Daily Archive

Thank you, for all of your wonderful support in my decision to run the Disney Marathon in January! You guys truly are amazing and truly my inspiration to keep doing what I do. 

Since living on my own I have discovered I can work magic with left overs. Because no matter how much I try to perfectly portion for one I somehow always end up with the dreaded left overs. Luckily as I have showcased on this blog multiple times, leftovers can be turned into some fun and new with just a little imagination.

I give you dinner to tonight as example #234242.

I started with leftover Tofu and Sweet and Sour Cabbage from last night. I was tempted just to mix the tofu with the cabbage and call it a night, but after a quick survey of the cabinet and fridge I found some items that would complete this dish.

In the mix I ended up with

• Tofu
• Sweet & Sour Cabbage
• Whole Wheat Cous Cous
• Raisins
• Tomato
• Dash of Garam Marsala
• Pecans

This meal took 5 minutes to throw together and was amazingly tasty. I heated up 2/3 cup of cous cous with a handful of raisins according to the box directions then added everything else on low heat until it was heated through.

The rasins plumped with the cous cous. They gave the dish a nice sweet touch that complimented the flavors of the cabbage and cous cous. I was very pleaed with the overall flavors.

The irony of if all is that this actually made two complete servings, which leaves me with yet another set of left overs in the fridge. I will just have to turn it into another fabulous meal for lunch.

Dessert was the other half of the Dark Chocolate Lumpy Bumpy Bar from Tuesday night.

Thanks again Bobbi for the sweet treat. I loved it!

This afternoon I was begging for my snack a good half hour earlier then I usually break into it. My lunch may have been filling at the time, but boy did it empty quickly.

The individual serving of Trader Joe’s Trek Mix helped fill me back up. The hearty combination of nuts, seeds and dried fruit held me over until my 7:00 dinner time.

Tomorrow is Friday!!! Yay!!! Come back tomorrow for some more reflection on marathon training. I am glad everyone is interested in hearing about, because I promise I can go on and on about marathon details forever. I hope this running high never ends!

On December 31st I posted all of my Resolutions for the New Year.

In the posted I stated that in 2009 I planned to (and I quote) :

• Go on Dates – Hell I would even be happy with talking to just talking with a guy. I had my heart broken this past year, but I believe its time to move on. I’m enjoying being single, but a free meal every once in a while would not hurt either.
• Run a Full Marathon – This is a long term goal I am hoping to accomplish in the Fall. 
• Compete in a Triathlon – I am registered to run one in March!
• Save Money – I think this is a given for any list of goals.
• Take on more responsibility at my Job
• Spend less time on the computer
• Maintain weight loss
• Eat less refined sugars
• Continue to discover myself and push my limits

I am happy to say that halfway through the year I believe I am doing a hell of a good job keeping these resolutions.

In January of 2008 my sole resolution was to get fit and lose weight. That resolution drove me to discover myself and turn 2008 into one of my favorite years.

When it was time to create new resolutions for 2009, I thought long and hard on what exactly I wanted to accomplish this year. My resolutions were realistic and gave me goals to work towards.

• Go on Dates – Pretty much as soon as 2009 began Derek started popping up on the blog, so I think we can cross the going on dates off the list.
• Run a Full Marathon – On Sunday I ran my first full marathon! I gave myself until Fall to complete it, but realized this was a goal I was unwilling to wait to achieve.
• Compete in Triathlon – In March I did indeed complete my first Sprint Tri and I hope to complete another one at the end of summer
• Save Money – this is a work in progress…
• Take on more responsibility at my job – In April and May I helped plan and execute two successful conference with my job. I would say that is mondo amount of responsibility.
• Spend Less time on the Computer – Ok…we might have to skip that one!
• Maintain weight loss – Check! (though I promise to get a post out next week on how marathon training effected my weight and eating and all that)
• Eat less refined yogurt – I am trying really hard on the less refined sugars one. Just this morning I mentioned switching from vanilla to plain yogurt. It’s something, right?
• Continuing to discover myself and pushing my limits is what life is all about!

What do you think? A pretty good start to the year right? Hard to believe we are already halfway through 2009!!

Some of you – ok most of you- have asked me what’s next? Well, I have been on a roll with 2009 and trust me I have no plans to let that streak end anytime soon!

Right now its vacation season! I have 2 vacations coming up in the next month that revolve around relaxing while still being active. Bring on the hot tub and hiking trails!

After that I think I have my schedule all pinned out. * Please note none of these events are written in stone!

• Sprint Tri July/ August – Still trying to decide
• Miracle Miles 15k – September
• Space Coast Half Marathon – November
• Dash of the Elves – December

And you may think I’m crazy, but I just booked my first race for 2010 as well.

That’s right! My next full marathon will be Disney World! I officially registered for the race a couple of hours ago!

I have been considering this race since I volunteered at it in January, but after consulting with you guys I decided to wait to register until after I ran my first one.

As soon as I crossed the finish line in San Diego, I knew what my fate would be. Some people said after finishing I would probably never want to run another one again, but honestly I can’t wait! I think the key is just to have fun during the race.

The best part about Disney is my sister has agreed to run it with me!! I have already been researching training schedules for when out training begins in September.

Am I crazy? Probably. But there is no bigger high then crossing a finish line after all the hard work you put into it. And while I am still able to do so, I want to achieve that feeling over and over again.

There is so much life out there to live and I want to make sure I take advantage of every second of it.

So there you go. There are my next adventures. What are yours?

Man, I got a rush just writing all of that! I’m sorry if the grammar is bad or there are typos, when I get excited my fingers start typing a mile a minute and a lot of times it does not make any sense!

I guess I can throw some food onto this post as well!

I am happy to report I was successfully able to restock my Trader Joe Peanut Butter Pretzels while I was in San Diego.

 

1 serving down, two bags worth or PB goodness to go.

Lunch was basic leftovers.

 

I had the other two Summer Roll Halves

 

Sweet Potato Fries

 

and a nice orange to round it all out.

 

I’m now very full and ready for the rest of the day!

Last night I finally got around to uploading my Garmin stats from the marathon to my lap top.

I literally stared at my split times for over an hour studying them. I really find all this information fascinating. I guess that truly makes me a running nerd!

You can really see where I was starting to break down after mile 20. Everything above that is around an 11 min pace. Under mile 20 I was running comfortably under the 10 minute pace. I guess the goal for my next marathon would be to retain that 10 minute pace through the end. It’s hard though, after mile 20 you just don’t care what your pace is anymore.

Also, can you see at the top my total miles ran was 26.49? I think when Bobbi finished hers was 26.93 or something. I know you can never measure it out perfect because you have to calculate how they exactly measured the course and the difference of angle you ran it in, but I remember seeing my garmin roll to 26.2 miles near the end and I wanted to cry because according to the garmin the race should be over, but the finish line still looked so far in the distance!

Seeing these stats again and knowing what I can accomplish is really amusing to me right now. Especially since this morning was my first attempt at any cardio activity besides a steady walk. I set out to do 30 minutes on the elliptical and could only manage a slight hill incline at a level 3 resistance.

It was a nice and easy work out that allowed me to read New Moon for the duration. Towards the end my legs were actually feeling ok, but at the beginning they were refusing to bump it up to level 4.

I’m not complaining though. I know recovery takes time and I am in no hurry to rush in to an injury. I am hoping to go for a swim or something tomorrow.

Breakfast included a new purchase from my Trader Joes visit in San Diego.

I was determined to bring home a box of cereal and this one looked fun. I perhaps should have studied the sugar content a bit more because right out of the box it was very sweet, but thrown into my mix it was quite enjoyable.

• 1/2 cup TJ Strawberry Yogurt O’s
• 1/2 cup Kashi Strawberry Fields
• 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch
• Plain Non-Fat Yogurt
• Strawberries
• Blueberries

The cereal combination was great. I felt like all the different textures gave each bit a little something of everything.

I am trying to make the transition from Vanilla yogurt to Plain because of the high sugar content in the Vanilla. Though I would not eat plain on its own, the sweetness of the cereals and fruit really help it out.

Can you believe its Thursday already? I have really enjoyed these short weeks, too bad every week can’t be the same!