Harvest 10k

Where I grew up, there are bears. We always joke around that you don't really have to be able to run faster than the bear; you only have to be able to run faster than the person who is with you. Since I normally run alone, I have nobody to run faster than, so I am in trouble. However, luckily, yesterday I had a partner to run with, so I have at least a 50 percent chance of survival if a bear comes. I ran with Broski in his first race ever.

However, it IS only a 50% chance...

...Because Broski rocked it! He would have just as good a chance to outrun the bear as I would!

We ran the YMCA Harvest 10k in Santa Rosa, which was a very small race (my favorite!) The volunteers were great, the route was a fun run through the local neighborhood, the crowd was easy going and the post race celebration was fun. Even the local junior high cross country came out and raced. Also, Broski's girlfriend and her sister came out and did the accompanying 5k! It was a family affair!  

Trying to show our #s! It was chilly at first!

Broski's goal was to run under a 9 minute mile the whole time. He has a fancy new Garmin which he can set at a certain pace and it will tell him whether or not he needs to speed up or slow down. However, as we started out, we realized that we may not need to use it. We started out a bit faster than planned and I tried to warn him to slow down but he said he felt good and that he would let me know if he needed to slow down. So, we kept at it. We stayed around that pace the whole time, even while running up and down a few rolling hills. We did slow a little bit on mile 5, but only by about 10 seconds. We even talked most of the time. Or maybe I talked and he grunted from time to time.

Before we knew it, we were at the 6 mile mark and we could see the finish line in sight. I asked Broski if he wanted to sprint it out and he said yes. What a good sport. So we got to the 6 mile cone and started booking it. It was really funny because we started sprinting and the crowd was laughing at us and cheering us on. Then I saw a lady coming up next to me on my left (Bro was on my right) and she was keeping up with us! It was hard to keep up the pace but we ended up sprinting the entire way (about 400m) and I think the lady ended up beating us by a millisecond! She was fast! Our last 400 meters was run at about a 6 minute per mile pace! I couldn't keep that up any longer though. Phew!

* Our mile splits were: 8:08, 8:08, 8:18, 8:15, 8:22, 7:45.
* We ended up as #45 (48:58) and #46 (49:00) out of 196 participants (with an average of 7:54/mi)

So, like I said, Broski underestimated himself. It looks like we have a new runner in the running community! I have to admit, I didn't push him at all. I can't even take credit for his speed; he did it all on his own; I was just there to be company for him. He is excited about his time and the race overall, even though he said after that sprint at the end he felt like throwing up in the bushes!

Next up: a Half Marathon!

Have you totally underestimated yourself on something? Have you ever run so hard you felt a little ill?

Lunch Time

If you haven't already, go here and see how taking stock is critical to easy meal planning! 

Next comes the meal planning. This week (and many), the plan went like this:

1. Shopping. Stock up on the things that are missing from this list. Usually this means going to buy a bunch of vegetables and fruits and sometimes a few of the staples. 

2. Planning. Depending on what is fresh, on sale and available, the weekly plan is made.

I know, this may be backwards. Shop THEN plan? To this I say, YES. I always have my staples so I have pretty much done the "planning" already. All I need to do after shopping is decide what I want to cook. 

Today I am going to only talk about the lunch planning portion. Each week, after seeing what the haul is for the week, I make a big batch of ___ (fill in the blank with a bean dish here). I also cut up all of my vegetables to go along with my meals. This usually means cutting cabbage or broccoli for salads, and cutting carrots and celery for snacks.

Cabbage Salad

This week, we had several vegetables left over from last week. This is normal. I always do a little bit of "overbuying" in order to have a quick snack or to anticipate extra hunger! But fear not, it does not go to waste!

Needing to be used up from last week: Red, yellow and orange bell peppers. Carrots. Serrano peppers.
Add to that from on hand items: Onion, Garlic, Garbanzo beans, Curry powder, Diced tomatoes, corn.
Put in Crock Pot for 8 hours and you get: Garbanzo Stew (recipe below)!

Garbanzo Stew

This was put into 8 one cup containers.. 6 of them go into the freezer and two go into the fridge. I like to put 6 in the freezer, so that way I will always have a variety to choose from. I usually eat 3-4 of them for lunch and then I have some from last week as well as having fresh veggies on hand so I am not always eating the same thing over and over.

Freezer mini meals

Remaining peppers were added to quinoa, basil and lemon to make a quinoa salad, which will be used as lunches as well. The I pair each one up with a various salad and lots and lots of fruit. I usually bring one or two pieces of fruit as well as some loose fruit, cut melon, grapes or berries. So this weeks lunches will look like this:

Veggies for quinoa salad

Monday: Garbanzo Stew, cabbage salad, fruit

Tuesday: Turkey Chili (last week's big pot meal), broccoli salad, fruit

Wednesday: Quinoa Salad, beet salad, fruit

Thursday: Garbanzo Stew, broccoli salad, fruit

Friday: Chicken Curry and Rice (week before last's big pot meal), cabbage salad, fruit

Saturday: Party food (@ my uncle's memorial)

Sunday: Clam House with Mom, Dad and Grandma for a  post race meal!

Garbanzo Stew: 

2 cups dry garbanzos
2 carrots, chopped
1 each red, yellow, orange bell peppers, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
2 Serrano peppers, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 can of yellow corn
5 cups of water

1 tbsp Curry powder
1 tbsp salt
2 packets of Trader Joe's concentrated chicken stock

Mix everything together. Leave in crock pot on low for 8 hours. 

How do you do to use up older veggies before they go bad? What do you eat for lunch every day?

Check out Jill and Laura's sites for more meal planning tips! 

The Month of Races

October is the month of races.

The broski, who works at a winery, was recently getting a little too comfortable on the couch a few too  many times a week. His job is "seasonal", which basically means that it is pretty physical for about 3 months of the year, during harvest, which actually happens to be right now. During harvest he works 10-14 hour days punching down grapes and doing other assorted grape related activities.

However, for the other 9 months, it is less physically demanding. So his pattern was this: get in pretty good shape each year from August to November; get out of shape from December to July. Repeat.

He got tired of this, and has been really trying to focus on getting out and getting some exercise. I have mentioned this before, but I am so proud of him for doing this. It is not easy to break a habit, especially a bad one, and it's even less easy to form new good ones!

So, he asked for me to join him in running a half marathon. He didn't have to twist my leg very hard for me to say yes. However, I suggested he try a 5k beforehand to see how he liked it before heading out for the long haul. He, being almost as stubborn and determined as I, said he would try a shorter race, but he was not giving up on the half marathon. So, shortly after, I found myself signing up for not one, but TWO races in October.

A few days later, I got word that I got into the Nike Women's Marathon.

The broski is doing great. He went from walking, to walk/running, to running 10 minute miles to running 8 minute miles. He is a rock star.

For his birthday, I got him a fuel belt and a tiger tail. 

He sent me this beautiful photo as a "thank you".

Sorry ladies, he's taken.

So...This weekend I am running a 10k with the broski; on the 14th, it's the NWM in San Francisco, and the weekend after that, it's the Harvest Half Marathon (which better have some wine involved!)

Our number one goal this weekend? Have fun! But we are also hoping to keep it under a 9 minute per mile pace. I think we can do it. We already talked logistics. The broski said he probably won't be able to talk while we are running. So I asked if it was okay for me to talk the whole time. He said, "sure, it will be just like being at home with my girlfriend". Ha. Ha. I am totally telling on him.

Do you have family members that run? Did you have a friend/coworker/family member that got you into running? Do you talk while you are running with someone?

Head over to Jills for more Fitness Friday fun!

Currently: October

Current Book - Running The Rift - Naomi Benaron

Current Favorite Celebrity - My boy Crawford. Love the curls buddy. Don't cut them off! 

Current Drink - Avocado Smoothie: 1 avocado, 1 cup coconut milk, handful of ice, bit of sugar. YUM.

Current Excitement - GIANTS! I got tickets to the NLCS game Two. Now they just have to make it that far. Fingers crossed! 

Current fashion trend - I am loving those colored pants, although I don't think I would ever be able to pull it off. It's just not me. 

Current Favorite Blog/Website - Yummly. You can search for recipes based on what you have, what you like or what you don't have or want to add. It's pretty cool and a great way to figure out what to do with those leftovers!
 

Current Garden Item - 
 

pepper

Current Love - Evenings spent watering the garden. It's calming. 

Current Food - Butternut squash, mangos, melons

Currently Pondering - The weather. Yesterday it was 80 degrees at 10 pm. Today it is 50.

Current Indulgence - An extra cup of coffee with lots of cream

Current Mood - Madness, as in taper. I am going crazy! 

Current New Find - Two new brunch places nearby that I want to try!

Current Outfit -  

Obligatory bathroom photo

Current Peeve - Loud talkers 

 

Current Song - The Shins It's Only Life

Current Triumph - I finally crossed of a few things from my To Do list that have been on there for a while! 

 

Current TV Show - Parenthood. It's back!

Current Wish-List - More time on the weekends

Currently Delaying - Doing all the other things on my To Do list!

What are you currently up to? Do you keep a To Do list? What's your current peeve?

Book Confessions

My favorite book of all time is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

I wanted to be just like Francie Nolan and read all the books in the library, starting from authors who's names start with "A". 

I used to go to Barnes and Noble and write down quotes from my favorite books. My friend and I would spend hours doing this some nights.  

My dad used to leave me at the library as he ran errands. I used to love chilling in the beanbag chairs and reading Choose Your Own Adventure books (the only ones short enough to "finish" before he picked me up). 

My aunt is a librarian. I want to be just like her when I grow up. 

Even when I go camping and have to carry all my things on my back, I always carry a book (and sometimes two!) I carried a book while hiking the Himalayas. 

I own about two dozen Lonely Planet books.

I am a member of two online book clubs.

My first library card was a piece of paper with my name typed on it. I recently went back to my childhood library and asked them if they would still take that one. They made me get a new one (I still have the old one though!) 

My mom is my reading inspiration.

My grandma is too. Plus her house smells good.

I remember going to visit my grandma in Massachusetts in the summertime and we would take a walk to go to the pond to feed the ducks, to the penny candy for some loot, and always to the Library! 

My favorite books I had to read in High School: The Three Musketeers, To Kill a Mockingbird

The Jungle made me become a vegetarian. For 15 years.

Some of my other favorites not from high school: Les Miserables, Hiroshima, Corelli's Mandolin

In 2011 I read 66 books.

I never read the Babysitters Club.

I did read Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and lots of VC Andrews.

My favorite childhood authors/books were probably Beatrix Potter, CS Lewis, Shel Silverstein, Charlotte's Web, Winne the Pooh, and Paddington Bear. 

Childhood Books

This year I have spent $0 on books. That is not to say I haven't WANTED to spend money, but so far, I have abstained.

I went to Oscar Wilde's grave site in Paris.

My brother got me a Kindle for my birthday last year. I love it, but I still love real books!

My next book on deck for reading is  The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. It weighs about 47 pounds. It is NOT on my Kindle. I may need a chiropractor when I am done lugging it around in my purse. Hopefully it will be a quick read. It's only about 700 pages.

I cannot read more than one book at a time. I don't understand people who are reading two or three at once. 

There are 218 titles on my Goodreads "to-read" list. For every one I take off, I add two more.

I read the Red Badge of Courage in Spanish.  It took me about 8 months.

Little Women made me cry the second time I read it. I was on an airplane. It was a little bit embarrassing. 

I do read books more than once.

I have never read Moby Dick. It's on my Kindle though.

I am a late bloomer. I don't usually read books until they have been out for a while (I just read The Handmaidens Tale this year).

I will read anything. I do love a good murder mystery, WWII historical fiction and books that teach me something without being boring.

I am a book hoarder. I recently gave away 4 boxes of books. I still have plenty more.

Some of the Plenty More

I just checked 6 books out from the library. It was not on purpose. They were all put on the hold shelf at the same time. I probably will not finish them all before they are due.

I am kind of on a running book kick.  

Current Library Haul -- Run + Buffett

I think I've read almost all of Stephen King, John Grisham and  Elizabeth George's books.

I am currently reading Running on Empty by Marshall Ulrich. I think he is wonderful and strong and inspiring and cocky and annoying and big headed all at once. 

I almost always finish the book I am reading, even if I don't like it. There have only been a couple books I did not finish. One of them was Catch 22. 

I keep a list of the books I've read each year.

Right now the only reading I am doing is on the bus. This equals about a half an hour a day. It is not enough.

I love how the Kindle has a built in dictionary. No more penciling in the margins!

*Inspired by Amy and Rachel.

Are you a reader? What's your favorite book? Confess your reading "sins"!

Then and Now: September

Every time I do these posts, I think that it doesn't seem that long since I did the last one, even though a month has gone by. I have had many people tell me that as you get older the time goes by more and more quickly. Well stop it. Stop it now.

As you know, I like to recap my last month with a comparison to what I was doing last year at this time. It started when I could say, "Last year at this time I was traveling in ____". Now I can't say that, but it's still fun to look back and see what things have changed and which ones stay the same. Without further ado, here are the Who, the What and the Where for September 2011 vs 2012.

WHO:

2011: 

Dad, Lisa, Raquelita 

(not pictured: Red, Gma S, The B family)

2012: 

Kalish, J&E, K&A and the goats

(not pictured: the broski, his lady friend, Gma B)

WHAT:

Read:
2011: 4 / 2012: 3


My favorite September book in 2011 was probably The Guernsey Literary Potato Pie Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. In 2012, I really enjoyed Emergency Sex by Ken Cain, Andrew Thompson and Heidi Postlewait, which is about being in some seriously dangerous countries while working for the UN during the 90s.

Run:
2011:  95.2 / 2012:  187.4

In 2011, I was training for a half marathon in September. This year, I am training for a marathon. However, it is still a surprisingly high amount to me, even though I did run two 20+ runs this month.

Raced:
2011: 2 / 2012: 3

In 2011, I ran my first half marathon since 2009 (see photo above with Dad). After that, I went to MN and raced a great 10 miler with Lisa and Raquelita (see photo above)! In 2012, I ran Mommy Run Fast's  Labor Day Virtual 10 mile and Labor Day Virtual 5 mile  as well as joining up with a friend, and thousands of Giant's fans for the Giant Race! 

WHERE:

2011: 

The M States: 

Missouri, Massachusetts, Minnesota

2012: 

The Bay Area: 

Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley

As you can see, last year I traveled more than this year. Nearly every weekend in September I went somewhere. I went to MA the first weekend, Dad came for the race the next, then it was MN, then Kansas City the last weekend! This year I have stayed closer to home!

I also met a lot of new friends both years. Last year it was Lisa and Raquelita; this year it's some new running buddies, new people at work and new local folk.  September in both years have been busy with running! This year I feel as if I have more time to foster old friendships as well as making new. Last year with the traveling and working away from home, I felt as if I were doing the opposite and losing touch with old friends, even as I was making new ones. So this year has been a welcome change in that aspect!

What things have changed in your life since last year? What has stayed the same? How many "M" states have you been to?

Taking Stock

Before you go grocery shopping each week, you have to first take stock of what you have on hand. From there you can decide what you are going to cook for the week and what you need to buy at the grocery store. For me, what is on sale or what is fresh that week at the store often determines what I make.

There are certain things you just always have in your pantry. There are other things that you buy once a month and others that you buy every week. There's a way to go about it in an organized manner; sometimes I manage to do it better than other times.

Pantry Staples (Buy in bulk a few times a year and/or always have on hand)

*  Baking goods: Flour, Sugar, cocoa powder, splenda, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, chocolate chips

*  Oatmeal, raisins, flax seed, chia seeds

*  Dried items: Pasta, Rice, Dried Beans, Coffee

*   Canned items: Tomato Paste, chicken stock, canned tomatoes, coconut milk, evaporated milk

*  Spices, salt, pepper, peanut butter, honey, olive oil, vegetable oil, rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, champagne vinegar

Fridge Staples:

* Mustard, ginger, shriracha, mayonaise, ranch dressing

* Almond butter, miso paste, tahini, sweet chili sauce, almond milk

Freezer Staples:

* Veggies: Frozen corn, edamame

* Meat: Chicken pieces, frozen shrimp

* Stuff I made in the past: pizza dough, sauces, muffins and mini meals (which will be talked about in more detail in a future meal planning post),

Monthly Buys:

* Steel cut oats, nuts, dried fruit,

* Yellow onions, potatoes, winter squash, Serrano or other peppers, garlic

* Coffee

Weekly Buys:

* Fresh fruit, vegetables

* Creamer, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese

Pioneer Woman's stock list.

Some of the items I bought this week: butternut squash, cantaloupe, celery, red cabbage, pumpkin, mango, plums, peaches, apples, pears, Brussels sprouts, chicken breasts (0.99/lb!!).

Every week I make a big batch of something and freeze several portions for weekly meals, as well as making things like salad fixings in advance so I can just grab and go during the week. I am going to talk about that more next week, but for now, I will leave you with one of my favorite easy meals that you can use in several different ways.

Crock Pot Whole Chicken

I know, a whole chicken is a little scary. However, recently they were .99 cents a pound and so I picked up a nice one (about 5 lbs) for a steal (you do the math).

(1) Buy a whole chicken.

(2) Once you get the chicken home, take the gizzards out of the inside and feed them to the cat.

(3) Mix together your favorite spices. I used salt, pepper, a bit of red pepper flakes and Old Bay seasoning. Rub them all over the chicken, both inside and out. Make sure you get the armpits and all the other orifices.

(4) Cut up an onion. Place it in the bottom of the crock. Put the spice rubbed chicken on top of it. 

(5) Set it on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours. When it's done, the juices should run clear and the arm should easily pull off the chicken. Yes, in my world, chickens have arms.

(6) Take the chicken out of the crock. ** Now comes the fun part!** Leave everything else in the crock. Remove the skin from the chicken. Throw it back in the crock. Remove all the chicken from the bones. Throw the bones back in the crock. Throw the bone carcass back in the pot.

(7) Put the chicken meat aside. Fill the crock up with water and leave it overnight, or for about 8 hours on low. The next day, strain the liquid into quart jars/containers. You now have stock!

So. To recap. You now have... three to five meals worth of chicken (depending on your family size) plus about 12 cups of stock (in my case)! All for around $5.00!

Happy meal planning! Go check out Jill and Laura's sites for this week's What's For Dinner linkup!

Do you have a cheap, go-to meal that you use over and over? Do you like to cook? Do you plan out your meals or just fly by the seat of your pants?

Do and Do Not (4): Running

Remember the Do and Do Not posts? I haven't done one of these in a while. After the last time I did one, I ended up going running without wearing underwear, and it was fun.  Let's see what this one brings about.

I do:

- Try to run at least 20 miles a week. Even on a busy week, I try to run at least 20 miles, for several reasons. It makes me feel so much better if I have run during the week. It keeps stress levels down, releases endorphins and just makes me an overall more relaxed and happy person. But also, I know that it has health benefits, so I try not to let myself get lazy and put it off, when I know deep down that it's doing me good!

- Run different routes. I am a creature of habit. However, when running, I love getting to know my neighborhood. I have a few parts of the loop from the house, the start and the end usually, which are generally the same, but not always! My loop changes and each day I get to know more and more of my surroundings! Also, I like to go out on the trails once or twice a week and each time, I find a new hidden gem in the forest!

- Carry my phone with me when I run. This is for a few reasons. One, I use the camera. Two, I use it for music. Three, if I need it, I have a phone. I have only used the phone once or twice, and usually on an incoming call. I have never (knock, knock) had to use it for an emergency. In case you are wondering, in case of emergency, I also wear a Road ID, carry my bus pass and have my emergency five.

I have a lot of gear

- Wear a sweatband on my wrist (it is also handy for wiping your nose and mouth). This has been a more useful thing than I ever would have thought. I not only use it to wipe moisture in all it's forms from my body, but I also use it to hold my half eaten Gus (see below for clarification).

I do not:

- Like Gu. I know you all know this, since I talk about it a lot. However, I need to clarify. I never BUY Gu, but I have several different flavors that I have gotten as race swag and have been trying them all, just to see if I would find one that I like. I have found some that are not as bad: the Roctane Chocolate Raspberry for instance. However, like I stated above, I prefer to eat a quarter of it at a time, over the course of maybe a half an hour or an hour. One I really don't like? The Power Bar Strawberry Banana Gel. It made me want to hurl.

gross

- Wear compression socks. I am not saying I don't like to, I just have never tried it. Tell me folks, what's all the fuss about?

- Wear running skirts. Or skirts in general. I hate my legs. I am a pants wearer. I only wear running shorts because I would die of heat exhaustion if I didn't, but I wouldn't mind if they were longer. Whatever, it's about function not fashion.

- Foam roll. I know, I know. I should do it. Misszippy recently linked to this article, which talks about whether or not stretching is actually good for you or not. If you go through some of the comments, he does endorse foam rolling, just not unnatural stretches. Personally, I have been lucky to not be injured and I feel great after long runs, so I have never gotten into the habit.

- Take ice baths. I tried it once, and didn't notice a difference, so decided not to subject myself to the pain and anguish. I would rather do a drink-wine-and-wear-warm-wool-socks-and-pajama-while-watching-Greys Anatomy recovery period. It sounds much more enticing.

Do you do any of these things? Are there any things you do that you think I should try? How do you feel about running skirts?

Don't forget to stop by Jills for more Fitness Friday posts!

Wine and Love (7)

Remember Wine & Love? Nora used to host this, but she has since stopped doing it. However, she is getting married soon and so I though I would honor her by doing her old meme! Congrats Nora! I am sure as I write this she is running around like a chicken with her head cut off, trying to get all those last minute organizational things done!

In case you forgot, because it has been a while, this is where you recap what has been going on in your life that makes you whine/need a glass of wine vs what you love!

Wine: 

* Dogs, or perhaps I should say dog owners. I am not afraid of getting hit by a car, but I am worried that my running accident will involve a dog. People don't watch what their dogs are doing!

* Lack of sleep. It's my own fault. I have chosen to hang out with friends, read, or eat instead of sleeping. But sometimes it hits me hard in the middle of the day.

* People at work who talk about how busy they always are, but then I catch them doing Sudoku at their desk.

* The animal who is eating my zucchinis. Get your grubby paws (and teeth) off of my salad!! I can't figure out what it is..squirrel? Mouse?

nibble nibble

* Omaha Steaks. I bought my brother some as a Christmas gift last year, and now they keep calling me and sending me crap and emailing me. Go away! Stop calling me! Grrr. 

Love: 

* Evening runs! They have been cool and great and even though it's been dark much of the time, I am not hating it! 

* I went to a Giants game on Tuesday night. I was just sitting there minding my own business when 4 of my cousins and my Aunt and Uncle showed up unexpectedly. None of us knew that the other would be there! In a stadium of 45 thousand people, that's quite a coincidence!

* Chocolate Zucchini Muffins! The last time I made them, I added carrots too! Yum!

* Tomatoes! From the vine.

* Foggy mornings that burn off into sunny, crisp days.

* New running friends.

* My brother and his running. He puts his Garmin stats online, so I have been stalking him quietly. He is up to a 10k and is doing it in under an hour! I am so proud of him!

What's making you whine? What do you love? Have you ever unexpectedly bumped into a friend in a strange place?

Chocolate Zucchini

I like to bake. I don't always follow directions.  I recently had some extra zucchinis from the garden and I was feeling like something chocolatey but not too sweet, so I found a recipe for these Oil Free Zucchini Muffins. But of course, I like to add stuff and delete stuff and mess things up a bit. The recipe was adapted from here. It specifically said not to use whole wheat flour.

But I wanted to.

(PS she did say you could use whole wheat pastry flour if you want to, but that you shouldn't use regular whole wheat flour.) I also use Splenda® rather than sugar most of the time, but you can use agave syrup or maple syrup or sugar if you like. Also, in the end, she was right, the whole wheat flour made the batter a little gummy, so I added a bit of applesauce just for fun.

Oil-Free Chocolate Zucchini Walnut Muffins

Yield: 20 - 24 muffins

Ingredients:

1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water)
2 cups zucchini
1 cup almond milk (or regular milk)
2 tsp  lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat (pastry) flour (or all-purpose)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Splenda^® (or sugar)
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
*optional: 
3 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 - 1 cup applesauce (depending on moisture level. I added this at the end)

- Mix flax and water together and set aside to thicken. Mix almond milk and lemon together and set aside to curdle.

- Mix all dry ingredients together.

- Mix all wet ingredients, including flax egg and almond milk together, then add in chocolate chips and nuts. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry.

- Put 1/4 cup of batter into each section of a greased muffin tin using a 1/4 measuring cup.

- Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Muffins are done when toothpick comes out clean. Cool on cooling rack in the tin before taking them out of the tin and letting them cool completely.

- Try not to eat three of them right away like I did.

- Take them to work and give them away before you eat all 24 of them. 

- Get strange looks when you use the word "chocolate" and the word "zucchini" in the same sentence.

Now, since I am on the subject of recipes and food, I want to talk about something exciting coming up. My friends Jill and Laura are starting a new feature called What's for Dinner, which is a weekly collection of posts (and a link up) about menu planning. It's purpose is to encourage each other and to hold each other accountable as we purposefully plan out regular, weekly meal menus. These posts will be on Sundays and I am looking forward to participating, because I love planning out my weekly meals, but can always use tips from those more experienced and better at it than I am.

So, if you feel like doing a post about YOUR meal plan, or you want to post a recipe or get recipe ideas for fall, or if you want to check out how other people are organizing their eating, how they have time to do it with a busy schedule, or how they stay healthy with so many other things going on, sign up, or just go and check up their link up on Sundays!

Where do you get your recipe inspiration? Do you plan out your meals for the week in advance? What is your favorite kind of muffin?

Change of Pace

Before the Santa Rosa Marathon, I was feeling a little unmotivated to run. I think it was due to several factors. I had some things going on in my personal life and it was affecting my running. I was pretty busy and I was having a hard time juggling life and running.

So I decided that after the marathon, I would take a break. I would lower my weekly mileage; I would take time to read, relax, hang out with friend, and do yoga. The day after the marathon, I found a Groupon for Bikram yoga in a studio near my house. I was getting a great start on my new plan!

But then...

...thanks to Fitfluential, of which I am an ambassador, I got an entry into the Nike Womens Marathon, which you may have heard of? It's in San Francisco. It's got hills. It's 26.2 miles long. 

So I decided to try a new tactic.

That Sunday, I met up with a runner I found on Meetup. She had posted that she was going to be doing her last 22 mile run before her marathon on the 23rd. I thought it wouldn't hurt me to try it. 4 girls, including me, ended up running together. We all ran at about the same pace. It was great. First of all, it was a route I had never run before, so it was nice to have a change up in that aspect. Second, it was nice to have company for three hours. It was a little nerve wracking at first. It's a little weird, meeting up with people you don't know, and putting yourself in a position where you have to spend the next three hours together. You could totally hate each other. They could run too fast or too slow. They could be mean or horrible.

But we didn't hate each other. They didn't run too slow. And they weren't mean or horrible, not in the least.

I am not a convert. I am not going to start running with someone every time. I like to run when I want to, as fast or as slow as I want to. I don't want to drive somewhere to go running after work. I am picky about that. However, it is nice once a week or once every two weeks, to have someone to while away a few hours together, someone to socialize with that doesn't involve work or food or booze.

PM run around Lake Merrit

I met up with one of the girls again this weekend. We ran 20 miles around Oakland. We started at 6 in the morning. By 9 a.m, we were done. It was perfect. It's nice to have someone to motivate you to keep going, to get up early, and to keep up the pace (we ran it at an 8:30).

Something even better? Is that she and one of the other girls got into Boston. We are planning a get together where we can talk Boston and details and where we can get excited and giddy and be running nerds together. I can't wait.

So far this training cycle (all 5 weeks of it) is going well!

What's the closest together you have ever run two marathons? Have you ever joined a social group online? Have you ever had a blind date or a time when you met up with people you had never hung out with before?

What an Endeavour!

Last Thursday, I got a phone call from my Mom. She is a big space buff, from things like this:

source

To things like this:

source

In case you are not familiar with either of those, the top one is the Mars Rover, which was sent to Mars to search for and characterize rocks and soils that hold clues to past evidence of water on Mars... the bottom is Quark, a Ferengi on the Starship Enterprise.

She is also a fan of the NASA image of the day site, which features images like this:

So, back to her call. She called me to tell me that the Space Shuttle Endeavour would be going over the Bay Area around 9 am on Friday. I have to admit, I did not know that, and when I looked it up online, it was supposed to go over my house around 8:30. Of course, I would be at work, so I would not be able to see it.

Bummer.

But on Friday, as I was working, I heard a shout, and I looked over to see....The Endeavour! I work in a skyscraper and we are pretty high up, so we had a nice view of the shuttle going past the Golden Gate bridge and around the bay. It took a full circle around the bay, and therefore around our building. Everyone was running from window to window trying to see it.

First of all, it was huge. I tried to get a photo with my iPhone but it doesn't show it very well, but it was pretty darn close to us, pretty close to the ground and pretty darn cool! Here are a few (bad) photos! I circled it so you can see it a little bit. Also, if you look really close at the third photo, you can see people on all of the rooftops!

Did anyone else see the Endeavour? Is anyone else a Star Trek buff? What interesting hobbies/likes do your parents have?

The Giant Race

What's better than running in San Francisco on a cool summer morning? Doing it with thousands of your closest friends and Giants fans!! I have to admit, as much as I don't like bigger races, it was fun to see everyone running around in their orange and black, although I wonder if they are really fans, or just like to dress up. It doesn't matter; it made me feel all warm and tingly inside.

I think I mentioned that I lined up right at the start this time, and when I say right at the start, I mean front and center, second row back, right behind the really fast people. So I didn't have to pass anyone! And this, my friends, made a big race into an enjoyable one. If there are 20 people or 20,000 people behind me, I don't care! It makes the race so much better. I may have pissed off a few fast people who had to pass me, but so be it.

I ran this race with a friend of mine who runs about 10 miles a week. When he asked me what my pace was going to be, I said that I just wanted to PR, which meant I wanted to get below a 1:37. He said that he had been training at a 1:35, but wanted to beat that by a bit. This is why you shouldn't run with guys. His slow pace, his pace he runs on his one 10 mile jaunt a week, is faster than my speedy, feel like puking pace! But, we decided we would start off together and if he needed to go on ahead, he would. This would put us at about a 7:15 pace according to the Cool Running pace calculator.

Instead of doing the usual recap, I am going to do a few Good, Bad, Uglies.

The Good: Mile 1
The Bad: Mile 13
The Ugly: Mile 3.4 / Mile 9.3 (Van Ness Hill / Fort Mason Hill)

The Good: Having a partner who is faster than me kept me going.
The Bad: It was a little bit too fast for me.
The Ugly: Doing a hilly trail run the day before a race is not a good idea. My legs were like lead!

The Good: The run started and ended in the ballpark.
The Bad: The run went right through Fisherman's Wharf
The Ugly: The course went over two hills.

The Good: Brunch afterward at Grub.
The Bad: The reason we needed to eat was because there was no swag food.
The Ugly: There were beers, but they cost 9 dollars.

Here is a cliff note recap: The race was good; the course was beautiful; it was mostly flat except for 2 hills; we got to see the golden gate bridge and lots of people wearing orange. There were plenty of water stops, but no Gu/fuel except for power bars. By the time we finished, which was not super late, there was no food left. We were told there had been tons, but the 5k people ate it all. Race director fail! My legs hurt and we wavered between a 7:08 and a 7:40 pace the entire time. My friend ended up hurting his knee so I ended up going ahead of him. The race ended on the field where we got to walk around and pretend to be ball players (that part was really cool!)

Final time: 1:36:35 (7:22 pace)
This was a new PR by 42 seconds!

Verdict? If you want a Matt Cain Bobble-head and a half of a banana, you should run this race. However, if you just want to run in the city and go to AT&T park, call me, we can do both without paying $100 to do so!

Have you ever run a race that went through a stadium of some sort? Do you get annoyed when you pay a lot for a race and don't get good swag? Would you rather run with someone faster than you or slower than you?

Don't forget to stop by Jill's for some Friday fitness inspiration!

Bean Town, Here I Come

 After running Santa Rosa on August 26th, I went straight to the BAA website and did this:

Then I waited impatiently for September 14th to come.... On the 14th I went to work early so I could make sure to be ready for the 7 am opening time (that's 10 am ET). I was afraid it would fill up before I could register. I was afraid I would miss the time and it would be too late. I rushed to work and got there at 6:59 and it wouldn't let me register. Then it was 7 straight up and still...no reregistration! Finally, it worked....but... it was not a confirmation of acceptance, only a confirmation of attempt.

But no. Several hours later, I got this:

So, unless I lied about my qualifying time, which I didn't, then I am in! Hurray! Who else is going!? Let's have lunch!

This is exciting for me, because, as you probably know, my family hails from Massachusetts, and so it will be a weekend of fun and family and running and fun! Also, I have been to Boston several times, but never in this capacity, so it will be a fun change for me in that aspect!

Have you ever had to wait for something you really wanted? Who else is running Boston 2013? Have you ever been to Boston?