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Advice please!

I have fallen into a deep dark pit of research. As I mentioned months and months ago, I have big dreams for this little (recently neglected...) blog of mine and I'd love to make them realities! So, for all of you who have bigger and better blogs, what are you using? Where should I start? How do I make this happen?

Please help a cardio kitty out!

New shoes and 60 degree weather changes...

I finally set the time aside to visit my local running store and was extremely pleased to learn that they were having a big sale- $15 off all new shoes and a free t-shirt. I love me some free t-shirts so I was ready to shop!

I've been down this road before so I knew that the process of finding me a shoe would not be an easy one. I was assigned a shoe-fitter who I hadn't worked with yet (shocking, as I've spent much time in this store) but was very pleased to learn that he was the owner of the store. I had no doubt that I'd be receiving great treatment. We went over all the basics- he had me stand up to check out my arches/sizing, walk around, run on the treadmill a bit, talked about what I was training for, what I currently (and have previously) ran in, etc. and then got down to business. I went through no less than 7 pairs of shoes: the new Wave Inspires (DO NOT LIKE), some New Balances, Nikes, Asics, etc. Nothing was fitting right. He brought over a second pair of eyes and they had me run on the treadmill for a bit longer (a solid 5 minutes) to really analyze my running style. They agreed that my foot strike is "unique" (another word for bad) and that although my foot shapes predicts a stability shoe with a 60% gradient my stride is already overcorrecting any overpronation and I'd probably be better suited with a 30% gradient. This all sounded kind of foreign to me, haha, but at least I remembered it!

After again reminding me that both my feet and my running style are "unique" (I get it guys!) I was handed another round of shoes to try on. I felt a lot like Goldilocks at this point- searching for my "just right". When I put on the Saucony Guide 7s I felt like I had found it. Right off the bat the shoe felt comfortable and my foot didn't feel like it was being forced into doing anything. 

So, there you have it! A new shoe to try. This little guy got his first pounding of pavement yesterday on a beautiful 67 degree day. We only ran a 5K so I can't be certain if this is really the shoe for me, but we did all right. 

Unfortunately it looks like it'll be awhile before we are out on the open road again thanks to this:

A low of 9 and 100% chance of snow. Winter, I am so over you.

I need new shoes.

After yesterday's declaration to be smarter, I'm reminded that I desperately need new running shoes. I've been running in my PureCadence 3s ever since I declared the death of my Mizuno's during the first 6 miles of my marathon last fall. Don't get me wrong- I really love my PureCadences- they fit my foot like a glove and help move me towards a midfoot strike- but these are not long distance shoes for me. I can run maybe 8 miles in them comfortably and since I'm (supposedly) training for a 20-mile race in 7 weeks, I need to be running a whole lot more than 8 miles. 

So- shoes! What to do, what to do. Despite running regularly for over 2 years now, I feel like maybe I still haven't found my perfect shoe. Do I keep putting my faith in the staff at my favorite running store? I feel like we made a bit of progress last time, as the Wave Inspire 9s worked pretty well for me, but I think there still may be a better shoe out there. I have very unique feet and pretty terrible running form (I'm working on it) as demonstrated during the Emerald City half last summer. Remember this?

I don't know if shoes can help me not run on the outside edge of my foot or not, but I do know that with form like that I'm destined for injury (again).

I've taken the little shoe recommending tests on Brooks & Mizuno, since they are brands I've been running it. I'm sure those are completely accurate, right? Their recommendations:

Brooks Ghost. A neutral shoe, which seems smarter for me than a stability shoe as I obviously don't need extra padding under my arch since my foot is already turning the other direction.

Mizuno Wave Sayonara This shoe is supposed to let my foot do what it wants to do naturally but still have a medium amount of padding to provide enough comfort for long runs.

I also took the test at Running Warehouse but they recommended a trillion different shoes. I have to assume that it's better for someone to see my running in person but after so many conflicting opinions and recommendations from the staff at my local running store I don't even feel that confident in what they are saying. 

How do your choose shoes? Buy & try? Running store recommendation? Whatever is on sale? Somebody help me!

Facing the facts.

Over the course of the past week there have been two instances that really highlighted some new things I need to focus on while getting back in race-shape. Allow me to share these with you.

First, K. and I went to COSI to see this very awesome Sherlock exhibit. Since we still had a few hours before the museum closed, we spent that time actually participating in some of the interactive permanent exhibits. One of the areas, Life, has you do a series of tests to give you a sense of your overall health (seeing as these tests never included entering a lot of pertinent information, I would certainly not consider this a professional diagnosis, but I digress). We participated in four different activities to test strength, flexibility, resting heart rate and active heart rate. Other than my slightly higher than usual resting heart rate (while at my marathon training peak I had my HR under 50 and felt good about it. Obviously I'm not running enough these days. Thanks for the reminder, COSI) I felt pleased with my overall health minus one glaring failure: flexibility. This was absolutely no surprise, I've always struggled with flexibility thanks to my crazy tight hamstrings but the results of my test were honestly embarrassing. For this highly advanced test, you sit on a bench with your feet against a wall. While keeping your legs straight you push a bar and it measures the distance that you were able to push. The female average for my age group was something crazy, like 14.5. My results? 1.6 

This is how I felt after seeing that. (image stolen from the internet)

On Monday, we were treated to a 10-minute chair massage at work. I was very much looking forward to this as my shoulders/back have been feeling extra tight lately. Now I've always known that my back is not in a great state- lots of knots back there. Admittedly I have pretty poor posture and the hours that I spend slumped over my computer at work each day certainly don't help. I went into this chair massage thinking I would walk out full of relief (10-minutes should be enough, right?). Not for me, apparently. This woman didn't even attempt to hide the shock she felt when she started working on my neck. 

Her: "Is it always this bad?" 

Me: "I never really considered my neck to be a trouble spot, actually. My shoulders and back are full of knots though. I'm kind of a high-stress individual that carries it all there."

(begins to move her hands to my shoulders) "Oh my. Well, let's just focus on this unhealthy knot in your neck and then we can talk about what to do about the rest."

This poor woman spent more than the allotted 10 minutes on this one small area and informed me of all the options available to me through work. She encouraged me to call and schedule an appointment with a stress specialist (oh the things that exist in our world!) to work on breathing techniques and relaxation. She also reminded me, multiple times, that I can get regular massages covered by my insurance when my back is in this state.

These two incidents, happening in less than a week, really reminded me that I need to focus even more on the overall state of my body. Sure, I eat relatively clean and I love a good cardio workout, but my body needs more than that. I've flirted with yoga but I've never committed to a studio (yes, for financial reasons but even more so because I'm so embarrassed by my inflexibility) but I think it might be time to take the plunge. I've found a few groupon/yelp/living social deals at some reputable studios around town and I'm just kind of weighing my options at this point. My hope is that my joining a studio and practicing more regularly I'll be able to get more actual assistance from the teacher and not just struggle through the parts that require me to touch my toes (because spoiler alert: I can't). Are any of you yogis? Yay or Nay on joining a studio?

As I dive back into a full on training plan and begin to daydream about the races I want to run this spring/summer/fall I want to commit to doing better things for my body. Working on stretching is obviously key, but focusing on stress management and my mental health is equally as important. It's easy for me to run, generally (just don't look at my Garmin data from that past few weeks) but it's all the other stuff that starts to fall away. Now is as good a time as ever to start making these changes, right?

The greatest vegetable lasagna you'll ever eat

While tackling my 30 days dinner (which was a relative success), I started every night with the same question: what cuisine do we want? We tend to eat a lot of the same things, mostly Asian, Mexican, Indian and Mediterranean. I'm not sure why I neglect Italian food so much (especially given my affinity for carbs) but I generally only eat pasta before races. I decided to mix it up and make lasagna. I've made lasagna exactly one time before in my life, in the very early days of my relationship with K. and he actually did most of the work. We also used zucchini and eggplant in place of the noodles, so this was going to be a whole new ballgame.

Excessive googling of "best vegetable lasagna" lead me to The Pioneer Woman and I am oh so glad that it did! I've been using recipes from her site like crazy ever since. I used her Vegetable Lasagna recipe and only made one real change- I left out the squash and added in a huge bunch of spinach. In my mind, this was going to be a pretty simple undertaking. Boil some noodles, cook up some veggies, mix together ricotta, layer it all and bake. I was very wrong. My kitchen literally looked like a bomb had gone off (sorry, no photo evidence. No one should have to see that.) and I used up every millimeter of counter space. My original thought was that I'd have this all baked and on the table when K. got home from the gym but really I was just standing in the kitchen, staring at the mess and unassembled layers on the verge of tears. I stepped away from the kitchen and let him do the building and the baking (team work for the win!).

Vegetables cooking down

Delightful ricotta/parmesan/egg mixture

Insane amount of noodles spread all around the kitchen

The final product! 

(I'd love to take credit for the adorable parsley cat on top but that was all K.'s doing. So cute!)

I really can't say enough good things about this recipe, it truly was the perfect lasagna. Insanely rich though, definitely a one-piece-and-done deal (even for K. who is the king of second helpings). This baby lasted us more than a few days in the fridge, which is always a bonus in our home.

The little things.

On Saturday it was 55 degrees and sunny. It feels like it's been a lifetime since I've felt the sun on my face. Is that too melodramatic?

This morning I made myself some silver dollar Greek yogurt pancakes. It's also felt like a lifetime since I've cooked a well-balanced breakfast.

This winter rut of mine? I think it was a little bit deeper than usual. I think I may have lost myself for a little bit. But just like the sun finally did, I'm coming back out.

I can't make spring come any sooner, I know that most of the country is wishing for the same thing. But I can focus on the little things that make the gray days a bit more tolerable.

Kitty on the my laptop.

Six dozen Monster Cookies.

The perfect cup of coffee.

For today, these things are enough. 

For today, this is progress.

(for next week, this list better include a double digit run or that 20-miler may be a disaster :-) )

Hello again and happy Monday.

"Healthier" Vegetable Fried Rice

Last week threw a bit of a wrench into my 30 Day Dinner Challenge, we had dinner plans two nights and then I had the prepping for and celebrating of my best friend's wedding. A hectic week to say the least! But I still managed to squeeze in a decent meal or two.

First up: Vegetable Fried Rice!

K. requested a healthier version of fried rice and I was happy to accept the challenge. I'll freely admit that I completely winged this one and had a little bit of help from the some pre-cooked frozen brown rice.

"Healthier" Vegetable Fried Rice
should serve 4, unless you live in my household.

4 large eggs
4 C. brown rice, cooked and cooled
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 bag frozen peas, slightly defrosted
~1T of toasted sesame seed oil
1/4 C. Soy sauce
Sriracha, optional, to taste

Prepare your rice per the instructions. As I mentioned I cheated a bit and used pre-cooked frozen brown rice and it worked just fine. Remove your rice from the store top and set is aside to cool.

Place a large wok over medium heat and add just a little sesame seed oil to coat the pan. While the pan is warming up, whisk together the 4 eggs. Add the eggs to the pan, stirring constantly. You aren't trying to create fluffy scrambled eggs here, I was going for very thin eggs (if that makes sense?). When they are maybe a minute or two from fully cooked, transfer them from the wok to a plate and set aside. Clean the pan if necessary and turn the heat up to high. Add just a dash more sesame seed and let it thoroughly heat up. Toss in the onions and garlic, you should hear a pretty loud SIZZLE when they hit the pan, and cook until the onions are translucent. Add in the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes. Finally add in the peppers and peas and continue to cook the vegetables down. At this point I tossed in maybe 1 T of soy sauce, just to get the flavored really cooked into the veggies. Once you are happy with the state of the vegetables (I was aiming to get a little bit of browning on the onions), add the rice and eggs back into the wok. Pour in the remaining soy sauce and optional sriracha and cook for 5-10 more minutes on high heat. Serve immediately and with chopsticks.

K. has started having some fun with the photo shoot set-up

Overall it turned out really well. By the time I was almost done I remembered that I had bought tofu to add in as well but I didn't even think it needed it. 

Coming up later this week: Chickpea Cutlets, Vegetarian Lasagna and talks of a training plan (because 20-miler is less than 3 months away, eeeeek). Please try to contain your excitement!

Three Lovely Days

There are few things better than three day weekends and this one was especially good for my 30-Days of Dinner challenge (as I've just decided to call it). Throughout the next few weeks I am going to try to go outside my typical recipe box- it's really easy for me to end up in a cooking rut. And while sometimes it's convenient to fall back on my standard vegetables + tofu = dinner, it's always nice to try something new.

Friday was incredibly cold (I'm so over winter!) so we planned on staying in and playing some cards with friends. I knew I wanted to make comfort food- something warm and soothing to the soul. I didn't want soup or stew but something similar so I created a new-to-me recipe of a vegetarian take on chicken pot pie.

Chickpea Pot Pie!

Now to be honest, I don't even know if I've ever had chicken pot pie (and if I did it was a lifetime ago) but I love the concept of it- a nice hearty stew with a delightfully bready crust. I'm not that in to flaky crusts so I used a cornmeal biscuit as my inspiration for the topping. I'm starting to think that this is nothing like what chicken pot pie actually is, but I'm okay with that.

Note: I'm not great with measurements, especially when it comes to seasoning (as I'm a big fan of adding a bit at a time and then tasting) but I promise that going forward I'll try to be a bit more exact. 

Ingredients:

For the filling
Olive oil
1 large sweet potato, chopped
1 large russet potato, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
~1 C. cremini mushrooms, quartered
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch of kale, chopped
1 orange bell pepper pepper, chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
3 C. vegetable broth
1/4 C. AP flour
Rubbed sage
Salt
Pepper

For the crust:
3/4 C. bread flour 
3/4 C. cornmeal
1 1/2 T. granulated sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
~3/4 C. vegetable broth
2 T. olive oil
1 yolk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss potatoes, carrots and mushrooms in olive oil, season to taste with sage, salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25, until the potatoes are just starting to brown. While those veggies roast, cook down the onion over medium heat. Once the onion is translucent, add in the garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add in the kale. Cook until the kale is completely wilted and the onions are beginning to caramelize (5-10 minutes) then add in the orange pepper and the chickpeas. By this point, the veggies should be done, so remove them from the oven and turn the temperature down to 350. Add the veggies to the pot, pour in the vegetable broth, add the flour and turn the heat up to high. Bring the broth to a boil and allow the stew to thicken up, cooking 3-5 minutes. Turn down to a simmer and cover.

To prepare the crust, sift together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a mixing cup whisk the egg with the olive oil and add in the vegetable broth to reach the 3/4 cup mark. Pour the liquid slowly into the dry ingredients and combine with a wooden spoon, careful not to over mix.

Pour the filling into a casserole dish and cover with the crust mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the crust is just beginning to brown and the filling is bubbling. I had just a little bit too much for my casserole dish so I baked a little mug on the side- the perfect single serving!

This meal really hit the spot! It was hearty and filling but not overly so, great for these cold winter nights. I suppose it helps that I had good company while eating it:

Sometimes I'm still amazed by just how cute the gray girls can be :-)

Crawling out of the winter rut

Happy 2014! December and early January have been a whirlwind- crazy CRAZY long work weeks, holidays, a sinus infection and the flu have pretty much thrown my life completely out of whack. I'm ALMOST feeling 100% normal again and have finally resumed a somewhat regular schedule. It feels good.

I very recently promised K that I would cook (with his assistance, of course) a homemade dinner every single night for the next month to make up for the lackluster eating habits in our household these past few weeks. Naturally I regretted this promise the very next day and just wanted to eat leftover pizza for a dinner but never fear I'm sticking to it! (I'm also vowing to start using a real camera to photograph the process going forward because the iPhone is just cutting it).

See? Terrible photo. Especially given that I spent the first two years of college as a photography major. 

What's on the plate? Panko-crusted chili-cumin tofu topped with a hot pepper Greek yogurt. Served with a side of sauteed peppers, onions and sweet potatoeswith a dollop of salsa verde guacamole. Sounds fancy right? It was honestly a pretty simple undertaking. 

I marinated the tofu in soy sauce, agave nectar and a generous amount of cumin for almost an hour. I dipped the slices in egg and then in some chili powder and cumin seasoned panko breadcrumbs. I baked at 375 for 30 minutes, flipping the tofu half way through. While the tofu was baking I deeply carmelized an onion, then added in some cubed sweet potatoes and green peppers. I kept the heat turned up pretty high as I wanted just a little bit of charring. For the hot pepper Greek yogurt sauce I used half a container of 0% plain Chobani and added in chili powder, a dash of cayenne and a about 1T of hot sauce. The salsa verde guac was made from avocado, lime juice, salt and a some left over salsa verde from a taqueria (I know that's kind of cheating but it was the best salsa verde I've ever had and I couldn't let it go to waste). 

I plan to blog my way through the more creative nights of home cooking AND start sharing my training for the 20 Mile Drop! I officially registered and I'm already completely behind in my training/out of shape thanks to my two week battle with sickness, but I'm more than itching to get back on track (good thing too because April is fast approaching!).

I'm so happy to be back in blogland and hope that not all my readers have abandoned me :-)

Hectic Holiday

I know I've been remiss in posting- blame it on the 70+ hour work weeks that December has brought! No empty promises about when regular posting will resume (but hopefully soon!), just a quick post to wish you all a very happy holiday! I hope you are staying safe and warm and enjoying quality time with friends, family and fantastically adorable pets :-)

(tell me those sweatshirts are not the cutest!)

Awwww (ginger)snap!

Earlier this season I stumbled across the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap and I was more than intrigued. Not only would I have a reason to bake an insane amount of cookies but I'd also receive three dozen at my doorstep and donate money to a great cause. It took me about .5 seconds to decide that this was something I needed to do.

When it came to deciding what kind of cookie to bake it took me even less time! Not a week before I learned about the swap K. and I had picked up a bag of gingersnaps from our local Lucky's Market. Gingersnaps are easily in my top 5 cookies (probably battling with snickerdoodles for #1, honestly) and I was so excited to see that they were part of the weekly specials that I just snatched up a bag without double checking the label. I was horrified to discover that the cookies I was oh so excited about contained trans fat! I'm not a perfectly clean eater by any means but I do have lines drawn and trans fat is something that crosses the line. The cookies went directly into the trash and my holiday cheer was knocked down a notch. This cookie swap was the perfect opportunity for me to finally get my holiday gingersnaps.

I perused the internet for a few different recipes and decided to work with this one from Smitten Kitchen (who adapted it from Cook's Illustrated and assorted other sources). I made only minor changes, as a good gingersnap recipe is hard to improve upon.

I would like to note that this recipe is crazy easy and it makes an awesome amount of cookies (over 4 dozen!) at a time. You can also freeze the dough to save for later if you don't need to have 4 dozen delicious cookies in your home at once.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3 1/4 t. ground ginger
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
1/4 t. ground white pepper
2 sticks unsalted butter (at room temp)
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. dark brown sugar
1 large egg 
3/8 C. molasses
1 t. grated fresh ginger

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices. In a separate bowl (or stand mixer, food processor, etc) cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add egg, molasses and fresh ginger and process until well mixed. Sift in the dry ingredients and mix by hand to combine. 

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill. An hour or two should be substantial. I left mine in overnight so I actually let it sit at room temperature for just a bit before working with it. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough into ~1-inch balls [If you do not plan on baking all the cookies at once, I still recommend forming them into balls before freezing], place the balls on a well-greased cookie sheet at least an inch apart, as the cookies will spread. Bake 12-15 minutes depending on desired "snappiness"- I baked mine for 13 and achieved a flexible cookie with crispy edges.

When (not if) I make these again I plan to add 1/2 t. cardamom and increase the fresh ginger from 1 t. to 2 t., but even without those changes these cookies were a huge success! 

Happy baking!

A little too motivated

Last night I was determined to workout this morning. I left a game night with friends early, was in bed by my too-early bedtime, stashed my clothes on my bathroom shelf and fell asleep much quicker than usual. At just about a quarter to 6 my first alarm went off and I was raring to go. As I lay in bed savoring the last few minutes of warmth I decided that I should probably check the forecast and was greeted with this: 

So I threw on an extra layer for the walk to the car (because obviously it was a gym day) and opened my front door to see a solid 3+ inches of snow and completely uncleared roads. This would have been a great time to turn around and go back to bed but I powered through. Thirty minutes later I had completed the four mile drive to my gym and saw this text from K. "It was not worth driving in this to go workout. Text me when you get there so I can go back to sleep". He was probably right, ha. I put in an hour (40 minutes on the treadmill, 20 actually doing some strength training- yay!) and then trekked my way back home. Despite the inches of snow, terrible roads and too long drive I am glad that I went because as they say the only workout you'll regret is the one you didn't do.

The biggest disappointment of my morning was starting to make breakfast and discovering I was out of eggs. Since there was literally no chance of me going BACK out to the store I settled for toast, hot pepper jelly + cottage cheese (yes, on top of the toast). Not too shabby, actually.

I'm having a hard time accepting that winter is basically here- don't even get me started on the fact that Christmas is just TWO WEEKS away. I'm not ready! We barely have decorations up and I've only made one batch of delicious Christmas cookies. So much to do, so little time.

Any winter time traditions that you are looking forward to this month? I'm trying to get over my intense hatred for cold + snow and find some fun things that can only be done in winter- send some suggestions my way!

A very orange dinner

I was feeling a little overenthusiastic when it came to making dinner last night. As I was picking up ingredients and putting together a plan in my head I didn't calculate that it would lead to three burners + the oven being used all at the same time. Oops. Just a typical Thursday meal!

On the menu:
- mashed sweet potatoes w/ sauteed kale, arugula + baby spinach
- tikka masala tofu
- roasted heirloom carrots

I also didn't realize that the resulting meal, although delicious and nutritious, would be very orange.

Eh, oh well.

Post dinner was spent decorating the tree and hanging our stockings. A little (creepy) sneak preview of our in-progress Winter Wonderland:

Today my city is freaking out about the incoming snowstorm. Schools are closed despite there not even being any snow on the ground yet! Blows my mind. Back in my day we'd have to walk to school in a foot of snow, uphill both ways. Or something like that. Hopefully this snowstorm is being blown out of proportion because I'd really prefer to kick off my long run weekends outdoors (I must not train for an entire marathon on a treadmill. I must not train for an entire marathon on a treadmill).


Anyone else covered in snow or currently living in fear of the impending doom?

Good job me!

I'd just like to publicly pat myself on the back for finally making it to the gym BEFORE work. It's been a long time since that has happened. During the summer/early fall I got into a habit of running after work instead but not that it is basically pitch black when I leave the office (and I haven't yet acquired a headlamp or any reflective gear) if I hit snooze too many times I'm not able to get a run in at all. This morning I set my alarm for the comical time of 5:42a and after almost an hour of wasting time (I seriously have NO IDEA what I was doing, but I blame Charlotte for being extra cuddly this morning) I was finally out the door. As I walked to my car I realized that it was still 60 degrees and I should probably run outside but I had already mentally planned on going to the gym and I just couldn't deal with changing my plans at that point because my brain wasn't working yet. I was very sad to see that my usual Boy Meets World episodes had been replaced by That 70's Show, but I dealt with the disappointment and settled in for about 4 miles on the 'mill. I wanted to run something between easy and speed work so I did a progression run:

5 min warm-up
10 minutes easy
10 minutes increasing 1mph each minute
1 minute recover at easy pace
8 minutes increasing 1mph each minute
2 minutes increasing 1mph each 30 seconds
5 minute cool-down

I maxed out at around 8mph and that's pretty fast for me. My legs were like lead at the end.

Breakfast was 1 egg + 1 egg white, 1c. baby spinach/arugula mix, toast + hot pepper jelly

Post-run I was feeling a mix of accomplished and discouraged. Good job me for getting to the gym but the reality is that I'm still a bit out of shape and out of my normal routine. What that says to me is that I desperately need to get back to a training plan- it just works better for me.

With a potential marathon date of 5/4, a 20-week training plan would be set to begin on 12/16, which is way sooner than I even realized! That gives me a measly 11 days to continue to focus on base building, which is really no time at all. My goals for the next two weeks are just to get back into a habit of running 4 days a week and working some cross training back in. I plan on starting my weekend long run tradition this weekend with a completely unimpressive distance of 5 miles (since the first "long run" of my training plan is 7). It's crazy how fast Marathon Training: Round 2 has sneaked up on me!


And in completely unrelated news, we picked out our Christmas tree last night! This is K.'s first EVER real live Christmas tree and I was just so excited to go hunting for it. Nothing says Christmas tree shopping like a 60 degree day in December :-)

Terrible picture, no decorations yet. Still so pretty!

Seriously the best part of my morning was coming back from the gym and being overwhelmed by the scent of pine- no scented candle can recreate the actual smell of a Christmas tree!

Sorry, I'm not sorry.

I would apologize for yet another extended blog-absence, but since I was spending time with family, I can't say I'm sorry.

And with a view like this how can I say I would have rather been staring at a computer screen?

Our little Thanksgiving vacation was truly perfect- a chance to disconnect from electronics and just share some quality time with my favorite people. The icing on the cake was our Thanksgiving meal- curried sweet potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts + carrots, vegetarian stuffing, pumpkin tiramisu and so much more. I'll dedicate some future posts to a few of the recipes we made because they are definitely worth sharing.

Unfortunately our journey back to reality was a bit bumpy and I feel like I've been playing catch up with sleep and having a hard time easing back into every day life. This morning was finally a bit more normal and made even better by this:

While on a mission for some Silk Nog, my favorite seasonal beverage, I spied this little beauty. I imagined that it would be delicious on its own but would be put to even better use when steamed and mixed with espresso. And oh boy was I right!

Breakfast of champions. Eggs on toast with hot pepper jelly and a pumpkin spice soy latte. If that won't help the post-vacation blues then nothing will!

Question for the masses (because I know my reader base is HUGE): how do we feel about holiday runs? I have been debating signing up for a 5K, preferably on New Year's day. I like the idea of starting the 2014 off on the right foot, so to speak, but I find the pricing of these things to be outrageous. I know that I could very easily wake up nice and early on January 1st and run 3.1 miles on my own but something about an organized race just seems a bit more exciting. I'll also admit that part of my desire to fork over the cash is to kind of force myself to keep it in check- no overindulging on NYE and no excuses when my alarm goes off the next morning (even though this race does boast a very sleep-in friendly 11a start time) because I wouldn't want that money to go to waste. 

Is it wrong to use the external motivation or should I just run with it (bad pun intended) and do what I need to do to help guarantee a good start to 2014?

Weekend Happenings

It's officially that time of year where the days, weeks, and especially the weekends are just FLYING by! Thanksgiving is just days away and I feel like November just started. 

Here's just a few pictures to show how I've been spending my time.

I have been on SUCH a salad kick this week! I ate one for dinner I think every night. This one was filled with beets, green beans, goat cheese, roasted almonds, and topped with a horseradish vinaigrette (which is heavenly). My body has been screaming "I need vegetables!" lately and I've been listening- yesterday the grocery store had Naked juices on sale and I picked up a pretty delicious tomato based one (as opposed to my usual green monster). 

Quality time with this old frenemy. It's been over 7 months since I've stepped foot on a treadmill (and nearly as many since I've actually gone to the gym to do a workout, whoops) but I just wasn't feeling the cold on Sunday. I ran a 10K at what used to be an easy pace and realized again that I'm still a bit out of shape (did I really run that +20 just a month ago???). It was still a good workout for me- I kept the pace even for first 35 minutes and then threw in some speed work for the last 20. It definitely got my legs moving + my heart rate up. I don't want to rely on the treadmill as much this winter as I have in the past, but if it comes down to running on a treadmill or NOT running, I definitely need to hit the 'mill. (oh and don't worry- I took this picture while walking for my cool down at a crazy slow pace. No one was endangered during this moment).

Quality kitty time! When I sat on the couch to eat my breakfast Dora just climbed right up on my chest and curled up. It was so precious! Despite having a to-do list a mile long I couldn't disturb her so we had a nice little break together.

Cookie dough! I had just enough time to whip up some gingersnap dough yesterday (but not enough time to actually bake the cookies). I'm so excited to taste the final product though. I don't bake cookies too often (more of a cupcake girl) but I think I'll be baking a few batches of holiday cookies throughout the next few weeks.

How was your weekend?

So, what's next?

I'll be the first to admit that I've suffered from post-race depression. It's one of the reasons that I always like to have something else on the horizon- something to look forward to so I don't let myself stumble off track. When I went into marathon training I knew this would be a big one for me- it would be time consuming, it might make me hate running and it may even end up in injury- so I kept my post-race calendar wide open. What a mistake! That past few weeks have not been pretty. First I gave myself two weeks to recover physically (because I had some not-so-pleasant foot pains immediately after my race) and to enjoy life a bit more again. So I stayed out late, went to some Halloween parties, ordered in dinner a few too many times and skipped a whole lot of workouts. Suddenly two weeks turned into three and now here I am one month post marathon and what have I been doing? Nothing! (including not blogging- whoops!)

Well it's time to change that.

I've been looking into a few local triathlon clubs to try to dip my toes into something new but more importantly I've been looking at spring races so I can hurry up and get my something on my calendar! For now I've got a 20-miler and a May marathon on my wish list. Yes, another marathon. It just feels right.

As for short term goals: more cooking, more blogging and more running for fun. Until I'm committed to a race (and a training plan!) I'm just kind of rediscovering my innate love of the sport. It's been fun to set out with no plans and just kind of run. I did my first "quality workout" this weekend though and it was clear that I am already pretty out of shape (my poor quads STILL hurt!). I'm going to use the last few weeks of 2013 to rebuild my base, revisit my time with Jillian and bond with my yoga mat. All good things.

I promise that I will be returning to regularly scheduled blogging- I have just honestly felt a little lost post-marathon and it was hard to sit down and write. Every time I started a post it turned into me whining about not being on track- no more of that! I'm coming back strong.

Fun with pattypans!

Last weekend we made a stop at Lynd Fruit Farm to pick up a few autumn essentials. The prices were crazy good- I swear almost everything was less than $1 per pound. I wanted to stock up on squash but wasn't pleased with the butternuts they had so after grabbing more than a few acorn squash I decided to branch out and try something new. Enter the pattypan! I had never even HEARD of a pattypan prior to this moment (does that make me a bad semi-foodie??)!

After a bit of googling (for inspiration and basic cooking suggestions) I decided I wanted to stuff these little guys, as they were the perfect size. I preheated the oven to 350 and started boiling the squash (and set a timer for 8 minutes) while I got to work on a filling.

For the filling:
1/2 c. dry quinoa 
1 c. water
1 clove garlic, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
3-4 green onions
1 c. chickpeas, cooked
cumin
salt
pepper
parmesan cheese

I combined the quinoa, water and diced garlic in a small saucepan and brought it to a boil. I then turned the flame down, covered the pan and let it simmer for ~10 minutes. Meanwhile I sauteed the onions and seasoned to taste with cumin, salt & pepper. Once the squash we done I sliced off the tops and scooped out their insides. I added the insides to the onions and let them cook for a few moments. I finally tossed in the chickpeas and cooked quinoa and stirred to combine.

I stuffed the little pattypans to the brim with this filling, topped it off with a sprinkle of parmesan and put the tops (or their hats, as I began calling them).

I let them bake for ~25 minutes or so, turning the oven up to 375 towards the end, and then served them with some steamed fresh green beans (seasoned with lemon juice, salt and red pepper flakes).

We really enjoyed the pattypans! They are perfect for stuffing because you can eat the skin too. I think I'd rank them as my 4th favorite squash (below butternut, acorn and spaghetti) and I would recommend that everyone give them a try.

Can't wait to dive into the pounds of peppers we bought for even more kitchen experiments!