pamela

I missed a few comments in my absence. Than you.

The National Capital Vegetarian Association in Ottawa Canada (of which I am President) is presenting Ottawa Veg Fest '09 on May 31, 2009. It will be held at the Glebe Community Centre, 175 Third Avenue (corner of Third Avenue and Lyon Street South) from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The festival will demonstrate the vibrancy and variety of vegan food and lifestyle, and is presented by the NCVA and The Table Vegetarian Restaurant. Come and sample an abundance of delicious plant-based foods while learning about the variety and vibrancy of veg services and lifestyles in the National Capital Region! This grassroots community event brings together food and lifestyle exhibits from local and national veg businesses and non-profits, and also features food demonstrations and guest speakers. Dozens of exhibitors will be present, and this year's keynote speaker is Brenda Davis R.D., a world renowned leading voice and authour of eight books on vegetarian and vegan nutrition. Yasmin Fudakowska Gow of Montreal will speak on the links between a plant based diet and the environment, and local activist Jason Halvorson will speak on the topic of animal rights and the moral imperative to be vegan. Colourful food demonstrations will help show festival goers how easy it is to transition to a plant-based diet, including "Auntie Loo" of Auntie Loo's treats, Caroline Iishi of Zen Kitchen, and Natasha Kyssa of Simply Raw. Come out and celebrate the diversity of vegetarian cuisine and services in the nation's capital! Admission is free and parking is available in the surrounding neighbourhood. For more information please visit www.ncva.ca.

Lena is joining me and another roommate, who is about 99% vegan. I am so excited about having an eco- vegan- household! We are going to have so much fun! We will rival our Portland counterpart for best vegan mini-commune.

Hurray!!

Hey Lena, are you going to tell them the news?

Hi Chris, I recognize you from vegan freaks!

Will you take me to soul veg so I can eat copious amounts of vegan mac and cheeze?

BMI is crap. I am muscular enough for my size (esp my legs), but my BMI is 17. If you check out my before and after shots in the gallery here, my "before" shots were when my BMI was 21.5, but I was grossly unhealthy. I have a small frame and light bones. My body fat % is also around 13-14%.

Not sure, but I probably won't be in DC!

I have been wanting to do something with my hair for a while. So tonight, with the help of my friend Wendy, I gave myself blonde highlights! except they're really chunky. lol. Anyway I think it looks kind of cool. http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c78/pamelaswitzer/pamelanewhair2.jpg

Hi, I'm in Ottawa too and have also been vegan for four years.

Hey John, thanks for asking. I'm ok. It's been a rough few weeks, but I'm still running about every other day. I am currently 100% injury-free, and I hope to keep it that way. I'm not doing much else though. My home gym isn't set up, and I've felt very tired due to stress in my life.

Tonight I went for a run with my friend Jo, who is a 3:35 marathoner. Her cat (who lives with her ex) escaped a few weeks ago and she's been looking for her. She asked me if I would help her cover ground faster by running with her through some industrial areas, so I obliged. We ran 11.5 km in total, with a few walk breaks. The walk breaks weren't scheduled or anything though. I didn't have any pain, which is good, but I was conscious of not wanting to overdo it. We didn't see her cat, but we got some more ideas of where to put more posters and stuff.

I seem to have defeated my minor injuries. Now the key will be to make sure I don't get new ones! I haven't officially run since that, mostly just life getting in the way. I've run to and from the transitway at work a couple times (1.5km each way) but nothing serious. I'll probably run tomorrow, and if not then, definitely saturday.

Same here. Hopefully it doesn't get worse first. True. I am very much hoping that doesn't happen. Unfortunately it has.

Yesterday I ran 9k. I did 10 and 1s, so that meant four one-minute walk breaks. I did the 9k in about 54 minutes, which isn't too bad all things considered. It was really warm out, and very sunny. I would have run out of water if not for a fountain that was on my route.

This morning I ran part way to work. I took the bus to a point, and then ran the rest of the way. I could run the full distance, but since I'm just building up again that wouldn't have been smart. I ran 6 km in 36 minutes, including 3 minute-long walk breaks, which isn't too bad since it's only my fourth run since I started back again. Then I jogged the last half a km. A lot of the run was through a wooded pathway, which was nice. The weather was perfect as well. I also stretched for about half an hour before leaving for the run.

Good luck with your fast.

I did the same 5k route again tonight. Once again I did 10 and 1's (yes, I actually took the walk breaks ) and I was about a minute faster than last time without really trying. I want to be careful not to ramp up too quickly, but it was nice to note that it went a little easier and quicker. I need to stretch. It's hard to do my stretching routine when I'm couch surfing. I'll figure something out.

I've made tabouli using sprouted quinoa a number of times. You basically just substitute in the quinoa using any old tabouli recipe. I don't really use a recipe. I have made buckwheat sprout pizza crusts in the past that were pretty good. Those are not really quick and easy though. I imagine you could sub in sprouted lentils or quinoa for just about any cous cous or bulgar recipe. I like using alfalfa sprouts in pitas/wraps, on salads, or best of all, on a veggie dog!

I don't drink coffee anymore, but I used to have the occasional soy latte at Starbucks. I avoid Starbucks w, and when I'm in town, and instead if I meet someone for coffee I try to go to a Brideghead coffee shop, a small local chain that sells only fair trade coffees and teas. www.bridgehead.ca

I'm anxious to read your race report!

Hey John, how's your training going?

Thanks John. Things are stable at the moment so I'm trying to hang on to that. This morning I went for a 5k run. I did 10 and 1's today as well, taking two walk breaks. It took about 31 minutes. I really didn't try to go fast, and today's route also covered a number of hills (unintentionally). My new neighbourhood sits on a hill, so no matter where I go there are hills to run up and down. It'll be great once my running is back to "normal" but for now I'm crossing my fingers it won't cause problems for me as I get re-established.

That was my thought as well.