It's my jam

Since I've been rocking the treadmill a lot lately, I've needed some serious tunes to keep me going. I have no idea how anyone runs more than 4 miles on a treadmill. I start to go crazy around 3.5 miles and that's with music blaring, TV on and a treadmill facing a big picture window. Respect.

For everyone that can't stand running indoors, here are some trusty tunes that I've had on repeat lately:

Easy - Groove Armada

Valerie - Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse

Drive It Like You Stole It - The Glitch Mob

Ooh Wee - Mark Ronson, Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg, Trife & Saigon

People Everyday - Arrested Development

Kiksu (Original Mix) - Albert & Kyau

Rocketeer - Far East Movement

Let Me Think About It (Club Mix) - Ida Corr & Fedde le Grand

H.I.A - Chemical Brothers

So What'cha Want - Beastie Boys

La Bomba - Ricky Martin

It Began in Afrika - Chemical Brothers

I'm always looking for more music, so please share what songs get you motivated at the gym!

Work it out.

Well, I'm clearly not concussed since it's been over a week since my little spill and I'm functioning and posting. Again, ladies and gentlemen, don't forget to wear your helmets!

I'm also happy to report that my gross knee bruise is calming down and doesn't hurt that much. I can no longer use it as an excuse not to go to the gym haha. The gym and I are slowly getting acquainted, though I still think it's wrong to run on a treadmill when I live in perfect running weather.

I've started machine hopping partly in response to my gym ADD and partly so I don't overdo it on the running. Machine hopping at the gym means putting in some QT with machines I hate (read: elliptical, stair master, bike). A mere 10-15 minutes on each seems like such a chore to me :( It's slowly getting better the more I do it, but agh. So rough!

And so I present you with a few songs that have gotten me through recent gym trips:

History - Groove Armada (feat. Will Young)

Swoon (Boyz Noize Summer Remix) - Chemical Brothers

Scared of Me - Fedde Le Grand

More - Usher

House Stabs - Luke Vibert

15 Step - Radiohead

Tighten Up - The Black Keys

Give a Little More - Maroon 5

Pretty random selection, I know. One of these days I'll get around to refreshing my running playlist...

What do you do when you're trapped indoors for a workout? What songs get you through a terribly boring workout?

Post lame-o workout, I found myself seriously craving a dinner sammich. Weird, right? Originally I planned on using my Guacamole Tuna Salad as a topping for greens, but agh...this sammich craving was way too strong!

(source)

*btw, still weirded out that Arnold is Oroweat here.

Topped one of these with some greens, followed by a couple spoonfuls of tuna and ta da! Dinner in 5! I was pleasantly surprised with my guacatuna salad (do you like how I've given it 3 different names?)...just enough saltiness, spiciness and creaminess! I was worried the carrot bits (I don't usually put carrots in guac or tuna salad) being weird, but they added a nice crunch. I diced them super small so the carrot taste wasn't too overwhelming. I highly recommend this recipe :)

Not only did I have a successful dinner experiment, but I also got another fun package in the mail...

New sneaks...times two!

So I tried the Inspire 7s on a couple weeks ago and sort of flipped out. I didn't like that they came up too high on my ankle and something just felt off about them. Boo.

I did some research on the Google and turns out they actually tightened things up a bit for a more secure ankle and arch. All that sounds great to me, but apparently my feet disagree :(

After that not so fun experience, I went online and tried to find a cheap pair of the Inspire 6s. I found them and ended up buying two pairs to tide me over. Phew. I don't know what I'll do the day I have to get new shoes :\

It's December?

I walked around without a jacket this afternoon. In December.

I'm in denial that there are only 2 weekends until Christmas.

I should go shopping soon. Instead I'm building playlists and catching up on blogs.

In an effort to get myself in the Christmas mood, I browsed through some old holiday photos...

(kinda miss the old home...definitely miss the tree.)

And built a Christmas playlist (just a few of my old and new faves):

Last Christmas - Jimmy Eat World

What Christmas Means to Me - Stevie Wonder

Welcome Christmas - Glee

Christmas Lights - Coldplay

To kill a little more time (well, not really, it helped as I made a present), I also built a Brain Escape playlist. A what? Yeah, brain escape...like way beyond a chillax playlist. Songs that completely calm me down no matter how crazy the day gets. For some reason, I always get in the mood for these songs during the holidays. Must be the weather.

A sampling for you guys:

Getaway Car - Audioslave

Home - Michael Buble

Don't Panic - Coldplay

Your Song (Tim "Love" Lee's Semi Bearded Remix) - Groove Armada

Really random selection, but it puts me at ease. What puts you in the holiday mood? What takes you away from the craziness of life?

The hills are alive

With the sound of thousands of Nike Women's Marathoners!!

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This particular race will always have a special place in my heart since it was my very first marathon and my first visit to San Francisco. I was absolutely thrilled to cheer for some pretty awesome ladies this morning :)

Did I mention this was my first time as a cheerleader? Yeeeah.

Since I was cheering on a bunch of half marathoners (real life friends and a Twitter/blogger buddy!) and a super speedy solo marathoner, I needed to do some serious planning. Naturally, I ran to the cheering spots (gotta multi-task!) and managed to rack up 8 miles with a few pauses here and there. Not too shabby for my first post-Chicago, post-sick run.

On my way to cheering spot numero uno, I managed to see one of the first runners as she zoomed past the 4.5 mile mark.

So fast, you can barely see her! I thought it was kinda cool since I've never seen the front of the pack before :)

I veered off the course for a bit to run along the Crissy Field Promenade before cutting across to the runners' giant climb. I really really wanted to park myself at the top of this hill because I remember it being the steepest, longest, most brutal climb of the race. I also remember thinking the hill was totally worth it for the view.

Amazing. I only wish it was a clearer day!

This was also the last major incline I remember from running the race. Seriously, everything else was a speed bump compared to that monster. Three years later, I ran up a dirt path alongside the runners and it was still tough!

SO, my sign said 'Last Hill'...though, now I know I probably should have specified, last super steep hill. Some people were really not nice about it. I got called liar a bunch of times and some people were REALLY snippy. Meh? So I kept yelling 'I mean, last big, steep one!' Ah well. You win some, you lose some.

I had a tough time spotting people, but luckily I told friends what to look for and they ended up having to shout my name so I could see them!

(yeah, I braved the chill just so they could spot me and maybe so I could finally rock my gear from Chicago ;p)

Wooo! Two out of four rockstars charging it up the never ending incline!

I hung out until a little before 9am and started my run toward Lake Merced to cheer on my full marathoner buddy. I ran back down toward Crissy Field and saw more runners as they started their ascent (so many runners!).

Rocked out to the song that was stuck in my head all afternoon because someone had it on repeat at the bottom of the hill...

I might need to add it to my running mix. haha.

One hour to make it to Lake Merced...it was a tough call. Run? Cab? Take a chance w/the rerouted bus routes and then run?? I planned on running to a major street and hopping into a cab, but I managed to get to a bus stop just as one was pulling up. Sweet!

See, Lake Merced was another rough spot for me when I ran 3 years ago. It's a 4.5 mile empty stretch along the lake's perimeter and you run right next to traffic. Since it's so far out, there aren't a ton of spectators out there...and it pops up right when you need people the most - miles 19-23.5!

A friend of mine agreed to come out and cheer with me so she parked herself with a sign around mile 22 just in case I couldn't get there in time. We were equipped with water and Chomps just in case our runner needed them!

My bus dropped me off just north of the lake and I ran along the eastern side...little did I know I would be running alongside the marathoners for TWO miles. Flashbacks!!

Everyone was looking great and so strong, despite the change in weather (at this point, it started raining and the temperature dropped a little)! So many purple TNT singlets...so proud of everyone for fundraising AND rocking the challenging course :)

I eventually made it to mile 22 and we waited for speedy to come by. We saw her after awhile and it was like we were two proud mommas! She looked FABULOUS for 22 miles in...chipper and fast! We ran with her for a minute or two, but she was too fast for us...we were worried that we were slowing her down. Still waiting to see if she made her goal of 4 hours :)

Congratulations to ALL the half marathoners and marathoners!! You guys tackled some serious hills and bad weather and still looked amazing. I loved watching you all and taking a little side trip down memory lane :) Enjoy the recovery and the sweet necklace...you earned it :)

Longest. Run. EVER.

Lesson learned, man. I should always stick to my "stay home every Friday night" rule...no more exceptions.

(source)

Last night I caved and met up with friends for some shabu-shabu at Cafe Mums in Japantown.

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Have I mentioned my love of shabu-shabu before? Thin slices of meat, bubbling broth, veggies, noodles, sauce...AAHH YUM! There was this place in Rockville that Jamie and I would go to (total hole in the wall, obvs), and the last time we were craving shabu-shabu we found out it was closed! AGH! It's been ages since my last shabu-shabu experience so I really couldn't say no ;)

I had no idea what I was in for. Apparently Mums is known for it's all-you-can-eat and drink deal. Ehhh. I allowed myself a sake bomb and then stuck to water for the rest of the night. The late late night.

A few communal plates of meat and several hours later, it's way past my bedtime and I'm BEYOND full. I finally got home at 11:30...a little too late considering I had to be out the door at 6:30am for my 18 miler. Yeeh.

Woke up still painfully full (how is that even possible??) so I passed on meeting up with the early morning group runners. I was determined to get all 18 done today no matter what, so I forced myself to get out before noon...even with a belly full o cow :\

Since it was going to be a doozy of a run, I actually rocked the headphones. The first time in a long time for me! Took it slow and steady to make sure I didn't burn out and did pretty well for the first 13 miles...until this guy popped up:

Mapping fail! The following block (we're nearing 14 miles at this point) was a set of stairs. Meh. I ended up running halfway up the hills and walking the rest. And believe me, there were a bunch of hills.

Things flattened out eventually, but I had to make a pitstop at a Vitamin Shoppe to get more water/electrolyte beverage because there are no water fountains in the middle of the city. Hm. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find Gatorade while running? Bizarre. Then I found myself in a pretty sketchy part of town where I got creepy comments as I bolted through the streets. In the middle of the day. Yeah, I will not include that neighborhood in future runs.

My second and final mapping fail came at the very end when I realized I mapped the last smidge of the run through the Stockton Street Tunnel. PASS. I decided it was ok if my run was just shy of 18. Seriously, I'm not going to be picky. I got it done, right? I have no idea how long it actually took since it was a lot of city running with traffic lights and random stops (hi, Vitamin Shoppe). All I know is that I was extremely grateful to have headphones. Here's just a snippet of what got me going this afternoon...

Come With Us - Chemical Brothers

Bring it On - Lenny Kravitz

OMG (Disco Fries Extended Mix) - Usher

Footloose - Kenny Loggins

Theme from Wide Angle - Hybrid

Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz

I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance (Twelves Remix) - Black Kids

Not Myself Tonight - Christina Aguilera

Here I Am (Kaskade Radio Edit) - David Morales & Tamra Keenan

Paper Romance - Groove Armada

Leave Home - Chemical Brothers

It Began in Afrika - Chemical Brothers

Sincerely Me - A New Found Glory

Yeh, I also surprised myself with all the Lenny Kravitz and Chemical Brothers. And that I went through my entire playlist on this run. All 64 songs. Jeebus. Also, Footloose seems to be one of my favorite songs to run to b/c I repeated it 3 times. Hahahaha heeey Kenny Loggins!!

How did your Saturday runs go?? I hope they went much smoother than mine did!

La Di Dah.

How was your 4th of July weekend? Not long enough? My thoughts exactly ;p

I woke up Sunday morning well rested and popped on over to the Fort Mason Farmers Market for some produce. I ended up with just a few fruits...grapes, peaches, nectarines and a bag of mixed greens. I guess some of the vendors took the weekend off. *sigh*

I grabbed some sweet potatoes and brownie mix at Safeway and got to work on some delicious picnic treats. Plan was to bust out the mandoline and make some baked sweet potato chips. I googled how to bake sweet potato chips and it seemed easy enough...

See how pretty the potatoes were post-mandoline? Gorgeous!

Popped those puppies into the oven at 400 degrees (most of the recipes said 350-450) and set the timer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, I opened the oven door and my taters were black. WTF?! They weren't even black and crispy. They were black and soggy!

Refusing to admit defeat, I tried another batch at 375. Again, FAIL. At this point, I gave up on the sweet potato chips and just packed up my brownie bites for our Stern Grove picnic since I was running out of time. Unfortunately I had a giant bowl of raw sweet potato that I didn't want to waste. In the fridge you go.

By the time we got to Stern Grove, I had forgotten about my kitchen disaster and soaked up the gorgeous weather and scenery. It was a little cloudy as we descended from the parking area to the concert meadow, but I loved how we trekked through this nifty path

It made me forget I was in a city...just for a little bit :)

Then we arrived at the concert meadow:

It was definitely packed when we got there (an hour before showtime!), but we had a sweet picnic table reserved. Hooray for not having to search for grass space!

So Stern Grove (in case you didn't catch it in the pictures) is an outdoor music venue in the middle of the city that offers free concerts in the summer. Our reserved picnic table came with wine, non-alcoholic beverages and some table service. We each brought a selection of goodies to share...cheeses (lots of cheeses), brownies, cookies, bread, chips, dip, you name it. A wonderful afternoon in the sun :) We picnicked to the sounds of the San Francisco Opera for a couple hours and then skipped out to prepare for dinner.

Dinner, a mere 2.5 hours after our massive picnic, was in Cow Hollow (I think?) with phenomenal views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Crissy Field and the Bay. I must admit that I wasn't quite prepared for a San Francisco 4th of July. I brought a hoodie and scarf with me, but apparently that wasn't enough to keep me warm once the sun went down. It got COLD. Cold enough to light a fire and cold enough to light up some heat lamps. Say whaat? SO different from DC.

The chill in the air wasn't the only difference. I had been given a heads up about the fireworks show and the fog. Let's just say it was more of a colorful sky show. No matter, a good time was had by all...also, I'm not a big fireworks fan.

The next morning was pretty rough. I was so tired from staying up past my bedtime (yeah I'm a huge nerd) and from feasting so much the day before. It was one of those days where I actually stopped to buy a coffee while running errands. Woah.

I walked down to Polk Street to grab stuff for a fruit salad and was reminded of this little tidbit I stumbled upon the other week:

You've all seen What Would Brian Boitano Make, right? Well, I never saw the sneak peak video until recently. Um, that's totally my new 'hood...Loving Cup!! and my favorite hardware store! Nerd alert!

I grabbed a kiwi and a champagne mango from the Real Foods in the video and picked up some berries and cereal (can't forget breakfast!) from a favorite of mine that he doesn't visit - Polk Street Produce. I've mentioned this place before and it's become my go-to place for fruits (well, the ones that I don't find at the farmers market) because of its convenience, price and selection. Two thumbs up.

I quickly threw together a fruit salad in a tupperware and headed out to Muir Beach for a hike with friends. We took a super windy drive (so windy, I sorta got a little queasy) to the beach, parked and set off on our hike to Pirate's Cove.

The first 10 minutes or so was quite a steep climb, but the views were totally worth it.

Since we got to our destination faster than planned, we decided to keep walking...hey, it's not like we had to get back to work ;p

On the way back, we climbed up a mini side peak and yep, gorgeous.

The chilly weather and clouds didn't even bother me that much (once we were moving, of course)! I'm sure these views are even better on a sunny day...

Sticked it to me.

So you know how I mentioned my pain-free run/walk earlier today? I took The Stick to my calf not long after I finished writing and made it hurt so good. There was this crazy tight spot that I just couldn't get rid of and now it's pretty tender. Guess I showed it who's boss. Ha.

I got some more cleaning and organizing done before I got to work on prepping dinner, all to this soundtrack. On repeat. A lot. Because I love it:

Gravitas - Little People

Dundadeova - dZihan & Kamien

Alright - Jamiroquai

Dark Blue - Jack's Mannequin

1976 - RJD2

Esta Noche - Frederico Aubele

For You I Will (Confidence) - Teddy Geiger

Viejo Abasto - G-Spliff

Between Us and Them - Ulrich Schnauss

Sleeping to Dream - Jason Mraz

Super chill and perfect for my snowy day of cleaning :)

Not listed, but definitely part of the soundtrack - upstairs neighbor stomping around. WTF? It's been a little out of control the past couple of days. I swear, it's like they're either playing some serious DDR or doing some jumping jacks. No idea, but it's annoying.

Did some research for a project of mine before diving into the kitchen (to be honest, I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with that random leek). I wanted my meat to get some good marinating time in so I got it swimming in some Asian flavors around 4. On the menu - Beef and Leek Roulade with Sesame Citrus Noodles.

Beef and Leek Roulade

1 lb top round steak, pounded to about 1/4" thick

3 slices ginger, julienned

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 c soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp mirin

1 tbsp tempura sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1 leek, separated for roasting

1 shallot, quartered

salt

pepper

olive oil

1/2 tsp jalapeno, coarsely chopped

toothpicks

In a container large enough for your meat, combine ginger, garlic, soy sauce, tempura sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, mirin and salt. Coat meat with marinade and let sit for 30 minutes. Flip and let marinate for another 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place leek and shallot on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil. Roast for 15 minutes or until leeks start to show some browning. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Coarsely chop leeks and place in a food processor with jalapeno. Pulse until a paste is formed. If your leeks got too dry during the roasting process, stream in a little bit of olive oil.

Trim steak so you have a fairly even sided rectangle (save scraps for stirfry). Smear leek mixture on top 3/4 of the rectangle and roll toward you. Secure with toothpicks.

Heat oven to 375.

Heat a pan large enough for your roll to medium high heat. Sear roll on all sides before transferring to a piece of foil. Form a loose foil wrap around the roll and place into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

Sesame Citrus Noodles

Handful of rice noodles, cooked according to package

edamame

2 shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp tahini

juice of one clementine

1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

1/4 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp maple syrup

pinch salt

1 slice ginger, minced

Combine tahini, clementine juice, vinegar, soy sauce, oil, salt and ginger in a bowl. Whisk well. Toss noodles with dressing and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Scatter edamame and mushrooms on top.

So the inspiration for this dish came from the japanese dish Negimaki. I enjoy some negimaki here and there, but I'm not really cool with the whole pieces of scallion. Sometimes it's a bit much.

I started daydreaming (again) about making a beef roll with a pureed scallion-y filling awhile ago, but didn't really jump on the chance until I was at the Giant this morning. I was bummed there weren't any scallions, but I figured a leek plus a shallot might fit the bill. I also realized I didn't have any teriyaki sauce on hand so I just went with a random Asian-y marinade…and the roulade was born!

Mine ended up getting overcooked (ech! I need to pay more attention!), so the time on the recipe is what it should have been. The flavor from the leek mixture was definitely more subtle than the traditional scallion, but I really liked the slight kick from the jalapeno. Part of me thinks this would be good with a fattier cut of meat so the filling might get more flavor? I dunno. This might be one of those dishes I try multiple times…

The noodle dish also incorporates an edit after I finished dinner - I thought the noodles would be much better if they sat in the dressing for a little while (hence the 20 minute chilling time). Another variation would be the addition of cucumbers or carrots or any cool, crisp veggies. Since the Gigante was ransacked, I couldn't throw them in mine :\

Tomorrow I'm going with a less adventurous experiment...and maybe back to the tropical...can you tell I'm itching for some beach weather?? ha.