Do You Know My Friends LUNA and CLIF?



On Monday I received a really nice and colorful surprise.... a box full of LUNA bars, CLIF bars and CLIF SHOT BLOKS... to sample and review.

There were 3 LUNA bars:

• Lemon Zest
• Nutz Over Chocolate
• Chocolate Peppermint Stick

And 4 CLIF bars:

• Peanut Toffee Buzz
• Coolmint Chocolate
• Chocolate Chip
• Black Cherry Almond

And 4 CLIF SHOT BLOKS:

• Cran-razz
• Citrus
• Margarita
• Mountain Berry

I was so excited to try them all, I had a tough time deciding where to start... but it was teatime on board The Goodship Lollipop just about the time I was opening the box, so The Captain poured us each a cup of spicy chai, and I opened up the Nutz Over Chocolate LUNA bar and cut it in half.



We savored every little bite, along with our tea.  Lovely!  I really like LUNA bars because they are not too sweet, and are full of organic, natural ingredients that I know are good for us.  They make a wholesome,  really delicious snack between meals, and satisfy the 'need' for a treat as well.   This bar has 9g of protein and 3g of fibre.  No wonder it is so satisfying.

After dinner, The Captain was wanting a little something, and knowing how much he loves lemon, I decided to open the Lemon Zest LUNA bar.  I cut it in half.

I opted to cut my half up into smaller bits and enjoyed it as a crunchy topping to some vanilla yogurt.

This bar is delightful!  The lemon flavor is very natural and has just the right amount of tang.  This bar also has 9 g of protein and 3 g of fibre.  No snacks needed tonight!



I was a little apprehensive about trying the CLIF SHOT BLOKS.  I have no experience at all with energy fuels... gus, gels, shots,  or these somewhat odd-looking SHOT BLOKS.  The package was cool in my hand and felt squishy, somewhat like large, very soft, gum drops.



I looked at the CLIF web site and learned that CLIF SHOT BLOKS are made with 95 percent organic ingredients, and they provide an optimum blend of carbohydrates and electrolytes for essential energy and proper muscle function.  Some have caffeine, and one has added sodium.

"Shaped like small cubes, BLOKS taste great and are easy to chew. Plus they’re simple to handle mid-run or mid-ride with their performance-friendly FASTPAK packaging that makes one-handed, on-the-go usage a breeze."

Okay then.  I decided to take a package along on our Tuesday run, so we could try them out to see how they go down while running and how they taste and how they make us feel.  There are 6 BLOKS in a package and each BLOK has about 30 - 35 calories. 

Before we set out, I reached into the goodie box and pulled out the Cran-Razz BLOKS and put the package into a small zip lock bag in my jacket pocket.  Our run was 74 minutes long and I decided we would do run/walk intervals of 9/1.   At the 39 minute point, during our walk break, I handed the package of SHOT BLOKS to The Captain. He opened it very easily and slid the first BLOK into his mouth and then I took one as well.... what a great surprise! 

The BLOK was soft and tasty and it was very easy to chew as I started into my next run interval.  It didn't stick to my teeth at all, as I had feared it might.  It went down very easily and didn't feel cloying or taste sickeningly sweet.  I quite enjoyed it and The Captain did too.  His favorite candies are gum drops and gummy bears and he said he really liked the BLOK... it reminded him of Turkish Delight.  And although we did both have a sip of water afterward,  neither of us felt like we had to wash the BLOK down with water.

At the 59 minute mark, we both ate another one.  Same good experience.  The BLOKS went down easy, tasted great and neither of us felt any ill effects stomach-wise, which I do know is a problem for some runners with some energy fuels.

Normally when we finish a run of this duration or more, I am ravenous afterwards... can hardly wait to get a nutritious snack down.  But today, I didn't feel that way.  I am sure it was because the BLOKS gave me just enough sugar and sodium and potassium to take the edge off as I ran and then completed my cooldown walk and stretches.  We are definitely going to be trying CLIF SHOT BLOKS on our longer runs as we go forward with our half marathon training.  And I am excited about all the other flavors, too.

We have been eating and enjoying CLIF bars for several years. I usually buy them by the case when they are on sale at a local grocers... and I always buy the same flavor, Crunchy Peanut Butter.  At about 250 calories, CLIF bars are almost a meal in themselves.  I always have some in the glove box of the car, and I take them along on long walks, bike rides, and hikes.  They are a handy, filling, and nutritioius snack when we are sailing and have our hands so busy that we couldn't possibly eat a regular meal. They don't melt and are not sticky.  I am confident in the ingredients and know from years of experience that they will satisfy me for a few hours.  When I am needing food and know that I am not going to get a real meal for some time, I will opt for a CLIF bar.

We opened the Peanut Toffee Buzz CLIF bar on Tuesday evening, for a snack while watching tv. 

I cut it up into several piece so we could take our time with it.

It really gives the Crunchy Peanut Butter a run for its money... not sure, but it could become my new favorite!

I hope you will take a few minutes to check out LUNA bars and CLIF SHOT BLOKS and CLIF bars for yourself. 

And thanks to LUNA and CLIF for all of these wonderful samples and for introducing me to the BLOKS - I know that they will be part of our running and working out regimen now, too.

I was given these products to sample and review at no cost to me, but the opinions expressed are 100% my own.

A Good Run Today... and a Bit of History

When I got up and looked outside this morning at 7 a.m. there was a heavy frost on the wooden dock.  Yikes!  I think last night was the coldest so far this Fall.

But, as soon as the sun peeked her beautiful face over the boat sheds on the other side of that dock, the temperature seemed to rise with her, and the frost quickly melted away.

It was a beautiful morning!  We put on some warm gear and headed off for our run just before 11 o'clock.  I hoped to run at least 8 or 9 km today as we had some CLIF SHOT BLOKS that I wanted to try... .more about them tomorrow.

I made sure to carry water today.  I had to wear the water belt over my jacket which felt a bit cumbersome, but I didn't want to go without it. 

We did a nice run along the waterfront today... the sun was shining, the sky was blue and there was not a breath of wind.... a gorgeous day and I was so glad to be out there, bouncing along.  We did a 9/1 run/walk routine and ended up running 8.72 km.  I know that is an odd number, but that is what MapMyRun told me!

It took 74 minutes.   That is about right for a longish slow run, especially considering I had to stop and pet 4 or 5 dogs and wait for one crosswalk light to change.

I was really glad to have had the water along.  I am a mouth breather.  I need more water because of that, I am sure of it.

8.72 km
W2 R74 @9/1 W3
stretch 7 minutes

All in all a great run.  And a wonderful stretch afterwards.  I am inspired to do a strength workout tonight while I watch The Biggest Loser.  I tweeted Sara that I am going to do it, so now I have to!

Do you exercise while you watch tv?

And on another note....

Last night we realized that it was the 10th anniversary of the purchase of our sailboat.  When we first started looking to buy a boat of our own earlier that year we drove up and down Vancouver Island and all over greater Vancouver, looking at boats. 

We knew what we wanted but just couldn't find it... then, in early November that year, I found her on a brokerage web site, shortly after she was listed.  I contacted the broker, made an offer, made arrangements to go to Vancouver that weekend to take her out for a sea trial.... and told The Captain about it when he got home from work that night.  He was thrilled!  He thought I had made a really good deal and that it was good I had acted so quickly.  Whew!

We drove 10 hours to Vancouver,  did the sea trial, had all the inspections done, and a few days later she was ours... we had her taken to Vancouver Island and delivered to our marina, where we had made arrangements for a slip. 

Me at the helm, sailing in Burrard Inlet near

Vancouver



Then we started coming here very often to sail and stay... and finally, about 6 months later, decided we would come permanently.  We sold our house, furnished, to the first woman that looked at it... gave away a lot of stuff, packed a few boxes to bring along, and drove away... throwing away the key we still had, out the window, a couple of hundred miles down the road!  



The Captain taking Scout to shore for the first time ever in our dinghy. I think she didn't want to go. Look at her clinging to him!  Eventually we quit making her wear the lifejacket for short trips.

And we have never looked back.  I think we have become nomads, actually, and love the lifestyle and freedom that we have now.  Still miss my darling Scout though. She passed away, suddenly one night, about 4-1/2 years ago.

Do think you might ever completely change your lifestyle?

A Sunday Run, a New Read, and a Giveaway on My Food Blog

1.  My Sunday Run.

It rained overnight.  I got up a little concerned that we were not going to get out for a run again today due to wet, cold weather... but as the morning wore on, the temperatures rose a bit, and the rain stopped.  By the time we disembarked at 11:00 a.m. it was about 9°C (that is about 48°F) and quite nice.

I made sure we both had a few ounces of water to drink before we headed out as I was wearing a light jacket and didn't want to bother with a water belt.  I knew that I wanted to run about 8 km and thought that since it was cool and humid, that I wouldn't get thirsty.  That was a mistake.

We started out a bit too fast for me, which is going to happen about 100% of the time if I don't REMIND The Captain to go easy when we first make the switch from walking to running after warming up a bit.  The first kilometer went by in a flash of 6 minutes which is very fast for me.  And that is okay for a few kilometers, but 8?  No way, not right now. 

I started listening to my footsteps after I slowed to a more comfortable pace and a little jingle popped into my head as I ran

Plop plop fizz fizz

oh what a relief it is

It seemed to be just the right tempo for the pace I wanted to keep.

At that point I decided we were going to do 9/1 run/walk intervals.  If I was going to be running a bit faster than I would like, I was going to get a walk break occasionally.  We ran around the harbor on an out and back route that is almost exactly 8 km out and back.... just before the 4 km mark there is a fairly steep, but short hill and we got to that point at 39 minutes.

We turned, did our 1 minute walk break and I took off my gloves and my jacket... tying it around my waist.  I knew I had overdressed.  At this time of year it is hard not to as it is so cool starting out.  At the next 1 minute walk I was really wishing I had packed some water.  I was so thirsty and I know it affected my energy level.  And how unfair it seemed to me at the time, that I had a full bladder too!

I was working pretty hard to keep my pace even and not slow down.

Plop plop fizz fizz

oh what a relief it is

Every time that popped into my conscious thoughts, I would check my pace and carry on.  It really worked well and I found it put some bounce back into my steps!  And lucky for me that I was amused by it or it could have become quite annoying.

I put my jacket back on to do the last leg that brought us back to the marina parking lot, as the wind had picked up a bit.  We finished in 59 minutes which is pretty fair for me for 8 km at this point.  Then we walked around for a couple of minutes to cool down and then did our stretching on the dock 'finger' alongside our boat.

W2 R59 @9/1 W3
stretch 5 minutes

I made us each a smoothie before we had our showers (pb & banana for The Captain, spinach & banana for me) and it was about 3 p.m before either of us was hungry enough to eat lunch.  I quite liked that and it just may become a routine on run days.

Do you sing little songs in your head to help keep your pace even?

What is the longest run you will do without taking water along or making arrangements to have it along the way? 


2. My New Read.

I have been reading Run Your Butt Off! this past week.  It is a new book about learning to run and and about losing weight doing it, but it has very good information in it for any runner who is interested in nutrition and healthy eating.  I read it from cover to cover and really enjoyed it, including all the exercises to add more time to the run/walk intervals the authors use with new runners.

Learning the 'why' behind this information was a real eye-opener for me and I found it very interesting and helpful in formulating my plans for future runs.

If you have anyone in your life who is interested in becoming a runner, point them to this book!  It is set up beautifully as a workbook to take the reader through 12 weeks of running and learning about food as fuel for the body.  Very well laid out and a great reference.

3.  The Giveaway on My Food Blog.

I am doing a Wasa Crispbread/Flatbread review on my food blog

We can begin to feed...

If you are interested, do check it out.  Wasa is giving 5 packages of Crispbreads/Flatbreads to the winner, and who doesn't love Wasa?

My Weekly Workout Recap

Thank you so much, to everyone who left me comments on my last post.  I am so thankful, and motivated, by all the great advice and kindness you have shown by taking the time to read the post and offer your words of wisdom, and especially encouragement.  I am humbled and amazed at how wonderful and supportive you all have been to me.

I almost hated to publish another post after that one!

But, I made a commitment to do a post at the end of each week in November to publicly recap my workouts - I really think it keeps me more honest and working a bit harder toward my goals when I go public with plans and results.

Sunday

• walk 3 miles

Monday

• Pilates - 10 minutes
• upper body routine w/8 lb dumbbells
• 6 exercises, 2 sets of 10 reps each
• standing abductors 20 per leg
• standing adductors 10 per leg
• squats 20
• rear lunges 10 per leg

Tuesday

• run 4.85 km

Wednesday

• walk 5 miles
• walkupper body routine w/8 lb dumbbells
• 6 exercises, 2 sets of 10 reps each
• standing abcuctors 20 per leg
• standing adductors 10 per leg
• squats 20
• rear lunges 10 per leg

Thursday

• walk 4 miles

Friday

• walk 5 miles

Saturday

• nil, zip, nada

Not quite as much as I had written in my goals, but happy to have gotten the dumbbells out again and run at least once.  I wanted to run Saturday, but it poured buckets all day and it would have not been one bit enjoyable.

Weather permitting, I would like to run at least twice this next week, and plan to get out a Pilates DVD so that I spend more time with that.... oh yeah, and pick up those dumbbells more often, too.

Did you have a good week, fitness-wise?

Are you setting workout goals?

And on a  completely different note, on Thursday evening I ventured out to a WW meeting and without my sunglasses!  First time I had ventured out in public without them since my surgery - 3 weeks to the day.  There is still a bit of bruising under my eye but I am happy to report that I no longer look like I was on the losing end of a boxing match!

My Road to 13.1

I cannot remember when I first thought about running a half marathon.

I first began running more than 20 years ago.  I was a smoker, and overweight. I picked up a book about 'jogging' (how I hate that word) and read that beginners should start with a walk/jog program of 440 yds walking, followed by 440 yds jogging.  There was a schedule that allowed for gradual increases in the jogging intervals.  I think the whole thing had about 200 pages and I do not recall seeing the words 'run' or 'running' in it at all.

But I did follow the plan.  There was a school with a huge yard of baseball diamonds a few blocks away from our house, and I would take our dog and get her to walk/run around the field 3 times a week.  I guess I thought I wouldn't look so dorky if I took the dog along.  She loved it.  I hated it but thought it was helping me lose some weight.

Over the next 9 or 10 years I continued to run. Always alone or with the dog. I learned to love it and embraced fitness and a healthier lifestyle with glee.  I had always been a bookworm and not very physically adept, and loved the newfound confidence I was experiencing through learning to move.  I began to think of myself as athletic.  I learned to cook.

I took up golf, roller blading, down hill skiing, snow-shoeing and biking.  I loved being outdoors and created/tended several flower gardens in our yard.  I embraced shovelling snow in the winter and refused to have a snow blower in our garage.

I did aerobics, and loved my Reebok STEP.  The Captain and I set up a home gym in our basement, in the room next to his workshop.  I had a tv there, a library of workout videos, manual treadmill,  real treadmill, a pulley/weight machine, a variety of dumbbells, skipping rope, mini-trampoline, chin-up bar, Thigh-Master and a device that was supposed to simuate lifting weights by pulling on handles.  I loved it.  I was obsessive.  I kept detailed logs of the exercise I was doing and the weight I was losing, and somewhere along the way I found Weight Watchers, got to my goal and became a Lifetime Member.

I was also working full time.  I had a high-stress career in IT and all the exercise countered the amount of stress I was under at work.  It all balanced.  I kept running.  The Captain began running with me occasionally, too, but most of my runs were, and still are, alone.

About 11 years ago, for about a 6-month stretch, I was running only once a week. It was a 10-miler every Saturday morning after my weekly Weight Watchers meeting.  I would leave my car parked in their lot, strap on the belt that held my water bottle and head off.  I had a circular route that I completed 3 times, and it passed by my parked car.  I could drop off empty water bottles and pick up full ones, and it also went by a service station, for obvious reasons!

Once we sold our house, moved South and took up part-time residence on the sailboat, running took a back seat to summers spent cruising, hiking, trying to keep up with my golf game and all the other activities we are involved in.  I have always done some running, but not nearly as far as 10 miles and not as regularly as before we moved. 

We have participated in a variety of fun runs over the years... some 5km and 10 km Terry Fox runs, some 5 km Running Room Resolution Runs, but nothing that could be called a race.  But somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted to take part in one.

I think I might have started thinking about half marathons this past Spring, when I first started blogging, and getting back to running after an 8-week layoff after surgery on both of my eyes. Maybe it was reading all the race reports and training logs that other bloggers published that ignited that fire.

I was very happy to find some virtual 5 km races and have done 3 of them now.  I like the camaraderie of doing an event with others and I loved spectating at the Victoria Marathon this year, so I think I will enjoy the excitement of being part of a real race.

So, knowing that I was likely going to have another eye surgery this Fall, I started looking at Spring races.  We will be house/kitty sitting for several months so travel is out of the question.  I found a local half marathon to be run on May 13th, which is Mother's Day, and mentioned to The Captain that I might like to run it... what did he think?  The route is one we have easy access to train on if we want, it is beautiful and mostly seaside, fairly level...  He said that if I want to do that, I should, and that if I would like him to come along, he would.  Of course that is exactly what I wanted to hear.

When the online registration opened, I signed us both up and made the commitment.  I was so excited but nervous at the same time.   The longest run I have done in the past several years is only 8 miles, and that took forever and my left hip was aching big time when we were done.  That is less than 2/3 of a half marathon... but I am pretty confident that with 6 months to go, I can be ready.



I was lucky enough to receive some excellent training advice from an experienced marathoner/half marathoner who has been a great source of inspiration as well.  And I am reading lots of blog posts and magazine articles about half marathons, too. 

I just read the August issue of Runner's World... it has a great article about preparing for your first half marathon and has some interesting bits about what to expect during  different weeks of your training, mentally and physically.  It was a real eye opener for me and I was very happy to have come across it.

And a very fun thing has happened for me this week too.... a couple of weeks ago I won a giveaway from Joanna Runs.  It was a sign, and Joanna had a picture on her blog of one she had made for herself... and after I won the giveaway, we had some email correspondence about the sign she would make for me.... this is what we came up with and this week it arrived in my mail box.  Joanna made this for me, herself, and I know it is going to be a great source of motivation when I start my training in December.  Isn't it great?  I do love it.  Thanks, Joanna, so much!

Do drop by and visit Joanna's blog and please tell her I sent you. She is a very busy and creative Mom, who among other things, runs, does yoga, crafts, blogs with touching sincerity, and along with her running blog, writes Joanna Scraps.

My training schedule starts out nice and easy, so I am going to enjoy my running through November and December, and start real training at the beginning of January.
I am very excited about it!  Having a written plan gives me a map to follow and satisfies my need for logic and order.  I certainly will be blogging about it along the way.

Do you have any advice for me about running or training for my first half marathon?
I feel like a sponge and will willingly soak up everything you have to tell me!

If you have done a blog post that I may have missed, about running/training for a half, please leave me the link. I would love to read it!