Thankful Thursday: I have time

TIME

Yesterday I was put back on the disabled list. Sports med doc wants me to rest my ankle & arch this week. Lots of icing, rolling & stretching. Oh joy.

I'm thankful my half is 20 weeks away. I have time and it's not like starting my training a week or two later than now is going to make much difference in the long run (sorry - pun not intended).

I'm also thankful that I can cross train. Looking back at my year-end summary shows how much I cross trained after I ended up in a boot back in April (and how little I ran January through April, even though I ran 2 half marathons during that time).  Most of those summer miles were logged on my bike.


VACCINES

It appears the flu epidemic that is attacking Michigan right now has finally hit my house.  My boy is sick and I'm starting to feel it too.  I got the flu vaccine though, so I'm hoping all I end up with is this horrible headache and the little bit of a cough I have now.  I have 4 meetings scheduled tomorrow, so I can't be sick.  Also, moms aren't allowed to get sick because we have to take care of everyone else.  I can guarantee the kids won't be taking care of me if I go down.

SUNSETS

This was my scene coming home a couple nights ago.  I wish my iPhone camera could have done it justice.


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Weigh-In Wednesday: wrong direction

Starting Weight: 153.6

Last week: 151.6 

This week: 152.2

Change: up .6

Total change: down 1.4

Suckage - Maybe I need to start tracking again, but that only seems to make me stabbier and more pissed off. Not sure which is worse - not losing weight or being pissed off about having to write everything down.  I look at my year end report from Daily Mile (I'll share it later) and I'm definitely burning calories, but clearly I'm still taking in too many.

Bayshore Half Marathon: Training Week Sub-Zero

source

My next official half marathon (well, the next race I've registered for) is the Bayshore Half Marathon in Traverse City Michigan.  The race isn't until Memorial Weekend, so I've got a bit of time to train and I'm sure there will be some other races in the meantime.  I'm also working on tweaking my training plan.  I've been looking at a few options and consulting with my coaches (read - running buddies) about a few different training plans.

Right now, I'm just focusing on getting my base miles back up where they belong and trying to stay healthy.  My shin is feeling better but I managed to roll my ankle a little almost 2 weeks ago running in our first really big snowstorm.  Dumb.  I ran on it several times after that (because at the time it didn't feel like anything) and now it's pretty pissed off.  I'll be good for awhile, but then I sit all day at work like I did today and go to get up - YOWZERS.  I see lots of rolling, heat and ice this week with not so much running.

Here was my "training" last week:
Monday 12/31/12 - BIKE: Capped off 2012 with a 12 mile, 54 minute bike ride on my trainer.
Tuesday 1/1/13 - RUN: Started the new year with a fast 5. Ran a hilly 5 miles in 50:37.  One of my best runs in a long time.
Wednesday 1/2/13 - Strength/Cardio: 30 minute arms and a 30 minute easy spin after weights.
Thursday 1/3/13 - Strength/Cardio: 30 minutes legs and 30 min of speedwork on the treadmill. 60 second runs/90 sec walks for 20 min with 5 min wu and 5 min cd.  Major sweat fest and ran most of the run segments at 7 mph or about an 8:30 pace.
Friday 1/4/13 - Rest day
Saturday 1/5/13 - RUN: Longest run since my half marathon back in November. 7.3 miles 1:16:44 (10:30 pace). Ran with the 5/3 River Bank Run group - hills, a fast pace and good company.  Felt really good during the run but by evening, my ankle was so stiff and sore that I could barely walk.  Clearly I messed my ankle up more than I thought a couple weeks ago.
Sunday 1/6/13 - Rest day

I could use a little advice.  I have the opportunity to "run" a winter (read - snow covered trails with booze at the aide stations) half marathon on Groundhog Day.  Right now I don't think my ankle can handle it but I really want to do the race.  I have a ton of friends running and it's the inaugural year.  Sweet bling and a hoodie.  Should I go for it and just have fun or skip it?  I'm thinking it's early enough in half training to take the risk, but with all my injuries last year, I'm a bit gun-shy.

Meal Monday: Pasta and Asparagus

Welcome to 2013 and what I hope will be a weekly post here.

Last week I was having the worst time trying to find one of my recipes because my recipe book looked like this:


I decided I needed to get organized so I bought another binder, tossed a bunch of crap recipes, and typed up others that were just on scraps of paper, receipts, you name it. This was the final result. Much better, no?


In the process, I found a bunch of great recipes that I haven't made in awhile, plus some new ones. I decided that I'd start posting a recipe here every Monday. Hopefully you'll find something your family loves as much as mine.

This week we're going with a vegetarian dish - but you could easily add diced, cooked chicken to this if you wanted, or serve it on the side of a meat dish.

Pasta and Asparagus

please forgive my awful food photo taking

Ingredients:

• 1 lb asparagus
• 1 lb grape tomatoes (I didn't use that much)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• basil, fresh - approximately 15 leaves
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 1 13 oz package of pasta
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Start a large pot of water to boil pasta.
2. Trim asparagus and cut into 1-inch pieces.
3. Halve tomatoes.
4. Julienne basil.
5. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add garlic and saute 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes and asparagus and cook until the asparagus is tender.
6. Meanwhile, cook pasta al dente and drain.  
7. Keeping the asparagus warm, add butter and cooked pasta.  Toss over low heat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss in the basil.
8. Serve warm.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.  

Are there any types of recipes you'd like to see here?

Fitness Friday: 2013 Goals

I honestly wasn't going to write this post and I've restarted it multiple times over the past few days.  I guess if you're reading, I actually hit publish.

For me, 2012 was sort of the *anti* goal year.  I didn't set specific goals, but I wrote this little Dear Me letter last January from the perspective of me today congradulating my 2012 self on all the goals I accomplished.  Needless to say, they were pretty much all a bust.

• Weight back under control - Nope, I'm just as heavy as I was last January, if not up another pound or two. I'm not unhealthy, but I'm not at a happy weight for me.
• Run 12 races - Nope.  I think I ran 8 plus a few non-official, virtual ones.
• Sub-30 5k - Yep! 28:15 on Thanksgiving Day!
• PR the 5/3 River Bank Run 25k - Nope, I spectated it in an aircast. My first DNS.
• PR the Grand Rapids Marathon - Nope, I ended up running the marathon relay. Didn't even try the half marathon there this year.

I only went 1 for 5 last year, which is really pathetic, but since they weren't set as official goals, does that make it less bad?

In 2013, I want to keep it simple and I'm putting these out there, even though a couple (ok all) of them scare the hell out of me and I don't know that I have what it takes to get there.  Here we go.

1. Run a 27:xx 5k
2. Run a sub-60 min 10k
3. Run a sub-2:15:xx half marathon
4. Complete and Olympic-distance triathlon
5. Get and stay healthy this year.  This will probably be the hardest to keep.

Basically, this year I want to get faster and not hurt myself doing it.  Running that 28 min 5k and having some 5 and 6 mile training runs near the 10 m/m pace lead me to think the first 2 goals might be achievable.  I was supposed to hit that 2:15 half at Disney in November and it was not in the cards.  Maybe I'll have better luck in Traverse City at the Bayshore Half.  I figure, if the conditions are right and I show up to the starting line healthy, I might have a chance.

I'm also starting the year as a Mentor for 2 great ladies as they embark on the Shrinking Jeans Couch to 5k Virtual program. I can't wait to see how these gals will rock their 5ks in a couple months!!

What about you?  Any fitness goals for 2013?  Have you ever mentored another runner?  I'd love any advice you could give.

Thankful Thursday: Ziplist #recipe

If you don't know what Ziplist is, you should check out that link right there. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Welcome back! I have found Ziplist to be invaluable, not only for making my grocery lists, but for discovering new recipes. It's super easy to use - just create an account and start making your shopping lists.  You can search for recipes and add the ingredients right onto your list.  Even email, tweet, and FB your recipes.  On NYE, I tried a winner. So much a winner that even the husband said, "you need to post this wherever it is you post winning recipes!"

I guess it's your lucky day, because I'm definitely posting this one!  I'll even make it easy by writing out the recipe for you.
I give you: 

BBQ Beer Chicken in the Crockpot!

This is a Ziplist screenshot

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 large - I used 4 giant ones from Costco)
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup beer (any kind you like: dark, light, amber, whatever - I used Shock Top End of the World Wheat which has some nice chili and chocolate tones) Bummer on the amount though - you'll have to drink about 4 ounces of beer :)
• 4 cups (32 ounces) of barbecue sauce (any kind you like - I used KC Masterpiece since its ingredients start with tomatoes)
• hamburger buns
• coleslaw

Instructions:

• Add everything to the crockpot except the chicken (and obviously the buns and coleslaw).  Stir to combine.  Add the chicken to the crockpot, spoon the sauce on top so all the chicken is covered and has some sauce on it.
• Cook on low for 6 hours (every crockpot is different, so yours may take more or less time - start checking it around 4 hours). Stir a couple times throughout if you want (I didn't). After 6 hours (or when the chicken is done but not overdone and mushy - mine took about 5), shred the chicken and add it back to the sauce in the crockpot.  Toss chicken with the sauce and let it sit for 15 min so it can absorb some of the sauce.
• Serve on buns topped with coleslaw. Have some fries, a salad, whatever to make it a meal. Maybe throw in a vegetable if you feel so inclined. Drink some more beer - preferably the one you used in the recipe and put it in your favorite pint glass.

This was absolutely delish.  Everyone in the family loved it (except the girl who wasn't home to try it). The recipe says it's pretty forgiving and versatile - you can use broth, fruit juice, different beers, whatever and it will still turn out great.  If you use a very thick sauce, you might want to add more beer, but I didn't and I think the consistency was great.  We ate this again on Tuesday while watching some bowl games and it reheated great.  I even have some in the freezer that I'll pull out for a meal next week.  (Obviously, this makes a lot. Recipe says it serves 8-10.)

Have you every tried Ziplist?  Any favorite recipes I should add to my list?

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Weigh-in Wednesday: post-holiday suck

Starting Weight: 153.6
Last week: 150.2 (actually 2 weeks ago because I didn't weigh-in last week)
This week: 151.6
Change: up 1.4
Total change: down 2.0

The past 3 months has looked like this:



I'm really getting sick of it if I can be perfectly honest. Getting back to a healthy weight was a definite fail from my 2012 goals. I hate to think that my body wants to hover around 150 because, frankly, I think it's at least 10-15 pounds higher than where I should be. (And if you look at some sites I'm probably considered borderline obese and should weigh around 115-120.) I had friends talking on twitter about wanting to lose 10 pounds and they are already at what I would consider to be a very healthy weight for them. Guess this just proves we can never be happy with ourselves.

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