soup's on!

Woke up to a very windy, very fall-like day. I was nervous about running in the wind (and my quads felt pretty tight after doing the mini and then running yesterday as well). But I was pleasantly surprised to find I had a great run! Once I started my legs felt loose as they moved, and the wind and cool air felt awesome! I knocked out a good number of miles and came home relaxed.

Since it is supposed to be windy and cool and rainy all day, I decided it was a vegetable soup day. We are having a late lunch of soup - in two different pots. Both of ours have corn, onions, tomatoes, and carrots. Dave's also has beef broth, beef, and potatoes. Mine has vegetable broth, yams, black beans, and broccoli. I found some delicious looking bread at the Kroger bakery that we'll have as well. Hooray for fall!!

At the FW half we got a promo flyer for a 15 mile run in Bluffton, Indiana in the beginning of November. I'm debating signing up... it's a trail run, which is why I'm hesitant. As an avid road runner (more because of what's available than an actual decision toward that), I'm unsure I should jump into a trail run without much practice. But I know the trails are pretty flat and clear... so maybe it would be easy. Any suggestions??

Off to stir the soup! What are your favorite foods for fall?

race day!

I got my goal time! 1:58:23! That's a full sixteen minutes better than my time in May, which was fifteen minutes better than my previous best time! What a good running year!

The FW half was a great race - a decent run with lots of spots for spectators (Dave, Aunt Penny, and Uncle Lyn managed to see me five times before the finish), a run through a park, a neighborhood, and an awesome finish in the new baseball stadium downtown! I will definitely want to do this one again next year!

Richele and I, the morning of the race:

Aunt Penny had the great idea to give us multifunctional socks. 1) to keep your hands/forearms warm in the cool morning and 2) as hankies to blow your nose mid-run before you pitch them away. Great idea! They worked so well!

After the race Richele, Ben, Dave, and I, got treated to Powers burgers by Penny and Lyn. Powers burgers have a FW cult following - they're basically like homemade, glorified White Castle. Actually, Richele and I just stole bites off Dave's and Ben's... we didn't think we could stomach all the grease and onions (although they did smell amazing!).

I still need to get some miles in to make 175 for September... but right now it seems doable!

PS - With all the exclamation points in this post, can you tell that I'm still running on race endorphins?

Also, here's a quote from Born To Run that I reread this morning to keep me going.

Relax enough, and your body becomes so familiar with the cradle-rocking rhythm that you almost forget you're moving. And once you break through to that soft, half-levitating flow, that's when the moonlight and champagne show up: "You have to be in tune with your body, and know when you can push it and when to back off..." You have to listen closely to the sound of your own breathing; be aware of how much sweat is beading on your back; make sure to treat yourself to cool water and a salty snack and ask yourself, honestly and often, exactly how you feel. (Page 69)

I've also found smiling makes me more cheerful and energized during my run, whether I really feel like smiling or not. Today's run was, thankfully, very enjoyable and genuinely FUN. I'm excited to get back out again tomorrow morning.

squashtastic?

Goal 1 was accomplished last night: cooking with squash. I had a... shoot. I forget the name. Butternut acorn? Could that be possible? Butternut dumpling? Anyhow, it said it was a sweeter squash. Thank goodness for Cutco knives, because dang that sucker was hard to get through. (I realize now I probably should have pierced it with a fork and microwaved it to soften it before attempting to cut it.) I cut the squash in quarters, drizzled it with olive oil, then applied liberal amounts of basil, oregano, garlic, and salt. Put it in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes. When it came out I sprinkled it with parmesan. We ate our squashes with spinach salads - peas and feta and red wine vinegar for me, taco meat and cheese for Dave. All in all, the squash was just okay. Not bad, not great. Does anyone have some squash wisdom to share - a particular kind I should buy? Different ways to eat it? Please help! I want to be a squash lover!

After dinner I had a frozen reese's pb cup and chocolate chip cookie (leftover from Saturday where Dave and I bought 30 different chocolate chip cookies from 30 different places for my sister-in-law's 30th birthday). Dave made himself a small but Coldstone-worthy sundae: chocolate peanut butter ice cream topped with peanut butter, magic shell, whipped cream, and chocolate chips. My boy knows how to do dessert right.

We watched a movie from the library last night - Another Cinderella Story - which we were expecting to be laughably bad, like most other Disney made for ABC family tv movies. This one was suprisingly decent... about on par with other predictable-but-still-fun-to-watch chick flicks. Having Jane Lynch definitely helped - she makes any movie awesome. And in all the squash preparation and movie watching I totally forgot about Monday night football with the COLTS! Good thing I have all season to make up for it.

Dave and I have started a new nighttime ritual: reading time! Last week Dave suggested we start reading for half an hour together before bed. I was all too happy to oblige! We still had leftover gift card money from the wedding to Bed Bath and Beyond, so Sunday we bought two extra fluffy pillow so we can sit up in bed comfortably. I've been distracted from Kavalier and Clay of late because Dave surprised me with four old Runner's World magazines the library was selling for cheap. They've been hard to put down!

Today's run was much better, although it was summertime humid out there again, which slowed my time slightly. Still, way more of a fun run than Sunday's!

the worst run

I was pretty excited to run today - I didn't have a time crunch, it was cool and beautiful out, I had a rest day yesterday... all of these factors were promising a great time out on the road. I got up and had coffee and an apple with peanut butter, read for a bit while I woke up, then took off.

It was awful. Almost the whole time I felt like I might puke. My legs felt fine but the rest of me felt like it was falling apart. At mile 8 I took a brief moment to lay down in the grass. At mile 9 I knelt down because I was so certain I was going to be sick. I had originally intended to do 13 to 15 miles, but after 11 horrible, slow, exhausting miles I called it quits. Ugh.

fall mornings

Mornings have been beautiful here lately - low 50s, bright and sunny, big blue skies. I've got just over a week until the half marathon - hoping for a similar morning then!

Headed to Mishawaka this afternoon to see Steph and to try on bridesmaid dresses for Bec's wedding in April. Since I'll be gone and since I need to grocery shop, dinner will be barbecue chicken in the crockpot (chicken breasts, bottle of barbecue sauce, little bit of apple juice), which we might shred up onto wheat buns. And a side of beans or corn or broccoli.

Good husband: Dave brought home for me a bouquet of beautiful purple flowers and baby's breath!

We took Mosie to the vet for her second (and final) round of vaccines yesterday. Also got her her second (and final... for now) round of flea treatment. We have one more worm pill we have to give her this weekend... always a treat. Dave holds her while I open her mouth, shove the pill in, and shout "Drop! Drop!" (Our vet told us that cats swallow when dropped.) Generally it takes several times - and some scratches - before we get it down. I don't really blame her - if someone held me down, wrenched open my mouth, shoved their hand and a nasty pill to the back of my throat, then dropped me... I would scratch a little, too.

One more Mosie story: recently she has taken to waking us up around 2:30 or 3, wanting to snuggle, and purring so insanely loud. But it's so stinkin cute that we don't even mind!

Lastly, we started watching some of the BBC Planet Earth series last night, on blu-ray. So incredibly beautiful! We definitely recommend it!

thursday's kitchen... and other randomness

Quieter in the kitchen today - we're having dinner with friends, so I'm not planning any meals. We are bringing dessert, so I'll be making two lemonade pies. But considering it's just mixing sweetened condensed milk, lemonade concentrate, and cool-whip, dumping it in pre-made graham crusts, and sprinkling on chocolate chips, it hardly seems like cooking! (Hardly seems like cooking does not mean it is not still fabulously delicious!)

I did make some roasted red pepper hummus today. Dave and I have been on the hunt since August, when we saw my sister and brother-in-law at Kelley's Island. They brought the most amazing red pepper hummus ever. You could just eat it by the spoonful plain! So today I tried my hand at making my own. I actually combined two recipes I found on allrecipes.com. One was for spicy red pepper hummus and used feta instead of tahini. The other was for more basic red pepper hummus. I ended up not being able to find tahini (we were at walmart... gag), so I used the feta from the spicy recipe and then followed the rest of the basic recipe. It's still not as good as Kel and Keegan's, but it's pretty great. We found this delicious naan Indian bread, which is perfect for dipping. I think we'll take this along, and some grapes, to the tailgate party on Saturday in Bloomington. Brats and hummus!

Brief movie review: Duplicity. Don't bother. It was pretty awful. Tried to be Ocean's Eleven and Mr. and Mrs. Smith and definitely missed the mark on both. It was confusing, not very clever, and didn't nearly use the potential of Julia Roberts or Clive Owen. Bleh.

Had a pretty blah 9miler this morning - mentally I just was not in it, and I knew it, and I still couldn't get in it. I did do the loop on the cross country course again, which helped to shake me up a bit since I had to focus more on the grass. I have new running shoes arriving today and I'm more than ready to give them a try. My legs have been feeling tight and kind of stale this week - I'm thinking it's the flat tread and starting-to-wear-through-the-sole shoes I've got. Born To Run recommends beat-down shoes with less support as better for running, and I agree. But since almost all my running is on the pavement, I think I need a bit more cushion. Luckily endless.com (my favorite shoe site) has free overnight shipping and comparable prices. So I ordered my new (blue and silver) Brooks yesterday and they'll be here today. Fantastic!

(Thanks for comments people have left! They make my day! If you ever try any recipes, please let me know how they go for you, or modifications you tried.)

fun run

Had the most fantastic run this morning - 9 miles that felt like 4, most of which I was literally smiling through because it felt so dang good. Goshen College had their cross country path marked out, so I did a mile on grass, which was new and really good for my hips, knees, and ankles (no injuries, either!). Wanted to keep going and going - 11, 12, 13, whatever! - but held back so I could still run tomorrow. Hooray!

Here is my new favorite morning activity: http://puzzles.usatoday.com/ I love doing the crosswords and word finds. So fun!

I think I might make corn chowder sometime soon. Doesn't that sound delicious right now, with the kind of fall-like weather and fresh sweet corn?

Our friends Mark and Lauren come tomorrow and we're so excited. I'll be making my mom's homemade mac and cheese - Dave's favorite. It's First Fridays in Goshen so we'll walk around downtown, listen to music, come back and hang out at the apartment. We can't wait for them to get here!

For lunch today I skillet-ized corn, black beans, garlic, and zuc with a lot of cumin. Put this over spinach and avacados and crisped tortillas that I made in the oven with olive oil and sea salt. Deliciousness. All I needed were tomatoes for a punch of color and juice... but alas. None.

august round-up

I ran 140 in July, so I decided I wanted to hit 150 in August. My final total was 152 - just over. I really think the fruit has helped these past two days - my legs have felt much much better. Bananas are definitely proven to be great for runners, but I'm building my faith in all fruit for that.

It's incredible to me that what used to be a longer-ish runs for me are now my daily runs. Earlier I commented that the book Born to Run changed my attitude about running and really helped me get to the level of running I'm currently at. And I do believe that. If you like running at all (or just want to read a phenomenal story) get that book. It is so dang worth it. But something else I've learned as I've been running, especially in the past two months, is that the capabilities and desires have always been there, hidden or dormant or trapped. And the book maybe helped me see them, but it was God who really helped me release them. Running has been an incredible way for me to experience the strength of my own body, the possibilities I possess. I run now for positive reasons - its healthy, it feels good to be outside and moving, I like seeing how far I can push myself, pure enjoyment - instead of the old reasons - mainly ones tied to negative self-image and weight issues (neither of which really helped me enjoy running or go very far... and I always quit after a bit). Running has been a way for God to really break down some old lies that I believed about myself and to heal me. I am an incredibly different person mentally in regards to my body and my self-image at the end of these two months than I was at the beginning. Running was definitely the key, but God was the one turning the key. I didn't really want this entry to be a sermon, but I also felt strongly that I needed to give God the credit for what He had done, and not say it was just running or just a book. Both played a large part, but they weren't THE part. September's goal is 175, just to see if I can. I am thankful for new freedom and continued growth.

Egg roll update: couldn't find egg roll wrappers in the grocery store (new leads have suggested the produce section??) so used corn tortillas instead. The filling tasted really good but I thought the tortilla was a bit too much for the filling... so I still want to try it egg-roll style. If all else fails I might get phyllo dough and try it that way. Still, a good recipe. And the filling really was delicious. Would be excellent as a salsa-like dip for tortilla chips.

Also got a new basil plant from Meijer - a bigger one. Trying to grow it indoors and hoping it keeps. I probably need to get it a new pot this week. I should move my oregano now, while it's still alive, and before an early frost comes in (which seems likely considering it's AUGUST and 45 degrees this morning). Our friend Irene gave me a tiny hen and chicks plant. She said the chicks should start coming out in a week. I am very excited about this plant!!

Also. Random: Dave and I have watched the Bourne Trilogy this weekend and in the movies the killer/assassins are called "assets." We have taken to calling Mosie "The Asset" when she is in play mode since she loves to stalk and hunt.

fruit and blisters

My last two runs have been ugly - feeling stiff, tired... just needing more willpower and effort to run than normal. I realized that we haven't had much fruit in the house this week because it's the end of the month and we're trying to stay in our budget... which means we really can't grocery shop til September 1. But I think not having fruit is affecting my legs... it could be completely mental, I know. But I bit the bullet today and got some bananas, grapes, and peaches. We'll see if tomorrow's run is better after a few doses of fruit.

And I have two new blisters - one on the inside side of my right foot, one in the space between the pad of my big toe and the ball of my foot on the right left foot. Strange, because I haven't had blisters in a long time - just calluses. Not sure if it's the extra humidity the past few days - sweatier feet - or maybe my gait is off since my legs have felt off. In any case, not bad enough by far to keep me from running, but annoying all the same.

July challenge

The July 100 Challenge is over, and I rocked in 140 miles! It's mostly exciting because I'm not sure I've ever had that much mileage, and really enjoyed all the miles while doing them!

And last night I noticed that I do indeed have the start of little beans growing off the stalks. Finally! Hopefully they'll make it to full growth and not be ravaged by the squirrels.

We're off to Chicago this weekend for Mark and Lauren's wedding. Will maybe post a picture or two next week!

squirrels

I've discovered a little bit more about why my zucchini plant has not been faring well: squirrels. I came out the door this morning and found a squirrel sitting in the pot. Of late the plant has been looking like it's being uprooted... and now I think I know why. Dang squirrels are digging in there.

I have yet to produce beans, and they're looking a little bit like the squirrels have been frolicking around in there, too. Oh well. At least my herbs are staying strong.

Tomorrow is the final day of Kelly and I's 100 mile July challenge. I'm over 100 as of right now, and excited to see what my total will be tomorrow after I run.

Tried a sundried tomato and white wine risotto in the crockpot last night... for how awesome it sounds like it would be (you can't go wrong with any of those ingredients) it was mostly just average. I want to keep trying other recipes with risotto though. It's got such a delicious texture.

Off to enjoy my favorite breakfast: honey nut scooters. :)

donkey exercises

Found these exercises the other day:

http://blip.tv/file/2356205

http://blip.tv/file/2379879

I did part 1 today after my run (I didn't find part 2 til later, with some help from my sister). Most of them felt pretty easy, but I could feel it stretching or working my muscles. The donkey whips were pretty difficult. I also love that there are exercises called donkey whips. It makes me want to do them even more.

I think I'm finding that I have my best runs first thing in the morning. I'll get up and have some coffee and read for a bit, then hit the road. Yesterday I dawdled around, had coffee, read, read some more, emailed with my sister, etc. When I finally ran it was a good run, but felt kind of stiff and uncoordinated. Today I had coffee and read and then got out there, and it felt better. I feel like if I wait too long my body gets settled in a different mode, a slower one, and runs feel more forced and awkward. But if I go before my body has really set itself for the day, it falls into a pace more naturally, and the run is often much smoother and flowing.

And a recipe from Dave, that I happened upon him eating when I came home from the store:

Do It Yourself Reese's:

One small bowl peanut butter

Chocolate chips

Stir and enjoy.