More running stuff

Thanks to those of you who gave me some suggestions/advice for running the other day. I took all of your advice, smooshed it together, and used it to have a great 3.5 mile run yesterday. I planned my route out online the night before, studied it and felt comfortable with it. I set out my clothes, wiped my ipod shuffle clean and put it on autofill for some fresh tunes, and went to bed feeling confident. I set my alarm for 5:45am (so that I could reset it for 6:15, haha!) and bounced out of bed (okay, maybe not) ready to go.

I decided to really take it easy, run a bit slower than usual and work on endurance instead of speed. My goal was to run 3.5 miles in 40 minutes with minimal walk breaks. I ended up stopping to walk three times, all on serious uphills, and each time only for about 1-2 minutes. In the end, I felt great, and finished in 39:40 - right at my goal. I was really pleased!

I am heading out tomorrow morning to run another 3.5 and I hope to feel just as good. Maybe tomorrow ... I'll blog about my attempt at a bike ride the other day! It was pretty hilarious. Happy almost-weekend! Anyone have anything fun planned? My mom and my grandma are coming into town tomorrow for the weekend and I am really looking forward to it. We don't have much planned, but I think it will be a fun time!

4, 3, 2, 3, 4 ...

These numbers represent the mileage of my last five runs. Last Sunday, I ran 4 miles for the first time ever (although "running" is kind of an exaggeration - it was so, so hot and sunny that I probably walked 1/3 of it). Then on Tuesday, I ran 3. Wednesday, 2. On Thursday, I was supposed to run 3 again but I was out late the night before (and I've been setting my alarm for 6am on running days to try to beat the heat). So I put it off until Friday morning ... but on Thursday night, I was out late enjoying a few (several) cocktails with my friend Patty. So I put it off until Friday night. But Friday night, I was sucked into one of USA's marathons (I think it was Royal Pains. Or maybe NCIS? Can't remember...) so I put it off until Saturday morning. FINALLY, I woke up early on Saturday morning and ended up running 3 miles in JUST over 30 minutes (30:58, I believe) which was a HUGE PR for me (can you have PRs during training??). In comparison, on May 1st I ran a 5k in 37 minutes. Yesterday, I got up early and ran 4 again - and this time, I mostly ran. I did have to take several walk breaks, and ended up finishing in around 46 minutes.

My running is clearly improving, but I am in a major rut - which is why I am typing this all out to you. I need help! Since I started my *official* 1/2 marathon training a couple of weeks ago, I haven't been able to run without stopping for walk breaks. And most of the time when I stop to catch my breath or rest my legs, I realize that I didn't really need to do either. It's all in my head. I get this feeling that I NEED to walk for a couple of minutes to "rest up" for the rest of my run, and I have the hardest time NOT stopping once I get that idea in my head. I talked with my friend Kyle about it last night, and her suggestion was to mix things up - change out the songs on my ipod, just do stuff differently. I am going to try this for my run tomorrow, but I know I will still struggle with my BRAIN telling me that I CAN'T. As I told her last night, part of it is that I'm not a natural athlete ... and the other part is that I keep telling myself I'm not a natural athlete.

I need your help/advice/thoughts, please! And any motivators you use to get to the proverbial finish line, even if it is just a training run. There are no more short runs - I start at 3.5 tomorrow and on Sunday, FIVE. FIVE MILES. Anything you can offer me would be much appreciated!!!

24 weeks later ... goal review

So, as of yesterday, it has been 24 weeks since Matt left. Wow. Okay. That's a really long time! Anyway. I thought now was as good a time as any to review me deployment goals ... and see if I have actually accomplished anything in the last 24 weeks.

1. Organize the scary closet in the guest room (Matt joked that this will likely take 99% of the time he's gone).

Okay. Not surprisingly, I haven't actually started the Closet of Doom and Despair yet. I plan to start it, um, soon. Really soon. Really. I promise.

2. Join the community orchestra

Well. I haven't done this either, and I am still getting into practicing regularly. This has been tough for me, but I really do want to go through with this.

3. Take a yoga class

Well okay. 3 for 3. I haven't done this either! Okay, this is starting to get depressing. I have, however, done a yoga video a few times .... does that count???

4. Learn how to cook lots of good stuff (and remember how to cook for one again)

Okay. I have done this! I have been cooking and trying new things (see Friday's post) and I have kind of been cooking stuff for one. It's usually pretty simple stuff, and lots of salads, but I am getting by!

5. Hang some photos in the apartment

Okay, I seriously do not remember putting this on the list. I haven't done this ... and I don't really think I need to. So there. :)

6. Visit lots of friends - especially those in Chicago.

I went to Chicago once in February but haven't had the chance to go back. I have also been to Charlotte, NC to see Anna, Mae, Cassie and Charlie, and I've been to Clarksville TN to visit Jenn. This summer, I will fit in some more visits, and then in September I will head back to Chicago for the big half marathon and hang out with Jenn (formerly of Jeans Friday), d.a.r. and MTM! Soooo excited.

Okay. I'm a little surprised that this is all I wrote down ... perhaps I had another post with goals somewhere? Not sure. I thought for sure that losing some weight would be on there. I have lost somewhere around 10-15 pounds since Matt left. I have been running, doing yoga, walking, and doing strength training regularly. I feel good and I keep feeling better, thanks to the running. I have noticed my legs really looking more muscular, and I feel stronger. Good things!

As for the other goals ... well, I'll tackle that closet eventually. Really. I will. Promise. :)

Happy 4th of July!

Farmer's Market Finds!

Can you handle how much I have posted over the past 2 days? No? Me either. Ha!

Today was a beautiful day (okay, it still is!) and I headed to the farmer's market this morning. Serious growing season has definitely begun! Look what I found:

Lettuce, shiitake mushrooms, beautiful tomatoes ...

... Amish-grown peaches, cippolini onions, and beets.
For all of this (plus a bottle of water and bbq pulled pork sandwich for me!), I paid only $22! And everything looks so beautiful.

In my previous life of a person who was not very experimental with veggies, I didn't like beets. But the other day, I had some beets on a salad from a salad bar and I thought they were mighty tasty. So, I picked up some beets at the market and then looked up this tasty sounding recipe for Roasted Beet Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup walnuts

2 teaspoons olive oil

dash salt

dash pepper

6 medium beets, trimmed and washed (I only used 2 - because there is only one of me!)

1/3 cup thinly sliced red onions (I used one sliced cippolini onion)

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (I only used about 2)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (I just threw in a dash of apple cider vinegar)

3/4 teaspoon salt (I just threw in a little bit)

1/4 teaspoon sugar (I just put in a little honey)

dash of black pepper

1/2 lb fresh spinach leaves (I just used my farmer's market lettuce)

3 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

Okay. Clearly I changed pretty much every part of this recipe. But that's not the point.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees - toss the walnuts with the olive oil, salt and pepper and throw them on a cookie sheet. Toast in the oven for around 7-10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and set aside to cool.

Wrap each beet individually in aluminum foil and place on a cookie sheet. Roast in the oven (still at 350 degrees) for about an hour and a half. Take them out and let cool for about 20 minutes. Then, run under cold water and peel the skins off. Chop into pieces, throw them in a mixing bowl with the onion.

Then, mix the dressing up and throw it in the bowl with the beet/onion mixture. Let sit out at room temperature for at least one hour. Then - serve over lettuce with goat cheese and throw the walnuts on top. Delish! I also drizzled some of the, um, beet juice/dressing on top. Look how pretty it is - hot pink!

Anyway, this was so freaking delicious that I gobbled it up. And then gobbled up a second serving. Quick, go make this!!!

Review coming ...

I was recently asked to review something for CSN Stores - I'm so excited!!! It was great working with them for the giveaway I hosted about a month ago, so I'm really looking forward to picking something out. As I'm sure you probably know by now, CSN has a gazillion internet stores and you can pretty much find whatever you want, from stuff for your dining room, kitchen, bedroom, anything for every part of your house!

I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to get ... any suggestions?

CSA Week ... I have no idea

Okay, so I stopped telling you about what I've been getting in my CSA. My bad. I just kept forgetting to take photos before I used the goodies. That being said ... I have totally lost count of what week this is ... perhaps I can figure it out before next week. Oh, and I still didn't take a photo. But this week I received:

-kale

-2 zucchini

-1 eggplant

-basil

-potatoes

-whipped cinnamon honey

So ... I have never liked eggplant. Or zucchini. But one of my goals for this CSA was to try new things, despite my previous perceptions of them. Zucchini has been a tough one - I never really know what to do with it. And I currently have FIVE zucchini at home (3 were leftover from last week's CSA share!) that I'm struggling to figure out what to do with. I have already made zucchini chocolate chip bread, and Lucy gave me some other ideas, too. Do you have any good zucchini recipes? If so ... can you please share them with me? I have freaking FIVE zucchinis, friends. FIVE. Help me.

That being said ... I knew I had to try the eggplant. It was so pretty, and well ... I wasn't just going to ignore it. So, I made something up. I thinly sliced the eggplant and sauteed it in a little bit of olive oil. Meanwhile, I cooked some gluten-free pasta and made basil pesto. My pesto was delicious! Made with farm-fresh basil and 3 cloves of farm-fresh garlic, some olive oil, and a sprinkling of grated parmesan. I threw it all in the food processor and let it run until the garlic was minced. Then I threw everything together! It looked like this:

Okay, so maybe it isn't the prettiest meal. But guess what? It was freaking AMAZING. I am officially taking eggplant off my list of things I don't like. The eggplant was perfectly cooked and had a great flavor, the pesto was so fresh and green and had a kick thanks to the fresh garlic. YUM! The bottom line is that anything with fresh pesto just screams summer.

What are your favorite eggplant recipes? And zucchini! Don't forget zucchini!