Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Training for a 5 km running race

I used to run a lot and then when I became pregnant with my first son, my running was sporadic (even though I had bought a running stroller). Now that I feel I am fully recovered from my post-pregnancy injury, I am training for the October 19 Toronto Marathon. I won't be doing the marathon but the 5km race. I'm looking forward to it and I am using Runner's World magazine issues to help me train. I have no time to learn from a running club. 

Unfortunately I have to do most of my training indoors. It's better than nothing. I don't have a double stroller to push my 2 sons and my husband is taking night courses. This leaves me no other option but to go to a gym and train on the treadmills and my sons are having fun in the daycare centre there.

This will be my first time training on a 100% raw diet. Even when I was dabbling in raw in the past, I still ate oatmeal for my runs, thinking that fruits and vegetables would not be sufficient for me. Now, I know differently and it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be; I've been eating well. I just haven't been getting enough sleep in order to recover. 

I'm running raw!! Woo-hoo.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Simply Raw Festival Pics!!


Me (if you can see me) with Shantree and Lorenna.


I used to know John in Toronto. He now lives in a paradise in Nelson, British Columbia. I'm going to visit Nelson maybe next year. Apparently it is a raw vegan haven.



Paul Nison and me.


Natasha's husband introducing Paul Nison.



Paul got the crowd hooting and a hollering.



I like the sunflowers.



Angela speaks. Can you believe she was over 200lbs?



Me and Philip. Such a sweet guy. I was soaked and my shirt hung like a moomoo on me. Ugh!


Montreal raw food seller. Delicious pizza.


Kombucha seller from Montreal. Good stuff.



Karla (who was giving Matt a hard time), Matt Monarch and his fiancee, Angela.


The kiosks


Philip McClusky speaking. He was great.



Lalita Salas of the Ann Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico.



Natasha Kyssa of Simply Raw (on the left) and her friend.


Angela Stokes taking shelter from the rain.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

I'm here in Ottawa!!

I like the city of Ottawa. The hotel is very family friendly. I'm staying at the Best Western. The weather is crap!! When we arrived Friday, it was hot and sunny. We took it easy and decided to go to a vegetarian/raw vegan cafe. They only had one raw vegan meal option: a delicious but greasy raw vegan pizza and some desserts. My hubs wasn't impressed with the cafe and I don't blame him. They mainly served omelettes on one side of the restaurant (he doesn't eat eggs) and the other side had a serve-yourself take out meal, which was empty and they weren't going to fill it up. It was only 6pm!

We ended up walking around trying to find a pizzeria for the kids and hubby. I ordered my raw pizza to go. My husband ordered a Mexican meal made by non-Mexicans who probably have never been to Mexico or know what true Mexican food is like. Then we found a pizzeria that seemed quite authentic and bought a small pizza for my son and hubby, in case the Mexican food was a failure. BTW, the burrito according to my husband was awful.

I wanted to see the Raw Film Festival but I was so tired from the train trip. It's a four hour trip from Toronto. That's pretty quick but we just wanted to relax.

Saturday. It was pouring rain and I didn't bring enough umbrellas. Luckily my son had his own and my hubby used the other one for himself and Santiago. I thought the rain wouldn't be so bad. I was drenched and I ran into a Shoppers to buy another umbrella. The festival still went on as planned and there was quite a few people. I got to see Philip McCluskey, yeah!!! He spoke on his raw transformation from 400lbs to half his weight. I liked his sincerity and I think he is really nice. He is inspiring and seems like he would be a cool friend.

I saw Angela Stokes and she is soooo beautiful. I don't know if she had a tan from a previous trip but her skin was flawless and golden. I'm looking forward to hearing her speak tomorrow. I also got to see Paul Nison. He is a Christian raw vegan and it's great to meet another Christian raw foodist. There is not a lot of us out there. When he spoke, he got the crowd laughing, clapping as if it were a church camp meeting. He is hilarious.

There were a lot of great kiosks. I enjoyed this couple Shantree and Lorenna. They are from London, Ontario and they spoke about eating locally, which is what I want to do. I don't want to depend too much on imported Durian and Jackfruit. Ontario has an abundance of fruit and vegetables. I should enjoy them more. I would like to go to there retreat one day. It's not too far from Toronto.

I am so inspired to maintain my raw path and to create a career out of it. I love it. I'm so glad I came to Ottawa. I found what I needed to hear to help me stay 100% raw at the festival and it is as if I've lost all cooked food cravings and desires that seemed to have plagued me before. It's amazing.

Speaking of Ottawa, Ottawans seem to be more healthy than Torontonians. There are a lot of people who ride bicycles and walk. There are no side-by-side restaurants and there is a lot of art. I'd like to come back another time to know more of the city. However, this weekend is for the festival.


The train station in my city.



Did you know a lot of Hollywood movies use this train station?


My son, Ernesto wearing the barf bag on his head.



My other son, Santiago is a big boy and wanted his own seat.



The bed in the hotel room was sooooo comfortable. My sons ended up sleeping with me and my hubby was relegated to the sofa. Hahaha.



Santiago's crib. He hated it. It was like a jail cell.



Downtown Ottawa.



Ottawa's Rideau Canal



Parliament Hill



As usual, I'm washing dishes even on vacation.



The attack of the gigantic spider at the National Gallery. We had to rush through the exposition because we didn't realize our train was going to leave in one hour. We were speedwalking through the gallery. When I asked my hubby what he liked about the exposition, he smiled and said, "I don't know, it was all a blur."

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

I'm going to the Simply Raw Festival in Ottawa!!

I can't wait to go to Ottawa and attend the festival. I'm sooo excited. My family and I will be taking the train and my son is sooo excited. I'm looking forward to meeting Angela Stokes, Paul Nilson, Philip McClusky and many other people. I will take lots of pics. The weather is not supposed to be that great on Saturday but I'm crossing my fingers. This will be my first time to Ottawa. Shame on me, I should be a better Canadian. Hahaha. I don't even know my nation's capital!

Gotta pack and wrap things up. Sooo excited.