Sick

Last Wednesday evening, I had a the hint of a sore throat and felt extremely tired.  Thursday, I woke up and felt like I had been run over by a mack truck.  The past four days, I have gotten extremely familiar with my couch, reality tv and the different remedies for a sore throat/viral infection.

The food I consumed involved choking down hot oatmeal, slurping soup broth and trying to enjoy milkshakes and popsicles.  It makes it hard to enjoy anything when it hurts to swallow my own saliva.  Ok - probably getting very near the T.M.I. border.

My poor Oscar didnt understand how I was home all day, but didnt have the energy to take him to the park or play with him in the house.  He has his "pathetic" look nailed.

He finally gave up on me and went after Lucy.  See how he snuck up behind her?

Then he pounced.  He scared the whiskers off poor Lucy.  Blurry photo because I had the shakes from all the medicine I was pumping into my body.

I did finally get to try one of the new POM Juice flavors that Molly from POM was kind enough to send my way.  Pomegranate Nectarine.  It was deliciously refreshing and gave me some much needed antioxidants.  I wasnt a big fan of the Pomegranate Kiwi flavor she sent, but to each its own. 

In the midst of my sickness, I missed out on a number of fun events that were planned for the weekend and couldn't complete my 20 mile training run.  I have been stressing about this all weekend.  I need to run a 20 miler!!!  The marathon is in 3 weeks!  So yes, I am freaking out.

My sore throat is finally gone, but today, my nose decided to start running.  I told my nose that only one of us could be running at a time, so it needed to stop immediately. 

I am thinking a 12-14 miler on Monday or Tuesday night, two other shorter runs and then, this saturday AM, we are doing a 20 miler training run come hell or high water.

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Salad ON Pizza

Thanks for your comments about my marathon training earlier - I think I am going to see how this weekend's long run goes and then decide if I want to add in another long training run before the taper.

Today was a dreary/rainy day, so after work, I headed to the gym for a treadmill run.  I am not a huge fan of the treadmill, but I did get to watch Access Hollywood during my run.  It made the 4 miles go by faster.  

I was not in the mood to cook a thing, so I dug into the freezer to find a pizza that tasted a lot like delivery.  But wait, its not delivery, its digiorno.  I am so original.

In an effort to make frozen pizza taste a little more special and get in some green, I topped it with grated parm and baby arugula.  I love the spiciness of arugula on top of pizza - it just works really well.  

"Salad" on top of pizza = simple and delicious dinner.  Served with my anonymous pumpkin.  I need to get carving. 

What are your plans for Halloween?  Any good costume ideas out there?

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Training for Philly Marathon

The Philadelphia Marathon is less than 1 month away.  Training has been going, but it hasnt been going exactly as planned.  Looking back to this post where I laid out my training plan, I wanted to compare my plan versus what actually has occurred:

• 8/29 - 12 miles - Completed 12m
• 9/5 - 14 miles - Completed 14m
• 9/12 -15 miles - Completed 15m
• 9/20 -17+3 (Bagel 2 Beer, run 17, walk last 3) - Completed 17m
• 9/26 - off weekend from distance - Completed 15m
• 10/3 - 18 miles - Completed 15m

I had plans to go away for the weekend immediately after the run.  I stopped short because I wanted to make sure I could meet everyone in time for lunch.  I was hungry.  :)

• 10/10 -13.1 (Baltimore Half Marathon) - Completed 13.1m, Baltimore Half Marathon
• 10/17 - 20 miles - Completed 8m

I went away to spend time with friends in Brigantine, NJ.  It was a miserable weekend weather-wise - Rain/Wind/Cold.  I attempted to go out for my long run, but after being pelted by rain and wind - I gave up.  Big wimp alert.

• 10/24 - 15 miles - Completed 17m, added 2 miles to try and make up for the weekend before.

I felt pretty good during the beginning of this 17 mile training run.  It was a perfect fall day, which was great for running.  Around mile 13, my legs started feeling heavy and mentally, I was having a hard time staying motivated.  With a little over 2 miles to go, we decided to switch to a modified Galloway method.  Run 10 mins - walk 1 min.  It worked well and may be something I use during the Philadelphia Marathon.

• 10/31 - 22 miles
• 11/7 - 12 miles
• 11/14 - off weekend from long distance
• 11/22 - Philadelphia Marathon!!

As you can see, I am behind in training and have my excuses listed where I slacked off.  This weekend, we have our longest training run planned.  Sunday morning, we will run 20-22 miles, depending on where we decide to do our training run.  

Question

Do you think we should squeeze in another long run on 11/7?  Maybe a 18-19 miler and then have a 2 week taper? OR keep with the 3 week taper?

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Blondies for Breakfast

The other night I got a major craving for some of Jasmine's Banana Butterscotch Blondies.  I am not sure I have the words to describe how good these are. 

It is the type of recipe you take somewhere to share. I really should have taken my own advice.  I started having them for breakfast with coffee and then would go back for small slivers since they dont really count.

Towards the end of the pan, I started thinking that I might as well just polish them off, so that they were out of my house once and for all.

And that was the end of the blondies.  From now on, when I make them, they are being shipped off to family, co-workers and friends.  I can not be trusted with them in the house.

Besides eating blondies for breakfast, lunch & dinner - I found time to eat other food as well.  Pan Seared Halibut w/ a Light Green Sauce.  (Recipe inspiration came from this recipe on AllRecipes.com)

I lightened up the sauce by using 2% milk instead of heavy cream.  I also cut back on the butter and added a little EVOO.  I may have overdone the amount of capers in the sauce because there was no measuring involved, but I love capers.

Since the sauce called for wine, it seemed only fitting to drink some with the meal. 

This dish was a success.  Both Kevin and I loved it.  Next time, it would be great served overtop sauteed spinach to soak up all the deliciousness of the sauce.

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend.  I ran 17 miles today and lived to type about it.  More on that tomorrow. 

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Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed w/ Tortellini

The other night was Tyler Florence night.  Kevin and I love watching his show on Food Network.  My company recently had a book fair and I picked up at copy of his book, Stirring the Pot.

I like the cookbooks with pictures, so I can see what the finished product is supposed to look like.

Considering the fact that I had an acorn squash ready to be used, this recipe caught my eye.

Kevin ran to the store to pick up a few ingredients we were lacking, while I began getting the squash ready for roasting. 

Kevin returned and we began boiling the tortellini.  Instead of only cheese, we threw in some sausage tortellini to mix it up.  We also wanted to add a little green to this dish, so frozen peas went in during the last 5 mins.

Next up, the tortellini and peas were mixed with the creamy cheese sauce.  Never said this was the healthiest dish, but hey - a little cheese and cream never hurt anybody, right?  Plus, we added peas to even it out.  ;)

The squash was roasted, the filling was ready, so, it was time to fill.  Topped with shredded Gruyere - one of my favorite cheeses. 

Ready to eat.

I have to say that as pretty as this looked, it was a tad TOO rich for me.  I loved the crusty cheese on top and scooping out the tender squash, but the tortellini in creamy cheese sauce was not my speed.  Next time, I would try and come up with a non-creamy sauce. 

I feel like I have a ton more to write about, so, my next posts will feature my weekend away in Brigantine, NJ, Pan-Seared Halibut in a Light Green Sauce, Banana Butterscotch Blondies (recipe courtesy of Sweet&Fit), along with an update on marathon training.  Philadelphia Marathon is in 1 month!

Hope you are enjoying your Friday and have a great weekend planned.

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