Marathon Photos and Angelica Kitchen

Good morning all – we made it past Hump Day! We are inching along toward Friday. Before I get into Wednesday’s recap, which includes a review of Angelica Kitchen, I’m going to reluctantly share with you some of my Pocono Marathon photos taken by the event sponsor. I think they pretty adequately depict my decline in strength and spirit. 

The start (look at how eager I am – see me there in the blue tank top and black shorts!) 

Next the photographer caught us at the halfway mark. Somehow I always manage to miss the photographer and have my eyes closed: 

 
And there’s proof that I was still motoring – my official halfway time was 1:45! 

Next up, we have some extremely flattering photos from mile 18. At this point I was most certainly feeling some pain. 

 
And man am I white!! I’m also kind of impressed with my ripped leg muscle in the last photo. I think it’s because I was going downhill, so my muscles were screaming and bulging a bit, but doesn’t my leg look totally ripped?! It’s nice to dream. 

And lastly, my finish shot is also less than stellar. 

 
Head down, struggling to pull it in, looking like I was barely moving. My clock finish time was 3:39:56 and my chip finish time was 3:39:35. 

Gorgeous I know, it’s okay to be jealous. Hey, I’ve never claimed to be a pretty or photogenic runner! Tomorrow I think I’m going to do a post about what exactly I changed in my training plan, eating and thinking from my first marathon to this marathon and how these changes helped me reach my BQ time. 

So now on to Wednesday’s recap. Breakfast was a multi-grain English muffin with peanut butter and banana on one side and apricot jelly on the other. 

For lunch a few of my co-workers decided we needed to go out and celebrate my latest my marathon completion. We went to Zigolini’s near Stone Street and I had the arugula salad with a side of fries (no pics). 

After work I met up with one of my best friends, Katie, for a belated birthday dinner/celebratory marathon dinner. I’ve been wanting to try Angelica Kitchen for a while now and I knew that Katie is usually up for trying new and potentially different/delicious restaurants. 

I stopped at Trader Joe’s along the way and picked up a bottle of 3 Buck Chuck Shiraz to share with our dinner.

We arrived at Angelica fairly early, which was good because it filled up quickly. We settled in and started to peruse the extensive menu. 

Angelica Kitchen Review 

We started with the Soba Sensation appetizer: rich, velvety sesame sauce ladled over soba noodles, topped with pickled red cabbage garnish. 

That photo was taken after we mixed it all up. We also tried their Southern Style Cornbread with the Onion Spread and it was delicious. 

Now my apologies, I forgot to take photos of our entrees. They looked so amazing, we just dove right in. We ordered the two specials of the day which were: 

Wyld Scallions: Savory Mexican style corn cakes featuring Yukon gold potatoes, roasted red & green peppers, sautéed scallions, carrots, corn meal & sweet corn kernels; topped with black bean-tomato salsa, sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds & served with guacamole. Accompanied by green beans & roasted cauliflower; garnished with mixed lettuce. 

Dill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Delectable Greek style casserole layered with a mix of spinach, nettles, roasted zucchini, leeks, button mushrooms, & onions, balsamic marinated beets, lemon dill tofu cheese & a whole wheat couscous crust, baked with a flaky phyllo top; served over creamy carrot-sunflower seed coulis. Accompanied by asparagus & an arugula salad drizzled with orange balsamic vinaigrette. 

The prior was my favorite, but I really loved both! The specials change daily and are posted on the website. And then we had the special dessert of the day which was a rhubarb something. 

Totally yummy! 

All in all, I give Angelica Kitchen VERY high marks. For being a vegan eatery, I thought all the food was flavorful and delicious. Everything we ordered hit the mark and totally satisfied. Dare I say I liked it even better than Caravan of Dreams? I’d also read some negative reviews about the service, but we thought our waitress was great – a little quirky, but very pleasant and more than willing to help us with any questions we had. 

All in all, I highly recommend this restaurant! I hope you all have a great Thursday. Still no running for me…maybe this weekend. 🙂