Friday's Drawers - Leftover food, leftover fear?

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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...  

Race Recap: Maine Coast Women's Half

"If one could run without getting tired I don't think one would often want to do anything else." - C.S. Lewis

SPOILER ALERT!  

I love running!  (Ok, I realize now, that isn't much of a spoiler.) And what better way to do it, than to toe the line! 

What a blast! This was my 3rd half-marathon and just like the other two, I have finished feeling completely glow-y. 

The first, in June, well that was my first, the original PR (personal record). The second, in October, that was with Sarah, and just plain awesome. And the third, the Maine Coast Women's Half, well this certainly ranks in the top 3! 

On Saturday, me and the kids rode up to York, ME with my friend, Marcia, who found this race and suggested we run it after she missed out on the Lowell half in October.  We decided to pick up our bibs the day before and to get a lay of the land. Plus if you want a race shirt that actually fits, it is best to get there as early as possible and it is nicer not to have to scramble through packet pick-up on the day of the race if you can help it. (Of course we did scramble anyway....more on that in a sec.) 

The expo was decent.  Local businesses, cheap tech tees from other LOCO races and ones with cute sayings like "kick assphalt."  I felt a little odd "buying" a tee for a race I didn't actually run, but as Marcia pointed out, we'd be advertising their race for them Regardless, I didn't end up getting any. If they had more long sleeve in my size, maybe I would have - they *were* $5 after all.  But the best-est part of the whole expo....

PASTA SALAD!  The cheerleading coach (with a baby also named Izzy, that my Izzy A-dored) and cheerleaders at York High School were fantastic and made the most unbelievable whole-wheat pasta salad (Can you say carb loading???) at the snack bar and for $2bucks gave me and Marcia a never ending bowl.  Yum!  And thanks to the timely article, on marathon running and avoiding the bonk, we halved it and figured we needed around 1000ish calories in carbs 12-36hrs before the race. No bonking for us! 

Then Sunday.  Race day. 

Yay! for daylight savings! Extra hour of anxious restful sleep! 

Actually, of all the races, this one is the first one where I slept through the night.  Maybe it was because it was so late and we didn't have to leave until 7:30 for a 10am start rather than the 4:45am leave time that I had for the previous 2 races. I didn't have the recurring nightmare that I slept through the start time.  Cuz that does not help the REM cycles. 

Up at 6:30. Coffee. Chobani. Clif Z bar & banana for the ride. Marcia got here and we got the kids to the car and headed up around 7:30. The great thing about all the schlepping to and from York, is that Marcia & I got 3 car rides to chitchat so we knew that we could just concentrate on running the race. I wanted to go out fast enough that "pace ok?" would be about the only thing I could say. 

Before we got to the race, we parked at the elementary school and waited for the bus to take us (it was COLD!) and we seemed to be waiting a long time. Other runners gave up and started walking, but we didn't bring the stroller and didn't want to make the kids walk.

We got there and still had 30 minutes before the start. So we hit the bathrooms. Gu'd at 9:45 while waiting in the bathroom line.

Except there was the matter that they made all the bathrooms in the school "Women Only" and had the guys use the portajohns (which we couldn't find) or the woods. Fah-reeeezzing!   

When we saw the long lines near the entrance we headed for the single room secret bathroom we found on Saturday off to the side of the cafeteria.  Except it wasn't a secret anymore. With all the women waiting in line,  David decided to forgo the restroom and he headed out a side door while we waited in line, keeping an eye out to let him back in.  

Marcia went. But no David. My turn, and I took the kids in with me because (OF COURSE!) they had to pee at 9:50 when all the racers were ready to go. Actually, the 3 of us were faster than most of the people in line. Anyway...

Somehow in the shuffle we missed David banging on the door to let him back in. It was 9:58 and we were still in the same spot, me Marcia, and the kids. Sarah called my cell, found me and took the kids, Marcia went ahead, found David just as I was calling him on my cell, quick hugs to Sarah, saw the AWESOME signs!

Friday Night Lights makes an appearance!

 

I gave Sarah my bag, and my kids. Almost forgot my gloves. That would have been bad. Go back digging in my jacket for them. Quick hug & kiss to David and we scrambled to the starting line (or sideline really), they start the race, we scramble through the spectators and into the mix and I spent the first 100yds or so untangling my earbuds. I hit play on the zune, but didn't listen for awhile. I had timed it so that Madonna's 4minutes would come up 4 minutes before the 2hr mark. 

Marcia and I originally both wanted to try for a sub 2, but she was feeling for this specific race, on this day, a 2:05 would be more realistic. I trained for 2, so I was torn between running with Marcia, and my sub-2. I decided this race was mine and I needed to run it and knew that Marcia’s race was Marcia’s and we both supported each other in our goals. 

We agreed to start out at 9:30ish and then get to our respective paces, but then Marcia took off like a shot weaving in and out of people dern quick. I barely could keep up! My nerves took over and honestly didn't think I could do keep that pace. I looked down and saw we ran the first mile in under 9, then the second mile under 9. But then at 2.1 in clicked for me. I say this every time, but I need to remember that the first 2 miles no matter what the pace are always the toughest. (In the end the first 2 miles were my "slowest" splits.) At about 2.5 I was feeling good and ready to pick up the pace, Marcia’s strategy was to hold back, so I went on. Just after we split, I saw Sarah first in her adorable hat, black curls, teal jacket and David in his BRIGHT orange coat, kids waving, signs shaking, shouts erupting. Fantastic! That energy took me all the way for the next 10!

Smile coming.

Smile going.

Each mile I kept thinking, I can’t believe this. I feel good. I really did not trust that plan. Tempo runs are one thing, but to run a 9:09 pace needed for 13.1 miles? Really? 

But the adrenaline and the energy and the ocean and the surfers and the cheering and the sheer joy to be out there just takes over! 

At mile 6 I knew I would get the 2 hours. Then it became a game of when to gu, when to water, I tried to gu as soon as I saw a station coming up…nothing worse than gu with nothing to wash it down with. 

At mile 10, I saw I was at 1:27 and with only a 5k left, I knew I could do that in 30 minutes. I tried to whoop it up on the hills, but most people seemed in the zone. I’m curious if other racers find that annoying or helpful. I like, it, but maybe that is just me… The crowd seemed more serious than I expected. Though I loved the “Angry Kitties” Pink and Green jerseys. I have to look that running club up….

At mile 11, going around the bend, I was thinking about Molly.

Mile 12 had a bit of a bottle neck. It was a little unnerving to run on the side of the road *with* traffic and only cones there to keep you to the side. It also made it tougher to pass which I was trying to do. But I tried to find lulls and sprinted to the open spaces when I could. Part of it was annoyance for me, but also to give other runners space.

At 12.5 I started to think about David and Sarah’s face at the finish and how SHOCKED they would be to see me running in under 2. And not just a 2hr half 'thon, But at least 5 minutes under 2!

I saw the balloons, I saw David and I saw Sarah's jaw on the floor and then heard their shouts and I wanted my kids to see me SPRINT (!!) and finish strong, so I booked it with a quick wave to them as I went by.

I finished, walked over to my family and saw Sarah first. 

"I CRUSHED IT!"

This race is exactly what I trained for (even though I didn't trust the plan. heh. Next time trust the plan!) I could not believe my splits! Especially the last mile – an 8:09 I ran that mile faster than any of the previous ones that were still all under 9. Makes me think I may have left some in the tank. Mmmmm....new goal? For now I am wicked please with my sub 2 and 22 minutes off my previous PR.

"I CRUSHED IT"

1:54:25 was my official time. Placed 205 out of about 1,200 racers.

I never did hear Madona & JT sing 4 minutes.  I guess I will have to set it to pop up at 1:46 next time. 

And Marcia. She got her 2:05. Awesome! And looked dang fine doing it!

And Simon got his Fun Run.

Simon's Smiling too!

I love running so much. Whoda thunk it. And yes, I love running so much, I will crew, run with you, whatever, whenever. I will be your pacer, or you can pace me. I have had some amazing family and friends help get to me to my goal, I would love to pay it forward anyway I can!  Name the race, and let's do it!

Deets:

1 8:52
2 8:55
3 8:44
4 8:49
5 8:45
6 8:31
7 8:44
8 8:27
9 8:37
10 8:46
11 8:29
12 8:36
13 8:09
14 2:10

The MOST supportive spouse EVAH!

Future 'thoner

Izzy got the beat!

Getting ready for Sunday's Maine Coast Half-Marathon (and one lucky guy), I decided to tweak my playlist to give me the optimal beat to try for a sub-2hour half.

What is kinda funny to me, is that most of the music on this list is not music that I would normally pick to listen to. But for some reason, this popspolotion of tunage just makes me move.

Of course what I would really love is to have Izzy's medley pumping through the zune tomorrow.

But since I can't do that, here is the list...One last thing before the big reveal. There is something a bit odd about sharing these. I mean, whenever I am on the train, I see people with their earbuds in or that one guy with the really big BOSE headphones and think, "I wonder what they are listening to? Is it the news, or a book on tape, or music, what kind? Is the skater boi really listening to Debussy?  Or the suit that sits diagonal from me have Luda's Potion pumping through?"  It seems so private.  But here I am now exposing my list! So if you see me running, I probably have one of these earworms going through my head.  And if you are running near me, you might even hear me sing a few bars. *shudder*

Fank you very much! *taking an Izzy bow*

Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Hey Soul Sister - Train
Breakeven - The Script
Love Lockdown - Kanye West
Letting Go - Sean Kingston
Like a G6 - Far East Movement
When Love Takes Over - David Guetta
I Like It - Enrique Iglesia
Krazy - Pitbull
Take It Off - Ke$ah
If I Had You - Adam Lambert
Dynamite - Taio Cruz
Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
California Gurls - Katy Perry & Snoop
DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love - Usher & Pitbull
On The Dancefloor - David Guetta
One More Time - Daft Punk
Check It Out - Will.I.Am & Nicki Minaj
Club Can't Handle Me - Flo Rida
Raise Your Glass - P!nk
Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz & Ludicris
Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
Fu - Cee-Lo Green
When I Grow Up - The Pussycat Dolls
Telephone - Lady Gaga & Beyonce
Only Girl - Rihanna
Toxic - Britney Spears
Poker Face (Llg vs.Glg Remix) - Lady Gaga
4 Minutes - Madonna & Justin Timberlake (Comes on at 1:53)

If I don't make the 2hr mark, I need some tunes to pump me up to the finish
I Know You Want Me - Pitbull
Club Can't Handle Me - Flo Rida
Raise Your Glass - P!nk

And if I really need to finish then I'll need this song.
Till I Collapse - Eminem

Friday's Drawers - quickie

The list!
Celeriac: ENTERPRISE (They look like alien brains!)
Avocado: Homestead Organics, Homestead, Florida
Baby Bok Choi: ENTERPRISE
Green Chard: ENTERPRISE
Carrots: Winter Moon Farm, Hadley
Fennel (transitional): Next Barn Over, Hadley
Mini Lettuce: ENTERPRISE
Flat Parsley: ENTERPRISE
Watermelon Radish: Winter Moon Farm, Hadley
Butternut Squash: ENTERPRISE

I wanted to try this recipe that for a turnip, celeriac, apple casserole posted by @runnerskitchen.  But then I *just* read today, that she didn't like it.

I may have to go back to that celeriac soup I liked so much back in the spring.

Friday's Drawers - How do you like them apples?

Back to our roots!

You can tell it is fall when our local farm share starts sending more root veggies than greens.

A bit ago Simon bit into an apple that we peeled up for him from the BJ's bag from the fridge then promptly stated, "This isn't organic, I don't like it." Then went back to the fridge to pick his own apple from the farm share. 

I don't think we can ever go back to getting non-organic apples from the store again. The kid can actually taste the difference. 

And he's right.  Dang, those are good apples!  

Now before he takes a bite from any apple we give him, he asks, "Is this organic?"

While a farm share is a great way to get organic produce, it isn't always possible. (Though Enterprise Produce does have a year-round share. Just sayin'.) Here is a resource we use (or try to...how DID those apples get in our fridge...mmmm) to remember what to buy organic and what you can buy organic when you can.  

Image from mypapercrane