Before I get started, I want to share a little perk from work tonight. I was covering city council and look what was on the agenda:
That’s for my triathlon!! Is it strange that I find all this re-zoning stuff interesting? Maybe I could be “Councillor Susan” someday??
Moving on…
A dark picture of my pre-swim food because I was up at an ungodly hour:
Banana + crunchy PB. Early morning swims are the best. The pool was quiet, and I was home, showered and ready to start my day at 9am. Here’s what I did:
Warm-up:
4 x 50m front crawl (10 sec rest)
Build-up:
1 x 50m kick with flutterboard (10 sec rest)
1 x 50m pull with buoy (10 sec rest)
1 x 50m kick with flutterboard (10 sec rest)
1 x 50m pull with buoy (10 sec rest)
Core:
8 x 100m front crawl (2:30-2:40 per 100m, 20 sec rest)
Cool-down:
4 x 50m front crawl (10 sec rest)
Duration: 43 minutes
Distance: 1400m
Calories: 250 (estimate)
This was another great swim! I was really pushing myself during the main 800m. If I wasn’t in water, I would have been sweating up a storm! I’m finally going to be able to make it to a swimming lesson tomorrow, so I can’t wait to hear what my instructor has to say about where I’m at 
As per usual, I was starving after getting out of the water. I made a bowl of summer oats when I got home.
- 1/2 cup Quaker big flakes
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp soy protein powder
- cinnamon
- fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt w/ stevia and vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Fibre 1 cereal
I also tried out a new coffee roast today. I’ve been buying cheap coffee for too long. This organic, fair-trade, Canadian coffee caught my eye and I had to try some out. The company is Kicking Horse Coffee based out of the Canadian Rockies. They have fun names for their coffees like “Jack Ass” and “Grizzly Claw.” But when I saw this one, I knew it was for me!
Three Sisters roast. There’s three girls in my family, I’ve got two older sisters, so this one was calling to me! Plus, it’s a medium roast. I like the taste of dark roasts, but they don’t have the caffeine I need. The longer you roast a coffee bean, the less caffeine it has. The mild roasts are typically too acidic for my palate. But medium roasts are juuuuust right, and usually have that smooth and balanced flavour I love
I drank it black so I could get the full experience.
I loved it. Really, really good. There’s a lot to be said for a quality cup of coffee.
Then I got to work on updating the recipe page on the blog and cleaning my room and kitchen.
Lunch included a random boiled egg that I had in my fridge. I have no reason why I boiled this egg, or what my original intentions with it were. So I did with it my favourite thing to do with boiled eggs – egg sandwich!
With some carrots and watermelon on the side.
Tonight was a little hectic. I had a TV shoot at 4:30, then work at 5:30. I had ten minutes to eat dinner. Luckily, I packed a dinner to eat in between.
I only had time to eat the tuna pita. I snacked on a Luna caramel nut brownie bar around 7:30, then ate the garden salad when I got back to the office at 9:30. Not ideal, but at least i didn’t starve. The other reporter at the radio station saw me scarfing down the pita before leaving. She made a comment about getting used to not swallowing my food when working. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has a tough time getting meals in! I absolutely refuse to rely on fast food though.
Before I leave you, I want to share an opinion piece from the Globe and Mail that really got me thinking. It’s about the annual Tour de l’Ile 50k bicycle race in Montreal. It’s a pretty well-known event that draws big crowds. Montreal likes to use it as a way to promote healthy and active living. But apparently there’s been some complaints that the event doesn’t affiliate itself with a charity.
It got me thinking – do you think all races should be fundraising events? Personally, I don’t think they should. Mostly because the additional stress of having to raise “x” amount of dollars just to race is a big turn off for me. Not to mention, annoying for my friends and family who get hit up for money every time I get the urge to participate.
Part of the reason I was also thinking about this was that I covered two events in the city over the weekend that were walk/runs for foundations. I asked each organizer what set their event apart, and they couldn’t really give me a solid answer. Is it just charity race overload? Don’t get me wrong, I get how important these fundraisers are for these organizations (my mom works for a non-profit). But I just think the promotion of being active with your friends, family and community is just as important. We don’t need a reason or goal to do that, we should just participate because we want to – with no obligations
You can read the full piece here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/a-battle-of-wheels/article1145162/
What do you think?
Sounds like you had a great swim. Early morning exercise is rough, but it’s awesome when you’re done and still have the full day ahead of you– with no stress about when you can fit a workout in!
I love the summer oats, and that egg sandwich looks great.
Hmm, I don’t think all races need to be fundraising events. Raising money can be tough, especially in this economy. And having the stress of making a certain amount of money would totally turn me off. Charity races definitely have their time and place, but all races shouldn’t need to be like that!
I should really work on getting up early enough to workout in the morning. Sleep is just far too important..haha. Good job with your swim!
I love egg sandwiches too!
I dont think all races need to be for charity. I think the ones that are are doing a great thing, but I agree that tehre should be opportunity just go get out in your active community for just that purpose..being active.
I prefer medium roasts, too
I didn’t know that about the caffiene though!
I’m not sure that I have strong feelings about races being fundraisers. Honestly, I paid the entry fee fo rmy race but I did not raise any extra money..I was so overwhlemed with just running the race that I decided to focus on training. I think my nexty race I may try to focus on fundraising. In this economy, I feel pretty bad asking people for money, so we’ll see!
I definitely don’t think all events need to be fund-raising events. I got sponsors and ran in one event last year and my husband has run in one charity event this year (although he didn’t need to get sponsors). The rest of our “races” have just been races and not associated with charities.
I think it’s wonderful that some events are in support of causes but since it is a sport, I don’t think that all have to be. Is every hockey game or basketball game in support of a charity? That’s my take!
I definitely don’t think all races have to be charity events. Actually, one of my pet peeves is when people ask what my races benefit, and I have to wonder why we need to use a charity as an excuse to be fit, healthy and competitive. Charity events are important too, but I don’t think a race should have to benefit a charity as a prerequisite for existing.
I think a mix of fun and charity is important in racing. Some people really enjoy and feel good about raising money for a cause, and the exercise or race is second in importance. It seems those races don’t attract the higher performing athletes. They’re about the money and cause mostly, not the racing time. But, then there are the competitors, who don’t care about the cause, but are pushing for thier personal limits. (That’s more where I am!) Neither is bad, but both are needed!
I am not sure about races being for charities, but really – it is a great fund raising tool for non profits. Some people like to donate, but want to ‘get something’ for their donation. So that might be prizes, physical activity, raffles, food, etc. Not only does a sponsored event raise money, it also raises awareness.
I do not like the races (and don’t do those) that require that you actually raise money to participate. That’s a lot of pressure. I don’t mind paying $15 or $20 to run an organized race.
And Susan – you should try roasting your own coffee. I do at home. All you need is an air popcorn popper and green coffee beans! It’s super easy (but do it outside) and there is nothing like really fresh roasted coffee.
As usual, great blog!! I seriously thought your banana and PB was a hot dog bun (I think I’m still dreaming of brats from the holiday weekend).
Personally, I don’t believe all races should be fundraisers. I will do one charity race a year where I’ll actually raise funds, but that’s it. I don’t have a lot of family and friends to beg off of, so that’s my limit. Like Lori, I don’t mind paying a higher reg fee so that some of the proceeds go to charity.
Keep up the great work!
Hmm…that’s a really interesting question! I certainly don’t think that ALL races should “have” to be for charity, because you can always fundraise on your own if you want to, right? Forcing people to be charitable sorta defeats the purpose.
However, I think doing a charity race makes the sting of race fees a little less biting. You’re paying $30 or whatever to run/bike/whatever? When you can do that stuff for free?!? But I feel like I can justify it if there is a cause behind it, haha. And I think that doing races, walks, etc for charity can help remind us that it’s not all about us and our fitness/training goals. There are, in the end, more important things out there. I trained so hard for The 3 Day walk, because I wanted to prove to myself that I could walk 60 miles. But when I got out there and saw everyone supporting the cause, it just put the whole thing in perspective for me. I am a bit of a bleeding heart, though
susan! i missed reading your blog! killer swim. i admire your swimming capabilities.. i did some swimming of my own over the weekend, i could use some brushing up! interesting tid bit about the coffee bean. i agree, a good cup of coffee is one of the best things.. it is nice when you find a brew you enjoy. when is your triathalon? i don’t think all races should be charity.. i agree with what you said. actually the only race i’ve ever done was not charity, i paid a $25 entry fee and at the end we all got a bag of natural and organic groceries. i was fine with that. anyway, glad i am back to my regularly scheduled reading of blogland!
Its so impressive that you can get into a pool at 9am. Isn’t cold? Haha – I haven’t been swimming in years.. can you tell?
I think the reason they have so many charity races also stems from the fact that they can get better levels of participation. Races cost money… and people are more willing to put that towards charity than some corporate. That said, I get your point!
truthfully, I’ve never understood the concept behind charity races…so you go around begging ppl to donate so you can run? it seems so crazy to me.
and girl, you’re CRAZY! anything that has to do with law or policies, etc just bores me to tears! guess not everybody can be councilman!