Fall racing recap

And I yet again fell off the blogging bandwagon. Sigh.

To say my Fall was crazy is a mild understatement.

The end of September I flew down to Orlando to visit good friends and run the Tower of Tower 10 miler at Disney. In 2010, I did the inaugural Wine & Dine 1/2, so I had done a night race before. Plan for Saturday was to do nothing. I laid around Katie & Steve's house, we went out for a big lunch, and I took a nap. I was feeling confident. And then the humidity hit me. I was not prepared and about 6.5 in I felt myself running out of steam quick. It hit Katie & Steve about the same time and we took to walking. I caught up with my buddy Sandy on the course, too. This was a miserable race and a PW by a long shot. While I was fortunate enough to feel ok after, many others did not. We did not stick around for the after party, and I'm glad as it was nearly 3am by the time we made it back to the house anyway.

Overall, I was not impressed with this race. I had heard great things about it's predecessor, the Tower of Terror 13K, and this did not live up to that. The course was boring. Granted, I've run boring courses before. But, I think boring in the dark vs. boring in the sunlight are two different things. There's not alot to look at in the dark to distract yourself. Disney did not live up to the on course entertainment I'd had at other races, either. And, the course got very narrow and crowded as we headed into and ran on the grounds of the sports complex.

I actually will be at Disney next year when the race is happening, but at the moment, am not planning on running it. I think night races in Florida and I just aren't meant to be.

Two weeks later was the Baltimore 1/2. This has traditionally been a strong race for me, and I was looking forward to running on a gorgeous Fall morning. Katie came up for Florida, and I started the race with her, Megan, and Kim. Sadly, due to crowding, I completely lost them a couple of miles in. I was keeping a pretty good pace and hit the hills pretty strong so just kept plugging along. After a couple of more miles I popped my iPod on (in one ear only and on low) to help distract me a bit. I did really get into the atmosphere though and quite frankly, had an absolute blast. My hometown made me proud. The crowd support and enthusiasm of people throughout the city was just awesome. And, I managed my best half time of the year!

The following weekend was the Army Ten Miler. This was my first time running it. I met up with Megan early early in the morning and we headed into the city together. She's an ATM vet, so it was great to have her show me the ropes. We hung out with ROTE friends beforehand, including our friend Rebecca who was in town from Germany. Yay! It was so good to see her. We were last together in May 2011.

My plan was to hang with Megan as long as I could. She has had amazing marathon training this fall, and was definitely more prepared than I. But, I was also still on a post-Baltimore high, so my confidence was up for a change. Our friend David started with us as well, but with MCM the following weekend, he fell back after awhile to conserve some energy for the following weekend. Megan and I got into a great groove and just kept pushing ourselves along. The 14th Street Bridge sucked as always. This was the third race I'd run it in, and it never seems to get any easier.

The atmosphere of this race was phenomenal. So many military runners and people honoring heroes. I teared up a bit when I saw a woman wearing a shirt honoring her son who had died in combat. The patriotism had some light moments, too, like the guy who played a fife and wore a tricorner hat WHILE running and got everyone pumped up. My first ATM, but definitely not my last.

That afternoon I hopped on a plane and flew to Florida to spend the week helping celebrate Katie & Steve's wedding. It was a wonderful week with special people I'm so lucky to have in my life. And, we were all brought together by running.

What I'm eating this week

I'm always leery when I find a recipe on Pinterest and others have labeled "best ever," however, I found a pad thai recipe recently that others raved about and decided to give it a try. I had seen others before, but this one was appealing due to the simplicity of the ingredients and the likelihood I'd have most on hand already. I was hoping it'd be at least comparable to what I get at my favorite local Thai place.

I did play with the recipe a bit of course. I mixed up a batch of sauce and put in a bit of chili garlic sauce for some heat. I used this as a marinade for a chicken breast that I sliced into thin strips. I let it hang out in the fridge for an hour or two while I worked on other things. Another addition I made was some sesame peanut tofu I came across while exploring my new, local Wegman's. (The stuff I order locally generally comes with both meat and tofu in it.)

The downside to this recipe was the amount of dishes involved. Cooking went fast, so everything had to be prepped and waiting it's turn. Thank goodness for dishwashers!

Cooking notes:
- I didn't measure the lime juice. I just squeezed a whole lime using my citrus press.
- Since I added extra ingredients, I did have to switch things up a bit in the cooking sequence. I dumped the chicken and it's marinade into the pan after removing the mostly scrambled eggs. After about 3 minutes of cooking/simmering I added in the noodles and an additional batch of sauce. I also tossed in the chopped up tofu here so it could warm through.
- My noodles took far longer than a minute to get soft. Maybe I didn't soak them long enough?
- I should have waited to add the green parts of the scallions. Since the noodles took longer to cook, they became very dark and wilted.
- I really really liked it with the double sauce.

Not as pretty a picture, but wow was this good!!!

Another great recipe I made recently was Skinnytaste's Baked Chicken Parmesan. This is a pretty straightforward recipe, so I didn't really make any changes to do. I haven't been able to find any whole wheat breadcrumbs so I used some Italian style Panko bread crumbs. This really gave the chicken a great crunch!

Bon Appetit!

Postseason fever

Well, you all caught me in a lie. I promised a race report last week and then it never came to be. That's because this happened:

My beloved Orioles are making their first postseason appearance in 15 years. The number of hours spent watching late night baseball over the past 5 days likely exceeds my total hours of sleep, highlighted by actually getting to attend the game at Camden Yards on Sunday night thanks to dumb luck and a pre-sale lottery. Memories for a lifetime have been made though, and can't wait for this to continue.

GO O'S!!!!

What I'm eating this week

This post should be a race report from this past weekend's Tower of Terror 10 miler, but, frankly, I'm completely exhausted and admittedly taking the easy way out. There will be a report later this week though, I promise.

I got back into town late Sunday and had fortunately decided in advance to take Monday off to recover from the lack of sleep and catch up on life a bit. With Fall temps sneaking in here and there, I wanted to make soup. I decided on a basic vegetable soup recipe I made last Fall and loved, but of course decided to put my own twist on it a bit.

The main change I made was to add chicken for some good basic protein. Once I added the liquid (which, for me, was a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, a 48 oz. container of low sodium chicken broth, and a 1/2 c. of water for good measure), and brought it up to a boil, I added in 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and simmered for 20 minutes. When time was up I took them out and added the pasta (orecchiette was my shape of choice). I shredded the chicken while the pasta cooked and dumped it all back into to the bubbling pot.

Yum. As I said, this is a good basic soup, and, as such, is not overwhelming with alot of complex flavors. The only added seasonings are some salt & pepper, and fresh thyme. Don't skimp on the herbs. Go with the fresh rather than dried. I really think that's the key to this one. I love fresh thyme, so I didn't even bother to measure out a tablespoon. I just stripped leaves off the stems til I had a good pile. I like the addition of the chicken. It really helped make this a healthy and very filling soup.

Fall Racing Season

Fall is officially here. I've discussed some recent races, but haven't really gotten into my race plans for the remainder of the year.

Coming off the heels of a bruising half marathon in Salisbury, I've been training for this weekend's Tower of Terror 10 miler at Disney World. I use the term training loosely, as I'm focused on the distance moreso than any kind of time. This race is all about fun. Plus, it doesn't even start til 10pm, so who knows what kind of shape we'll all be in while out on the course after midnight.

The rest of the year looks like this thus far -

Oct 13 - Baltimore 1/2
Oct 21 - Army 10 miler
Nov 3 - Down's Park 5 miler
Nov 18 - Philly 1/2
Dec 15 - Celtic Solstice 5 miler

The Baltimore 1/2 is the second part of the Maryland Double. I will get a bonus medal for successfully completing that and the Frederick 1/2 back in May. Baltimore will also be my 25th half. I'm so excited to hit that milestone in my hometown.

This is my first year running the Army Ten Miler. I'm a bit nervous since I know it has a tight time cut off prior to mile 5, but I hear it's a great race.

Philly should be a really fun weekend. I've gone up there twice before for the Rock N Roll Philly race that's held in September, and have heard that this course is better as you see much more of the city. When I did those races, it was a quick overnight trip. November's will be a full weekend exploring the city and hanging out with some fabulous running knitters I've had the pleasure of meeting, mostly online. The promise of post race margaritas was too much of a draw to say no, lol.

Lots of fun to look forward to!

What I'm eating this week

I had a rare weekend with very little planned, which meant I could spend some time in the kitchen.

For some reason I really wanted a baked potato the night before my planned 8 mile training run on Saturday morning. Of course, I needed some protein to go along with that. I immediately went to one of my favorite sites, Skinnytaste, to browse around. I decided on Baked Chicken with Dijon and Lime. It was delicious. I loved the flavor the lime gave the chicken. I think next time I make it I might use some chicken breasts instead of thighs and marinate them in the sauce overnight.

I tried something new with the potatoes. I picked up some basic baking potatoes, rubbed the skins with olive oil and some roasted garlic sea salt from a nearby gourmet shop. I baked them at 400 (since same temp needed for the chicken) for 45 minutes/til tender. OMG, this is how I'm making them from now on! The salt caramelized a bit and had a hint of sweetness to it.

I'd love to say that this meal fueled me for my whole 8 miles, but I did struggle toward the end, in part because I'd forgotten to pack an energy gel. I did the best I could with some Gatorade and a couple of Jolly Ranchers in it's place.

For dinner on Sunday I decided to dig out my Crock Pot. I bought it about a year ago and love it. I had always associated slow cookers with cans of greasy cream of something soups. It wasn't until I started researching recipes, thanks in large part to Pinterest (you can check out my slower cook board here), that I realized it's possible to do actual cooking in it, limiting how many processed ingredients you used. One of my favorite things to make in it is a basic roast chicken. The trick I've learned is to set it on some foil balls to keep it out of it's juice while cooking. At the end of the day it falls apart and is still super moist. But that's not what I made this time, lol.

With pork shoulder roasts on sale at the grocery store, I decided on Balsamic Honey Pulled Pork from Better Homes and Garden. Of course, I decided to get adventurous and make one that required making my own bbq sauce rather than just dumping bottles of some. I increased the chicken broth from 1/2 cup to a full cup since my roast was nearly 5lbs, unlike the 2-3lb one called for in the recipe. I also put some coarse salt and fresh pepper on the roast, in addition to the herbs it called for. I made no alterations to the sauce recipe. It was all excellent. I loved the tang the sauce has from the balsamic vinegar. It reminded me alot of some Carolina style sauces, and I think would be excellent to make for some grilled bbq chicken as well.

A good meal was a great way to wrap up a nice weekend at home. Always fun to find a couple of new recipes to add to the arsenal.

Weekendlong Duathlon, err....Tri (part 2)

After finishing the 25 mile bike ride and enjoying our post ride bbq lunch, Jon (my partner in crime for the crazy weekend) and I headed down to Salisbury to pick up our packets for Sunday's Hidden Treasures Half Marathon. This was a route I knew well, having spent a semester driving between the two cities while working at an internship. It was fun to see both the familiar sites and changing landscapes along the way.

We must have been quite the sight at pick up, still wearing all of our bike gear.  Ok, maybe we left the helmets in the car. We met an older couple while waiting for the elevator at the hotel. The gentleman asked what we had been up to that day and could only shake his head when I filled him in on our weekend exploits. After catching up with my wonderful friends Anne & Matt over dinner, it was an early bedtime. We were both completely exhausted.

Unlike most, if not all, of my other halfs, this did not require a crack of dawn wake up. Race start was 9am and our hotel was only about 10 minutes away. Plus, with a small field, about 200 runners, parking was not an issue either. While I greatly treasured the extra sleep, I felt almost like I needed to find ways to fill the extra time. Another plus was being able to eat the complementary hotel breakfast. I got to have some hot oatmeal for a change.

We packed up the car and checked out before heading to the race. Late race start, meant no time to get back to the hotel for a shower before hitting the road for home. After getting to the Civic Center, where coincidentally my college graduation had been held, it was more of a hurry up and wait. I did get to say a quick hello to another college buddy, Jim, who was running the 5K for the third year. Finally it was time to head toward the start. There were no signs, people just pointed toward a row of trees and said it was past them.

I took up a spot near the back, and then we were off. I felt good and was in a decent groove early on, feeling like I was moving slowly but actually doing a decent pace. Around mile 4 we turned onto the Salisbury University campus. It really was like being home again, not that I ever ever would have dreamed of running through there before, lol.

The course then turned into neighborhoods along the water. It was beautiful! I was by myself, expect for one other woman who I kept ping ponging back and forth with for awhile. Eventually we turned onto Camden Avenue and headed back to the college. This was fun since I knew where I was and would be at mile 8 soon. My outer toe was bugging me a bit for no apparent reason, so I stopped and took my shoe off and adjusted my sock a bit. I should have realized at the time that this was essentially the beginning of a massive wall I couldn't overcome. It continued to annoy me, but again, I couldn't figure out the root of the problem.

Back through campus, and mile 8 was done. While the first part of the course was through shaded neighborhoods, the last miles were in business and industrial areas, minus some parts near corn and melon fields. Most importantly, they were all in full sun and it was pushing 11am. Physical and mental exhaustion kicked in at full steam at mile 9. I allowed myself a pity party of sorts and told myself I'd walk to the mile 10 marker but then I had to run the last 5K. It would only be 3.1 miles. The worst would be behind me.

Except, it wasn't. Mile 10 came and I went to run and everything hurt. My body was in full revolt and I ended up trudging along. The sag wagon drove by a couple of times while monitoring the course, and I summoned the energy I could to give a friendly wave when deep down I wanted to jump in and just be done with it all. I just kept repeating to myself that it was ludicrous to quit when I'd gotten that far.

I must have looked kind of rough. At one of the last water stops one of the volunteers pretty much made me stop so he could fill my water bottles for me. His help and kindness was much appreciated. Then, I got to mile 12, and basically the last intersection I'd have to cross. Not only were there no cops or volunteers to help me, it was also confusing as to exactly where I had to go. That part of road also made up the 5K course, so traffic cones were going in a couple of different directions and the one sign only said 5K, not half. I also couldn't find any spray paint markings on the road.

Up to this point the course had been very well marked so I couldn't believe what was happening. Fortunately, I had grabbed a course map "just in case" and had put it in the pouch on my water belt. Once I got my bearings I continued on my way, again, slowly walking along, counting practically every 10th of a mile  and praying to be done.

In addition to the late start, another quirk of this race was the indoor finish line. I could barely muster the energy to run over the finish line, but somehow I finally finished. And there were about 3 people inside at the time. No people cheering, no music, just the photographer, time keeper, and a volunteer handing out medals.  Organizers had moved all of the post race festivities outside, and across the street. And the medal I received was a generic running medal without any kind of info even identifying the race. They had some pulled pork sandwiches and other hot food for race participants, but the smell just nauseated me at that point.

Despite the problems, I did actually like this race and would do it again, but likely only if it started at least an hour earlier. I also learned that I'm just not cut out for back to back events. I had the same miserable final miles back in May when I did the Run for the Dream 1/2 the day after doing their 8K as part of the Patriots Challenge.

Two pretty rough races has been a bit demoralizing. It's been a further reminder of how much losing time to injury last fall affected me and how slow coming back from it has been. It also reignited a debate I had with myself last fall about whether or not I should consider listening to music when running solo. There is no longer a debate, I bought myself an iPod Shuffle earlier this week.

Onward and upward.