Thursday, July 9, 2009

Ain't no stopping us now!

Happy almost Friday everyone!

I know I've been slacking on my recipe/food posts, but there's only so much you can photograph when it comes to leftovers and salads! Don't you worry, I've got a good mix of food for you today. But first, ze run!

Nothing was stopping me from getting my
5 miles in today...not even job number one! I ran out of the office around 6:45 (sent one last email and was out the door before it even left my outbox) and made it home by 7 with a grumbly stomach. I don't know if I've already mentioned this, but I need to be fed pretty much every hour or else I get these really crazy stomach pains. Sometimes I'm amazed at the amount of food I consume. Clearly I didn't pack enough food today...lunch was just Mom's Leftover Eggplant Salad over Greens with a some toast I had stashed in the fridge.
As soon as I walked in the door, I made a beeline for my stash of gels and grabbed a Hammer Espresso. Usually I don't like to use gels for anything less than 10 miles, but I totally needed the calories.

It was just me and Jamie tonight and we did a new loop that took us north of our neighborhood. Sometimes you need to change it up! Tonight's run ended up being just over 5 miles and we finished in
49:40. Not bad! I think I like this coming in under 10 minute pace thing! It's only taken me three years of running to do it! Ha.

For the most part, I felt good during my run. I was getting a couple pains in my back and felt some tightness in my hip, but hi, that's what stretching at red lights is for! I wasn't too concerned since I wasn't feeling any sharp pains. I don't know about you, but
I always think sharp pains are worse than dull pains.

While I was running (and not talking for some reason), my mind had plenty of time to wander. It wandered off into a place that got me thinking
maybe my not so new new sneakers are to blame for all these pains! Seriously. I've run in Mizunos (a few different models of the Inspires) for the past three years and did not once get typical runner pains. ARGH!

I know I'm definitely in the right type of shoe (light stability). I've watched myself run at work (like a dork) and everything is fine - no movement, no weird things, nothing. I got the Nike Elites because they had a little more cushioning and were a little narrower. They are comfy sneakers...I really hate to blame them for my IT band pain, but they're the only thing that's changed lately!

To remedy this I did some shopping while I was at job number two last night (duh).
Ta Daaa. I really need to stop shopping while at work. I left with a pair of my safety - the Inspire 5 (I was worried that this update would be too roomy in the toebox, but I actually didn't notice it), my
favorite sports bra in a fun new purple, and another pair of Balegas (I hate all my other socks now). Sports bra and socks are totally coming on Saturday's long run; Inspires will slowly get broken in on the 'mill.

Sorry for the random doodad tangent!

We got back to the apartment and I did lots of stretches and got to work on dinner -
Tofu Stirfry over Brown Rice
This was quite a spicy dish! I took a cue from Quinn and
pressed some extra firm tofu and marinated it in some soba tsuyu, chili-garlic paste, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Threw it in the oven to bake a bit, but I'm not very patient so it didn't do much :\

While the tofu was in the oven, I chopped up some
pretty orange pepper
I stir fried the tofu, pepper, some
onions and snap peas with some chili oil, sesame oil, mirin, oyster sauce, soy sauce and...
Ahhh
sriracha...how I've missed you!
Not a bad stir fry recipe...it could have used some shitake mushrooms, or maybe less spice. Not my fave, but it hit the spot after tonight's run :)

I'm off to bed...tomorrow's an early and long day. Be sure to check out Val's Holey Donut Giveaway - who doesn't love a tasty treat?? Also, there are 3 more days left for this week's Blogger Secret Ingredient (thanks for introducing this to me, Sophia!). Check out Zoe's blog for the Feta-licious details!

4 comments:

MarathonVal said...

Hi Karena! I hate to say this because I don't like being negative and I'm sure tons of people would disagree with me - but I've been told by many people who are far better runners than I that Nikes are the WORST running shoes!

So perhaps you need to try a different brand? I personally love my Brooks :)and like you said, I've heard nothing but great reviews about Mizuno, too. But again, I hate to say anything because I know everyone has different tastes.

I also know that it's possible that our strides sometimes change over time (from normal to overpronation, etc), so maybe it's worth looking into what your current stride is again, just to make sure. Good luck and happy running! :)

Karena said...

Hey Val - Yeppers, bought the Nikes even after hearing people say they were bad...mostly b/c they were cushier. When I started training at job number 2 a few weeks ago, I used myself as an example so my coworkers and I watched me run (we do our analysis w/a video camera - schnazz) and I'm still in the same category. Plus, I've tried on every sneaker we sell at the store (not that we have a ton, but that's a lot of trying on!) so I could understand the fit of each shoe and not sound like a spaz ;) Totally a Mizuno girl through and through! Moral of the story - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

B.o.B. said...

Mmmm sriracha. So delish, yet so hard on my belly. I was running in mizunos but switched to asics. I am liking them just as much. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Zoe said...

You are so healthy and determined...I need to learn from you! I hope you can submit something for BSI by sunday! Cant wait