Posts Tagged ‘Food’
Just a quick post — I had wanted to share this earlier, but LIFE got in the way!
Sunday morning when I woke up, I was famished — I’d run the Lady TrackShack 5k the day before, and we’d cleaned the entire house afterward. I know — woo-hoo Saturday, eh? Anyway, I decided I wanted french toast. The SO is a Type 1 diabetic [diagnosed at age 6 and been on insulin since], so we don’t have things like regular bread or pasta in the house. What I did have was some great wheat-free, gluten-free brown rice bread which was sweetened with fruit juice. Of course, I didn’t get any photos, so you’ll have to imagine how it looks. Also, the SO threw out the bread wrapper so I don’t have the brand — but everything in the recipe was obtained from our local Publix, so it’s not a scavenger hunt finding the ingredients.
Caitlin has been waxing poetic for the past month and a half about using pumpkin in everything. She had stocked up during the holiday season, as here in Orlando, things like that are considered “seasonal” and they tend to disappear during the rest of the year. HOWEVER!! I searched our local Publix and found small cans of both Libby’s canned pumpkin and an organic brand — both for $1.59 per can. I bought a can of the organic canned pumpkin; both brands had the same ingredient: pumpkin, but I like the idea that this one was organic.
So, I took one egg, a cup of vanilla soy milk, 1/2 cup of the canned pumpkin, a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice and whisked them all together using a fork in a small mixing bowl [for added flavor, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract -- of which we were out]. Then, I took two pieces of the brown rice bread [which is VERY dense] and dropped them in the mixture and let them soak. Meanwhile, I heated up a small frying pan in which I had sprayed some canola-based cooking spray. Once that heated up, I dumped both pieces of soaked bread into the pan and cooked them to my liking.
I plated them up with a small tab of real BUTTAH on both and some Vermont 100% maple syrup. It was outstanding. Adding the pumpkin to the mix gave it a depth of flavor that really added some good creaminess that would have normally come from adding fatty milk to the recipe. It definitely left me feeling full and satisfied.
So yeah, you can make healthy french toast for breakfast and you can make it taste like real french toast!
This past holiday weekend was The Weekend of Eating Everything I See. Oh.my.God. We went Friday after work and had sushi and SAKE! I love sushi and I adore sake. Needless to say, I did not get my Friday run in. Saturday, we spent the day cleaning house and doing yard work — those 2 things are workouts in themselves. Sunday morning I awoke a wee bit sore and stiff. Sunday afternoon, we went to the Enzian Theater and watched A Single Man. We shared a bottle of brut cuvée and a large popcorn [supposedly prepared in a healthy manner -- HA!]. I had a herbivore sandwich with homemade chips and the SO had the spring greens salad. After the movie, we went outside to the Eden Bar and split an order of yucca fries [also supposedly prepared in a healthy manner -- double HA!]. The SO had a cosmo and I had a sidecar cocktail.
Monday, we went on a long bike ride around the neighborhood and surrounding areas in the morning. When we got home, we went grocery shopping. After that, I baked 3 dozen homemade oatmeal raisin pecan cookies for the SO’s brother. He chipped some bone in his back and it was pressing on his spinal column. He had surgery this week to remove the piece of bone that was causing the problem, but the numbness in his left leg is still bothering him. It will take time for the nerve and tissue to heal, but he’s still very down and worried that he won’t ever be back to his old self again. Considering he was thrown from a horse, it’s a miracle he isn’t paralyzed. So… we made cookies to make him feel better. After baking the cookies [we each ate 2 -- they were the size of a half dollar; I like to make them small so they're crispier], we decided to roast a chicken. We had broccoli and squash with that, and then I had some Ben & Jerry’s Fish Food ice cream!!! What a treat. 
So come Tuesday, I’m feeling slightly bloaty. I ran a little over 2.5 miles after work; I need to get back into a solid workout schedule again. I’m not training for any humongous race now, so I can just enjoy my runs, do some strength training twice a week and take it easy. During my run yesterday at about the 1.5 mile mark, a car drove by me in the opposite direction. Now I’ve been running along the streets up on the sidewalk ever since I began training for the Disney 1/2 marathon. So cars go by all the time in both directions and I pretty much ignore them and don’t notice anything about them. This one car however, apparently had as its driver a certain type of pubescent boy. This type of boy delights in trying to make other people feel badly. Why? I don’t know; I’ve never had the compulsion to purposely make someone feel badly.
Now for what is probably the first [and most likely not the last] sermon of this blog…
As Mr. Drive-by Adolescent goes by me while I’m running, he yells out the window, “You’re fat”. For a split second, I thought I misheard — actually I wanted to believe that I’d misheard. In response, I raised my right arm at a 90 degree angle and shot him the bird as I continued to run. It’s not that I was upset that he called me fat; in no universe, either here or any alternate one, could I be considered fat. Even if I were, that wouldn’t matter — at least I was out there. I was running and working out. And yet, this little shit chose to drive by and yell something like that. It pissed me off.
There are hundreds of women who are overweight or out of shape who daily make the decision to change their lives. Women, who have found the courage inside themselves to go out on what is pretty much public display so they can run and get into shape and become healthy. And this is what they run into: some little turd with nothing better to do than to yell something hateful at them. Every time I see one of these women – or men — out there running, sweating and knowing that they’re pushing past the pain and the fatigue to go just a little further, I say to myself, “you go” and I smile at them and give them a thumbs-up. I know how they’re feeling and I know how difficult it is to get out there and try to workout where everyone can see you; especially if you are overweight or out of shape.
Growing up, we were always told “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”. That, my friends, is BS. Words do hurt. Things people say — even those not intended to hurt — do matter to someone who is constantly reminded day-in and day-out that they are “less than”. Those who look in a mirror and don’t see someone they love; those who don’t have a good body image — they do hear what is said and those words do hurt.
This year, I told the SO that my only resolution [I usually don't make them] is to treat my feet better. Well, I’ve added one more thing to that list: I resolve to publicly support everyone I see out running, walking, jogging — whatever. Whether it’s a smile, a wave or a thumbs-up — they’ll know someone is cheering them on. More ideas on that as I think it through… I’d love to come up with a way for people in my community to have a safe, secure, hate-free zone in which to run while outside.
As for Mr. Drive-by Adolescent, I wish him no harm. However, I do wish him a rude awakening that turns his hateful behavior around and makes him a better person.
The title is my finish time for the 2010 Disney Half Marathon! For those of you who didn’t keep up with the weather this past weekend, the half marathon was run on Saturday. We had freezing temps, SNOW, sleet and freezing rain for the entire race. Being in “G” corral really sucked. I really didn’t have an option of moving up to a faster corral because this was the first time I’d ever run a half marathon. I had to run a lot slower than I had planned; not only because of the weather but also because I spent most of the time bobbing and weaving through the crowd.
It was a fantastic experience, though. I have to admit, while waiting in the dark and cold for the race to start, with sleet pelting off the garbage bag I was wearing, I really began to wonder what the hell I’d gotten myself into.
The SO and 4 friends were there to cheer me on. I saw them right after the start and then again right on the corner as we turned toward Cinderella’s Castle near the halfway point. They were out there in that frigid, wet cold, yelling and screaming and holding signs that read, “RUN, CHARI, RUN!”. It made me tear up. They were waiting for me again at the finish. I actually began to cry after I elatedly jumped over the finish.
I removed my garbage bag at around mile 4 and then removed my throw-away hoodie just before I entered Cinderella’s Castle at around 6 miles. I was toasty warm and figured I didn’t need it any more. WRONG! It cooled down quickly, plus the temps kept going down because the sun wasn’t up yet.
In trying to get a pic of the castle behind me, I ended up with the above not-so-flattering photo. Oh well, it gets the point across — I was almost over halfway! My Garmin lost the satellites while running through the castle; it picked them right back up once I exited, though. My time on the Garmin was about 3 minutes faster, but I think it did a great job and it was great to have it as a resource during the run — and it’s apparently waterproof, at least to the point it was exposed to rain, sleet and snow. The iFitness belt I wore protected my cell phone perfectly. In fact, my cell was probably the only thing that didn’t get wet!
I slowed down at every aid station and made sure I drank some water even if I wasn’t thirsty. I was not going to have dehydration become an issue! I tried some Powerade along the way, but it made my stomach cramp horribly. Blech. My Clif shot bloks worked great, as did the Clif gels they gave out at around 8.7 miles.
One thing I have to pimp: my Zensa calf compression sleeves! They were awesome. My calves didn’t hurt and didn’t get cold at all. In fact, my calves stayed fresh the entire 13.1 miles. After the race, only my thighs, knees and feet were having issues. They were cramping up mostly because of the absolutely FREEZING weather. Having huge sleet smacking us as we came through the chute didn’t help much, either. We had stayed at the All-Star Movie Resort, but the lines for the buses were ridiculous. Having never done a half marathon or any race in weather like this, I didn’t think to have something warm and dry to put afterward. My lips were blue and I was shaking uncontrollably. I had the Disney space blankets they handed out and one of my friends put a rain poncho on me, but it just wasn’t cutting it. Thank goodness 2 of our friends had driven out that morning — they shoved me in their heated car and everyone began to pile sweatshirts, hats and even long johns on top of me. Everyone piled in and sandwiched me in and they kept me warm to the hotel.
At the hotel, the SO turned on a nice, hot shower and I SAT in it and stuck my legs straight up into the air to get the lactic acid out of them. The hot water felt great as it hit the bottoms of my feet. No ice bath for me, thank you very much; I’d already had one.
I wore the compression sleeves again all day yesterday on my calves. They are absolute miracles. My calves and shins feel wonderful. I had to ice my knees last night, but today only my thighs are a bit sore. I’m really happy with my physical condition. The only casualty may be one of my toe nails. My second toes are longer than my big toes and after accidentally running through a deep puddle [I said the "F" word when that happened], my feet were wet. On the downhills, my feet were apparently sliding and jamming into the toe of my shoes. I couldn’t feel it at the time; it was too cold, but later after we’d gotten home and I cleaned up, I could see that the nail on my left second toe was dark purple and it was pretty sore to the touch. So far, it’s still hanging in there so maybe it’s a keeper!
It was a fantastic experience and one I’ll always remember. Thanks to everyone involved and thanks so much to the SO and my friends — you all are the best and I love you!
If you participated in the Disney Marathon Weekend races, which one[s] did you do and what were your times?
[edited to add my medal!]
Almost forgot! Here’s my finishers’ medal!
OH! And my stats [via my Garmin]:
Distance Time Total Time Pace
1 Mi 12:57.63 12:57.63 12:58
2 Mi 12:56.83 25:54.46 12:57
3 Mi 12:50.29 38:44.75 12:51
4 Mi 13:05.92 51:50.67 13:06
5 Mi 13:09.01 1:04:59.68 13:10
6 Mi 13:57.9 1:18:57.58 13:58
7 Mi 13:32.71 1:32:30.29 13:33
8 Mi 15:34.08 1:48:04.37 15:35
9 Mi 13:06.93 2:01:11.30 13:07
10 Mi 15:48.52 2:16:59.82 15:49
11 Mi 13:11.21 2:30:11.03 13:12
12 Mi 17:01.08 2:47:12.11 17:02
13 Mi 13:15.1 3:00:27.21 13:16
0.19 Mi 1:52.88 3:02:20.09 9:55
The weather here in Orlando has been so weird lately. It’s either cold, rainy and dreary or it’s hot humid and summer-like. Friday, I ran 3 miles in a cold drizzle. It was 67 degrees F and I wore a long sleeved shirt under my running shirt. I also wore some running gloves to keep my fingers warm. It was miserable. Fast forward to yesterday and it’s bright, sunny, humid and 84 degrees F.
Of course, I decided to run 5 miles. To say that I perspired is an understatement.
It was pretty easy at first, but then after 3 miles the heat kicked in. Plus, I run in the late afternoon/early evening so I’ve already had a full day of work and stress before I get out there AND I don’t usually sleep through the entire night [again... thank YOU perimenopause]. I get feeling tired and run down by mile 3 almost every.single.time I run. Caitlin had mentioned the success she had trying out the Galloway Method of run/walk to help keep your reserves and energy levels up, and it sounded like something worth trying. Especially since I’ve been having issues with energy levels and feeling poopy lately.
So at mile 3, I slowed down to a walk and drank my electrolyte drink as I did. I walked about .05 of a mile and then began running again. At mile 4, I did the same thing. I found that it didn’t really slow me down too much; if I run [what I consider to be] “all-out” for a 5K, my pace is right around 10:20. Using the run/walk method, I finished 5 miles in 56:37. That averaged out to an 11:18 per mile pace. My Garmin is set to only pause if I completely stop, so my walking is still calculated into the total time and distance. It’s not going to win me any medals, but truthfully, I don’t run to win; I run to finish — and have fun. When I finished, I felt pretty good and there were times while running where I actually wasn’t thinking about my posture, my gait, or how my feet were hitting the ground. I was just running, had a good rhythm and it almost felt like a hot knife slicing through butter.
Oh — on another note [totally unrelated to anything], the papaya tree I grew from seed [planted in my side yard] finally had one of its massive fruits turn a bit of yellow! I plucked it off the tree, lugged it into the house and put it inside one of our kitchen cabinets for a few days. When I took it back out this past Sunday, it was completely yellow and perfectly ripe! It took me a half hour to peel and cut up into cubes and now we’re enjoying papaya cubes with lime juice with our lunches AND I’m going to make a yummy papaya salsa. It’s funny — I do not like honey dew or cantaloupe melons at all, but I really like papaya, which is similar in consistency and taste to cantaloupe [although I think papaya is much more subtle].
Anyone have any good recipes for papaya?
With my energy levels hitting rock bottom for the past week, I haven’t been able to get myself out to run. Well, actually I *did* finally get out yesterday after work. Of course, the weather was super humid and it was quite warm. Still I only did a 3 miler and a pretty slow one at that. It seems we’ve been fighting off a bug lately. Can’t quite put our fingers on it, but I have a slight dry cough, stomach upset and over the weekend, I apparently had a fever. I just thought I was my usual cold self; everyone else said my skin was on fire. We got our regular flu shots back in September. I haven’t had the swine flu shot yet, as I’m not in any risk group for it. But I doubt it was anything other than a tummy bug.
With running in the heat yesterday, I’m hoping I sweated all the cooties out. Funny thing is, when I finished, I looked down at my shirt to see if I was sweating a lot and didn’t see any difference in color from the neck on down. So I thought I hadn’t sweat much. Even though my head and hair were completely soaked through, I thought my shirt was dry. When I walked by a mirror, I realized what had happened. Turned out I had sweated so profusely that the entire shirt was wet down to my fuelbelt.
Making my day, my SO [Significant Other] saw my picture on the prior post and asked me where my lips went.
To keep me from walking around lip-less today, this morning I mixed my green superfood with Bolthouse Bom Dia Blueberry-Acai juice. It was much better! No non-flattering faces this time while consuming.
Had an interesting lunch today. A friend of ours gave us a container of bean sprout chili. It ’s not completely vegan; it has ground turkey in it. The crunchy texture of the bean sprouts is a little off-putting, but it tasted pretty good. The logic behind the bean sprouts was that she was tired of the beans in chili giving her gas and so she wanted a chili made with a non-gas, healthy alternative. Hate to tell her, but it gave me gas anyway.
