The rest of my day wasn’t nearly as carefree as my a.m. run, but I had fun evening plans to look forward to. After reading a review in the NY Times a few weeks ago, I was intrigued by The Meatball Shop. This new restaurant specializes in….you guessed it – meatballs!

The Meatball Shop is tucked away on Stanton Street on the Lower East Side. In fact, I walked right by it at first! The menu is blissfully simple and the quality of food, cozy atmosphere, and attentive service are top-notch. Bonus: Ingredients are locally sourced and humanely raised.

Once we were seated, I perused the menu. Diners are given the choice of meatballs (beef, spicy pork, chicken, salmon, lamb, or vegetable), sauce (tomato, mushroom, meat, or creamy parmesan), cheese (mozzarella or provolone), as well as an array of breads, pastas, and vegetables. I chose the “meatball smash” which featured 2 chicken meatballs, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese stuffed and grilled inside a brioche roll. The arugula and apple salad on the side was a nice addition. I can’t say enough good things about this meal – it was warm and hearty, without being too heavy. And all of the ingredients were super fresh - loved the arugula!

(Grr…dim lighting…blurry photos)

My dining companion ordered a classic beef meatball hero with melted cheese on a whole grain roll. The meat was described as being “fall off the bone tender”. Never mind that meatballs don’t actually contain bones….you get the point! And of course more of that yummy arugula salad on the side.

How do you top off a delicious dinner like that?

I know…

Cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar!!

Remember when I made a vegan version of Momofuku’s compost cookie? That was good, but there’s nothin’ like the original…

Last night I also snagged one of the cornflake-marshmallow-chocolate chip cookies and I think I like this one even better. It tasted like a chocolate chip cookie-rice krispies treat hybrid. Oh my heavens.

Wondering what the heck a fartlek is? Confused by interval workouts? Running Shorts comes to the rescue with explanations for the sport’s most common terms.

IT band pain? Watch this Runner’s World video to find out which yoga poses will help.

Love diet coke? I’ll admit…I can’t resist popping open a can of icy cold DC every so often. Fortunately, there’s a healthier stevia-sweetened alternative to all those chemicals. Yum!

What’s your favorite type of cookie?

I was a bundle of nerves, so I was up well before my 6am alarm went off. I started off with a cup of coffee (yup, even before races!) and a slice of toast with banana and a few spoonfuls of nutzo nut butter.

This was the first race that I was EXCITED about running in a long time. I have a few solid weeks of workouts/long runs behind me and no nagging injuries. 

• 2 mile warm-up and strides
• First mile was a conservative 7:00 and then I picked up the pace.
• Mile 2 was ~6:40 (MAJOR hill at the turn-around point)
• Mile 3 was ~6:30
• Final time was 20:50 (6:43 pace average)
• 586th place out of 5,629 runners, 64th out of 2,612 women, and 7th finisher for the Central Park Track Club’s women’s team.
• 7 mile cool-down (30-ish minutes with Jacqui and Sarah and then another 30-ish minutes back to my apartment…7 miles is a generous estimate, hah)
• 12 miles total for the day

Despite being in the first second corral, the start was ridiculously crowded, I felt like I wasted a lot of energy weaving in and out of the crowd. Luckily things thinned out a bit after 800 meters and I was able to speed up. The hills on this course were pretty brutal, but at least the last 1/2 mile was mostly downhill! Last year at this race I ran 21:43, so I think it’s a good sign that this year’s time was nearly a minute faster. Also my time was a PR for a non-track 5K. My previous PR was 20:51 at Open New England’s Senior year (cross-country). Wahoo!

However, there’s always room for improvement. Next time I’d like to make my way up to the first corrall (less crowding, better start position) and pay more attention to running the tangents. I felt like I wasted a lot of unnecessary energy today fighting the crowd. Also, my first mile was too conservative, I need to focus on feeling comfortable with a faster start.

Onwards and upwards, NYC Half Marathon…here I come!

Once I returned home, I immediately devoured a plain chobani greek yogurt, chopped apple, with a spoonful of lingonberry jam.

After my shower, I re-hydrated with an Odwalla Superfood green juice (looked like sludge, tasted delicious!) and a chocolate chip peanut crunch clif bar.

And then…it was time to frolic in the amazing sunny weather! Nothin’ says spring like big sunglasses and a $5 Starbucks mocha frappuccino. I took advantage of the spring temperatures and went for a lil’ walk to stretch my legs. I really think that some light activity after a race or long run goes a long way in preventing soreness.

Around 4pm, I was hungry and ready to EAT (again). I made myself a plate of homemade nachos while I contemplated what to have for dinner. TJ’s reduced-guilt tortilla chips + shredded cheese + salsa + 20 seconds in the microwave = nachos!

Dinner ended up being leftovers from a creation I made the other night. Inspired by Tina’s breakfast pizza, I rounded up a slew of pantry ingredients and made my own version. My favorite thing about this dish is that you can easily make substitutions based on what you have in your fridge/pantry.

Polenta Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbs earthbalance (or olive oil or butter)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large yellow carrot, chopped (feel free to substitute other veggies!)
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 chicken sausage links, sliced (these had been in my freezer for months, so I used them up, but you could also use vegetarian sausage links!)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup egg whites
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees, coat a 9″ pie pan with cooking spray
• Heat water in a medium sauce pan, once boiling whisk in the cormeal, and reduce heat to low.
• Allow cornmeal to cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Once sides of polenta begin to pull away from the sauce pan, turn off the heat, and stir in shredded cheese and a dash of salt and pepper.
• Pour polenta into prepared pie plate and smooth down with a spoon.
• In a large pan, heat earth balance and cook the onions and carrot until softened (about 3-5 minutes)
• In a medium bowl combine cooked veggies, sliced sausage, egg whites, milk, and more salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour veggie-egg mixture over polenta and bake for about 40 minutes or until top is goldent brown.

Yum! This was a very tasty dish that not only used up random leftovers in my fridge (that bag of cornmeal has been hangin’ out in my freezer since 2007), but it also provided a good mix of post-run carbs and protein.

I ended the night with a cup of tea and some thin mint cookies.

Note: I probably only took photos of about 75% of what I ate today. On days that I run fast (and long) I find that my appetite goes into overdrive. There were definitely some handfuls of Kashi crackers, spoonfuls of nut butter, and extra tortilla chips that went un-documented. After racing a 5k and running 12 miles, my body needed the fuel

Question: If you’re a runner, what’s your favorite race distance?

Is your ipod mix getting a little old? Score some new workout music from Cadence Revolution’s free weekly podcast.

Wondering what to do with leftover bread? Check out this yummy whole wheat panzanella salad recipe.

Thursday was a marathon of a day – good thing I started off with an extra large mug of coffee. I was feeling very caffeinated after this.

Plus an orange for some vitamin C!

The main part of my breakfast was a plain chobani yogurt with 2 Tbs of whipped peanut butter stirred in and a crumbled vitabrownie on top. It tasted like dessert! But it also packed a good amount of protein (27 grams) and fiber (8 grams).

Lunch was one of the BEST salads I’ve created in awhile. It included all of the usual suspects: romaine, carrots, mushrooms, feta cheese, sriracha sauce, etc. BUT I also topped it off with leftover Vietnamese noodle and grilled pork salad and a few pita chips with hummus. Mmm, so many great flavor and texture combinations.

My afternoon snack was not one, but two Nature’s Path granola bars. These organic treats are a tad high in sugar (11 grams), but they taste delicious and come in a new eco-conscious box that uses 36% less cardboard than the original. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. Yay.

Anddd a decaf cappuccino because I wanted to sip on something warm.

After work I was feelin’ a little tired and not exactly excited about a road workout. Buttt I know I almost always feel better after a run, so I chugged some water and nibbled on some dried cherries + dark chocolate chips. Glycogen, get in my muscles!

After my snack, I was feeling a bit more energized, so I ran from my apartment to CPTC practice (2.75 miles). Those of us racing the Coogan’s 5K on Sunday did a special shortened workout – 800m, 600, and 400m @ 3K pace with 400m jog recovery. I have no idea what kind of pace we were running because we did the repeats on the road (estimated the distance), but it basically felt all-out. Lots of cool-down with the group and then another 2.75 miles back home. By the time I returned to my apartment, my Nike + pedometer reported that I had run 11 miles total.

My quads are strangely sore – perhaps from Tuesday’s treadmill workout? It feels like I did lunges although I most definitely did not. Hopefully a few days of easy running will help me rest up for this weekend’s 5k! So.Excited.

After a quick shower, I was ready to eat more asian noodle leftovers. I chopped up some romaine lettuce, grated carrot, and topped that off with leftover pad thai, hummus, and sriracha sauce. Sort of a strange combo, but it tasted yummy!

Of course I was still hungry, so I toasted up 2 slices of Ezekiel bread and topped them with generous spoonfuls of coconut butter and raspberry jam. Unfortunately I was too busy eating to take a photo, oops. If you want to see a visual of this lovely treat, you can check out my post from last Sunday.

I’m lovin’ my new jar of coconut butter! And if you’re worried that the fat in coconut butter is unhealthy, say goodbye to the 1990’s, and dig in! Unlike animal products which have long-chain triglycerides, coconut butter’s fat is made up of medium-chain triglycerides. Research has shown that this rare type of saturated fat can actually prevent heart disease and reduce cholesterol. Coconut has also been show to protect against cancer, boost immunity, increase calcium absorption, and kill bacteria/viruses (due in part to its high lauric acid content). You can read more about the benefits of coconut butter/oil here, here, and here. Yum!

Do you like coconut? What’s your favorite way to eat it?

• Hanukkah Latkes
• Cakes and desserts
• Breadbaking 101
• Pie baking fundamentals 

Yesterday’s course was all about….asian noodles! I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I actually don’t like pasta. For a runner who lived in Italy for 4 months, I realize that this is bizarre. However, my distaste for pasta does not seem to carry over to asian noodles. I wouldn’t say that they’re my favorite food, but I certainly won’t turn down a good plate of pad thai

Our first dish of the night was Classic Pad Thai adapted from David Thompson’s Thai Street Food.

We were grouped into teams of 4 and cooked our pad thai in a wok over high heat. Fun!

Yum! I loved the combination of chewy noodles, crispy bean sprouts, crunchy peanuts, savory fish sauce, and spicy Thai chile paste. And since all of the ingredients were from Whole Foods I felt confident that it was a quality dish. While we were cooking, someone mentioned that restaurants often use ketchup (instead of chile powder/tamarind paste) in their pad thai to save money and time. No thanks!

Next on the agenda was Pork and Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup. The filling was a mixture of ground pork and chopped shrimp. As you know, I don’t eat meat all that often, but I make an exception for special occasions – like cooking classes!

Ani and I had a blast making wontons. Note: Ani is sitting and I’m standing. I’m not a giant – I swear!!

After the class filled up a tray of wontons, we boiled them in broth and garnished with some spinach.

Mmm, wonton soup is perfect for the chilly, wintery weather NYC has been dealing with.

Ready for more noodles? We’re not done yet! Our third dish was Singapore Curry Rice Noodles. This dish contained a good balance of carbohydrate (noodles!), protein (shrimp and pork), and vegetables (onions, scallions, and snow peas). Plus lots of antioxidant-packed curry powder!

Dish number four was a Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Grilled Pork. We arranged glass noodles, pickled vegetables, mung bean sprouts, romaine lettuce, grilled pork chops, and topped with a spicy chile dressing and chopped mint & cilantro. This was a very light and fresh dish – perhaps my favorite!

Our final noodle dish (dessert!) was perhaps the most interesting. We’ve all had rice pudding, but what about noodle pudding? This was different AND delicious, plus the recipe was super easy!

Toasted Vermicelli Milk Pudding adapted from The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cuisine by Yamuna Devi

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons of ghee or unsalted butter
• 1 cup fine vermicelli (or angel hair pasta), broken into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 5 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup unsalted pistachios, slivered
• 1/2 Tablespoon rose water (optional, but recommended!)

Directions:

• Melt the ghee or butter in a heavy-bottomed, 5-quart nonstick pan over moderate heat. When it is hot, add the vermicelli and fry, stirring to ensure even browning, until the noodles turn a golden brown.
• Pour in the milk, sugar, almonds, and pistachios and stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the pudding is slightly thickened and creamy. Cool to room temperature, add the rose water, and chill thoroughly. Stir well, then serve in individual bowls.
• Note: raisins or another dried fruit must be a nice addition to this dish!

After sampling my way through the noodles of Asia, I left class with a full belly and a tupperware full of leftovers. Can’t wait to eat them for lunch today!

What’s your favorite type of noodle dish?

As usual, I did the weekly CPTC interval workout on the treadmill. A day pass for the Armory indoor track = $30. No thanks.

• 2 mile warm-up
• 3 x 1200m @ 5K pace with 400m jog recovery
  The 1200’s were done at approximately ~6:40 pace and felt surprisingly good! Let’s hope I feel similar on Sunday’s hilly 5K course…
• 3 x 300m @ 3K pace with 100m jog recovery. I don’t think running sub-6:00 minute pace on the treadmill is the wisest plan. Once again, I feared I would fly off the back of the belt, but thankfully not this week.
• I finished up the workout with a final easy mile of running and some walking to cool-down.
• Total: 7 miles

After a bit of stretching and a shower, I headed to the subway for the ride home. To appease my grumbling stomach, I tried something new: a Just Fruit bar sent to me by Gorge Delights. My fruit leather was made of 100% fruit (apple and cherry puree and concentrate – that’s it!) and contained 90 calories, 17 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of fiber. It was the perfect post-run fuel – glycogen for my muscles! I’m going to keep a couple of these in my purse for emergency snacks.

My dinner included another product sample: gardein (garden + protein) crispy tenders. Besides the occasional veggie burger, I’m not a big faux-meat fan. However, these crispy tenders blew me away. They tasted so much like chicken that I almost couldn’t believe I was eating a grain/soy product and not meat. Matt recently wrote a review of the gardein product line - check it out for more info!

After baking the crispy tenders, I chopped them up into bite-size pieces. If it looks like chicken and tastes like chicken, it must be…gardein?

I hesitate to call my dinner a “salad”. It was more like a big bowl of random ingredients. I was hungry. It was late. I needed dinner fast. I promise to cook an actual meal soon (I’m taking an Asian cooking class tonight!). Anyway, into the bowl went: chopped romaine lettuce, dried cherries, gardein crispy tenders, Kashi TLC crackers, cheddar cheese, hummus, and sriracha sauce. Veggies? Check! Protein? Check! Carbs? Check! Healthy fats? Check! Looks like I covered all the bases….

Taking the advice of my girl, Holly -I lived life to the fullest and ended the night with some chocolate. Mmm.

About 12 hours after my treadmill speed session, it was time to hit the road again. After some coffee + a luna bar (maybe eaten in bed…), I headed out the door for a (very) early a.m. run.

I’m not going to sugar coat it, certain parts of this 9-mile run were absolutely miserable. It was 34 degrees, windy, and sleeting/raining. My baseball hat blew off multiple times and I couldn’t feel my hands by mile 7. I am SO ready for spring to be here.

Good things about today’s run:

1) I made a friend in the park. His name is Dave, he’s 72 years old, and we run the same pace. Bwahahaha.
2) I ran with Ani and Chris for the middle miles. Company made the rain + wind more bearable.
3) It felt good to get up early and get my run out of the way.

Also, NO shin pain. A few aches and pains in my feet, but they were fleeting -probably from wearing the lunaracers yesterday.

Before I get back to the grindstone, I wanted to share some things that I’ve been lovin’ lately.

1) Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas – So far nothing I’ve read in this book is completely groundbreaking (especially if you have a solid running background) BUT the authors do a great job of explaining the how’s and why’s of marathon training. If nothing else, the chapter on nutrition/hydration has convinced me to pay more attention to my fluid intake. I recommend this book if you’re an experienced marathoner looking for direction in your training.

2) After much procrastination, I finally bought a RoadID. If you’re a runner, you should have some form of ID on you at all times. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Mom – are you proud?

Are you a fan of faux meat products i.e. veggie burgers, soy crumbles, gardein?

If you’re a runner, what do you carry with you? ID, cash, cell phone?

Since I wasn’t hitting up the gym or running around Central Park yesterday, I had some free time on my hands. What to do?? How about a yummy vegetarian dinner with fellow NYC-area foodies!

Caravan of Dreams, a vegan restaurant in the East Village, has been on my “must eat here” list for awhile. The staff was very accommodating and happily reserved a table for our big group last night.

I’m still trying to figure out the settings on my camera, so some of the photos are bit blurry/dark. Believe me when I say that my pictures don’t do the yummy food justice!

It was lovely meeting and re-connecting with NYC area bloggers and food lovers. Thanks for coming out last night ladies!

Jess, Irina, and Liz:

Katherine, me, and Jacqui:

My meal started off with a simple salad dressed in ginger vinaigrette.

And a pot of vanilla hazelnut dessert tea. Who says you can’t have dessert tea before dinner?

For my main entree I ordered the Green Garden platter. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I read that grilled carrot polenta was involved I knew I had to try it!

My dish was comprised of a bed of sauteed seasonal veggies (kale, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage), seitan, grilled carrot polenta, and a dollop of vegan sour cream. It was flavorful and hearty without being too heavy. I cleaned my plate! I love how satisfying a good vegan meal can be.

Lindsey digs in!

I think everyone enjoyed their meals – everything looked so good! I have plans to go back and sample some of Caravan’s  ”Live” (a.k.a. Raw) offerings.

Question: What are your thoughts on raw food? I’m not a strict vegetarian, but I’m still interested in exploring vegan and raw cuisine. The creations on Gena’s website, Choosing Raw, always look so yummy! 

Training for a half or full marathon? Matt and I spill the details on what to eat while running.

Short on cash? Check out these awesome and FREE ways to get healthy and fit in March!

Realization #2: High mileage = aches and pains. I ran long on Saturday and felt good.  But during Sunday’s easy 6-miler, my legs started to get a little unhappy with me. My calves were super tight from my long run and I think this caused my right shin to start hurting a bit. I’m being very proactive with the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) and I think it will be fine in a day or two, but running is always going to involve some injury prevention and management.

Anyway, despite my sore shin, it was a very productive weekend of training. I slept a ton on Friday night and woke up ready to get down to business (i.e. RUN!).

I love you, coffee.

Confession: I also really love Peter Pan’s whipped peanut butter. It tastes like frosting. Sometimes a girl needs some hydrogenated oils in her life. All things in moderation, right? Anyway, I slathered an apple in that creamy pb and followed it up with a clif bar. I had a pretty serious long run planned – had to fuel up well!

I had  intended on doing my long run on the treadmill, but thankfully the park roads were pretty clear and I ran mostly outside. I’m not going to lie – I was a little worried that a tree branch was going to fall on my head, but alas I remained unscathed. I ended up running 15 miles in 2:04:10 (11 miles in the park in 1:33:45 and 4 miles on the treadmill in 30:25)

I broke the run down like this:

Miles 1-3 easy
Miles 4-6 marathon pace (~8:20)
Miles 7-11 easy
Miles 12-15 1/2 marathon pace (started off at 8:00 and finished up the last .5 mile at 6:58 pace!!)

I mostly felt good for this entire run. Trying to run marathon pace for miles 4-6 was harder than I thought it would be, but the last (fast!) miles felt really good. Funny how that is… I really think that fast finish long runs are essential when training for 1/2 and full marathons. I didn’t do any while preparing for NYC or Boston and I wish I had. Practicing running at race pace while you’re fatigued will prepare you for the mental and physical fatigue of race day. Or at least I hope it will!

I immediately bought a gatorade to hydrate and followed that up with some greek yogurt (protein!) and dried cherries (carbohydrates!).

After my shower, I made sure to put on my recovery compression socks. Love.these.so.much.

And then it was time for more foodddddd. Luckily I had some leftover peanutty root vegetable stew to fill my belly.

After watching 2+ hours of TV on the couch doing lots of important things, I was hungry AGAIN. I had 3 bowls of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with milk.  Runners need to eat!

My legs were feelin’ like they could use a good stretch at this point, so I walked the mile or so to Whole Foods. I didn’t really need anything, but I wanted to drop off a big bag of #5 yogurt containers for recycling and so I just had to browse a bit…

I came home with a bag full of fun stuff: Kashi TLC crackers, romaine lettuce, frozen strawberries, pinto beans, coconut butter (!!), navel oranges, hummus, lara/clif bars, dried cherries, and floss.

After my hearty afternoon eats (hello protein + fiber in Kashi Go Lean Crunch!), I wasn’t that hungry, but I knew I probably needed to get in some more calories. So I assessed my options and put together a plate of nutrient dense yummy-ness: ezekiel bread toast topped with coconut butter and jam and a banana with lots of whipped peanut butter. Mmmm. After reading about the benefits of coconut oil/butter on Chelsea’s blog, I knew I had to try it for myself. The combo of coconut butter and jam on toast is scrumptious! I highly recommend.

Plus some thin mints that were hiding out in the freezer.

Yay, my article on the Top 5 Running Mistakes to Avoid was featured on Newser. I like this site a lot – it summarizes the day’s top news stories. Perfect for busy peeps!

Fun NYC event coming up: The Village Voice is sponsoring its 3rd Annual “Choice Eats” event on Monday, March 22. The event will feature tastings from  50+ restaurants, including: Café Glechik, Peppa’s Jerk Chicken, Bunny Chow, Sigmund Pretzel Shop, Xunta Tapas Bar, Salumeria Rosi, Jimmy’s No. 43, Xi’an Famous Foods, Lucy’s Whey, Counter, An Choi, and Café Steinhof. If you’re a New York area foodie, this looks like such a fun event! Bonus: there will also be craft beer and wine pairings available with the food. You can purchase tickets here. Bon appetit!

Question: What NYC restaurant/bakery would you like to visit (assuming locale and $$ weren’t an option)? Someday I will make it to Blue Hill….

The day started out with slushy rain and progressed to windy snow. Oh winter, you’re not welcome here anymore.

Once I was warm and dry inside the office, I chowed down on breakfast: chobani 2%, dried cranberries, and Kashi Go Lean Crunch.

Followed by a mid-morning cup of green tea (not coffee, I swear!) and Hershey’s kisses.

Lunch was leftover peanutty root veggie stew and an apple with a wedge of laughing cow cheese. Umm, there’s not much you can do to make leftovers in tupperware look pretty, but it all tasted very good!

The highlight of my afternoon was a delicious cinnamon roll from Holey Donuts. I don’t even care if I get diabetes. It was that good.

The cinnamon roll was savored with a hot cappuccino, mmm.

As much as I missed working out with the Central Park Track Club, I knew running outside wasn’t a (safe) option. To pump myself up for a solo workout, I reviewed my tips on surviving the treadmill and headed over the the gym around 6pm.

1 mile warm-up
4 x 1 mile @10K pace with .25 mile recovery jog
1 mile cool-down (7 miles total)

I set the incline at 2% for miles 1 and 3 to simulate the terrain of Central Park. I hope I’m just fatigued from Wednesday’’s 12 miles because I can’t remember the last time I worked so hard on a run. Pace for the mile repeats wasn’t that fast (7:13, 7:08, 7:13, 7:05), but I was struggling to maintain good form. I wanted to decrease the incline SO badly, but I gritted it out. I just kept thinking about the hilly 5K I have planned for next weekend – a 0% incline will NOT be an option on race day. I’m a little nervous (ok VERY nervous) about trying to run 13.1 miles at ~7:25 pace next month. Meh.

After waiting 25 minutes for the subway (WHY do half empty local trains randomly run on the express track??), I finally made it home. Famished. I didn’t have time to run to the grocery store, so din-din was a mish-mosh of whatever I had in the fridge.

First I whisked together an easy vinaigrette – 1 Tbs olive oil, 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp lingonberry jam, and dash of dalt.

I tossed romaine lettuce, dried cherries, walnuts, and Wildwood baked tofu in with the dressing and topped with shredded cheddar cheese.

I also made myself a plate of tortilla chips + melted cheddar. Andddd then I killed the bag of chips. The reduced guilt yellow corn tortilla chips from Trader Joe’s are SO good (probably the best store bought tortilla chips I’ve ever had). I bought the bag four days ago and they’re already gone. Mmm, salt + carbs = perfect post-workout fuel.

Check out the latest on True/Slant: Are you making these common running mistakes?

Treadmills – love ‘em or hate ‘em? Unless the roads clear up this weekend, I’m facing a long run inside!

Doubles

If you’re a frequent reader of my blog, you may notice that I occasionally do “doubles” a.k.a. I run twice in one day. Now to most people running even once a day might seem crazy, but let me explain. Running doubles certainly isn’t for everyone. If you’re a  newbie runner, prone to injury, or don’t have a lot of extra time, you’re better off being cautious with your mileage. If, however, you’re seriously training for a race and are interested in increasing your VO2 max, decreasing body fat, and building endurance – tacking on a second run might be beneficial to your training.

The most important thing to remember when adding mileage is to start slowly. On days when you run twice, one of the runs should always be super easy. For example, on days when I have a hard workout scheduled for the evening, I will often go for a 20-30 jog in the morning. This “shakeout” run gets my blood flowing and for some reason, it prepares me better mentally for the evening’s hard effort. Additionally, when I run in the morning, my legs are a bit fatigued for the workout. This teaches me to run hard when my legs aren’t feeling 100% fresh and it simulates the latter miles of a race.

If you’re ready to tackle doubles, remember to bump up your water and fuel intake. Immediately after your first run, hydrate and eat a 300-500 calorie meal to speed recovery. And give yourself at least 5-6 hours between workouts – your body needs some time to rest!

If you’re not quite ready to run twice-a-day, you can add on some cross-training instead. Some time on the elliptical or the bike can be a great low-impact way to increase endurance. And even non-impact activities like yoga can be beneficial as “doubles” – I’ve found that a gentle yoga session a few hours after a long run drastically reduces muscle tightness and soreness the next day.

Yesterday I ran 9 easy miles in the morning (felt good except for when the wind and rain whipped off my baseball cap!) and then I added on an up-tempo (i.e. quicker than usual) 3-mile run after work. I ended up totaling 12 miles for the day, but breaking it up into 2 sessions and giving each run a specific purpose made the time fly by.

Donuts

Enough about running, now on to sugar! It’s no secret that I have a sweet tooth. I love cookies, chocolate, & cake and while I try to limit my indulgences, I eat something sweet almost daily. And you know what? That’s ok! I run a lot, eat plenty of fruits, veggies, & whole grains, and I think life is too short not to enjoy delicious things. Most of the time I bypass processed foods and try to make sure my sweets are homemade or at least contain some health benefit (dark chocolate!). It’s been ages since I’ve had a donut, so I wasn’t quite sure what to think when the company Holey Donuts sent me 3 boxes of their goodies to sample. Aren’t donuts packed with trans fats? If not, would they taste good?

Well, I did my research and here’s what I found out about Holey Donuts:

• Trans-fat free (Holey Donuts are not deep fried in oil)
• No artificial sugars
• 3-4 grams of fat per donuts (compared with 20 grams in other brands)
• Lower in calories than most donuts

Note: These donuts are not health food, they’re definitely still a treat/dessert, but since I’m going to eat sweets anyway, I might as well indulge in something a little better for me :-)

Here’s what I was sent to sample:

1/2 dozen Pink-frosted donuts (haven’t tried these yet, but they look pretty!)

1/2 dozen donut sampler (Boston cream, caramel apple, lemon graham cracker, raspberry vanilla truffle, blueberry crumb cake, and vanilla crumb)

I enjoyed the Boston cream donut with a cup of coffee for a mid-afternoon treat the other day. The donuts need to be stored in the freezer (because they lack preservatives), so I put mine in a tupperware and let it defrost for a few hours. You could also microwave the donuts for a few seconds. There was a good amount of cream filling in the middle and the topping was very fudgy. This definitely didn’t taste low-fat. If you like donuts, you’ll love these

And last, but not least I was sent 4 jumbo cinnamon rolls. Mmm, I always drool over the smell of cinnabon at the mall, so knowing that I could have similar treat that didn’t contain a 800+ calories and icky trans fat was great news. Check out the nutritional stats on these cinnamon rolls for yourself.  340 calories, 5 grams of fat, 68 grams of carbs, 8 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, and 17% RDA of iron. That’s almost as good as a clif bar! I have big plans to try one of these babies soon!

Full disclosure: Holey Donuts sent me these product samples for free, but I honestly think they taste delicious and are a good option if you’re craving sweets.

Do you have any vices? Clearly, mine is dessert!

• 2 mile warm-up
• 5 x 4 minute pick-ups (roughly 1/2 marathon pace, ~7:10 per mile) with 90 seconds of recovery (~9 minute per mile pace)
• 1.5 mile cool-down
• 7 miles total

This workout was tough, but manageable. I was majorly sweaty (unusual for me), so I was especially thankful for the chilled, eucalyptis-soaked towels that my gym offers. My monthly membership to Equinox is definitely my most pricey expenditure (besides rent), so I try to make it worth it! Bring on the locker room goodies. I finished up with a little stretching, foam rolling, and core work afterward.

Workout complete? Check! Now it’s time for a fun recipe.

The other day I was intrigued by a wonderful creation I saw on the blog Caroline Dines. Peanut and sweet potato stew? Sign me up!  I altered the recipe quite a bit due to my own taste preferences and what I had in the pantry. This comforting winter stew is packed with quality carbs, protein, fiber, and healthy fats (peanut butter!). It would make an excellent post-run recovery meal. And it’s so easy to make! If you can chop veggies and stir, you can make this recipe

Peanutty Root Veggie Stew (Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 very large sweet potato, cubed
• 1 large celeriac (a.k.a. celery root), peeled and cubed
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 oz. canned tomato sauce (no salt added variety)
• 2 cups of water
• 1 generous Tbs cinnamon, 1 generous Tbs cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (or more! be generous)
• 1 Tbs sriracha sauce
• sprinkling of peanuts to garnish

Directions:

• Place all ingredients (except for peanut butter, sriracha, and peanuts) in a large pot and cook on medium-high for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
• I recommend covering the pot for the first 20 minutes of cooking and then allowing the stew to finish up uncovered. This will help it to thicken up.
• Turn off the heat, add the peanut butter and sriracha, stir until combined.
• Garnish with chopped peanuts and devour!

Nutritional information (per serving): 350 calories, 12 grams of fat, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber. This recipe also provides a good amount of Vitamin A, C, and iron. Hooray!

If you could only eat 3 foods for the rest of your life, what would they be? I’d pick peanut butter, greek yogurt, and crinkle cut french fries.