#whyirun

27 Oct

#whyirun on Twitter

In honor of their first ever Readers issue, Runner’s World is asking their readers: Why do you run?

Using the hashtag #whyirun, you can answer the question on Twitter. The answers are awesome, ranging from the hiliarious (@TweetinTommyC: I run because I’m not going to let two perfectly good and functioning legs go to waste and @OhshititsAilish:To prepare myself for the zombie apocalypse) to the thought-provoking (@NurseHillRuns: I love to let my heart race).

I run for a lot of reasons. The first reason that came to mind (which I tweeted) was that I run to prove myself wrong. I remember living on 51st street between 4th and 5th Ave in New York City and walking to the end of the block to see the New York City Marathon runners go by. I used to think to myself, “Wow, these people are amazing. I could never do that.” I’m wrong a lot in life (my boyfriend will be excited to see that I admitted to it in a public forum) and this is one of those times where I’m happy about it. When I run the Walt Disney Marathon in January, I will be proving myself wrong and will be darn proud of it.

I also run to stay healthy and to stay sane. I run because I love the camaraderie. I run to enjoy cake and cookies without feeling guilty.

Tell me, why do you run?

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My Pumpkin Obsession: Oatmeal

26 Oct

I had some leftover pumpkin in the refrigerator and saw a friend post on Facebook that adding pumpkin to your oatmeal was a delicious treat. And with my fall obsession with pumpkin, you know I couldn’t resist. I added a tablespoon of pumpkin, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a small squirt of lite butter syrup to my instant oatmeal and it was indeed delish!

I’ve never really added anything but syrup to my oatmeal before. This really makes me want to explore what other goodies I can mix in.

Do you ever mix anything in to your oatmeal? If so, what?

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Back to Training

25 Oct

Time this AM as I was heading out the door

To say that I didn’t enjoy getting to sleep in while I was letting my tendonitis do some healing would be a lie. I LOVED it. But I did miss running with my group. I missed the quiet time in the mornings. And I missed beating the world to getting up and at ’em.

Rather than jumping right back into track workouts, tempo intervals, and hill combos, I’ve decided to join my group’s lovely morning runs through downtown Winter Park for the next couple of weeks. This morning we met bright and early for a 4.35 mile run. Most of my group is tapering for this weekend’s Marine Corps Marathon and next weekend’s New York City Marathon, and since I’m coming back from some time off I welcomed our leisurely pace. My foot didn’t hurt and I felt great. Plus, we ran by a cemetery which I felt was very appropriate with Halloween just around the corner.

Afterwards we had some coffee and laughs before heading off to start our days. As one of the ladies was swearing off swearing and the rest of us were begging her to reconsider this foolish move, I couldn’t help but think how much I enjoy the ladies I run with. They really make training for a marathon a fun experience.

Do you run alone, with a partner or in a group? Why?

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Testing… 1, 2, 3, 4

23 Oct

Thug style

Yesterday morning I strapped on my ankle wrap (suggested by my doc and also a fellow runner), my kicks and hit the road for a quickie 2-mile test run. Aside from seeing if there was any pain or discomfort, I was looking to see if my injury was causing any change in my gait. The good news: I didn’t feel any pain during the run and my gait felt normal. The bad news: the lack of pain might have had something to do with my foot going numb approximately one mile in. I don’t think I loosened my left shoe enough to account for the brace so my circulation was cut off.

So this morning I strapped on my ankle brace, my kicks (looser on the left shoe this time) and hit the road for a quickie 4-mile test run.  The good news: I didn’t feel any pain during the run and my gait felt normal. The bad news: while exploring a new park near my house I ended up running through what seemed to be a never-ending swarm of gnats.

For what seemed to be forever (but was probably only 3 minutes), I had to run with my head down, my mouth closed and waving my arms around like a mad woman. If you’re wondering why I didn’t just turn around, the answer is simple. I thought to myself “surely this disgusting swarm of gnats is almost over” and by the time I realized this was not fact, it was too late. Retracing my steps or continuing forward was equal distance and there was no way around this swarm. Needless to say, I will not be returning to that park any time soon.

So after my two short test runs, I’ve decided to rejoin the ladies for our morning runs this week. After all, I am a marathon runner. I must run.

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My Pumpkin Obsession: Pancakes

23 Oct

To continue feeding my pumpkin obsession, yesterday morning I made pumpkin pancakes.

On Allrecipes.com I found several pumpkin pancake recipes that looked both tasty and easy to make. Usually, I tend to choose the recipe with the least amount of ingredients needed, but because I had a lot of the ingredients on-hand from my recent pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I chose this one.

I mixed my ingredients in two separate bowls as instructed then combined into one bowl to get my batter.

Pumpkin pancake batter

Then I used a 1/4 cup measuring spoon to portion my pancakes on a lightly greased pan. After a little trial and error, I realized I needed to flatten them a little so that my pancake wasn’t too thick and could cook all the way through.

Mmmmmm...

My house smelled delicious and the actual pancakes tasted like fall. I loved every bite.

Breakfast is served. Nom nom.

The batter made enough pancakes for 4 to 6 people. Since it was just me and Donnie, I stored the extra batter in the frig and made pancakes this AM too.

My love for pumpkin is normal, right? I mean, I don’t need to start going to meetings or anything… not yet at least.

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I must run. I am a marathon runner.

22 Oct

In a couple hours I am setting off for a short two miler to test how my tendonitis is doing. If all feels well, I’ll go on another short run with my group tomorrow morning.

On a related note, my boyfriend’s sister shared this YouTube video with me and it gave me a good laugh. Runners are so weird. 😉

 

Oh, and I am finally registered for the 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon. This just got real real up in here.

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My Pumpkin Obsession: Cookies

21 Oct

I have what I consider to be a very healthy obsession with pumpkin. In the past, this was limited to pumpkin pie, pumpkin spiced lattes from Starbucks and pumpkin ale. But then I tried a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie at my friend Kate and Ryan’s housewarming party and I knew I was in trouble. Kate quickly supplied my habit by sharing the recipe with me. Too my delight, it’s super easy!

It turns out the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe is an allrecipes.com one. You can click here for ingredients and step-by-step instructions on how to make these cookies. The recipe calls for walnuts, but since I don’t want to take the chance with people’s nut allergies, I’ve been leaving them out. I also added a little pumpkin pie spice for extra flavor.

I’ve made these cookies twice so far and the masses love them. They are cake-like and super soft. Did I mention that these are easy to make? Aside from being pumpkin and tasting delish, the dummy-proof instructions are quite the selling point.

Baking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. My house smelled so good and fall-like.

I made these cookies Wednesday night for a little department shindig we have monthly. Here are the cookies sitting right next to my next pumpkin obsession: Publix Pumpkin Pie ice cream. It has pie crust in it. PIE CRUST! This is one of their limited-edition ice creams, so I strongly suggest you go to the store right now and buy some. (I’m not kidding. Go. The blog will still be here later.)

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies + pumpkin pie ice cream = best ice cream sandwich ever

For the shindig my friend made this pumpkin roll with cream cheese that was amazing. She shared the recipe and I might try it for the holidays. If it passes my dummy test (me making it successfully) then I’ll post pics.

Next up this weekend: pumpkin pancakes.

What’s your favorite pumpkin-flavored recipe?

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Nothing Says Christmas Like…

18 Oct

Ho... Ho... Ho...

Jersey Shore brings the holiday cheer. Found at the Walgreens in Winter Park (corner of Mills and Fairbanks).

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And the Verdict is In..

18 Oct

The good foot doc confirmed that I have tendonitis!

Okay, I’m not excited about the having tendonitis part, but I am super happy it’s not worse. I’m to keep up my R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and up my dosage of anti-flammatories. Once my foot starts feeling better, I can ease myself back into running. I just have to remember not to dive back in, or I might find myself sidelined again.

(Happy dance)

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Playing with Food

17 Oct

I’m not the best cook. But on the bright side, I’m also not the worst cook. I border somewhere between lazy and uninspired. The lazy part is particularly why I absolutely love easy recipes. Easy is something I can do.

While reading one of my favorite local blogs, Meals and Miles, I found this recipe on how to spice up a frozen pizza. Runny eggs used to disgust me, but after four years of watching my boyfriend soak up his yolk with everything on his plate I finally gave in and gave it another go. And I grew to actually crave it. Who am I??

Sprucing up my Archer Farms Mediterranean pizza seemed simple enough. I added bacon, fresh mushrooms, mozzarella (in my opinion pizza can never be too cheesy) and halfway through the baking time I added three eggs as suggested.

Here’s how it looked out of the oven:

My Archer Farms mediterranean pizza with added bacon, mozzarella, mushrooms and eggs

I paired it with a spinach salad with mushrooms, bacon and mozzarella. I like buying spinach because (a) it’s good for you, and (b) you can always use it to make a salad or sauté with salt, pepper and a little parmesan cheese for a yummy side. I hadn’t decided on what type of dressing when I took this pic, but I settled on good ol’ light ranch. That certainly wasn’t the healthiest option, but it did make me oh so happy!

My spruced up pizza with a spinach salad

If you’re not a big yolk fan, this might not be for you, but if you are, I strongly suggest sprucing up your frozen pizza with eggs.

Have you ever added anything unusual to spice up your frozen pizza? 

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