall of 2011 I was invited to speak at the inaugural  Comox Valley TEDx event.

"TED what?" I asked?

And so, my love affair with all things Technology Education and Design began to blossom, alongside millions of other humans around the world.  For those of you who have yet to dive into the TED universe, you don't know what you are missing!  TED talks are very short presentations on every single topic that you could possibly dream up.  Experts, personalities and generally interesting people share their thoughts on anything they believe is meaningful, in under 18 minutes.  From motivation to space exploration and everything in between, there is something captivating for everyone over at TED.

#explorethevispine Shawnigan Lake to Lake Cowichan 49kms

 

Sandra on the Kinsol Trestle

Thank you for joining me on the #explorethevispine challenge!  This year I will be running ultra sections of the Vancouver Island Spine Trail as a way to raise awareness, support and resources for VISTA, the amazing team behind this truly visionary, 700km trail.  Be sure to check out the #explorethevispine page on this blog to find out more and to learn how you can join me in supporting this great cause!

#explorethevispine With Me!

Have you heard the news?  In case you missed my big announcement (which is going viral on Facebook woohoo!), here are the details about my upcoming Adventure Run...for a great cause!  Follow along via the new page on this blog called: #explorethevispine

I have a BIG adventure planned for 2016...and I am inviting YOU to join me...as I explore the Vancouver Island Spine Trail! 

Mind Games: 10 Tips for your Motivation Toolbox

It's sideways raining...again.  I'll go later...  I'll go tomorrow...  I don't want to go!

Been there?  Me too!  Yet people are often surprised to hear me even whisper about periods of low motivation let alone announce them to the world.  They expect me to shout rah rah rah from the rafters day in and day out.  And quite honestly, mostly I do;).  But I think it is important to share that I also feel the weight of inertia slowing down my mojo or even threatening to paralyze my body from time to time.  It has happened before.  It will happen again.  And it happens to everyone including me and you.

Workout Wednesday!

Hello Friends!
No gym?  No motivation? No problem?  Put your sneakers on, crank the tunes, clear a spot on your living room floor or head to the park.  Want to get stronger?  Leaner?  More toned?  Become a ninja? Do this workout this week!  Getterdone!

Warm up with 5-10 minutes of gradually increasing movement- walk, jog, stairs, dance in your house! Sub exercises for what you have- can't get outside for a run/walk?  Skip!  Dance!  Go up and down your stairs!  Don't have a pull up bar?  Get under your kitchen table and pull yourself up from the edges!  Or, do a back bridge on the floor, from your hands.  You've got options.  Not excuses.  Do the circuit 1- 3 times...1 for first timers, 2 for challengers and 3 for those looking to ramp it up to the next level!  That's it!  Done!

Year of Fears: Part 1 Zip Lining in Panama

"The fears we don't face, become our limits." ~Robin Sharma

Have you ever thought about it that way?  Until recently, I certainly hadn't.

I don't consider myself a very 'fearful' person. I usually look at obstacles as challenges to try and overcome.  Big old mountain to climb?  Let's go!  Ocean to cross?  There must be a way...  Scary rock to descend?  Let's find a way down.  Up, over, under, around or through- there always seems to be a way.   Life is an adventure and I want to experience as much as I can on my trip around the sun.

However, I, like most humans, have a few fears hiding under the bed and lurking in the dark corners of the woods.  Confessions: Sky diving terrifies me, being charged by barking dogs paralyzes me and all my closest peeps know that I am a 'barfaphobic' (apparently the Google says it's even got a name lol, 'Emetophobia', so I know I'm not the only one!).

Race Report: Orcas Island 50K

Another ultra, another EKG

I finally made it to Orcas Island!  And it was definitely worth the wait.

Training Principles: Recovery

TRAINING PRINCIPLES: RECOVERY
By Sarah Seads, BA Kinesiology


Training doesn't make us stronger. We need recovery for that.

The body is an amazing, adaptive machine. Overload it with a new stimulus and it will respond with adaptive mechanisms and rebuild itself to handle the new load. Wowza.

Want to get stronger? Lift more.

Want to run faster? Run faster.

Want to run further? Run longer.

Want to improve range of motion? Reach further.


Right?

Yes and no.

Recipe: Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies

Happy Saturday!
It is time to make some power packed cookies to fuel your adventures for the weekend!  Thank you to ELM Super Coach Kathy Penner for sharing the original Hollyhock recipe, which I have reworked to create my own, based on what I found in my kitchen this morning-hee hee. 

These cookies are full of natural ingredients, allow for 101 variations and they literally took me 5 minutes to mix up while I was waiting for the coffee (Brad) and tea (me) to brew this morning.  I am posting this recipe while they are cooking in the oven!  You can find all of my favourite whole food recipes in my cookbook NRG: Foods that will move you!  Download your own e-cookbook today!


Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
Makes 2 (small) dozen
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Mix dry in a small bowl.  Mix wet in a large bowl.  Mix together and fold in additions.
Drop in small spoonfuls onto baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown.

1 cup ground almonds (you could use spelt or any other whole grain flour here as well)
1 cup ground oats
1/4 cup ground flax
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted coconut butter
1 cup natural almond butter (or any nut/seed butter you like)
1/2 cup maple syrup (yum!)
1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup whole oats
1/3 cup whole almonds
1/3 cup raisins (or any other dried fruit like sour cherries!)
1/3 cup dark chocolate

Enjoy your weekend...and your cookies!

SS

Mental Strength: Harnessing the Power of Intention

The end of one year and the transition into the next is the perfect time to reflect, reset and reboot.  You know I love the energy of a new year!  And you likely know that I am a strong believer in the power of intention.  We coaching geeks love goals.  Dream goals, long term goals, short term goals, weekly and daily goals.  We love them all.  Why?  Because we know how powerful these simple tools for motivation and action really are.  No trendy gimmicks.  No expensive contracts.  No state of the art or latest greatest craze.  And definitely no guru's charging your credit card on a monthly basis.  Just you and your vision.  Nothing fancy.

Intention is a powerful thing.  The thoughts that we cultivate day in and day out feed our minds just as the air we breath and the food we eat feeds our bodies.  We are not only what we eat.  We are, in fact, what we think.

Panama and Costa Rica in Three Weeks

Playa Grande, Costa Rica

Got three weeks?  Can I squeeze into your suitcase?

We have just returned from 3 weeks in Central America and are in the twilight zone of adapting to real life and processing the amazing journey we have just had.  After strolling at flip flop pace and pedalling at cruiser speed, we feel like we are standing still in our real lives back home.  Peeps are flying by in the grocery isles and we are flip flopping along.  Our bikes seem slower and the wheels won't turn.  We have been relaxing for 3 weeks and are beyond well rested, but it seems that by 1pm I need a nap.  Hee Hee.  I hope I can keep some of this tranquility in my heart for the next 11 months...

We almost didn't go.  Newly hooked on Hawaii, we almost decided to return to the land of easy living this year, but the tragic Canadian dollar gave us incentive to explore elsewhere. And we are so glad that we did!  There is something about Central America that both Brad and I love and it has drawn us back time and again.

Costa Rica: Playa Grande

Pura Vida!  Costa Rica's brand is 'the good life' and we drank up as much as we could during our short visit to this rico country north of Panama.

We heard it was a beautiful and diverse country.  But we were also warned that it would be expensive and the most similar to North America of all the countries in the region.  Because of this, we originally planned to avoid this popular tourist destination and spend our entire holiday in Panama.  However, due to our travel plans, it only made sense to fly out of the capital, San Jose, rather than backtracking to Panama City on our return trip home.  And oh are we ever happy we did so.

Panama Adventures: Bocas Del Toro

Oh dat Caribbean...

After nearly two weeks of daily adventures by bike, bus, boat, plane and surf, we suddenly found ourselves trapped on a remote Caribbean island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Panama.  Up until that moment we thought our trip had been pretty relaxing.  We figured we had slipped into Panamanian time.  We guessed we were mucho tranquillo.  HA!

Panama Adventures: Boquete mountain town

On the road again, we packed our wee sacks and said goodbye to sweet Santa Catalina...until we meet again.

It was time to pull up our growing roots and continue to explore this diverse country.  Three days away from the sea.  That is all we could handle.  Up into the mountains we drove, travelling on more fantastic Pan Am highway in a spacious shuttle van.  We used the Hola Panama tourist shuttle service for two of our cross country legs and we very impressed with the vans and the service.  For only a few dollars more than the slow and cramped 'chicken bus', the tourist shuttles travel direct, have comfy seats, plenty of room and spare travellers from the endless (and insanely loud) boom boom of the latest top 40 music videos.  We love us some chicken bus excitement but it is nice to have an alternate choice if and when the novelty wears off.  And for myself, being extremely motion sick, the shortest route on long windy mountain roads is most often my first choice.  

5 hours and $30 each later, we were dropped off directly at our Boquete home, just on the edge of town, Apartments de Los Pinos.  "Best location, great value."  Was the title of my trip advisor review this time.  The kind hotel manager, Emma, asked if we wouldn't mind adding our review to help them start building their online presence.  15 years in business but just a few months in the world of online reviews, Los Pinos has some catching up to do.  But this little gem of a hotel is sure to be booked solid once the word gets out to those looking for spacious and conveniently located, mid-range accommodation in Boquete.  

Our two story suite was outfitted with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small kitchen and our own little deck overlooking beautifully manicured gardens and the valley beyond.  All for only $65 per night.  It was just like having our very own little Boquete apartment and we have our pals Cale and Vicky to thank for the recommendation.  

Panama Adventures: Santa Catalina

I just wrote my first ever Trip Advisor review.  A glowing report on Santa Catalina and the Hotel of the same name.  But now I am tempted to delete it.

You know those great places you want to share but you also don't want anyone else to know about?  Santa Catalina is one of those places.  Oh the internal battle of a blogger... But I just can't resist.  It is our new favourite place and truely feels like home so I can't help but share it with my friends.  Just don't go and buy up all the land and ruin it, ok?

We found Santa Catalina through our Google searches for surf towns and good diving in Panama. SC has both.  It sounded like a small fishing town, off the beaten path, with a few restaurants and hotels that had been slowly gaining popularity with surfers and divers over the past few years.  And that, is pretty much accurate.  SC is a small fishing town, off the beaten path... What you hear is what you get.  One store.  One Main Street.  No banks or ATMs.  Not many lights.  Even less night life.  Not much to do if you are from the city.  Some people may feel out of place, bored or antsy in these small, one road, Central American towns.  Others, likely surfers and divers like ourselves, will feel right at home.  

Reviews and blogs don't often give you a sense of the 'feeling' of a place.  Let me see if I can try...

Panama Adventures: Panama City

Central America, it has been way too long, amigo.

Brad and I share a love for Latin America and between us we have explored many of its colourful countries.  Beginning with my solo adventure in Honduras to become a Dive Master then visiting Guatemala, Nicaragua and finishing with our last adventure in Ecuador and Peru alongside the Team ELM wild women on the Inca Trail.  There is something about this part of the world that brings us back and makes us feel at home every time.  Maybe it's the tranquillo people, maybe it's the rum but more than likely it's the pura vida spirit.  Sun, surf, beautiful beaches, beautiful language, thick jungles, tall volcanos and the best papayas you have ever tasted.  It really is the good life.