The Runner's Kitchen

My plans for an early morning spin class were nixed when I woke up feeling less than stellar. More sleep and a coffee date with my girl, Frida were what I opted for instead.

I had some leftover pumpkin from the muffins I baked this weekend, so I turned it in to overnight oatmeal. I combined rolled oats, canned pumpkin, greek yogurt, chopped walnuts, and dried cherries the night before and then added a splash of milk and some cinnamon this morning.

Followed up by a piece of flax bread topped with peanut butter and raspberry jam.

Last night whilst doing my laundry, I roasted some beets. I love beets – they’re sweet like candy!

Roasted Beets

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Wash, peel, and cube 4 beets
• Toss the beets with 1 Tbs canola oil and 1 Tbs rice vinegar
• Cover with foil and roast for 20 minutes on a baking sheet
• After 20 minutes, remove foil, and roast for an additional 15 minutes (or until tender)
• Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

For lunch I tossed together chopped romaine, roasted beets, goat cheese, walnuts, dried cherries, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

The folks at popchips sent me a box of samples the other day (loved the way it was packaged!) and my stash is nearly gone. These chips aren’t fried or baked, but rather “popped” and I think they have a tremendous amount of flavor and crunch for a relatively healthy product. I saved one of my favorite flavors for last – salt & pepper!

Psst…I’ll tell you a secret – popchips didn’t really need to send me free samples, I buy these all the time because they’re SO good!

My afternoon snack was compliments of Chobani greek yogurt (yay, samples!). Last week I received a Chobani lunch bag packed with some of my favorite flavors. I added some toppings (coconut, granola, and crumbled oreo) to the plain variety.

And thennnnnn the afternoon never seemed to end. As much as I love running, sometimes my motivation disappears. Around 4:30pm I started to feel very blah and the last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym. I thought maybe a little sugar would help, so I went downstairs and bought a Twix bar. Yes, even healthy food bloggers crave candy! Energy bars and candy bars are essentially the same thing, so I wasn’t too worried about having the twix bar before my run.

I wanted to run intervals this evening, but since I don’t have access to an indoor track, I performed the workout on the treadmill. Not ideal, but it got the job done!

1.5 mile warm-up
2 x 400m @ 5k pace (400m recovery after each interval)
2 x 400m @ 3K pace (400m recovery after each interval)
2 x 400m @ mile pace (400m recovery after each interval)
1.5 mile cool-down

No problems with my hips or back (yay!), but dang those 400’s at mile pace felt FAST. I finished up the last one in ~5:33/mile pace and I was just praying I didn’t fly off the back of the treadmill. Can’t wait till my running club starts working out on the outdoor track again….

Once I got home, I whipped up a super fast dinner salad: romaine lettuce, mushroom veggie burger, cheddar cheese, dried cherries, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

For dessert I melted some chocolate chips on a piece of whole wheat toast and topped it with mashed banana. Served alongside herbal tea to warm me up.

Have you heard about Michael Pollen’s new book Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual? What are your personal “rules” for healthy eating? Do you limit red meat? Avoid HFCS? Buy organic?

I really need to start going to bed earlier. When my alarm beeped at 6:26am I was NOT ready to get up. But once I got my feet on the floor and some (1/2 decaf) coffee in my system, I was feeling a little more energetic. I made it to the gym in time for my favorite spinning class (today’s instructor is tied with Friday’s…). After 40 minutes of cycling, I hopped off the bike and headed straight over to the treadmill. My IT band had been bugging me after all the walking and running I did this weekend, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel. I was very happy to have absolutely no pain and the faster pace felt easy. Hooray! Probably the best run I’ve had all year. If I could just figure out a way to make it feel like this ALL of the time! I really think that biking is helping to correct my muscle imbalances and I’ve been foam rolling up a storm, so I’m sure that’s helping. Now, I just need to be good about not over-doing it on the mileage…

Run Stats: 3 miles in 24:17

• mile 1 (warm up) – 9:13
• mile 2 – 8:00
• mile 3 – 7:04 (finished the last 400m at 6:44 pace !)

My subway train ended up going express and I had to get off at Times Square/42nd (least.favorite.place.in.nyc) and walk 10 blocks back uptown. But because I had such an awesome run, not even the overpriced chain restaurants and hordes of tourists could rile me up. I even snapped a photo of my commute!

And then this hungry girl ATE BREAKFAST - sliced banana, chobani greek yogurt with PB2 mixed in (extra protein!), and a chocolate vita muffin top on the side.

Mid-morning pick-me-ups: decaf cappuccino and a luna bar

Lunch was a yummy combo that I prepared from pantry staples (trying to save $$ whenever I can…) – baked sweet potato topped with 1/2 cup black beans, hot sauce, and a melted Polly-O brand string cheese.

Followed up by 1/2 Cadbury fruit & nut chocolate bar. Mmm…

Cadbury Fruit & Nut bars are sooo good. It took tremendous self control not to devour the entire thing! But I have a fun vegetarian restaurant dinner planned tonight (details later!) and I didn’t want to spoil my appetite.

Read more about this super nut that can prevent fatigue and sugar cravings.

I love yoga! Check out these 6 poses that can help runners increase range of motion and reduce injury risk.

‘Tis the season for giving, but who really needs more stuff?  In lieu of receiving Christmas (or Birthday!) presents, Holly is raising money to build a water well in Cambodia because 2/3 of the region’s people do not have access to clean water. Check out her Just Give donation page for more information on donating to the cause. Yay, Holly!

Question: Do you ever volunteer time or donate money to a charity? Childhood hunger is something that really upsets me, so I try to donate a little bit whenever I can. Feeding America is one of my favorite organizations!

When I woke up on Thursday morning, I was treated to a sauna-like spa treatment in my own apartment. Although the forecasted high for the day was 75 degrees, the super had the heat turned on full blast. And nope, we don’t have an adjustable thermostat.

I had the usual coffee (half decaf) and then did a mini strength workout: 30 pushups, 30 tricep dips, 20 bicycle crunches, 20 regular crunches, 20 crunches with lifted legs, 40 reverse crunches, and stretching. Pheww. The sweltering heat in the living room really helped me to work up a sweat.

When I got to the office, I sliced up a banana (it’s hiding in there, I swear!) and topped it with some plain chobani and a drizzle of honey.

With a generous amount of Kashi Honey Sunshine. Straight-outta-the box. Yum.

Lunch was leftover Octoberfest veggie chili and a cornbread vita top.  I added a dab of butter and it paired well with the corn muffin’s sweet taste. 100 calories and 6 grams of fiber – you can’t beat it!

I was running around to meetings all afternoon, but I made time for a cappuccino and some homemade trail mix (pretzel nuggets, spiced almonds, cranberries, chocolate chips).

And then I went to the gym for a run-bike-run sandwich. I started off with 2 miles on the treadmill (~9 minute pace), then transitioned to a 6:30pm spinning class in the cycling studio. This instructor was TOUGH. We did a lot of standing hill intervals (the longest lasted for 9 minutes, ughhh) and my quads were feeling pretty trashed by the end of the 45 minute class. Once I hopped off the bike, I ran back over to the treadmill and ran for another 2 miles (~8:30 pace) and then I was done!

I’ve been liking my run-bike combos so much, that I have exciting news to announce! I signed up for my very first triathlon!! The triathlon is a bit unconventional – it’s in January and it’s indoors. Each participant swims in a pool for 10 minutes, bikes for 30 minutes, and then runs on a treadmill for 20 minutes. Rankings and places are determined by how far you go in each event. Now that my leg is feeling better, I’m getting excited about training for races again. I’m still bummed that I have to defer my NYC Marathon entry this year (the marathon is all anyone can talk about this week…) so being able to focus on something new is a really positive thing for me. Yay!

I don’t always do such a great job with re-fueling immediately after workouts, but I knew I needed some protein after my 1 hour and 20 minute Run + Bike. I had a McDonald’s gift card floating around in my bag for the past few months and I finally discovered a healthy use for it. I stopped by Mickey D’s and ordered up a child’s size low-fat chocolate milk jug. The 8 oz container contained 180 calories, 30 grams of carbs, and 9 grams of protein. The carb-to-protein ratio is nearly 3-to-1 which is ideal for muscle recovery. Bonus: it cost less than a dollar!

Once I made it home (I walked the mile or so from the gym – it was such a beautiful, warm night!), I was ready for FOOD!

I wrapped up a black bean veggie burger, hummus, hot sauce, mozzarella cheese, and arugula in a big whole wheat tortilla.

And then for dessert: Fage 0% greek yogurt topped with dried cranberries and a big scoop of peanut butter. I felt like this dinner re-fueled me well!

Despite a somewhat-restless night of sleep (mosquito bites!) my Friday started off pretty great – with coffee, 1/2 spiced pumpkin clif bar (love the holiday flavors!), and a 5 mile run with Alma. The weather was Autumn perfect – 50 degrees and dry. Also, highlight of the run – I caught a leaf!

The rest of my eats today have been pretty boring (leftovers, leftovers, leftovers), but I promise to be more creative this weekend!

This recipe for Almond Pear Muffins sounds amazing! I might need to test it out soon

Check out this article which details the Pros and Cons of the Elliptical

What if the alarm clock doesn’t go off on race day?? The NY Times talks to runners who experience bad dreams before the marathon. The good news? Those scary dreams are totally normal.

Question: Do you ever remember you dreams? I do! And mine are always really crazy….

Wednesday started off with a cup of coffee (again half regular, half decaf) and a banana. I was feeling energetic, so I bounded out the door for an easy 3-mile run. The weather outside was beautiful, yay for wearing just a t-shirt and shorts!

Breakfast at my desk was a pomegranate chobani greek yogurt and 2 servings (at least!) of Kashi honey sunshine. This was the first time I’d tried the pomegranate flavor and I really liked it – you could actually see and taste the pomegranate seeds. No fake flavors here.

Mid morning snack was a (decaf) cappuccino and an adora chocolate calcium supplement.

In my rush to get out the door this morning, I forgot to bring leftover chili for lunch. Doh! So I had to buy a salad from the cafeteria. I wasn’t too upset

• romaine lettuce, mushrooms, sliced red onion
• honey roasted sweet potatoes
• dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, feta cheese
• bit of wild rice salad
• Tbs balsamic vinaigrette and some croutons

And for dessert – something new by JELL-O. My mom gave me a few of these 60 calorie caramel mousse cups and I was a bit skeptical, but they’re actually pretty good.

Around 4pm I had a balance bar to prepare for my post-work gym visit. The mint cookie flavor tastes kind of like a thin mint!

I stayed a little late at the office and then headed to the gym. My legs have been feeling strong, so I decided to do a sort of tempo run.

• Miles 1 9:20 pace (warm-up)
• Mile 2 9:20 pace (warm-up)
• Mile 3 – 8:20 pace
• Mile 4 – 7:55 pace
• Mile 5 – 7:15 pace
• Mile 6 – 9:15 pace (cool-down)
• Mile 7 – 9:15 pace (cool-down)

Total: 7 miles in 1 hour, 54 seconds

I felt strong throughout – no problems from the hamstring or IT band (although my knee was feeling a little funky on the walk to the gym).

By the time I got home, I was HUNGRY. I re-heated a bowl of vegetarian chili and topped it with some mozzarella cheese.

And then I warmed up a multi-bran vitatop and slathered it with pumpkin butter. Yum!

My apartment is like 1,000 degrees so I drank a ton of water last night. Around 10pm, I curled up with my current book (just finished The Post Birthday World) and snacked on some milk and 2 Newman’s ginger cookies. I had already drunk most of the milk by the time I snapped this photo

Check out this great article on how-to dress for fall running.

Are trans fats hiding in your Halloween candy? Eek! Now, that’s something scary…

Question: What’s your favorite afternoon snack? I’m always looking for something new and exciting!