Staying Focused Is Hard

Howdy all!
        As I had guessed my return to work full time has cut into my motivation to turn out consistant posts. I'm trying to stay focused in our training but it has proved difficult with my work schedule. I have always been a '9-5' worker but since moving to France work has been spotty with not so much consistancy. It has proved very difficult for me to do my runs after work after the children have drained all my energy and sucked away my life force. I know that I'm not alone in these difficulties, not by a long shot.
          Last Sunday my wife and I were able to put together a 18km run linking together some unexplored trails (unexlpored by us) on a long loop from our doorstep. We approached it with a simple goal of just bringing water and no foods. I want to see how our bodies react after 10km of no added energy and how it feels to push ourselves. We both did fairly well with a good trotting pace and I believe that we'd both agree that tiredness really didn't kick in until around the 13km mark where legs started to get tired. I even got a little hungry. This is a good sign for me considering that I normally would start tightening up around 8-9km into my runs but usually I wouldn't be drinking water. I fully understand now that water is important for all distances of running but even more so for heavy sweaters such as myself.

           After the weekend we were supposed to run Tuesday evening but I had a bout of laziness and couldn't bring myself to go out. I'm really disapointed in myself that I couldn't just get up and go. I know that we, as runners, shouldn't beat ourselves up over these lapses in training but that when we do get back out there we need to hit it hard! Not only this should be kept in mind in training but also that training for a race is important but why are you doing the race? Is it for a challenge? Are just competitive? Or is it just for fun? Whether it is one or all of these reasons, I believe that the 'fun' reason is the most important facter to remember. If you're not having fun then be careful to burn yourself out. Keeping this in mind, tonight I will attack my interval training fun and competitiveness towards myself.

Back to Work and Staying Motivated

Howdy Monkeys!
It has been about 10 days since I've posted anything. I have made some changes to the layout and template but I think we're going to roll like this for September at least. I hope everyone has been doing what they do best the best they can. I had the good fortune of going to the Azores from the 26th-31st of August and then I had the misfortune of having to start work the following day. I can assure that spending all day in the airport and getting home at about one in the morning made me all the the less motivated to go back to work to welcome all my little monsters; yes, monsters. As I mentioned somewhere earlier, I work at a primary school with little dudes and dudettes with ages ranging between 2 in half years old to 4 years old and it is all but relaxing.

Coming back to work is going to be however, rewarding beacause as much as they tire me, I do care about the children. It will also allow me to bring some money back into our beloved household. With the mini-vacation and return to paradise, my training suffered for these last two weeks where almost no running was accomplished. There was a run planned for the Azores but beers and surf admiring prevailed. Hard, I know.

Upon returning, I was supposed to run after my first day back but the first day of work rendered me completely useless and I opted for rest. Thursday was more or less the same story. I finally mustered up the courage to get out a do a gentle run Saturday evening after my "welcome back to work headache" had subsided and it felt incredible. I even saw a little beaver swimming in the creek! I hope everyone has had a rockin' summer and lets all try to stay motivated for the coming Autumn months to keep our legs moving! It is good to be back!

Ciao for Now,

Cameron

The Powers of Arnica Gel and Oil

Hey Monkeys! Just wanted to do a quick post about my wife and I's love for arnica.

Pictured are three different varieties of arnica products. I do not know for the life of me why we have so many but I am glad we do. Arnica is like a wild plant or something found in the...well, the wild. It heals like an old witch doctor with super powers and it smells delicious! Just rub these delicacies on your achy skin and muscles and feel the love. The Weleda in the orange is by far my favorite. I cannot remember if it is available stateside or not but it is abundant here in France. I bought the Sports Akileine in an attempt to change but was sadly dissapointed in that it does absolutely nothing for me. Recently my wife picked up the Arnican gel and it actually is much more concentrated and you can actually feel the effects pretty quickly. In the simplest way possible arnica, for me, soothes my sore muscles and joints. It is a natural plant deal-y-o and does not contain rotten chemicals which is good in my book. Let me just say that after our run tonight I'm pleased to be able to rub arnica on my person to better satisfy my trail kicked ass. Oh! And it is great on Luna feet!

Ciao for now!

Cameron

Strava Segment

Luna Mono Val de Chevreuse

Hey Monkeys! Here's a little video from our run yesterday in the Vallée de la Chevreuse.  We did just over 17km and indeed in my Luna Mono traditional laced sandals. It was hot and sticky out there. The purpose of this run, besides the run itself, was to judge how much water I really needed for a run longer than 10km. I brought about 1.5L and finished it all, however, I didn't expect it to be as hot as it was. I seemed to be fine, although I believe I could've used some salt or electrolytes because I got really heavy in the legs at about 12km and I started to feel like I was getting heat stroke towards the end. You can check out the STRAVA SEGMENT here. Anyways, the run was beautiful and would love to try it again perhaps in reverse order. Take care everyone and get out there and run!



Ciao for now,

Cameron

My Current Diet (or lack-there-of) and Yoga

Tarte de Tomates, dijon mustard, tomatoes (obviously), zucchini, cantal cheese

Before a run, I guess this is how I feel; an uncooked tomato tart. I feel a bit cool, a bit heavy and a bit stiff. Then after my run, I feel much better. My cheese has melted, my zucchinis have softened up and my tomatoes are juicy. 

Finished product

You are probably asking, "What in the hell kind of analogy was that!?" Well, honestly, it was just a silly one. But you get it, right? After my runs I feel relaxed and groovy. Just as anyone should feel after a nice effort. Running also allows me to summon glasses of wine! 

Older photo, but this is how you should feel after a run

Howdy everyone, and how's it going!? I wanted to share a wee bit of what I eat normally and how I spend my days off from running. I have absolutely no training in nutrition so I will only share the knowledge that I have with my own experiences and what I have learned. Right now I am on kind of a forced vacation (sad right?), so my days off are plenty and tranquil! I head back to work the 1st of September as I am an English teacher at what I call a "tiny-tots" school. I take care of little ones with ages ranging from 2.5yrs-5yrs all day while doing activities and sing-song kind of things all in English until the afternoon, where I have some older kids doing more "mature" English excercises. My days are soon to be full and busy and no longer "tranquil", but with that 50km race in the distance and everyones motivation I intend to stay on track with training and having a good time. So, as of now here is what my morning to evening diet looks like and what has worked so far.

Breakie

• My favorite meal time. Lets face it. I love to eat so, when I wake up, the first thing I think about is food and coffee x2.

My coffee set up: old manuel Peugeot coffee grinder, inspirational mug, air tight coffee
container and coffee press. Coffee is normally something from Costa Rica or El Salvador.
My wife and I really enjoy bright medium coffee roasts that really bring the sunshine inside.

Not my photo but, this is what a normal breakfast looks like for me. A couple
pieces of "tartine" French for what we would call toast
but with a baguette with butter and jam.

Or it looks like this. Quaker's Cruesli is the bomb!
Plenty of fiber and carbs and iron and CHOCOLATE!
Two little bowls of this and I am set!

Lunchtime

• My least favorite meal to prepare but like all the others, I still love to eat it. For lunch I try to keep it light but with some good calories. 

Salad "guts": Green salad, yellow onion, cucumber, lentils and beaufort cheese

Finished Product: Yummy with a little shout-out to Opinel knives in France.
My wife and I have reduced our entire kitchen cutlery to two Opinel knives to see
how much, really, do we need?

I try to have at least one salad a day just to make sure to get my greens but I am not a salad lover. I enjoy eating them once they are put together but preparing them doesn't really excite me. I would much rather scarf a good quality burger or have something a little heavier. My wife and I are not vegetarians per se, however we try to really limit the amount of meat we intake. If we are eating meat it is usually fish. Some favorites for lunch:

• tartine de tomate (toasted baguette with tomatoes, cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinigrette)
• pasta (any kind) some veggies, cheese and sauce of some sort (served cold)
• omelettes (Normally I just have to use my imagination with what is lying around)

Afternoon

• Gouté: Afternoon snack or teatime. I never really drink tea unless it is bedtime. Coffee is my go-to. This is my second favorite time of day to eat. Usually a salty-sweet snack with a coffee or a beer or glass of whatever is around and good.

Dinnertime

Well, my first pictures of my bizarre analogy, are a good example of what we normally make for dinner when we have an abundance of veggies. My wifes parents have an enormous garden. When we visit them we are pretty much garanteed a giant sack of vegatables to take home with us. Tarts are great for making use of random accumulated veggie goodies. Other dinners loved:

• Pizza (Of course)
• Spaghetti
• Orientale rice dishes
• Quinoa with sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, citrus juice and chili powder

There are so many good things out there to eat! Whether you are vegan, vegetarian or a carnivorous caveman, I believe you can have a happy and healthy diet. 

When training and running like a mental person eating loosely is normally OK as long as the quality of food is good. Use your best judgement. Do you think that your Big Mac and fries are actually healthy? No, probably not. But get the ingredients yourself to fix up a kick-ass burger chez vous and make a memory! 

I have a weakness/sickness/love-obsession with ice cream and honestly this is the reason we have an itsy bitsy little freezer.

It is hard to fit much ice cream in there without losing all the space. Before we didn't have one at all and I ate no ice cream for almost a whole year! Unless my in-laws spoiled me when we came for a visit (YES!). To the left you may notice my newest friend. Magnum's Mint ice cream bars. My dear, they are absolutely lovely. It is so, damn, good! Like ice cream, beer is another thing that I love. However, I do not consider myself an alcoholic, nor an ice creamaholic, when the two are on-hand, I go through them rather quickly. The best defense for these sicknesses is to just not buy them. But to all of you running dudes and dudettes out there, just indulge yourself and enjoy the gift your taste buds have blessed you with. If you find that consuming these products is limiting your ability to lose those pesky pounds, just add one or two more up-hills in the workout and I promise you'll...well, at least even out. I was 95kg in California during 2014 and since moving to France I have dropped down to 81kg. That is roughly 210lbs to 178lbs. I'm happy at 81kg and as long as the running continues so does the beer and ice cream. 

I hope that you found this information helpful and if not, at the very least, somewhat ammusing. In between running days I take time to stretch and do my Yoga workout that is like a muscle workout and stretch-fest all-in-one.

Yoga 

While still living in California, I was practicing vinyasa yoga about 4-5 times a week. It was "hot'' yoga that for me, was really, too hot. I was pretty much a water truck filling a lake on top of Mt. Cameron's Yoga Mat. I could practically go swimming in my own sweat afterwards. A bit too extreme for me but the workouts were totally killer! I have started practicing again recently and found that the benefits of yoga are so super cool. It is a great muscle toner and strength builder for basically the whole body. The stretching is what I've come to love. I wasn't running much when I practiced yoga before so I just felt stretched all the time. Now, it is definitely noticeable that after a run, I tighten up. I don't like to stretch immediately after a run or even really the same day. 

I read somewhere, someday, (did you apprecitate my sweet citing details?) that stretching too much after an effort could actually damage muscle tissue. There are little micro-tears in the tissue of the involved muscles and if you stretch before they heal you could further damage them or cause them to take longer to heal. Anyway, it made sense to me and normally now, I wait until the next day or about 6 hours after the workout to do my stretching or yoga. 

The leg and balancing exercises in a "flow" are super awesome for stretching out the hamstrings and hips all while strengthening the abdomen. I definitely can't see any negative affects from yoga, particulary the Vinyasa style. I again, would like to reiterate that this is just based off of my own experience and not from any prior training I have. I'm not a health specialist or workout specialist but I do enjoy finding information and digesting different ideas and methods to suite my own. This is simply what has worked for me so far and what I continue to enjoy. 

Make sure that if you ever did want to jump into yoga that you should approach it slowly and at your own pace. This is not a type of excercise to rush. Your body will adapt at it's own pace. I am, by no means a flexible man but I have improved my range of motion imensely since practicing yoga. This is something that I can only see as beneficial to running especially when getting out there on those longer runs. Not only am I strengthening my body but also my mind. 

Like meditation and running, yoga is a mental activity as much as it is physical. Well actually, meditation isn't very physical (hehe). The breathing process in yoga is, to me, the most important part in staying connected to the exercise as much as it is to running. Rhythm in your breath is key to staying on pace in cadence, staying focused and staying mentally strong. It is THE key in yoga. Master your breath and feel the benefits of your practice imediately. This is what I have discovered anyway. 

Thanks for reading and staying tuned! Please to forget to follow the blog by email and check out my Youtube page as well. Thanks Guys and Gals!

Ciao for Now,

Cameron

Luna Sandals Tying Method

Tuesday Night Forest Facile

Good evening to all of you beautiful Monkeys out there!

Tuesday night is my wife and I's "jogging facile" (easy run). Tonight we explored an itsy bitsy forest nearby that we haven't seen much of. We started near the golf course which has a nice cutesy little trail that goes along the road and then dips it's way into the forest and we were off and exploring. How pretty is this "Forêt de la Tête Ronde"? So pretty! Beautiful single track that snakes up and down in the woods and is completely covered and protected from the nearby civilisation. We decided to do the outer loop of the forest which has a gnarly little climb heading back towards the start. Love having found a climb! We took the liberty in enjoying the loop twice before trying a different trail heading back toward the car. This will be a great loop to add a bit of an extension each week or every so often to increase distance and check on how we're improving. Good Tuesday night!

I hope that everyones week is getting off to a killer start and that spirits are high!

Ciao for now,

Cameron

STRAVA