Toenails are overrated

So I feel like an official runner - the toenails on both big toes are seriously bruised. I took a picture, but they look gross even to me so I will spare you and not post. You're welcome. When I mentioned that I was afraid to take off my toenail polish to Emily, she asked if my shoes were big enough. I said of course, but now I'm not so sure. I am holding off buying new shoes till after the race since I have logged so many training miles on these guys, and I was unsure about buying new so close to race time. Both Em and Alex thought the "break in" time would be sufficient, but Alex recommended waiting because I just might not like my new shoes. And to be honest, my feet don't hurt nearly so much since I cut the nails really short.

I did do my longest training walk last Friday - 13.2 miles! I have to tell you, I am pretty proud of that! The weather was absolutely horrible when I started out, and wasn't much better when I ended. Several of the parking lots at Zorinsky had no cars in them, and that NEVER happens. And I was out there for over three hours. Let me tell you who I saw: one cyclist, two runners, and the guys repairing the bridges. I passed the guys three times, and I know they were wondering who the crazy lady was who kept walking in circles over and over again. In bad weather. That would be me.

This is a lie. There was no sun. All morning long.

My other days of exercise were only three miles; I felt a little guilty about so few miles this week. And I felt a little anxious on the days I didn't run - who would have thought I'd miss it? My long run this week was scheduled to be 8 miles. I was going to do it tomorrow morning, but the forecast is for storms, with rain and hail. I can handle the rain, but I'm not a fan of storms - or hail. So I did it today, and it was the best long run/walk EVER!!!!! I think my body was just flooded with endorphins! I wasn't pooped at the end; I could have gone around again. I wore thicker, warmer socks today and it hardly bothered me that they gave me a big blister on the bottom of my left foot. (I had this whole thing figured out. Why do I keep changing parameters? Seriously.) I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in ages about 0.2 miles from the end of the walk - I don't know how she recognized me, but I think she may have regretted stopping me.  As I said, I was in such a good mood that after we caught up on the husbands and kids, I kept jabbering about the Des Moines Half and how she should sign up for the Lincoln Half next spring and we could do it together and we could do our long runs on Saturdays and wouldn't that be fun and I'm thinking I'll do the Galloway run-walk method and ..... You get the idea. Poor Mindy; I'm sure she was thinking "Please don't call or email. Do not follow up on this". But outwardly she just smiled and nodded. Shut up Cathy.

My training for next week is just two two-milers. I'm planning on doing three, each two miles, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And then what? Oh - have I mentioned that I'm doing the Des Moines Half?! Race numbers have been assigned, and just call me #2440. Jeanie and Tom are driving over from Chicago, and while Jeanie and I are competing, the guys will I'm sure be having a wonderful breakfast somewhere, after seeing us off and stopping a few points along the route to cheer us on. I am looking forward to uninterrupted time with my sister!

 I don't have much in the food department. How many pictures of candy corn do you want? I figure I have one more week of burning an insane number of calories without gaining weight, so I have been taking advantage of it. One recipe I did invent (by seeing what we had in the fridge) that I love is an egg scramble involving mushrooms sauteed in about a teaspoon of coconut oil, 1/2 cup cooked quinoa, two eggs, and an ounce of goat cheese. Top the whole thing with some salsa and it's a meal that took maybe five minutes to make. It kept me full for hours! I've made this twice for lunch in the past week, and will make it again.

I did make Joy Bauer's buffalo chicken chili last week. It was particularly cold and fall-like one day, and it just seemed like chili weather. I've made the recipe before, and remembered that we liked it. And we did again. Just look at how many veggies are in this thing:

 The serving size is HUGE - 1 3/4 cup. That was even a little too big for dinner, and one cup was certainly fine for lunch. I served it with the recommended blue cheese sauce: equal parts nonfat plain Greek yogurt and blue cheese crumbles.

This will be a fun weekend - after stopping to have lunch with Emily in Des Moines, we're headed to Knoxville tomorrow to see Erin and Tim and to meet his parents, Erin's in-laws-to-be. She loves them and knows we will too; after all, there is a certain affinity for wine that we share! (Plus, they raised such a good child that I know they will be wonderful).

Everyone have a good weekend!
#2440

Fall is here

It's 48 degrees, clear, and windy at noon right now, but at least it's not snowing like it is in Grand Forks. I'm glad I lived there when I was younger, because the older I get, the more I hate cold weather. People who live in Omaha complain about the cold, but they have NO IDEA!!

The leaves here have started to turn and it looks so pretty when I turn into the neighborhood. I am waiting for the one glorious day we have each fall with a bright blue sky and our Red Sunset Maple in all its glory. It will be another week at least; only the edges of the leaves are showing any change.

You know what else says fall? The taste treats at Starbucks. I may have tasted both the pumpkin spice latte and the salted caramel mocha latte already. I had them made as skinny as possible - skim milk and no whip - and for a tall, they were still 200 calories. Worth it once in awhile. I did find these, though:

60 calories. Mix it with 8 ounces of warm milk and you have a mug of happiness

I got my workout in early yesterday as I had a dental check-up in the morning. I got up and out early, instead of waiting till after breakfast. I knew that I needed something to eat before I ran, and as we were out of bananas, I raided my workout stash and found I had one Honey Stinger Waffle left. It was the perfect fuel for four miles.

Breakfast, part 1

160 calories packed into this little waffle

Breakfast part 2: green monster and coffee

I took the easy way out for lunch: Jimmy John's. My favorite it the #2, and I discovered that if I swapped the mayo for mustard, I save 100 calories. So I did.

Dinner was a recipe that I made the other week but didn't photograph then, Key West Grilled Chicken with cauliflower rice from Iowa Girl Eats. The chicken is grilled after marinating for a few hours in lime juice, soy sauce, honey, jalapenos, garlic, and canola oil. It tastes great, so great that I had Dwight cook four chicken breasts so we have some on hand for lunches. The unusual part is the cilantro-lime cauliflower rice. I grated an entire head of cauliflower (food processor fitted with the grating disc) and froze half since it ends up to be about 7 cups, which would be a lot for just the two of us.

Check out that Cuisinart - it's about 25 years old

After it is shredded, heat some canola oil in a skillet and saute the cauliflower for about ten minutes until it is lightly browned.

I don't know if it's the lime and cilantro or the shape of the cauliflower, or a combination of both, but you can barely tell that it's cauliflower.

I heart cilantro

Along with some grilled zucchini, yellow squash, and red onions, it was a perfect meal. Oh, and mango salsa!

Breakfast today was oatmeal again. Lunch was some leftovers from Wednesday night - Superfood Salad from Iowa Girl Eats. I've told you about it before, but on Wednesday I added some shrimp and served it with some garlic bread. (We had leftover hamburger buns from the weekend; Village Hearth Light Italian Hamburger Buns are only 60 calories for the whole thing).

It doesn't look nearly as pretty for lunch today, but it tasted pretty wonderful.

Guess what I'm having for dinner? Fazoli's! Yes, you heard that right. Cheap, plentiful pasta. I have decided to do my 13-mile walk / run tomorrow morning, and thought I'd keep as close to race conditions as possible. Emily learned the hard way not to go to a real Italian restaurant the night before a big race, but to either go to Fazoli's or Spaghetti Works. Since Dwight will be at a golf event for dinner, and I don't want to actually go into a restaurant, it's the Fazoli's drive-thru for me. Erin suggested spaghetti with marinara (and breadsticks!), so that's what I'm going with.

Please send some thoughts of endurance my way tomorrow morning!

I must have been under the influence....

... of an over-abundance of endorphins. Remember last week when I said that I was looking forward to only eight miles on Saturday? Well, that turned out to be probably the worst walk of this whole training program. I can think of a few excuses reasons:

1)  Allergy season. They keep saying this is supposed to be such a bad season because of the heat and the drought, but until last week I haven't had any more problems than usual. Well, it caught up with me. Back to the Claritin and Flonase.

2)  It was HOT again! Not triple-digit heat, but definitely warmer than it's been. And there was no wind at all (unusual for Nebraska), so nothing helped with the evaporation / cooling factor. If I had known it would be that warm, I would have dressed cooler.

3)  While I have figured out what to eat for breakfast on long walk days, for some reason I switched it up. I don't know why either. You know what isn't good pre-walk? MaryLu's protein pancakes. Back to the PBJ, coffee, and a banana.

That all being said, after consuming my daily allotment of Advil on Saturday and Sunday, I got up yesterday kind of ready for a run. I started off pretty slow but got in the groove after about half a mile and ended up having a good workout.

One of Emily's good friends is eight months pregnant and going through a serious health crisis with her husband right now. I kept thinking of them while I was pounding the pavement, and it was like my friend Mark told me earlier; just dedicate some distance to someone in your life. C. and F., these miles are for you.

I have four miles tomorrow, and then thirteen (GULP) miles this weekend. That is a distance only crazy people run walk. After that, I start tapering in preparation for the half. I have actually been looking forward to tapering since I first read about distance training - that and the carbo-loading. The short walks will be shorter (only three, then two miles) and my long walk next weekend is eight (only eight) again.

I have two possible scenarios for the thirteen miles. One route is actually only twelve miles, but has me passing my car only once (after 7.5). The other is actually13.2, but has me passing my car two times. I don't know if I can trust myself to not stop the second time.

The timing of the walk is another issue. I usually do the long ones on Saturday or Sunday, but we have a dinner to go to on Saturday night, with maybe a more casual dinner out on Friday. Do I do it on Saturday and then feel like crap all day and try to stuff my feet into cute shoes, or do I do it on Sunday, all the while being a martyr on Saturday night and not drinking because I have a big workout on Sunday? What I'm leaning toward right now a doing it on Friday morning. If we do go out on Friday night, I can wear jeans and flip flops, and if I feel really awful, I can just stay home. What to do, what to do?

Okay, food time:

Dwight grilled the best burgers on Friday night, and we must have been hungry because I didn't take a picture. You've seen burgers before. He stuffed them with pepper-jack cheese, and they were the perfect degree of doneness. After decades of using a gas grill, we went back to charcoal this summer, and the taste really is superior. (Gas however, does win in the easy category). He also grilled some eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash slices that I had marinated in a balsamic vinaigrette for about an hour. I've already bought more veggies to grill when we do chicken later this week.

Saturday lunch after my eight-miler was a PBJ, apple, kombucha, and some peanut butter-filled pretzels. I would have been way better off having that BEFORE my workout.

Dwight knew I didn't feel like cooking on Saturday, so while Ernie watched the Ryder Cup:

he went out and picked up some Korean take-out. The beef bulgogi bibimbap was delish, but when I looked up the calorie count and found it was 663, I was really glad I had expended so many earlier in the day! But all that rice counts as carbo-loading, doesn't it?

Sunday breakfast: oatmeal, milk, PB, tsp of brown sugar

Dwight was golfing, and after a few hours of working in the garden, this sounded good for lunch

While okay, it was not fantastic. But do we ever have cherry tomatoes!

Sunday dinner was a frozen California Pizza Kitchen white pizza and a salad. I guess I got my share of preservatives that day.

I can tell that the seasons are changing by the fruit - and the prices - they have (or don't have) in the produce section. Instead of the berries I've been having with my PB bagel thin, I had an orange yesterday.

Still yummy

Lunch was uneventful. I was hungry and just grabbed some fake crab. (We call it "krab with a k" at our house). Some cocktail sauce and cherry tomatoes rounded out the meal. (I wrote "cheery" tomatoes first - kind of true!)  I have really been making sure I am consuming enough water. I fill a pitcher with 64 measured ounces, and have to finish it by bedtime. Fluid consumption has never been a problem, but I think I've been slacking and just want to make sure.

Yesterday's dinner was on of my favorite ways to make halibut. It's a recipe from Cooking Light (where else) that uses real ingredients and doesn't taste "diet", like most of the recipes I've made from that magazine. It's cornflake-crusted halibut with chili-cilantro aioli, and it tastes as good as it sounds. The link will take you to the recipe. It was so good that I had the exact same meal for lunch today, minus the cauliflower and broccoli. And I HATE leftovers. And I REALLY HATE leftover fish! But seriously, this was as good warmed up as it was yesterday.

I found this cereal yesterday when I was looking for granola. I know granola is not the best for you, but I like to mix it into my yogurt. I always measure, because I know myself and it would be w-a-y too easy to  pour myself too much. I don't know what it is about the cooler weather that makes me think pumpkin, but mmmmm....pumpkin....

Tastes a little like a sturdier Cinnamon Toast Crunch

And it WAS delicious mixed in with my key lime Greek yogurt this morning!

Besides the cereal, look what else I found:

This may be the best ice cream in the history of ice cream

Just what you think you should see on a healthy-living blog, right? Again, before you judge, I measured.

Afternoon snack today: coffee and a chocolate-almond biscotti (120 calories)

I know. I am really not denying myself, am I? But I seriously weigh and measure everything (including myself!) and enter it all into the MyFitnessPal app. I always have my phone with me, and the database is so extensive that I have no reason NOT to.

Time to get dinner started!

Who AM I?!?!?

So this morning I was doing a 4-miler and decided to go longer with more hills and more running because I felt like it. Who am I? I really think the cooler weather has something to do with it, because it has been pretty gorgeous here lately, but I can't believe that I didn't want to stop when the prescribed distance was reached! Now if only I can say the same about my long days on the weekend. But I calculated today, and I only have 47 training miles left, and of those, only three long walks (runs) before race day. As Emily would say, EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

I was lacing up my shoes on Monday morning and Dwight asked me if I was just going to be in the 'hood, and I said yes since it was just four miles. He said, "Did you ever think you'd say just four miles?" So true. Several months ago, if I would have thought that I'd be looking forward to "only" eight miles this weekend, I might have had my meds adjusted. I was talking about it with Alex, and he said it's all relative. A few weeks after he ran a full marathon, a friend asked if he wanted to go on a 15-mile run, and he didn't even think twice about saying yes. And speaking of talking with my son, The Orthopaedic Surgery Resident, I now know that I can take ibuprofen before hitting the streets, as well as after - as long as I drink tons of water.

With the change of seasons comes the change of wardrobe. It was easy this summer, since I lived in shorts and skirts. I tried on all my pants from last season and none of them fit. I know, it's a nice - albeit expensive -  problem to have. I went to buy a pair of running tights in case the weather on race day warrants them, and the salesgirl at Lululemon had me try on (and ultimately buy) a size whose number I have never seen on an item of clothing that belonged to me. Seriously. I know they're really stretchy, but I haven't worn a single-digit size since - oh, forever. And I have to say, they look pretty good!

This is not to say that it's been easy. I know that being busy with the wedding and this half-marathon training helped, and I fell off the wagon (hell, I fell off and lost sight of the entire wagon train) the other weekend, but the new me just caught up and climbed right back on. I guess that's how the rest of my life will be: being wary and watchful that the fat girl inside of me is trying to get out.

On to the food. While perusing the soup aisle (actually, waiting for a lady to move her cart so I could get to the chicken broth), I found a few new varieties that looked pretty good:

It looks like Campbell's is branching out from its "cream of" category

Another fun find:

Thanks, Whole Foods. This was delicious.

And now for a splurge. I had a $10 coupon at Sur la Table, so this was only half-price:

There's something about this flavor....

Breakfasts:

I know the GoLean Crunch isn't as healthy as the plain GoLean, but it tastes better!

Mix these two together and stay full all morning

Lunches (still my least favorite meal):

Rotisserie chicken, milk, and edamame caviar from the Whole Foods deli case

Chicken puttanesca pizza and salad. When you need a meal on the table STAT!

Mixed greens with edamame caviar and chicken

And a few dinner, both of which are long-time family favorites from Cooking Light:

Shrimp and crab gumbo

Browned butter gnocchi with spinach and pine nuts. And some more rotisserie chicken

Tonight we're having corned beef for dinner. I know, random, right? I was going through the freezer and I guess I bought an extra one in March when they were on sale. Oh well, it goes with the cooler weather. And for tomorrow, well, I do love me some reubens!

TTFN

11 miles. Done and done.

I DID IT!!! I can write it in all caps now! I'm not gonna lie and say it was easy, because from about mile 9-10.5 I may have whimpered, but I did it! And that half-marathon doesn't seem so out of reach. It was in the mid 60's, overcast, with a strong north wind when I got to Lake Zorinsky, but I figured better that than the oppressive heat and humidity we've been having. And of course, rather than clearing, it started raining a little less than halfway through my walk. It never poured, just a gentle rain, for about an hour. When the trail ran through the woods, I hardly even got wet. But I was wet enough that when I was finished, I was pretty chilled by the time I drove home.

It was a nice walk. For awhile, every time a new song came on, I'd run the first minute of it. I had a nice chat in my head with my mom, telling her how proud she'd be of her grandbabies, and how much she'd love their partners. And I had some company:

I had stopped to use the restroom, otherwise I might not have grabbed my camera. There was a swan that I did not stop to photograph, so the wild turkey picture will have to do.

After a shower and some Aleve, this was lunch:

A two-egg omelet with mozzarella, smoked salmon, half an avocado, and spinach, along with some fresh fruit and coffee. I know, it looks like breakfast, but it was packed with the protein my body wanted. (I had started off the day with a bagel thin - PB on one half, and jelly on the other, coffee, a banana, and some juice - half diet cranberry and half Trop-50). During my walk I had two packets of GU, spaced about an hour apart. I may be figuring out this nutrition angle....

But back to the smoked salmon. It is one of our new favorite finds at Costco:

Another new find, and one that we blew through so quickly that we had to go back for more, is the seaweed salad. I would never have given it a second glance except that it was a sample on treat day. Not only did we go back to the store to buy more, Dwight bought his own container to keep in his refrigerator at work. The only downside is the need to floss after eating - those little shreds of seaweed are pesky!

Look how pretty it is!

Here it is with the Abs Diet Reuben Made Betta

Did you notice the bridal magazine in my lunch photo? Erin is coming home today to attend a bridal fair tomorrow with one of her bridesmaids who is also planning a wedding - and they're letting me tag along. I know they're both hoping to score some of the big prizes - like free photography or flowers!

While I am staying home to attend the bridal fair, Dwight is in Chicago playing in a Member-Guest. It is one of our favorite trips of the year, but how often do I get to go to a bridal fair and talk weddings all weekend? Besides having fun with our friends, I miss sleeping in the green bedroom at their house. I swear, I sleep like there are narcotics sewn into the pillows in that room. Of course Kathy said that maybe that has to do with the wine we drink, but still. And another thing I am missing:

They sent me a picture last night, damn them

Pot roast nachos. They are as unhealthy and delicious as they sound. The base is waffle fries, topped with different melty cheeses (including gorgonzola), chunks of mouth-watering pot roast, and some tomatoes and onions so it sounds healthy. Last year, we decided to wander downtown and wait for the guys to finish golfing. While we were waiting, we had the pot roast nachos as an appetizer. Then, when they arrived, what did they want? That's right - pot roast nachos. Oh well, vacation calories don't count, right?!

Everybody have a great weekend!

Crashing to reality

So last Monday, the Monday after the wedding, I logged into MyFitnessPal only to see this on the home screen:

It looks like the Bollinger girls had a good time.

I didn't eat much the whole wedding weekend (or really, the entire week), and I really didn't drink much (seriously!), but I felt I was running on nervous energy the entire time. And then last week I was so tired and hungry. I was headed for the crash.

I sat down with my planner this past Sunday and mapped out my food and workouts:

I still like doing things the old-fashioned way - on paper.

Let's catch up on my half-marathon training. On wedding week, I did a 9-mile walk on Sunday, a 4-miler on Tuesday, then nothing on the scheduled Thursday (4 miles) or Saturday (6 miles). There was, however, some of this:

The two moms showing the kids how it's done. (Ignore my sock tan line.)

Last week I did the 4 scheduled miles on Monday, 4 miles on Thursday, and then since I missed a 6-miler the previous weekend and that Catholic guilt is hard to get over, I did 7.5 on Saturday. And I pretty much felt like crap. I can get a good endorphin rush from my shorter walks, but I'm still waiting for it on the long ones. (My friend Mark suggested that I dedicate each mile to someone special. I tried it, but I think I need more practice. I kept getting distracted.)

This week I only went 3.6 on Monday; it was supposed to be 4 but I started way too late - the heat and humidity got to me. Which brings us to today: 4.0 miles and I felt absolutely great. I could have easily gone longer. Good thing, since I have 11 miles on the calendar for Friday. THAT'S RIGHT, ELEVEN MILES! ON FOOT! It wasn't too many years ago that I thought that was a long BIKE ride. Maybe I shouldn't use all caps until I actually accomplish it.

I got an email from my friend Marcy, and in it she said that I was "so good at being creative with meals and eating healthy".  Do I ever feel like an imposter!

PBJ, apple, and milk. Creative? I think not.

Oh, and here are a few things you haven't seen before. You can be thankful I spared yet another photo of oatmeal with a glob of peanut butter in it.

Seriously. Breakfast on 9/2

Today's breakfast

Lunches:

Costco rotisserie chicken salad, cucumber and tomato salad with balsamic, veggies and hummus. And a Kombucha

Mushroom, feta, smoked salmon, and spinach omelet with berries and some rosemary-olive oil bread

Guess what opened in Omaha?!?! (I'm really not digressing; still talking about lunches here....)

That's right, a Bravo at Village Pointe. You should know that I really don't like chain restaurants, but I do love this one. Ever since we discovered it in Des Moines, when we can think of nowhere else to go, (which isn't often, thanks to Emily) we end up at Bravo. Dwight and I needed to run some errands on Labor Day so we decided to indulge:

Chopped salad and the ever-so-healthy lobster bisque

I did try a few new recipes. I made Chicken Spinach Pita Pizza from the Abs Diet Cookbook. It was pretty good, and a great way to use leftover chicken. I used a Flat Out Wrap instead of a pita. The cookbook called this a snack, but it definitely was enough for dinner.

I also tried, upon Emily's recommendation, Pasta with Shrimp, Artichokes, and Feta. While really good, I was a bit underwhelmed (sorry, Honey) as it tasted pretty much like a recipe I make already. The next time I make our family favorite, though, I will add shrimp and artichokes!

My favorite new find is one I forgot to take a picture of, but if you click on this link, Iowa Girl Eats is a much better photographer than I am. I made the Key West Grilled Chicken (actually, I mixed the marinade but Dwight grilled), the Mango Salsa, and the Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice. The "rice" was a pleasant surprise - I think it goes to show how much texture plays a part in food. While it was just shredded cauliflower sauteed in canola oil with some salt, pepper, lime juice, and cilantro, it had the texture - and almost flavor - of rice. We served it to company, and either they were really good liars or they loved the meal. I think it helped that we served fun-size candy bars left over from the hotel out-of-town gift bags that we made for the hotel guests. Those things are going to be a challenge. I have them wrapped up and stored in the freezer in the garage. At least I'll have to work for it if I want one.

TTFN