The Challenge and a new Casserole

I've officially challenged myself to hit the gym every day this week (or at least exercise as running outside will count).  What this means is a 4:30am wake-up on the mornings I decide to do the deed .  It didn't happen this morning, though that was my intention.  Apparently my little Sunday afternoon nap combined with a late night text message hurt my whole 7 hours of planned sleeping to make the early morning rise and shine happen.  =/

No worries, though...good thing I got a do-over after work tonight.

I thought long and hard about whether or not to get some running in and decided I should.  Then I thought long and hard about my chances of a successful run AFTER work with this ridiculous heat.  I opted to run at the gym on the treadmill.  Yes, I know...I'm a treadmill whiner, but at least I did it.  2 miles later (non-stop, I might proudly add - in other words without intervalling), I then hit the elliptical for 35 minutes and called it a night.  


I plan on changing it up a bit throughout the week so I don't get bored and then I'm hoping to turn this into a habit.  It may be asking a bit much to maintain a 5 day a week habit (in addition to my Saturday long run) since life happens, but well...let's just see what happens, shall we?

I also wanted to make sure that I had a food plan in place so that I wouldn't rely on eating out or quick fixes during the week.  I sort of created a meal.  I shredded chicken in the crock pot in some chicken stock.  Once it was cooled, I added a container of plain Greek yogurt for a creamy texture and added protein.  Note that when I made chicken tetrazini, I added cream of chicken soup, but I decided to forgo the soup this time around saving the calories.  I also opted to half the amount of whole wheat noodles and added in spaghetti squash.  Have you ever worked with spaghetti squash before?  Pre-South Beach, I had not.  Then, it became one of my best friends - especially pulling me through Phase 1.  I'm sure there are many different ways to bake one, but the way I do it is to poke lots of holes in it using a sharp knife.  I then put it in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 45 minutes.  After I take my spaghetti squash out of the oven, I carefully cut it in half (long way) and remove the seeds using a fork.  I then use the fork to make "spaghetti" strands and put them in a separate bowl.  Here are some pics.

I wanted to continue to pump up the veggies in my dish, so I roasted some yellow squash and zucchini squash with a bit of Olive Oil Pam and some garlic and rock salt.  I also added frozen chopped spinach.  I layered the squash and spinach in the casserole dish with the combination of  the chicken (still in the stock) with the yogurt and the spaghetti squash and my whole wheat spaghetti noodles. I then thought long and hard about neglecting the cheese, but gosh...I just couldn't do it.  Maybe one day, I'll find that kind of strength.  I just topped the whole concoction with a bit of shredded Parmesan and some Italian seasoning (though I admit fresh herbs would have been better) and behold...a fantastic meal chock full of veggies for the week.  Baked on 350 degrees until it was heated throughout and then wow!  Here's a pic of the finished product.

Have you challenged yourself this week?

the fashion show

I kinda feel silly discussing a fashion show with you when I don't have any pictures of the actual event.  It was a spontaneous fashion show of sorts...and it was the product of my mom and older sister Cathy's joint shopping extravaganza.  You see, Cathy was grieving the loss of her dog, Rocky (RIP) on Friday and my mom invited  Cathy to lunch to comfort her.  Somehow lunch lead to a shopping spree where the two of them decided to do their part to help some wardrobe dilemmas younger sister Linda and I were having relating to our Labor Day weekend get-away to Chicago.  We have a specific event we are attending - a surprise birthday party for my grandmother - and we have been struggling to find something to wear.  You know how it works.  You can find a million cute things when you don't need them and then the minute you need something...

I had actually ordered this really cute number from Macy's a week or so ago (but in pink).  I was uber excited about receiving it, only when I did...well...let's just say I looked like a circus act.  I even tried it on at work and came out of the bathroom humming a circus theme song while pretending to carry some balloons in one hand and cotton candy in the other - it was like that.  I guess it should make me feel good knowing it was a 1X and ridiculously big on me, but really it made me want to cry because that meant I would have to actually go shopping and I hate shopping.

I was told to pick-up some rotisserie chickens on my way home from work, but then I reminded them that I had to also stop at my house to feed and water my dogs.  The masses (my mom, Cathy, Jay, and Linda) were growing more and more impatient).  Turns out my dad actually beat me home, too, and I left work before him.  Ooops!  So once I got to the house, Linda quickly tried on her two dresses for me - she looked great in both of them!  Apparently I missed the one that would have made her look like a call girl (that's the nice way of wording it).  That dress is being returned.  I suppose there are some ...um... shortcomings to having a midget momma (okay, okay...she is not really a midget...er...little person, but she sure is petite) and a shorter older sister.  When they held up the dress to themselves, they thought it looked normal length.  Not so much.  Anyway, Linda didn't stay for my fashion show or for dinner because she was tired.  Whatever.  =P

We all sat down and ate rotisserie chicken, brown rice, and veggies.  It was an impromptu family dinner and I loved it!  After dinner, my sister gave me one top and a skirt to try on.  The skirt was a size too big, so I think they are going to exchange it for me.   The top was perfect....I can totally wear it to work.  Next they gave me another top.  It was not something I would pick out for myself, but it was VERY flattering and I can also wear it to work.  Then, I was handed this dress.  It looked pretty, so I eagerly went to try it on.  Understand this...most of my dresses are A-lined....fitted at the bust and then they flow out (my comfort zone).  This dress is more of a fitted dress.  I am not used to such thing.  I came out and everyone thought it looked fantastic on me and they say I have to keep it and that I have to wear it.  I also, apparently, have to get a stitch put in because it's a bit too low cut on me.  I guess it's time to step out of my comfort zone and understand that I can get away with wearing things I never would have worn before.  It's a good feeling...it's just weird.

Next, Cathy tried on the pants and shirts and skirt she found during their spree.  She's gotten to tiny - so proud of her success!

You know what the best part of the whole night was?  My mom and Cathy looking as pleased as punch with themselves for a job well done.  That was priceless!  =)

a run to be proud of *finally*

Saturday 6:30am finds me where?  Oh yeah...training with my group for the marathon.  It was, of course, humid.  Bet you know I was gonna say that, huh?!  =P  I actually had two options this morning.  I could run 5 miles or I could attend the clinic on how to transition from walker to runner and then run, though I'm not sure if it was going to be a 5 miler if I went that route, so I opted for the 5 miler sans the clinic.  

I've been thinking a lot lately about my interval method...currently I do the 4 minute run / 1 minute walk intervals, if you recall me mentioning on many different occasions.  I've been wondering if this is the right method for me.  Part of me wants to break free from it and pull a Forrest Gump and just run.  Now I know I'm not capable of any great distances, but just wonder if I'm limiting my growth/capability by sticking to the intervals.  My point in discussing this with you is that the reason I considered attending my mentor's clinic was to find out how to transition from the intervals to just simply running.  

I decided to do a little experiment.  I started running and only glanced at my Garmin every once in a while to check my pace and/or to see how far I'd gone.  My mentor has said on many occasions that it is more important to build distance over speed.  Several other peeps in my group have told me you can expect to take off as little as 30 seconds and as much as 60 seconds per mile once it gets cooler out, so I don't necessarily think it's fair to judge my time right now either since most of my races will be run during cooler temperatures.

After my first mile, I thought, okay just for for another half mile.  I then pushed myself to two miles.  Truth be told, I still had more in me to give.  I then told myself to make it to a 5K.  When I hit the 5K, I walked 0.15 of a mile, and then I ran the remaining 0.75 of a mile.  That lead me to the final timed lap.  That was kind of disastrous, but only because I slugged down over half of my bottle of Powerade Zero before running it and it was sloshing around in my stomach.  When am I going to learn that lesson?!

The point is that I learned I can run a 5K non-stop.  If I can do it in this heat and humidity (while still recovering from the attack of the cold/allergies/sinus issues), then imagine what I will be able to accomplish in the upcoming months with increased training and better weather?!  

I might actually be able to do this marathon.  My confidence is building.

What have you accomplished lately that you are proud of?

the hill from hell

for reals

I'm not even being dramatic.

I can prove it since I can already feel that you doubt my sincerity.

The hill stole my car clicker.  How's that for being hellish?  Yeah, that's what I thought.

Are you thinking I have a habit of losing my keys since it's happened once before?  Well first of all, that was when the key fell off the key ring and I couldn't start my car - I could get in it.  This time I purposely locked my key in my car and I took the clicker with me and put it in my trusty Nike shoe pocket that turned out to be not so trusty.  Well, to be fair to Nike...the hellish hill stole the clicker, so Nike never really stood a chance.

I had my second marathon training session at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning.  Once again, I knew it wasn't going to be pretty when I only had a little over 4 hours of sleep AND I woke up feeling gunky courtesy of allergy issues AND the humidity was thick in the air.  We were scheduled for 4 miles and it wasn't going to be a simple 4 miles as in run the course at the park...instead it was all kinds of cRaZy which meant I was sure I was going to get lost.  Thankfully, the peeps in my group are quite considerate despite the runners being significantly faster than me and they made sure I knew where I was going.  We basically ended up in a church parking lot and there is a hill there and we had to run up and down the hill 5 times.  I don't do hills - like EVER - and when I do, they make me grumpy.  I did them and then I was grumpy.  Upon completion of THE HILL work, the half marathoners went back the way they came while the marathoners had to then run around the parking lot and then go back the way we came.  Once we finished the rest of our route, we had to do one timed mile.  I didn't have as quick of a timed mile as last week, but I didn't expect to considering I was having some breathing issues (courtesy of the allergies and the humidity).

Once I returned to our table to get my drink, I went to go get my clicker out of my shoe pocket because I had to get a check out of my car to pay the Bearkat Bash ladies for the 5K we will be doing on September 11th.  Come sign up with me!!!  Anyway, imagine my horror to discover the clicker wasn't there!  I panicked and freaked out, but one of the ladies that was at the picnic table said she thought one of our coaches had found one and shouted out his name as he was walking over to the bleachers where the rest of our group was.  He shouted back that it was over by the cooler on the table and voila - there it was!  I have never been so glad to see my little clicker, y'all.

I knew it was the hill - I knew it stole my clicker!  I got confirmation later, but I just want it known that I knew.

Then I walked over to the rest of the group that was having a lecture on "body in motion" by one of our coaches, my mentor.  It was there that I found out one of the girls, Rachel, had actually found my clicker.  She's awesome!  It was on the hill.  See, I did know.  Imagine if I had to go back and retrace my steps?!  She also gave me a book recommendation called The Glass Castle.  It's a memoir.  I ordered it on Amazon.com, but haven't read it yet since I'm currently reading The Other Bolyn Girl and Marathoning for Mortals.

Lesson Learned:  Secure my clicker via a more reliable means - I'm thinking zippered pocket or my SPIbelt.

Have you ever lost your key or clicker during a run?  Are you reading a good book?

you win some, you lose some...you pay for some

Well, I didn't win the "lottery".  I started getting tweets from some tweeps on Sunday afternoon who I knew had signed up for the lottery for the Houston Chevron Marathon wanting to know if I, too, had received an emailed receipt.  I knew it wasn't a good sign that I hadn't...I had that sinking sensation.  Everyone told me to keep the faith...keep the hope, but I already knew. 

It was confirmed later that evening when I noticed my status was "not selected" on the website and then I tweeted the Houston Chevron Marathon to find out if that was their final answer and it was, in deed.  Consequently, I got the official email Monday morning.

The funny thing is that I had picked my back-up marathon (Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras) not really thinking I would need to actually use it.  The thought never really occured to me that I wouldn't get picked.  I just picked the back-up because it seemed like the thing to do and researching races is...well...kinda fun (yes, I'm a dork). 

I felt defeated, at first. It would have been amazing to do my first marathon with home court advantage which meant automatic family and friend support and the ability to crawl into my own bed and die afterwards.  These were not the cards I was dealt, however, and so it was not meant to be...OR WAS IT?

I am sure you notice I blog a lot about one of my best friends, Melissa (sometimes I call her Meliska).  She is the main reason I decided to start my so called running adventure.  She is also the one who strongly encouraged me to blog.  Through blogging, I have made some friends - wonderful ladies who though I've never met face-to-face, I feel like I've known them for years.  They inspire me and I admire them.  That was also one of the things that made not being selected for Houston so difficult - two of my blogger friends (Allie and That Pink Girl) were selected.  Another thing that made not getting selected so difficult for me was that another friend of mine, a different Melissa who will be embarking on her first marathon, as well, was selected.  We had both decided on the same back-up marathon, so it really hurt my feelings knowing I would have to run our back-up marathon all by myself.  To be honest, it caused me great distress.

I tried to flip it for the positive.  The Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras gave me two more weeks to prepare and one more hour to run it.  This wasn't enough to lift me up knowing that the likelihood of having friends and family present to support me as I set forth to do the most physically and mentally challenging event of my life is slim to none.  Well, Laura, a college friend, Facebooked me several times about not giving up and writing the Chevron Marathon with my story asking for them to consider an exception (this got me thinking).  Then, Allie, one of my Blogger buddies emailed me telling me not to give up and to consider the "Heroes" option for guaranteed registration (this had me taking action).  I went onto the Chevron Marathon website to the Run for a Reason page and found out that for a $350 donation to a charity of my choice (of many listed on the site) plus the registration fee, I could get a guaranteed slot into the marathon.  I went to talk to my dad and he asked me if it would mean more to me to know that I could definitely finish in the allotted time frame (RnR Mardi Gras) or to have the family and friend support (Houston).  I told him I sincerely felt that the family and friend support could see me through the 6 hour time limit.  My dad then said that he and my mom would donate $350 to NAM (Northwest Assistance Ministries - this is the charity that the running group I'm training with supports) for me as long as I promise him I will raise some funds on my own to also donate to NAM.  Deal!  I went on-line and I am now officially a "Hero" registrant for the Houston Chevron Marathon.

Initially I wondered if I went against "what was meant to be" by bypassing the system, but then I figured the people who encouraged me to find a way were placed in my life for a reason and the "Hero" option was also employed for a reason.  I think a person can drive themselves nuts thinking/rethinking every action/reaction.  Bottom line is that I am bound and determined to run my first marathon in the early part of 2011 and it needs to be with the physical presence of my family and friends.  I know what it felt like for me to round a corner and see my aunt and cousins while I was in Chicago running my half - it was so encouraging - enough to bring a smile to my face and tears in my eyes because I felt loved.  I'm gonna need that - especially for 26.2 miles (eeek)!  Besides...who would be there to give me my Powerade Zero in New Orleans???

Spinach Artichoke Chicken

For Meliska's baby shower, I made some spinach artichoke dip.  I made a lot of spinach artichoke dip, actually, and it was almost all gone.  Apparently, it was a big hit and I was pretty bold and daring to serve it considering I fooled around with a new recipe.  I thought it might be yummy to incorporate the dip into a meal.

Here's the recipe for the dip:

2 tubs of chive whipped cream cheese
1 individual serving size of plain Greek yogurt
1 can of artichoke hearts - diced up
1 "family size" bag of chopped spinach
1 small lemon (juiced)
2-3 TBSP of basil pesto (I used Classico brand)
7 oz of Italian cheese mix (I used a Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Fontina blend)
Salt & Pepper to taste

You put it in the oven on 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes and serve it with tortilla chips or crackers.

Now to make a meal of it, I lightened it up a bit and downsized it by halving the recipe (except the artichokes) and using 2% cheese.  You can use the light chive cream cheese, but I have found that the whipped is easier to work with.  You can also use reduced fat sour cream or low fat mayo in place of the Greek yogurt, but I like the nutritional benefits provided by Greek yogurt.

Okay, so first I rinsed and trimmed my chicken.  Then I seasoned them up with some rock salt and garlic powder and put them in my trusty Pampered Chef dish.

Next I added the thawed out and squeezed dry chopped spinach (I'm sure you could use fresh if you like).  I seasoned the spinach with some lemon juice and some more rock salt and garlic powder.

In a separate container, I had mixed together the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, pesto, diced up artichoke hearts, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  I folded in the Italian cheese, then put this mixture on top of the spinach.

I then baked the casserole dish on 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

(excuse the lack of flash in this pic)

Delicious!

South Beach Phase 1ers - serve it over baked spaghetti squash or with a side salad.

South Beach Phase 2ers - serve it over whole wheat pasta or with a side of brown rice.

Experimented with any new recipes lately??

Dum-Dum

The other day I tweeted something along the lines of "so many dum-dums...so little patience" just to discover that I'm one of the dum-dums.  That's NOT a cool feeling, by the way.

I complained on Saturday on Facebook that my knees were both terribly achy after my run.  I mean they harrassed me through the night.  This is so unlike them - well both of them AT THE SAME TIME.  Usually only one is grumpy at a time if one of them so chooses to have a temper tantrum.  I appreciate their consideration regarding this, by the way, since two of them having a fit is no joke.

One of my employees asked me how my running was going this week and I told him not very well at all.  I only got 2 1/4 miles in on Monday and none since because my left knee just won't return to normal despite my TLC.  We've had long talks, Epsom salt bubble baths, ice dates, and some really great encounters with Bio-Freeze, but still "he" wants to act a fool.  My employee suggested to me that I start taking glucosamine. 

Um...the light bulb kinda started glowing.  Since I returned from Chicago after running my half marathon, I have completely forgotten to take my daily dose of glucosamine.  I wonder if this has anything to do with it.  I have been taking it daily without fail for the past few months - I'm convinced this was one of the things that helped my hip, actually.  What in the world came over me that all the sudden I stopped my routine?!?!  Here I was blaming this ridiculous humidity for my knee issue and it's probably not the humidity's fault.  It looks like I have nothing or no one to blame but myself. 

Lesson learned:  My knees must have glucosamine!  Don't deny them their rights!

Yep, I'm a dum-dum.