One of the things I know I'm lucky for is the huge variety of people I get to meet. Last week I has a market stall in Banff, and Laura Levitsky stopped to admire the AM Adventures photo leggings. She said she's never seen anything like them! We talked markets & such, since she lives in Chilliwack, which is about half an hour away from my Mom. I'd like to try some markets out that way, and she said there are *many*.
Laura is an artist of unbelievable talent. Her website is www.levitskyart.com and you must visit it. Her work is astounding, beautiful, detailed. My favourite section is the Vintage Cars and Barns, but it's all spectacular. Her images have depth and an incredible use of light and texture. It's obvious she has dedicated uncountable hours to her art. I'm delighted that she stopped to chat, and leave her card. What a lovely human being. Thank you, Laura!
Well hi there!
How about some random things in no particular order?
-The Thursday Farmers Market in Canmore is back for the season starting June 11th! AM Adventures will have a tent there. Come visit!
- We have a new design in the shop! Breathing Space is a capri, and we are working on a double layered set of leggings for winter runners. Hopefully this will be available beginning in October 2015.The mercifully brief newsletter with a free shipping code is HERE The mock-up image is below.
- Canada Day is *amazing* here in Canmore! Not only is there a parade, a race , fireworks (usually, if it's safe), endless adventures, and patio space, but there will also be an outdoor Mountain Made market. OH MY!!
- Since my main gig is photographer, I sometimes get to work on interesting projects. Last week, work took me to many places, including Edmonton. One of my jobs was to create recognizable images of the communities we were in. This one is Edmonton at sunset.
The Rocky Mountain Soap Company Women's Run was this past weekend (May 23 & 24) and it was, as always, an incredibly well done event. Over 2000 women and girls walked and ran the 5km, 10km, and 21.1km courses. There were several vendors and displays, music, dancing, fun, and friendliness. Many ladies came for some leggings and capris, some who already have a couple of pairs. It is SO FUN to see these lovely, strong, adventurous women enjoying them. THANK YOU to every single person I met this weekend for the nice things you say, for the way you share with your friends, and the way you are super freaking cool. <3
This is Zoe! She was a surprise. Last September, a good friend said he had the cutest puppy for me, even though I wasn't actually planning for a puppy. In this way, Zoe is like my three, unbelievably super children. Unplanned, but a beautiful, much loved addition to life. When she arrived, she had ridden in a car for the first time, and gotten sick on the way to Thompson, MB. She flew to Winnipeg, then to Calgary. My friend then drove her to Canmore to meet me. At a likely 3 months old, Zoe had never seen snow was delighted with it. She was skinny, but playful and friendly. This is Zoe on her first road trip, on a stop in Revelstoke. During our trip to Kelowna, puppy earned the nickname "Pees in Crosswalk". To all the nice people who were patiently stopped for us to cross, thank you! Hopefully you were still able to drive in spite of the 'laugh til you cry' moment. One of the proprietors of The Yellow House came out to visit us after our meal, and invited Zoe to join us on the patio. He made her a steak, which she inhaled.
Zoe is certainly not that little 19lb pup anymore! She's 60lbs now, and about 9-10 months old. Zoe is a great trail dog, loves to scramble, run, and play at the dog park. She is the official doggy of AM Adventures :-)
Pumpkin Soup December 21 2014, 0 Comments
Ok, I'm googling pumpkin recipes. Again. This one is super easy, lazy.
- Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water, divided
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
- 2 cups unsalted vegetable broth
-
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or a scant teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup milk or the substitute of your choice
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 chopped green onion top
- In a large saucepan, heat 1/4 cup water over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Don't let onion dry out.
- Add remaining water, pumpkin, broth, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the milk and cook until hot. Don't boil.
- Ladle soup into warmed bowls and garnish with black pepper and green onion tops. Serve immediately.
All of the orders from the RMS Women's run have shipped except for 3 sets of Time Travel size M, and two sets of Three Sisters Med. Those are coming to Canmore, then off to their future homes. Becky C, yours are next. Corrine H, Julie B, and Janelle S will all go out this week if the good people at Canada Post keep being awesome.
All other orders are right on schedule. I hope you are loving your leggings. THANK YOU to those who have sent along some feedback about the leggings. Have a beautiful week!
June 24 Update: ALL shipped. We had a reprint on the Three Sisters leggings, which seemed to take quite a while, but they have arrived, and are all on their way to new homes.
Canmore Love June 04 2014, 0 Comments
At the end of May, AM Adventures was lucky enough to take part in the Expo at the
RMS Women's Run. We had a draw for a pair of leggings, and the form included a couple of optional *fun* parts. These are some of the answers (many were used by more than one person) to
Favourite things about Canmore -
- Scenery! And the runs! Love the bookstore! (likely Cafe Books - My favourite too!)
- People + mtn air :-)
- Scenery / Lifestyle
- Mountains
- Hiking with my friends
- Shopping, beer, mountains
- This run
- Q Lake swimming on a hot day!!
- Mountain running
- Mountains, girlfriends, and good wine!
- Beauty
- Everything!
We agree! Canmore is pretty cool. It's full of beauty, great shopping, yummy beer, and quite a few adventures. What's YOUR favourite thing about Canmore?
Nerd Nite?! May 31 2014, 0 Comments
Check this out. Banff has Nerd Nite. This looks awesome and I can't wait to go to one! Nerdy topics AND BEER. Yes, please! They have a twitter handle too: @NerdNiteBanff
I don't know the organizers, but I love this idea, and love nerdiness and interesting stuff.
This is on the website if you or someone you know would enjoy sharing some of your brains:
If you, or someone you know would make a great speaker at Nerd Nite Banff please email nerd boss Lisa lisabelanger13@gmail.com
This made me laugh!
Via Pinterest
My next race is the MEC half Marathon, June 14th in Calgary the day after I turn 43. (half marathon #6, if we're counting)
Bring on the training advice!
I've always enjoyed running and fitness advice from others. It helps to avoid ruts to find other effective ways to improve performance.
LSD (long slow distance) had been the mantra of my early days from coaches when training for a race, and in terms of training our aerobic system, it's still got a place in sound, safe running progression. Increasingly though, it looks like ramping up the intensity of our training, whether running specific or otherwise, has enormous impact on performance. My own experience with intensity over volume has been very positive. Taking a little more time between hard runs allows my body to complete its repairs before I fatigue it again. The harder we *can* go, the less time it takes to get us to our goals (such as a sub 30 minute 5km), which just means less chance of repetitive strain. It can also mean (if my reading is accurate) better training and effectiveness across varying intensity levels and times.
Interesting article about Cross Fit Endurance training.
I didn't use a Cross-fit Endurance approach last year, but I did knock myself out on hilly trails, and pushed my speed barriers. That was way more intensity than I'm used to, and it knocked my pace way, way down during training runs. It's good to ignore that. Yes, I'm getting a very slow 10-18km on steep hills, increasing my cardiovascular endurance, but I'm also working so hard that I become much more capable of lower intensity for a similar time investment. This also raises lactate threshold. GREAT article about raising our lactate threshold here: Runner's World
I also used big hiking or scramble days as substitutes for running days. For indoors, climbing and spin class are incredibly effective for maintaining a higher overall fitness level.
This higher intensity approach still allows for 'easy running' days, and not surprisingly, increases what I consider to be a comfortable pace. Have you made any significant changes to the way you train for your adventures? Have you added any adventures or switched up what you do for fun and fitness? Please share in the comments.
Hiya!
I hope you've been adventuring like mad!
The shop has a couple of sweet deal for pants lovers.
Buy two pairs of leggings (or anything that totals $150) and use the code Save40 to save $40 on the order. This code only expires after 10 people have used it.
For the enthusiastic gift giver, orders for shop items totaling $500, you receive $100 off.
Paste this coupon code: I91VF8WX0PSY
Valid until April 29.
