So Much To Say

I had a super busy weekend. I love to travel and be busy but I’m ready for a boring sit-on-my-butt after running weekend.

After 2 days off from running, lots of yoga and butt massaging, I ran 20 miles on Friday morning! My butt pain was pretty much gone but my left calf was tight the whole time and I had to stop a couple of times to stretch it out. Friday morning was perfect weather. It was sunny, little breeze, probably 50 something when I started (i.e. longs sleeve weather for me) and maybe 60 something at the end (long sleeves stayed on until about mile 8). I tried a new fueling strategy. Every 2.5 miles I walked and drank water/Gatorade. Every 5 miles I took a Gu (mile 5 – Double Expresso; mile 10 – Plain; mile 15 – Vanilla Bean). Essentially, I was taking fuel/walk breaks every 2.5 miles. This seemed to work out great. My plan for the run was to keep the pace at 11:30 or under, I’m still not certain of my race-pace. I ended up with 20 miles/3:55:09/11:45 AP. I didn’t pause my watch at all during the run for fear I would forget to start it again so with my stretch breaks and stoplights I was probably close to 11:30. What I really wanted out of this run was to finish the 20 under 4 hours. I know what the last 6.2 of a marathon feel like for me so ideally on race day I’d like to hit 20 miles in 3:50 or under, which is an 11:30 pace. (Some of you will already be done with your race by then…Mr. Pi, based on his last finish time, would have been done for 22 minutes. Being slow has the perks of lots of cheerleaders at the end!) All in all, I was happy with my first 20 miler, I’m glad I went for it.

The rest of Friday was spent in the car (ouch, I forgot that long runs + long car rides are kinda painful). Saturday was busy! Mr. Pi ran his long run in the morning (I was happy to take the day off) and I took the doggie for a long walk. Later we met up with family and helped set up decorations for my cousins wedding. Saturday night was the wedding! Thanks to her I looked fabulous (thanks for lending me a fantastic dress). Sadly, I don’t have any pictures. Other than my tan lines I looked pretty dang good.

Sunday was the long drive back. I really wanted to get in a run in the morning but I was wayyyyy too tired. I ended the week with only 31.7 miles, I’m hoping to get closer to 40 this week and peak in two weeks at 40-45. Operation sleep is in effect for this week too, though I have to say other than Friday and Saturday night I was in bed before 9:30 every night last week. I think Monday and Tuesday I was in bed before 9…it was glorious! I’m not a night person, never have been…in college I was the girl that went to bed at 8:00 and got up at 4:00 am to study (about the time everyone was going to sleep).

Here’s to another good week of training...lots of stretching, icing and massaging! Also, I really need to get back in the pool!

P.S. My google reader is out of control at the moment, sorry if I'm a bad commenter this week!

Recipe Wednesday: Smoothie Mania

Track Tuesday was a bit of a disaster last night. I haven't officially plugged in Geoff to get my splits but I think my first 3 800's rocked! When I glanced down I was running at an 8:16 which is right in the range of where I wanted to be. However, my piriformis really started to bother me on the 4th 800 and I had to stop halfway through to stretch it out. I did attempt the 400's, I only did 2, haven't a clue about my pace. In total Geoff reports: 6.7 miles at 10:34 pace, that includes my slow warmup and cooldown mileage.

15-20 min of yoga this morning really helped the butt. I plan on more yoga tomorrow, maybe a run, maybe some Xtraining (since I suck at XTraining lately). Weather is cooler (and gray today, sad) but the forecast doesn't indicate rain for the next few days...this means, I will probably do my long run Friday morning before heading out to WA for the wedding.

Sleep update: Bed before 9 pm Monday and Tuesday night, feeling fab-u-lous!

Okay...time for...Recipe Wednesday!

I've been experimenting with lots of smoothie concoctions lately. I jumped on the green smoothie train for a bit and still enjoy them but I'm not a die hard convert (like some people). In RW they had a recipe for a coffee smoothie, it sounded delicious and inspired me to think about my favorite foods and their smoothie-worthyness. First things to come to mind CHOCOLATE and PEANUT BUTTER!

Here's my choco-soy-PB-Banana smoothie recipe:

Makes: 1 pint glass (plus an extra 1/4 cupish)

1 cup Chocolate Soy Milk

1 heaping tbsp PB (I use all natural but any will do)

1 small banana (not pictured b/c I think banana peels are gross)

Lots of ice (this will determine consistency and amount)

Throw everything into a blender and blend.

Review: 5 stars!

This is the best treat smoothie that is semi-healthy I've ever had! It's chocolately and peanut buttery but also has a hint of banana. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm! If you don't care for soy milk, you could just whip up some chocolate milk by mixing milk and hershey's syrup. To make it healthier, you could use light choco soy milk or use non-fat milk and sugar-free syrup. My one trick is to put the banana in first and dribble the PB over the banana so the PB doesn't stick to the sides of the blender. This ensures maximum PB taste.

ENJOY!

Track Tuesday & Crazy 8's

It’s Track Tuesday! I’m changing it up a little tonight. Decided on 4 x 800 w/4:20 recoveries and 4 x 400 w/400 recovery (total: 3 miles of speedwork). I looked on the McMillan calculator and have decided on the following ranges: 800 (4:14 – 4:25, pretty much same as last week) & 400 (2:01 – 2:10), never done 400’s before so it should be interesting. I based these on a 4:30 marathon, which is quite a bit faster than my goal. Track Tuesday here we come!


I was tagged by both RunningLaur and Mica, so figured I better participate =).

8 Things to which I am looking forward:
1. Going to my cousins wedding this weekend
2. Running at the track tonight with my girls
3. Shopping HTC’s closet for a dress for the wedding this weekend (I didn’t have sisters so clothes sharing when I get to is always sooooo fun)
4. My next Netflix disk in the mail (Big Love Season 2: Disc 4)
5. Spectating the Eugene Marathon in a couple of weeks and seeing this girl BQ
6. Choosing my first summer triathlon
7. Getting back into weights (I actually miss Jillian yelling on the Shred DVD…need to find motivation to put on this DVD)
8. SUMMMMMMMMMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Put a bunch of dishes away
2. Made a choco-banana-PB smoothie….mmmmmmm
3. Ran part of my run with the doggie
4. Ran 5 miles in the warm sunshine!
5. Went to bed ridiculously early and loved it
6. Lots of good stretching
7. Began tracking my food again at The Daily Plate
8. Told my hubby I love him

8 Things I wish I could do/I want to do:
1. Get rid of my piriformis pain
2. At least 20 min of yoga for the rest of the week
3. Make my allergies go away
4. Become a faster runner
5. Set PR’s in every race distance this year (Marathon, 1/2, 5k and run a 10k)
6. Travel more
7. Lose 10 lbs
8. Retire and become a beach lifeguard

8 Shows I watch (I really don’t want that much TV since TiVo died and we gave up cable, so I may have to toss in some throwback shows that I used to love):
1. Big Love (via Netflix so I’m a season or two behind)
2. Dancing with the Stars (when I catch it, last night I was sleeping)
3. Brothers and Sisters (when they have it on ABC.com b/c I’m definitely asleep at 10:00pm on Sunday night)
4. Desperate Housewives (again, only when I watch it via ABC.com)
5. 90210 (the original!)
6. Party of Five
7. Seinfeld
8. Friends

(I'm going to try to catch some episodes of Glee since our good running buddy Southbay Girl is working on this show.)

And I tag…anyone who wants to be tagged today!

Spectating, Sunshine and Speed?

I haven't been the best post-er lately. Though I WAS (key word: WAS) caught up with my google reader as of Friday, of course now I'm 50 behind.

Confession: I've hit a bit of the "blahs." I haven't been getting in my cross training and I'm feeling a little burned out. So far, every marathon I've trained for (all 2 of them) I've hit this stage at some point. I feel like I'm not getting in enough miles (even though I'm logging more miles than my past training cycles). I really feel like I need to add longer miles mid-week but I've been unmotivated to do so. If this "blah" period is anything like ones in the past, I'll get over it quickly, here's to hoping.

To re-cap my week, I did speedwork on Tuesday, felt great and strong. I did yoga once (yay cross training, even if it was only once). I attempted a mid-week 9 miler and ended up with only 3 miles, decided to let my piriformis rest and to not push it. Thursday night was Zach's birthday party! Yay! But this meant not a lot of sleep Thursday night and a little hangover (from my piddly two drinks) on Friday. Friday night I had a work party that was fun but also lasted until 1am. UGH! Saturday I was exhausted and turned my 20 mile run into 18. Which left me 8 miles off of my weekly total. In positive news, my 18 was faster than my previous 18.5. I tried a new strategy from running planet. I did one mile at GP (10:50-11:00) and 1 mile of recover (11:30-11:45). I ended was a time of 3:30:15/11:40 AP. I was averaging closer to my max recovery pace but it was speedier than the 12:15 AP of my last 18.5. It was a painful run, I was tired. This week it's operation sleep & operation get-rid-of-the-blahs.

Sunday I spectated the Bridge to Brews 10k. It was another gloriously sunny day! (Did I mention from my Saturday run that I now have tan lines??!!) All the PB&J's (except Erika and me) were running. Everyone did fantastic! I took a few photos but haven't transferred them from the camera. It was awesome to see everyone finish. I saw Mr. Pi first (he ran under 7 min miles!), then Zach, Emily, Jen, Sarah and Amy. I loved being there to cheer on my fellow runners. I know Mr. Pi and Amy had PRs, not sure about the rest of the team (I'm not caught up on my race report reading). After the race, there was talk of a PB&J invitational this summer hosted by event director Amy. I have to say I'm pretty excited about this concept (despite knowing I'll be the last PB&J to finish). Maybe I can co-host with her and we'll open it up to virtual participants.

As I said this week is operation sleep and rid-the-blahs. Here is my plan:

Tonight, after work, I want to go out for a run without a pace in mind (maybe I'll even go out without Geoff). The goal of the run tonight is to remember why I love to run. It's going to sunny and warm...I'm sure there will be birds chirping and lots of people out enjoying the weather. After the run, I'd like to sneak in a short yoga session to loosen up. (Bedtime: 9:00-9:30pm)

Track Tuesday on Tuesday evening. We're taking Track Tuesday to Sarah's cult. I hope to be inspired by my surroundings and channel my inner Sara Goucher. (Bedtime: 9:00-9:30pm)

Wednesday-- Mid week longish run -OR- swim/weights (depends on the butt after track Tuesday) (Bedtime: 9:00-9:30pm)

Thursday-- Mid week longish run -OR- swim/weights (depends on what happens Wednesday) (Bedtime: 8:30 - 9:00pm, if doing long run Friday)

Friday-- Depends on Wed/Thurs and the weather. If I do my longish mid-week on Wednesday and the weather is nice I'll do my long run (we're going out of town this week to a wedding, I took the whole day off but Mr. Pi has a morning meeting so I would have time to run in the morning). If the weather is crappy and I did my longish mid-week run on Thursday then I might do another swim or go to spin and save the long run for Saturday morning. (Bedtime: 9:00-9:30pm)

Saturday/Sunday-- Depends on the previous workouts. Either long run or short recovery run, long walk or yoga. (Bedtime: Flexible given I'll be at an evening wedding.)

I like to be flexible with workouts, this week a little more so than usual. Given that I'm going to be traveling.

I do have a question for all of you. I missed my 20 mile run this weekend. Technically I'm in a stepback week where I'm only doing 15-16 miles. I really want to get in two 20 mile runs this training cycle, should I do 20 this weekend and stepback next weekend before doing my final 20? Or, should I continue on my training plan and just do one 20?

Recipe Wednesday: 2nd addition

First, update on Track Tuesday! Gazelle and I did our second Track Tuesday last night. Our goal was 1 mile warmup/cooldown and 5 x 800 with 4:20 recovery. My goal for the 800's was 4:15 - 4:20. I won't lie, yesterday was hard, in fact I had to stop after 800 #3 to stretch out my right leg. Piriformis was back with a vengeance making my right leg feel like lead! However, that being said, my splits were pretty decent!

#1 - 4:17
#2 - 4:20
#3 - 4:25
#4 - 4:20
#5 - 4:20

I ran the first recovery a little too fast and had to run/walk recoveries 2 and 3. Recovery 4 and 5 I ran all but 15 seconds.

Geoff reported 6.27 miles/1:07:30/10:48 AP (Gazelle and I ran the first mile warmup together, her Lionel said 10:46, my Geoff said 11:03...weird Garmins! P.S. Gazelle was SPEEDY yesterday. She did fantastic! I love her positive attitude and having her as a running buddy...track tuesday's wouldn't exist without her!)

Okay...long awaited recipe Wednesday #2...

Growing up, one of my favorite restaurants was The Kabob House, a Greek restaurant near my house. (If you ever find yourself in the Sacramento area, seek this place out!) Over the years, the owners have watched me celebrate birthdays, graduate high school, college, grad school and get married. They even gave Mr. Pi and I huge jug of their special sauce (see below). I've been there so many times I don't even bother with looking at the menu...I've tried lots of entrees but have 2 favorites.

As a kid, my Dad, grandmother and I would go out to eat every Friday. It was our tradition. We had many ethnic favorites but Greek (and Mexican) were my favorites. One of my favorite things about Greek cuisine is HUMMUS! I love it! A few years back I learned how to make it...it is one of the easiest dips to make and is almost always a crowd pleaser. I won't claim my recipe is as good as the Kabob House but it's pretty darn good, definitely better than any store bought brands I've tried.

Loosely based on a recipe found in the Cook's Illustrated recipe book.

Makes: Couple of cups-ish

1. 1 15 oz can Chick Peas, drained (I like the low sodium kind)

2. 1/4 cup water (sometimes an extra tablespoon or two is needed)

3. 1/4 cup olive oil

4. 1/4 cup tahini (can be found at any grocery store)

5. Juice and Zest from one lemon

6. 1-3 cloves garlic (depends on your garlic preference, see review below)

7. Couple of dashes cayenne powder

In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.

Serve with a sprinkle of cayenne powder (or paprika if you're not looking for extra spice) for color and a drizzle of olive oil (if desired). Can be served cold, at room temperature or slightly warmed.

Review: 4.5 stars (not 5 since I know better hummus exists at the Kabob House)

This is not for the vampire in your family, the garlic is pretty potent. In fact, if you're not a garlic lover I might try one clove and adjust from there. I personally love garlic and go for 3 cloves but as Mr. Pi can atest, I'm pretty stinky afterwards! Do NOT substitute peanut butter for tahini. Find the tahini, you won't be sorry! Blend longer than you think you need to, the smoother the better! Keeps for a whole week and gets better after a few days, as Mr. Pi says, the flavors deepen and meld.

I usually eat it with pita bread/pita chips/small toast pieces but hummus is a great spread on sandwiches (especially if you're like me and LOATHE mayo) or as a dipper for veggies.

Alisa's Hummus

Member that HUGE jug of sauce I mentioned...here it is...Eli's Steak Sauce

Longest Run of SD 2009 Training

On Saturday I ran 18.5 miles, that is the longest run this marathon training cycle. My legs were a bit heavy, I was a bit tired but all in all, I already feel better trained this time around. This despite my piriformis acting up. (Time to roll on the tennis ball and stop wearing heels.)


Thursday afternoon, Mr. Pi and I left for California. We arrived very late Thursday night. The drive is long and painfully boring as we've driven it many, many times.


Friday we woke up to beautiful California weather! (YAY) We went to a park near my in-laws, Mr. Pi had a short Pfitz run (crazy Pfitz) and I took Zoey for a long walk. Friday night I went to bed early despite a house full of family, I knew I needed my rest for Saturday.


Saturday morning we were again treated to clear blue skies and sunshine. I ate my toast with PB and drank my coffee. I have to say I was a bit nervous for this run. I was trying a new fueling method (more gels) and I had a time goal for the run. I ended up a few minutes over the time goal BUT with semi good reason. (I'll get to that in a minute.)

I planned to break the run into three 6 mile runs and do three loops around the lower part of Bidwell Park. However, after my first extended loop of 8 miles, I decided to do a 10 mile loop and run to upper Bidwell and back to the car. Mr. Pi and I have hiked in upper Bidwell, but I've never run there. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I ended up on a single track trail for part of the run (I thought of Gazelle and her love of trail running). It was pretty fantastic!
I turned off my tunes, since I didn't want to get run over by a mountain biker. I listened to the stream running along to the right of me, the spring birds chirping in the air and watched the butterflies flutter around me...like I said, pretty fantastic!

Being on the trail did slow me down some (hence missing my time goal) but it was totally worth it! After the trail I came to a gravel road and encountered TONS of runners. It was fabulous. Up in the surrounding hills there were lots of hikers and bikers. It seemed like everyone was out enjoying the sunshine!There were a few gentle rollers, but the road was mostly flat. (At least the part I was on...my turn around point came before the steep up hills.)
I overshot the car by half a mile and finished with 18.5 miles under my belt. Total time: 3:46/12:16 AP (I was aiming for 11:30/11:45 AP.) I think my extra gel did help but I need to tinker with the timing. I took my first one at mile 6 and my second at mile 13. I think maybe I need to try mile 5 and 12. I also tried a new thing with my fuel belt. I personally HATE wearing the fuel belt. I would really like to run the marathon without it, but am too scared to try. To ease the discomfort and annoyance of the belt, I started with two full bottles and after my first loop switched out the empty two for full ones. Two bottles instead of all four was more comfortable. My plan is to have at least one bottle for the marathon for the times I want water and am in between water stations.

Mentally, I split the run into 3 sections. I had 3 playlists for each section. My middle miles were my slowest but I finished strong with my last mile at 10:37 and my last .5 under 10 (thank you Black Eyed Peas for a rockin' new song).

While I missed my running buddies, it was a good solo run.
There were lots of hikers up in the hills enjoying the beautiful blue skies!

Quotes of the weekend came from two of my nephews post-run while I was in my ice bath still in my running clothes because I forgot a bathing suit.

Nephew #1: Why are you sitting in the bath tub with your clothes on? (said while looking very confused.)

Nephew #2: There are ice cubs in the bath tub. Are you trying to make a swimming pool?

Track Tuesday's

Recipe Wednesday is going to be a bit delayed. The post is all ready to go but I forgot to upload the pictures last night. Can't have a recipe Wednesday without photos. I will try to post tonight, if not, it'll be a recipe Thursday!

I do have something to report on though...Track Tuesday which Gazelle and I officially started last night. I've never done track work, I usually do "tempo" runs for speedwork. I let Gazelle pick the workout--Yasso 800's. She read in Runners World that if you have a goal marathon time that you should use that time for your 800 goal. We picked 4:45. We did 1 mile of warmup, 4 sets of 800's at 4:45 (which we both crushed) with 4:45 recovery and 1 mile of cooldown. Here are my 800 splits:

#1 - 4:12 (8:27) w/ 4:45 recovery
#2 - 4:16 (8:34) w/ 4:45 recovery
#3 - 4:38 (9:18) w/4:45 recovery
#4 - 4:26 (8:56) w/4:45 recovery


The first .25 of 800 #1 was at a 7-something...clearly went out a BIT too hard there (my lungs were burning). First recovery I walked the whole thing, the other three I walked about a minute and jogged (slowly) the rest.

I was surprised how strong these made me feel! The only thing I didn't like about the workout was how packed the track was...we're trying a different track next week. We also decided to adjust our target to 4:15-4:20 with 4:20 recovery. My goal next week is to stay within the range and to jog all of the recovery's, I agree with Gazelle's statement "if I can't jog the whole recovery, then I'm probably going too fast." I am determined to SMASH my marathon PR in San Diego and am hopeful adding some track workouts will help.

Track Tuesday triumphant total: 5.5 miles/59:28/10:49 AP (warmup and cooldown we took VERY easy on purpose)

Stay tuned for Track Tuesday report next week when we tackle 5 repeats at a new goal range. Maybe we'll even get some pictures to show our Gazelle and Giraffe speediness!

Race for the Roses: Race Report

First, I PR'd! Waaaa-hoo! Julianne is the best pacer ever, I'm sure I was a pain in the butt at some point (i.e. miles 9-13). I'll save you the suspense if you don't want to read all the way through...I didn't hit my 2:20 goal BUT I did PR by 11 minutes with a final time of 2:27:04. (And we totally zipped past a few peeps near the end.)

Poor Julianne flew up to Portland Saturday night and didn't get to my place until pretty late. But we were both up at 5:00am eating our toast with PB and drinking our French press coffee...mmmm! I was nervous! I really haven't been nervous in a long time. I think I was nervous because I had a specific goal, I'd posted about it, tweeted it and I had a pacer who knew my goal too.

We got to the start with plenty of time and took a few pictures. Go team Giraffe! (Apparently, that's my new nickname.)

Shortly after that photo was taken we found Erika! I knew Zach and Jen were going to be there too but sadly, we didn't see them. Emily and Amy were running the 5k which started 30 minutes after the half so I didn't think we would see them.

Before I knew it we were off and running, literally! Here are Team Giraffe's splits!

Mile 1 - 10:05; Mile 2 - 10:11; Mile 3 - 10:37; Mile 4 - 11:35 (hill)

I won't bore you with the details of the course, since there have already been many other race reports. Around mile 2 we saw Cindy, who was using this as a training run (she ran the 13.1 + another 7 to make 20...GO CINDY! P.S. She had the cutest race outfit on.)

Mile 5 - 10:27 (back on pace); Mile 6 - 9:59 (downhill baby); Mile 7 - 12:13 (dun, dun, dun)

Mile 6 lookin' good!

Clearly, I was having some trouble around mile 7. I took my Gu at 6.5 but it didn't kick in. I felt so great the first 6 miles, maybe too great.

Mile 8 - 10:36 (Gu kickin' in and maybe short?); Mile 9 - 12:00; Mile 10 - 11:40

By mile 10, I was struggling. Mr. Pi, the best hubby ever, who walked to several spots on the course to cheer and take pictures; was waiting around mile 11. He said he saw a bunch of people that we were ahead of at mile 6 go by and he was getting worried. By we did finally round the corner on the home stretch.

This is where Julianne was so awesome, saying all kinds of motivational stuff. Telling me "no walking," "walk after the finish line," "you came to PR," etc. She was fantastic! Knowing that I wouldn't make my "goal" time, if she hadn't been there I might have thrown in the towel and walked (and cried) the last two or three miles BUT because she was there motivating me and supporting me, reminding me that I was still going to have a BIG PR, I kept at it.

Mile 11 - 12:10; Mile 12 - 12:00; Mile 13 - 12:35; .1 - 9:20 (yeah sprint to the finish!)

This is the that final uphill that many others were complaining about. It WAS pretty mean to put this at 12.8! But Julianne and I made it to the top and even picked off a couple of people, namely this one chick who was superduper negative for the last half a mile telling us we had to "save ourselves for the hill" that we should "walk up the hill"...whateva biotch we kicked it right on past you! AND on the other side of the bridge we had cheerleaders! Sarah (bless her heart) didn't run either race but she was at the race start to see the 5kers off and watched all the PB&J's finish! Amy was also there cheering in the final stretch, basking in her 5k PR glory!

My official finish: 2:27:04

That's an 11 minute PR, as I mentioned in the first paragraph! Next 1/2, another 11 PR! I decided I'm going to go from the 2:30's to 2:20's to the teens to singles in 2009, maybe in 2010 I'll break 2 hours =). I even have a volunteer pacer for my next race (though, I told her she should talk to Julianne first and see if she REALLY wants to pace me.) I learned some valuable lessons on Sunday. 1) I need to work on starting off slower and finishing strong. 2) I think I need more fuel. I'm going to try Gu's every 4 or 5 miles instead of one halfway through. 3) Always stay positive...I'm going to try to channel Julianne during every race from now on. She was so positive and so supportive!

There were many PR's on Sunday and everyone put in a strong finish! After the race the PB&J's met up at Mother's for brunch and celebratory champagne.

Racers and spectators, minus the Barnes' who had already gone home to shower.

(Sarah, Mr. Pi, Me, Amy, Emily (who, like Amy, PR'd in the 5k) and the best pacer ever Miss Julianne)
Cheers to an awesome race and an awesome group of friends!

One thing that you could probably tell from the pictures is...spring finally came to Portland. The weather was just as predicated--gloriously sunny and warm (with a nice breeze). Have I mentioned how much I LOVE SUNSHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goals for Sunday

As some of you know, I have a ½ marathon on Sunday. This will be my last race before the marathon! I signed up for this race knowing that it would be a step back week for my long run. I don’t want to jinx the race BUT I can’t help but be ecstatic about the weather forecast for Sunday.

Sunday, Apr 5





High: 64 °F RealFeel: 61 °F
Clouds and sunshine/20% precipitation chance

That’s right…60 something! I don’t pay any attention to the 20% chance of rain since it almost always says that in Portland. The world is going to see my white legs this weekend!

My goals for the race have been somewhat in flux but here they are:

1. My #1 goal for this race is a new PR. This means I need to beat 2:38, which I set in Healdsburg (a much hillier course than Sunday). I also learned on this course that mixing wine and gu is not such a good idea…but I’m glad I tried it once! I'm confident I can beat this PR. I am much better prepared.

2. 2:20 or better would be nice.

3. 2:15 or better would be my A++ goal.

Julianne has agreed to pace me for the race! I’ve never had a pacer…I secretly hope she’s a little drill sergeant-y, especially toward the end when I know I’ll want to crap out and throw my goals out the window. Mr. Pi’s comment was “for the sake of our marriage, I’ll never pace you.” He says this out of love but also because he knows I can be a tad bit sensitive during runs (you’ve all heard about my marathon tears). For this race, I’m really looking forward to working on my mental strategy and would like to push myself a little more than I have in past races.

Julianne and I will have lots of company during the race as several other PB&J’s will be running this weekend. We will even have crowd support—Sarah & Mr. Pi will be cheering us on.

This week has been pretty stressful at work. But I’ve managed to have a pretty good workout week.

- I’ve jumped on the Push-Up Challenge train. (Note: I’ve done this challenge before but always stopped after a month.) I have motivation this time around since at our next PB&J party I have to keep up! P.S. I'm sore, "real" push ups are hard!

- SBSD is still going strong.

- I’ve manage to add in the Shred video at least twice a week…I’d like to bump up to 3 days a week.

- Gazelle and I are starting Track Tuesday’s next week and will be doing Yasso 800’s—I’m scared!

- Swimming fell off the schedule this week (unless I can motivate myself to go tonight). I love the pool, it’s my favorite workout but it is more of a hassle. I am considering joining Masters again.

- If I can eek out 3 measly miles today after work (and I complete the ½ Sunday) I’ll be at 30 for the week. I think I’ve only hit 30 miles once. If you count last Friday to today (3/27 – 4/3) my count is 37 miles.

Happy Friday!

Launching...Recipe Wednesday

Sarah has Music Monday’s, Gazelle has her Shoe Porn, Chic Runner does Deals on Thursday, several people do Photo Friday’s and Runner's Lounge TIART Thursday’s are popular too. I decided I wanted to start doing Recipe Wednesday’s (I couldn’t think of anything cooking related that started with “W” so it’s just Recipe Wednesday). I’m always inspired by Mica’s concoctions and both Mr. Pi and I like to cook and have made some amazing recipes. In fact, I already have several ideas for the next few Wednesday’s! I figured this would be a good way to get him involved as a guest writer maybe too...what do you say Mr. Pi?

I will try to post pictures but some of the first few recipes will be ones that I’ve made in the past and may not have pictures. Before I launch, Recipe Wednesday, I will caveat that I use the term “recipe” loosely as most of my meals are little bit of this, little bit of that. I am hoping that this forum will actually make it so I write down recipes for future re-making (and for you all).

In no particular order, we kick things off with Alisa’s Mexican Soup with Tortilla Strips, loosely based on several tortilla soup recipes found online.

Serves: A LOT…I served 4 very hungry adults who had all run double digit miles and there were still a lot of leftovers…I’d say it serves 6-8.

1. 2- 15 oz cans Low-Sodium Black Beans (not drained)
2. 2- 15 oz. cans Stewed Tomatoes (not drained)
3. 1-15 oz can Enchilada sauce
4. 1 small can diced green chilies
5. 1 onion chopped
6. 1 lb frozen chicken breast
7. 1 small package frozen corn
8. 2 cloves garlic minced
9. 1.5 cups of water
10. 2 heaping tbsp oregano, Basil & Cumin
11. 3 heaping tbsp chili powder
12. Few squirts Frank’s hot sauce
13. Stack of tortillas, sliced into strips
14. 1 tsp vegetable oil
15. Salt and pepper to taste

Combine first 12 ingredients in a slow cooker, set on low for 7 hours. After 7 hours, open lid and shred chicken with a knife and fork. Taste for spice level, adjust and cook another ½ - 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 15 minutes before serving, stack (maybe 5 for four people) corn tortillas and slice thinly vertically (and horizontally for smaller strips). Lay in a shallow baking dish and drizzle with oil. Salt if desired. Bake at 400 for 8 minutes, remove shake, place back in oven. Broil from 1-2 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy. Set aside on plate or in bowl.

Serve soup with dollup of sour cream, sprinkling of tortilla strips and grated cheddar cheese.

Review: 4 stars (mostly for conveinance and overall likeability...could have used some modifications)
It was delicious but not very spicy, I LOVE spicy food. In the future, I would have added a few jalapenos and maybe even half a habanero. The chili powder wasn’t cuttin’ it. I would have also served with grated cheddar, I added that into the recipe so anyone making this in the future could know that option. Maybe a fresh herb on top as a garnish too (cilantro…parsley…). I made Trader Joe’s cornbread in a box as a side dish and it complimented the soup nicely.

Here is a pic of my lunch leftovers sans tortilla strips, they were pretty much all gone.

P.S. In running related news, I ran a total of 113.4 miles in March. That's a record mileage month for me.