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.

tgif

Down in Marion for my office's annual mini-golf tourney. Different departments set up holes in their offices and people dress up and play 7 holes. We also have a carry-in. One office did a really elaborate western theme - decorated cardboard to look like old saloons and general stores and put it over their cubicles, with cutout, swinging doors. It was awesome (and if I had remember my camera I could show you).

Had another green smoothie this morning, this time with spinach, flax, milk, a banana, half a peach, and four strawberries. It was very good... but also served to remind me to blend it really really well or sometimes I have spinach and peach peel chewables.

Last night we made mini pizzas using Sandwich Thins and homemade pizza sauce from my friend, Patty. Dave's was topped with browned onions, turkey bacon, and cheese. Mine had browned onions and black beans. They were delicious! ...And then I finished the rest of the beans with some extra onions. Yum!

We leave for Fort Wayne soon. The race starts at 7:30 tomorrow and the weather - cloudy, cool - sounds perfect! Fingers crossed for a great race!

What are your weekend plans?

green monster

I stumbled upon another blog (thank you, Google Reader suggestion box) last week that talked about Green Monsters smoothies. I was intrigued and had to give it a try. This girl has done lots of variations, but the one I tried went as follows:

2-3 c. spinach

1T. ground flax

1T. peanut butter

1 banana, frozen

1c. skim milk

Note to self: peel the banana before freezing. I had to use a paring knife to get the peel off, much like peeling an apple. After a little googling I learned that I can peel the banana and freeze it without it going brown or getting gross.

Surprisingly, this smoothie was really good. It made about 8-10oz. and basically tasted like a pb/banana smoothie. The texture was smooth, with only a little residual grittiness leftover from the flax and pb (and not enough to bother me). All in all, definitely worth a repeat. I ate this with half a cup of Kashi Wild Blueberry Clusters cereal and I was full for a good 4 hours. I can see it being a good afternoon snack as well. Any suggestions for other additions I could try? I have some chocolate protein powder I could throw in there I suppose... but it's old, I never really liked it, and I probably should just pitch it anyway (looks like I answered my own question there).

Dave and I also had gnocchi last night, which was fabulously delicious. I used some leftover homemade spaghetti sauce rather than the can of pre-cut tomatoes. Next time I'd like to use whole-wheat gnocchi, but I couldn't find any at the store this time around.

That's two posts for today. Be sure you scroll down to read Dave's report on playing with cats!

guest blogger!

How to Play with Cats

A Guide For Humans

By David Mierau

There are a few key things every cat owner should know when it comes to playing with their furry feline. Allow me to list the essentials:

1. Cats want to hunt, not be hunted

I suppose that could be said for all of us (at least the latter part), but it is especially true for cats. Cats instinctively want to stalk and chase their "prey", be it a string, a toy, or some hapless baby chipmunk in the backyard. One of the classic mistakes cat owners make when playing with their pets is consistently moving the play object towards the cat rather than away from it. If a cat feels threatened or intimidated in any way, it will check out rather than engage. While it is understandable how an owner might want to move the play object toward the cat (come on lil guy, play!), this will typically only serve to reverse the cat's natural instincts of wanting to be on the offense rather than the defense. So, before beginning playtime, remember that it's your job to emulate the prey and your cat's job to be the hunter.

2. Engage your cat's senses

While the standard string is good, a string with something sparkly attached to the end of it and something that makes it create noise is even better. The more you can engage your cat's senses during playtime, the more active your cat will be.

3. Make the cat feel like the play toy is always on the verge of getting away

Dropping the string down in the middle of the floor in plain site of your cat may be novel at first, but your cat will quickly tire of having it's prey so easily available. In general, try not to show the whole object at once. Rather, give your cat fleeting glimpses of it's prey as it slowly moves out of sight. For example, with a string, your cat is generally going to be more intrigued by the last 10 % of the string that's slowly escaping behind the chair than the 90 % it's already seen.

4. Most of the time, the play toy SHOULD get away

You may need to practice this one in order to get good at it, especially if your cat happens to be an expert hunter. But in general, try not to let your cat "win" all the time. Like a truly competitive athlete, cats would rather lose giving it their best than win having an opponent go easy on them. The less your cat can get the play toy, the more your cat will want the play toy.

5. Leverage your cat's curiosity

Cats are instinctively curious. "No duh," you're thinking (yes, I threw out a 90's catchphrase). However, very few cat owners seem to leverage this knowledge productively during playtime. Rather than always letting your cat see the particular object it's hunting, regularly hide it behind something while simultaneously making it create noise. If your cat is like most cats, it will not be able to resist and will soon come pouncing into whichever particular hiding place you've chosen. Mix it up - your cat will thank you and you'll have more fun too.

6. Emulate captured prey

If you've ever seen a cat that's captured real prey, you know that the cat isn't usually interested in killing it off right away. Rather, it wants to toy with it for awhile. And usually, the captured prey will "play" right along by pretending to be dead and then making a break for it once the cat lets go (although I suppose it's not really "playing" when you've got cat fangs sunk into your flesh leading to a slow and miserable death). Your job is to be like that poor little mouse. Play dead, make a break for it, let the cat catch it (if it can), repeat.

7. Eliminate distractions

If there are a lot of new people in the house or loud sounds in the background, your cat will likely be too distracted or skittish to hunt at it's optimal level. Create a safe environment for your cat to play in and it will more likely be fully engaged.

8. Introduce new play toys regularly

Even the best play toys can get boring to your cat after awhile. If you can, mix it up everyone once in awhile. You don't have to spend a ton of time or money to create great play toys for your cat. Just be creative. Here's a recent example of how I did this with a string.

1. Normal string. Cat loved it at first...gradually became less intrigued by it.

2. Normal string with cellophane taped around the end of it. This created the element of sound in the chase and suddenly the cat could not only see the prey but hear it as well. Instant attention. But again, over time it became less intriguing.

3. Normal string with cellophane and a wild feather attached to the end of it. This introduced three new elements: the feather, the smell of the feather (new sense engaged), and the flight of the feather. Suddenly the string that used to be earthbound was now soaring through the air. Our cat couldn't resist...for awhile.

4. Normal string with a round, bunched up Walmart bag taped to the end of it. Oh boy. Watch out. This is the new "hot" toy for our cat. She will regularly start panting after just five minutes of play because she is going after it nonstop. Adding something on the end that she can sink her teeth into has been the killer add-on. Who's knows what the next evolution will be...

In Conclusion

So, there you have it. Some basic tips on how to play with your cat. As you can see, most of it involves playing on your cat's terms rather than your own. Your cat is a cat after all, not a dog, and perhaps that's one of the most important things to keep in mind during playtime. Happy playing!

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**Note from Kim** Hope you've enjoyed my first guest blogger (I'm kind of partial to him!). And for proof of Dave's prowess in our house at entertaining Mosie:

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!

goals

Goals for the week (in no particular order... and really only telling this because it's Monday and I'm stuck in a cubicle and it's kind of cold and boring):

1. Experiment cooking with squash.

2. Clean up my dead plants on the fire escape.

3. Try making this, minus the olives. And adding copious amounts of garlic.

4. Get 2 hours or less in the half marathon on Saturday.

5. Make some serious progress in Kavalier and Clay. I've been moving too slow through it.

I found this recipe and thought it sounded awesome... until I noticed it called for TWELVE TABLESPOONS OF BUTTER. Good grief. This will not be a goal for the week... unless my goal is to not eat 12T. of butter in one sitting, or even in the whole week.

Won't get to run today because I'll be coming back from Marion, but hoping tomorrow's will be less nauseating! Happy Monday (it's half over... at least the workday part!)!