Running for the Hills

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Rest/Recovery Week

I did not intend for this to be as much of a rest/recovery week as it was, but I clearly overdid it last weekend, and paid for it this week. I took Monday off because I knew beyond a doubt that I needed to. I ran on Tuesday, but felt very low energy and had to keep it short and slow. I took Wednesday off since Tuesday's run felt so bad, but I felt bad again during my Thursday run. So I kept it even shorter and slower on Friday, and then I had a race today. Luckily, race-day adrenaline pulled through for me and I raced well, although I was 22 seconds slower than the PR I set last year. I was in 2nd place for most of the race, but I caught 1st place just before the start of the last mile, and then I took off and flew through the last mile. The girl I passed beat me easily last year, but apparently was not feeling good today. I could hear her trying to keep up with me when I first passed her, but soon I couldn't hear her anymore, and somebody told me later that she finished quite a ways behind me.

The hardest part of the race was the first mile, we were running directly into the wind. I would like to blame the wind for the fact that my time was slower this year compared to last year...

This Week:

M: rest

T : 4.7 / 36:09 / 7:41

W : rest

R : 4.7 / 35:31 / 7:33

F : 2.73 / 21:43 / 7:57

Sa : 10k race / 40:47 / 6:34
Su : rest

total : 18.33

Definitely my lowest mileage week in a long time, but I clearly needed it. I expect this coming week will be low as well, since I really want to do well in the Blue Ridge 1/2 next Saturday. I strained something in right quad during a PE class on Friday, and it is bothering me quite a bit today, so I expect I will take quite a few days off this week to rest up for the race.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Artichoke-Avocado Dip

This could also be called "Leftovers Dip." I basically through a bunch of things together in a bowl. I put half an avocado on my burger and wanted to make some sort of chip-dip with the other half. I also had a little bit of tomato left, so I chopped it up and added it to the avocado. Then I chopped up an artichoke heart and added that. And then, I squirted some ranch on top. And mixed it all up. It was awesomely delicious with multi-grain tortilla chips.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Loaded Burger

Cook up a batch of purist burgers.

Toast a bun.

Cover the bottom bun with guacamole.

Add a slice of tomato.

Add a burger.

Add some bacon.

Add some onions & mushrooms.

Add the top bun.

EAT.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

PB & Butterscotch Chip Cookies

1/2 stick butter

1/4 c vegetable oil

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c white sugar

1 egg

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

4-5 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

1/2 c wheat flour

1 c white flour

1/3 c butterscotch chips

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Cranberry-Beef Stew

2 lb pot roast

(coat with wheat flour, cinnamon, and cocoa powder)

5 carrots

(chopped)

1/2 onion, 4 cloves garlic, big chunk of ginger

(chopped and sauteed)

1/2 c cranberries

1/2 c pumpkin, 1/2 c beef broth, 1 c cranberry juice

(blended)

5 large mushrooms, chopped

Place the coated pot roast in the bottom of a crockpot. Put the sauteed stuff on top. Dump the carrots on top, then the cranberries. Pour the liquids over the contents of the pot, then scatter the mushrooms on top. If you have a bunch of extra flour/cinnamon/cocoa coating like I did, sprinkle some on top.

Cook on low for 7.5 hours.

(My pot roast was pretty thin. If yours is thicker it may take more time.)

When the meat is cooked through, remove it from the pot. Shred the meat, discard the fat.

Return the shredded meat to the pot and stir well.

I ate mine with some barley. Delicious.

One Week til the Race-Craziness

Next weekend is the Hospice Care 10k that is held during Lewisburg's Chocolate Festival every year. It is the only 10k I've ever run, but I suppose this will be my 5th year running it! So far, it is my worst race. I guess there's just something about that 10k distance...too long for my 5k sprint pace, but too short to get away with half marathon pace. I did manage to take 8 minutes off my time last year though, so there's hope. This year's goal = finish in less than 40 minutes. Last year I finished in 40:25, so I guess I'm not setting the bar very high. But still, that is around my 5k pace, and I'm trying to hold it for twice the distance. Yikes.

The weekend after the 10k, is the Blue Ridge 1/2, and the weekend after that is the Greenbrier River Race. April is a busy month for racing! And last year it took me awhile to recover from that 3-in-a-row. I'll have a little extra recovery time this year, since I'm not doing a May race. I'll have 2 races in June though.

This Week:

M: off

T: 5.56 / 40:13 / 7:13

W: 6.13 / 46:31 / 7:35

R: 6.3 / 45:17 / 7:11

F: 12.16 / 1:35:14 / 7:49

Sa: 4.7 / 35:20 / 7:31

Su: 3.9 / 30:34 / 7:50

total : 38.75

This is the third week in a row that I didn't manage to get 40 miles in. I should probably just be happy with 35 a week, it appears that there is not enough energy or hours in the day to accomplish 40 miles a week. I got close this week, but despite how great Friday's run felt at the time, it wiped me out. I had very little energy on Saturday, and not much today either. I should have taken today off, but I know I'm taking tomorrow off because it's a super busy day. So I made today's run a short easy jog. Besides, it's hard not to run when the temp is actually above freezing and the sun is shining!

In other news, I have now worn my new shoes for 4 days in a row and I haven't developed any random new pains. Hooray! If they make it another week with no problems I might have to go buy 3 or 4 pairs to keep me going for awhile...

Lemon-Oatmeal Cookies

(sorry...I was in a hurry and didn't take any exciting pictures)