Day 24 of 30: Grey Cup Sunday, or the Biggest Party Regina has Ever Seen

Me at work on Friday. Our province’s premier declared it Green Day, but almost everyone would have been wearing Rider gear anyway.

Today, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are playing in the Grey Cup. That alone is enough for this entire province to get crazy about. But the Riders are not only in the Grey Cup, they’re also playing in what will be the most insane home game this province has ever seen. It’ll be Rider Nation to the max.

If you’re not from here, and especially if you’re not familiar with the CFL, you may not really get what I’m talking about. If you’re interested, though, check out this article by Bruce Arthur.

Rider fans bleed green, wear watermelons on our heads (well, not me), and endure -20 degree weather and colder (and that is Celcius) to support our team. We are ridiculous about our quarterbacks, refer to ourselves as the team’s 13th man, and have won only 3 Grey Cups in our 100+ year history. We have remained fans during some rough years, where wins were often due to a whole lot of field goals and no one wanted to pay to go watch the Riders lose. Rider Pride is passed from one generation to the next, and everyone seems to have some green gear tucked away in their closets or drawers.

Rider fans may not always keep it classy – not condoning, just telling it like it is – but we are are proud of our team.

At 5:00pm, Grey Cup 101 begins. If our Riders don’t win, this province will explode; if we do win, this province will explode, but in a different way. In any case, I will be planted in front of my TV as I watch what I can only describe as an historic event. GO RIDERS!

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Day 17 of 30: I’m Sick, and the Riders Won!

So either the week caught up to me, or I was feeling tired this week because I caught something and it was working its way through my system.

Last night, after we got back from my son’s hockey tournament, we were supposed to go over to our neighbours’ house for drinks. I really wasn’t feeling well and curled up on the couch with two blankets. I ended up falling asleep around 8:15pm, while my husband went over to our neighbours’ party. Around 9pm I headed upstairs and got myself ready for bed. I was asleep by 9:15pm. I woke up around 8am, still feeling headachy and slightly nauseous. I basically moved from my bed to the couch, where I camped out pretty much all day. Luckily, I was planning to spend the afternoon watching football (CFL) anyway, so I didn’t really have to change any plans.

I watched two football games, focusing, of course, on the Saskatchewan Riders vs. Calgary Stampeders game. I was braced for my team (the Riders) to lose, but incredibly, they pulled off a definitive win and are playing in the Grey Cup next weekend. This is Super Big Deal because Saskatchewan is hosting the 101st Grey Cup in Regina this year. We’re talking big-time home field advantage for the Riders. Also, since the Riders are the only pro team we have in this province, people are hard-core about the Riders, so it’s going to be a week-long, crazy party in Regina and Rider Pride will be in full force throughout the province.

I’m going to bed and planning to sleep in. How do you recover when you’re under the weather?

Week in Review, and a Broken Wrist

Monday: Too hot to run. Postponed (the long-run I had postponed from Sunday) to Tuesday.

Tuesday: Went over to my sister’s to use the treadmill and had a horrible run.  Called it after 2 miles.

Wednesday: We were going to take the kids to a movie but my husband didn’t read the info properly and the movie we wanted to see wasn’t playing at the theatre we went to.  No movie.

Thursday: Went over to our friends’ house for a fantastic BBQ.  But then my daughter fell off the play structure and broke her wrist.  I got a migraine around the same time.  The good news was that the medi-clinic we went to was pretty much empty, so we didn’t have to wait long to see the doctor.

Friday: X-rays first thing in the morning.  Had to cancel my patients and we didn’t know what was going on with my daughter because they didn’t give us a diagnosis.  Scheduled to meet the orthopedist at 4pm.  Instructed not to feed my daughter anything, though they didn’t specifically say they thought surgery was an option.  Didn’t have to wait long once we got to the hospital.  Surgery wasn’t necessary and my daughter got a bright pink cast.  My migraine was lingering.  My girl and I both went to bed at 7:30pm

Saturday: Woke up feeling better after 12 hours sleep.  Had a fantastic day.  Saw The Zookeeper, tried out desserts at Le Macaron and bought a dozen macarons to take home, hit a park and let the kids run around while we enjoyed the sunshine.  Went for a fast-for-me 4k run and then we grabbed some supper.  Spent the rest of the night relaxing.

Sunday: 10k run/walk.  Legs felt kinda dead, which was probably because of the fast-for-me 4k I ran 14 hours earlier.  Weather was great, though, with sunshine and a breeze.  Even though I didn’t have a lotta oomph during my run, my legs didn’t feel too bad afterward.  Did notice my knee started to ache a touch around the 9.5k mark, which is pretty decent. After the run, chatted with an old neighbour we happened to bump into and had an interesting conversation about virtual identities for kids.  Ate lunch outside, found a really nice play structure near the place we’re renting, and then watched the Riders beat the Alouettes and win their first this season – I didn’t think that was going to happen.  Got a ton of laundry and the grocery-shopping done, and watched Limitless while curled up in bed with my husband.  A perfect Sunday.

On tap this week:

2 x 7k runs, 12k run, 3 strength sessions, and more foam-rolling than I’ve been doing.

Have you ever broken anything? I broke my left hand when I was 18 but certainly didn’t get a colourful cast.

Meal Planning Monday

Whoa, where did the weekend go?  Saturday I did some studying, organizing, and reading, but I feel like I accomplished very little.  Yesterday, I spent half the day with my daughter – she was supposed to go over to my husband’s cousins’ place so I could study, but their little boy was sick, so it was a no-go.  So, my girl and I went to McDonald’s for breakfast (hotcakes for her, a muffin and apple slices for me), hit the bookstore for a new addition to her reading collection, did some shopping at SportChek (I picked up a new red Under Armour racerback tank), and bought her some new inside shoes for school at the Adidas Outlet store.  My daughter is cute as all get-out and I love her beyond reason, but she DOES NOT SHUT UP!  Like, EVER!  And she’s ridiculously stubborn.  Needless to say, I was tired by the time we got home, so we put on some Dora and cuddled on the couch, where I promptly fell asleep.

When my husband got home from his golf tourney and my son returned from his playdate, we watched the Riders defeat the Bluebombers on TV (that’s CFL football, for those of you wondering what I’m talking about).  It was a close game and worth watching to the end.  After the football game and once we could drag my son away from the game he was playing on my husband’s iTouch, we headed outside, with the kids and my husband on their bikes and me running.  I ran for 18 minutes without any knee pain, so I was really happy.  After quickly getting ready, we went out to a movie and watched The Karate Kid.  While I love Jackie Chan, remaking The Karate Kid was plain wrong.  The original is a classic from my youth, and I tend to think movies like that should be left alone (regardless of how cheesy they are – hahaha!)  And it’s not even about karate – it’s kung fu!  [shaking her head]

It turned out to be a BIT better than I expected, though, so that was good.  However, we usually only take our kids to kid movie matinees, so this was sort of a new experience for them.  I will just say that they were not particularly well-behaved, and each of them received a stern talking to about having respect for the other people in the movie theatre.  They were better after that, but it was not the most relaxing movie experience ever.

Today, I dropped off my kids at their auntie’s house to play with their cousins, caught up on e-mails, and did a little grocery shopping.  Next up: meal planning for the week.

• Monday: shepherd’s pie (using leftover pot roast from last night); spinach salad with feta, Craisins, and raspberry vinaigrette
• Tuesday: lasagna; spinach salad with grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette
• Wednesday: leftover lasagna, sauteed zucchini
• Thursday: Multigrain Fish Fillets, steamed broccoli, Smart Pasta rotini with garlic and olive oil
• Friday: Sticky Sesame Chicken Thighs, rice (brown or basmati), spinach salad with feta and dried cranberries, peas
• Saturday: sausages in whole wheat buns, Maple Dill Carrots
• Sunday: marinated chicken breasts, roasted cauliflower, quinoa

Since we’re getting a babysitter a couple of times this week and I know it will be extra-busy since the kids start school tomorrow, I’ve got a plan to do as much ahead as I can.  This means that today I’m going to:

• make the shepherd’s pie and package any leftovers for lunches
• pre-make the lasagna so it can be reheated tomorrow
• portion out the salad ingredients so that they just need to be tossed together
• put together the Sticky Sesame Chicken Thighs and freeze
• put the chicken breasts in the marinade and freeze
• cut up the broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini

Do you have any favourite make-ahead meals or strategies?

Long Run on Deck

My half marathon is just over a month away (Queen City Half Marathon, September 12th, 2010), so I’m in the heart of my training, or so my trainer/coach tells me 🙂  Tomorrow is Saturday, which means it’s long run day.  I’ve got a 20k to do, and I have to admit that I’m a little intimidated.

20k is a decent bike ride for me (just under 50 minutes or so at a comfortable pace) and is a distance that most people drive.  Sure I did 18k last week, but the memory of the lower body pain after 12k is enough to make me grimace even now.  On top of that, I’ve been struggling to maintain the pace I want, and my target pace is NOT fast at all.  It all adds up to make me feel a little nervous for tomorrow’s run.  Trying to psych myself up, but my brain is having none of it – ha!

For my past two long runs I’ve been trying out 10 and 1’s, and I have to say that it hasn’t been working for me.  See here for my experience last week.  I talked it over with my trainer and she left it up to me as to the approach I want to take tomorrow.

So, I’ve decided to run the first 8k without any breaks.  That’s an out and back route that brings me to my house to refill my water bottle.  I’ll run the next 2k without any breaks, and then at the 10k mark, I’ll switch to 15 and 2’s because I know that my legs are going to hurt and need little breaks during the second half of this run.  I will do my darnedest to only walk when I plan to walk and not in between.

Long Run Nutrition:

I’ll be using Gu (trying out vanilla, blackberry and maybe berry tomorrow) and just water.  Last week I had a piece of toast and half a banana before heading out, but I was really hungry by the end of the run.  I think I’ll try half a cup of yogurt and a piece of toast this time and see how that works for me – hopefully the protein in the yogurt will stick around a little longer than the sugar in the fruit!

Rest and Relaxation:

It should be an early night tonight.  My parents are taking the kids for the night (yay for grandparents!), so my husband and I have a rare evening to ourselves.  We’ve been invited over to our neighbours’ to watch some football (Go Riders!), and then I think we’ll head to a movie.  We’re thinking of seeing Inception or maybe Salt.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get myself into bed by 10:30pm or so and up around 6am for my run.   Wish me luck with that!

Green is the colour, football is the game...