My first DNS

Kinda embarrassing, but I didn’t run yesterday’s Bridge to Bridge 12k for one simple reason: I woke up late. Terrible, right? In my 5 years of running, I have not missed a race and I’m still kicking myself for the snafu. I have no idea if I hit 'off' instead of 'snooze' on my phone, or if I just didn’t hear it go off…either way, MAJOR fail. At least the registration fee went to a good cause.

I knew I needed to get at least one run in to break in the new kicks

Me likey the new color :) I was a little worried that I wouldn't get these in time, but as soon as I laced these puppies up, all was well in the world again. I love fresh cushioning! Now, what to do with my other 3 pairs...o yes, we're back to this again. Anyone know of places in SF that take old running sneakers??

I also dated them...my new sneaker process.

I took a windy loop around the neighborhood before running errands. Not quite the same as racing a 12k, but I’ll take it. On the race week agenda: Tuesday 5 miler w/the running group, maybe a short n' speedy Wednesday run, and an easy 2 miler on Saturday...just to get the legs moving.

This DNS was a fairly appropriate way to close out yet another week of firsts...

First time I realized a speedy run can be comfortable

Tuesday's 5 miler was another speedy one and I felt amazing afterward. I was in the zone and felt like I was running strong (well maybe not at the end when I was too nervous I'd trip on my own two feet since it was so dark). All this time I've been sticking to my cruising pace...I had no idea I had a speedy side that was itching to bust out!

First Giants game

Wednesday night I went to my very first Giants game...

Amazing seats. I don't think I'll be able to go to another game. I've been spoiled. Hahaha. Also, I found out that they serve amazing caramel corn at AT&T Park.

Warm, gooey, buttery, AAAAHHH!! SO GOOD!

First knife purchase

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Hi new knife!

I've been sitting on this WS gift card since I moved so when I got an email saying there was a sale on Wüsthof Classic knives, you bet I zoomed out to get one.

It's not my first Wüsthof knife, but it's the first I've purchased on my own. My o so favorite santoku knife was a gift from Jamie. I went into the store with the intent to buy the 6" chef's knife, but when I compared it to the feel of the 8", there was too big of a difference not to upgrade. The 8" just felt right (that's what she said har, har, har). Plus, why would I get a shorter knife than the one I already have?

I'm content. Best. Purchase. Ever. And yes, I'm THAT excited about a knife.

First stew-y/to be frozen and eaten later kitchen adventure

It had to be done sometime (recipe is at the end of this post)...

I was craving some Japanese curry and I figured what better time to make it than oh, you know, a Friday afternoon. That's just how I roll.

It's been awhile since I made a batch and I was worried I didn't have a pot big enough, especially with all the nuggets of deliciousness I planned on putting in it. Thankfully my pot didn't overflow and it was a successful curry afternoon. This version used a couple ingredients I had in the apartment that desperately needed to be cooked: Japanese sweet potato, mystery box carrots, kabocha squash, and (the not so perishable) frozen peas. Delish.

First time out on a Friday night (you know, out out)

I met up at a friend's for dinner before we all went to a going away party. *Note: I also had my first Morningstar Farm Chipotle Black Bean Burger and I LOVED IT.

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I think I just love all bean-y foods. It was nice and spicy, filling and had a great texture. Definitely recommend it.

The going away party was at a very interesting (to say the least) bar called Kozy Kar on Polk Street. I say interesting because there are booths/seating areas set up like the back of a van and the floor is lined with naked photos. It's kinda like the bar fell out of a scene in Boogie Nights. Very random.

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Anyway, it was a wallet-friendly bar from what my receipts tell me and cans of PBR were all over the place. I don't think I've ever seen so much PBR before!

So that was my pre-race week week of firsts. This week I'm taking it easy, getting lots of rest and taking a preemptive strike against germs. Yeah, my office is full of sickies right now and with my luck, I'll catch something this week. Ech. Oh, hey Airborne, NyQuil and water...my three best friends.

Kitchen Cabinet Curry

3/4 to 1 lb stew beef

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 kabocha squash, chopped

1 japanese sweet potato, chopped

1 3.5 oz package S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix, medium hot

1 1/2 tbsp oil

2 c water

3/4 c chicken broth

1/2 c frozen peas, defrosted

2 bay leaves

Sprinkle flour, salt and pepper over beef to coat. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 3 quart pot and add beef. Brown beef and scoop pieces onto a plate, leaving oil and brown bits in the pot. Add 1/2 tbsp oil and saute onions for 1 minute. Add squash and sweet potato and cook for 3 minutes.

Pour in 1/2 c water and cover for 5 - 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once root vegetables start to soften, pour in the remaining liquid and bring to a boil.

One by one, stir in the sauce mix blocks until they are fully incorporated.

Add bay leaves and peas, simmer for at least 20 minutes.

Serve over rice. YUM!!

Just around the corner!

Race day is less than a week away and so far the achilles has been feeling ok *knock on wood*. I've been popping the Advil, wearing only sneakers with my heel lift, and foam rolling the hell out of my calf. Still taking it easy and my plan is to try to get in some slow short runs on the treadmill early on in the week. Probably going to end up running the first few miles easy, see how I feel and then switch to the 4:1 ratio. I can't even begin to imagine trying to run/walk from the start - hi, crowds.

I haven't figured out the important details yet (wardrobe, pre-race dinner, post-race meet up, etc.), but I'm working on it! I do know the SportBand isn't coming with me (no interval timer, boo), I'm lacing up the Riders*, and V and I are wearing matching tanks.

*Yes, these are neutral shoes and I always run in super light stability shoes - backstory (since I'm nutters about this stuff): I was fitted as a neutral runner but requested a touch of stability and that was how I started running in my Inspires. Love them. However, when I started getting that pain in my achilles, I needed another option that was cut a little lower than my Nikes. Had a coworker check me out again and nono, not a neutral runner, but I happen to be a supinator. Not a big deal, but I felt special. Supinators need neutral shoes so I suppose those other folks weren't far off.

Onto the weekend recap and my return to the land of ruffage!

Saturday night was Jamie's farewell fiesta at The Front Page in Dupont...a place we were all too familiar with during college.
We all met up pretty early for a Saturday (7:30 to be exact) since it tends to get overcrowded later on in the evening. I made the mistake of asking if they had any of this:
Mixed with some lemonade and water...DELICIOUSLY EVIL. It tastes so delicious going down, but the next day, o hell no. Sugary alcoholic drinks and I are NOT FRIENDS! Massive headache. Pounding. WTF! VERY good thing this wasn't around when I was in college.

Needless to say, there wasn't much movement or productivity in our apartment yesterday. I curled up on the couch and watched random bad movies like Josie & The Pussycats and Overboard. Total waste of space.

After this weekend I needed to return to eating some leafy greens. Do you ever crave vegetables/salad greens? People used to think I was weird when I said that I craved them. I don't think it's weird!
First salad back? A very colorful mix! Threw some radish slices, olives, red pepper, feta, corn and some leftover ham from the squash and kale experiment. I accidentally made hummus for dressing...or something like it. I mixed 3 tbsp tahini, 1 tbsp plain greek yogurt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar, and about 1/4 c olive oil. It wasn't that attractive (in fact it was pretty gross looking because it didn't emulsify properly) so I figured I'd spare you guys the photo.

Post dinner entertainment:
Not bad so far, but we're only about halfway through. Holy nerd-dom. I've never heard so many numbers and calculations in my entire life. Ha.

It's getting late - SO much work to get done this week. I'm forcing myself to get up early to workout and get to the office before 7:30. VERY ambitious. I'm also thinking about my post-workout breakfast. I think it should include this:
I picked this up when I went to Trader Joe's with my sister last weekend and wasn't so into it the first couple of times. It wasn't exactly what I expected - it's pretty tart for something called pumpkin butter. It's grown on me since. Now I need to find some fun new uses for it...

Defeat.

Man o man. Not a fun morning at all! Last night the fire alarm in our building went off around 11 just as I was getting into a deeeep sleep. We walked out and after 20 minutes or so of standing around, the fire department let us all go back inside. About 30 minutes later, the alarm went off again. Um, not going outside. It then proceeded to go off every few minutes until 2:45AM!

Jamie gave up and went to his mom's house because he couldn't stand it anymore. I, on the other hand, can sleep through pretty much anything so I stayed. I also shoved these in my ears:
Nooo, not mini foam rollers ;p

But of course, as soon as Jamie was out the door, the alarm stopped going off. We got a notice under our door this morning saying that it was a faulty smoke alarm that is located near a bunch of hot things (like in the mechanical room...near things that get all hot and I guess smokey all the time. wtf) and that they apologize for the disturbance. Um, I'm just glad I didn't have to go to work this morning.

So instead of my planned 8am wake up and treadmill adventure, I woke up around 9 and slowly got myself ready for the run. I had been waiting for this ALL week and the whole lack of sleep thing totally threw my excitement off! Laced up the sneaks, stood up and no. No No. Immediate irritation in the Achilles...like something was seriously pushing me. Not cool.

I looked to my growing pile of sneakers in the closet and realized, o crap. I don't have any other shoes to run in!
Since I was just planning on doing an easy 2 mile treadmill run, I figured eh, maybe I can make the trusty ol' Inspires work. They definitely didn't bother my Achilles when I laced them up - Inspires - 1; Elites - 0.

Got down to the gym and eased into a jog and man, it was very apparent that the cushioning was dead in these sneakers. The balls of my feet were feeling it after barely .5 miles! Defeated. Lesson to all you newbie runners out there...if your shoes look anything like this:
*note the vertical lines that aren't part of the shoe

It's beyond time for new sneakers. A lot of people immediately look at the outsole (the black part on the bottom) to decide whether or not it's time for a new pair. They really should be looking at the midsole (the white part) - the outsole is meant to last a crazy long time since that's the part that touches the ground. Here's a good explanation I found online because my brain is too mushy right now to put things into words ;p

So yeah, I called it quits after a mere 1/2 mile. I'm going to attempt that 20 tomorrow and see how it goes...and yes, I may just pick up a new pair of sneakers at work...this is becoming an expensive hobby.

Since I was up, I threw a load of laundry in (hooray no waiting for washing machines!) and made myself a PB&J with some Nature's Pride 12 Grain Bread
I don't really know what the 12 grains are, but they sure do provide some good texture!
Seeds!

I spread some peanut butter and guava jelly on and then popped it on the Foreman
At some point in my life, I started spreading peanut butter on both sides and throwing the jelly in the middle. How do you pb&j??

After a few minutes, my pb&j was golden and toasty! However, I forgot that everything gets all melty and falls out when you cut into it. Oops!
But it sure did taste good :)

Jamie got home shortly after I finished eating and put in a request for an egg in the hole so I whipped out the loaf of 12 Grain bread again, made a hole
What do you think - too big??

Plopped an egg in and 3 minutes later, we've got Jamie breakfast!
Hell yes that's a sriracha happy face!

Ok, I'm off to shower and brave the Army Ten Miler Expo to pick up my race packet. Yes, I'm stubborn, but at least I get a fun long sleeve t-shirt out of it ;p

Buns and burnout

I think I'm suffering from running overload or just life overload. I was SO exhausted during this morning's run - not leg or lung tired...sleepy tired! Could be due to the busy week or it might just be that we woke up at 5am for today's run. Ha.

This morning's run was pleasantly cool and dry...the best kind of running weather. We set out on a 12 mile out and back route on the W&OD trail around 6am and it felt good until about mile 5. That's when the sleepiness kicked in (I think that may have been when my Mocha Clif Shot Gel wore off too). All I wanted to do was stop, walk and curl up on the grass. Wow.
V and I kept going after Jamie hit his 10 mile turnaround point and I snacked on a Luna Moon since I heard my tummy growling. I figured eh, it's just one and the sugar will do me some good. Um, 10 minutes later, tummy wasn't so happy. Remember the two other times I tried solids during a run? This confirmed I should never have solids again. It was just one little Moon! ONE! Agh.

On the way back, I decided I needed to make a pit stop at the one 'rest area' we know of on the trail. I booked it there - I was feeling that bad. Tried to open the door - LOCKED! Men's Room - LOCKED! WTF? It was close to 8am at that point...why wouldn't they be open??? UGH! So we took it slow and easy the rest of the way since we only had a little over a mile left. Started to feel that pang in my Achilles again soon after so we walked a bit. It felt better after about 1/4 a mile so I figured, eh...let's take it to a jog. That lasted all of 5 minutes. Done. No f-ing around. We probably did 11 miles and that's fine.

I'm getting really concerned now. Can you bruise your Achilles?? I mean, it only hurts every so often and it's a bruisy feeling. Plus, it was pink when I took my sock off. Maybe this new pair of sneakers has a weird bump that's been poking me? So weird. It doesn't hurt any other time. Might also be the new cute work shoes. There is a little nubbin in the back that might have irritated me. *sigh*

Post-run we stopped at Best Buns Bread Company in Shirlington because, well, I was craving a chicken salad sandwich...AT 9am! I grabbed a Chicken Salad Sandwich with Apples, Walnuts, Dijon Mustard Sauce and Watercress on Rustic Italian Bread and a small Americano - um, definitely needed caffeine.
You bet I wanted to tear into this as soon as I got into the car, but I waited the 15 minutes until we got home. :) DEVOURED half before jumping in the shower haha. I liked the flavor of the Dijon Mustard Sauce, but I thought it was a little too creamy. The watercress, walnuts and apples added some fun crunch and the flavors went well with the Dijon. The bread was perfectly squishy in the middle and crusty on the outside! I'm a big fan of chicken salad on crusty bread :)

Off to work and then celebratory dinner for Jamie...will post last night's and tonight's dinner soon!

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...

Mizuno, how do I love thee, let me count the pairs...

Oh yes, that's right, I took a picture of my remaining pairs of Inspires (I also had 2 more I got rid of last year). Obsessed much? haha. The two oldest ones are getting dumped in job number two's donation bin this afternoon (sad to see them go)! Lesson learned - stick with what works!

I've got some time to kill before I head off to work, so I've been catching up on blogs (the usual suspects and some new ones) and thinking of next week's dinner menu. Totally forgot that my friend's bachelorette party is tomorrow night so my BSI dinner plans have now moved up to tonight. I think I'm going to go with a variation on a trusty standby...stay tuned.

Munchies kicked in a little while ago so I made myself an omelet for brunch:
I used 2 eggs, a sprinkle of chili powder, freshly ground black pepper and some Adobo seasoning. Inside this delectable creation: 1 tbsp medium salsa, 1 tbsp black beans (leftover from a salad!), and a sprinkle of pepper jack cheese. I topped it with some avocado slices (gotta have it!) a spoonful of salsa and a splash of lime juice for fun. Notice I didn't use any hot sauce? Proud?? :D

I've got a pretty long post in the works for this evening (sorry foodies, it's running related :\), but I must leave you now so I can veg a bit before work. Have a great Friday afternoon :)

Sometimes you need a big salad

Today was one of those days.

Since there weren’t any salad fixins in the fridge this morning, I knew I’d have to buy food in order to fulfill my salad craving. When I’m feeling ambitious (or when I want a really fun salad) I’ll make the trek to Chop’t in Dupont. Other (read: lazy) days, I’ll head to my safety lunch spot – Capitol Grounds Café. It’s nothing fancy. Totally one of those hole in the wall places that always smells like burning toasting bread and is stocked with random fun goodies like Haribo gummies, Soy Crisps, Clif bars, and roasted soybeans. Not exactly a cheap place, but it’s one of the better options near my office. Plus it's super fast. I can be in and out in 5 minutes. Ended up getting a chicken salad salad which wasn't bad...it was massive though - I swear it took me at least an hour to chomp through 3/4 of it!

Tuesdays and Thursdays are usually group run days for me, so you'll definitely see some track workouts and/or running routes those days (with the exception of today). Since everyone else was busy today, I took advantage of the situation and tested out some new sneakers at the gym. I'm super picky about running shoes - it usually takes me at least 3 tries before I find a pair I like. I've been a faithful Mizuno wearer for the past 3 years. LOVE them. However, I let the running store man suggest some other options when I stopped in last week. This is day 3 of running in these:

I kinda like the Nike Zoom Elite 4...so far. They fit snug, but have a somewhat roomy toebox. Definitely more cushioning than my old sneakers and they feel a lot lighter. I think I'm going to give them one last run on the treadmill before making a final decision though. I have at least 2 pairs of sneakers in my closet that I was too quick to decide on and couldn't return :(

I'll remember to bring my camera to lunch tomorrow to snap some pictures of lunch. Meeting a friend for lunch at either Sweetgreen or Nando's Peri-Peri. I've wanted to check out both for some time now. Will keep you posted on where we end up!