Lions Gate Bridge

Sourdough Starter

This takes a bit of time to get ready, but not much work. My kids claim it is disgusting...but they do like the bread and it is so much cheaper than if I'd bought the equivalent at a bakery.

The original recipe comes from "Breads of the World" by Mariana Honig. If you are into baking breads this is a great resource. The book was published in 1977 - not sure if it is still in print.

• 2 cups warm water
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsps salt
• 2 tsps sugar
• 1 envelope yeast (this might be cheating a bit, but it works to get everything going)
• 1 1/2 cups grated, raw potatoes

Using a glass, earthenware (not metal or plastic) bow, mix all ingredients well. Leave bowl uncovered in warm place for 24 hours. Then stir down, cover with saran wrap and let stand for 3-4 more days. Stir down several times a day.

The starter should now be foamy and has a sour smell. Pour into a glass jar with a lid (mason jars work great) and store in fridge. You can begin to use the starter when a layer of clear liquid appears on top.

The night before you want to bake, take the starter out of the fridge, pour into a bowl (not metal) and stir in 1 1/2 cups flour and cold water. Blend well, cover with saran wrap and store in warm place over night. The next morning stir the starter again and pour off 2 cups into a clean mason jar. This becomes your starter for next time (I try to keep two starters in the fridge in case I forget to set one aside). The remaining 2 cups of starter are what you will use for your immediate baking. See my sourdough bread recipe here.

Sourdough Bread

I have baked our own bread for a number of years now. I started with a fool proof whole grain yeast bread, unsuccessfully dabbled a bit with sourdough until about 2 years ago, when I came across a sourdough starter recipe, that worked right from the get go.

I now have two starter batches in the fridge, just in case I forget to set a new one aside when baking. It's a big pain to set up a new starter and you want to avoid that at all cost. I was told that some old restaurants, who have their own, old sourdough starter, actually advise their staff that in an event of fire one of the things to save is the sourdough starter. Anyway, I will post my starter recipe here another time.

Here is the recipe for my sourdough bread:

Pre Dough

• 500ml of sourdough starter
• 500g whole wheat flour
• 1000ml warm water

Mix all ingredients well in a wooden or plastic bowl with a wooden or plastic spoon. do not use metal. Metal and sourdough do not mix. I don't know the chemistry behind this, but the dough won't rise in a metal bowl, so don't try. Cover bowl with lid or saran wrap and let stand overnight in a warm spot (38C would be perfect), but normal room temp works as well.

The next morning, take about 500ml of the starter dough and fill into mason jar, close lid lightly and store in fridge for your next batch.

Sour Dough Bread

• sourdough starter dough (minus 500ml)
• 500g whole wheat flour
• 500g of mixed grains, seeds and or nuts
• 1 Tblsp salt
• warm water to make a mushy dough (if you use loaf pans) or a non-sticky dough if you make loafs

Mix all ingredients well (again, don't use metal). Let stand until late afternoon. Dough should have risen and almost doubled in size. Either fill in loaf pans (3) or form 3 loafs. Preheat convection oven to 175C (200C/400F for traditional electric oven). Bake loafs for 1 hour. Let cool on wire rack.
Note: all amounts are approximate. I don't usually weigh the ingredients, not do I measure the water.

Pfannkuchen

The other day I couldn't find my standard pancake recipe. Disaster... The pancakes I usually make are not the thick, North American kind, but rather thin, not quite a crepe, but halfway there. You can fill them with sweet stuff like maple syrup, sugar and cinnamon, applesauce, yogurt or make them savoury and fill them with mushrooms or even curries. My kids like them for dinner and not with curry. Loosing my recipe was not good... Pancakes was one of those things that I had made a thousand times, but unlike breads and pies, I could never remember the ingredients and amounts. Loosing the recipe made me improvise and I remembered that somebody once mentioned that they just followed the 1:2 ratio. OK, 1 part and 2 parts of what?

Basic ingredients are whole wheat, eggs, milk, salt and sugar. I experimented around and found that 5 eggs, 500g flour and 1000ml milk worked perfect. This isn't really 1 part eggs, one part flour and two parts milk, but the 5 and the 500 are easy to remember ;-)

So here is the basic recipe that is easily remembered:

500g whole wheat flour
5 eggs lightly beaten'
1000ml milk (soy milk works too)
1 dash of salt
1 tbsp sugar

Combine all ingredients and mix well with electric mixer. Add a little vegetable oil to two frying pans and turn heat on high. When oil is hot, add a ladle of dough to each frying pan and distribute evenly by tilting the pan in all directions. The dough is fairly runny. Once dough sets, flip pancakes and fry on other side until golden. Adjust heat as needed (medium high to high).

Store pancakes on plate in preheated oven (100C) until all dough is used. Serve warm with applesauce, sugar and cinnamon, maple syrup or savoury fillings like mushrooms or curries.

Extreme Weather Running

Let me qualify the title before I get the laughs of denizens of harsher climate zones...Based in Vancouver, I cherish the temperate climate of the Pacific Coast. It never gets too hot or too cold, we don't have blizzards or suffer through slush for 6 month of the year. Until the winter of 2008/2009 rolled around!

Mid December saw us shiver in a cold snap with temperatures not getting above -10 degrees C for a week or so. Vancouverites get puzzled as to their clothing choice in conditions like that. We don't own overstuffed full length down jackets, heated boots and whatever else keeps the rest of the country warm. What to wear when heading out for a run during this deep freeze was a favorite topic of discussion among my running buddies. Some didn't even consider braving the elements and headed to the gym.

For my part, I love running in the cold, crisp air. Nevertheless, it was a challenge to dress appropriately. Bottoms were the easiest part. My usual alpaca wool running socks and trail runners did the trick for my feet. I dug out a pair of MEC thermal tights usually worn under my ski pants. My kids claim they look like long johns and they are probably right, but who cares about looks at minus 10. How to layer shirts and jackets was a more complicated issue. I overheat easily and hate having too many layers. In the end I found the perfect combination with the Chitosante Club Fat Ass shirt, that I have come to love not only for design, feel and no stink features, but also for it's thermal regulation qualities (no matter the temperature it always feels great) as the first layer, followed by another goodie, the hoodie matching the thermal tights. For the outer layer I went with my bright green MEC Jetstreak jacket. I had no experience with the jacket as, after suffering through years of monsoon running in not much more than a windbreaker, it is a recent addition to my running wardrobe. The product info recommended it as a waterproof, windproof jacket for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, winter running, or other cold-weather aerobic activities. Bring it on. My wardrobe choice was perfect. The snug hoodie (combined with a rather large fleece neck wrappy thing) kept my ears and chin cozy. The jacket kept the wind and the cold out and looks snazzy to boot. Only complaint is that the zipper didn't consistently stay up all the way (maybe had to do with the bulk of the hoodie and fleece wrap)

The next weather challenge came just before Christmas. Snowflakes as big as mosquitoes in Winterpeg started to blanket Vancouver. You might laugh, but snow is normally a once a year occurrence in Vancouver. It hardly ever stays on the ground for longer than a day, but is washed off by a nice Pineapple Express. Not so this season. Blizzard after blizzard added to the snow cover and in my back yard, we measured about 70cm. While I did sympathize somewhat with the whining about road and sidewalk conditions and that the stuff was challenging for the elderly, I loved it. Running wardrobe now included gaiters and snowshoes or - during the Vancouver New Year's Day Fat Ass 50- Yaktrak type attachments (thanks for lending them, Michele). The temperatures had risen slightly and I managed with only two top layers, my CFA shirt and my Jetstreak jacket (which is quickly becoming a favorite of mine).

On to the current weather situation...incessant, hard rain. Together with rising temperatures there are flood warnings out for the valley and some communities are handing out free sandbags. Luckily, we live on higher grounds, and short of clearing the storm drains from snow and fearing for the roof to hold the mass of heavy, wet snow, we are not threatened by flooding. The trails are a slippery mess, though and I abandoned my usual trail running loop in favour of a road running session. To avoid traffic and darkness, I ventured out during my lunch break armed with my bright green jacket (great for visibility and a reflective, flashing band around my upper arm. Because of the sidewalk conditions, I chose to run facing traffic (i.e. on the left hand side) on the roads in my neighborhood. I couldn't totally avoid busier roads, but the drivers were in general friendly and I moved out of their way as much as possible. I was looking forward to test the waterproof qualities of the Jetstreak jacket, but alas, the rains stopped for my run (I swear I didn't plan that ;-) and the water test will have to wait...With daytime temps of around 9, I was worried that I would overheat in a jacket designed for cold weather and I only wore an ancient short sleeve Club Fat Ass shirt underneath. Perfect again! I am quite impressed with the heat regulation and breathability qualities of my new jacket.

Let's see what the coming months have to offer on the extreme weather front...and I promise to report in if I manage to stay dry.

2009 Fitness Goals

I've been rather timid announcing any athletic goals for 2009. After my injury streak from last year, I didn't want to jinx my training with any lofty aspirations...

But, I guess I should put my plans for 2009 down, it's so easy to loose track:

Goal #1: Vancouver New Years Day Fat Ass 50km, ideally beating my time from 2008 (please note, because of the adverse conditions we will experience for this event, I will give myself credit for partial completion)

Goal #2: Marathon under 4h. I would like to find a spring or fall marathon somewhere less than 1h drive from Vancouver.

Goal # 3: Increase my running pace. Speed workouts 1x a week

Goal # 4: Participating in following other events/races:

• Squamish Scrambler Snowshoe Run
• Capilano Canyon MardiGras Night Run
• Mountain Highway Madness (2 laps)
• XTC 50K
• Bill's Great Peak Ascent
• Capilano Canyon Midsummer Nite Night Run
• Go Deep or Go Home
• Sunshine in September
• M&M's
• Pure Satisfaction

Goal # 5: weight training in the gym 2x a week

A Tight Dilemma

Don't you love running during the balmy days of spring, summer or even those crisp, sunny days of fall?

Unfortunately, it's monsoon season on the wet coast. It's also getting cold. With a heavy heart, I have tucked my shorts into the back of the closet. Problem is, I don't like running in tights. I don't like the restrictive feeling and the heaviness when they get wet.

Well, the tights have been out for a while now and got some good miles in during the CFA fall events I was able to participate in. Poor Arthur got the brunt of my rant on my "old" tights during the M + M Fun Run. It was raining on and off and the fabric got so heavy, it stuck to my quads and drove me to distraction.

Now, I have to come clean here: my tights are a men's size S. As my running buddy, Caroline, pointed out, "What do you expect, they are men's tights". I bought them a few years ago at the MEC (I am a MEC kinda girl for most of my outdoor gear). All their women's tights were flared and I didn't even give them a glance - who wants wide cut pants for trail running? The men's S seemed to fit. They are what they call mid weight and they are great on dry days...but when it rains, they just get heavy and since the fabric doesn't have much stretch they feel restrictive. My old pair needed some repairs and last Christmas I got a back-up, this time in men's M. Again, they are great dry, but when wet they are even worse than the small ones, as they get so heavy, they slide off my hips.

Browsing through the MEC Fall/Winter catalogue, I noticed a pair of women's tights, midweight and narrow cut. Had MEC clued in (when I bought the men's S they were down to the last pair, probably not because a bunch of small men purchased them). Unfortunately, when I looked at them at the store and tried them on, they were not what I was looking for in a pair of tights for running in our wet, but mild winters. They were rather thick (better suited for snowshoe running) and the legs in both the L and M sizes were way to long on my average height frame. Reluctantly, I turned my attention to the wider cut styles and ended up buying a very nice looking pair of Dash Pants. The product info praises them as a great garment for those who aren't fond of tights (yeah, right) but want quick-drying mobility for warm-ups and running.

So far so good. I like the fit. They are not terribly low cut and have a wide, flat waist band with a inconspicuous drawstring cord. The cord needs to be tied together or a toggle as it disappears in the waist band during washing, but that's a minor nuisance. I expected the wider cut legs to be annoying and not very practical on the trails, but surprise, I actually like them and they haven't snagged on anything yet. I like the material. They are made of 100% polyester, in, as MEC puts it, a comfy flat face knit. Looks quite flattering, falls nicely and has a bit of stretch. It's also not too heavy, flimsy, shiny or slippery. Only beef I have so far, is that the fabric gets slightly clingy when you get sweaty. I like the extras. There are two flat, low-profile pockets and an internal mesh key pocket. I like the workmanship. When buying MEC gear I have come to expect good quality, and these pants so far are no exceptions. The seams don't look like they are going to come apart during washing. Speaking about washing... these pants are fast drying. Very convenient.

It remains to be seen how they perform on a long wet and muddy run. So far, I only wore them for shorter runs and the gym. I guess that's what they were designed for...hence the name - Dash pants