The Outer Aisle

Excuses, Excuses

2011-09-21T12:15:00.000-04:00

If you really want to do it, you do it. There are no excuses. - Bruce Nauman

It is wise to direct your anger towards problems - not people; to focus your energies on answers - not excuses. - William Arthur Ward

When it comes to getting healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle (in all aspects!) like many of us, I can be quite the bundle of excuses. What excuses do we tell ourselves when we start or are in the midst of our weight loss journey?

I hate to exercise. I just don't have the time.
We have to move. Cardio keeps our hearts happy, blood pumping and GI tract moving. Get the good air in and the bad stuff out.
Take walks, find a partner or co-worker and really hold each other accountable
Find something you like to do
Sign up for a class at a gym or Zumba
Try an online challenge, run around with your kids, or pets.

I hate “diet foods”
How about just food. Real food?
Before we put the whatever it is that is heading for our mouth in our bodies, ask, Is this good fuel for my body?
If I can't remember how carpy I felt the last time I ate an entire bag of gourmet chocolates - thinking if I eat them today they won't tempt me tomorrow - then I try to write down just how awful I felt afterwards. And even why I felt the need to scarf them down in the first place. Tomorrow's temptation is just another type of excuse!

It will take too long.
Every day is a step closer. How long did it take to put on the weight? Why should we expect it to come off any faster than we put it on?

I've tried and failed so many times
I fall off the wagon all the time, but every day is a new chance. I might not like the result, but taking accountability for my actions IS a success.
Ask for help.
Find a support group with a common goal, to get and stay healthy. If one group doesn’t work, find something that will.

Remember, deciding to make a change comes from us alone, but actually making that change doesn't have to be a solo effort.

What kind of excuses do you tell yourself and what ways are you going to focus your energies on solutions instead?

Going Rogue!

2011-09-20T16:35:00.000-04:00

We are in an interesting situation with our WeightWatchers at Work program. In order to keep our program going, we need 15 “paying” members to join. I say paying because ~~leeches~~ maintainers like me, don't count since hitting goal and getting lifetime (staying within 2 pounds of goal) gets you a free pass. Anyway, we don’t have enough people and the people that we do have talked this last week about how hard it was to keep on plan without the support of weekly meetings.

So….

We decided to go rogue.

We are going to still get together for community support just without all the bells and whistles and program materials from Weight Watchers.

I believe in the program. I believe in the support. I believe that through checking in and the accountability of these meetings we can lose or maintain our weight. I believe in it so much, I offered to volunteer my time to lead the weekly rogue meetings. Not WeightWatchers, but weekly support.

Oh.

Em.

Gee.

What did I just do? Me, afraid of public speaking. Me, not wanting to be some BFKIA. Me, not wanting to obsess or talk about weight loss.

But then again, these are all fears that the people in the meetings I go to may not have, and they can help me. And maybe, just maybe some of the fears that they have, I might be able to help with…or at least ask the questions and others in our little rogue community might be so over them.

I guess just being aware of the fears in the first place will help me keep them in check.

Here is our little plan:

Regardless if people chose to use eTools, pointsplus or even use a free versions, like LiveStrong or SparkPeople we’ll get together each Wednesday at lunch time and talk about our overall weight loss journey.

Overall Structure of the 30 minute meeting

Check In/Weigh In
Celebrate Non-Scale-Victories (NSV)
Tips/Tricks/Recipes to share
Topic of the week
Discussion
Wrap-up with a commitment based on discussion topic/Inspiring Quote/Story

Tomorrow’s topic – Excuses! (Since, well, it is *easy* to make the excuse we won’t meet since we don’t have a meeting leader! Excuse SQAUSHED!)

Do you want to join in too virtually? I am thinking I'll post the meeting topic bullet points Wednesdays, the same day as we meet. And some ideas shared soon there after.

Friday's Drawers - A come back

2011-09-16T15:40:00.000-04:00

Fresh food and a fresh start.

It's Friday! And another edition of Friday's Drawers, one that I am actually posting. *gasp*

And I can report that not only has this share been pic'd and posted, many of the items have been prepared too. *double gasp*

What did we do?

Veggie, chard noodle soup with homemade chicken broth, (See the broth in the background) celery, carrots, and some of the chard at the end.
Roasted beets tossed with olive oil in a 400 degree oven until tender (about 45min-1hour)
Tuna sandwich with crunchy celery for dinner.
Snacked on pears too! yum!

What will I do with the rest?

I have some kale in our garden so I am thinking I'll do this potato kale recipe or adapt it.
I love eggs with chard and a little salsa or ketchup, yes I know, but I like them that way.
I think I have some carrots left, so I'll attempt a slaw with that cabbage. In the mean time, I've been digging this purple cabbage recipe from last week's share.

Red (Did I say purple? It looks purple) Cabbage & Apples

Ingredients
1T canola oil
1 head of shredded red cabbage
1 tart apple - peeled, cored and chopped
1 T water
1 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
1 T white sugar or honey
1 T cider vinegar

Directions
1. Heat oil in a medium size saucepan. Stir in cabbage and onion; fry until wilted. Stir in apple and water, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer about 25 minutes.
2. Pour vinegar and sugar into the mixture while tasting for desired sweet and sour taste. Cook another 5 to 6 minutes.
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Hi ya!

2011-09-07T12:17:00.000-04:00

The fastinistas over at Another Mother Runner have been challenging and inspiring us with stories about "Why We Run." Oh my! There are so many runners and so many reasons and so many writers that we can go on and on about why we run. The series has been hilarious, rebellious, tear-jerking, redemptive and ALL of them are inspiring.

I am honored that SBS and Dimity asked me to contribute. You can read it here.

If you are coming here from there, welcome!

I would LOVE to hear about why you run. I know why I run, but feel free to comment about what makes you lace up your pumped up kicks.

And after you run, maybe you could take a look around and see some of the odd looking produce I find in my CSA box every week and give me some tips on how to make them tasty?

Thanks for stopping by!

TMI Tuesday with RLAM Divas

2011-08-23T09:26:00.001-04:00

The lovely long-legged ladies over at ~~the real~~ Run Like a Mother facebook page do a TMI Tuesday question each week. They get questions that we runner-mamas would like to know but are sure our spouses or non-runner friends would look at us in horror if we even asked. Or maybe they would run screaming from the room. Hey maybe that is how we should recruit runners! Anyway, the responses are hilarious, serious and helpful all at the same time.

This week question reminded me of a post I did awhile back on one of my favoritest inventions.

"TMI Tuesday, and Heather wants to know: what do you do when the heaviest day of your period and a long run or race coincide? "I had major issues today," she says, "And I only ran 7 miles." Any advice?"

Oh yeah. Two words.

Diva. Cup.

The lil cup even comes with its own lil sack and
pin to let everyone know you are the Diva ordering l'Omelette Rouge

Previously posted here.
________________
Warning: this may be a TMI post, but this is my blog ~~and I like talking about my vagina~~ and I think this topic is relevant. Warning over.

Heeeeerrrre’s…..TOM!!!!

Kidding…not him. (If the TMI warning didn't lose you, then talking about my vagina and then showing a picture of Tom Cruise probably did. Oops. Sorry.)

I’m talking about TOM as in Time-Ofthe-Month.

A.K.A.

Auntie Flo's stayin' over

Scarlett's Come Home to Tara
Trolling for Vampires
A Dishonorable Discharge from the Uterine Navy
Feelin' Menstru-riffic!
Massacre at the Y
T-Minus 9 Months and Holding
Game Day for the Crimson Tide
Panty Shields Up, Captain!
Arts and crafts day at panty camp
Taking Carrie to the Prom
Playing Banjo in Sgt. Zygote's Ragtime Band
Ordering l'Omelette Rouge
Rebooting the Ovarian Operating System

Don't these seem like O.P.I. period shade names? IrishBonnie, you really are quite creative!

Anyway, my BFF during my TOM is not food, but something else. Frankly, (I find it funny that this post is about women’s menstrual cycles, yet I bring Tom and Frank into the picture)…wow stick with one train of thought, Christy….

Frankly, I don’t really get cravings or food issues around those days. I just try to remember to drink enough water to avoid the migraines and eat right to avoid the um…bloat. Other than that I don’t change a thing. But….I used to have other issues.

Damn-flippin-horrible-achy-o.m.g-I-can’t-even-move-debilitating-feel-like-my-uterus-is-wrung-like-a-towel-type-CRAMPS.

Until the Diva entered my life. Ah.The Diva.

And by Diva I mean the Divacup.

THIS PRODUCT CHANGED MY LIFE!

What is the Divacup you ask? It looks like a mini-chalice (Oh, believe me, the irony is not lost on me!) made of silicone. Fold it over, pop it in, twist and the suction keeps it in place, collects everything it was intended to collect with no leakage and you never feel a thing.

It pretty much fulfills all the pre-requisites for a cheapassmama like me.

Environmentally friendly. Who wants to contribute to the billions of sanitary pads and tampons that are dumped each year? We've used canvas bags since I was a kid, why not get a re-usable period product?
Keep my body chemical free! Most tampons and pads contain surfactants, adhesives and additives. Many pads contain polyethylene plastic whose production is a pollutant. And dioxin, a known carcinogen, is a by-product of the bleaching process of tampons containing rayon. Yeah, I only want um… known substances near my hoohoo. (Is that "Known" in the biblical sense? *ahem*)
I can run! Running with a tampon sucks. I don’t know what it is, but I it rubs all up in there and hurts *shudder* not to mention the leakage issues. (TMI…forewarned!) But the Diva cup? I ran 9 miles last week with no issues. In fact, I really do forget that I have it in. I clean it out every morning in the shower and that is about it. Good.to.go.
I am cheap. Der. So why in the world would I spend $150-200 bucks a year on feminine hygiene (so…hygienic with those chemicals) products, when I can spend about $25 bucks for the Divacup which lasts well over a year and then some?!

So, you survived the TMI post. And now you want to get it, right? Or maybe you already know about this little gem but didn’t know who else knew. Me! Me! Me! Or maybe this just grosses you out. Leave a comment…anonymously if you’d prefer. I’d love to hear your feedback.

If you want to get one for yourself, check out Divacup online. If you don't want to order online, I got mine at Whole Foods, in the outer aisle….in the feminine hygiene aisle.

Wordless Wednesday - Community Garden

2011-08-17T20:54:00.001-04:00

Cold Summer Squash Soup - For Real this time

2011-08-15T15:05:00.000-04:00

The other day I put up a picture of all our squash to force me to give an update with the soup I was planning on making. It worked, I did make the soup. I am not sure which was more exciting, using up some of those up there or using the immersion blender again. That thing is a dream!

Actually I really was trying to figure out what else to do with all this squash. Here's somethings we've done:

Stir fry with butter.

Grilled.

Steamed.

Squash with marinara, pasta & Parmesan cheese.Yum.
Given them away.

Even since this picture was taken, I've had to pick about 3 more. Yes, I really do think you can sit and watch them grow.

So it was quite a blessing when I saw a cold zucchini soup recipe pop up on my facebook feed through Food, Inc and Takepart.com. This comes from Two Kitchens.

Cold Squash Soup
1 tbl or so of olive oil and some butter
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6 zucchini or summer squash , or a mix (I used some zephyr squash, thinking they were kinda already mixed )

4 cups broth
sour cream for garnish

Immersion blender.

In a large pot over medium heat, cook the onions and garlic in the olive oil and/or butter until they're brown.
Add zucchini and summer squash, toss with the onions. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, lower heat to a simmer, and cook 10 minutes, until zucchini are tender.

Let cool to lukewarm and blend. Serve lukewarm or cold. Garnish with sour cream.

_____

Zucchini, yellow squash, zephyr squash

Browning the onions

Adding the squash

Broth & the immersion blender

With yogurt - I didn't have sour cream.
In hindsight, I wish I did have sour cream....

__________

Ok, a couple things. I didn't really care for this soup as I made it. I didn't like it cold and I don't think the zephyr squash was the best idea. Nor the yogurt. I wish I hadn't used that. BUT I did change it up and as leftovers I had the soup hot, and added Parmesan cheese and it was pretty good. I tried cheddar and didn't think that worked too well, but the parm...ok. I did not try it with sour cream, maybe that was my downfall.

Abundance of squash

2011-08-12T19:13:00.002-04:00

Between our garden and our farmshare, I think some cold squash soup is in order.
I've never done it before, so this is my post to make sure that I do....
Stayed tuned!

Friday's drawers - Peaches!

2011-08-12T16:39:00.003-04:00

Eggplant, lettuce, shallots, green beans, dandelion greens, tomotoes,
peaches !!! squash

I had one of these peaches and all I could think of was Xena.

As for the rest:

Tomatoes & basil along with the Lemon Boys from our garden
Izzy likes the green beans raw
I'm thinking some egg plant parm with pasta
And maybe butter beans and shallots

Edible...Everything?!

2011-08-10T21:42:00.001-04:00

This week Izzy had a surprise get well gift from Gigi (Gramma-Great = GG = Gigi) and Granddaddy: an Edible Arrangements princess fruit arangement. The fruit was a fine complement to the "pink stuff" to crush those pneumonia bugs. And unlike the pink stuff, the basket was certainly enjoyed by the entire Z family.

Like in a day.

Contemplating strawberries, honeydew or the crown...

fresa it is.

"I love you. We love you. You give us the heart." - Simon

In the Z household we love fruit sure, but there was more to this basket than just sticks of cantaloupe, grapes, strawberries, honeydew, and butterfly & heart shaped pineapple. There was one more treat.

See the decorative green stuff hiding the foam brick and bucket between the fruit sticks? Yup. Kale. Totally edible. And around here there is no way we are going to let that kale go to waste!

You got it! Yummy kale chips!

Quick Refresher:
Preheat oven to 350.
Rip the kale into chip sized pieces taking the leaves off the tough stems.
Coat with some olive oil & sea salt. A tsp or 2 goes a LONG way. You can even give em a good rub down.
And bake for about 10 minutes. Watch them! So they don't burn, I mean. Don't just watch them.

Or if you are like me and ~~don't feel like taking all the pans out of the oven~~ in a hurry to scarf these puppies down, you could just use the toaster over. Two small batches and done.

David smelled them a mile away....Ok, not really.

But this is where he ended up after coming back from his mile+ walk this evening. So I guess you could say he smelled them after a mile away. That would be true. Literally.

I don't know if the edible arrangement folks know that you really can enjoy ALL of their arrangement...even the decorative filler. What kind of cleaner eating mama would I be letting good kale go to compost?

Friday's Drawers - Beet that honey

2011-08-05T22:12:00.002-04:00

Baby bok choy, peppers, tomatoes, chard,
onions (these were awesome!) squash, beets, eggplant, garlic

This was our share from Aug 5th. I am so far behind on posts!

The star in this bunch were the beets. The bok choy was good too, I sauteed that with ginger, orange juice and soy sauce. But it was the beets with my friend Alison's recipe that was the best.

I roasted them at 350 for about 1/2 hour. I used the toaster oven and that worked well.

Once they are cool, they are wicked easy to peel. Cut them into 1" chunks and put them in a container with 2 parts balsamic to one part honey. Let them steep overnight. I ate them as is, they were so good. But Alison makes it with goat cheese, walnuts, avocado, arugula, and dried cranberries. She uses the honey balsamic juice left over from the soaked beets as the dressing.

I also made them with white balsamic and they were fantastic!

Thanks Alison for sharing!

Friday's Drawers

2011-07-29T09:12:00.001-04:00

Da share. Yum.

Friday's Drawers - A plan

2011-07-25T14:32:00.000-04:00

This week's CSA had some kale, red leaf lettuce, corn, zephyr squash, blueberries, tomatoes and cucumbers. Seems pretty normal! Ok, zephyr squash - I hear of squash, but zephyr? It sounds like a Dr. Seuss character. Nope. It was however, the name of the NBA team Washington Wizards in 1962 when they were in Chicago - the Chicago Zephyrs. Otherwise, zephyr seems to show up in video games and comic books a lot. And squash. Huh.

Back to the share.

What did I (or do I plan on doing) with this share?

The corn was grilled (Yum!) along with the squash from our garden. The tomatoes & lettuce have been in pesto chicken sandwiches, burgers, and salad.

The kale is going into my red lentil soup. We go through so many red lentils, I finally broke down and get them in bulk here. Set to arrive on my doorstep today - Thank you Amazon Prime! It might seem too hot for soup, but 1. this is so dern good. and 2. It freezes really, really well.

And then there are the blueberries. I had every intention of making pancakes....but I keep on just snacking on them. Plus it was too hot this weekend. Blah. I do have to do something with them right quick. Or freeze them pronto. (Note to self: look up how to freeze berries.)

As for the plan, yes there is a plan for the food, but I am starting to ponder a plan for this blog. It is about a year and a half old, which is pretty cool since I don't think many blogs make it past a year. But I'm feeling the need for a fresh mix. I have some ideas peculating around for a series of posts; book reviews, new recipes, product reviews, even some transparency/accountability (gasp!) ideas, but if you have some topics you would love to discuss, or hear me rant about in my own corny way, I'm all ears! (Get it....corny....ears....)

Eat well, be well!
Christy Z.

Garden score - today's picks

2011-07-21T16:52:00.001-04:00

This makes me so happy. I actually grew something othr than my offspring.

A Little Vacay, A Little Run and A Little Surgery

2011-07-07T13:56:00.000-04:00

We arrived in OC (Ocean City, NJ) late Wednesday night after Simon got his cast off (yay!) around lunch time and we headed out here with an unintentional bathroom stop at "Gigi's Friendly's" the same friendly's we stop at every year. Unintentional, because we decided to try to get there as quick as possible and make the trip without a sit down dinner, but when a 4yo bladder calls, the whole mini-van listens. The first available stop....Gigi's Friendly's!

Simon's cast is off!

The beloved road trip to OC!

I still had my appetite and enjoyed my meal as well as some of David's spicy fries. (Cue the dramatic music.)

We got to OC and I started to feel a little backed up. But nothing major, yet. I hadn't run in a few days and felt like I could use it. But a run just wasn't happening - so it goes. I could always run some time...we were going to be here for almost 2 weeks. There was too much going on, David was headed for MD for the day, we had to plan David's birthday celebration and Izzy was in full on Mama-mode. And I wasn't really feeling up for a run. We tackled other things like Congo falls! (A Simon fear from last year.) The beach! The Under-Toad! An Izzy shower! (An Izzy fear.) Woot!

Besides I figured I was just backed up from being a bit dehydrated, a couple long beach days, not moving around as much even though we were walking and I wasn't eating the same chobani & granola every morning.

By day 3 of pain, and several more days of other tummy trouble, with Izzy on her like-a-bike and me in my running shoes we ran/shuffled/biked 7 blocks to CVS for some over the counter relief. Tonight was the Red Sox vs. Phillies game and I was GOING! It kinda worked. Sort of. By the afternoon the pain wasn't as intense, but mind you I only ate a chobani all day because I wasn't hungry and I wanted to save room for CHEESESTEAK!! (You can't go to philly without a cheesesteak!) So we went to the ball game, had great seats (Thanks Rob!) and a great time (Thanks David!) and great food - cheesesteak and crabfries. Besides that food was SURE to get things moving right, right, right????

Red Sox lost. But still a fun game. And man....those seats!

Tasty, yes. But this is what got me up at 3am in terrible pain.

Tasted even better with the wrapper off!

By 3 am I couldn't take it anymore. I felt like I was so backed up and there was no place for the food to go. I tried going to the bathroom again. No luck. I just wanted this shit out of me dang it!

I got on my running gear. Izzy woke up, I got her back to bed. I wrote a quick note on a paper plate to David and 3:30 in the morning I finally went for my run.

I ran to 12th street from 22nd. About 2 miles total. Just enough to see the stars, feel the ocean breeze, hear the waves and talk to God. There was a LOT said.

"This pain is so great. And not just this...."
"But you know what to do. Just keep moving forward."
"You've done a lot of things. You can handle this and the next and the next."

But then I heard the most important thing.

"You are loved because of who you are. You may or may not be liked because of what you do or say, but that is not the point. The point is to love and be loved. So just be."

And then I got to the end of my run.

I didn't see a single soul.

How often does that happen? I have never, ever been on a run where I never saw a single car, person, bike, walker, runner, police officer (good on that since there is a curfew I found out after the fact!).

Walking back to the house at around 4 am with this realization, the same voice said:

"Did you feel alone?"
"No. Not once."

"Because you aren't."

----------------

I got home and wrote down the line I heard about love on the back of the paper plate I wrote to David that said: "I am going for a run. I love you."

I slept about 1/2 hour then was up again in pain. Took another ducalax and nothing. After nothing happened again, and I was still clearly in pain, David took me to the ER. We were checked in by 7am. They hooked me up to an IV gave me a shot of something for the pain, but it helped a little. They gave me something stronger a bit later then in for an ultrasound. David kept my mind off by talking about the last time we were in the ultrasound room.

Soon after they wheeled me back in the bed (that is one of the most helpless feelings ever) to the ER, the surgery consult came back and said I needed to have my gall bladder removed. It was acutely inflamed and he didn't think I would be able to make it back to Boston for elective surgery. He was kind and helpful and reassuring. He assured me that he has many people that come in from out of town and he knows this is hard but he sees I am in pain and can get me in the OR for surgery by 2.

He said he would do laparoscopic cholecystectomy - the gentler way of removing the gall bladder and only perform open surgery if he needed to. What does this mean? It means they made four incisions and blew me up like a balloon and removed my gall bladder using a video camera. The pain was worse than anything I have ever felt (I delivered both children naturally, and ran a marathon and this was way worse. I would NEVER wish this on anyone!)....but the pain was met with smiles as David and I recounted every happy moment, every happy word we could think of. Simon....Isabella....waterslides.....as I drifted in and out of consciousness.

He never left my side.
He never left my side.

After surgery, I woke up in recovery with David there, gall bladder gone and a different pain, like I was punched in the gut, back and shoulder repeatedly, but lots of dilaudid (trippy!), percoset and sleep helped.

And a little goofiness from David....

I love the Airlife! I love to boogie!
David was ~~making bong jokes~~ coaching me to reach 1000!
Dang was that hard to hit!

Two days in the hospital and some recovery at my grandparents' house - extending our vacation - and staying a bit longer in the most healing place on earth. Besides, everything at Gigi & Granddaddy's house is pretty much already accessible! We stayed for a follow-up appointment with the surgeon and then back home for kid's camp, some normalcy. Recovery is typically 7-10 days, but no sit-ups, heavy lifting or things that involve stomach muscles for 6-8 weeks. I am not sure what this means for running.

Ironically there are no dietary restrictions. But I will still try my darn-dest to stick to the outer aisles anyway. :)

Flowers from Brian & Jeanie.

The most wonderful welcome home sign ever. Yes.

It is good to be home. I will never forget that run. I will never forget this vacation. And I will never forget the love and support that I felt for and from my family. I love you.

_____________

I found out that this is hereditary (both of my grandmothers had their gall bladders removed) and typically happens in women. And sometimes in women that have lost a lot of weight. I am curious, have you had your gall bladder removed either with elective or emergency surgery?

Making Sense(ing) of it all.

2011-06-14T12:01:00.003-04:00

I am an ISFJ.

If you know what that means, then you already know by putting myself into one of the16 MBTI boxes, I like the orderly consistent behaviors that the MBTI indicators type. Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

One of the big battles I have is with the "S" in me. People are typically an "S-Sensing" or an "N-Intuition"(or maybe somewhere in the middle. See I AM trying!) To determine if you are an "S" or an "N" one question that helps is "Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning?" Or if you are like someone I know once said, "Do you like poetry or not?"

I don't.

I wish, wish, wish I did. I try to. But I just don't get it. It isn't literal enough. What if what I interpret is "wrong"? My friends would argue that that isn't the point; that you are meant to take what you can out of poetry. I say, tell that to my English Teacher that still had to grade our papers.

In any case, I decided to try to "get" poetry and Isabella & I have been reading some of the poetry books that her Gigi has given her over the years. I figure maybe a now 4-year old (HAPPY BIRTHDAY IZZY!!!) can help me interpret poems from her eyes. Heck, it seemed to help her process Simon's broken arm when the night it happened she recited Humpty-Dumpty and Ring-around-the-Rosie!

And in a different way to help me understand poems, I started to read the Psalms. I always steered clear of them. They seemed so antiquated, overly happy with their harps and trumpets and singing; or morbid with their enemies and dust to dust; and sometimes both! The Pslams just seem so OUT there. Like "look at me! the Lord is SO MAJESTIC!" I didn't get them. I think one profile of mine described me as having a "distrust of the fanciful" and Psalms just seemed too fancy. I mean, even the world Psalm with the silent "P" thing is too fancy. Words should be written as they sound. ISFJs do SO well in Spanish!

But,at the same time, I don't think it is right just to dismiss something entirely because I don't get it. So I have been trying to at least read the Psalms. I may not understand or interpret them, but I will try.

This week, I came across this Psalm and decided to give it a whirl. I read it. And then let it sit.

Here it is:

Psalm 8
O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honour.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

And then something came out of it. I recalled it when I saw a youtube post on facebook, and then when I started writing more and more meaning came out of it. Here is the youtube post:

I don't know about you, but when I see this, when I listen to this little girl talk about potatos, when I listen to Isabella process her brother's broken bones, I am moved to try to put understanding around poetry, around the Psalms around my life, around my choices. Even if those choices are as simple as reading a poem over a Disney book or picking an organic sweet potato over a seemingly similar looking non-organic one.

Maybe this will help me get out of my ISFJ box and put me somewhere in the middle.

Do you know your type? Do you care? What about poetry....do you read it, write it, love it, hate it, strive to understand it? What about this Psalm? What does it say to you? Inquiring ISFJs want to know!

Friday's Drawers: Baby, baby bok choy

2011-06-12T22:57:00.000-04:00

Kale, romaine lettuce, potatoes, vidalias, mushrooms,
blue berries, broccoli, baby bok choy

My dad & step-mom came out to the east coast all the way from Arizona because the couldn't wait to try some of these veggies from our farm share and our garden! It had nothing to do with Isabella's 4th birthday, visiting Simon or meeting their newest granddaughter, my niece baby Dune. Nooooo.....it was all about the baby bok choy.

Regardless of the baby they were really coming to see, it was a good visit and I did get to make a quick easy, point friendly meal for their visit.

Orange-Ginger Baby Bok Choy

Ingredients:

1T EVOO

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

2 T fresh grated ginger

1 lb baby bok choy, cut into 1/2 inch slices

1/4 c. orange juice

1 T brown sugar

1 T soy sauce

1/2 c peas

1/2 c sliced mushrooms

1t cornstarch mixed with 1T water

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat EVOO add the white parts of the baby bok choy, carrots, ginger and cook until tender about 3 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, baby bok choy, orange juice, brown sugar, soy sauce and cover and cook until the baby bok choy begins to wilt, about 3 minutes.

Uncover, stirring frequently, add the peas, and corn starch mixure and cook for another minute or so.

Serve over rice.

We also made a really good Cesar salad with the Romaine lettuce, fried rice with the vidalia onions for the kids, and strawberries & blueberries for dessert. A good use of the share for one meal!

What is your favorite baby bok choy recipe? What do you like to cook up when you have special visitors in town.

Bike to work day 2.0

2011-06-09T18:21:00.001-04:00

Back in May when bike to work week actually I happened, I had every intention of trying to bike to work, but somehow I kept finding an excuse. I don't know the route; the roads could be too busy; running is one thing, but I haven't biked more than 3 miles in 10 years, would I have the stamina?; I don't have a commuter bike (hey, at least I *have* a bike - albeit a mountain bike circa 1991); but the kids LIKE picking me up from the train station; it's too hot, it's too cold, it's raining. (Actually the month of May did have a lot of rain.) But really, these were all just excuses that I used to keep myself going to/from work with the car-train-walk combo.

I had every intention even of trying out the commute this last weekend as a test run. But 9 miles out and 9 miles back didn't seem like a good plan (me and a 3 yo were just having too much fun playing outside was told as I started to get ready to go...."Mama you must stay here forever and ever!") So with Saturday's test-ride out, I thought for sure I wouldn't be bike-commuting this week. But on Tues when my train/carpool buddy took a different train, I finally got up the courage to try my bike commute. I was going to have to try it sometime anyway and a Tuesday is a good a day as any.

So with my maps.google.com directions carefully written on the back of an envelope tucked in my shorts, bike helmet on, change of clothes in the bag, water, gps watch (Yeah, I know - why would I need directions written down....I still haven't mastered that feature on the garmin yet.), tires pumped, kisses all around and a quick prayer to get me there safely, I hopped on and made my way to work.

The first thing I learned - biking uphill is NOT the same as running uphill. Dang! I was nonplussed to see that my "average pace" on my garmin going up a hill was about a minute to 2 minutes slower than when I run that same hill. Once I got over that - the hill and my puzzling thoughts, I kept on riding right up to one of the hairier intersections.

But that led me to something else I learned on my bike. It is not a race. My workouts and runs are often measured, with time, distance, pace goals. Biking to work was about getting from point A to point B safely, saving a few bucks, getting some fresh air, enjoying the ride and *hopefully* getting there before my train normally would. ~~And burn a few calories so I can eat more.~~

(I wished I biked on Wed & Friday this week too, when my train was way delayed both days!)

Lastly, I was pretty darn scared about commuting than I expected to be. Safety was part of it, but mostly because I just feel so vulnerable out there on the road with all these big metal objects around me. Especially ones with people in them. On their smart phones.

But I think then I thought about a one of Molly's posts I just re-read recently about being scared: “It must be something like walking out on the rope at Xel-Ha—it’s scary till you start, then you’re so busy concentrating on what comes next, the next step, you forget to be scared.”

I am happy that I biked to work. It did feel like an accomplishment, (not to mention a decent workout) but really, I am prouder of the fact that I did something I was scared to do. I am still a bit scared, especially at some of the busier intersections, but with a mountain bike I can always hop the curb an bruise my butt on the sidewalk bumps so I hope to add biking to my modes of transportation options more often. I have a feeling I will get to see a lot more things that I miss when riding the train or driving everywhere.

Do you bike anywhere? Or do you have something that you've been putting off because it just seems a bit too scary?

Apparently, this guy here, he as no fear. But man, do I wish he would at least wear a helmet!

Friday's Drawers - Small CSA, Small Post

2011-06-08T12:01:00.001-04:00

This poor little blog is getting neglected! Just not right....but yet I feel like I am writing ALL the time!

Anyway, we decided with 2 gardens going this year - a community garden plot at work and our little squarefoot garden at home - we decided to cut back to a small share. Frankly, while the box is smaller, it was filled to the brim and this doesn't seem all that small to me.

The asparagus was roasted in EVOO and sea salt and devoured right away. The onions were also roasted with some green peppers from last week, the baby bok choy was used with some scrambled eggs for dinner and there is still plenty left. I think the rest will be a little stir fry with ginger, orange juice and soy sauce....unless anyone else has any ideas.

That seems to be the issue I have. It's only been about a year and change since I really started cooking and I am finding that I keep going back to the same old same old. I guess I just have to remember it was ALL new just that short time ago.

Now back the to share. The sweet potatoes will get roasted when the temperature outside drops. (See more of the delicious same) Kale chips, and salad with the lettuce/tomatoe/cuke combo. And those were some of the best blueberries I have ever eaten. Burp.

And the fiddle heads.....well hopefully they survived over the weekend and made it to a good home. I just couldn't bare to try again. Sorry heads. Maybe next year. Or maybe I'll give them to some one to show me how to make them taste better.

Friday's Drawers: Fiddle Me This

2011-05-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

Red leaf lettuce, rainbow chard, kale, green pepper, fiddle heads, sweet potato
vidalia onions, apples asparagus, peaches

This is our last week of our east coast farm share or this season. We'll take a week off and then we resume with a local share, but because we are working 2 gardens this year - yup TWO! - we switched to a small share. Anyway, we have a pretty good looking share this week....though it feels like it will be a good test in creativity.

Last year I didn't do well with the fiddleheads, so I am going to try again with a new recipe.

I am super excited by the peaches. And vidalia onions, the official state vegetable of Georgia, look really good. I am doing some research on some recipes for the onions. A peach salsa might be a good combo. Or maybe an apple, chicken salad with the onions. Or both!

As for the rest, chard will probably be the red lentil chard soup, kale for kale chips are a huge hit around here. And if I am going to turn on the oven (though in the cold rain having the oven on hasn't been an issue) I might as well roast the sweet potato, cutting them in half and coating them in a little olive oil and sea salt.

I did the same thing last week with the asparagus and oh.my.gosh. So good. I ate some warm out of the oven, but then I ate the remaining ones cold with my lunch.

Snow White Lies

2011-05-19T22:36:00.001-04:00

I know what she is thinking:
"At least this apple is zero points....".

It has been awhile since I posted. I kept meaning to, but I kept getting side tracked or didn't really have anything to say. Or didn't have anything I felt was worth posting. And then "the blog" became another burden. The LAST thing in the world I want this to be is a burden. This is something I want to do...I love to do...I need to do. I need to write. I have hope that it helps me and hopefully other people. And if not, well, so be it.

Last night, my husband and I had a long conversation about a lot of things, but one of the things was around food. It just sort of just popped up. I didn't mean for it to come up, but it just did. And as soon as I started talking, it just all came out. Stuff I didn't even realize I was carrying. I finally put the bags down.

During training for the marathon, I ate a lot, but I was burning off a ton of calories. It was kind of like my permission to eat, just like I had permission to eat when I was pregnant or nursing. Only this time because of all the calories I was burning, I stayed relatively in my healthy weight range.

But since ~~my structure via a detailed excel spreadsheet that tells me what to do when and for how long~~ my training ended, I've been in this weird binge-y thing. I eat a good breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner and finish each meal satisfied, full. I don't need to eat more. But then the post-dinner thing happens. I really don't want to eat after I put the kids to bed, but I am afraid I'll be hungry later, so I keep going back to the pantry for a few more handfuls of something before heading upstairs. It isn't junk, but if we had junk, I would be eating it.

Once they are in bed, I make bargains with myself:

"Ok, you can have corn bread or a1/2 bagel."

Cornbread.

Then I eat the 1/2 bagel.

"You can run it off tomorrow." "

But you already promised you'd run off the spoonful of nutella."

Screw it, just eat the damn 1/2 bagel. You're fine.

Then I think it would taste even better with butter. So I add butter to the other 1/2 bagel. Not even toasted, because 1.) it would take too long to wait and 2.) toasting produces a wonderful aroma and then I would be "caught"...like anyone would care if I toasted and ate 1/2 or a whole or a bag full of bagels with butter. So essentially, this proves that this isn't about enjoyment since CLEARLY a toasted bagel is WAY better than a plain 5 day old one.

The next morning, I weigh myself and see that the scale hasn't changed from the day before. I sigh a relief that at least in didn't go up, then beat myself up in the shower, promise to write everything down today. But I don't write anything down. I eat ok at work (packed lunches), come home in the evening and the whole cycle begins again.

As I explain all this with tears streaming down my face, in shame and in thinking he is going to think I want to lose more weight thing when I am at a healthy weight (oh there's the judgement again!), or that I am obsessing over food when I there are way more important things to focus on, he says, with no judgement in his voice: "Why didn't you tell me you were going through all this? I am sad you didn't talk to me about this."

Thud. That was my heart, not my head.

It isn't the eating that bothered him - he could care less what I eat! It was the keeping it from him. The feelings. The eating. I kept not only the food stuff a secret, but the feelings around it too. Why is it that I felt the need to go through all this struggle on my own, internally, in secret?

I know what is going on. I know this is just a cover-up of some bigger things lurking.

Training for the marathon was a lifesaver in terms of structure. But it also distracted me from other un-resolved issues. The marathon is done now. No structure, so eating is the task. I know there are some stresses and issues that I am struggling with and food either tastes better than the ick inside, provides something to do (bored eater?) or is even a bit of self-sabotage of all the "work" I did to get at this weight.

All these things also come at a time when I started reading Anne Lamott's Grace (Eventually). Perfect timing really. The other day I read this passage and was reminded of it today:

"No matter how much of our time is spent in pursuit of physical beauty, even to great success, the Mirror on the Wall will always say, ‘Snow White lives’, and this in fact is a lie – Snow White is a fairy tale. Lies cannot nourish or protect you. Only freedom from fear, freedom from lies, can bake us beautiful, and keep us safe."

She goes on:

“To step into beauty, does one have to give up on losing a little weight? No, of course not. Only if you’re sick of suffering. Because if you cannot see that you’re okay now, you won’t be able to see it if you lose twenty pounds. It’s an inside job.”

I have an inside job to do. And maybe by writing this down, I can let some of it go. It isn't in secret when you post it on a blog.

"...and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
"'And may the free make others free'" from Anne Lamott

Photo (run) Op

2011-05-06T07:52:00.000-04:00

One of the greatest perks where I work, besides the warm-fuzzy feeling of contributing to public health, and specifically the lives of brand new babies and their parents, is getting to spend my lunch hour running in the arboretum.

After running the arb for about a year, I decided to finally take my camera and show off some of the trails and gorgeousness that I get to experience just outside my office.

Here it is.

(Make sure you click on the little yellow guy/comment button on the left hand side to see the captions. That is, if you want to be inside my head. Otherwise, just lace up and enjoy the show!)

Jealous?

Yeah. Thought so.

SO COME RUN WITH ME!!!!

Here was the route.

What's next?

2011-05-04T16:30:00.025-04:00

There is this part of me that doesn't really want to put up a blog post anything ever again. I mean running the Boston Marathon with the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team was the pinnacle. I could just end all commentary right there.

But there are just too many thoughts running (heh) around in my head and I just *have* to put them somewhere. There is the life-after, the healing, the weight-gain, the lack of toe-nails, so many things, not to mention this is kind of a food blog too. I plan to get to them, but first I wanted to process a question that I've gotten a lot over the last couple weeks.

"What's next?"

To be honest, until I got the question, I hadn't thought about it. With every other race, I researched the next one before I even getting to the starting line on the one I signed up for! Part of it was because I liked toeing the line, part of it was because there was another goal I wanted to accomplish (PR time, PR distance), and part of it was because I like following training plans because it is all spelled out for you. And the easiest plan to follow is one that has a race at the end of it.

I can't say that this will be a pattern since I've only run what...5 races. Ever. In 9 1/2 months. Yikes!

9 1/2 months. Hmmmm.... where have I heard that one before?

So what IS next?

I am going to do the same thing that I did the last two times I had a big life event happen after 9 1/2 months (Thank you Simon & Isabella!).

Enjoy new life.
Heal.
Be.
Love.

That may sound like I don't have a goal, but I will completely argue that one. The journey is the goal.

And that means going back to the mantra David & I said during those first few precious months of our children's lives when were in new-baby-overwhelmed-trying-to-multi-task mode. You can't multi-task well with an infant in your arms. Well we couldn't. So our mantra was.....

One thing at a time.

And right now, that is just run.

______________

Here is today's awesome trail mix lunch run. I have run the Arnold Arboretum at least 50 times over the last year and some of these paths were new to me. I just never took them before. It it amazing once you open your eyes to new possibilities and don't follow a plan. I wonder what else I can find (me & my camera next time!) the next time I go out.

Boston Marathon Race Recap - Part 2

2011-04-20T14:49:00.008-04:00

Ok, so where did we leave off? Oh yeah, got my high five from Tedy Bruschi and heading into the corrals. We walked a ways and got to corral 5 of 9. I took off my top and put it in the donation bags. Took one more sip of water and just as we were roped in like cattle heading for....ugh...we were off!

Runners and shed clothing everywhere! If you were a entrepreneurial type, you get some cool running swag just by being a sweeper.

And men in the woods, ya know... Really? Mile 1?

The 1/4 mile is just quiet woods. Just a sea of people bobbing along in a quiet rhythm. My plan was to just go with the crowd, try not to waste energy bobbing and weaving like my first ~~rookie mistake~~ race.

It didn't take long before we saw the people along the route. They were out on their lawns watching (can you imagine your house on the route?!) I wonder if it is a love/hate thing. Either go away for the day or hang out and take it all in.

There was a cute sign a family held on the road in Hopkinton, right before Ashland that looked something like this:

Yeah, wishful thinking!

Then the we got serenaded with by a boat load of leather clad bikers at mile 2. Awesome!

We passed through town after town with people 6 deep everywhere. Barbeques – lots of drinking, people on roofs drinking (yikes!) singing, kids high fiving and counting the number of high fives they got, kids passing out oranges, Kleenex, sheets of wet paper towels, twizzlers, pretzel sticks, water.

There was water & gaterade every mile.

We started out at a good clip. I planned on running with Kim, we ran our 18 in Waltham and our 20 miler on the course 3 weeks ago. We planned on staying close to Steph, Angela, and Pam who we also ran near or with on our training runs. We wanted to start out at 10min/m and pick it up, but every training run we say that and we end up going out at 9:00. So our 9:41 first mile was slower than normal, but faster than planned.

We got to the 5k and I was feeling good. Better than expected really.

At about 5 miles, I was ready for my next gu. I planned on gu for 15 minutes before and at about every 5-7 miles with one for the end if needed.

When I went to grab one, I realized I only had 3 of the 5 gus on my belt. WHAT??!! (Remember how I said I took one gu out and put the other 5 on my belt?)

Silly me, I doubled up on two of the elastics and didn't smush the gu above and below the belt well enough.
They slipped out.

And when I went to grab them to adjust it – I dropped another. SHIT! Only one gu station in the race and it wasn’t until mile 17. I started to re-calculate my gu timing. Then. Quickthinking. Flashback to last night!

I said to David, "I doubt I will need these, but here are 3 more gus, can you take them just in case?"

Oh happy planning! THANK goodness I had my phone on me. I secretly took it because I was fearful I wouldn't finish and wanted to have my phone on me to talk to David just in case.

So I called David – VERY lucky thing. They were planning on being a mile 9, Speen and 135. But they were dropped off by the hotel shuttle (where my grandparents & aunt stayed) at an earlier spot. But a better place, David in his awesomeness thought to plant him and the fam in front of an awesome landmark, the the NewBalance billboard. (And happens to be Simon's favorite shoes.)

Ok, David & kids in just a few miles. Whew. Here they are waiting for me. :)

I was good for gu, so I downed one.

10k mark, looked at my watch, 1 hour, good, good. How many ks is a marathon? I forgot. Terrible. I think in terms of 5k, 10k, 13.1 miles and 26.2 miles. After a 10k, I have to go back and do math! 26.2 divided by 6ish, 40k, so at least a 40k+ 1 hr down, 3hr and change to go. Ok. Got it.

Then my RB (running buddy) Kim wasn't feeling as fast early on and wanted to drop the pace. Oh man, it was so hard to leave, we planned on running this in 4:30ish together (she ran her first marahon last year in 4:55). It was tough, but I decided I needed to run my race and went on. I caught up with my other RBs Steph, Angela & Pam and ran with them for a couple miles. Even tried to crack a few jokes.

Knock Knock.
Who’s there?
Interrupting cow.
Interuppting c….
MOOOOOO!

Then at about mile 7.5, Pam goes, “Isn’t your family going to be at mile 8?”

No 9, in front of the New balance billboard. 30 seconds later I look up. Oh Wait! There is the New Balance billboard in like 25 yards! – Quick shed the sleeves, get to the left, grabbed the gu, passed off the sweaty sleeves, kissed the kids & David and we were off again.

Sadly I didn’t find out till after wards, my grandparents & aunt Jeanie were on the right hand side just down the road a bit.

I thank Pam profusely. She saved my ass! 3 more gus. Good.

Until I dropped another one trying to put it in my belt. FRAK! Oh well. At least it was the powerbar one that I’d never tried and wasn’t planning on it. (more on that in a sec too.)

Ok, so where was I. Mile 9, I started to pull away from the girls. It was time to run my race. I know I needed to do this one on my own. I had a team of people throughout the training, at the start, but this one I had to do for my family on my own. I held off for awhile without music. Then there was a bar with speakers blaring. It helped and when we passed, I decided it was time to plug them in. Must have been the right choice, because when I pop in the earbuds, IT WAS THE EXACT SAME SONG!!!! Keep in mind I started the player at the start knowing the playlist was just about 5 hours long. 80 songs, and it was the exact same flippin' song.

I listened for about 20 minutes. My friend, another Boston Marathon runner, and First Churcher Sue's Solsbury Hill cam on in that time. Oh man, talk about goosebump worthy. This was the song that took us through Easter last year. So powerful. Talk about transformations.

I took them out so I could hear the Wellesley scream tunnel and right at the end of all the "KISS ME I'M [insert cute line here]" I saw my friend Tara (another First Churcher, runner and amazing musician).

Quick side note: Ok - can I just say, she did an AMAZING job this last Sunday to play the piano when she stepped in at the last minute for our Palm Sunday cantata because our organist had a death in the family. The cantata was so beautiful. So perfect. I was so emotional. And the songs & scripture reading placements that Thom (HAPPY BIRTHDAY THOM!!!) picked were a marathoner's dream.

The humanness.

Sunday, I had tears streaming down my face during this song. It would not stop.

And then the Redemption. THIS was my hope for the Marathon. And it was there.

Anyway, back to mile 12. And Tara. Tara has a smile that will light up the sky! And she certainly got me going as she in her 5' and changish frame was jumping up and down yelling for me. I could see her bright shining eyes and I picked up my speed to get a hug from here. Quick hug and a wave and then I was off again.

I knew my friend Marcia was going to be in Wellesley after the tunnel with balloons. But I didn't know where. Scanning the crowds.

This is Marcia - from our Maine Coast Half

I saw lots of balloons, but no Marcia yet. Then I saw my friend Suzanne and gave her a quick hug. So cool!

And then the half. I look at my watch. 2:09 Good, good, good. My friend Glen predicted 2:08 and a good day. There we go.

Then a few yards later I saw Marcia’s red hair jumping up and down all decked out in her running gear. I gave her a quick hug, but then she shocked me by dropping her stuff, jumped off the curb and ran with me for about 2.5 or so miles.

We chatted for awhile, she gave me an update on our friend Sara - (WHO DID FLIPPIN' AWESOME, Miss 3:12 marathoner! Which gives me amazing hope to BQ someday since her first marathon was a 4:40ish something. - [correction: 4:29 - sorry Sara!]) As we chatted, Marcia said was going train for a fall marathon, and asked if I wanted to train too. Let me get through this one first! Haha!

Marcia gave me a send off, with a "Ok, you have .4 miles of downhill and then Comm ave where all the fun begins. You got this!"

I have run this course. I know it well. I see the hospital where we've taken our kids to the ER. And think of them. They are safe with Gramma.

Then just after Marcia left, I saw the Dana-Farber Flag on my left. I ran over and gave the founder of the program, Delores Barr Weaver a big hug. She told us the night before the 2 places she would be and that her friends would be schlepping the flag. And if we had time, to give her a hug. She doesn’t mind our glow. So I did. For all that she has done and all that she will do. She said I looked great and to "Go get em girl!" Thank you for all the work you and your husband have done, DBW!

Ah, there is the gu station. But it was not gu. Powerbar gel. Hmmm. Never had them before, but I stashed 2 chocolate ones in my belt anyway.

Instead of eating the gel I took a Gu, gu before the hills (or Newton Flats as Jack calls them – since they are more flat parts than hills).

I was trying to hold back down hill because I wanted to save some. It wasn't really a problem since my hips didn't really want me to go any faster. My mind & heart did, but the hips, not so much. Besides, I’ve done this run. I know what is coming next. But I also knew there were more friends on the way.

I turned the corner at the firehouse. This is mile 17. I smiled at the time the firemen there let me stop to use the firehouse restroom on one of my16 mile training runs. That was a gorgeous day like this one.

There are LOADS of people, good energy, but there is still about 10 miles to go.

Up hill 1 of 4.

Bands, drums, scanning for friends.

Up hill 2 of 4, I spot more First Churchers! I see Ian, Melissa and Brandon on the hill. I wanted to stop for hugs, but I go for high fives, I knew if I stopped, I would have trouble starting again! Please know I * really, really* wanted to give you all hugs! Especially seeing Brandon. I immediately thought of his husband, Jeff and specifically Jeff's mom, Pat was in my prayers on this run too. Pat, you are amazing!

Flat part.

I see Shawn’s blond hair, my friend and former colleague! And Steve, Mike, Paige and Jen. I haven't seen some of them in almost 2 years! They work down the road and came out to see me! In 2004 we were out there cheering for Shawn in her first Boston. That was the year it was like 80 degrees! Shawn was a total trooper that year.

Hugs all around and Paige yelling at me to get going not to stop. Too bad, she got a sweaty hug anyway. :)

Hill 3 of 4. People walking everywhere. They think this is heartbreak! HA! This is mile 19 people. There is still 1 more to go.

Photo credit: www.jimrhoades.com

More bands. More drums.

Then Heartbreak. More walkers. I pop the head phones in. Raise your glass – I think of Sarah.

This is Sarah - From our Newport 1/2 Marathon

Then Dawn's Joy comes on (remember, "I get to run up this hill" Dawn.) On heartbreak. That.is.awesome. Then more c25k grad love with BoDean’s – Katharine’s song.

And then I didn't need music anymore with the BC kids all around. Sorry Wellesley girls, I think BC had you beat this year. Though it did help that I was running next to 2 BC runners – A faculty member and a student.

One kid jumped in next to the teacher and said "Hey, you're my teacher." I thought, "Hey, you are clearly drunk!"

The kids were GOING CRAZY. My name was on my shirt so people were yelling for me too. It was awesome!

Top of the hill more BC screams.

I ran up every hill. Really, I ran the whole thing, only breaking stride a bit to get water in me.

Then I could feel the salt on me, I needed some salt. Something. And this saint of a woman had 2 pretzel sticks in her hand. I took one, with a loud "thank you!" licked the salt off, held on to them for awhile, drank some water and tossed them. Who can chew!?

Kept going. I took an orange slice.

Mile 22. Heartbreak done, but I wasn't fooled. I knew I still had at least 45 minutes of running to go, including the over pass and a slight incline before the last turn onto Boylston. Time to gu.

So remember how I said I had grabbed two Powebar gels at mile 17? I had one gu left. I decided to save the gu for the last miles and take the gel at mile 22.

BIG MISTAKE.

What is it that they tell runners? (Say it with me runners.)

"NEVER TRY ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY!"

The powerbar gel hit my stomach like a lead balloon. And then all I wanted to do was go to the bathroom. I thought for sure I had! Whew, just gas. Sorry people, that is what you get for using my tailwind. Heh.

I had it up to HERE with gatorade and water. I skipped the mile 23 water stop.

Citgo sign. Don’t look up, there is still so far to go.

I drank a little at 24. Now, I really did have to go so bad.

Every porta john looked more tempting than an all you can eat buffet of fine Indian Cuisine, but I was not stopping. My watch said 4:07 with roughly 2.2 miles to go. I kept saying 20 more minutes and then you can go.

And then Kenmore and the kids. HUGE Dana Farber team with the “Thank you Dana Farber Runners" sign on the overpass. Amazing.

(From the DFMC page)

Mile 25 one more mile. And the .2

You can DO THIS.

Think of what you and your family went through to get here. Think of Molly. Think of Carolyn. Pat. Benny. Jeanie. Gingie. Tony. Janice. Of your grandparents, aunts, uncles, family. Think of all your friends that go through what you hope you never have to. That no one should have to.

Then the sign “1 more mile”

I kicked it up. One mile. 10 minutes. This is for David. For me. For us. You got this.

Right on Hereford, up the hill (ok, incline) left on Boylston. Holy crap there is the finish.

Kick it girl. You got this.

The sign Liz & Erica made me for the last .2!

From Liz & Erica

Go, go, go, go, go!

Finished!

__________
But wait, there is more!

Right at the finish, I see Uta Pippig right there. She is shaking another DFMC runner’s hand. I wanted to say thank you for our pep talk this morning and last night. Right there, She smiles this HUGE smile, hugs me and the DFMC photographer puts the 3 of us together and takes a great picture. I can’t wait to get that! That will be a great piece of memorabilia. I thank her and wobble on with my team mate saying how cool that just was.

We get our mylar cape, and wobble forward. They give us bags of food. And I tear off a piece of bagel.

Suddenly I don’t have to go to the bathroom anymore.

I wobble down, and realize people around me have medals, dag nabbit, I wobbled past the medal table. How did I miss that. Wobble back.

Call David. Start crying.

They were at Hereford and missed me. They come to the finish. I miss them. We agree to meet at the hotel.

Wobble more. See my friend Heidi. She gives me a hug and I jealously watch her run off so effortlessly as she says, "I am going to update everyone!" :)

I get my bag, I see Angela & Pam, they finished 5 minutes behind me, but Steph’s leg seized up in Wellesley and we aren’t sure if she finished. Frak.

We throw on our bright orange Dana Farber ponchos (thank goodness I thought to put it on top of my bag). Now the volunteers can spot us and we get directions toward Copley. Yes, we had to get directions. I’ve lived here 10 years, and I don’t get downtown!

I am suddenly regretting all the crappola I packed in my bag – it is SO HEAVY!

The volunteers spot us and take our bags. And walk with us as slowly as we want her to. Thank you volunteer Angela! You are an Angel just as your name says.

She stops with me at the porta johns and then hands us off to the next group of volunteers to escort us into the Marriot for the family & recovery zone.

Stairs! NO!

Just 6, ok.

Ahhh escalator. I see David, he snaps a picture. And then another and another and another.....

Wave for the camera!

Thumbs up!

I see my friend Liesl first and give her a hug. She is grinning from ear to ear. I think it was a reflection of mine too.

David finds me and I start wailing into his neck. Hot tears streaming. We did it! I did it!

We headed into the recovery zone – first for calories, then massage, and a change. I scarf down a chicken sandwich, some protein recovery gaterade, and a veggie wrap. Then off to get my massage.

It was odd, you could actually feel all the salt on our skin. It felt like she was rubbing sandpaper on me, but it was the salt on me. So strange.

Then I changed, found Kim! She finished in 4:49 – She beat her time by over 5 minutes!

I ate some more, had soup! Yum! Congratulated more friends, and then went out to have a nice moment with David. Got some pictures.

Can you tell how stiff I am! I snagged a 'wich for David

Can you tell just how much I love this man!

I love this picture

Badass Mother Runner!

David propped me up through the 26.2 miles. He knew I could do it when I doubted. And then I don't think his hand left my side from the moment I found him to the moment we walked in the door to our home. Except to snap photos. He was there for support every step of the way.

Just as we were about to leave the Marriott, we found Steph! She finished! WOOT! Her leg seized up at the half and then she stopped at every aid station for icy hot for her leg. She finished. Amazing! I know she is going to want to get out there again to run the one she wants. I hope that she will call me up when that happens so we can do it all again. Someday. Not today. But someday.

Then we walked to the train. (I wobbled.)

I swear, I ran 26.2 – garmin had 26.4 – so I didn’t bob and weave too much – but I must have logged another 2-3 miles between the start and the finish!

Then it was HOME to our family.

Simon was so cute. I open the car door and he runs over and says: “MAMA!!! I got ice cream from the ice cream truck for the first time!”

I loved that so much. Yes, Simon, it was a day of firsts.

Izzy, this run was for you too.

_____
Update. Ha! I totally forgot to report my time. Well here ya go.

4:31:37.

Now I have a time to beat. Someday.

Boston Marathon - Race Recap Part 1

2011-04-19T22:24:00.000-04:00

So we got home from the pasta party about 7, just in time to get the kids to bed and then I came back down to pack my last minute things - A change of clothes for after, throw away tees that get donated, and breakfast for the morning (the same thing as every morning for the last 6 months) chobani & granola.

I slept ok the night before, feeling excited & nervous. My knee was bugging me the last few days but I really only let on to my husband that I was really worried. (He wasn’t) I had a dream that I was with my daughter and we were buying a present as a thank you for David before going to the race – and that Izzy was in her stroller and was running with me. I really believe she was. I woke up at 4:30, got ready (coffee, etc. tee hee) and then David was going to take me to the train when we heard little feet coming down. Izzy was up and came with us to drop me at the train station (Simon was asleep at home with my mom).

I was on the train and saw some other green bags so we were all headed to the race. One guy sitting across from me had #83 – I knew he was elite worthy with a number like that. Yeah, he ran it in 2:32. Insane. Anyway.

I got to the buses at Boston Common and the wind was ridonculous! I didn’t find my friends – we texted but they were in a different line way at the front. Not surprising we didn’t see each other. Imagine 25,000 runners and their sendoff entourage on the Commons standing in line by rows and rows of school buses. We got on the bus and it was about an hour ride from Boston out to Hopkinton. I ate my cho, listened to music and watched our driver have road rage with the bus in front that kept pulling off to the side, stopping in the middle of the cash only line of the Mass Pike like they were trying to get directions. (I think they were supposed to stay in some sort of order. That was a bit nerve racking.) We did get stopped by the police as they escorted the elites through on their fancy schmancy coaches. (not school buses.)

I get off the bus, find the nearest porta john, snap a pic of the athlete’s village, head in for free stuff (hey, it’s me right!) Grabbed some powerbars and then back out to the St. John’s Parish church (1/2 mile away!) to meet the DFMC team.

Dropped off in Hopkinton

Welcome to the Athlete's Village

Inside the athlete's village

On my way to the DFMC refuge, we passed this house where the kids every year have a poster and ask all the runners that walk by to sign it. I did and then after me, one of the elite athletes was getting escorted to their area and stopped to sign the poster. Cool!

I saw my friend Stacy who signed up to volunteer at the refuge, found my running buds, took pictures, hung out, personalized my singlet, got our team photo, changed into my shoes, got one gu ready to take 15 minutes before and got my other 5 gu’s in place (more on that later), put on the sleeves and put on the throw away shirt. Two more porta john breaks, grabbed some salty pretzels, then we were off to the corrals.

Stacy and me.

Uta & Jack giving us our pep talk.

Heading to the corrals, Tedy Bruschi was randomly standing at the corral and opened our gate for us and gave us high fives. I was just about to text David and managed to snap a pic.

Then it was another .25 -.5 mile walk to the start. We barely made it in time and just went from a walk to slow jog to the start and we were off!

Now, I am off to bed, so stay tuned for more tomorrow. :)

Boston Marathon - DFMC Pasta Party

2011-04-19T21:40:00.000-04:00

Wow! Wow! Wow!

There is so much to process, so bear with me. aka, really long post(s) coming :)

First off, the pasta party was unbelievable. So many amazing stories from survivors, from the kids, partner programs (kids & their families can participate with runners that chose to be part of the partner program) Way cool. All the kids are at mile 25 and if they can and want to, they can run the last mile with their runner. We heard from scientists, a great pep talk from Uta Pippig 3x winner of the Boston Marathon from 94-96, a pep talk from our coach Jack Fultz, and some amazing fund raising stories. And an amazing Dana Farber tribute video from our runs and why we run. There were 500+ Dana-Farber team members, but I see just how lucky we are to be in Boston and to get to train here and especially on the course every Sat. The video and picture montage was another example.

We also were treated with an amazing speech by Delores Barr Weaver, founder of the DFMC. Her speech was powerful, humble and quietly amazing. She has this presence. She lost her mother in 1957 and when she and her husband were in a place where they could, they took up the battle that her mother lost. She started the DFMC 22 years ago with 19 runners and their goal was to raise 100k for innovative cancer research. This year there are over 500 runners, with one runner having run ALL 22 times! And we raised over $3.5M so far.

And the food...The pasta bar was fabulous. I had salad with fresh strawberries, two huge plates of pasta - at least 3 different kinds. And some whole wheat rolls and one cookie. Gotta have a cookie! I loved that it started at 3pm so we were able to get food, hear the program and still get home at an early hour.

So funny story. Last week I got a call from the on of the amazing staffers from DFMC, Arin, who also happens to be from my town. Anyway she called to ask if I meant to RSVP for 8,000 people. Um. No. I hope my credit card didn't take 8000 reservations! I guess something was up with the system and somehow I got in there over 8k times. Well they canceled them and made my reservations for me and David. But in the mean time I rattled off some teammates to see if we could sit near one another. Sweet! Here are a few of them.

Kim and me. We rocked our 20 and one of our 18 milers together.

Jess and me.

Steph and me.

So that was the party. More Boston Marathon coverage coming up!

So you can tell me apart from the other 27,000 other runners

2011-04-17T13:24:00.000-04:00

A few people have asked how to spot me on Monday. Here is a picture of the planned outfit (note: depending on the weather, some things may change...The only guarantee is the singlet, the garmin, my shoes and probably the hat. I am hoping the sticky letters stay put.) If it is colder, I'll have my capri on instead, and possibly a shirt under. And if it warmer, the sleeves won't be there. It's all coming with me to the start and I'll decide then. See...this is what I consume my thoughts with so I won't think about the 26 miles and 385 yards

So here is a pic so you can tell me apart from the other 27,000 other runners.....

If you are on the course (or not) and want text alerts, you can text the word RUNNER to 345678 and then reply with my bib number 22474. If you don't trust the text messages, I start at 10:40 and plan on running between a 9 and 10 minute mile. Or at least that is the plan. I know of people going to to be at mile 9, 12ish, 16ish, 17, 21, 25, the Pru and the finish. Feel free to comment with where you will be. I will have my phone up until the start.

I will probably be running with my running buddy and my teammate, training partner, Kim, a tall blond (shoot I should have checked to see what she is wearing too!) and possibly a few others, Stephanie and Angela. Hopefully that is enough information to spot me if you are on the course.

Full of hot cross buns, lots of support from all my family and friends and of course filled with some awesomely powerful prayers and support from First Church Somerville and now I am off to fill up on pasta at the Dana-Farber pasta party!

Boston Marathon Expo & Pick Up Packet

2011-04-16T07:41:00.000-04:00

Before leaving work today, my co-workers gave me a cute little care package including some essentials for Marathon weekend. Inspiring card, powerbar, whole grain pasta, muscle milk (contains no actual milk....who knew!) blister bandages (yeah, gonna need these!), foot cream, deodorant and some bengay. Awesome! What a great crew!

I took off a couple hours early to head in for packet pickup and beat all the mayhem tomorrow or Sunday. Glad I did. It was busy, but not crazy busy. I even ran into Pat, a fellow DFMC teammate and ironically discovered on one of our runs that she used to work for my current boss at UMass Med School. Who knew??!

Old South Boston, UCC. Love this. Blessing of the athletes. Right at the finish line. Right where we need it!

And the finish line.

Number pick up. No lines!

Expo Entrance

Some of the booths from the expo. The expo would be awesome if you had like a gazillion dollars to spend on every runner gear thing you could possibly think of. I didn't take as much time in there - felt a little overwhelmed and I wanted to make sure I left enough time to drop off my Dana-Farber info at Copley Place and make it back to the train. Of course I had *plenty* of time, but by the time I got where I needed to be, I wasn't going to go back. I would love to walk all over, but I have a lot more time to be on my feet on Monday!

But, I did get to pick up my bag. The green bag is to put all of my stuff in for bag check to pick up at the finish line. It is huge, so plenty of room for a change of clothes, not to mention several options for the starting line even.

In the bag included some free swag. Not that you can really see it all in the picture - but we have the adidas finishers shirt, official program, 26.2 sticker, water bottle (that tore a hole in my bag argh....) bare naked granola, dole fruit snacks, smucker's natural pb, and my kids' favorite - a cow bell! (Remotes not included in the bag.)

Permission to stalk me next week.

2011-04-11T15:57:00.000-04:00

If any of you are interested, you can track me using my bib number on the Boston Marathon course. When I cross the 10K, Half, 30K, and finish line you can get an email/text message alert.

My bib number is 22474.

Also, if you are going to be out there on the course, let me know where and I will try to look for you!

Here is how you can ~~stalk me~~ track my run.

TEXT - Simply text the word RUNNER to 345678 using your US mobile phone. You will then receive an sms text response with instructions on how to submit a runner’s bib number. (Message and data rates may apply. You will be opted in to receive four messages during the race. Send STOP to quit. Available on participating carriers AT&T, Alltel, Boost, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon.)
EMAIL - Continue to the registration page for the AT&T Athlete Alert on the race website. Sign-up using your mobile phone number for SMS text message updates, or by entering an email address for email updates. Click here to sign up now

If you register a mobile phone online, you will receive a message asking you to confirm your intention to receive updates from the 2011 Boston Marathon AT&T Athlete Alert. Once you’ve completed registration for AT&T Athlete Alert, you will receive text updates courtesy of AT&T and the Boston Marathon when your runner has crossed the following points on the course:

10K
Half-Marathon
30K
Finish

Friday's Drawers: CSA Loot

2011-04-08T18:50:00.001-04:00

The loot!

Red Swiss Chard

Fresh greens

Some crazy looking parsnips

These are for dinner tonight! Peanut Satay & Chilli Chicken with Green Beans. YUM!

Two weeks to go go go go go.

2011-04-04T15:10:00.000-04:00

When I was pregnant I had this little spreadsheet that I kept that had my due date, how many weeks to go and formula that had how many weeks back. I know, I know, I'm an excel geek. It was my way of not only anticipating the date but then thinking about where I was the same number of days back.

I don't have the same spreadsheet for the marathon, but with only 2 weeks to go, it is EASY to think about what I was doing just two weeks ago! It means this thing is coming up QUICK!

And it is really sinking in. I have my singlet. I have my orange hat. My new orange shoes are broken in. I know my number.

22474.

I like that number.

All the BIG runs are in the books. We are officially in taper mode. Which means my legs are ITCHING to run. This taper is feels really different than a half marathon taper. I really do feel my muscles aching to do go go go.

Is this how a taper feels?

It makes sense my legs would feel this way since every Saturday for the last 16 weeks I have run LONG. To play it extra safe this week I replaced a few runs with the ARC trainer too. I just don't want to take any chances.

Here is the game plan for the next two weeks:

Foam roll & stretch (I really need to do this every night. I haven't been as good about this as I should.)
Replace some runs with ARC trainer
Next week, start cutting out fats and stick with mostly whole grain carbs
Try to get good sleep (this is probably the hardest!)

Mon 3-4
Tues Strength training

Wed 5-7
Thurs 7-8

Friday Strength training
Sun 10-12 (Last group run)

Tues Strength training (more like Yoga)

Wed 4-5 (speed work)
Thurs 3-4

Friday Stretch, yoga
Sat 1-2

Sunday: DFMC Pasta Party Carb-o Load!

MONDAY MARATHON! 26.2 miles

The only thing left is to get to my fundraising goal and to run this thing!

Friday's Drawers - No Fooling Around!

2011-04-01T13:33:00.001-04:00

With snow on the ground...in APRIL (!!!) doesn't it make you long for spring and summer fruits and veggies? If you want to get in on the June-November farm share from Enterprise Farms, today is the best day to do it. They are offering $25 bucks off your share if you sign up by April 1. They have tons of pick ups around Boston & Western MA. Check 'em out.

Here is our share from this week:

Cilantro/Arugula/Dill: Dalponte Farm, Lake Placid, FLRed Valencia Citrus: Eagle's Nest Grove, Crescent City, FL
Red Grapefruit: Spooner's Grove, Vero Beach, FL
Green Beans: Homestead Organics, Homestead, FL
Greenleaf Lettuce: Lady Moon Farms, Punta Gorda, FL
Dino Kale: Lady Moon Farms, Punta Gorda, FL
Maitake Mushrooms: Phillip's Gourmet, Kennett Square, PA

Grape Tomatoes: Lady Moon Farms, Punta Gorda, FL
Collard greens

I am completely fascinated with the maitake mushrooms. I've never seen these kind of mushrooms before. They kind of looked like seaweed or something you would find in the ocean. But with a really earthy smell and texture.

And that makes sense because when Maitake mushrooms, according to Kimiko Barber, are called “dancing mushrooms” because when they move in a gentle breeze, they resemble coral dancing in the current. In centuries past, they were known as "phantom mushrooms" due to their extreme rarity and value.

Interestingly, WebMd even discussed how theses mushrooms are used to treat cancer and relieve some of the side affects of chemotherapy.

I am sure like many (real) foods, there are benefits. But for me, right now...I just want to know how to prepare the suckers.

Nothing came up in my cook books at home, so I checked out the interwebs and found a couple of options.

This one looked promising. I have been on a ginger, soy, citrus kick (Oh yeah, I have a broccoli dish to post!)

From edenfoods.com

Ingredients
1 cup maitake mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon EVOO
20 spears asparagus, 1 bunch, end trimmed, sliced into 2 inch lengths
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup water, including reserved maitake soaking water
1 medium carrot, julienned
1 cup organic sweet corn, fresh or frozen
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger root, finely grated, squeeze out juice, discard pulp

Directions
Place maitake in a bowl and soak for 20 minutes in warm water to cover. Remove, drain and reserve water to use as part of the cooking liquid. Heat up a skillet, sauté the garlic and maitake for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the shoyu and water. Cover and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the asparagus, carrots and corn. Cover and simmer another 5 minutes. Remove cover and pour ginger juice over the asparagus. Sauté another 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve.

Nutritional InfoPer serving: 94 Calories, 3g Fat (25% calories from fat), 4g Protein, 14g Carbohydrate, 7g Fiber, 0mg Cholesterol, 210mg Sodium

But I think I am going to adapt this one from a blog I stumbled across:

Maitake and Beech Mushrooms with Simmered Tofu on Sesame Rice

I'll give it a try and post how it goes.

20.in.the.books.

2011-03-26T21:38:00.001-04:00

The last long run of training! Bring on the taper!

Going in, I wasn't feeling quite the confidence as the two (albeit unplanned) 18 milers. Yes, there were even some tears that leaked out during strength training Friday. A lunge the wrong way and I knew things weren't working the way my mind wanted them too. And the tightest hamstrings I've had so far. Ever. Add in lack of runs for various reasons and a 7 mile treadmill attempt on Thursday night that ended up as a 3 miler and not a great one at that. But I hoped once I got moving it would be a good run. Talking to some of my running mates this week, we were all feeling the little aches and pains here and there. I certainly wasn't alone in that front.

So this was one run I was definitely ready to be over - even by the turn around I could feel my left knee was going to need some TLC this week. Still, it was definitely a confidence builder - and with heart break in the last mile, if you are a close friend to me - BELIEVE ME when I say your name was in my head running up that last hill.

The run started at Boston College (mile 21 of the course) and we ran out 10 miles to Wellesley College and then back to BC. Early on, we could tell that there were several groups that were running from Hopkington into BC because we started passing runners going the opposite direction. And by the time we got into Newton, there were runners & cheerers everywhere. My favorite sign was "Your feet hurt because you are kicking so much butt."

The support on the run was fantastic, not only was the regular Dana-Farber team out there, but the police were out there directing traffic letting us run through the major intersections, tables for all the charity runners, retailers everywhere- still loved the lululemon chick with the batman underoos on over her tights. Hawt.

Oh and note to anyone who does the course backwards then forwards, it really is double the hills - what goes down must go back up!

We celebrated the run afterwards over at Molly's for her fantastic peach fuzz party (what a GREAT way to celebrate!) and then enjoyed even more good eats with good friends out for dinner.

Now, if only I could get up & down the stairs a little bit smoother.....

Friday's Drawers - Kale Chips!

2011-03-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

This week's share had kale and we decided since I still have last week's chard and now this week's and those will go into soup, I wasn't going to do another kale soup - so we did kale chips tonight. And they are already gone. (burp.)

Here is the easiest way to make them.

Here is the kale:

Cut off the stems.

Put the chip sized bites into a bowl with a cover, toss with some olive oil till they are coated and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Lay out on a cookie sheet.

Bake in a 350degree oven for 10-15 minutes. WATCH THEM! so they don't burn.

And kale chips. See...someone took some in between the time that they came out of the oven and when I finally took a picture.

I came down from bedtime with the kids and the container was empty. They go that quick around here.

Friday's Drawers - Roasted Eggplant!

2011-03-24T23:46:00.000-04:00

I am a little behind, but here is last week's CSA organic food porn. And a quick and easy way to roast up some eggplant.

Slice the eggplant lengthwise with 5 slits.
Put a half or quarter of garlic in the pocket with a little pepper.

Coat a roasting pan with a table spoon of olive oil and coat the eggplant.

Bake in a 375degree oven for about 45 minutes or until tender.

Let these cool, then peel them and eat with some olive oil & white wine vinegar. I having some with my pasta tomorrow for lunch. This last pic doesn't look that appetizing, but my taste test so far (we'll see how they hold up tomorrow) was good.

And I don't have pics - but earlier this week, I made a stir fry with the mushrooms, broccoli, julienned carrots a little grated ginger, soy sauce and orange juice that was so flippin' good! We had it with quinoa. Definitely making that again.

Who's Your Dragon?

2011-03-16T17:00:00.007-04:00

Several friends and I have been discussing our issues with the scale of late. Some of my friends are looking to lose a few pounds; some are maintaining just fine; and some are looking to lose more than a few. But we all have this one thing in common: we are measuring ourselves with this scale. This thing. An inanimate object that depending on the number that we see, seems to determine our mood for the day – or worse, our self worth.

I am guilty of this big time.

Funny thing is, during my heaviest days, I didn’t even own a scale. When I first joined Weight Watchers, I only weighed in at my weekly meetings. It really has been only since being *under* my goal weight that I have weighed myself as much as I do (sometimes every day). And I admit to keeping an index card with my weekly weight since Sept.

Over the last several weeks, that number has been going up.

I don’t know what has me more frustrated, the fact that during marathon training, I’ve gained weight, or the fact that I still let the scale and that fact, that gain, frustrates me! I’m frustrated that I am frustrated!

Get out of that cycle! I’m not a cyclist.

I’m a runner.

Anyway, all this scale talk had me thinking. A lot.

It had me thinking about this idea of my number, my “happy weight” and where I am in training, in eating; where I am emotionally and even spiritually. When I was in my heavier days, I thought that I would be better if I were thinner. And now that I am thinner are things better? Thinner just gets replaced with wanting other things….wanting more time, to run faster, less stress, bigger house, more money…. The definition of insatiable – or is it driven?

My present has its problems, sure, but frankly, some of my “problems” I would have LOVED to have had a year ago. Can you imagine what 210 lb me would have said to 147lb me if she hear me bitching about gaining during marathon training??? She would have slapped the shiznit out of me!

The reality of my life (an all of ever changing lives) is that it is different than it was a 10 years ago, 1 year ago, 1 month ago. And it will be different again in 1 month, 1 year, 10 years. So am I going to let my circumstances or the scale or some other external factor or measurement dictate how I feel about myself? Hellsno.

I just want to be.

But.

There is a long way between where I am to “just be”.

So I work.

In my self-help feelings of late, I headed down to the basement (literally....or...) to dig up some books. One of the books I pulled out of the basement is called The Hero Within by Carol S. Pearson. My mom gave me a signed & dedicate copy about 10 years ago. But I never read it. Maybe I wasn't ready for it yet.

One of the first lines that hit me was this:

"To make deep personal change, is to develop a 'new paradigm, a new self, one that is more effectively aligned with today’s realities.'"

Today’s reality is different than yesterday’s. And there are so many realities of today. World-wide ones. Japan. Our own country, state, city, families. Personal ones.The new normal, or even the new, new normal.

For me, once I KNOW "something" - that "something" isn't necessarily going to change, but my relationship to it will. Around our house, we say, “the news is the news” something I picked up from years in project management. The news doesn’t change, but my relationship to it and what I do with it can change. For example, reading Michael Pollan and knowing how my food is produced changed my relationship with food.. I CAN’T do anything about it unless I KNOW about it.

And vice versa, if I don’t TELL someone about something, they will never have the opportunity to do anything about it either. (Yeah, you can’t resent someone for washing a sweater if you never told them it was dry clean only. Not that I have ever done that.)

So going back to the idea of wanting more – insatiable vs. driven – I guess that too comes down to attitude.

By wanting to be faster, be better, be healthier, work harder, is my attitude one based on wanting more because what I have isn’t enough? Or is it because I am grateful for what I have? Meaning, to NOT do more when I know I am capable of being better at (fill in the blank), would be a disservice to me and my family.

To just be (better) IS appreciating life around me. That is the attitude I will practice.

__________

Ok, last thing for today.

As I do this work, as I make personal changes, one thing, one MAJOR thing that I know I causes struggle with these kind of reflections, is I don’t always take full ownership of my actions. Excuses start to flood my thought process. Or the “buts” take over. Or I try to explain away feelings like, when I was a kid…blah blah blah. Or I can’t because…whatever the excuse.

And lo and behold, I read this:

“As we deprogram ourselves from outmoded habits and traditions, however, the temptation is to see ourselves as victims, not heroes, especially if we have a conscious or unconscious sense of entitlement. If we did not come from a healthy family, if there are few jobs in our field, or if we fear we will not surpass our parents’ prosperity level, we than can become demoralized. It is important to remember that heroes of myth and legend hardly ever have perfect parents or perfect lives. Think, for instance of Oedipus, left to die as an infant on the hillside, or Oliver Twist, growing up in a cruel orphanage. Even Jesus of Nazareth was born, humbly, in a manger.”

Holy scrap, (my new favorite Transformers swear word).

Victim + entitlement. This is so true. I think about all these times where life wasn’t “fair”….How many times have I been angry because something happened to someone I love that wasn’t “fair” or they or I had been "wronged"? Often. Too often. All those feelings of anger, are they just an unconscious sense of entitlement?

I am going to have to think about that for awhile.

For now, let me get back to the scale and the habitual weighing in and the desire to deprogram oneself in doing so. Because this IS about taking action.

My friends and I have helped each other on this one. One of my friends gave up the scale for Lent. And we are supporting her in the ways that we can - giving up scales, feelings toward scales, giving up other technologies and even just talking about it and sharing what we read.

Here is one more quote I liked from The Hero Within:

“The very nature of heroism requires us to face the dragon, not sit around and complain that the dragons exist and someone should do something about them. “

After reading I had to imagine my bathroom closet with this yellow glow and smoke pouring out from the bottom only to open it up and see this DRAGON sitting upon this white inanimate object with digital numbers blinking. Only instead of my 144 that I want to see - I see the calculator trick where you put in 7734 and then turn it upside down.

Then I fall down into a fit of giggles thinking about it.

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea. And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee....

Friday's Drawers - From white to green.

2011-03-11T16:04:00.000-05:00

This week it has been awesome to see more green in our own yard than in our farm share box. There has been so much snow for SO long. To give you an idea of just HOW long we've had snow on the ground, the other morning I was looking out of Isabella's bedroom window; it was early and I was kind of groggy and saw a mound of white kind of moving back and forth. Wha?

Dang, I know it's been a long time since my last beer, but really? Moving snow?

Look a little closer. Whew, not crazy.

It was a white plastic bag stuffed with something blowing back and forth. Oh wait.

Now it sounds like one of James Newman's novels.

But no, it was our neighbor's Christmas Tree. In a white bag. Waiting since the end of December for trash pick up.

It snowed so much around here, it completely covered and camouflaged their tree. Till now.

It's March.

Anyway, nice to see some green. And here is some more green:

Not sure what the heck is going on with the picture. I think my smartphone is not acting so smart. The reason why the pic isn't in the normal spot was because I already had the stove going for those fantastic portabellas. Marinated in olive oil, basil, oregano and white balsamic vinegar. Yum!

But here is what came in our produce box this week:

Braising Mix, Atlas Farm, Deerfield, MA
Strawberries,Wishnatzki Farm, FL
Baby Bok Choi, Lady Moon, FL
Red Cabbage, Deep Root Coop, VT
Red Leaf Lettuce, Lady Moon, FL
Mesclun Mix (sust.),Equinox Farm, MA
Rainbow Chard, Lady Moon, FL
Dandelion Greens,Lady Moon, FL
Portabella Mushrooms,Country Fresh Mushrooms, PA
Zucchini, Bryson Farm, FL
Oranges

18 unplanned. Again.

2011-03-07T07:30:00.003-05:00

I *really* should follow my plan.

But I will not should all over myself.

Ok, I've followed it for the most part, but the difference between this training and training for the half that I did in November where I PR'd the shiznit out of that distance (yeah, just had to throw that in there) is that I am listening to my body way more than following what a piece of paper says to do. Sure, I know that it is there for a reason,, but I feel like this time I follow the plan a lot more loosely than before. And I am ok with that. In fact, I love it! (Shocking, I know!)

So when this week called for 16 and I got to the course and was feeling good, I jumped on board with my teammates and did 18. So yes, my second 18 miler was again unplanned.

What a GREAT run. This was an awesome course! Really scenic part of town I wasn't really aware of. If you ever drive down 128 and pass the big reservoir in Waltham and see that really big office thing back there, well I finally know what is back there. Lots of offices. Oh and a really, really nice stretch of woods, houses, sculpture gardens and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of hills.

This run was a series of out and backs focused around two water stations set up by the Dana Farber volunteers (YAY! Volunteers!) Basically one long stretch of road with 3 fingers. I loved this route. Not just for the scenic part of it, but because there were so many out and backs, we really got to see the whole team. 100 people or so running for a great cause, in crazy bright colors and crazy enough to run 18-20 miles is quite a sight to see in the snow lined streets in small New England Towns.

The temp was perfect too. I was going to don the capris but at the last minute (literally, I changed in the car) I swapped the capris for the tights. I still went with the compression shorts under, a bright pink tech-tee, sleeves track jacket and bright orange hat. I chucked the jacket and hat at the first water stop and was just fine.

I was feeling really good until about 8 miles in I really had to pee. Like bad.

Luckily, we decided to take the finger less traveled. (We wanted to get the hillier of the fingers done first) so I ducked off to the side to "tie my shoe" and then booked it to catchup.

I thought for a bit that it would mean I would get out of doing the 18 since my team mates would surely turn around and run back for me, but guess who was stopped, resting at the turn around waiting for me to catch up. Eh. It was fine. I booked my booty there to try to catch up. Honestly, it felt pretty good to run free to catch up.

The rest of the run, besides the crazy number of hills, was just fine....till the last oh.mah.gah. hill back to the club. I knew it was going to be bad because we ran down it first, but I didn't realize how LONG that hill was. LONG. The last mile, no joke, the last mile, was ALL hill. With the last 1/2 mile going from 175ft elevation to 302 ft. That may not sound like much, but doing it on the last 5 minutes of a 3 hour run is tough. Maybe I should re-think what I said about heartbreak hill from the last post....hmmmm.....

I was really glad that Kim, my running partner this week who I ran with last week for our 14 miler, stuck with me the whole time. She's a mom a 4 boys from a small town in Texas and a freakin' awesome, upbeat partner. I have never met a more considerate runner. She waived and said thank you to every single car that drove past giving us some space. I found myself doing the same the whole time. Good runner vibes. We made it the whole time sans music and good conversation. We also ran with Shifter, an 18 year (!!!) Dana-Farber team member ran with us for about 15 miles of the course too - we lost him when we blew past the last water station wanting to just get the last 3 miles done. Check out his fundraiser 5 k!

Overall, I feel a lot less stiff than last week, even though last week was a shorter 14 miles (Ha! I know how that sounds!) and I shaved off about 15 minutes from the last 18 miler, and this one was way more hillier.

And the splits:
1:09:29
2:10:02
3:10:21
4:10:04
5: 10:26
6:10:01
7: 10:33
8: 9:43 <----- Had to "tie my shoe" and then run faster to catch up with my RB's
9:10:34
10:10:38
11:10:35
12:10:53
13:10:31
14:10:24
15:10:55
16:10:12
17:09:31
18:10:25

18 miles unplanned.

2011-03-06T21:03:00.003-05:00

Two weeks ago I ran my first ever 18-miler. My longest distance to date. I really hadn't set out to do 18, I planned on 15 - but what is a 5k more???

I was running with a couple teammates on the marathon course (Dang, there are a LOT of runners on the route on Saturday mornings!) and we did a series of out and backs between several water stops set up along the route. One of the most awesome ways to run is to have a team of volunteers hang out and support you by giving out water, gaterade, peanut M&Ms, pretzels and lots of words of encouragement. The Dana Farber volunteers rock! AND I don't have to ever carry a fuel belt WHOO HOO!

So back to the planned 15. So we were 9 miles in and one group was heading back to the club which would have given them 14. The other group was going back down to the previous water stop and then back which was closer to 18. And somehow one of my teammates convinced me to make the turn around. Oh man! What have I done! There's no turning back! Well, there was, but then I'd be on my own. So, I went along. And then there it was, heartbreak hill. I am probably going to hate myself for even writing this come April 18th, but it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Don't get me wrong, it was tough, but no crazy hard.

We made it back to the club, but then it was my turn to get the ladies I was running with to keep going when the Garmin said 17.1. One RB headed, but Susan & I decided to head down the road and back. 17.8! There was NO way that I was going to do 18 and NOT have it read 18 on the Garmin, so we looped the parking lot JUST so I could see th 18 click over.

I felt a small twinge in my calf around mile 10, but just stretched it the rest of the way. (I was stiff the next day and took 3 days rest, and it was much better by the next long run.)

Overall, this was a really good run. I was glad to do 18 without really planning it because I didn't have to sweat doing it. Well. Sweat BEFORE doing it.

The sweat was so bad, David was heading out to the store, but sat in the car for a minute, decided to roll down the windows and air it out for a spell before heading back out.

Yeah, some major stinkage.

Next time, I'll remember to bring a shirt to change into. Rookie mistake.

Friday's Drawers - Yellow and Green and Rainbow Too

2011-03-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

Broccoli: Bryson Farm, Labelle, Florida

Strawberries: Wish Farm, Plant City, Florida

Green Leaf Lettuce: Lady Moon, Punta Gorda, FL

Rainbow Chard: Lady Moon, Punta Gorda, FL

Dandelion Greens: Lady Moon, Punta Gorda, FL

Green Peppers: Lady Moon, Punta Gorda, FL

Potatoes: ENTERPRISE

Apples

And here was the recipe from this week's newsletter, Recipe adapted from Food and Wine

Swiss Chard, Potato, Chick Pea Stew

1 pound Swiss chard, tough stems removed, leaves washed well and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds baking potatoes (about 3), peeled and sliced 3/4-inch thick
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups drained and rinsed canned chickpeas (one 19-ounce can)
3 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1 cup water
2 hard-cooked eggs, cut into wedges

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the chard and cook for 3 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set aside.

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the potatoes and onion and sauté, stirring frequently, until the potatoes start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, turmeric, cayenne, and salt and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the cooked chard, chickpeas, broth, and water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Serve the stew garnished with the hard-cooked eggs.

Green Eggs n' Ham

2011-03-03T23:29:00.000-05:00

Sam I am
I am Sam

Do you like green eggs and ham?
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
I do not like green eggs and ham.
Would you like them here or there?
I would not like them here or there.

Say!
I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!

Simon asked me this morning if I could make him a "Special Breakfast" of Green Egg n' Ham in honor of Dr. Suess's birthday. So we did a little breakfast for dinner.

Eggs with dandelion greens, green pepper and pickled tomatillo hot sauce that we got from a few shares back. Yum! These eggs don't need ketchup at all.

And because my Thing 1 and Thing 2 weren't into my version of green eggs n ham yet, I gave into my stay-away-from-dye foods for a day and dropped a drop of blue food coloring in the eggs....yellow and blue make....

GREEN EGGS n' HAM!

Don't mine look way more appetizing? Eh. They'll come around. One bite though and Simon would have repeated the same line from the other night when I accidentally put horseradish laced cheese in his sandwich. "Something in the sandwich tastes POWERFUL."

Now go march Left Foot Left Foot Right Foot Right read some more Suess with your own Thing 1 and Thing 2s.

Or make it a Suess & Clifford combo. That is what we did tonight.

T'ai Chi + Running = A more mindful me

2011-02-28T23:01:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I went out to Western MA for a Chi Running workshop that I signed up for after reading Chi Running by Danny and Katherine Dreyer.

So what is Chi and what the heck does it have to do with running?

"Chi is life giving energy that unites body, mind and spirit"

Basically, Danny and his mentors realized that the principles of T'ai Chi are true universal laws and can be applied to anything including running.

As I read the book, the first third actually had nothing to do with running form, but more about the principles of T'ai Chi; the Four Chi-Skills:

Focusing your Mind
Body Sensing
Breathing
Relaxation

By taking these simple skills and really tune in...it becomes a very mindful and meditative practice. We use our minds and spirits to strengthen our core - physical, mental and spiritual core.

Once we discussed the Chi-Skills, then towards the middle of the book, all the principles of T'ai Chi were applied in a practical sense to help us run without injury. This is based on using our center, our core to propel us forward rather than our muscles. Relaxing our muscles and using our ligaments and tendons to do the work and not our muscles. More like a controlled fall rather than a push off with the back leg and break with the front leg. It seems strange but once I realized that by using gravity rather than pushing with my back legs, then running is so much easier. Even uphill! I fall uphill! Really! It is all about form. And it starts with my mind.

For a simplified explanation of the form side of Chi Running, check this out:

Just before reading this book, I had been reading a lot of Thich Nhant Hahn and other Buddhist principles. I couldn't *believe* how aligned these universal principles are. After reading the book, I was psyched to go out an run and try out these new mad skills that I found. I ditched the zune and tunes and started really listening to my body, mindful practice of running.

But then life took over. Self-doubt, time suckage, I just ran but wasn't sure if I was "doing it right" so I signed up for the workshop through www.healthylivingandlearning.com with Ryan Miller.

It was definitely worth it. We did several exercises to show us how to use our core to run, how to focus on our midfoot strike and at the end of the workshop Ryan filmed us running and we were able to critique one another. The one thing I wish I had done was filmed my self BEFORE the class so I could see the change. What I can say is I have seen race photos of me with a definite heal strike, so it was nice to see this video with a more mid-foot strike and decent form. I can also say, I am less injured than I was in November, ITB issues are pretty much gone and now I really listen and tune in to what is going on. I have yet to run a long run with music ....Check that, the 1/2 marathon in the basement on the TM was with music. I'm not THAT crazy yet!...Anyway, focusing has really helped me prevent issues and I really, really love running.

I don't aways do this, but after taking the workshop, I sent them a little note. They decided to publish it, but here it is:

I found Chi Running right at the perfect time in my life. I started running about a year ago, but quickly took each race and time as a goal rather than the journey. It was very much the way I was living my life. Reading the book and attending Ryan Miller's workshop was a turning point in my running, which aligned perfectly with the other transformations happening in my life at the same time.

My physical, spiritual, emotional and now running transformations all converged meeting at the same point. Living in the present moment, being mindful, and having a strong core - physically, emotionally & spiritually.

I like that I no longer compartmentalize my running to use as an escape, but to enhance my relationships, all my relationships in my life. ChiRunning alone did not do this, but ChiRunning and the universal laws that are present in ChiRunning can be applied everywhere.

Thank you Katherine, for your work, for Danny's work and for being open to this balance. It is funny because I think many runners find you (like me) with injuries looking for quick fixes. "Help me change my form." But leave with, "Wow, this is a paradigm shift." There's a click, like solving a rubics cube. It no longer becomes about running or form but about life. Truly profound, especially when we runners can become so narcissistic and self-absorbed.

Thank you for reminding me that running, that life is a gift.

I highly recommend checking out the Chi Running Book and the Chi Running website.

Happy Running!

Friday's Drawers: POPCORN!

2011-02-25T20:40:00.000-05:00

What a treat this week with real, not pre-packaged, powder coated microwave popcorn!

And lil sweet peppers!

And oranges!

And more crazy looking rainbow carrots!

But still the highlight was the popcorn. I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner. Chicken and popcorn!

So, Izzy and I took the kernels off the cob. Our thumbs were a little sore doing it this way. So we balanced it over the bowl and popped them off into the little bowl.

The newletter this week came with a "Perfect Popcorn" recipe so that is what we did....

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_popcorn/

Ingredients
3 Tbsp canola, peanut or grapeseed oil (we used canola)
1/3 cup of high quality popcorn kernels
1 3-quart covered saucepan
2 Tbsp or more (to taste) of butter
Salt to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a 3-quart saucepan on medium high heat. Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover
the pan. When the kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover,
remove from heat and count 30 seconds. (And yup we counted out loud with the kids.) This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping
temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time. Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl. With this technique, nearly all of the kernels pop and nothing burns.

Here is the full share this week.

Broccoli, Bryson Farms, Florida
Rainbow Carrots, Atlas Farm, South Deerfield
Pineapple Orange, Eagles’ Next Grove, Florida
Green Beans, Pero Farm. Florida
Romaine Lettuce, Lady Moon, Florida
Mustard Greens, Lady Moon, Florida
Mini Sweet Peppers, Pero Farms, Florida
Popcorn (transitional), Enterprise Farm
Covington Sweet Potatoes, ECO, N. Carolina
Plum Tomatoes, Lady Moon, Florida

Here was the other recipe that I think we'll try this week and see how it is....that is if we don't eat up the broccoli before I get to it!

Broccoli Sweet Potato Soup

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 medium onions, chopped

6-8 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon oil

1 bunch broccoli , split in florets

1 cup milk

Water ( just enough to cover veggies)

1 vegetable boullion cube (optional)

salt & black pepper

1 tsp powdered sage

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried rosemary

4 tbsp fresh parsley or cilantro (optional)

can be served with croutons and cheese (optional)

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until

translucent. Add sweet potatoes and herbs. Add enough liquid to cover and boullion and bring to

a boil. Lower heat and simmer 10 minutes or until sweet potato is cooked. Use some liquid from the

soup to boil broccoli in the separate pot. Puree sweet potatoes soup in blender. Stir in soy milk and

broccoli. If the soup is too thin, discard the liquid you used to boil broccoli, otherwise add it back to

the soup. Bring to boil and simmer for several minutes.

Friday's Drawers - Forget Me Not Fruit

2011-02-15T16:25:00.000-05:00

You know how when you start to get out of the habit of something, it takes all your energy to get back on track? Yeah, that is where I am. I get into this crazy perfectionist mode, like I need to have something really important to say or take a picture of before I actually post.

And who is this for again?

So I took pictures with our new camera Friday, and I even got some reviews from our lovely taste testers, Simon and Isabella, but I never posted.

Oops.

Enough excuses. Check out these wares from our Farm Share.

I think I left drool on my monitor.

Strawberry Review - Wish Farm

Simon: They were good!

Izzy: Delicious!

These were good. Of course my favorite is the double butt strawberries. I am huge fan of fruits and veggies that look natural. The "odd" shapes give food character rather than the pristine, stepford-fruit you usually find in the grocery store.

I need to take a picture of the two legged carrots we get sometimes too. Those make me smile every time.

My fingers are still sticky from just having one.....
and what reminded me I still had an unposted blog post.

Florida Sunburst - Uncle Matt's Organics

Izzy (3yo): I like it. And I don't like it sometimes. And I like it. Is there more?

Simon (6yo): Tastes like juice! Good!

The Produce Geek describes sunburst Tangerines as:

Brilliant orange skin like a new construction cone, juicy-sweet tangerine taste like a, well… a burst of Florida Sunshine! Sunburst Tangerines are tangerines, NOT Clementines. Don’t get fooled at the store, Florida Sunburst Tangerines are sold loose, in 3lb bags and in 5lb Gift Boxes. People buy a gift box thinking they’re getting Florida-grown Clementines, but they are Tangerines – with seeds. Seeds? Yea, I said seeds – lots of them. If you are in the Anti-seeds Camp stick with Clementines and Satsuma Mandarins. If you like the juicy-sweet taste of Tangerines, buy them now, enjoy and repeat.

Oddly, they seem to be a November/December fruit, but we got them in February. Regardless, bring 'em on. Because, dang, these are good! Yes, Simon, they do taste like juice!

I don't think S & I would like to review this one.....But I bet I know who would! We'll get to it....

And here is the remainder of the wares:

We had the red & green pepper last night raw with some hummus. Yum!

Pictured:
Tomatillo Hot Sauce: Real Pickles, Greenfield, MA
Covington Sweet Potatoes: ECO, N.Carolina
Green & Red Pepper: Bryson Farm, Labelle, Florida

Collard Greens: Bryson Farm, Labelle, Florida (huh. I thought that was kale too???)
Red Kale: Lady Moon, Punta Gorda, Florida
Green Leaf Lettuce: Lady Moon, Punta Gorda, FL
Sunburst Tangerines: Uncle Matt’s, Clermont, FL
Strawberries: Wish Farm, Plant City, Florida
Carrots: Winter Moon Farm, Hadley, MA

Hair I am baby....or not

2011-02-11T10:18:00.001-05:00

I have a complete love/hate relationship with my hair.

Ok, more like, I have a complete love/hate relationship with going to the hairdresser.

I don't know why it is, but I never want to fork over $$$$ on getting my hair done. I never got the whole "because I am worth it" commercials. Those seem so....arrogant. A waste of money. I'd much rather spend my money on something else than on my hair.

Or maybe "because I am worth it" is confidence that I misconstrued as arrogance. When I look back at all the different hairstyles I had over the many many years: long, bob, pixie cut, buzz cut with bangs, buzz cuts with no bangs, betty page-do, just unkempt, long, do locks of love and go short again, long again, locks of love, short again, repeat.....Was I being lazy, cheap or just trying to figure out my place in this hairy world?

I don't know about you, but when I'd go to hair dresser (when I didn't do it myself) I'd have a picture in hand (and once even brought a video tape recording to my hairdressers house of a chic I liked on MacGyver! Ha!) and then I'd sit down and say I want a cut that makes me look ______ (insert whatever I was feeling I needed to be at the time.)

This time sitting in the salon chair, I recognized two things.

Thing 1.

The last time I got my hair done, I wasn't a runner. (Dead giveaway on how long it has been since I've taken care of my hair!)

I debated and debated, do I go with long layers so I can still do a pony, or do I go with what I actually like, a layered bob like do, and find ways to deal? From everything I've read regarding hair and running, it's either, go long or really short. Well, phooey. Contrary to popular belief, my life do not revolve around running.

Which brings me to....

Thing 2.

I just want to be me. So this time I did bring pictures, but one of the pictures was a picture of me. I want to look like me.

Finally, (why has it taken 35 years??!!!) I have come to realize that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about how I should wear my hair but me. Short hair not only looks better on me, in my "I'm worth it opinion" but I love the time I get back in the morning because frankly, my kids are worth it too and they deserve to have as much extra mom time as well. Sold.

So, yup. I went short. Again. And feeling grateful to even have hair to do a do-debate.

David didn't give the kids a heads up so here was the welcome once I got all my winter gear off....

Izzy: What happened to your hair?

Simon: You look beautiful! (His jaw actually dropped. Man, I love my boy!)

Isabella warmed up to me and decided she liked it. Whew. Maybe it will help her when it is time to trim her locks!

As for running, we'll see. I actually debated skipping the run tonight so I could get one more day of all the flat ironing and product my new awesome hairdresser gave me, but nah...That would be just crazy. :)

I didn't say running wasn't a BIG part of my life, just that my life doesn't revolve around it!

Anyway, we'll have to wait to see how the hair holds up on a different run since donning the reflective winter cap was was a must!

And while I may be a mom, a wife, a runner....one thing I am not....I am not my hair.

Another half post. Half way there. Just about.

2011-02-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

You people are awesome! We are just about half-way to our goal of raising $10k to end cancer!

And....it is quite timely because Boston Training is also just about 1/2 way done! WOOT!

What a journey so far! My friends, family and even perfect strangers (not really strange, strangers) have been so unbelievable generous. I am grateful and humbled that you have given so much to get us just about 1/2 way to our $10K goal for raising money for Dana-Farber and the Claudia Adams Barr Program for Innovative Cancer Research. Thank you!

But to *really* get us half way there. We need to raise $315 more.

And good news! There is still time to get half-way there!

(Till Sunday anyway.)

Can you help me finish my 9th week of my 18 week training plan by pushing the DFMC to $5k mark? Come on people! We can do it!

Please click here to make a donation.

And in full disclosure, 100% of the funds go directly to fighting cancer. There are many, many projects that are funded through the Claudia Adams Barr Program. Here is one that is close to many of us and so important to the health and wellness of this and future generations: Studying the linkages between cancer and obesity.

"Bruce Spiegelman, PhD, is one of the world leaders in understanding the molecular basis for obesity. His research is explaining why obesity is such a major risk factor for human cancers. Determining the link between obesity and these cancers could be important to inhibiting cancer development in both obese and non-obese people."

This is one of many important studies going on at Dana-Farber. Please ask me about others.

And just because....another half post. Half way there. Almost.

Half post

2011-02-07T12:15:00.039-05:00

I have quite a few half posts in me. Farmshare photos taken, but not posted, food cooked, but not blogged about, runs ran, but not reflected on, life happening, but lived rather than written down. All these thoughts on a specific topic that I want to jot down, but just don't seem to have the time to finish. Or rather, I don't seem to be prioritizing to finish. There have been a lot more priorities of late. And, really, who is this blog for right? But now I have a second, so I am going to attempt a half post.

Really. A half post.

Saturday I did my long run, (and first run of the week....ugh...all you people training & running during all this snow, I applaud you). Per my handy-dandy marathon training schedule, I had a planned 13 miles on tap. But who does just 13, really? Just add a .1 to make it a half marathon. So I did. Believe me, I am very happy with myself that I ran that far, because it is far. But really, what made this one all the more triumphant was.....

....it was on a treadmill.

and...

.....started after 9:00pm.

Unfortunately, it had to be on the treadmill because team training was canceled due to the impending storm that never came until 9 at night. (I watched the lighting from the basement window and was *really* glad I listened to my inner wisdom - ok, David - and didn't run outside.) All day, poor David wasn't feeling well at all, so I wasn't going to leave him for 2+ hours when he really needed rest. I can't say that he got much rest hearing the three of us playing & goofing around.Within the 30 seconds to run down to find more fisher-price little people, both kids were in the bedroom to show Daddy the exciting new discovery of that minute. With that kind of eagerness to show Daddy every lost toy now found when he just needs to get over this cold, clearly, it didn't make sense to hole myself in the basement for 2+ hours during the waking hours even if the kids did have stuff to play with. SO....if I was going to get in a run this week, it had to be on the 'mill after bed time.

Accepting the TM run, post bed time, missing movie night and finally the "How much is this going to affect our electricity bill?" feelings, I headed down and hopped on.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you make the choice to run your long run on the treadmill, here is what worked for me:

Divide the run up into chunks. I did 4 sets of 3s with planned "breaks" bathroom & water breaks in between.
Take breaks, but get back on. I had two bathroom breaks....and one's own bathroom is WAY better than a race-route porta-john! Of course, race venues aren't showing Jess Franco flicks during breaks either. Seeing what was on screen, I was shocked to get myself back down to the basement rather than hang out with David. Dang Lena!
Have water, and snacks near by. Mine were in a container on the water heater. I drank when thirsty, but snacks I reserved for the 3 mile breaks. My treats.
Make the snacks tasty. On a TM run, forget the gu. Get something you really want to snack on. Space isn't an issue and this isn't really a practice for the race, so make the snack enjoyable enough so that they are a treat for your breaks. I really wanted some of those tasty homemade cookies from our last DFMC training, run, but I settled for a clif Z bar and M&Ms...yes, we are still working on the Halloween stash!
Remember why you are running. I kept thinking about the 2 people I learned about this week that were diagnosed with bladder cancer and breast cancer. My ego did get in the way a few times, I admit....How cool would it be to say I ran a half mary in my basement?! But shaking that off, this run, was part of the journey to Boston.
The journey is the goal. So worth repeating. For me, for sure.
The journey is the goal. And again.
The journey is the goal.

In all honesty, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Some days 2 miles on the TM feel worse. Hopefully having this in my back pocket will make running a 3 or 5 or even 8 on the TM so much easier knowing that I can run a half. And hey, it is done and I got one run in this week. Yay! And even a blog post out of it.

That said.....please, please, please, let this SNOW melt SOON! Especially before my 15miler in 2 weeks. Please.

Other half posts still percolating ....Chi Running! Rainbow carrots! Fundraising updates! Hair! (See the !!!, I am psyching myself up here.)

Till then, be well people.

Friday's Drawers - A bit behind

2011-01-21T15:12:00.000-05:00

Alas, I have gotten a bit behind on blogging, cooking, cleaning, reading, shows....

Lately life has been:

Family. Running. Work. And sometimes I remember to sleep and eat.

I am kinda digging those priorities. Though I think some of the produce would much prefer get cooked and eaten sooner.....or at all.

Soooo.... I have 2 weeks of shares to post.

Here is last week.

Yup, those are pickle up there. And the biggest consumer of pickles in the house. S-man. *Cut the pickle* And strawberries. Woot! We mindfully ate every.one. the day we got the share.

And the grapefruit was sweet enough that I just peel and eat. (As a kid the only way I'd ever eat a grapefruit was sliced on the equator, cut with a crazy grapefruit specific knife and with about an inch of white sugar on top.)

I still haven't tried the nuts yet. I think the only nutcrackers we have in the house are these kind....

Now here is this weeks share. What was a light one last week turned into quite a bounty this week. And joyously! More strawberries!

Here is the bounty.....I have never heard of rainbow carrots!

Rainbow Carrots: Atlas Farm, Deerfield

Arugula: Dalponte Produce, Lake Placid, Florida

Cilantro: Dalponte Produce, Lake Placid, Florida

Tangelos: Eagle’s Nest Grove, Crescent City, Florida

Strawberries: Wish Farms, Plant City, Florida

Baby Spinach (Sust): Equinox Farm, Sheffield

Yellow Onions (CV): Long Plain Farm,Whately

Butternut Squash: Riverland Farm, Sunderland

Beauregard Sweet Potatoes: ECO, N.Carolina

Braeburn Apples (IPM): Apex Orchards, Shelburne

Three Way Wednesday!!

2011-01-18T21:46:00.000-05:00

My wife, your regular bloghost Christy, invited me to sample some of her wares and share some thoughts here in the outer aisle, and she could not have picked a better thing for me to dive in with!

"Hey sweets, you want to have a three-way" she asked with a wink.

Well, hey, I fancy myself a bit of a libertine, which readers of my blog, TOMB IT MAY CONCERN can attest. It isn't safe for work, sanity or good taste, but if you want to see what goes on in the brain (baking) pan of Christy's husband-you are welcome to peek.

So, I did a few stretching exercises and said bring it on!

She could not have tempted me more...wheeling out a tray(??) and pulling back the napkin cover as sensually as Laura Gemser massaging a cannibal woman in hopes of finding out if that expedition is coming back alive or is currently residing in the bellies of a happy gaggle of gut munchers!

Cranberries!! So round. So firm. So fully pact with red devilish flavor.

mmm.... Some folks go gaga over those upscale Pomegranates (even CRAISINS have sold out), but I'll take a round-the-way Cranberry any day! They got skills that pay the bills and aren't afraid to take a few days to stop being such a darn tart.

So, where to start?

First up...Cranberry Bread. To be fair, this is kid infused Cranberry Bread-so I'm going to feel the flavor as well as taste the bread here. I'm biased, what can I say? The bread is really nice and solid here, it doesn't crumble up when I take a bite and the flavor of the berries is nice and fresh. No offense kids, but perhaps a little less food processor crazy next time, the cranberries are mulched down so that they don't dominate each bite the way I'd like.

But then again, a cranberry in a little banana skin mask screaming TASTE ME YOU SLOB!!! is my idea of a good time. The best part of my sample is the firm edges. It is really well baked, maybe even hanging out a touch too long to make it nice and full-one of the kids probably was juggling knives and a few additional moments of baking were added.

A good start to the menage a cran and washing it down with a swig of coffee has left me feeling confident and ready to peel open the Tupperware!!

I love Cranberry Sauce, and this sure looks like a nice one! I have no tolerance at all for the "shlishhhhhhplop" amorphous blob of store bought "sauce" and would prefer to slice that, freeze it and whip it at a wall than eat it. But this tastes really good. Nice and sticky, I have some in the edges of my goatee / flavor savor right away. My lips need licking and I'm ready for that task. Using a simple batch of cranberries, orange peel, sugar and water...and cooked up until it is ready for action, this is well balanced sauce. Not ribbed for my displeasure, it sticks in my mouth on the way down and makes every secondary swallow a premeditation on my next bite. I'm digging it. And digging in. Wait, the bottom of the bowl approaches...woops. Sorry babe.

Finally, I'm sort of exhausted and sticky, but not willing to bow out yet. I leave no job undone and will give the same vigor and attention to the final dish, the one I'm REAAAALY aching for by the way.

Relish.
Cranberry Relish!

Now, this is a tricky one, and right out of the box I pull back the cover and marvel at it's exotic choppiness. An entire orange, peel and all, is already languishing amongst the cranberries! Damn...I better bring my A-Game and wipe away that last dish with a glass of water. I'm hydrated, and I'm going in!

The first taste is interesting really, not at all what I expected. The orange wins out in the first flavor and aftertaste, but the cranberries are less chopped and sit firmly amongst it's opposing color. A bit of crunch goes a long way here and I'm digging on the tiny orange bits that are stuck in my teeth as I finish each bite. Really, this is more of an Orange Relish (Does such a thing exist?) with the snap of Cranberry to punch it up. Unexpected, but as welcome as getting a large coffee for the price of a small. Zingy and I can't stop eating it. The texture is a little grainy (maybe chopping up that Orange just a bit more would help)-but then again, I'll be savoring this until I brush my teeth. THAT is a hearty recommendation.

I showed up for a three way, and one of the participants brought a little extra flavor, the relish is the Eva Robin's to the sauces Ajita Wilson. Spicy...wild and full of flavor. The Cranberry rules and I'm spent.

I know return you to the relative sanity of Christy Zuzelo, your guide to the Outer Aisle, I'm going back into my cage and returning to the Tomb! Follow me if you dare...

MWAH HAHR HAHRRRR...oh, hi honey. Yeah, I'll go...no no, no need to proofread this. No no...it's fine!

Runrunrunrunrun...like a writer.

David Zuzelo is a wonderful, witty husband, taste tester, dad, media media mangler and blogger over at Tomb It May Concern. Check out his blog at your own risk. This was way tame in comparison.

Friday's Drawers: A New Year

2010-12-31T07:00:00.001-05:00

Now this is a fantastic share! Eggplant, baby bok choy, parsley, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, apples, baby spinach, parsnips and butternut squash.

We've been living on soups this week, leftover lobster from Christmas dinner (thanks to my wonderful mother in law) made a fantastic lobster bisque. Never tried making that before and it was good, thank you David for getting me the New England Soup Factory cookbook for my birthday!

Last night was some chicken noodle and there is always our favorite, red lentil.

Looks like we will be doing some cooking this weekend....Eggplant parm anyone? And of course more soup! Here is my favorite curried-apple, parsnip soup and butternut squash soup.

Do you have a favorite soup?

Thank you supporters!

2010-12-21T16:37:00.000-05:00

Week 1 of Boston Marathon training is done and in the books. Overall, not bad. Still many miles to go, but not bad at all.

But first, there has been a fantastic outpouring of support from my friends, virtual friends and family donating and helping out with this amazing cause. I love getting emails from Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund with the subject line: "Congratulations! You just received a donation on your personal page!" Not only have people donated their money, but we have some exciting ideas people have offered up to help raise funds for Dana-Farber - including some one-of-a-kind original kickass artwork (more details to come!), rare dvds and other goodies. I will keep you posted on how you can get your hands on some sweet goods! Thank you to all that have made that happen!

If we look at our $10,000 goal it in terms of miles, we are 1.3 miles into 26.2 miles of our marathon! WOOT! That means we are warmed up and ready to go, go, go! And what better way to mark our progress than with this SAH-weet banner that the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team sent along. You know you wanna be on the banner! Do it!

Thank you supporters! $505/$10,000

I'll post the pic each week so you can see your name in print. (And next time I'll actually use my camera instead of my phone. Dang, the lens needs a cleaning!)

As for training, 18 miles down last week - A bit cut back from where I was this fall/summer, but I want to make sure my IT band holds up. David got me a book called ChiRunning and my mind has been blown.

I have my highlighter in hand and you can find me on the commuter rail marking that sucker up. Seeing the pictures of my last race and seeing how my foot is WAY out in front of my center of mass and my front leg is essentially putting on the brakes while my back leg is putting on the gas made me realize just how much force I am channeling through my knees and hips and (con razón!) the weakest link, my knee (and IT band) hurts.

So we work on the muscles (Thank you Dr. Otto!) we channel the chi and fix the form (Thank you ChiRunning!)

This week the schedule is bumped up to 20 miles, 3 x 4mile runs and an 8 mile long run. Since I swapped out Sat/Sun last week, I might just do the same this week and run on the 26th. Have you ever seen a runner running on Christmas Day? I used to see "those runners" and think, "Take a day off will ya?" (Whoa, there is an assumption....what if those runners DON'T celebrate Christmas.) But let's just say they do. And if they did, and were still running, I get it. I actually get why they do it.

Who knows, maybe we'll see some runners out on the roads when we drive to our family's house later.

If running in your peace and Christmas is the most peaceful day there is, then why wouldn't you spend it running?

So are you a "Take a day off!" kinda spectator/runner or a "My run IS the best present"? Or does Dec. 25th just *happen* to fall on a running day in your training schedule?

Bruiserific - Boston Training Update

2010-12-19T20:27:00.005-05:00

One week training down and already a little off schedule.

Instead of running my long run Sat morning, I took a trip to the chiro for treatment for my ITband. He used two techniques, Active Release Technique (ART) and Graston Technique) to work out the massive knot that was in the middle of my ITband as well as some tension in my hip.

Essentially, the active release was like a really intense massage or foam roll on the muscle while still working stretching it out. So the muscles were working while he work out the golf ball sized knot.

I certainly left feeling like I'd just been tenderized by a meat clever. And I have some bruises to prove it.....

At the same time I can feel the knot is much looser. With a $15 dollar co-pay, I am definitely going back for more treatments rather than that massage last week where I got blabbed for an hour like I was getting my hair done when I was trying to relax.

Even though I'm a little off plan, I was able to swap Sat/Sun and did my planned 7 miles this evening since I didn't get out yesterday. And the 7 came a helluva lot easier with those muscles worked out. A few more treatments and I think I will be back to normal.

As for the run....no music AGAIN! All week sans music. Shocker. Instead, "knees down, breathe, heels up, breathe." was my mantra; visualized my legs at a locomotive going in a circle; keeping my abs engaged and channeling the chi. Seems like it is working....but the calves were *wicked* tight. So rollin' the calves with the Izzybean. And yes, that is a pvc pipe.

As of today, 18/543 miles down, 1 strength training session, one chiro appointment, 1/2 of Chi Running read and $490/$10,000 raised for Dana-Farber.

Thanks for all the encouraging words and donations!

Friday's Drawers - A picture is worth a thousand words because I don't have them in me today

2010-12-17T14:55:00.000-05:00

potatoes, dandelion greens, navel oranges, apples, green beans,
radishes, tomatoes, beets, purple turnips, basil, zucchini & yellow squash

I got nothin.

To say. I have nothing to say I mean. Shocker.

I did get some fresh produce.

Anyone have any ideas on those two gigundous radishes?

18 Weeks and Counting!

2010-12-14T14:28:00.000-05:00

And so it begins.

This week marks my official first week of training for the Boston Marathon.

Why am I running? There are many, many reasons and I plan on getting into them in more detail over the next 18 weeks, but right now I'd like to tell you about one major reason I am running.

Because cancer sucks.

I'm about to embark on one of the biggest challenges of my life: completing the Boston Marathon. But my personal quest, no matter how difficult it will be for me, pales in comparison to the challenge facing cancer patients. By participating in the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC), I'm supporting Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's goal to find better therapies and, ultimately, cures for cancer.

The DFMC raises funds for the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Established by J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver in 1987, the Claudia Adams Barr Program fosters scientific breakthroughs by advancing the work of gifted researchers in a variety of basic research disciplines. The DFMC directs 100% of funds raised to the Barr Program, which enables gifted young scientists at the leading edge of discovery to achieve better cure rates and to enhance patients' quality of life.

I hope you will support my challenge by giving a gift to my run and, in doing so, help bring an end to the challenge of cancer.

Your kind support and words of encouragement will give me the spring in my step, the tune to keep my stride and the focus to keep running and raising money for Dana-Farber. Thank you for helping Dana-Farber reach the ultimate finish line: a world without cancer.

With great appreciation and many inspired miles to go!

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. If you do decide to make a contribution, don't forget to talk to your employer about matching programs to double your dollars! And check back here for more updates on my fundraising and training!

~ Christy

ITB Issues be darned.

2010-12-13T15:25:00.002-05:00

Because I didn't get it at first either,

here is the IT Band exercise by Karen Ward

that IAWR published on their blog.

Last week I was ~~bitching and moaning~~ taking care of my right knee that has been troubling me since the Maine Coast Half marathon. So far every run since then has had some type of soreness on the outside my knee starting with mile 2ish and continuing on through my run and still stiff after. Even going down the stairs was tough for the afternoon and morning after my run. Ugh. Not what I want to be dealing with.

So internet research helped me self-diagnose my issues as ITBS or liotibial band syndrome. The pain is usually around the knee and doesn't start until a few miles into a run and continues after. Bingo!

Now what.

Cut back mileage. Nope. Didn't solve it.

Rested for 6 days. Uh-huh. Still there.

Icing. Nope.

Popping ibuprofen. Nada.

Ironically, last week when I was pretty much at my wits end I found additional advice that combined all together, they seemed to help.

1. Foam roll & massage.

2. Work on your form.

3. Strengthen the muscle.

If there is an ITB issue, it is there for a reason. Weak muscles or poor form. Check out this pic from my last race and I think I found the culprit. Heel strike. Doh.

So, I checked out Chi Running by Danny Dreyer from the library and I am working on my form. And I even put the Vibrams (little by little - .5 miles to start today) back in the training rotation.

Lastly, as perfect timing I got and email with an ITB strengthening exercise from the International Women's Runners Association. WOOT! It described the issue perfectly, but I had a hard time deciphering how to do it. I know, I know. Once our trainer Marc showed me, I figured I could do a little video, which is at the top.

Here is the description from IAWR.

So, what exercise can you perform to develop running-specific ITB strength and thus eliminate or prevent ITBS? The “Frankenstein Marching with a Band” exercise, developed Karen Ward, an excellent and creative personal trainer in Atlanta. What equipment is required? Only a stretch band.

Dr. Anderson: “The drill is straightforward to carry out. To perform Frankenstein Marching, stand on a stretch band, with the handles of the band in your hands and the middle portion of the band directly under the arches of your feet. Cross the band handles in front of you, so that your left hand is now holding the handle which was in your right hand and your right hand is holding the lefts. This will make an X in front of your legs with the band. Then rotate each arm out to the side, so that your thumbs are pointing laterally. Retract your shoulders, and keep your feet parallel,shoulder-width apart, pointing straight forward. Walk forward briskly with relatively straight legs while maintaining a standing-tall alignment. Keep your head up and pointed straight forward (don’t look at your feet). Avoid the common mistakes associated with Frankenstein Marching – feet turning out as you move forward, distance between feet too small, head directed downward, and shoulders falling forward.

After a few steps, you’ll begin to feel your ITBs zinging eccentrically, but that zinginess and resulting ITB fatigue will be far better for you than the six-week bout of ITBS which Frankenstein Marching can help prevent. Start with 2 X 15 meters (yards) of Frankenstein Marching as part of your warm-up or regular strengthening routine, carry it out a couple of times a week, and progress to 3 X 20 meters with a much-more-resistant stretch band. When you do, you’ll be keeping yourself out of future ITB peril. And while no scientific research has been conducted in this area, the increased control of adduction you’ll gain by strengthening your iliotibial bands should enhance your running economy, an important predictor of running fitness and performance.”

© 2010 Savvy Runner Inc.

In full disclosure let me say that I did not go to the doctor yet, but I feel pretty confident this is what is going on and that my ITBS is mild enough that I can ~~avoid yet another co-pay and increased insurance costs~~ work on fixing it on my own.

Have you experienced ITBS or a different injury? What worked for you?

Friday's Drawers - Sah-weet!

2010-12-10T09:21:00.001-05:00

Sweet Potatoes: Cottle Farm, N.Carolina

Kale: Enterprise Farm

Butternut Squash: Enterprise Farm
Red Cabbage: Enterprise Farm, Whately, MA
Grape Tomatoes: East Carolina Organics, N.Carolina
Summer Squash/Zucchini: Lady Moon, Florida

Cranberries: Cranberry Hilly Farm, Plymouth, MA

Citrus, Tangelos: Eagle’s Nest, Florida

A lot of fresh fruits and veggies in our share this week! Sah-weet! The tangelos are unbelievably sweet. And if you really want to know what goes into that one tangelo I enjoyed while lazying on the couch last night, check out Mary Mitchell's story of their 20-acre grove of organic citrus and the human drama behind it. There's some passion in those oranges!

"Being organic means killing the bugs by hand, watering the trees by turning on a spigot, keeping blight at bay by paying attention, not by paying for chemicals."

Keeping blight at bay and paying attention. I love that.

Now on to the other sweets...the sweet potatoes.

In our newsletter there was a recipe for sweet potato latkes, which looked really good. Check it out.

Sweet-Potato Latkes from Gourmet, December 2001

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated

2 scallions, finely chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3/4 cup vegetable oil
Stir together potatoes, scallions, flour, eggs, salt, and pepper.

Heat oil in a deep 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 4, spoon 1/8 cup potato mixture per latke into oil and flatten to 3-inch diameter with a slotted spatula. Reduce heat to moderate and cook until golden, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Transfer latkes with spatula to paper towels to drain.

From enterpriseproduce.com

This looked good, but I decided to go with regular potato latkes and make my own favorite afternoon snack, cold roasted sweet potatoes. You cannot go wrong with these.

Cut sweet potatoes in quarters, coat with canola oil, lightly salt and roast in a 400 degree oven until tender. (about 1/2 hour).

I container these up and take a couple to work and have them as an afternoon snack. Usually cold. But they reheat and freeze well too.

As for plans for the other things in the share? Butternut squash soup for sure. This weekend. Red cabbage sattued with apples I think, the kids LOVE steamed squash, and I might try some cranberry muffins or a friend's suggestion for cranberries in steel cut oats.

How do you keep blight at bay and pay attention? Or what is your favorite sweet potato recipe?

Three Things Thursday: Get down, Get Down

2010-12-09T14:41:00.000-05:00

This probably explains a lot, but there were only three vinly LPs I remember my parents having when I was a kid: The Beatles White Album, St. Louis Jesuits Earthen Vessels and Kool and the Gang, Greatest Hits. Random. I know.

I used to think it was funny to sing "Banana, I love you" instead of "Joanna" I guess even then I was singing the praises of zero point fruits....

Anyway, I am sure my parents had several albums besides these, but these were the only three I remember. But now it is time to Get down, get down. Get down, get down [trumpet riff].

1. Get down to the basement! I wasn't going to run last night. But Sarah threw down to me and the C25K grads to see if we can tally up 20 miles between us, and I don't back down from a challenge. So down to the basement I went. Phone in hand to txt the grads to ~~make sure they knew how much this TM workout pained me~~ motivate them to do the same.

Oh man, the treadmill was covered in laundry!

Laundry removed, plugged in, tunes back in. I may run outside with no music, but there is no way in hello....and the light flashes above me. David's code that a kid is up and I'm needed upstairs.

Yup, I got one mile in when Izzy woke up, got her back to bed, in our bed (I know, I know!), me dripping with sweat (eewww...my sheets) and then I actually went back down to finish 2 more miles. WHHHAAA????

It was 11pm by the time I was done. Honestly, if it weren't txting Deb saying "We only regret the runs we DON'T do" and her txting back with TM funnies, I don't think I would have gone back down. Thank you Deb. You are my westcoast-TM rockstar!

2. Get down the salad cals. Actually not salad, but dressing. Many people dip their fork in and then take a bite, sure that is all well and good, especially at a restaurant (order on the side!) but I still feel like I will still finish off the rest, say with a chunk of bread or something. So at home, I eat my salads from a container with a lid, measure the dressing, pour it on (it looks like so little!) put the lid back on and shake that sucker up. Coats all the lettuce and the fixin's. Perfect!

3. Get down the $$$. I love Thursdays for two reasons: Farm share pick up and Supermarket Flyer day! (sigh. I actually used an ! with that statement.) With 6 grocery store chains in our 5 mile radius (gotta love urban sprawl) there are plenty of options for sale items. And with so many chains now carrying organics, it is easy to find deals to supplement the farmshare. If you want an easy way to know where to go and what to put on your list, sign up for your local grocers flyers to be emailed to you. It makes shopping with purpose much easier. And cheaper!

Oh, and for the record (groan) my first album: Culture Club. See. I toldya it explains a lot.

What was your first record/cassette/cd? Sorry...or 8-track. :o)

Horror show in the kitchen!

2010-12-07T18:56:00.002-05:00

Apparently it is best to discard moldy spaghetti sauce right away. Huh. Who knew.

As the bag of trash was waiting to be escorted out the door, the jar of spaghetti sauce that I chucked yesterday decided to explode. I know...I know...I didn't use or freeze it in time or make my own sauce. What kind of cheapassmama am I? But that isn't the point. The point is the jar EXPLODED THROUGH the bag! as in, the lid, a screw-top lid, blew off the top of the jar, blew through the plastic bag and all over the wall, floor, door, CSA share, recycling, USPS boxes, cabinets and even as far as the fridge across the room.

I feel like CSI will be ringing our door any moment with their yellow caution police tape to rope off the sauce-y gore fest. And start questioning our family for persons of interest.

Izzy blames the mummy.

Simon blames the butcher.

David blames Dario Argento for recreating that infamous scene from Tenebre in our house. (Sorry, not linking the sceme from you tube. That IS a bit gory for my blog.)
I blame the processed food boogie man. I think it was ticked-off that I used the veggies first and ignored the processed sauce....

Or maybe it was pizzed because I didn't dump the sauce and recycle the jar....

Or maybe this is just a very funny, odd mishap that I have now learned from and will not do again. Of course I am not the one in the kitchen right now cleaning this mess up. That would be my wonderful spouse.

Now if you really want to see some saucy gore, and make my wonderful spouse really happy, check out his AWESOME new horror comic, that came out this week! Zombie Terrors: An Anthology of the Undead with Undead Templars by David Zuzelo and Billy George's story and if you want the story behind the graphic novel, check out Ascension of the Blind Dead.

What kind of horror shows have you seen in your house these days? Zombies? The Walking Dead? Or other kitchen or household terrors? Some how pressure cookers come to mind....

Epilogue: David added this commentary and it was just too funny not to share; so here is an update with David's take on the sauce-plosion....

"When I walked in the house at first I thought I would have to don hockey gear and find the giant rat running around our house in order to protect the kids! Then I realized that I had missed the chance to actually bear witness to a monstrous saucesplosion-truly a rare event. Dang. THEN my son began to accuse THE BUTCHER of attacking our trash and my daughter jumped in my arms telling me THE BUTCHER was here. My son began to threaten THE BUTCHER to come out and get a WAM PUNCH from him (ah, the men in our family will always confront issues like that is if they were wearing a cardboard suit of Voltron armor!)...and it was all very funny.

Then I had to clean it while muttering..."it is like RunLikeAMuthaBLEEPn Tenebre in here!!" Also funny. Look at that photo, and those that can tolerate horror films can compare my thinking by searching for this on youtube Tenebrae: Give Her a Hand.

No link because I don't want to scar anyone for life. Gory scene, but funny in this context. Good times...good times..."

What is that sloshing sound???

2010-12-06T13:21:00.000-05:00

Ohhhhh.....

That would be my stomach. Is that what it sounds like? All the time?

So I did something today that I am embarrassed to admit has taken me this long to do.

I ran without music. Yep.

11 months, 1 week and 2 days of running and today was the first day I ran without my zune either in my ears, blaring from the treadmill, from Isabella's iluv in the jogging stroller or dangling from my neck.

I've talked about what running is to me before, but it usually involved somehow shutting out part of the world. Well not today. I have been so frazzled-busy with to-do lists and ITB issues and family time and Advent and church time (All GOOD things!) but a lot of good things, so that rather than just drown it all out with music....I just wanted to move forward and be today.

I know I need my runs. And I know I need them for different reasons depending on the day, but I do think that I will be a better person and a better runner (ummm...I could hear my foot falls and correct them!) if I practice minimalist running from the neck up too sometimes.

I am not ready to get ride of the music player all together. But I do want to make a commitment to run naked at least 1 run a week during my training for Boston. And by naked, I mean sans the player...not ready to take off ~~my clothes like Chuck~~ the garmin just yet...but I do know it beeps! Who knew.

My heart is beating faster just thinking about giving this small thing up, but I think that right there is an indicator that it needs to be done. I'm also going to need some accountability. I am thinking that along with my training plan (one of my to-do list items...argh!) that I plan on posting and keeping track of here, I am going to hold my self to day without a player. Who knows, it might become my norm.

Oh don't get ahead of yourself there, Christy.

How do you non-music runners do it? What keeps you tuned in or tuned out during your runs? Or if you run with music, could you give it up for a run?

Friday's Drawers - Birthday Suit

2010-12-03T14:22:00.002-05:00

Holy produce!

I have been overwhelmingly humbled today with all the birthday wishes and new followers from RLAM after yesterday's Follow This Mother honor! It is truly amazing to find such an awesome group of people! I hope you'll stay and comment because goodness knows I have *NOT a CLUE* what to do with all these potatoes! I need some help.

Or this big turnip! I think it's a turnip. (Yes just looked in our CSA's newletter. It is a scarlet turnip.)

That is one funky looking turnip.

I will say this....A wonderful birthday surprise, Zero Point grapefruit! It took all my energy hold off on eating one of these bad boys until after I took the picture!

ZERO point grapefruit! I <3 WeightWatchers PointsPlus

The kids have actually given up on the mini carrots from the BJs. They'd rather have me peel the funky ones from their farmer. These really do make the best soups.

In the mean time, since it is my birthday, I am going to have this glorious chocolate rum bunt cake that my co-worker made for me, including a Chocolate Rum Glaze!

Yeah, that isn't zero points.....but it was tasty! Now all we needed was that 30 proof whipped cream before it's taken off the shelves!

Thanks for staying and reading. And seriously, if you have ideas on potatoes, even how to store them so the last longer.... please for all things spud, pass them on!

*humming*

1 potato, 2 potato, 3 potato, 4......

Run Like a Mother, Eat Like a Rainbow

2010-12-02T12:44:00.001-05:00

NYTimes dubbed it: "A bible for active parents."

Since finding the book Run Like a Mother (and blog! and tweets! and RLAM fb page!), I have been completely entertained and inspired and able to connect with a whole new community of runner-mamas.

This book is so utterly relatable, it.is.sick! Even as a newbie runner, there were countless numbers of "O-M-G! That is EXACTLY how I feel" uttered from my mouth. As a mom, spouse, runner, wannabe writer and overall multi-tasking-life balancer, this book inspired me, me made me laugh out loud causing my fellow commuter train riders to stop and stare. (At which point I promptly held up the book long enough for them to commit the title to memory.)

Well, Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell have honored me by profiling me as one of their Follow This Mother mothers.

*blushing*

If you are a RLAM'er….Welcome! Thank you for reading! I hope you’ll stay and join in the conversation.

And to give you an idea of what goes on around here....I blog about everything from food I have never seen before, to running, to cooking mishaps, to recipes I love, to my cute kids, to race recaps, to weighty issues, and even struggles with getting out of debt! Oh, and be sure to check back every Friday to see what’s in my drawers.

*bow-chicka-bow-bow*

If you are an Outer Aisle reader, please check out RLAM! (pssst…Hump day giveaways says @cheapassmama). Seriously, it is a fantastic community with some amazingly supportive badass mother runners! Join us!

Going bananas.....WeightWatchers Endorses Food!

2010-12-01T22:00:00.006-05:00

Zero Points Fruit!

pic from blog.americanfeast.com

Holy frijoles! Bananas are zero points!

Can I say that I am actually pretty psyched for the new Weight Watchers plan called Points Plus?! I feel like PointsPlus is WeightWatchers meets Michael Pollan. "Eat food, mostly plants, not to much." And WeightWatchers is actually endorsing food!

Why is this such a big deal? For one thing, on the old plan was all about getting your daily points. For example, in losing mode, I got 21 points. Since I hoarded points like I do gift cards, I would pass on the banana (2 points) and go for the sugar free jello and whipped cream or 2 Weight Watcher's fudge pops or the skinny cow for the same number of points. In other words, I would pass on actual *food* to eat diet "novelties" instead. All common sense went out the window. It was no wonder that I never knew how to eat until satisfied. (I swear they really do put some additive in there to make you crave and eat more.)

So now, with this new plan, we are "rewarded" (though I hate to think as more food as a reward....but you get my meaning) anyway, we are rewarded with more points by eating food, actual food, not processed franken-food.

What it comes down to is that the Weight Watcher's science people are nudging people to balance out the types of calories that one eats by taking protein, carbs, fat and fiber into account rather than calories, fiber and fat as they did with the previous model. Since not all calories are created (or burned) equally, this makes sense. Ask any runner that bonks during a run where their calories came from that day and they'll most likely tell you they ate too much protein calories and not enough carbs. It takes more energy (and time) to burn protein over carbs, so when running a race, it makes sense to grab the carb that is going to burn fast, but if losing weight and feeling full longer is the goal, then choosing food with lean protein and high in fiber is the way to go. These are fewer points than say high carb (refined sugar), high fat foods. Really?

On this new plan, we get more daily points and we get more weekly points, but the food point values (in some cases) also went up. Especially in the high carb, low protein areas. Also, points plus (P+) are no longer calorie based (per se) but now based on carbs, protein, fat and fiber. Since we know not all calories are created equally, this makes sense.

While I am excited about this plan, the part that still concerns me is that we are still talking about food as nutrients rather than the whole food itself. There is a balance that is needed and I think that comes from really listening and feeling and identifying with the energy that goes into (and out of ) our bodies. Sitting with it. Feeling satisfied.

When I was originally following the plan, I never really got the whole "eat until satisfied" feeling. The people of Okinawa call this practice, Hara Hachi Bu – eat until 80 percent full.

I hope that this new plan will help me, us, whoever is on WeightWatchers practice mindful eating and that Hara Hachi Bu becomes part of our everyday, our every meal. Until then, I'll get out my tracker and write every bite down.

Friday's Drawers - Leftover food, leftover fear?

2010-11-26T22:58:00.000-05:00

This is the one week that I am actually grateful that we don't have a farm share pick-up. We wouldn't have a place to store any of it!

There are only 2 weeks out of the year for our farm share that we don't have a pick-up, this week and one in the spring when we go from winter/spring to summer/fall shares. It is the one time where I can play catch up on all the potatoes we get. :)

So no CSA picture today, just the picture of ~~our filthy fridge~~ all our leftovers from yesterday's feast!

We stayed in town for T-day and had a very wonderful dinner including a gorgeous organic, free-range turkey (Go M!) at my husband's family's home. There were seven of us from 3 to 99 (!!) and we were all feelling very grateful. It was a good day.
Kids had a good time and we have a boat load of leftovers (as you can see). I thought I could handle taking the pie....oh man. Yesterday was going to be my "free" day - aka enjoy it now, because tomorrow you are going back to meals and snacks, no grazing and limited pie.

who can resist?

Syeah. But I dug into the pie and that was pretty much what I had for lunch today. Eeek! So much for what I said about remembering that Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas is one day!

Good to remember that I see runs (like running). Lots of runs in my future. How grateful I am for those runs too.

Although....

Are you sitting down?

I am thinking about taking a week off from running.

*Thinking* about it. Yes, with a house full of delicous leftovers, I am thinking about *not* running for a week.

Sigh.

I ran today (the first time since Sunday) and about 3 miles in, the ITB acted up again. Basically, after running for a few miles, feeling good, all of the sudding my knee is sore and gets really really stiff when I stop running. My understanding is that it is caused by tight muscles from my hips down to my quads.

Most likely it came from the exertion and not stretching well enough after the 1/2, going back out into the cold and not doing my due dilligence to massage the legs. I don't think it is anything major, and I learned my lesson from last time when ~~I bitched and moaned~~ it was all of 3 weeks for my foot to fully heal. AND! And and, looking back at my logs, I *still* got in runs and ellipticals during those 3 weeks, having only really taken 9 days off from running.

But this is now. In the beginning of winter. And I am not a full year running yet. So I have this fear of not running. Even a day.

How is it, that even after following plans and committing to trhe full marathon, to fundraising, to training, to running, not to mention the fact that I LOVE running, that I *still* feel like if I don't run on a regular schedule I'm afraid I won't start back up? So silly.

I wonder if it is just that, or if there is more I'm afraid of? Weight gain? Loss of stamina? lack of a structured plan? Loss of my mind? What if I take a week off? What is the worst that could happen? And the best - my muscles could actually get a break, heal and get stronger.

Training for Boston officially starts (according to my handy-dandy 18 week plan) on 12/13 and wouldn't it be nice to start at full strength. Even if it does mean a few lbs gain?

Holy Smokes! I am running a Marathon! BOSTON!!!

2010-11-24T09:56:00.000-05:00

It is official, I will be running the Boston Marathon with the Dana-Farber Marathon Training team.

Even as I type I have butterflies in my stomach!

I cannot think of a better place, a better organization, a better charity, or a better time to run my first marathon!

I have a ton of thoughts and people running through my head right now, so I am going to leave it at this and do my ISFJ processing bit and write more later.

For now.....

I just feel an incredible sense of past, present and future gratitude.

Friday's Drawers: Such a spud

2010-11-19T08:52:00.001-05:00

turnips, cranberries, boat load of beans, carrots, sweet potatoes,
butternut squash, onions, rosemary, sage

I have so many potatoes right now. And a 5 year old that likes silly jokes, so here is quite a mashup. Heh.

Why did the potato cross the road?
He saw a fork up ahead.

How do you describe an angry potato?
Boiling Mad.

Why didn't the mother potato want her daughter to marry the famous newscaster?
Because he was a commontater.

Why wouldn't the reporter leave the mashed potatoes alone?
He desperately wanted a scoop.

What do you say to a mean and angry baked potato?
Anything, just butter him up.

What do you call a baby potato?
A small fry!

Badumpump.

With 3 weeks (or more) of potatoes s-puttering around our house, it was time to po-ta-toe the line and cook up some 'taters.

With the help of a timely ad I fell prey too, I give you a modified recipe from Potato Goodness. (btw, I could be all super-chef-like and say I modify these recipes to make them better, but the honest to potato goodness truth is that I rarely have everything on hand that I need to follow these things to a T. So I just go with the flow and make due.)

So on to food porn. Steak fries with TJ's Bold & Smokey Kansas City State Barbecue Sauce (Oh yum!)

Too lazy to go back downstairs and snap a pic...
so I borrowed this from jenjapan.wordpress.com

Between tossing

Better than Outback

Ingredients
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1-1/2 lbs. Russet potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup bbq sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground or cracked black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F and spray a large baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.

Place whole potatoes (do not poke) into microwave safe dish. Cover dish. (If covering dish with plastic wrap, poke small hole in plastic.) Microwave on HIGH for 3 to 4 minutes depending on strength of microwave. Use oven mitts to remove dish from microwave; carefully remove cover from dish due to steam build-up and let cool. Cut each potato into 8 wedges. Place in a large bowl and toss with olive oil and bbq sauce; spread in a single layer on baking sheet. Sprinkle garlic, salt and pepper mixture.

Bake for10 minutes, turn wedges, bake for 10 minutes more or until fries are golden brown.

I ate more than I care to divulge. But I am definitely making these again and considering freezing some as an experiment to see if they will hold up in toaster reheating.

What is your favorite spud recipe or joke?

Gourd-geous

2010-11-18T09:04:00.002-05:00

Simon: Is that a gourd?

Me: (Shocked look on my face) Why, yes, Simon it is.

Simon: I love gourds.

Well then.

This must be a kindergarten thing, because this is the first fall where I have actually cooked myself, so I am not sure where his love of gourds comes from.

But now, I am learning all these new ways to prepare these gourd-geous gourds. And that's a good thing, because we seem to get a lot of them in our farm share!

I remember my mom making baked acorn squash when I was a kid, so I figured this would be a good one to do. It smelled amazing in the house!

Ingredients
3 Acorn Squash, cut in half and seeded

1/2 stick of butter

1/3 c. maple syrup

1/3 c. apple cider
1tsp cinnamon
salt & pepper

Directions
Place the squash cut side down in a shallow baking pan and fill with about 2 inches of hot water. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes.

On the stove in a small sauce pan, melt 1/2 stick of butter, stir in 1/3 cup apple cider, 1/3 cup maple syrup and tsp of cinnamon. Bring to a boil then simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Remove the sqaush, dump the water, flip them cut side up. Add salt & pepper to taste. Drizzle or brush the sweet concoction on the squash then pour the rest in the little wells.

Bake for another 20 minutes until tender and lightly browned.

Oh.my.yum.

You can also use little grated ginger, orange zest and brown sugar in place of the maple syrup, but I went with simple and what I had on hand.

Makes 6 servings, 165 cals/24g carbs/8g fat/2g protein

Heel to Heal

2010-11-17T12:24:00.000-05:00

I had a very odd dream the other night.

I dreamt I could sing. And not the auto-tune-me-now-I-can-sing kind of sing, but the belt out-loud-this-is-my-real-voice-Grammy-winner kind of sing.

There I was, standing up on this stage and someone handed me a microphone and I just started singing.

Odd.

I looked about as shocked as everyone else around me when I heard my voice because in my dream I had no clue I could actually sing. And, don't ask me what I was singing.....I have no clue. But I had a big grin on my face and it sounded good, kinda bluesy Nina Simone like I think.

I woke up completely puzzled and like I do with any dream that puzzles me, I started overanalyzing every small thing that my subconscious needed to process.

Do I have a new amazing gift of song? (sang a few bars, um nope, still need the auto-tuner.)
Does Thom want me to join the choir?
Did I fall asleep with the TV on?
What gives?
Must be symbolic or something.

The dream was just after I finished the Maine Coast Women's Half-Marathon and just before my church's amazing healing service. So there was a lot going on up in the 'ol noggin last week.

I mentioned in a previous post about some unresolved cross-country hurts; and not the physical kind. I think this dream was another reminder that I'm resolving them. Ok, it might be a stretch - singing, running, healing.....But I do tend to sing when I run (did I just admit that?) and I seemed to be quite happy in the dream.

The thing is, running didn't always bring me joy. In fact, I hated it. I wasn't good at it. Running made me feel like I was inadequate and always out of breath.

I remember trying to run outside about a two years ago when our company signed up for the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge. I took the advice of a runner friend: "Run where there are cars so that when they drive by, you won't want them to see you walking."

That didn't work. I was out of breath by the end of the street. And walked home.

So I went back for more advice. "Run for a song, walk for a song."

With my zune in my ears and playlist picked, I made it through 1/2 a song before walking. I went around the block and was back home in about 15 minutes, but it felt like 2 hours. I didn't run again. Why bother. I knew how to lose weight eating better, I didn't need to run. (See there...my mindset was exercising was just for losing weight. Oh how things have changed!)

Why did I loathe running so? What was going on that gave me such a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach?

Clearly, there was an old wound there that made me hate running.

It dawned on me recently when I was going through some old pictures and found my cross country team photo. There I was, standing, nice legs, strong quads, (I say that now, but at the time, they looked fat to me!) but not in the singlet like everyone else. I'm in my over-sized team sweatshirt. Hiding.

*Insert pic here if I can ~~resurrect it from photos to burn pile~~ find it*

I was 15 at the time and joined the cross-country team thinking it would be fun and besides, there were no tryouts. I wasn't going to *not* get picked like the previous year with basketball tryouts. But unfortunately it wasn't fun. The team was extremely competitive. (Unlike the previous season of spring track where we would do Arbyruns: Me, and 2 friends, that I won't through them under the bus, would run half our long runs, stop at Arby's for curly fries, OMG yum! then run back. But they were skinny and fast; and alas, I was not.) So as a slightly over-weight teenager and one that took things so darn personally, comments made by insensitive coaches like “Come on, go faster, you could stand to lose a few”and "you run funny; you kick your heels out when you run” and the fact that I was pretty much in last place every race, turned me off to running and I eventually quit the team.

Since I am the type that is continually working on living in the present moment, (Read Molly's poignant post about that too!) going back and reliving the past seems like an object lesson in futility. And I certainly don't want to go back and relive high school. Yikes! But yet, sometimes in order to be present, in the moment, and to move past the past, we do need a little healing salve. Or a dream to remind us just how far we've come.

In my dream, I was singing, doing something I never thought possible and with complete joy. And last week, I was running 13.1 miles (and fast), something I never thought possible with complete joy.

My motivations to run change on a regular basis (talk about living in the present moment!) Some days I run for the grass-fed all-beef cheeseburger, some days it is for prayer time, some days it is to compete with my burn buddies and meet my 2,500 calorie/week challenge, some days it is to train for something I never thought I could do, some days it is because it is just so darn beautiful out not to. But they are for my own motivations, not a coach's or the scale's, but because of the joy that it brings.

Today, right now, I am going out for a run. And today I run because I've been healed.

Friday's Drawers - Commando

2010-11-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

ACK! I accidentally deleted my farm share picture from Friday! Bummer. See what happens when I go commando....I lose my drawers.

Since it is Monday anyway, we'll just move on.

I will say that this week's share had a gorgeous head of cabbage in it. I wasn't sure what to do with it, I didn't really want anything too labor intensive, and since we planned on going to a friend's house that is currently On Plan, I wanted something fresh, and point friendly. So I pulled out the Weight Watchers 365 days of cooking book for ideas and found a *wicked* easy recipe for a carrot, cabbage salad. And of course I modified it...but this is just how easy it was:

1 head of cabbage, shredded (about 8 cups)

6 carrots, grated (I had bigg'ins from our share - about 8 cups)

1/3c mayo

1/3c apple cider vinegar

2T sugar

pepper

Play around with the mayo & vinegar to your liking.

The result....my friend said: "This is the freshest slaw I have ever tasted."

I brought 1/2 to their house, and left 1/2 the batch home. It was all gone before I hit the sheets last night. Now I am hoping for more cabbage in the next box. Yeah, there's a new one! I still need to google if 'slaw is freezeable...