8 Things Running 8 miles has taught me

1. Ow
2. 3 miles is now a piece of cake.
3. My resting heart rate was 59 bpm when I donated blood on Thursday. 59!! That's WAY low.
4. Ow
5. Chocolate outrage flavored Gu is YUMMY
6. Cytomax grape flavored drink mix is NOT
7. Ow
8. I must have a bathroom break option at the beginning of the course (first 10 minutes)

I ran 8.06 miles in 84 min today, so a 10:25 per mile pace. Woo woo!

Fruit-a-holic

So, this week is mostly leftovers...leftover pasta from the freezer, leftover chili. I did make a veggie frittata (saute onions, peppers, thawed and drained frozen chopped spinach. Mix with beaten eggs and milk. Add feta and olives. Bake at 350F until it looks done...) This was quite tasty...a little bit of leftovers still. Not a lot of "new" cooking, but making a lot of side dishes. I am pretty good at mastering the art of the leftovers...how to have JUST ENOUGH for lunches and dinners, but not let anything go to waste. It's harder now that my son is at school...I need leftovers that don't need to be heated for him.

I've been trying to figure out how much to pack for his lunch at school now (daycare provided lunch). Half of it gets sent home, regardless of how much I send. If he eats none of his fruits and veggies, it's what he eats for dinner. That's been pretty standard the last two weeks. He hasn't been eating much of his lunch, but they do provide breakfast (after he eats it at home), and snacks.

My son, apparently, is starting a growth spurt. Today, he ate most of his lunch - an apple, plus most of his broccoli, some olives, and a bit of the pasta.

We went to the farmer's market at his school when I picked him up. We bought apples, grapes, and strawberries. He proceeded to eat a few grapes, about 1/3 of the pint of strawberries on the drive up the hill and when we got home. Then he ate another 1/2 cup or so of grapes. THEN he begged for a whole banana (he got 1/2). Then some vegan chili. Then his tummy hurt. He seems to be better now.

Nothing's cuter than a 3 year old with a face full of strawberry juice.

My New Food Goal

So, when this year is over (with my alternating months budget...boy, I can't wait until it's over), I have a new goal. I will be loosening the purse strings back to about $5000 a year for food.

But now, turns out my spouse needs cholesterol help. (Jury's still out on mine.) His HDL is too low (overall cholesterol is fine). It's probably mostly genetic (our diet is pretty healthy). But plans to try and improve:

1. More salmon. Maybe fish 2x a week instead of 2x a month.
2. chia seeds? apparently a good source of omega-3's
3. wine. Feed him 1/2 a glass a few days a week.
4. exercise...he gets a good amount already (4x a week), maybe make him go for a long bike ride on the weekend.
5. Cut back on sugar, cheese, white flour (already, not a terrible amount in our diet).

Today's run - much better

First, I read more of the book - and I found a table, that takes your 5k pace, and tells you not only the expected finishing time for a 1/2 or full marathon, but also gives you the pace to run during tempo, pace, and long slow runs.

Well, duh, I'm supposed to do the long runs at 11:09 mile, not sub-10. Nice! I mean, I was running too fast, with hills, long runs, with no hydration.

So today, I ran about 10:45/ mile (for 7 miles). I bought a fuel belt. (Though I got mine at Amazon, free shipping with Amazon Prime!) I hydrated with two small bottles of mixed water/gatorade. (And a little gatorade from the station for the Team in Training folks, thanks Gena!) My sore foot seemed to be okay.

I stopped once to pee (I mean, why not if you have to go). I stopped at a couple of traffic lights. I stopped to stretch (my hips start to get sore at about 5 miles). I stopped to chat with my friend Gena, who is training for a 1/2 marathon with Team in Training, and just ran 9.5 miles today). And I just decided to not run up the killer hill this week. It's the end of my run, and I feel like puking. So I didn't do it. Felt much better.

I did feel a low-grade headache coming on. Drank a cup of tea, 20 oz of water (in addition to more gatorade/water after the run). I took a Tylenol and I'm having another cup of tea... headache is not worse. Not better. But not worse.

Gotta go work on lunch. Hubby and child are cranky from hunger.

Bulgur Salad

You know, I might as well call this tabouli. It's a lot like tabouli. I decided to cook up some bulgur - it's fast, it's easy, and I was hot and tired this week (worst...work week...ever).

I got a bunch of great stuff from the CSA this week. Then I went out to my garden to pick some parsley, found a ripe cucumber (where did that come from?) some tomatoes (which I will cook up this weekend)...

After we ate the salad, I added some more stuff that wasn't quite ready by dinner time, so it looks less like tabouli than when I started.

I guess the lesson here is...put in whatever you've got.

I'm estimating some numbers here...I have no idea what flageolet beans cost!

Bulgur salad

1 cup bulgur wheat: 0.50

1 cup boiling water: 0

1 small bell pepper, diced: 0.30

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced: 0 (garden)

1/2 pt. cherry tomatoes, halved: 1.50 (from CSA)

2 cloves garlic: 0.10

handful of fresh parsley: 0

1 ear corn, steamed 10 min, cut from cob: 0.79

1/2 lb flageolet (shelled) beans, cooked 20 min in water: 1.00

1 Tbsp olive oil: 0.11

juice of 1 lemon: 0.15

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar: 0.15

salt and pepper to taste

Total: $4.60 for about 8 cups of food, or $0.58 per cup

We had this with shrimp (free from the neighbor) - and, my hubby doesn't like shrimp! Or any shellfish! I had no idea...this, after 13 years of marriage. And fresh corn from the CSA. My son ate 1.5 ears...he basically stole 1/2 of my ear. I'd complain, but when your kid wants to eat organic corn on the cob...you know, it beats cookies.

Pasta with Fresh Summer Veggie Sauce

Ah, the fruits of summer. Tomatoes, zucchini, onions, peppers. Today I made a sauce by saute-ing a bunch of veggies and pureeing into a sauce (so as to better get my 3 year old to eat them). Don't get me wrong...he will eat veggies, with encouragement. This makes it easier. And he loves pasta...red sauce, green sauce, peanut sauce...oh dang it, I was going to put spinach in this sauce. Forgot. Oh well.

Pasta with Summer Sauce
1/2 lb pasta, cooked to al dente: 0.50
1 zucchini, diced: 0.40
1/2 onion, diced: 0.20
1 small bell pepper, diced: 0.40
1/2 carrot, diced: 0.10
a bunch of tomatoes (I used a few cups of large-ish cherry tomatoes from the one tomato plant): 0
1 T oil: 0.10
2 cloves garlic, minced: 0.10
basil and oregano to taste: 0.10
S&P to taste
feta and olives for topping: 0.30

Total: $2.20 for about 5 one-cup servings. $0.44 each. Makes enough for dinner and lunch the next day.

Saute veggies and garlic (except tomatoes) in oil until soft. Add tomatoes, diced, and herbs. Cook, stirring occasionally until reduced. Let cool and puree in blender. Toss with cooked pasta, top with feta and olives.

No pic. Camera battery is dead. My sauce was very orange, probably because of the yellow bell and orange carrots...

Book Review: The Complete Book of Running for Women

The Complete Book of Running for Women by Claire Kowalchik is a book that I got for Christmas. I've read it a bit here and there, but recently dug it out for a deeper perusal. I like the philosophy of running part. But right now, I dug it out for the more practical purpose. I'm training for a 1/2 marathon.

I know, it's not food. But running is frugal (need shoes and a place to run), healthy (assuming your body can take it), and very simple.


I am not really a runner. I didn't run in high school or college. When I downloaded some training plans to run a half, I was a bit intimidated by the "tempo" runs, "pace" runs, etc. I mean - just tell me how many miles to run. So I was gradually increasing my mileage, but the last two weeks - splitting headaches about three hours after the run. Debilitating. I mean, can barely function for several hours. So clearly, I'm doing something wrong.

This book has really good, simple explanations. She explains how to set your pace by your breathing...which is something that I never thought about. She explains a "pace" run, gives several different types, and mentions that your "speedwork" should not be more than 10% of your total weekly mileage. She discusses cross training, stretching, clothing, hydration.

She's got three training plans for the 5k/10k and three training plans for the 1/2 marathon/marathon. Bronze, Silver, and Gold simply refer to the maximum # of miles per week you can run. And I'm on the "working mom" plan. Which means Bronze, but even less. Her plan involves 5 days/ week, and I can only do three.

What I've gotten out of the book so far is this - I now know that my "easy" running pace is about 10:00 mile, and my "fast" pace for the pace runs (which is equivalent to my 5k pace) is about an 8:50 mile. And I also learned that I shouldn't be trying to run hard and fast all the time. So today, I actually ran 2 miles "easy" on the treadmill. And I *loved* it. It reminded me of what I like about running (except the treadmill part). I wasn't beet red when I finished, and I had energy to actually lift weights when done. I don't remember the last time that happened.

I've got plans for my "pace" runs on Wednesday (which will probably peak at 4 miles, not the recommended 6). I'm scaling back my long runs a bit...rather than adding a mile a week, I'm staying at 7 this week, then 8, then 6, then 8... And I'm going to start taking water with me. I didn't really need to hydrate during my runs for 5 miles and under. But these longer ones are taking a toll.

In the next couple of weeks I should get a feel for whether or not I can really run this thing. Might as well be sure before forking out $45.