viking-girl-in-training - Tumblr blog

[viking-girl-in-training]

[viking-girl-in-training]

don’t be ashamed of all that makes you unique :))

[viking-girl-in-training]

Heyyyy! 

So I haven’t been around for a while. Like, what...6 weeks? Well, I was busy settling into our new fabulous house and training for my half marathon on June 19. I was getting SO CLOSE and things were GOING GREAT....!

Until, while cleaning up our garbage backyard that the previous owners left behind, I dropped a 200 lb lime stone paving slab on my right big toe and crushed it into 4 pieces. Ayup. Literally two weeks before the race.

:D :D :D :D That is me, but dead inside.

After training since October. Yep.

ANYWAY.

I had to deal with crutches for 5 days, which drove me fucking nuts. I’ve never broken anything before so it was literally a huge wake up call. Soon after though, I got The Boot, and was back to walking (though somewhat painfully.) I was never put on any drugs or anything, but there was plenty of swelling and bruising which only started to fade last week.

It’s been 4 weeks now since injury, though, and at the 2.5 week mark I was back to wearing regular runners and walking longer distances. As soon as I got the boot, I was aiming to keep up with 10k steps a day, which I’ve done pretty well! On Canada Day I did 25k, no boot, and no pain.

Today I tried riding my bike--which is fine for the most part--except I stopped abruptly and, without thinking, planted by right toes...good Christ, the old girl is still stiff. Then tonight I tried running, but at an easy gait (5.6 mph...my average is 7 - 7.5 mph) for a mile and a half. No pain, and it felt good!

I am also SO FUCKING EXCITED because, for the first time in my life, I have a home gym (?!?!?!) We have a fantastic treadmill, bought off a friend for dirt cheap and barely used, and an M6 smith machine that is very versatile. My punching bag is about to be installed--just have to bolt the bracket to the ceiling joist. Then I’m back in business. We’ve got so many great fitness things thanks to my husband, and his collecting it over the years at his parents house. We had two bros deliver the equipment while I was still Super Broken, and I baked them pancakes, which they were excited about. GOOD GYM KARMA.

So, 4 weeks off is a LONG TIME TO BE OFF, and I have been moaning the entire time. My eating habits have been...well, they haven’t been CRAZY but let’s just say I’ve been baking and devouring a lot of stuff in volume. But it was all tasty, and I maybe only went up 3 lbs, so in the end, who cares? Cake forever.

Time to get these sweet pipes back into action. I’ve signed up for a half marathon in October. It all comes full circle.

And...yes, dyed my hair for the summer. Last year pink, this year MERMAID RAINBOW.

[viking-girl-in-training]

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE AMAZING GRANOLA I MADE LAST NIGHT!!

It’s seriously the best thing ever. And my kitchen still smells great after making this like 12 hours ago.

The basic ratio to follow for homemade granola is 6 parts dry ingredients to 1 part wet ingredients.

Dry ingredients can include oats, some kind of nut, some kind of seed, and some kind of puffed grain to add some crunch! If you want to add any dried fruit to your granola, wait until after you take it out of the oven and then mix in the fruit.

Wet ingredients should include a fat and a sweetener, and I also like to add an egg white to give the granola a nice shine.

Here’s how I made mine, but OF COURSE you can substitute other things!

Dry ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats 1 cup sliced almonds 1 cup whole flax seeds 1 cup puffed rice (really just Rice Krispies cereal….I was looking for another puffed grain at the store but I couldn’t find one)

Wet ingredients:

½ cup coconut oil ½ cup honey 1 egg white

1) Mix together all of your dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2) Melt the oil in the microwave and then whisk in the honey and the egg white.

3) Pour the wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula or wooden spoon until everything is coated.

Now is when you get to taste what you’ve made and add spices accordingly! I added some cinnamon, nutmeg, a splash of vanilla extract, a dash of salt (helps to bring out all of the flavors, trust me!) and a small amount of brown sugar to sweeten it up right at the end.

Spread your granola out on a baking sheet (the kind that has a lip to keep it all from spilling out). I like to cover the baking sheet with tin foil to keep the granola from browning too quickly and to make clean up even easier!

Bake your granola in the oven at 300F for about 15 minutes, then take it out and give it a stir so that it toasts evenly. I baked mine for a total of about 30 minutes, taking it out to stir once at 15 minutes, and it’s very crunchy!

And BOOM, there you have it. Delicious homemade granola!

[viking-girl-in-training]

Hijabis doing sports and looking badass in the process. 

[viking-girl-in-training]

Watch: Meghan Tonjes just gave body shamers the biggest middle finger.

[viking-girl-in-training]

I was in New York City on Saturday and Sunday for a super whirlwind business trip! It was bananas but the weather was gorgeous. I tried to see and do as much as I could in very few hours, and accomplished a ton simply by walking from place to place. I stayed in Greenwich Village, but managed to walk up and down the Hudson River pier, walked to Times Square, the MOMA, Central Park, and fifth Avenue. I ate vegan food and had vegan cake for lunch. The only store I went to was Nike, and it was like going to Disney World for me, haha! I left NY at 630 PM, on a bus that took me to Canada. I walked the 20 blocks to the bus stop with all my luggage strapped to me...I'm still sore. That day alone was about 23,000 steps with all my touristy wanderings. Still feeling it. Now, after an 11 hour bus ride, I'm back in Canada! However, I'm in Peterborough, ON staying with my amazing ChiZine bosses in their beautiful new house. I'm trying to roust myself out of this giant comfy bed to go for a run along the river...but it's so harrrrrrd. It was really cool to see such a high volume of runners in New York. Everyone looked like a champion!! When I return home on Saturday, I take possession of our new house. Scary but exciting. With this business trip, and since my 10k, my running has been lax. I finished the race in under an hour, but it was a painful run. I had an abdominal cramp for 4 straight miles, but I ran through it, digging my hand into my stomach the entire time. I think my fuelling was ill timed, but I ran fast and steady. Still, it's left me feeling a bit nervous for my half marathon in June. I think I need to focus on doing long runs every week rather than accumulating many short runs. Luckily, with the better weather and our new neighbourhood, which has incredible running paths, I think the next 5 weeks before the race will be solid. I wanted to finish under 2 hours, but now all I want to do is finish! It's definitely been a challenging training process...I started in October. I've lost 21 lbs, and I've gotten so much faster and more functional. But. I've been training mostly indoors, due to the shitty ultra cold Canadian winter and dangerous sidewalk conditions. Which meant pretty much all my miles were on a treadmill. Also I've been training ALONE. Literally have 0 friends interested in running--and the scant few who are are in Winnipeg, which I've been away from for 9 months. Anyway, being on Tumblr has really helped keep me focused, grounded, and determined to keep running and to do my best. I've thought about cancelling this half marathon, but I'm over that. Can't stop won't stop.

[viking-girl-in-training]

God this was good. And I'm still dreaming about it ;_; vegan raspberry soft serve from Boon Burger in Winnipeg. So satisfying on a crazily hot day where we signed all our legal papers and officially became home owners!! We walked downtown in the sun and it was glorious.

[viking-girl-in-training]

Can I have a sleep nows? 😧😧😪😪

[viking-girl-in-training]

[viking-girl-in-training]

[viking-girl-in-training]

I'm already on the road with this one...

concept: in fifty years i’m an old witch and i tend to my garden all morning and cook fresh vegetables for lunch and watch the sea all afternoon with an old cat named bertha

[viking-girl-in-training]

[viking-girl-in-training]

No Bake Coconut Protein Bars

Really nice recipes. Every hour.

Show me what you cooked!

[viking-girl-in-training]

This weekend, I hit my Original Lifetime Goal Weight of 115 lbs. I celebrated by: - going bowling/hitting up a pinball arcade - eating movie popcorn - dunking Oreos - recovering from a vasovagel episode by eating home fries, toast n jam, and savory veggie patties - nomming pb + oatmeal cookies + dark chocolate + rice crackers - taking my dog for long walks - enjoying life - enjoying the sun - living life I'm still gonna keep working hard. I'm still gonna focus on clean noms. And I'm just gonna ENJOY. Yeah I'd still like that number to keep going down, but I'm not gonna beat myself up. The second you stop worrying and trust, the magic happens. I didn't think I'd ever break my peak after stabilizing for two straight months. Ignored the scale and just Did My Thing. I ran my fastest ever 5k this week twice in a row. I'm pretty proud of that most of all. My next 10k is this weekend. Getting psyched! Gonna do a test trial tomorrow. I think I over lunged at bowling yesterday...somehow...sooo stiff! Cripes. *pic taken at a local Geek Girls Social I helped organize. Naturally, I had to bring alllll my Sailor Moon toys...

[viking-girl-in-training]

[viking-girl-in-training]