Link Love

Link Love

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a great weekend, because I know I did.  Here’s a recap:

My first 15K!

Chai Tea Brussels Sprouts

Madison Food & Wine Show

SWE Fall Ball

We unfortunately had to reschedule our cooking party, but it was otherwise a great weekend!

And today, I found out that I won last week’s Blogger Secret Ingredient with my Acorn Squash and Apple Pizza!  I’m excited to enter this week’s contest over at Lindsey’s blog!

Wine and Brownies

Last night ended with a warm glass of Hallowine

And a pumpkin brownie. Times two. 😉

This recipe will be up this afternoon!

Bad Blogger

I was a bad food-blogger this morning; I didn’t give myself enough time to eat/pack breakfast before class!  So, I ate half of a brownie on my way out the door, and picked up a Perfect Oatmeal from Starbucks between classes.  I did remember lunch and a snack, though. 🙂

Oatmeal topped with brown sugar and nuts. For a breakfast on-the-go, this is pretty good; filling and nutritious!

Honeycrisp apple I picked up from the Farmer’s Market as a snack.   I forgot how juicy and sweet these are; I haven’t had one all year!

Here is the lunch I packed that I will be eating in class:

Defrosted raspberries from our berry-picking outing, Peach Chobani, and a tiny bit of granola. For an afternoon snack, another Renew Glo-Bar. Seriously, Angela, how do you make them so perfectly chewy?  I can’t seem to get it right when I make bars myself!

This Week’s Training

Surprisingly, I’m only a tiny bit sore from yesterday’s run.  But, my IT band is giving me problems, and I don’t want to make it worse.  I’m going to hold off on running for the rest of the week, and perhaps I will try biking in a few days.

I really slacked in the weight training department last week, and I completely forgot about my daily push-ups!  My focus this week will be on stretching, upper-body training and Pilates.

How’s your Monday going?

My First 15K!!

I finished my first 15K!  😀

Pre-race fuel:

Almond butter + pumpkin butter + sandwich thins. And some water, of course. During the race, I also ate about 2 Sports Beans at mile 4, and another 2 at mile 6.

I had just left my apartment when I heard a horn behind me.  Kelley and Jenny just happened to be following me to the race. Of course, a parking lot picture was necessary!

Jenny, Kelley and their dad did the relay option for the 15K, with each of them running a 5K.  The “baton” that they were supposed to hand off was a hair “scrunchie.”  It was cute. 🙂

The First Leg

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that it was supposed to rain this morning.  The forecast also called for sub-40 degree weather.  Despite our worries about the weather, it ended up being a perfect day.  Sunny, dry, and mid-40s.  Running through crunchy yellow and red leaves.  Beautiful.

The first 5K was a breeze.  At the mile mark, I was astonished to hear that I was running a 10:15 pace!  I finished the 3.1 miles in about 32:25…not too shabby!

The hand-off location after both the first and second legs of the race were in the same spot, so I saw Jenny and her parents cheering me on at the end of the first 5K.  Jenny was nice enough to take my headband from me, because it was too warm.  Thanks, Jenny 🙂

The Second Leg

I was not a fan of the second 5K.  It was full of some huge hills.  As Kelley put it, “I think we were running up or down the entire time!”

Around mile 4.5, my IT band started acting up.  I felt like my leg was going to go out from under me, so I stopped once or twice for a quick stretch.  Once I hit the 6-mile mark, I was grateful that my knee felt normal again.  Otherwise, I don’t think I would have made it the last three miles!

Because the route loops backwards on itself, Kelley and I passed each other going in opposite directions.  It was fun to cheer each other on. 🙂

My time for the second 5K was approximately 35:20.  I blame it on the hills. 🙂

The Third Leg

The third leg was almost identical to the first leg, which was nice.  It was easier to judge how much distance I had left.

Kelley, Jenny, and their dad finished well before I did.  Kelley & Jenny were sweet enough to hang around the finish line to cheer me on.  Since my camera was in their car, Kelley even took pictures for me.  Thanks, dear. 🙂

1:42:30!!! That’s an 11:01-pace!

I’m so proud of this race!!  Back in January, I couldn’t even run one mile.  In June, I was running 15:00 miles.  Look how far I’ve come.  😀

My half-marathon is in 19 weeks.  I’m pretty sure I can work my way up to 13.1 miles by then!

I needed some serious hydration and protein after my run, so I broke out half a bagel and a Renew Glo Bar:

I adore this Glo Bar. It was creamy and smooth, nutty and just slightly sweet.  Exactly what I needed after a long, tiring run.  These bars will definitely be reappearing after my longer training runs, and the half marathon itself.

Thank you, Kelley and Jenny, for sticking around after you were done.  Your team did awesome (1:28 ?!!), and it was so nice to see friendly faces after my big accomplishment!

When I got home, I mixed up a cup of skim milk with half a packet of Tera’s Whey Wolfberry.  Mmmm…. protein and carbs = recovery.

To celebrate my new PDR (my second PDR this week!), I mixed up some Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pancakes:

While they cooked, I did some serious stretching.  I especially focused on my hamstrings, so my lower back is only moderately tight.  Thanks for the tip, Jessica!  You’re such a good blogger-friend. 😉

For the rest of the day, I’ll be rehydrating, icing, and getting some homework done.  Back later for a dinner post!

What’s your proudest fitness accomplishment? This race is definitely mine!

Literacy Network 5K

Clearly, I did not refuel properly after yesterday’s ride.  According to various websites, I burned somewhere between 2100 and 2500 calories yesterday, but probably only ate 2200 all day.  As a result, I woke up absolutely starving this morning.  The lesson in this:  Eat more on long ride days!

Before today’s 5K, I went with my new favorite:  Almond Butter + Pumpkin Butter + Apple on a Sandwich Thins. I never get tired of this combo!

Big thanks to Dan and Becky for cheering me on during my 5K this morning!  Dan also acted as my photographer (I’m the one wearing bright pink in all of these pictures 🙂 ):

Waiting to start…

And…we’re off!

In the home stretch now…

DONE!  My time was just over 31 minutes, two minutes faster than my last 5K!    I’m still waiting for the official time, and will update you when I find out!

I liked this 5K a lot.  Not only was it for a great cause, but it was well organized.  And the trail was pretty much completely flat, which probably contributed to my faster time.  I was a little bit worried that the dirt path along the lake that made up most of the route would be all mud, due to the recent rain, but luckily it dried before the race!

My favorite part of this race was that at the 1 mile and 2.1 mile marks they had running clocks to show you the current time.  For those of us without our own GPS, this was extremely helpful.  I was especially excited to see that my pace was about 10:30 at mile 2.1, and it gave me an extra boost to speed up for the last mile!

Actually, I had another favorite part.  They were not using the usual throw-away time chips = more eco-friendly race!

Is it bad that I want to sign up for another 5K? 🙂

The rest of the day was spent studying at Starbucks, playing soccer, and attempting to do more homework at home.  And eating.  I’ve been starving all day…that’s what I get for not eating enough yesterday.

An unpictured banana + cookie after the 5K.

A Leonardo de Veggie bagel sandwich from Brueggers, which is attached to Starbucks.  I don’t eat many bagels, but this totally hit the spot!

Blackberries.

Huge bowl of green beans + jalapeno hummus and baba ganoush.

Another cookie, home-made by Becky. (After this weekend, I think I’m done with cookies for awhile. 🙂 But I swear, cookies taste best post-workout!)

Random trail mix. I didn’t eat as much of this as it looks; I packed extra to share with Dan and Becky!

I made the mix this morning…

• Cocoa-roasted almonds
• Mixed nuts
• Extra walnuts and peanuts
• Dried mangosteen
• Yogurt-covered raisins
• Whole Foods M&M’s
• Sunflower seeds
• Pepitas
• Freeze-dried strawberries and bananas from Just Tomatoes (this stuff is amazing.  seriously.)
• Dried pineapple, cherries, cranberries and raisins

Post-soccer, I had

Beet Risotto with Barley instead of Arborio rice, recipe courtesy of Bella Eats.

Rutabaga “fries”, inspired by Meghann’s post.

Not the most protein-filled dinner, but it tasted delicious and fresh!

Tomorrow is most definitely a rest day!  Probably Tuesday, too. 🙂

Goodnight, all!

Tyranena Oktoberfest Bike Ride

We did it!

Distance:  57.36 miles (!!!)

Time: 4 hours, 55 min

Yes, it was supposed to be a 46-mile ride.  We’ll get to that…

Here I am, exhausted but excited about my accomplishment!

The first 10 miles were very…wet.  Remember how I said there was only a 10% chance of rain this morning?  Yeah, apparently we got that 10%, because it was pouring when we left.  This is also why I have very few pictures from the ride; I didn’t want to get my camera wet!  Dan had a water-proof disposable camera, so we did get some pics, but they aren’t accessible at the moment.

I would like to thank the guys at Berkeley Running Company, who advised me to buy this jacket last night.  I would have been very cold and wet and miserable without it!  However, it repelled water wonderfully, and blocked the wind.  I love my UnderArmour jacket now 🙂  Actually, thanks for helping me pick out my tights to wear over my padded bike shorts, too!

Happily, the sun came out around mile 7 and it didn’t rain much after the first 10 miles, making for a better ride.

The first rest stop was at the Trek facilities.  Not only did they offer the usual food/drink/restrooms, they also opened up their lobby for riders to walk through.  They have Lance Armstrong’s bikes on display, as well as some other fun bikes, so it was a cool place to stop! 🙂

The next 8 miles were rather rough, with some major hills.  However, we made it to the second rest stop with no incidents.

After that though, things got a little sticky.  While I had a lot of fun on the ride, I’m going to have to give the organizers a D grade on their signage.  At a very confusing intersection, we saw the arrow to go straight, but missed the arrow to turn right because it was covered in gravel.  As a result, we did an extra 6 mile loop, and also had to ride by ourselves the rest of the way.  It didn’t help that there were 6 or 7 mile stretches in the middle of nowhere with no indication that you were still going in the right direction.  Since we were so far behind everyone else, we kept getting nervous that we had missed another turn.

On the bright side, I managed to get up all of the hills, even the “walls,” without walking at all!  Granted, some of them were very slow hills, but I made it nonetheless!

For some reason, the 52-mile route was named the “46 mile route.” We never did figure out why, but I know that we would have ridden 52 miles if we had been going in the right direction the whole time. 🙂  But really, once you’ve ridden 52 miles, what’s another 6?

Okay, another 6 is a lot at that point if you aren’t a big biker.  But I still made it!

On a final note, I think the next time I do a big ride like this, I will bring my own snacks. I was not impressed by the food at the rest stops.  They had fruit, which was good but not sufficient fuel when you’re riding that far.  Honestly, I ended up eating quite a few cookies because they were the only thing other than fruit that didn’t make me feel nauseous.  So next time, I’m bringing my own. 🙂

Despite the disappointing food and signage, we had a lot of fun.  Dan was very encouraging, especially when I hit a bit of a wall around mile 50.  He cheered me on the whole way back!

Plus, I figure that since I can do this ride, I’ll be fine in Europe for the honeymoon!

I never thought I’d say that I rode 50+ miles without complaining, but I did it!

Now, I’m going to go enjoy a Green Monster and some granola with milk–I’m hungry!

See you for my 5K recap tomorrow! (Seriously, am I insane?!)

A Long, Wonderful Day

Today was the Longest Day Ever.  However, it was also a fantastic day.

Event #1:  My First-Ever 5K!

About 2 hours pre-race, I ate a bagel with PB, then walked over to the zoo with Kelley, where the run was starting.  Walking all the way there seemed like a pretty good warm-up to me!

Here we are, all ready to go!  We entertained ourselves watching the otter and polar bear at the zoo while we waited.  Kelley also had fun with my camera while I waited in line for the bathroom:

Cute, Kelley.  And way to be sideways.

The race went GREAT!  Kelley and I paced with each other well, occasionally speeding up to keep up with each other, but always running at a fairly comfortable pace.  After the last hill, we apparently both debated in our heads asking the other to walk for a few minutes, but ended up running the entire way.  I don’t know our exact time, but we’re guessing it was around 33-ish minutes. I’m so proud of our run!

Red-faced and sweaty, but excited that we did it!

While we had our post-race snacks, we watched the “Roo Run Run”– aka: the little kids version of the race.  It was adorable:  the 2-year-olds didn’t really get the concept and had to be urged along, but the 3-year-olds were really racing.  So cute.

I refueled with a banana and a Trader Joe’s cereal bar (hooray for Trader Joe’s being a sponsor!)

We walked home, and got ready for Event #2…

Event #2:  Apple Picking with SWE!

I had a quick lunch inspired by Megan’s peach breakfast.  I’ve been itching to try this for days, so when I saw peaches at the Farmer’s Market, I knew I had to get some!

A peach (microwaved with cinnamon) + Last Taste of Summer Granola + appx. 1/4 cup Greek yogurt = yumminess!

I think I’m all set on apples for awhile, and then some… I may or may not have bought 20 pounds of apples for $19–good deal!  I’m also excited to try the Apple BBQ sauce I got there.

Event #3:  Soccer game with the SWE Intramural Team!

On my way out the door, I had half a sandwich thins with 1/2 tablespoon almond butter and 1 tablespoon pumpkin butter, which I also got at the orchard.

We lost again, but we’re getting better! And still having fun. 🙂

Event #4:  SWE Execs Meeting

(Note: Today was a very SWE-tastic day!)  I took a much-needed shower and had a quick dinner before the meeting:  Leftover crab cake salad + green beans and carrots from last night. Still delicious, and the little crab cake was the perfect size.

I may or may not have splurged and had both cake and PB Chex at the SWE meeting… I figure I burned it all off with all that activity today!

Phew, that was a super-busy day!

Question:  Know of any good apple recipes I could make to use up some of my 20-lb bag of apples? 🙂