The Runner's Kitchen

Brr, it’s been a chilly weekend here in the big apple. I just finished running the NYRR Gridiron 4-miler and am feelin’ good! This was the first time I raced hard since I was injured over a year ago and it was a big confidence booster. But more on that later…

Yesterday was a day full of good eats and rest. After 8.5 hours of sleep on Friday night, I woke up ready for a quickie breakfast and a yoga class. I didn’t have any coffee beans on hand, so I tried the new Starbucks VIA instant coffee. I was a little skeptical, but it was actually decent! I don’t think I’d have this every day, but it’s a good option if you’re traveling. Along with my coffee I had a banana and Brown Cow maple flavored yogurt. Mmm, whole milk yogurt is so delicious.

And then I met some of my lady friends for a 10am class at yoga to the people. Obviously, I did not take a photo in class, but the studio looks like this:

Even though my gym offers yoga classes, I still prefer the yttp studio. FYI – even if you don’t live in Northern California or NYC, you can try out a yttp podcast!

After getting our yoga on, we headed to Atlas Cafe in the East Village. This little restaurant had an amazing array of menu options – I was a little overwhelmed! I ended up getting the smoked salmon and avocado sandwich on multi-grain bread. I don’t usually eat fish, but I was feeling like I could use a little omega-3’s in my life. The sandwich was delicious and fairly inexpensive by Manhattan standards.

Afterwards, we headed over to Momofuku milk bar for some COOKIES! I was tempted by the crack pie (toasted oat crust with gooey butter filling), but decided to go with the compost cookie (pretzel, potato chips, coffee, oats, butterscotch, and chocolate chips).

Oh lord. This was one of the BEST cookies I’ve ever had. Next time I’m buying two. Thanks to my friend Ani for the great recommendation

I had dinner plans with my friend Joe at a little restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. My pre-race dinner was a little unconventional, but it hit the spot. I ordered the warm spinach salad: fresh spinach leaves, sauteed onions and mushrooms, LOTS of croutons and a balsamic vinegar reduction. I also had a whole grain roll and butter with my salad – gotta get in those carbohydrates

I had planned on being social after dinner, but the cold and wind convinced me to stay home and hibernate under the covers. Oh winter.

I finished up the night with half a pint some mint chocolate chip goat milk ice cream, netflix, and an early bedtime

Waking up early to go running is never easy, but when it’s 17 degrees it’s particularly difficult…

Ah well, I just have to remind myself that I run and race for FUN! When I look at racing as something I get to do, rather than something I have to do, my mindset is a lot more positive

I had the usual pre-race breakfast around 7:30am – coffee, banana with peanut butter, and 1/2 clif bar. Andddd I finally broke out my hand warmers. These things are lifesavers if you have poor circulation (like moi) and they’re only 99 cents!

Alma and I warmed up for about 30 minutes (ran from our apartment to the starting line) and after a quick bathroom break, it was race time! I’ve run some races as “workouts”, but today’s 4-miler was the first time I raced hard in awhile. I was shooting for 7:00 pace and finished a little under, so I’m pretty happy. Miles 1 and 3 were slower than I would have liked (maybe because of the hills), but other than that things went as expected. Also, I was really excited to meet a blog reader at the finish line. Hi Jacqui!

• Mile 1 – 7:11
• Mile 2 – 6:57
• Mile 3 – 7:10
• Mile 4 – 6:40
• Total: 4 miles in 27:57 (6:59 pace)

After the race I was feeling really good (probably a sign I should have gone faster!), so I added on some miles to make today a “long run day”. My cool down was about 50 minutes long bringing me to about 13 miles for the day. Only 6 weeks till the NYC 1/2 marathon!

After a long hot shower I refueled with some pumpkin-apple-chocolate chip oatmeal. I’m already hungry again – off to go eat some more!

Even though it’s February (and f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g in the Northeast!), it’s never too cold for a smoothie! Matt and I posted our favorite recipes on True/Slant – check it out

What’s your favorite smoothie combination?

The day did not get off to a very auspicious start. The pear clafoutis I baked last night needed to be thrown out (more on that later…), my stomach was not feeling awesome, and Alma and I were running late for the 8am start time of the Manhattan half-marathon. Ugh. Despite my cranky mood, I managed to put together a decent pre-run breakfast: coffee, coconut water (electrolytes!), a banana, and peanut butter.

After waiting in veryyy long port-a-potty lines, Alma and I made our way to the starting line. Since I’ve been having some back pain, I decided to run today’s 13.1 miles as a “marathon-pace long run” rather than an all out race. The first mile started off nice and easy ~9:05 per mile pace and then we picked it up until we were running between 8:10-8:20 pace. Around mile 10, I realized we could probably finish under 1:50 if we pushed a bit, so we dropped our pace to 7:55, 7:45, and 7:35 for the last 3 miles. Alma and I finished the 13.1 in 1:48:37 (~8:17 pace). Today’s effort definitely wasn’t “easy”, but the pace allowed for conversation and I never felt too out of breath. My long-term goal is to PR (i.e. run under 3:38:41) in the NYC marathon in November, so it was nice to know that without much training I could run 1/2 that distance at goal pace! Here’s hoping the next 10 months are injury free…

After factoring warm-up and cool-down, today’s mileage was 15. Longest long run since November! And 12 hours later, I’m feelin’ pretty good

Loved the shirts for today’s race – a nice change from the usual white cotton:

After our cool down (and chugging some gatorade), my fingers were freezing and I was in need of something hot. A latte from Starbucks never tasted so good!

Once I got home, I popped a french toast bagel in the toaster and enjoyed it with a little bit of butter. Real butter is definitely the way to go, margarine sketches me out.

After showering and some other things on my to-do list, I snacked on a luna protein bar. The peanut butter chocolate flavor was alright, but not nearly as good as the cookie dough flavor that I tried after my indoor triathlon.

By mid-afternoon it was time to head to a potluck with some other NYC bloggers. Chelsea was such a gracious host and the spread of food was just what I needed post-run.

I started off with some delicious kombucha:

And then I snapped photos of all the delicious dishes before digging in! Leslie made a fennel and butternut squash dish.

Jamie brought a yummy Mediterranean-themed cous cous dish. Hummus was the perfect addition!

And Chelsea brought out a lovely egg white, turkey sausage, and cheddar cheese casserole from the Cooking Light website.

I filled up my plate and devoured every bite. REFUEL.

And then a slice of pear clafouti (luckily it turned out much better the second time around).

And finally a peanut butter cookie made with stevia and PB&Co’s Bee’s Knees peanut butter.

With lots of good food and conversation, the afternoon flew by – thanks for organizing Chelsea!

I spent the rest of the evening catching up on life and around 8pm I got hungry for meal #4. I did a lot of cooking and baking this weekend, so I wanted something simple. I combined chopped pear with greek yogurt, peanut butter, raspberry jam, life cereal, and some homemade olive oil granola (stay tuned for the recipe!).

Matt and I were busy this weekend – we compiled a list of the 10 races to run before you die. Check it out and let us know if you agree/disagree!

Question: What’s your favorite addition to yogurt? Obviously, mine is peanut butter!

After my holiday party and 1pm bedtime, I (not surprisingly) woke up feeling kind of yucky. My throat hurt and I felt like I was definitely coming down with a cold. I made a strong cup of coffee and started to feel a little bit better. I had paid the $50 registration fee for the indoor triathlon, so I was going to do it no matter what!

With my coffee I fueled up with a chopped apple mixed with 1/2 cup Fage greek yogurt and a Tbs of peanut butter. I also had a few un-photographed bites of a clif bar as I ran out the door. I needed energy!

And then I was off to the McBurney YMCA for my indoor triathlon. Highlight of my subway ride there:

• Homeless man: Can you spare some change? A dollar?
• Megan: Sorry, I don’t have any cash on me.
• Homeless man: Ok, how about some weed?

Why, yes. Let me just get out my stash of marijuana and share some with you on public transit. I never leave home with out my running shoes, swimsuit, water bottle, and weed.

Hah, kidding.

Anyway, The event was actually a very good introduction to the sport for a newbie. The staff was organized and welcoming and I even had my own lane for the swim! My swim was SLOW, but I was happy just to have finished it without drowning.
 
Splits:
 
Swim: 10 lengths in 10 minutes
Cycle: 13.5 miles in 30 minutes
Run: 2.77 miles in 20 minutes  (~7:13 mile pace)
 
I had a tough time figuring out pacing for the bike – I definitely didn’t go as hard as I could have, but I thought that maybe I should be saving something for the run. The run went pretty well – I was the second fastest female!

After the run my face was as bright red as a tomato and I actually felt a little nauseous. I walked around and stretched for a few minutes and then tried to eat a little something. This was my first time trying the new luna protein bars and the cookie dough flavor was GREAT! The nutritionals are similar to a regular luna bar (180 cals, 12 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber), but the protein and saturated fat content is a tad higher. It basically tasted like a candy bar (which essentially, it is).

Hooray! I finished a triathlon! I wore my CPTC singlet, padded spandex bike shorts, and Asics 2150’s for the bike/run portion and they worked out well. I did not use clip-in shoes (don’t have any yet!), so I think that may have slowed me down on the bike.

As soon as I got home, I had to fly into action. I needed to shower, prepare a dish, and take the subway to my cooking club meeting in less than 90 minutes!

The theme for this month’s cooking club was “German Food”. Inspired by a recipe in the January 2010 issue of Bon Appetit, I prepared a red cabbage salad with green apple, lingonberry preserves, and toasted pecans.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs lingonberry preserves
• 1 Tbs dijon mustard
• 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 4 cups of red cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 large Granny Smith apple, coursely grated
• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted

Directions:

• Whisk together 1 Tbs lingonberry preserves, dijon mustard, and cider vinegar.
• Slowly whisk in the canola oil, add salt & pepper to taste.
• Reserve 1/4 of grated apple and several pecans for garnish.
• Toss cabbage, remaining 2 tablespoons preserves, apple, and pecans in large bowl.
• Toss with enough dressing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Garnish with reserved grated apple and pecans and serve.

Once I arrived at the cooking club meeting locale, I was very impressed with the spread of food.  Unfortunately, I started to feel sick and nauseous and close to passing out - oh low blood sugar and the crazy things you do to me! I ate that luna bar around 11:30am and we didn’t start the German food meal until after 3pm. In retrospect this was WAY too long for me to wait (especially since I just finished a triathlon). I had a few crackers while waiting for everyone to arrive and started to feel better immediately. Once I ate some actual lunch, I felt back to normal. Lesson learned: I need to always, always carry some sort of quick sugar source with me. Any suggestions? I was thinking dried fruit or honey packets…

On to the meal!

I started off with a bowl of split pea soup (made with Kristen’s homemade chicken stock!) – it was the perfect dish for a cold, January day.

My plate included: zwiebelkuchen (a quiche-like dish made with cream, bacon, and onions), sweet & sour cabbage, red cabbage salad with green apple lingonberry jam and toasted pecans, potato pancake with applesauce, and beer braised sausage with apples and sauerkraut.

And german chocolate cakefor dessert. Oh.My.Goodness. If you’ve never had german chocolate cake, you NEED to! It’s a delicious combination of dark chocolate cake and an ooey-gooey coconut frosting. Yum.

I spent the rest of the evening catching up on my to-do list and around 8pm, my stomach reminded me that it was time to re-fuel again. I sliced up a banana and added it to a cup of Fage 0% yogurt, a cup of Kashi Go Lean cereal, 2 Tbs peanut butter, and a few spoonfuls of lingonberry jam.

And since my throat was still hurting, I needed to medicate with a little Ben and Jerry’s phish food ice cream

From the NY Times:  Yummy alternatives to beef burgers

Questions: Have you ever participated in a triathlon? Any advice for a newbie?

What’s your favorite dish to bring to pot-lucks? I need ideas for next month’s cooking club!

Whenever my alarm goes off in the weekend pre-dawn darkness, I always question my sanity. Did I actually pay $17 to go run 9.3 miles in the freezing cold? Yup. Luckily once I toss the comforter aside and the smell of coffee starts wafting through the apartment, I start to feel a little better about my running decisions. The Ted Corbitt 15K was on the calendar this morning and at 8am I was happy to see that the snow hadn’t yet begun to fall.

I started off with a strong cup of Frida:

And then fueled up with a banana and a spoonful of nutzo:

After a 1 mile + warm-up to the start, Alma and I were ready to run! I planned on running the 15K as a hard workout, but not racing all out. I feel like I’m still building up confidence when it comes to racing fast and of course, I want to be careful about the ‘ol hamstring and IT band. Alma agreed to be my pacer/workout buddy and the plan was to start out slow and run negative splits. We went through the first mile nice and easy (chatting about our party plans for tonight!) and then started to drop the pace.

• Mile 1 – 8:30
• Mile 2 – 7:55
• Mile 3 – 7:40
• Mile 4 – 8:00 (uphill?)
• Mile 5 – 7:30
• Mile 6 – 7:30
• Mile 7 – 7:35
• Mile 8 – 7:30
• Mile 9 – 7:10
• Last .3 – FAST!
• Total finish time: 15K (9.3 miles) in 1 hour, 11 minutes, 35 seconds for an average of 7:41 pace.

Hooray! I was definitely feeling fatigued (umm, 5.5 hours of sleep last night, bleh), but If I were actually racing this I think I could have gone faster. Next up: Manhattan 1/2 marathon on January 24th!

After a 1.5 mile cool-down, we found ourselves in Starbucks where I ordered my favorite drink: decaf misto with one-pump of gingerbread syrup. And then…I picked up a special package that was waiting for me at the post office!

All bundled up…those giant green mittens are the best!

Melissa from Trying to Heal was my Blogger Secret Santa – and I am one lucky girl! My box was packed with peanut butter clif and odwalla bars, Qbel pb-chocolate wafers, and a whole plate of homemade goodness! Of course, I had to sample some of the sweets right away. I tried a piece of the Oatmeal M&M snack bar and a chocolate-covered graham cracker. Yum. Thanks, Melissa!

And then I was ready for some more food. 12 miles of running = HUNGRY. I mixed a Tbs of peanut butter with a container of Chobani non-fat greek yogurt and added it to a chopped pear. With a cup of sugar cookie sleigh ride herbal tea to warm up!

After showering and some emailing, I was ready for another snack. This was kind of an odd combo and not all that photogenic, but it did taste pretty good. I melted a string cheese on a whole wheat tortilla added some chipotle hummus and salsa and rolled it up like a burrito.

With carrot sticks and more hummus on the side.

Just finished a little bit of writing (check out Running Shorts later today – Matt and I will have something fresh and new posted shortly!) and now I’m off to prepare for the holiday party Alma and I are hosting tonight. Excited!

We’re supposed to get A LOT of snow this evening, what’s your favorite snow day activity? I have big plans for a mug of hot chocolate and a good book tomorrow….

After tossing and turning for most of the night, I woke up feeling kind of crummy. Understandably, this made me more than a little nervous for the 9-mile race I was about to run…

My pre-race breakfast was a cup of coffee (with half ‘n half) and an 8-grain bagel with some peanut butter and a sliced banana. I ate my breakfast on the 45 minute drive to the race start and started to feel a little better.

I really lucked out with the weather – my 3/4 length spandex and CPTC t-shirt were perfect for the 50 degree temperatures.

After a 1-mile warm-up, it was time to head to the starting line! Today’s race was the 100th anniversary of the Run for the Diamonds and featured the largest field ever (close to 2,000 runners).

And then we were off!

I was pleasantly surprised at how good I felt once I got moving. Despite a lot of weaving, my first mile was in 7:18 (mostly flat). Miles 2-4 were basically up a mountain (aka Foundry Road) and consequently slow. After the half-way point we got some nice downhill action and I maintained sub-7:20 pace for miles 5-9. I was really proud of my fast first mile and my negative splits (36 minutes for the first half, 32:40 for the second half). I was also really pumped to PR for this race, beating my 2007 and 2008 times by nearly a minute. Take THAT hamstring/IT band injury

2007 – 1:09:29
2008 – 1:09:38
2009 – 1:08:40 (according to my watch)

My sister is such a trooper. Not only did she wake up super early to spectate the race, but she was also my official photographer. Thanks Rachel!

After a s-l-o-w mile cool-down (I am going to be sore tomorrow), we headed back home. I didn’t want to spoil my appetite for Thanksgiving dinner, but I needed to re-fuel after 11 miles of running so I picked the pineapple out of a container of fruit salad (pineapple = the best part):

And then had a bowl of greek yogurt (protein for muscle recovery!) + jam and a seasonal clif bar before I hopped in the shower.

Overall I’m very happy with today’s effort!

However, I do have a gripe with this race. A new disposable timing system was utilized this year and all of the chips were activated at once (when the gun went off). It probably took me a good 45 seconds to get past the starting line (2,000 people were lined up on the street), so the results pages shows a gun time (1:09:26) rather than an actual chip time (1:08:40 according to my watch). Oh, small town racing. I’ve become quite spoiled by NYRR!

ALSO there were no port-a-potties on the 9 mile race course. Too bad if you needed one, yikes.

Now I’ve got to get cookin’ – the turkey is in the oven and mom needs help with the mashed potatoes!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for today?

For the past few months I’ve been having a lot of problems with dizziness and headaches. It seemed to get worse while using the computer or reading which is a problem since I am writing/typing/emailing for at least 10-12 hours every day. I went to the eye doctor back in August and everything checked out, no problems to report. Looking for answers, I made appointments with my family doctor, inner ear specialist, and a neurologist, but still couldn’t figure out what was going on. Yesterday I went to the eye doctor to pick-up a new supply of contacts and I mentioned the dizziness and trouble focusing. Long story, short – I need reading glasses in addition to my regular contacts. That’s right friends, I have the eyes of a senior citizen. Although the glasses were pretty pricey (be on the look out for more pb&j!), they seem to be helping a bit. With the new reading glasses, my penchant for going to bed before 10pm seems to make a lot of sense. Apparently, I am actually 50 years old.

Besides my expensive visit to the optometrist, Thursday was a pretty decent day.

I started my morning with a walk to Dunkin’ Donuts for a latte (much cheaper than Starbucks!) and then I did a mini-strength training workout (push-ups, lunges, tricep dips, abs) while watching the last 30 minutes of Twilight. If I were 10 years younger, I think I would be obsessed with the movie, but at the ripe old age of 25, I thought it was a little cheesy.

Breakfast was a big bowl of grapes, Stonyfield vanilla yogurt, and some Kashi warm cinnamon heart-2-heart.

I spent my lunch hour at the eye doctor’s office, but I did take a few minutes to eat my lunch outside in the sun. In my lunch bag: an apple, a sandwich made with whole wheat bread, spinach, spicy hummus, and avocado, and a snack-size bag of goldfish. The red bottle is my new water bottle (I sent my SIGG back to the company for a replacement – apparently Siggs produced before August ‘08 contain BPA in the lining, ahhhh!)

Afternoon snack was a luna bar – fueling up for an evening run!

I left the office a little late, so it was already getting dark by the time I got home. Nevertheless, I tied on my running shoes and headed out the door. My IT band felt fine, but  my hamstring was a little balky. I generally felt pretty blah on the run, but I did enjoy running around the reservoir in the dark. The views of Manhattan at night are always beautiful. I finished my easy 5 mile run in around 46 minutes and after a quick stretch, immediately started putting together some dinner. I was HUNGRY!

I heated up some brown rice & pinto beans and topped them with avocado slices and chili powder.

And a side salad with: spinach, cranberries, blue cheese crumbles, and spiced almonds.

All together:

Later on in the evening I was still hungry so I had a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter & jam:

And some Oikos greek yogurt with chocolate chips/peanut butter chips mixed in. A healthy-ish dessert! Plus some bedtime tea

Finally, I received photos from last Saturday’s half-marathon in my email inbox yesterday. I didn’t actually “race” last weekend (my right hamstring/IT band isn’t quite ready for that), but I did enjoy every minute of that 13.1 mile run. I think the huge smile on my face shows how much I enjoy and love running and for that I feel incredibly grateful. I hope someday soon I can start building up my speed again, but for now I’m happy just to be running again.

Happy Friday!!!

I did it! This morning was the Grete’s Gallop 1/2 marathon in Central Park and the longest run I’ve done since the Boston Marathon in April. As most of you know, I’ve been dealing with a pretty serious hamstring injury since the winter and tried nearly everything (chiropractors, acupuncture, trigger point therapy, etc) to get some relief. For the past 6 weeks or so I’ve been able to run (mostly) without pain and have begun building mileage again. My hamstring (and IT band) still aren’t perfect, but they are getting better. Back in June I couldn’t even run 3 miles and now I can run a 1/2 marathon with minimal discomfort. I’m pretty sure this is something I’ll need to stay on top of (rest, foam rolling, yoga) for a long time, but at least I’m running again!

Today’s race was very important to me for several reasons: Grete’s Gallop was the first race I did once I moved to New York City in 2007, it was the race where Alma and I met (and became friends!) back in 2008, and this year it marks my return from injury. I finished today’s race in 1:54:35 which is 18 minutes slower that my 1/2 marathon PR (1:36:38), but I honestly couldn’t be happier. I am SO thankful to be running (and racing?) again and I know if I’m smart about training, I’ll regain my fitness someday soon.

But, let’s back track to my pre-run eats…

In the spirit of being economical (just bought a new macbook, ugh), I ate very inexpensively on Friday. Breakfast used up some more Nature’s Pride 12 grain bread topped with peanut butter, honey, and a sliced banana.

Lunch was leftover brown rice, pinto beans, sauteed spinach & onion, and soy sauce.

I also made a lunch time visit to the Union Square Farmer’s Market to pick up some Autumn decorations (I plan on using the dried corn to make popcorn later on).

There was so much gorgeous local produce – I wanted to buy it all!

Friday afternoon snack was a Stonyfield Farm yogurt with some dried cherries and peanut butter chips.

I was craving comfort food for dinner, so I whipped up a bowl of oatmeal (quality carbs, mmmm).

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water
• chopped apple
• chopped prunes
• cinnamon
• dash of brown sugar
• A LOT of peanut butter (pre-run fueling!)

I spent the rest of the evening baking up some goodies for tomorrow’s house-warming party and catching up on my favorite TV shows.

Saturday = 1/2 marathon day!

I was up by 6:30am and started the day with 1/2 cup of coffee. Pre-race breakfast was two slices of 12-grain bread topped with mashed banana and honey. With a tall glass of water!

About an hour before the race I had 1/2 luna bar and then I carried a power gel to have around the 8-mile mark.

The race began promptly at 9am and my teammate Ani kept me company for the first 7 miles or so. I wanted to start off veryyyy conservatively, because I hadn’t run longer than 11 miles in many months. My first 6 mile lap around Central Park was right around 9:05/mile pace and then at the half way point I tried to pick it up a bit. I felt strong and controlled the entire 13 miles and my last 2 miles were around 7:30/mile pace. Yahoo! I was very, very happy to finish this 1/2 marathon in 1:54:35 (8:44/mile pace). Being injured and having to take a break from running was very difficult. I don’t think I will ever take running for granted again. Here’s hoping foam rolling, yoga, and careful training keep me pain free!

I chugged some Gatorade at the finish and then headed over to the post-race Norwegian festival for some food: 1/2 bagel and goat cheese spread

Big props to Alma – she had an amazing race today and ran a HUGE PR – 1:32:31!

After a MUCH needed shower (humidity does not do nice things to my hair…) I heated up some brown rice & beans and added some spicy hummus and a laughing cow cheese wedge. Lots of protein and quality carbs in this dish – I will try to eat some vegetables later today

And finally – dessert! After I ran Grete’s in 2007 I had a special cookie from Levain Bakery. Today seemed like a good day to go back These cookies are nearly 1/2 lb and are amazingly good, but they are probably only a “once in a great while” treat!

I had half of my dark chocolate-peanut butter chip cookie and have plans to devour the rest sometime this weekend:

Ok, I’m off to go clean and prepare for tonight’s house-warming PARTY!

Have a great weekend!

Last night, after a bedtime snack of cookies + milk, I hit the sheets. However, a pesky mosquito made its presence known and around 2am my sleep was interrupted. After fumbling for some Benadryl and closing my window, I was able to get back to bed. My alarm beeped at 7:30am and I woke up to have the usual coffee. For my pre-run breakfast I went with a banana, peanut butter, and a luna bar.

I only had about 1.5 hours to digest before starting to run, so I was a little nervous but my stomach ended up feeling fine. Alma and I hit the road for a warm-up (about 4 miles for me) and then it was time to line up at the start. Exciting news: Kara Goucher happened to be running in the park and stopped by the starting line to say hello. Love her!

Hmm, running fast is hard when you’re out of shape. I’m not going to lie – this felt really TOUGH. After a summer of only very easy running and cross-training, I was sucking wind by the end of my 4 fast miles. But, with any luck my hamstring/piriformis/IT band will keep cooperating and next time will be a little easier.

The breakdown:

4 mile warm-up with Alma and then Ani.

“Fitness Mind, Body, Spirit” 4 mile race in Central Park in 31:19 (7:49/pace).

1st mile: 8:00
2nd mile: 7:38
3rd mile: 8:16 (hills)
4th mile: 7:25

3 mile cooldown

Despite some twinges, my right leg felt good! Actually, my legs felt fresh and quick, but the rest of me wanted to die by the end of the race. I had that tight, heavy feeling in my chest for most of the run and then felt kind of woozy after I finished. Yikes. I started feeling better after some water and fruit juice (loved the big pieces of fruit in this!)

I was happy with this effort though, I feel like my road to recovery has been a long one (going on 9 months…) and I’m just SO excited to be running without pain. Wahoo! Also, 11 miles is the most I’ve run since April

Alma and I ran home (~3 miles) and then I promptly collapsed on the floor. Haha, well not really, but I was tired!

Goodies from the race:

Post-run meal:

Leftover potato soup with olive oil and red pepper flakes, Ezekiel sprouted grain toast with laughing cow cheese and hummus, and some Kashi crackers with more hummus. Mmm, carbs.

After a few hours of room re-organizing (my Ikea desk is now put together correctly!), I was hungry again. Mmm, how about a delicious yogurt mess?

• 3/4 cup 2% greek yogurt
• chopped apple
• 2-3 Tbs peanut butter
• chocolate chips
• honey

Perfection.

Later on in the afternoon, I got the urge to bake. Stay tuned for the results of my herb pizza dough.

Around 8pm, I came home from a walk to the delicious smell of Alma’s peanut butter pasta. I filled my bowl with arugula and then topped it with the yummy pasta-veggie-tofu-peanut dish. It was so good that I had to go back for a second bowl. My appetite was on fire today!

Best part of my day: I met 3 blog readers at the race this morning. Hello to Laura, Ada, and Courtney! You were all so sweet, thanks for introducing yourselves

New York readers: Would you be interested in a meet-up at some point this fall? Maybe we could go for a run in the Park or get some yummy food. Leave a comment or shoot me an email if you’d be interested!

Sunday had an early start – Nate’s alarm went off at 5:30am and mine beeped shortly thereafter. The 2009 Central Park triathlon was being held in NYC today and it was Nate’s last race of the season. To fuel myself for some serious spectating, I started off with strong coffee, a banana, and blueberry Oikos Greek yogurt.

I was very glad for the extra protein in my morning yogurt – for nearly 3 hours I was walking, jogging, and cheering as I spectated the triathlon.

The 400m swim was held in Lasker Pool -

Go, Nate, Go! The bike leg was 12 miles (2 laps of Central Park).

The run was a hilly 5k.

Nate’s dad participated as well. It was fun to have two people to cheer for! The lay-out of the course allowed spectators to see the entire swim, all of the transitions, two points on the bike leg, and the run start/finish.

Nate was fourth overall (1 hour, 59 seconds) and first in his age group. Woo-hoo! The official results will be posted on this site.

Zico coconut water was available for the athletes. I love this stuff, but Emily and Alma were not big fans….

After the race, I headed to my gym to do a little strength training and shower. A box of coconut water and some pistachios held me over until lunch.

We went to one of my favorite places – The Popover Cafe – for lunch. I love the big, flakey popovers that are served with strawberry butter.

Mine arrived hot from the oven – check out how hollow the popover is inside!

I ordered the Bistro salad for my entree – the salads are HUGE at the Popover Cafe. I think I ate a whole garden’s worth of arugula. Atop my green mountain, I had roasted pears, red onion, goat cheese, and pecans. With some mustard herb vinaigrette for dipping.

I’ve found that dipping my fork in dressing before each bite provides the perfect amount.

Even though I was stuffed after lunch, I made room for a Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee. My early morning wake-up was starting to make me sleepy….

Despite my afternoon caffeine fix, I still managed to take an hour long nap when we got home. It was just what I needed! After some blog work and errands, I started to get hungry for dinner. I sliced a tomato and some fresh mozzarella and made a panini on the George Foreman grill. With a little EVOO on the plate for dipping, of course!

Dessert was another peanut butter brownie (Nate added walnuts, swirls of Smucker’s Natural, and Newman’s Own Organic pb cups to brownie mix!) and a bit of vanilla bean ice cream. I may have gone back to the pan for some more nibbles of brownie

Question: What sport do you think your body is best suited for? Do you have a swimmer’s shoulders? A runner’s legs? The height of a basketball player? After years of trying (and failing) to play ball sports, I’m pretty sure I’m meant to be a runner or cyclist

My Independence Day began with clear skies and temperatures in the low 60’s. After a light breakfast (cheerios, milk, banana, and coffee), Nate and I headed to downtown Wilkes-Barre. Every year the local YMCA sponsors a 3-mile road race and I’ve participated in the race 7 out of the last 10 years! Despite still having stitches in his right leg, Nate decided to run the race. We had both been up late the night before googling “Is it OK to run with stitches?” I’m happy to report that the stitches held up and Nate ran 15:56 (for 3 miles) and placed 5th out of over 400 runners. Woo-hoo!

Due to my bum hamstring/IT band this year’s race was quite a bit slower for me than in past years. Nevertheless, I had a huge smile on my face the whole time because this 3-mile run was the best (and least painful) run that I’ve had in MONTHS. I had a little bit of discomfort/soreness in my hamstring, but the treatment that I received last week (acupuncture and injections) really seems to be helping! It’s been 3 days and I feel better than I have in a really long time. Anyway, I finished in 23 minutes and 53 seconds – a smidge under 8 minute pace. I’ll take it!

Nate’s “get down to business” face:

Right before the finish – HUGE smile on my face

After some showers and lunch, we hit up the candy aisle at Wegman’s. I’m not sure if candy is one of the best ways to fuel for exercise, but Nate eats it all the time and his running seems to be going pretty well

Then it was off to a Huddell family get together in West Chester, Pa. Nate’s Uncle Gary lives in a beautifully restored farmhouse surrounded by trees and fields. It was the perfect setting for a 4th of July pic-nic. Nate snapped a photo of me goofing off. Ignore my silly pose, but check out the scenery!

The spread of food was really yummy. I nibbled on lots of things, but here are the highlights!

Turkey Burgers with herbs and spices (SO moist and delicious) -

Kabobs with chicken and tons of veggies:

Potato salad with baby red potatoes, celery, and loads of fresh dill (I had 2 BIG servings of this!):

Pasta salad with wheels, broccoli, crunchy carrots, yellow bell pepper and cheddar cheese:

Family, good food, a successful run, perfect weather, and a fun day with Nate – it was the best 4th of July this girl could ask for!