Sorrysorrysorry

I've got lots of fun foods I've been experimenting (think soy-fest!), but it's not looking like a good week. It's only Monday and things just aren't going so great...definitely puts a damper on my motivation to blog :(

I am taking a ton of photos and actually taking note of what I think of some of these new products I picked up at Whole Foods this weekend, so I hope to get back into things later on this week. Promise to catch up on everyone's blogs soon!!

Technologic.

Allow me to introduce you to my new running buddy:
Ah yes, the Nike+ SportBand. I've been eying this for a couple months and decided last night that I really don't need the Garmin 405 (even though it's pretty f-ing cool)...I know I'm a technology moron and I wouldn't use half of the features on that pricey doodad. This however, was a nice, reasonably priced alternative.

Basically this functions the same way the Nike+Ipod system works...without an Ipod. The 'Link', or the front/face of the band, is the part that connects to your computer to upload all your runs. Big selling point for me? ONLY TWO BUTTONS. That's right. One main button to start and stop and another to toggle the functions. WOOO! Pretty user friendly, ey? It gets better. Directions:
That's right! PICTURES! It's like it was made for me ;)

I had to charge the Link for 2 hours last night before using it this morning. A little annoying, but whatever. Popped the sensor (o yes, it comes with the sensor) into a shoe pocket, laced it into my sneakers and realized how much funky stuff I have going on:
O yes, new pair of shoes...more on them later. So I've got the shoe pocket lacing going on PLUS my 'special' lacing technique that I've started doing on most of my sneakers to keep my heel from slipping. Putting sneakers on before a run is getting more complicated. hehe.

The sportband on:
The model on all the pictures has the Link facing in, which I think is weird. But it might be because the other side looks funky on the front
Pretty sure that silver thing is supposed to fall in the middle of your wrist...not the case on mine. I started thinking that it was because I bought the 'guy color', but no. I think it's just me.

Anyway, I jumped on the treadmill for my 1 mile calibration run hoping that I could make the whole mile. I DID! :) No pain! I took it super slow and switched to heel striking (which made me clomp clomp on the treadmill) and it was a success! Hooraayy! I figured I shouldn't push it so I did some ellipticaling and strength training afterward.

So dear SportBand, how did you do?? Not so good. The instructions say that it usually works well for most people without calibration. UM, mine was off by .35 miles. I fixed it and we'll see how it works during tomorrow's run. I'm thinking I'll do 1-1.5 and see how it feels. I also pulled out the trusty foam roller and rolled out my left calf. OH MY GOD. Works wonders!

More on the band tomorrow. Off to work and then Jamie's going away hurrah!

Breakfast Success and Memory Food!

So that breakfast experiment...
Went oh so well! Not exactly the healthiest breakfast, but it sure tasted good ;)

When I realized it was my turn for breakfast, I scoured FoodGawker for some ideas. Since I'm terrible at being creative with breakfast items, I decided to actually follow a recipe. It definitely paid off. I was getting tons of compliments on the dish!

Thanks to Elizabeth's Edible Experience, I was introduced to this tasty treat - Southern Sausage Cake.
Jamie picked up all the ingredients and after dinner last night, I started working on the 'cake'. There was a ton of chopping to do and Jamie helped make the biscuit batter while I got to work on browning these babies:
Please note how huge those sausage rolls are! He picked up a pound each of mild and hot pork sausage. This much bulk sausage will never be seen in my kitchen again. Not going to lie, the smell of all that pork browning at once was not pleasant...at least not until I added the other ingredients
Popped it in the oven for 45 minutes and it was ready to hang out for the evening! Warmed it for another 15 when I woke up this morning, popped it in our trusty carrying case
Such a smart invention...I think we picked this up when Jamie had to make breakfast for his office and I'll admit that I thought it was a little cheesy at first. Now I think it's the best thing ever.

Check out the tasty goodness!
We originally had a pasta dish planned for tonight, but I wasn't feeling it and Jamie forgot to defrost bacon. Instead we opted for some Roasted Buttercup Squash with Kale and Ham and a side of Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend with Mixed Veggies.
Roasted Buttercup Squash with Kale and Ham
1 buttercup squash, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
1/2 to 2/3 c ham, cubed
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 to 3 c kale, chopped
3 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp soba tsuyu
1 tsp chili oil
1/4 c water or broth

Preheat oven to 475 and line a baking sheet with foil. Toss buttercup squash with salt, pepper and olive oil and spread out evenly on baking sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes.
Add ham to a large, heated skillet and cook for 3 minutes. Add onions and garlic, saute for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in kale, liquids and oil, cover and cook for 5 minutes (or until kale begins to wilt) over low heat. Add squash, stir to combine.
Ccook covered for another 5 minutes before serving.
There's something about this dish (maybe it's the fish sauce?) that reminds me of a Filipino dish that was always present at family gatherings. It's not something my mom or family members would make, so I have no idea what the proper ingredients would be. However, I do know that while I was cooking this, my kitchen smelled - just for a minute - like something familiar. Have you ever accidentally made a familiar dish from your past?

Harvest Grains with Mixed Veggies
1 tbsp butter
1/3 c red pepper, diced
2-3 handfuls baby spinach
1/4 c corn (frozen, fresh or can)
1 1/2 c chicken broth
1 c Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend

Heat butter in a pot over medium high heat. Saute pepper and spinach until spinach is wilted. Add corn and chicken broth, stir and bring to a boil. Stir in grains, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10-12 minutes.
If some liquid remains, cook for another 2-3 minutes uncovered on medium heat.
I forgot that these grains need some seasoning, otherwise they are just plain grains. It was actually a pretty good combination with the salty, briny kale...the two definitely balanced each other out. The corn was a good addition - little nuggets of sweetness in each bite!

Off to join Jamie for some Lost Season 1! Nitey :)

Someone is moving...

and it's not me :(

Jamie just got a kick-ass opportunity with another company (yaay!). Unfortunately, that opportunity means he has to move to Korea for 3 months...starting at the end of October (big sad face). Let me provide you with a little graphic:

This is how I chose to spend 5 minutes of my day. HA.

While I'm really excited and happy about his new adventure, I can't help but be a tad bit selfish and sad that he won't be around for a few big events - the Marine Corps Marathon (I know, it's not like it's my first, but still), a wedding, Turkey Day, Christmas, his birthday/New Years. Sad. But it's just three months right? It's not like a whole year of no Chef Jamie. :)

I know, I sound like a big baby, but it's really hard to imagine what it'll be like living without the person you've lived with for (holy crap) almost 4 years? And it's not like he's just moving to the opposite coast - this one mother of a time difference!

So, please excuse me if I have scattered posts over the next few weeks. We've got lots to take care of (including a possible move to a smaller place for me) on top of work and training. Yeesh!

To distract me a little bit and keep me in the positive zone, here are some fall things I've got planned/am planning :)

• Selin in town = good eats (keep an eye out for a post-Proof and A&J report!)
• Sister, bro-in-law and my two adorable nephews in town for a last visit w/Jamie (yay fun kids!)
• Wedding weekend in NJ w/just us girls from college :)
• Mini-vacay to visit Selin in SF (weekend of the FoodBuzz Festival, but still sitting on whether or not I'll partake in the festivities. HELP!)

Ok, that really only brings me to early November haha. More to come after tonight's 8-miler!

Finally!

Time to put my feet up and rest! Phew! This morning's 19 miler started off dark and chilly, but we knocked those somewhat hilly miles out in 3 hours and 50 minutes. Not too shabby considering we both were guilty of skipping a few runs this week and the whole sick thing! Wooo! The weather was absolutely PERFECT for running and the strange thing was that I was actually able to breathe! haha. My sinuses were totally clear and happy during the run, but the minute I stopped, they clogged up again. Argh.

New kicks worked out wonderfully, save the last surge up a hill where I got a pinching feeling between my middle and ring toes, but I'm pretty sure it's something weird with my feet. V and I had a casual walk to my old bagel spot in Woodley Park, grabbed a SALTY salt bagel and some watermelon and we were golden :)

The only downside to our run? Somewhere between mile 16 and 17, we stopped to refill our bottles at a water fountain on the mall. V took a sip as we made our way around the Washington Monument and immediately spit it out. Me, being curious, took a sip of mine and wanted to gag. It tasted like sewage! Even after emptying my bottle it smelled foul! UGH! Amphipod is getting soaked in hot water and soap as we speak!

Before heading off to work this afternoon, I went with my latest breakfast creation - the PB&J Quesadilla:
OK, I KNOW, it's not a pretty picture! I toasted two flour tortillas and spread some peanut butter and guava jelly in between. The peanut butter got all melty and the crunch of the two tortillas was a perfect balance! Beats all the extra bread in a pb&j sammich!

It's been a LONG long weekend filled with working tons of shifts at the store, which is time consuming, but a fun change from being stuck in an office all day. So glad to finally be able to stretch and let my feet rest! We did a quick grocery run for the week (hoping to do at least two fun new dinners) and saw that Sabra Hummus was on sale - Buy one, Get one FREE. Score! Only flavor left? Um, THE BEST KIND!!
Seriously, people - AMAZING hummus. But you know what, if no one wants to buy it in my neighborhood, then so be it. I will gladly take all the Jalapeno Hummus Giant has to offer :p

For dinner tonight, we defrosted a container of chili - nothing exciting so no photo, but I do love eating chili long after the first time it's cooked :)

For dessert we had some Lychee Coconut Ice Cream
I saw Janice's creation on Filipina Loves Food a few weeks ago and knew Jamie was going to get an urge to make some ice cream soon, so I immediately sent him the recipe. He ran into a bit of a freezing problem - I think he added the lychees and juice too soon - and it wasn't freezing properly in the ice cream maker so he ended up just dumping it into a container and freezing it. After stirring it occasionally, it finally froze, but had more of an ice milk texture. Whatever, it was still DELICIOUS! SO addictive!! Two thumbs up!

Bootcamp starts up tomorrow so I'm off to get ready! I'm preparing for jelly legs since I haven't run stairs in AGES. :) Hope everyone had a fun and relaxing weekend!

Redemption

After last night's stop/start 7 miler (have I developed a hate for city running?), I needed to redeem myself with a quick 3 mile run on the treadmill. Why 3 miles? Why the treadmill? Aren't those two of your least favorite things?? They are, but I knew if I ran on the treadmill there wouldn't be any stop lights and I could maintain a steady pace. Plus I needed a cushy ride.

I got my ass up at 7:30 (I know I know, 7:30 is LATE for most of you ;p) to go downstairs to the gym. With the help of a motivating playlist and thoughts of post-run breakfast, I knocked out the 3 miles in an easy 28 minutes. I was kinda disappointed because last time I did an easy 3 on the treadmill I did it in 27 minutes. I feel slow :( *sigh* Oh well.

Since I had some time to kill, I decided to test out this Egg in the Hole I've seen on a couple blogs. Seemed easy enough - poke a hole in your bread and plop an egg in the middle. Hm...what to cut the hole with...
I'm not a cookie cutter owning kind of girl, so I reached into the depths of our cabinets and grabbed this guy. Yes, that is a frog smoking and drinking. Klassy. Perfect size!

Ze egg in ze hole:
So, as I was trying to multitask and get my giant pile of drycleaning in order, I walked away from the stove. It wasn't on high or anything and seriously, I wasn't gone for that long. Promise...
BURNT! Salsa couldn't even make it look pretty! Agghhh. Whatever, dark toast aside, I thought it was pretty good. I'd throw some ham or bacon in or near the toast just because I love meat. Unfortunately there wasn't any to be found in the fridge.

One cannot live through the morning on just toast and egg alone so I reached for a container of Fage to make my usual yogurt parfait. I've gotten Jamie hooked on it as well so he took the container of honey with him to work, meaning I had to get creative. This morning's parfait consisted of a really cinnamon-y granola, crasins and a drizzle of maple syrup (because, let's face it, plain yogurt is not so great unless it has a little sweetness added to it).
Maple syrup - just not doing it for me. Neither is the cinnamon-y granola. I might just have to buy a large bag of that vanilla almond granola I picked up a few weeks ago!

Ok, I'm off. Work, errands, work #2 and then reading. First up - Running with Scissors. Happy Friday everyone :)

90th post!

I'm surprised I've blogged that much! Wooo! Yay, me :)

This is gonna be a quickie...long day at work followed by a run followed by MORE WORK. Yep, had more to do once I got back to the office.

I needed a break from the computer yesterday so here's a brief recap of last night's dinner:

Turkey and Spinach Casserole

3 c whole wheat egg noodles, cooked and drained
3/4 lb ground turkey

1 9oz package frozen creamed spinach, defrosted

1/3 c frozen peas, defrosted

2 tbsp sherry

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1/2 c mushrooms, diced

1 tbsp tarragon

1/2 c brie, chopped
pepper

Heat olive oil in a pan and saute onions until softened. Add ground turkey and brown. Add mushrooms and cook until soft before adding sherry.

Add tarragon, pepper and spinach and stir to combine. Add brie and stir over low heat making sure that the cheese has melted.

Pour mixture into an 8x8 baking pan, cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

So my dinner experiment wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly what I envisioned. I wanted it to be chunkier...so maybe I should have used chunks of chicken instead of ground turkey. Ah well. On to tonight!

Once again it was just Jamie and me on this downtown adventure. This time we took a break from Hains Point and did a portion of my 2nd favorite 10 mile route. This route took us through Georgetown, across the Key Bridge, along the Mount Vernon Trail, across the Memorial Bridge, along the Reflecting Pool, around the Washington Monument and the Mall. It ended up being a 7.19 mile route and despite a bunch of things going wrong (fuel belt kept hitching shorts up, shoes untied, tense shoulders, AGH!), we managed to run it at 10 min pace. Woo :)

During this crazy not right run I realized a few things. First of all, I must replace all my socks. I ran out of my trusty Balegas and had to run in my regular socks. My feet were sad. So sad, my pinky toe sprung a blister! Think I'm exaggerating? You should test these socks out...trust me, you'll never go back.

Second of all, I think I may have developed a love for my Nike Elites. Remember when I first got them and was so excited and then I decided they were giving me pains, well I've been switching back and forth between them and the Inspires. I'm sorry dear Inspires, you will not be my MCM sneaker, not if I can feel all the pebbles on the sidewalk when I try to adjust my form :(

I just purchased a pair of new Elites online because our store doesn't have them in my size. Hi, my name is Karena and I'm a running sneaker addict. I also purchased my other 'must have during training' item - a box of Mocha Clif Shot gels. Hell yes.

What is your 'must have' workout item (clothing/shoe/food)?

Since I was STARVING mid run last week, I paid a visit to the Daily Market around 4 and picked up some Sabra To Go Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with Pretzel Crisps for my pre-run snack. Just enough food to keep my belly happy :)

Post run, Jamie helped me assemble some proposals that needed to go out first thing tomorrow and then we decided that some Naan and Beyond was in order! Um yes, apparently we like some Indian food post 7 mile weekday run...I believe this is the 2nd week in a row? I originally asked for some Chicken Biryani, and the guy scooped it and was like yeah, no. I can't serve this to you. I appreciate that. A lot. If you can be honest with me and tell me that there's something wrong with one of your dishes, you get a gold star in my book.

I went with the Veggie Combo Plate which was rice, saag, chickpeas, veggies and a side of naan.

That's a whole lotta food! I'm not quite sure what to do with all the leftovers since I plan on making my BSI entry tomorrow night. Ah well. My dinner was deeeeeeeeeeelicious, especially with a side of mango chutney. MMM.

I'm off to bed now that I'm all digested. Just some evening foam roller action and then it's off to wonderful WONDERFUL sleepyland. I think I might venture to the gym tomorrow night for some much needed strength training. Julia over at Chocolate Shoestrings had an awesome and motivating post about strength training the other day that made me remember that it is an absolute must...even though I always seem to forget about it. You should check it out!

Promise I'll have more fun stuff tomorrow! :)

Burnt out

I can't even get the day of the week straight! GAH!

I've been bringing the cheesy baked pasta to work the past couple of days so I needed to put it in time out. Jamie had it for dinner while I chomped on this:
Sometimes you just need some greens with your corn ;) I dumped some romaine, chick peas, cucumbers, corn and cubes of pepper jack cheese into a bowl. For my 'dressing' I took about a teaspoon of this:
a teaspoon of tahini, 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon olive oil. I eat really random things, I know. I've occasionally been known to eat a can of corn with some salad dressing or cayenne pepper. Do you have any particularly bizarre 'meals'?

If you haven't guessed I skipped my 3 mile run tonight and I'm ok with that. After working both jobs today (and o boy was job number one draining today) and hearing the running group from job number two talk about how hot and sticky it was, there was no way I was getting out there for a 3 mile run. Eff that. I might actually consider switching to a 2 weekday run training program instead of this 3 weekday thing. My schedule is not making it easy. Ech.

Sorry for the short post, but I feel like I need to catch up on sleep and decompress :\ I'll let you know how the new sneaks work out tomorrow - I'm kinda looking forward to running in my trusty Inspires...oh how I've missed them :)

And on another random note (because it seems to be a random kind of week), I got an invite via Facebook to my 10 year HS reunion...

Hooray for productive Saturdays!

Hello hello! I've had quite the productive Saturday, how about you?

My day started out with a long-ish run at 7:20 am. Jamie and I ran downhill (with every downhill there's a steep uphill) to meet running buddy numero uno by 7:30. I had to be back at the apartment by 9 to get ready for work, so I scrapped the original 8-9 mile plan so we wouldn't feel too rushed. We went with a basic out and back route that ended up being 7.5 miles...with a ginormous hill...so we only ran 7. Eh, I'm ok with that.

After getting back and showering, I shoved an english muffin with peanut butter in my face (Susan, you are a belly life saver) and then off to day number two at the running store! I kinda love it. I'm learning such random stuff about running shoes and it's fun talking to the customers and everyone I work with about running stuff (because I know most of my friends don't care ;p).

Wasn't really feeling the shred after running and standing for 7 hours straight, so Day 4 will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm thinking no shred on long run days, yah?

I was thinking about making some sushi (california/spicy california rolls, eel avocado, eel cucumber) for dinner, but Jamie's tastebuds had something else in mind. We walked to Cleveland Park to check out Sabores - a tapas restaurant we had seen a few times but never visited. We read reviews on Yelp and across the board it seemed to get fairly good reviews about the food, but not so good reviews on the price. Figured we'd give it a shot anyway.

Tucked away on Ordway (just around the corner from Dino and across from California Tortilla), Sabores is entirely open air seating during the summer months. It resembles a side patio and has garage doors that are closed during the colder months. There aren't that many tables, but I thought it was a fun, cozy setting.

To start, we ordered (surprise!) Caipirinhas. Jamie went with the regular and I decided to try the Caipiruva - a caipirinha with smashed red grapes!
It was really refreshing and I think the sweetness of the grapes were a great addition...it toned down the tartness of the lime. This is totally going on the next Caipirinha Saturday menu haha.

To supplement our bevies, our waiter brought out some crusty bread and this really good dip. It tasted like olive oil with coarsely chopped green olives and salt mixed in. Tasty!

For our dinner, Jamie and I decided to order 2 plates each and share. I picked the Aguacata a la Reina "Sabores" (avocado stuffed with local crab salad and lemon vinaigrette) and the Taquitos de Borrego (braised lamb taquitos with red onion, radishes and salsa verde):

The avocado dish was surprisingly too avocado-y...and we all know how much I love avocado! I kinda wish they scooped out just a little bit of the avocado so you didn't just taste avocado. I didn't taste the lemon vinaigrette so I squeezed some lime from my taquitos on. I think the dish could have used some salt or something acidic. The crab salad was really mild tasting and creamy so it made the dish really rich. I don't know, I gave Jamie the top half of the avocado with the crab. Maybe that's where all the vinaigrette was??

I really loved the sauce on the taquitos, though I think this dish would be fine with beef. I don't think the lamb made it anything spectacular (and I love lamb).

Jamie picked the Croquetas de Jamon (ham croquettes with serrano ham, green onions and manchego cheese), which were delicious because who doesn't love a deep fried ham croquette?? I only had one b/c I wanted to save room for dessert - these little suckers are heavy!
His second pick were the Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp cooked in garlic, olive oil and oregano):
These were in an amazing sauce...tangy, garlicky and slightly briny. mmm. My one minor issue with the shrimp was that I'm used to this dish being less soupy/watery. Usually I've had the garlic shrimp that has a thicker base - almost like a garlic oil or butter. These were good, but c'mon...everyone loves some good garlic butter now and then ;)

Overall, the food at Sabores was fairly good...good sized portions for a tapas restaurant since each of these dishes could easily be split among 2-4 people. However, I don't think that I would go back again considering the prices. Well, maybe I'd go back for the Caipiruva ;)

For dessert we walked to Yogiberry for some frozen yogurt :) I'm always up for some Yogiberry, but I found myself craving it even more so today when I saw a bunch of people come into the store with cups this afternoon!

I asked the woman at the counter if I could sample some of the green tea flavor and yeah, not so good. Went with my standard:
Original with Yogurt Chips, Blackberries and Strawberries. They had a bunch of new toppings that I wanted to check out (cinnamon chips and canteloupe were on my maybe list, but not together) but alas, I am a creature of habit.

Jamie went with the candy filled dessert:
Original with M&Ms, Cap'n Crunch and Butterscotch Chips. He got all sad because he meant to ask for toffee crunch instead of butterscotch. All that just made my teeth hurt.

Time to watch the next installment of On the Road Again: Spain! Looking forward to a calm Sunday - 30 Day Shred and maybe an easy, mid to long run.

Touched down in London town?

Happy cloudy Friday! After a killer bootcamp workout, I headed to the office to dump some stuff off and pick up the fancy camera and then back out the door I went. Took a few shots of Elephant & Castle that weren’t all that great (stupid moving truck blocked a whole potential shot!) and then stopped at Pret A Manger on the way back. The last time I went to one of these was during a trip to London in 2003 so I figured eh, let’s keep going with the British theme!

Grabbed a coffee (much needed! Why am I dragging so much these days??) and an Egg & Roasted Tomato Baguette. There were a ton of fun smoothies and yogurts, but I just wasn’t feeling it this morning. Got back to the office, opened my sandwich up and um, yeah. I thought I was getting like a breakfast egg sandwich w/roasted tomato. Wrong-o! EGG SALAD! I kinda hate and love egg salad – most of the time I think it’s stinky and too creamy. Other times, like in deviled egg, I think it’s AWESOME. Whatever, I was starving so I ate it. It wasn’t too painful. Lesson learned.

I also learned I want an SLR camera in a bad way. I’ve always thought about it, but I’ve never actually played around with one until today. I love it so much more than my point and shoot! So much more flexibility and control, *sigh* so much more money…

Jamie was trying to get an earlier flight back from Houston today, so I had thought of some potential dinner ideas. Unfortunately he is now trapped in the airport dealing with delays. I was too tired and gross after my 9 hour (should have only been 4!) work day sans shower and run so I was not at all interested in cooking. Considering I consumed a bunch of garbage today (after the weird egg salad sandwich, I had a handful of Goldfish and some homemade hummus w/veggies from a coworker), I decided to walk up to Chop't for a salad. I got the Cabo Cobbo (chicken, iceberg, romaine, black beans, red onions, tortilla strips, corn - duh) with the Avo-peno dressing on the side:

It wasn't bad...the avo-peno dressing was a little too thick and creamy for me. I think it needed a splash of vinegar or something. Definitely had a nice kick though. Sorry for boring food!

I made a pit stop at Potomac River Running (told you it's bad!) to pick up a few packets of my favorite gel:

I got hooked on these right before Chicago and these suckers are hard to find! I might have to just buy a box of them to stash away ;)

On the walk back, I started thinking about the weather and my run tomorrow and I decided that with the onset of warmth and humidity I'd post a few of my hot weather running staples. These are items I rarely leave home without during the summer months. Running with Team in Training during the summer months definitely gave me some good habits and I try my best to pass them on to any of my newbie runner friends :)

Keeping cool is critical (especially when running through the gross, humid DC summer), so cotton = EVIL. It gets so heavy and soggy when you sweat! I love shirts made of wicking material but I'm also really picky about textures. Here's my standard top half ensemble:

Yep, that's lime green and bright yellow - the only loud colors I allow in my closet. Love this Nike Dri-FIT Core Bra. It's supportive and not heinous :) I have the Training Tank in like 4 different colors and it's SO comfy and it keeps me cool!

Once those are on, it's BODY GLIDE TIME!!

This stuff is the BEST. If I could, I'd bathe in it pre-run. Ok, that's kinda gross, but whatever. This stuff goes on like deodorant and keeps the blisters away. You can put it on your feet, thighs, arms...anywhere that might get chafed during your run! I'm so addicted to this stuff, I even use it on my feet when I'm not running - hello, strappy shoes! I think they also make one with sunscreen.

Last, but not least...my fuel belt! (the CamelBak on the left was my first purchase, but now it's just used for friends)

I used to think these were lame and I made it about 4 weeks into training for my first marathon before I finally caved and got one. The folks at TNT were hardcore about water. They didn't say you absolutely needed to buy a belt, but you had to at least have a water bottle on you during the long runs. Three years later, I can't live without it.

They may look stupid, but they come in really handy. There have been so many instances where I've been running on the mall and the water fountains aren't on or there just aren't any on my route. It's also been helpful during races. When they ran out of water and it was unseasonably hot during the 2007 Army Ten Miler, I was SO thankful I had my belt full of water!

Bottoms will be saved for another day. I'm still deciding on those ;)

Promise more food tomorrow! The National Asian Heritage Festival is definitely on my to-do list tomorrow, but I just read on Quinn's blog that the Greek Festival is this weekend as well! I probably would have missed it! There's always good food there so definitely check it out!