I'm movin' out

Blogspot has been great. It got my blogging idea off the ground and I found that I really really enjoy this whole documentation of my exploits.

But, I'm making the move to Wordpress. I just like it better (insert shrug here).

So check out my new site at: http://eatingandrunning.wordpress.com

I hope to see everyone (err, anyone!) there :)

When the positive is greater, negative + positive = positive

I had lofty plans for my run today. A 7-miler was on the schedule and I had plans for it to be spectacular. And, truthfully, it started off that way. Sure, I started off at a pretty slow pace but I was comfortable and just all around enjoying myself; in my view, enjoying myself is what running is really about, when you look at the big picture, so I was flying high...until I hit mile 3.

I don't know what happened, but at mile 3 I just lost it. Any inkling of idea that I would have a wonderful run was gone. Maybe it was the daunting hill in front of me, maybe it was last night's lack of sleep, maybe it's that I'm not eating enough. I have no idea whatsoever.

As of right now, I'm just tackling what I *think* is most likely the cause of my not-so-great runs lately: not enough food and not enough hydration. In the warmer weather, my appetite goes way down and I just don't tend to drink tons of water, even though I should. So for the next few days, I will be focusing on making sure that I both eat and drink enough.

Today's eats:

* Greek yogurt with black raspberry jam, banana

* Spinach-asparagus/veggie noodles (from Whole Foods). Pear. A smallish slice of my chocolate banana cake with walnuts.

* Piece of homemade baklava

* Broccoli. Pan-fried sardines. Ounce of cheddar cheese. Some "artisan" bread.

I'm guessing that's somewhere around 2000 cals. We'll see how my morning run goes and I'll take it from there. It's all about trial and error in the world of running and personal nutrition.

But, although I had a doozie of a run, I have done some baking and cooking. So, overall, I think the good of this Wednesday has outweighed the bad (a post with pictures to follow...).

Victory never tasted so cinnamon-y

I just got in from my first non-mediocre run in a week. It has been one whole week since the last time I didn't feel like my legs were made of rubber or my lungs were made out of lead. And while I'm not about to gush about how glorious my 3 mile run was, I am just so relieved that I haven't "lost my groove". I know it's true that you can't lose your fitness in one bad week, but it is such a blow to the morale when you can barely make it through routes that used to be a breeze and such a breath of fresh air when you finally see a glimmer of proof that, yes, you can still run.

And boy, do I love that breath of fresh air.

I tried a new route today, through roads that I had run on before...but never as part of a short run. They were always the add on roads I slogged down to finish 8 or 10 or 12 miles during training for a longer distance race. Running a new route is always exciting, it keeps you on your toes and doesn't seem quite as stale or dreary as running a route that you've run about 1094320843098x in your lifetime. And because I didn't have to go down tons of little side roads to rack the mileage up, it is definitely a route that I will have to do again (earlier in the day however, when so many people aren't rushing to get home from work).

Right now I am topping off my emergence from the land of cruddy runs with a nice, tall glass of homemade iced tea. It's really quite easy and delicious; just boil a teapot full of water and 2 cinnamon sticks and, after the water is boiled, let 2 Red Rose tea bags steep in the water for about 5 minutes (less for weaker tea, longer for stronger tea...but it can get a little bitter if steeped for too long).

[Also, I tasted my cake creation from last night. Sweet mother of pearl is it dense. But the different flavors (of banana, chocolate, and walnut) aren't too overbearing and, although the cake itself isn't overly sugary, the frosting lends just the right amount of sweetness. It's pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. It's not a cake I would make as a birthday cake or for a big event, but for a day-to-day, semi-healthy cake...I'll take it.]

Mmm. Cake

In honor of Father's Day, I decided to make this Chocolate-banana cake with Walnuts.

I haven't had a chance to taste-test it yet because I made it so late in the evening and I just wasn't in the mood for sweets (gasp! Shocker! I know!). I'm usually not a big cake baker, I'm more of a cupcakes and cookies type of gal, so it should be interesting to see how my family (and my dad's coworkers) responds to the cake.

I did, however, taste test the frosting. It is pretty darn delicious, if I do say so myself...and far more different than many other frostings that I have made. Instead of using both a saucepan and a mixer and a million tons of butter, all that was needed was a saucepan and a few simple ingredients; the butter was stirred in only after the bulk of the frosting was produced.

My only complaint about baking the cake was the actual mixing of the batter and probably an issue on my part, not the recipes: I really should have used an electric mixer to stir everything together because the mashed bananas, no matter how much I stirred or smooshed, just would not get completely clumpless.

I'm crossing my fingers that the case is at least edible!

Too bad it doesn't actually rain men...

My dad and I had been planning on doing a 5-mile race together this morning, as a nice father/daughter activity. But, when I blearily woke up to the sound of my alarm clock (er, my dad's voice this morning), I saw that the rain was coming down pretty hard and it was decided that a 1-hour drive to a race that could quite possibly be done in pouring rain was not something we wanted to do.

Fast forward 2 hours later: I stumbled out of bed and down to the kitchen, grabbed myself some breakfast, and sat down at the table in front of the TV to watch a rerun of So You Think You Can Dance with my adorably tired kid sister (who would absolutely kill me if she saw the words "adorably" and "kid" in one sentence. Ah, 13-year-old hormones...how I do not miss you). I was nice and comfortable and relaxed in my pajamas and had really been planning on postponing my run to this afternoon, when it was supposedly going to clear up and warm up. But my dad had other ideas.

Just as I finished eating he approached me with one of those 'revolutionary' ideas that fathers so often have.

"Wanna go to the trail in xxxx?" he asked.
"Um...sure. Why not." was of course my reply. What was I supposed to say? After all, the rain had stopped and the trail is pretty much flat, at least compared to the hilly neighborhood that I live in.

When we got to the trail, the rain was picking up again. But we had driven a half hour and there was no going back now. We tied up our running shoes, grabbed a bottle of water, and headed off on what we knew would be a 5-mile out and back run (5 miles total, that is. 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back).

Starting off, the clouds were simply spitting out a fine mist that felt pretty darn refreshing in the thick humidity. By mid-run, the fine mist turned into a steady sprinkle. By the end of the run, well, it was practically raining chickens (not quite enough rain to qualify as cats and dogs). My hair was soaked, my clothes were soaked, sweaty rainwater was dripping off my nose...I actually quite enjoyed it....for a while. With about 1/2 mile left, the rain picked up something fierce and I found myself wondering why the heck I put myself through this some days and wishing for some equally soaked eye candy while humming (in my head) that famous Weather Girls' song. But really, if it rained men, I would not be able to run because, with my luck, I would be hit by some 220 pound football player.

Overall, the run was mediocre, which goes along perfectly with every other run I've had this week. But tomorrow is Monday so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for a fresh start.

A challenge

I'll be the first to admit that my motivation for running has been flagging a bit lately; it's hard to get psyched for a run when memories of cramping and over-the-top humidity are crammed into my short-term memory. But I hate that my blog has started off with such a negative attitude towards one of my biggest passions in life. I may whine like no other when it comes to chemistry classes and 200-page reading assignments, but running is not something that is usually up top on my list of things to gripe about.

So, I've decided to design a challenge for myself...not only to keep myself motivated, but to do something fun and running related...something other than worrying about cutting a few minutes off a 5k time or the like.

* A preface to the description of the challenge: Before I explain the rough details of this mammouth virtual project, I must first explain my thoughts behind it. I'm not sure where this idea came from honestly, other than the fact that I realized, at midnight last night, that I need to spice up my running life. When I'm not training for a race, it becomes a little easier for me to justify skipping a run to stuff my face with ice cream and fries. It was also inspired by my love of France, where I will be studying abroad...but not until the academic year after the upcoming academic year due to the fact that I have a boatload of science classes that must be taken. So, I'm a little France-sick. I'll also say that I don't really have all of the details ironed out yet; I only have a basic concept. So bear with me*

I have decided to take a "running trip" around France. 12 cities, 1762 miles, and who knows how many months.

• Strasbourg - Dijon - Lyon - Nice - Cannes - Toulouse - Bayonne - Bordeaux - Tours - Le Havre - Paris

At each city I reach, there will be some sort of "reward" (that has yet to be chosen...ideas are more than welcome) and a blog spotlight on that particular area. At the end of each week, I'll try to approximate where I am in the grand scheme of things. And yes, I will be attempting some French regional cuisines along the way...

I'm planning on officially starting this upcoming Monday; more details and ramblings will follow as they pop into my head.

Meals and Mileage: Friday the 13th (of June)

Eats for Friday the 13th

* Banana and walnuts with honey. Boiled egg. Tea with milk

* Cucumber and avocado soup. Apple. Pretzels

* ThinkOrganic bar

* Dried fig. Olives. Feta cheese

* Wheat bagel with peanut butter. Pear. Cinnamon iced tea

Mileage for the Week of June 9 - June 15

• Monday: 3 miles
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: 1.7 miles
• Thursday: 4 miles
• Friday: 4.4 miles
• Saturday: 3 miles
• Sunday: 5 miles

Total: 21.1