Midweekend Report

Wow, how is it Sunday already??  This weekend is flying by!

Friday night I had no plans except to pick Greg up from the airport when he got in which was later in the evening.  I got a text from my friend Cindi inviting me to dinner and thought that sounded great as I had almost no food in the house anyway and love a girls night out!  I met her and two local girls at Red Bowl.

Through dinner conversation I found out that Jen has a blog too!  Jen, feel free to come organize/decorate my house and cook for me!  You make it look easy!!  :)

We all opted for the Bento Box special, which included salad, sushi, a meat, and rice.  I had a salad with ginger dressing, chicken teriaki, the Red Bowl roll (sushi), and fried rice.

My favorite part of the meal was the sushi.  Next time I'll just double up on that ;)

I parted ways with the girls and they went on to a comedy show while I had to go get Greg from the airport.  It was so good to see him after 2 1/2 weeks apart.  Clyde was also excited!

We didn't stay up long as we were both beat.

Yesterday, as soon as the boys were up, a lot of this happened...

Heart melts...

Toooooooooooooo cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.

I got to work on breakfast, which was Raspberry, Chocolate, Almond Pancakes.  It was sort of an homage to our wedding cake, which was these same flavors.

Ingredients:

1 separated egg

3/4 cup white all-purpose flour

3/4 cup finely ground almonds (used food processor)

1 1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 tablepoons melted butter

1 cup raspberries (I used thawed frozen)

chocolate chips

In a small bowl beat the egg white until stiff.

In a seperate bowl, sift white flour, baking powder, sugar.  Add the ground almonds.

In another bowl (yes, you use lots of bowls to make these!), beat the egg yolk and add the milk and melted butter.

Mix yolk/milk with dry ingredients til just mixed.  Fold in egg white.

Add berries.

Cook on greased griddle and drop in chocolate chips before flipping.

I topped mine with some reserved raspberries and REAL maple syrup.

They were yummy!

Greg did pretty well on the honey-do list yesterday.  He took down the Christmas lights and after a lot of cursing and a trip to Lowes, got our new dishwasher in.

Looks good!

In the afternoon I decided to attempt a run, my first since the marathon.

Things did not go well.  I didn't get far before pain/soreness in my right calf was really bothering me, which is odd, because if you'll remember my recap of the marathon, I really had more issues with my left calf than right.  Anyway, I guess I have some lingering soreness that hasn't gone away yet.  I ran less than a mile before deciding it wasn't going to happen and walking back to the house.  That was a bummer.  At least I'm not training for anything anyway though.  I'll just give it some more rest and try again in a couple days.

Greg and I headed out to do a bunch of errands late in the afternoon.  We finally got some much needed groceries.  We have food again!

We decided to have fondue for dinner. 

Nine years ago when I met my husband, this was the first "meal" he cooked for me.  Hold on to your healthy hearts people, because this one is not going in any healthy recipe books.

Ingredients:  Velveeta cheese block (yeah, those ones that are not refridgerated), cream cheese, and beer.  Basically you just melt most of a small block of Velveeta, 1/2 block of cream cheese, and about 1/2 cup of beer together.

The dippers: Baby yukon gold potatoes, broccoli, white mushrooms, and french bread.

Mmmm, heart clogging goodness.

How's your weekend going?

The Lost Recipes

While I was prepping for the marathon I actually had a couple meals I wanted to share, but they somehow never made it into a post.  I guess all I could concentrate on was how I was going to run 26.2 miles and posting recipes somehow escaped me.  Anyway, these two were too good not to share.
Here are some "lost" recipes.
 
Cheese tortillini with Chicken Sausage in cream sauce.

• 1 chicken sausage, diced
• One package of cheese tortillini (you could use regular pasta too)
•  2 tablespoons finely minced onion
• 1/2 cup chicken or veggie stock
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or 1/3 cup cooking sherry
• 1/4 cup regular marinara tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon of seasoning, I actually used Montreal Steak grill seasoning
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• Optional- spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc...

First cook the tortillini according to the package.

Then, I browned the diced sausage in a large pan. 

I removed the sausage and added the onion and sauteed it for a few minutes, then added the stock to cook down. 
Meanwhile, whisk the milk and flour together and once the stock has cooked down, add the milk mixture into the pan and stir. 

Then add the wine or sherry, seasonings, and tomato sauce.  The mixture will get very thick and bubbly. 

At this point I added both the cheese, some spinach, and the tortillini, but tomatoes or other veggies would also be good.

Actually, the next day I reheated some for lunch and diced up tomato and added it before microwaving it and I think I liked it even better with the addition of the tomato.  The sauce is incredibly thick and creamy and actually not too unhealthy compared to regular alfredo sauce.

 The other thing I finally tried was making my own falafel.  I have really come to like falafel even though I don't get a chance to have it that often.  I decided to try making it and it was so delicious!

 

Falafel

 

• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• oil for frying

Preheat an oven to about 375-400. 
I used a food processor and basically just added everything in except the breadcrumbs, which I stirred in at the end.  You want to be careful not to overmix this.  You DON'T want it the consistency of hummus, it's got to be kind of chunky/minced. 

Once you have your ingredients mixed well, you want to start forming patties to drop in the oil.  Add breadcrumbs if the mixture is too wet.  When I fry, I usually don't use an inch of oil in a pan, I just used a small amount (a couple tablepoons) in a pan and cooked them on both sides. 

Once cooked I then advise you to bake them a little more in the oven, because of the egg.  Probably about 5-10 minutes will heat them all the way through.

I opted to do my falafel wrap style.  I used a Flat Out wrap, added lettuce, tomato, and then plain yogurt I mixed with dill and lemon juice.

SO GOOD :)

 

Weekend Plans

Hey guys (or more than likely gals)!  It's been kind of a roller coaster week of emotions for me so your regularly scheduled programming has been disrupted, I know.  Sorry for the ups and downs of my marathon highs and losing a co-worker lows.  It's all kind of thrown me off my normal schedule this week, but I'm hoping to get back on track.

I did sort of find my center last night by doing something I haven't done in a while: attending a yoga class with Jen!  We live south of Charlotte and while I love Y2Yoga, it's a hike for me to travel to, and is an especially big pain in the butt on a week night when I drive all the way home (gotta let my boy Clyde out!) and then have to turn around and drive all the way back to Charlotte (20-30 minutes).  Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a new yoga studio opened up waaaaaay closer to home: Om Yoga.  We took a hot class last night and I think it was just what my body wanted.  The only other "workout" I've done since the marathon was taking Clyde on a long walk the other night, so this was definitely something to stretch those muscles and it felt great.  I see many more yoga classes in my future now that this place is open and closer to home.

In other news, Greg is supposed to come home for the weekend tonight!  It's contingent upon him catching a flight home (he flies standby), but we're optimistic that he will make it home and be able to hang out until Sunday afternoon when he has to go back to Houston.  I haven't seen him in 18 days now, so I'm much looking forward to it, and I can tell Clyde is too.  Clyde knows the word "Daddy" and gets this deranged look on his face with perked up ears when you say it and then lunges at your face.  It's pretty hilarious.

Greg is about halfway through training, which is sort of a medium length version of what he had last time he trained on this plane (Boeing 737).  They aren't giving him the full course, kind of an accelerated version, since he's had the full training and flown the plane before, but it's still fairly comprehensive since it's been 2 1/2 years since he's actually flown this particular plane.  Anyway, his training is going well and my brainy hubby regularly aces his tests and simulators.  My hubby is very book smart, even though I tease him all the time that he isn't "street smart" at all.  We are kind of opposite in that way.  I've never been a very good test taker, but I have a great memory when it comes to random useless information and where my keys are... that sort of thing.  Greg couldn't find his head if it wasn't attached to his body half the time.  He also can't remember plans we make to save his life.  If I had a dime for every time he's asked me, "So when is your family coming to visit?" when I've told him over and over, I'd be a very rich woman.  Here's hoping our kids get my "street smarts" and his book smarts.

Things I expect to happen this weekend while hubs is home:

• Christmas lights will be taken down.  We still have icicle lights up on the front of the house because we're white trash like that Greg didn't have time to take them down before leaving.
• New dishwasher will get put in.  Gosh I hope so anyway!  We got a new dishwasher for Christmas (long story, but we've hated our old one even though it's only 4 years old because it does a crappy job and is LOUD so we got a new one) and Greg had planned on swapping the dishwashers out before leaving for Houston.  Upon attempting to remove the old one and put the new one in, Greg realized that the old one had actually been WIRED into the the wall instead of plugged in to an outlet.  Therefore, he is going to have to use some of his handy electrician-type skills to put the new one in, which will probably take some serious time.  I've had the new dishwasher sitting in the kitchen for 19 days now.  It's kind of taking up some space and I'd like to get it out of there, ya know??

• Greg will spend A LOT of time studying.  Even though he's coming home, he's still technically in training and still has lots of studying to do.  This means we probably won't do much fun stuff.  But I'll still enjoy having him home!
• Hopefully Greg will hang my race medal holder.

• Possibly lunch with friends Sunday.  Hopefully.  If I can tear him away from the books.
• Lots of man/dog time between Greg and Clyde.  For sure.
• Maybe I'll even get some attention too.

So there you have it.  I'll let you know how it goes!  Hopefully he makes it home!

Could You Be A Match?

I don't usually talk about this sort of thing on the blog, but it's weighing heavy on my mind today and I wanted to make you aware of something I knew nothing about til a few months ago.

Today is a sad day.  A co-worker of mine has been fighting Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma for a while now and passed away.  He may have been the most charismatic guy in my office and used to occupy the office next to mine, so I got used to seeing and hearing him walk by all the time.  He was one of those louder than life personalities with a big smile and hearty handshake that never missed an opportunity to crack a joke.  He went through a lot of chemo and treatment for his cancer and even had a bone marrow transplant with marrow he received from a sibling.  After all of this he was actually doing fairly well the last time I saw him- cracking jokes, laughing, and being his typical goofball self.

The last time I saw him was in December at an all-employee meeting where he spoke to our entire office about something he had become passionate about through his experience: Bone Marrow Registry.  Even though he had received marrow through a sibling and hadn't needed to find a donor, he was made aware of how difficult it can be for some people who do not have a close match available to donate marrow.  He introduced us to an organization called Be The Match.  The process to join the registry is relatively simple.  You just fill out the forms and use four cotton swabs that you swab your cheek/gumline area with and then send the kit and forms back to Be The Match to be entered in their database of potential donors.  You could be a match for someone and might save their life.  For more information click here.  Be The Match also accepts donations if you do not wish to register to be a potential donor.

I don't know if I'll be a match for anyone or ever be contacted, but I feel piece of mind knowing that I might be and that I've given someone hope by registering.

My co-worker actually passed away not from the cancer itself, but from an infection that occurred as he was rebuilding his immune system from all the treatment.  This makes his death all the more sad because he basically made it through all of this difficult treatment only to catch something that his body wasn't strong enough to fight off in the end.  He leaves behind a wife and three children and was only in his 40s... 

He did a lot of good in his life, but perhaps one of the best things he did was introducing us all to Be The Match so that maybe one of us will save someone's life.  I would not have known about this organization if he hadn't spoken about it.

Disclaimer: I was not asked to write this post by Be The Match or anyone else, I just feel strongly about their cause and wanted to share the information.

Lingering Marathon Thoughts

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I ran a marathon on Saturday.  It's very surreal to me.  A year ago I was definitely one of those people that admired marathon runners but had pretty much decided I would never actually run one myself.  I just didn't even have it on my radar as a goal I wanted to accomplish for myself.  I was a runner (well, short distances), but the marathon wasn't something I aspired to do. 
Things really changed in the last year.  I got the running bug big time in the spring, and just wanted to get out there and run all the time.  Then I met Jen, and heard about all her race experiences, the desire in me started growing to try distance running and do some races.  Training for my first half marathon was a cool experience and I loved the feeling I got when I finished.  Still, one of the first things out of my mouth after I finished was, "Never let me run a full marathon".  I was content with 13.1 and didn't think I'd ever do twice that distance.

I think being injured and not being able to run for a while over the summer made me appreciate running a lot more when I had a chance to do it again.  When I got back to running and signed up for my second half, I loosely said that I might continue on and keep training for a full, but that I would see how things went and didn't commit to the idea of a full marathon right away.  I was surprised to find myself doing pretty well on my runs longer than 13 miles.  I knew once I got up in mileage that this was attainable and that I could run a full marathon.  The rest is history...

So now that I've had a little time to think about it, here's some things I learned from running my marathon that I'd like to pass on to you.

1.  Bio Freeze sample packets are awesome.  Get them now (I got some from my chiropractor), bring them with you on the run, and shamelessly stick your hands down your pants and spread that stuff all over when your muscles start aching.  Best Decision Ever...

2.  If you like running with music, download some new stuff, change up your playlist, and use it for some of the race, but not all of it.  I wanted it at times, but at other times it was nice to listen to the sounds of the race and have short conversations with other runners.  My friend also enjoyed me singing certain songs to her, and it got us both cracking up (Humpty Dance anyone??). 

3.  HYDRATE.  I learned the hard way that ESPECIALLY at the end (last 6 miles) you can not miss a water stop, even if you think you're fine.  I skipped the one right before I got my charley horse/calf cramp around mile 21 and wonder if I would have cramped up had I not skipped the water.  It cost me a couple minutes dealing with that fiasco.

4.  If you have spectators, it's cool if you can stop and interact with them for a couple minutes.  I think the benefit of seeing them and interacting with them outweighs the time you lose doing it and you can still keep it relatively quick.  Have them bring you something to eat or drink (my mom brought me oranges and Gatorade).  It really raised my spirits for the remainder of the run and I think they liked feeling like they were part of the experience.

5.   Ice yourself after the race.  I didn't do this because of all the excitement, lack of access to ice, etc...  and I think it probably would have helped me to be less sore in the days following the race if I had iced my legs.  I stretched a lot, but icing probably would have been helpful too.

6.  Do what you can to fuel your body.  I think fueling is an individual thing, but I'm one of those lucky runners that basically can eat just about anything with no stomach issues while running.  For me, I felt like I couldn't over fuel, so I ate breakfast, took 4 GU's (one ever 5 miles or so), and also ate some Sharkies and Sports Beans in between GUs.  My advice is to figure out what works for you during training and do that for the marathon, but try to keep yourself adequately fueled. I don't think I really ever hit "the wall" other than my charley horse issue (which was really a hydration issue) and it was probably because I stayed so well fueled.

7.  Try to have fun.  I ran with a buddy (which is great if you have the chance to), listened to fun music, sang, interacted with people, and smiled.  They say marathons are mental, and I think going into it happy and excited and keeping your spirit in it helps immensely.  It did for me.

The biggest surprise to me was that running a marathon was not as bad as I thought it would be.  I wasn't in tons of pain, I didn't hate it, I didn't want to give up...  I actually had fun, which most people said I wouldn't.  I found the experience to be really cool and actually enjoyed myself through pretty much the entire thing.  I think it had a lot with the fact that I was prepared and had a good attitude.  I had the training to back it up and the mindset that I could do it.  Those are important components.

If you are wondering if I would do another one, the answer is yes, I would run another marathon.  BUT, that said, I definitely am shifting my focus to other things now (ahem, namely trying to have a baby), and I think doing another marathon is something I'll revisit someday if I want to but not pressure myself to do.  I know that the training is difficult and extremely time consuming and I just don't know if it's something I'll want to do again if/when priorities in my life change.  If you followed my journey, you know that it was tough to do all the training, and also difficult to stay injury free.  I have no idea how my body would do training for a marathon as I get older and probably even more injury prone.  I wouldn't rule out running another marathon if I have the time and desire to do it though.  I just don't know that I will have the time or the desire when I have a family and life gets crazy.

For those of you that have considered the marathon and aren't sure if you should do it or not, I say go for it.  It was completely worth it to me to do the training and accomplish the goal.  I can't think of too many other things I've done in my life that I'm quite as proud of as this.   

I'm really glad I ran a marathon.  As a person that has let go of certain dreams and sometimes felt defeated, it made me feel like things I previously had thought were unattainable were possible, which is so cool.  I think it's a life experience worth having if you are a runner and want to see what you can do. 

Ladies Who Lunch

If you are wondering how I'm feeling a couple days out from running a marathon, I'm sore.  Very sore.  Like, it hurts to sit down and it hurts to stand up sore.  Ow.....

Sunday I managed to hobble around the outlets in North Charleston near our hotel with Michelle and her mother.  Outlet shopping trumps leg pain.  Sunday night after driving back to Charlotte and picking up Clyde, I spent the rest of the evening on the couch resting my tired legs.

Yesterday was more productive.  Well, the first half of the day was anyway.  It was a holiday for me, which worked out great in giving me an extra free day of recovery before having to return to work.  I went to Greenapple (my sports chiropractor) for some post marathon treatment.  My doc put me through some stretches/movements and massages my calves a bit.  I felt better, but still took the elevator when I left.  Stairs pretty much suck right now.

After my appointment I headed to lunch with some of the girls.  Kelly, Katie, Cindi, Jen, and I went to Sweet Peppers Deli.  Honestly, I've been to this place a couple times and the food is ok, but not the best.  The service is always kind of mediocre too.  I hadn't been in a while and it was a convenient spot for us to meet with things on the menu that pretty much accommodate all of our diets so it made sense to go there.

(photo stolen from Kelly)

World's hugest water...

I was on the fence about whether to get the Asian wrap or Southwest wrap.  I decided on the Southwest.  It had chicken, black beans, salsa, corn, lettuce and tomato.  It came with chips and salsa and I got fruit as my side.  It was pretty good.

After lunch we headed next door to Cupcrazed.  It's a new cupcake bakery I've been wanting to try.

The decor is cute, it reminds me of the apartment in Friends.  

Lots of mismatched brightly colored chairs and furniture.

I scoped out the cupcakes and immediately zoned in on the Coconut Macaroon ones.  

Yes please!  I got one of those and also a carrot cake cup cake.

They were both delicious.  Yes, I ate both over the course of the rest of the day...  I did share a little with Clyde.  The rest of the afternoon/evening I spent pretty much sitting with my butt glued to the couch going through some TIVO.  I have to admit, I'm still kind of wiped out.  I guess that's to be expected.

I ran 26.2 miles on Saturday!  

Stay tuned...  I'm gathering my thoughts for another post marathon post.  I still have a lot about it I want to say.  Is there anything you want to know?

Post Marathon Dinner At FIG

Last night Michelle and I decided to head into downtown Charleston for a celebratory post marathon dinner.  We decided to just wander around and find a place.  The problem with that?  We were both incredibly sore from the marathon and didn't have it in us to walk very far.  We found a garage to park in that appeared to be near some restaurants and parked there. 

Both of us were totally hobbling down the street.  At this point, I am feeling pain pretty much everywhere in my legs, but the most pronounced pain seems to be on the outside of my left leg, the toes on my left foot, and my right calf.  Michelle has some knee pain.  I had to wear my fake Uggs to dinner instead of cute footwear, because my feet wouldn't have it any other way.

We stumbled upon FIG, a cute looking restaurant with a short but great looking menu and headed in.

It was actually a tad fancier than what we'd had in mind and we were probably slightly under dressed.  The hostess said without a reservation we couldn't get a table til 10pm, but they had seats at the bar open, so we grabbed two and sat there.  It was actually really fun sitting at the bar and our bartender was great.

We both started with glasses of red wine- I had a Malbec and Michelle got a Syrah.

Then we studied the menu and decided to split two entrees.

STRUBE RANCH WAGYU BISTRO STEAK sweet potato puree, broccoli, hen-of-the-woods, sauce bordelaise.

SAUTÉED JUMBO FLOUNDER yukon gold puree, capers inlet clam chowder, pancetta.

Wow...  This might have been the best steak I've ever had.  I'm partial to filet mignon, but the flavor of this steak was UNBELIEVABLE.  The crust was flavorful and the meat was tender and juicy.  It was heavenly.  I don't know if I've ever had flounder before, but Michelle said it was good and I was feeling adventurous.  It was so buttery and yummy.

We also each consumed about three slices of fresh, chewy bread. 

It was such an incredible meal.  The perfect way to celebrate our marathon victory!

After dinner we hobbled to the car.  I snapped a couple pictures of the scenery.

We got in the car and drove around a little.  This is probably my third time in Charleston and I've yet to really have time to explore and take in the city.  I'm going to have to come back with Greg and spend more time here someday.

 We found Battery Park, which we'd passed during the race and decided to get out and take a closer look.  It's right in front of the water.

The famous cannon balls.

It was a long day and we headed back to the hotel early to get some sleep.  I still can't believe I ran a marathon...  Surreal.