Mmmm Morels

Oh the morels! No, we didn't harvest these. A friend of my step-dad's went mushroom hunting near Pemberton (one of the burn sites from last year) and brought back quite a haul. She was selling bags of morels so we asked for one. pw gave us one, and wow they are beautiful. 

Tonight I made a mushroom sauce with them, and served it over pasta. It turned out very well. I added some button mushrooms we had on hand to fill out the sauce a little more. 

It's a pretty simple sauce: onions, garlic, fresh herbs, mushrooms, white wine, & veg broth. I would have served it with Fettucine, but I didn't have any, so we decided on Penne.

We have plans for something a little more elaborate with the rest of the mushrooms. 

I wouldn't mind going to Pemberton myself. Apparently, she's quite willing to let people know where she went. I think we'd be fine searching any area around there. I wonder how combed through the Lilloet and Pemberton area is by now.

Vegan can't run

I ran again last Thursday for the first time in a month. My Achilles hurt the day after. This sucks. If I do any amount of walking outside of my regular route to and from work/bus stops, I have some Achilles pain. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should have gone for the Traumeel injections.

I went to 3 sessions of physio, and I'm going for a 4th tomorrow, although my physiotherapist said it wasn't necessary. She gave me the go ahead to start running, but no hills (ha!). I made an appointment with the intention of cancelling it, but after my run last week, and after doing some yard work yesterday, I need to go for another session.

The calf raises should help. The ice should help. On my way home tonight, I'm going to pick up some topical Traumeel. What else can I do?

When I go back to the gym it's going to be more treadmill and bike sessions. The biking is great, and I am enjoying that, but I miss my running.

The last time I was off this long, I still managed to run a half marathon in August so there's hope yet.

***
In more positive running news, a friend of my mom's (bf) will be running the Western States Endurance Run at the end of June. It's an ultra trail event that is 100 miles. This woman is amazing. She's continues to inspire me, and I am in awe of her abilities both physically and mentally to complete such events. This is a big one, and I can't wait to hear how she does.

I would love to do more trail running, but it's not something I want to do alone. I'm looking for a trail partner, but haven't found one yet. I'll look more once I'm doing a regular running schedule again. 

Cake or Death?

db and I went to see Eddie Izzard Saturday night. It's been 10 years since we've seen him perform, and it was astounding to see how famous Izzard has become since then. From the small theatre in Toronto 10 years ago to the Queen Elizabeth theatre in Vancouver. The place was packed with all ages. It was incredible. Great show. I actually bought some Izzard swag: a cake or death touque.

Nanaimo Hike

Sunday was our day in Nanaimo, and we spent most of it in this beautiful park. We went there for mushrooms.

And it didn't disappoint. We did find lots of oysters. Not all of them were in the best shape, but we did bring home a nice bag that we split with my step-dad, pw.

We carried on down the trail that led to the water. It was beautiful.

This was all of the wildlife I saw.

The wildflowers

Stonecrop was everywhere.

The Starfish were abundant. They're a bit difficult to see in the photo, but they are all over the rocks underwater.

There were also lots of Jellyfish. Very cool looking.

The rock along the coast was all carved out like this, and there were little tidepools all over teeming with life.

This is what I want my garden to look like: moss, stonecrop, rocks, and shrubs.

pw's daughter found this starfish with a missing leg. I took a few photos before we put it back into the water.

Looking toward Gabriola Island.

Bronte Sisters

My sister sent me this. Every girl should have a Bronte Sister Power Doll.

Pleurotus ostreatus

db and I were out for a walk in the woods in our local park. We weren't mushroom hunting, but I did bring my quick reference guide with me because it's a handy thing to have.

About half way along the looped trail I looked up at this dead tree and saw something that looked like oyster mushrooms. Upon closer inspection, we realized that we had found a great source; however, they were a bit high up the tree. I found a fallen branch long enough to knock a few mushrooms down and we collected a nice handful (enough for 1 meal).

The ones in the photos are the ones we could not reach. They were so high up, and in these great clusters. I think db momentarily thought about climbing the tree somehow, but that was an unrealistic scenario.

I think if we go back to this spot we could find more. There was also a log on the ground with more oysters to easily collect.

After that we were on the lookout for more. There's one spot we visited last year where we found the angel wings (another pleurotus) that we thought we should re-visit to look for oysters. Hopefully we can find time to do that.

Next weekend we're headed to Nanaimo to visit with my step-dad (pw) and his daughter, and her step-dad (never mind it's a long story). pw said he has great spot for oysters, and he even found a morel there. I can't wait.

I thought I should at least include a picture of Gigi because you can never have enough cat photos to look at.

Sunday's bike ride

Achilles Update

I know you are all desperately waiting to find out what my decision is (lots of sarcasm).

I decided to see my physiotherapist, get some treatment, and ask her what she knows about the injection option. db also suggested that I ask her if she would suggest a specialist. She's an excellent physiotherapist who is an ultra trail runner (meaning she runs ridiculously long distances on trails. Ultra usually refers to 50k and up-- yes, there are further distances that people willingly run), so I feel well cared for and know that she understands how frustrating it is when you can't run.

This morning I got up much earlier than usual, and went to the gym (I've got to get the most out of my month's pass) to put in some bike mileage. It took me exactly 12 minutes to know that I'd had enough of the bike, and was itching to try the treadmill. I hopped off the bike and took my chances on the treadmill. While I ran, I looked out at the inlet's trail that I often run. It was an absolutely glorious morning. The sky was solid blue, and the temperature was warm enough to run in shorts. Oh well. Inside on the treadmill, I ran for 18 minutes at an easy pace. I stopped when I started to feel a little pain.

That was it. That was the extent of my workout. I would have spent more time there, but I had to get home to get ready for work. I didn't even have time to do a proper stretch, which is how I probably got this injury to begin with! Not wise. Anywho...at least I could run a little bit without too much pain.

I see my physiotherapist on Tuesday!

Ah my Aching Achilles

There it is connecting the two larger calf muscles. It looks resilient doesn't it? My left Achilles tendon is not, and any amount of running I do right now makes it very sore. The sore point for me is at the insertion point of the heel.

The theory was that Achilles tendonitis was an inflammation of the tendon caused by "too much too soon" in your training (too many accelerations, too much mileage before you're ready).  However, there is another theory that suggests it is not caused by overuse, but rather restricted blood flow. Whatever the cause, my problem has resurfaced.

When I first started running (when was that? 2004? 2005?), I acquired an Achilles injury that sidelined me for almost a month, and I was panicked because I was planning my first half marathon. I applied the RICE treatment (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), and was fine. Since then I've been nagged by that injury that seems to flair up randomly. This suggests to me that it's a chronic problem.

So here's my dilemma: Do I go with my Naturopath's suggestion and start an injection treatment, a Traumeel solution (homeopathic remedy), of 3 injections around the ankle once a week over six weeks twice a week the first week though) that would permit me to run the Scotiabank half at the end of June; or do I go with visits to my physiotherapist, which involves the usual heat, ice, massage, and exercises, for who knows how many weeks? Since I haven't seen my physiotherapist yet, I'm not sure how long my treatment would be. There's also a price difference. The injections are $90, and my physiotherapist is $50 (since I don't get coverage since I switched jobs). What to do, what to do.

I've also had to go back to the gym, which I don't really like, but it's a necessary move to keep my endurance up. I bought a months pass so I can use the bike and the rowing machine. I did use the treadmill after the bike yesterday, and went on the track, but I paid for it later with an achy heel.

It's so hard to not run. I'm missing my long Sunday runs the most. The short runs often feel more like work than the long ones so I don't mind that so much, but the long Sunday run with no pressures on how far to go. I just go out and run until I'm tired. It's pretty unstructured right now, but it is working for me, or at least it was.