I ran into my neighbor coming back from a run while I was putting out
the garbage last night. It made me pretty sad. There he was all tricked out in his BAA shirt and shorts telling me what a beautiful night it was along the river... At that moment I would
have liked nothing better than to lace up my shoes and head out into the
almost balmy February evening (50 degrees at 8pm?! Seriously?!?), but Himself was out for the night at a
gig and Miss N had just been put to bed. Gone are my "I have nothing
else to do so I'll go for a run" nights and it occurred to me that
they're probably gone until Miss N is well into middle school. A
depressing thought considering we just got her into preschool.
Himself is off this week for winter break, Miss N has had some interesting diapers this week and was up last night with a stomach bug and as a result I've been doing a lot of laundry and my time has not been my own. I still managed most of my planned workouts which I'm quite proud of. There are two undone running workouts, but I'll do one today at the gym after Himself takes Miss N out this afternoon and the second will probably have to wait until Sunday. Since they're short running workouts I should be able to get them in without too much struggle.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Small hikes and pea soup, two ways
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| Miss N kept telling me, "No Baby in the lake." |
Using a combo of our Ergo, the huge number of dogs in the park to pet and chase and bouts of "Baby running" as incentive, Miss N did pretty well for her first time out at Ramapo. We actually made it half way up the hill to the reservoir until we had to change a diaper...Miss N is on the edge of potty training and these days is often offended at going Number 2. Number 2 means all activity must stop until I change her diaper...she's slightly more tolerant of Number 1. Moral of this tangent is I need to get my head around training her.
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| An entire nature reserve to play in and Miss N is found a stick and some gravel that occupied most of her time. |
Miss N scarfed a "Protein Plate" from Starbucks - which is reminded me that next time I could pack exactly the same for us for 1/4 of the money. I thought she was good for lunch but when we pulled back up in front of the house she started chanting "pea soup."
It's gratifying that Miss N actually likes something I cook to ask for it, sometimes I feel at such a loss at what to feed her for lunch. There are a few things that are great about this soup. It's insanely easy, can be tweaked as you please and can be cooked in a slow cooker or on the stovetop.
Without further ado I give you: Pea Soup Two Ways, adapted from Jane Brody
1 1b dried green split peas6 c water
4 c broth of choice - (I usually use chicken)
1/4 lb of ham, diced
3/4 c diced celery
1 lg onion chopped (I often use frozen diced for expediency)
1 1/2 c diced carrots
salt & pepper to taste
Stovetop directions:
Put peas & water in a pot bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, cover and let stand for 1 hour. Add broth, ham celery & onion. Bring to a boil, reduce heat & simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Add carrots & cook for another 15-30 minutes or until carrots soften and pea break down. If soup gets too thick, thin with broth. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Slow cooker directions:
Depending on how much time you have this can be done on the high (6 hours) or low setting of your slow cooker. Brown ham in small frying pan and drain off excess fat - I've never done it, but you could probably lightly cook the onion at the same time too for more flavor. Put ham and remaining ingredients, except salt & pepper, in 6-qt slow cooker and set to high. If you like your soup thick, about a half hour before serving take the lid off and let bubble away, giving it a stir now and then. Add salt & pepper to taste.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
Someone...just tell me what to make.
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| Avocado, mashed sweet potatoes and Pritkin fish sticks with a milk chaser. |
And then there's all the reading I've been doing. Meat, minimal meat, minimally processed meat, vegetarian, vegan, sustainable, responsible. AACCK!!!! Not only have I learned more than I want to know, I've learned I need to stop reading or I just won't ever eat again. I just need to get dinner on the table! Why is that suddenly so fraught for me?!?
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Life gets in the way...again.
So I had signed up and put a deposit down on the Furman Running program (FIRST), but have since come to realize that with me not working and Miss N's fall preschool tuition bill staring us in the face and a good friend's wedding in Colorado that I REALLY want to go to, I just can't afford it. I'm super disappointed and could have probably asked my mom for help but really its a frivolous expense at the moment.
L and I talked about it and as a trade-off I'm going to sign up for a few longer distance races including 2 that require overnight stays, but not airfare, car rentals or asking my m-i-l to take Miss N for 4+ nights. All this will still total way less (even with entry fees, overnight trips, gas, tolls etc) than just the initial deposit on FIRST.
So what does all this mean?
You guessed it, a new training plan...
Rather than get all ambitious and block out my training through the Fall and the Army 10-Miler in late October (that's right, for a moment I almost skipped us right over Summer and into Fall with this plan), I decided to put together one plan at a time with an eye on a race in each grouping of time. The idea was to try to avoid overtraining and also have more time to ramp-up for a race and with the understanding a week or two of fudged workouts does not spell total disaster.
First up, the Newport 10K. It's a local race whose starting line I can walk to and a distance that not only have I not raced, but isn't impossible to train for in 13 weeks (am coming at it from almost NO running in December & January). I've had a rough few weeks, but I'll talk about that in another post - hopefully - nothing traumatic just super-stressful.
Anyway, Newport is also a race that probably a few women from my running group will end up going to - so I'll likely have company at the start line (if not for long because so many of them are so fast, which is fine because chasing them makes me faster...).
So...Training plan, part 1 (apolgies for formatting issues). I hope you'll note I'm really trying to make this one work as I've eased up on my expectations, I'm going slow and I've built in a recovery week behind the 10K. That's also the week that non-priorty registration opens for ATM - if I don't get in it changes Fall a little so I have time to prepare without trashing an entire training session.
L and I talked about it and as a trade-off I'm going to sign up for a few longer distance races including 2 that require overnight stays, but not airfare, car rentals or asking my m-i-l to take Miss N for 4+ nights. All this will still total way less (even with entry fees, overnight trips, gas, tolls etc) than just the initial deposit on FIRST.
So what does all this mean?
You guessed it, a new training plan...
Rather than get all ambitious and block out my training through the Fall and the Army 10-Miler in late October (that's right, for a moment I almost skipped us right over Summer and into Fall with this plan), I decided to put together one plan at a time with an eye on a race in each grouping of time. The idea was to try to avoid overtraining and also have more time to ramp-up for a race and with the understanding a week or two of fudged workouts does not spell total disaster.
First up, the Newport 10K. It's a local race whose starting line I can walk to and a distance that not only have I not raced, but isn't impossible to train for in 13 weeks (am coming at it from almost NO running in December & January). I've had a rough few weeks, but I'll talk about that in another post - hopefully - nothing traumatic just super-stressful.
Anyway, Newport is also a race that probably a few women from my running group will end up going to - so I'll likely have company at the start line (if not for long because so many of them are so fast, which is fine because chasing them makes me faster...).
So...Training plan, part 1 (apolgies for formatting issues). I hope you'll note I'm really trying to make this one work as I've eased up on my expectations, I'm going slow and I've built in a recovery week behind the 10K. That's also the week that non-priorty registration opens for ATM - if I don't get in it changes Fall a little so I have time to prepare without trashing an entire training session.
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| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Feb 13 |
| 1.5 run | 30-60 walk | 1.5 run | 30-60 walk | 1.5 run | 30-60 walk |
| Feb 20 | Yoga | 1.75 run | 30-60 walk | 1.5 run | 30-60 walk | 1.75 run | 30-60 walk |
| Feb 27 | Yoga | 2 run | 30-60 walk | 1.5 run + weights | 30-60 walk | 2 run | 30-60 walk |
| Mar 5 | Yoga | 2.25 run +weights | 30-60 walk | 1.5 run + weights | 30-60 walk | 2.25 run | 30-60 walk |
| Mar 12 | Yoga | 2.5 run + weights | Elliptical | 2 run + weights | 30-60 walk30-60 walk | 2.50 run | 30-60 walk |
| Mar 19 | Yoga | 2.75 run + weights | Elliptical | 2 run + weights | 30-60 walk | 2.75 run | 30-60 walk |
| Mar 26 | Yoga | 3 run + weights | Elliptical | 2 run + weights | 30-60 walk | 3 run | 30-60 walk |
| Apr 2 | Yoga | 3 run + weights | Elliptical | 2 run + weights | 30-60 walk | 3.5 run | 30-60 walk |
| Apr 9 | Yoga | 3 run + weights | Elliptical | 2 run + weights | 30-60 walk | 4 run | 30-60 walk |
| Apr 16 | Yoga | 3 run + weights | Elliptical | 2 run + weights | 30-60 walk | 4.5 run | 30-60 walk |
| Apr 23 | Yoga | 3 run + weights | Elliptical | 2 run + weights | 30-60 walk | 5 run | 30-60 walk |
| Apr 30 | Yoga | 3 run + weights | Elliptical | 2 run + weights | 30-60 walk | 5.5 run | 30-60 walk |
| May 7 | Yoga | 3 run + weights | Elliptical 30min | Rest | Rest | Newport 10K | Rest |
| May 14 | Yoga | 2 run easy | Walk | 2 run easy | Walk | 3 run easy | 30-60 walk |
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