A new adventure

So school is done. The exam went pretty well and it is starting to sink in that its all over. It feels a bit odd not having to write assignments anymore... but it is now time to continue applying the knowledge and experience I have gained. I look at it as a new adventure :)

As mentioned previously, I started a new blog/website and finally managed to update the services page… I still have to work on the “presentation” (ie. add more pictures, etc…), but all the info is now posted.

As a special treat, I am offering 15% off all sports nutrition services during November and December. Since team members get 15% off as it is, you guys will receive 20% off. Contact me for details (pt_performancetraining@yahoo.ca)

Noa

The waiting game...

I am waiting for an exam. I know, it is kind of a random thing to wait for, right? The exam will be emailed to me between 3:25 and 3:35pm on Sunday afternoon and I will need to complete it by 3:30pm on Monday.

It will be a long day... yet I am still both nervous and excited for it. I guess it is because it means I will be done with my post graduate studies in sport nutrition! I doubt I will take a significant break from school. In fact, I already know what my next school related adventure will be (Likely starting in May 2010).

But I am not just sitting around waiting for my exam... I am also working on a few pretty exciting projects right now and I will post updates as they take shape.

1) The first one is the new sports nutrition blog mentioned in my previous post...

2) The second one is the new office space. I had an interesting meeting with my realtor today and he had an exciting idea. He told me it may be a long shot, in an attempt to keep my expectations low so I will not be disappointed if it doesn't work out, but I am still excited about it! I can't help it... maybe its because I am an optimist? Maybe it is because I believe everything will work out as it is intended to... Time will tell.

3) The third project is a new team! We are keeping it on the DL right now, but that will change in the next few weeks.

Until next time,

Noa

A new blog!!

A second blog, this time on sports nutrition related topic only! Visit www.endurancenutrition.wordpress.com.

This time, on WordPress. I figures I might as well give it a try after using Blogger for a while... for the purpose of my new blog it is better having the ability to create several pages; so far so good.

I am in the process of getting it up and running properly. I still need to get the ’services’ page updated and the hosting up and running (it will be fuelingenduranceperformance.com). In the mean time, I copied and paste one of my previous sport nutrition related posts from this blog, just to get things going…

Comment are welcome!

Noa

I have to run with this brace from now on...

And it's a bit annoying...

But I am OK with it now - Im pretty happy to be running again after 2 weeks of being unable to do so. A lot of people have been asking me what is going on with my foot, so I figured it may be blog post worthy. I even attached a picture of the brace for your viewing pleasure!

It all started about 2.5 years ago, when I damaged some ligaments in my right ankle. I did a pretty good job at it too, because I was still unable to walk properly 2-3 months afterwards! I did my fair share of stability and rehabilitation exercises and everything seemed to be OK... But then a couple of weeks ago Andrew wanted to go for a swim at Thetis and I really wanted to go for a run around there while he swims... and I twisted that foot again. It didn't seem too serious at that point, I figured it will be a few days of RICE and I would be back at it. However, I got super physio Linda to take a look, just to be on the safe side, and it was pretty apparent that I damaged my calf too... To add insult to injury - my foot seem to have a lot of movement back and forth (which is not really a good thing) and it all started with that injury 2.5 years ago. Luckily, lateral stability is all good.

I started running again on Saturday, with the lovely brace pictured below. Annoying, but it's holding the talus bone where it belongs, because the ligaments around that area aren't doing that very well anymore. The part that got to me at first was the fact that it's not a temporary thing - I will need to use the brace all the time, especially when trail running. If it wasn't for the fact that it affects my running, It would actually be kind of cool having that much movement through the foot!

Butternut squash, apple and cranberry muffins - the recipe

First and foremost, I now only have 700 words to write. I have made pretty good progress during the day and am taking a well deserved break, until tomorrow morning. All that is left is tidying things up a bit, writing the abstract and the conclusions and I am DONE. I am pretty excited and eager to start applying what I have learned. I have a little related project that I can't wait to start... but more on that later :) For now, here is the muffin recipe mentioned in the post below.

Butternut squash, apple and cranberry muffins

1-2/3 cup spelt flour (I use spelt because it doesn't upset my stomach. I can't stomach whole wheat flour...)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp honey
1/8 cup cane sugar
1 cup butternut squash (Peel, cut into cubes, boil until soft & throw in the blender)
1/2 cup almond milk (I used vanilla flavor)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 granny smith apple (peel and coarsely grate)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Handful of dried cranberries

Well, thats it... pretty simple, and they taste great... Well, in my opinion they do :)

Butternut squash put to good use :)

After an awesome breakfast at Mole post coaching at Crystal (for some, after swimming at Crystal), I made some pretty good progress on my assignment, and a little break was needed... So, what did I do with that break? I put a butternut squash to good use and now there are some butternut squash/apple/cranberry muffins baking in the oven and I have a steaming bowl of butternut squash and apple soup in front of me! Not bad for a little study break, I think :) Recipes to come, if you are interested!

Time to eat, and get back to that assignment! Only 1300 words to go...

Click on this title... a must read!

Seriously, read Jairus's latest blog post... its pretty awesome! Just go to: www.jairusstreight.blogspot.com

I need to get back to my assignment now... the LAST ONE for grad school!! I will blog after Wed, as I realized I have not done so in over 3 weeks!

IMC 09

Ironman Canada was a tough day this year. The heat and the smoke made things a bit tough... Most of my athletes achieved their goals, 10 out of 11 finished, all within 15 hours. Well done guys!

Kudos to both winners, Jordan Rapp and Tereza Macal who seemed to race smart and completely dominated the race. A shout out to Jasper Blake who ran through most of the pro field to claim 4th. That was pretty awesome to watch Jazz!

A friend who raced (congrats Kim!!), mentioned that she saw one of the pro women grabbing a phone from a spectator and calling it a day at OK Falls. Her comment was that she did not realize it was even a possibility to phone someone and stop if your day is not going according to plan... Her comment hit the nail right on the head. I think that unless you are going to cause harm to yourself, you should get to that finish line. The pro athletes set an example to the AG racers, weather they like it or not. There are so many age group athletes that have a bad day and end up walking the marathon, but they get the job done and make it to the finish line...

33 out of 40 pro men finished the race this year. I am certain that many of them had a very good reason to DNF, but I saw a few of them after the race walking around looking pretty fresh... it made me wonder why they did not get to the finish line? Was it because they were not having a good day and decided to cut their losses and call it the day?

On the other hand, 2 young rookie pro athletes from Victoria had a pretty rough day out there, but they finished. They showed courage, heart and dedication and I am certain that there are great things ahead for those two. As Adam's coach, I am very proud of him for never giving up and getting the job done. It brought me to tears to see him on the run, as I have never seen him suffer like that. But he just kept going, knowing that it was not his day... he finished his first Ironman as pro athlete and proved that he truly deserves to race in that division. Same goes to Steve (who I do not coach) - keep doing what you have been doing so far... There is no doubt in my mind that when all the pieces of the puzzle slide into place you will be unstoppable.

Grain free banana blueberry loaf

I have a freezer full of bananas. I always seem to get more bananas than I can eat, and they end up in the freezer doomed to be used in baking (not that there is anything wrong with that...). I also happen to have a fridge full of blueberries, because kamal gave me a pretty big box of them before he left for Kelowna on Saturday.

So I decided to try something a bit different. I could have baked a "normal" loaf. You know, that kind with sugar, flour and eggs... but I try and avoid wheat products as much as I can (although I have to admit I do not avoid it 100%...), so I was looking for something a bit more creative.

What you need:
3 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup honey (I used 1/4 Babe's honey, 1/4 blueberry honey)
1 1/2 cups almond meal
3/4 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tbsp baking soda
1/4 cup organic shredded coconut
1 cup blueberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cinnamon
I also threw in some white chocolate chips, for good measure :-)

The end result turned out VERY tasty, but I made a few mistakes along the way...

1. To start off with, I should have used a bit more almond meal, perhaps closer to 2 cup.
2. Since I really do have A LOT of blueberries in my fridge, I kind of just threw them in without adhering to my initial planning of 1 cup. I measured everything else properly, but not the blueberries... and I added too many. Oh well... they are rich in Quercetin, which shows strong anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-pathogenic effects and a relationship to improved endurance performance. But enough with the science talk (even if it was pretty brief) - back to the loaf...
3. I should have baked it as bars, not a loaf...
4. I guess I can try adding a couple of eggs as well...

The above mistakes aside, there is hope for this recipe - I am sure my next try will turn out a lot better. At least I know it will taste SO good once it is perfected. I will try again when I get back from Kelowna/Salmon Arm/Revelstoke/Penticton at the beginning of September and keep you posted.

In the mean time, if there are any bakers out there reading this blog, please feel free to make some suggestions :-)

It depends.

Last year of Uni at Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand. Degree program - sports coaching. A professor introduces students to a case study about an athletes' racing performance. Limited information is provided, but the professor is asking the students for their thoughts on the matter...

You would think that the students will start providing suggestions to help the athlete in question, right? Well, you guessed wrong. The students are smarter than that... they have stepped into that trap before by the same professor, and they will not make the same mistake again. The correct answer is "it depends". Since only limited information was provided, it is very hard to see the complete picture and a lot more information is needed before any kind of suggestion can be made.

When making suggestions without knowing an athlete inside and out, you are making assumptions. The word 'assume' can be broken down as followed: ass-u-me. Don't assume anything, you will not be helping anyone.

Thanks Lynn... best prof ever :-)

In other news, Myke posted his Stormy 50mile race report!

Myke at Stormy 50 mile...

Myke run the Stormy 50 mile event today - his first 50 mile race. 6000 ft of elevation gain on the trails of Squamish... in a time of 7 hours and 48 minutes (Thats 5:48 min/km!). At 22 years of age, he was the youngest racer and with only 2 ultra's under his belt that is a pretty amazing achievement.... I am a very proud coach right now :-)

I am sure he will post a race update on his blog in the next few days...

2 posts back to back!

Translation - I am procrastinating... ;-)

Even though things have been insane in the last few weeks, I have been running on a regular basis. My right calf has been bothering me a bit in the last few days, so I have taken a couple of days off running and used the torture device, aka Trigger Point. It feels a lot better, but I'll book myself an appointment at the clinic tomorrow, just to be on the safe side. Its pretty handy working at a physiotherapy clinic, I'll definitely miss that!!

I will likely put my ego in my back pocket and enter some road running races next winter, just for fun. I am starting to really miss racing and I think I'm OK with being a non competitive athlete. Im saying that now, but at the back of my mind I know I am way too competitive for the whole 'racing for fun thing'... and I will likely try and get closer to some of my old PB's, which will not be an easy task as I used to run A LOT and wasn't too bad either... haha. We will wait and see how things unfold!