Category Archives: Running

What to do, What to do…

Posted on January 14, 2010 | 15 comments

Good morning all! Happy Thursday – this week is almost done. Mine has been very busy – how about yours?

Marathon Dilemma

So I want to share my dilemma with you all and get your thoughts. I would really like to qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon. My first marathon time was 3:54:57, so I have to do some good training to get to 3:40:00. My dilemma is when to run my next marathon.

Initially, I was looking at Fall 2010. However, my husband and I want to plan a trip to Ireland this September and I’m fearful that the trip will interrupt my training and potentially throw it so off course that I won’t qualify. We’d be going for 10 days and I would likely not be running at all.

So my latest idea is to potentially run a spring/early summer marathon in May 2010. I’ve found one in the Poconos that is supposed to be a pretty fast course. But, that would mean my training needs to start…like tomorrow.

So what do you think? Go for the spring or fall marathon?

I should also note that I’ll be running a half marathon toward the end of January and the end of April – so that may help with my speed and training for a May run.  

Ok – let me know what you think. Now on to my eats:

Breakfast yesterday was oatmeal with banana, almond butter and agave.

For lunch I finished up the rest of the leftover tomato-basil soup with some carrots.

Snacks were some Fage Strawberry Greek yogurt with granola (don’t really enjoy their packaging) and two prunes.

Yeah I know, those prunes look gross. But they are pretty decent snacks. I also had an unpictured apple before the work-day ended as well. Then I headed to the gym.

Inspired by my marathon dreams, I tried to run a fast four miles on the treadmill at the gym.

4 miles in 33:20

Not too terrible. Then I did some ab work and grabbed 5-pound weights to do some arm work.

I headed home and threw together a quick dinner. I spotted some Spinach Gnocchi at the store the other day and picked them up. These little buggers are fat-free, but a little bit high in carbohydrates. I made a small batch with some marinara sauce and a side of broccoli sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Up close is better…

I am slightly obsessed with these gnocchi. They were so chewy and delicious. I could have eaten way more than I did. I think they would definitely make for good running fuel.

Now the question is – when will I be running? Help!!

Have a nice Thursday all – talk to you tomorrow (FRIDAY!!)!

P.S. – I promise a book review is coming soon. And I am really enjoying the next book I’ve started.

15 Comments

Posted in Running, Uncategorized

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Running in the Dark

Posted on January 12, 2010 | 12 comments

Good morning – how’s everyone on this Tuesday morning? I’m doing pretty well. Things have been busy, busy at work and yesterday just flew by. Here’s a quick look:

Breakfast yesterday was a delicious honey wheat double fiber English muffin with peanut butter and topped with banana. And of course, a side of cranberry juice.

No mid-morning snack for me because I ate an early lunch at about 12:15 Lunch was simply leftover tomato-basil soup from Sunday night. And it was even better today – more flavorful.

Looks kind gross in that Tupperware and horrid lighting, but it was good. My late afternoon snacks included some Horizon organic raspberry yogurt with granola and a Larabar.

I flew out of work right at 5:00 because I was pumped to meet up with Katherine for a nighttime run. I can’t tell you how psyched I am that she lives so close, runs at my speed and, if her schedule allows – is always ready for a run. But the girl does have one busy, busy schedule.

Anyway – we started off our run around 83rd and York and headed to the East River. We headed south to 59th street and then turned around. This was a first for me – I’ve never run along the river or in Central Park when it’s dark outside. I always head to the treadmill, albeit with some notable frustration.

Running in the dark was very interesting. The East River Esplanade is actually pretty well-lit, but it has its dark spots. I was surprised to see that there were quite a few other runners out there, even some women by themselves. Katherine and I joked about telling one lone female runner that she could run with us and be our friend – I just don’t think I’d ever be able to get out there by myself in the dark.

Once we turned around, we continued north back past 83rd and all the way up to 107th. That’s about where it starts to get a bit scary for me. Altogether, we ran 5 miles and here is our breakdown (thanks Garmin):

Mile 1 – 9:22
Mile 2 – 9:08
Mile 3 – 9:11
Mile 4 – 8:48
Mile 5 – 9:00
Total: 5 miles in 45:31

I’ve got to also say that although my first 2010 race this past Saturday was technically in colder temps, last night’s run felt pretty frigid. I talked to my mom after the run and she made the good point that even though Saturday was technically colder, I was running in the sun,  so I may have felt some residual heat or warming. That’s probably why last night felt colder to me.

Do you run in the dark? If yes, do you run alone or prefer to have a buddy?

I also feel that city night running is much different than running at night in the suburbs. Even though there are more people generally out and about in NYC, there are also more potential sketchy peeps. Last night I was too nervous to run in Central Park, even with Katherine, hence we hit the river instead.

When I got back to the apartment I started dinner almost immediately, but I did snack on some raisins and walnuts to tide me over. I was ravenous.

Dinner was baked chicken stuffed with chopped apple and feta cheese, with balsamic vinegar drizzled over top. We also had a side of vegetable couscous. Hubby informed he is not a fan of couscous – of any kind. I forced some curry couscous on him a few weeks back and he didn’t like it, but I thought maybe it was just the curry flavor – apparently it’s couscous in general.

Up close

After dinner I also ate the rest of the apple with some peanut butter for dessert.

We finished dinner and started scanning the tube, and seriously, The Bachelor was the only thing on. We started watching it and it was getting on my nerves, so just as I was about to turn the channel they announced that some drama was going to happen in the second hour and one of the girls was getting kicked off. Those producers and editors are darn good, because then I just had to see what the drama was. And what happened next…I watched the whole two hours of the show!

I have to admit, that was a twist that was way better than any of the fake drama they could have planned or instigated. Ha! I’m dying to see this “staffer” that hooked up with Rozalyn. And what exactly happened between them… Oh the drama!

Sorry for getting a little sidetracked. I leave you with some interesting health stuff in the news:

Counting of Calories Isn’t Always Accurate

Healthy Aging, With Nary a Supplement

The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

New York City leads drive to cut U.S. salt intake

Are you a salter? I salt a few things a bit, but nothing crazy. I know a few people who are salt obsessed and put it on EVERYTHING. Usually without even tasting the dish first.

That’s all for today – have a good Tuesday!

12 Comments

Posted in Bloggers, Running, Uncategorized

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Sharz, A Show and Sleepy Sunday

Posted on January 10, 2010 | 5 comments

Good afternoon blog world. It’s Sunday and I have to say it’s been kind of a sleepy one so far. It’s been a busy and fun weekend and it’s left both the Hubby and I a little tired today. Yesterday after my race, I had a second small breakfast – I was hungry after that run. I had some pineapple Chobani yogurt with granola and some light cranberry juice.

I may have also had a cup of coffee after my snack. I was feeling kind of tired after the race. But I also drank a lot of water throughout the day. The Hubby and I lazed around and watched a movie before getting ready for our night out. During the late afternoon I snacked on a Larabar.

I loved the Peanut Butter Cookie flavor – yum! But when don’t I like foods with peanut butter?

Around 6:00 p.m. we headed out for a quick bit to eat in our neighborhood. We went to Sharz Cafe, one of my favorites in our area. The Hubby doesn’t have the same love for it as I do, but I always enjoy the food. I also like the “Twilight Dinner Special” they offer. If you arrive before 6:30 p.m., you can eat a 3-course dinner for $21.50. A pretty good deal in my book. I have to apologize – I did not take any pictures. The restaurant is very small and Hubby got especially uncomfortable when I started to whip out the camera. My 3-course meal was:

Appetizer: Mesclun Salad with balsamic vinaigrette
Chef’s Special: Spinach Fettucine with wild salmon in a pink sauce
Dessert: Arborio Rice pudding with dried cherries

I loved everything! As I always do. Do you like dinner specials like this or do you prefer to have the entire menu from which to choose? The Twilight Dinner Menu was quite extensive, so there were plenty of options for me.

However, our late-ish dinner meant we cut our commute to the show pretty close, we arrived at about 7:58 to the theater. We raced from dinner to the theater on 45th and got there just in time.  For Hubby’s birthday in November, I bought tickets for God of Carnage.

It was a really funny show. It was pretty short, about 90 minutes with no intermission. It was only the four characters on one set, but it was hysterical. I really enjoyed it and recommend it. We tend to always see the musicals, but this was a nice change of pace. Do you enjoy non-musical shows?

After we left the show, Hubby went to meet up with one of his guy friends that was having his Bachelor Party that night in the city and I headed home. I tidied up a bit when I got home and went to bed. But when Hubby rolled in at 3:15!! he woke me up. So we both ended up sleeping until 9:45 this morning – very late!

Now it’s time for laundry and cleaning around the house. I pretty much have to do laundry every week or the pile gets out of control. Do you have a weekly laundry schedule? Do you do it on the weekends or during the week?

I also wanted to thank Meg for passing along the Beautiful Blogger Award to me. I did receive it from Katherine a little while back, so I won’t bore you with seven more random facts. But I feel honored to receive the award from Meg – I love reading her blog!  I added a new section on the right side of the page to display my award. 🙂

Have a nice Sunday everyone – back to the grind tomorrow. Boo!

5 Comments

Posted in Races, Restaurants, Running, Uncategorized

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The First Tuesday of 2010

Posted on January 5, 2010 | 11 comments

It’s the first Tuesday of 2010, which means we made it through the first Monday of 2010!! Hopefully this week will fly right by. But that means my first race of 2010 will be here before I know it. Eeeks!

I’m running the NYRR Fred Lebow Classic 5-miler in Central Park this Saturday and am a bit nervous because of the frigid temperatures predicated and my lack of recent good runs. Is anyone else out there running it as well?

I’m going to try not to think about it or worry about it too much till Saturday. So let’s recap yesterday’s eats:

Breakfast was boring old Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with almond milk and a side of light cranberry juice.

I was pretty busy at work on Monday considering the amount of vacay time we’ve had lately, so I squeezed in a mid-morning snack of a Coffee-Nut Scone around 11 a.m.

I got pretty busy and then all of a sudden at 1:35 I remembered that I had a phone interview scheduled for 2:00. That wasn’t going to leave me much time for lunch, so I decided to eat my snacks first.

I had a strawberry Chobani yogurt with granola and some carrots.

Then around 2:45 I was finally able to have lunch and I had leftover venison chili.

After work I hurried over to the gym to try to beat the after New Year’s rush of people. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. However, they were giving a lot of tours, which tells me the onslaught is coming soon. I hopped on the  treadmill and ran the following:

4 miles in 35:05

Definitely not my fastest, but I was still a little stuffy in my nose and congested in my chest.

Then I did some abs: 75 crunches; 50 twist crunches; 15 leg lowers

I stopped at the store quickly on the way home to pick up a few things for dinner and was overwhelmed by how busy it was. Note to self, Monday is not a good grocery-shopping day.

For dinner I adapted this recipe for a Crustless Spinach Quiche. The red text and cross-outs show where I added or made changes:

Crustless Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

3 ounces reduced fat free cream cheese, softened
1 cup fat-free milk
1 cup egg substitute
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 ½ cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
½ cup of frozen broccoli, thawed and well-drained
½ cup of grape tomatoes, halved
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced

Directions

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese. Add milk, egg substitute and pepper; beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Transfer to a 10-in. quiche pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

The result:

My first piece – I had two pieces in total.

The recipe was very good, but I used a smaller dish than recommended, so it took longer to cook, which was annoying because I was hungry. But all in all, a good dinner.

And then dessert was another Coffee-Nut Scone, but Hubby suggested maybe adding some frosting to the remaining scones. I gave in and it wasn’t too bad actually.

The rest of my night was very quiet, I read a bit, watched part of a football game Hubby was interested in and I’m ashamed to admit I also watched part of The Bachelor. I had to turn it off at one point because it was so awkward and the girls were terrible. It was kind of funny at the same time though.

Health in the news…

Sleep loss may affect health by curbing exercise – Better get that rest to keep up your workout schedule.

Five ‘eating better’ foods to slip into your diet in ’10 –  A lot of this is common sense stuff, but it does remind me that I need to drink more green tea.
 
Study Says Women With Mate Get Heavier – Essentially the study found that women living with a man (married or not) gained weight after co-habitating, and if they had a child, their weight went up even more. I’ve heard from people that they gained weight once they got married (although I don’t think you can state this is the norm), but this sentence made me laugh out loud:

“This does not explain the still larger weight gain in women who became pregnant.”
 
Did they not get the memo that a woman’s body changes after she has a baby?
 
I don’t put much stock in these kinds of studies, but it does raise some interesting questions:
 
Has your eating changed at all since living with a significant other (either currently or in the past)? What about after marriage?
 
I can tell you that I weigh less now than I did when I met my husband. I think I’ve actually started to eat healthier foods and exercise more since we’ve been together. It helps, of course, that he is an active person who also eats well. I wonder if things would be any different if he weren’t that kind of person. Food for thought…
 
Have a great Tuesday everyone!

11 Comments

Posted in NYRR, Races, Recipes, Running, Uncategorized

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I Love My Garmin!!

Posted on January 2, 2010 | 13 comments

Happy Saturday! I’m not feeling too great today. But first let me recap the rest of yesterday.

After breakfast yesterday, we cleaned up a bit and then I headed out for a run along the East River to test out my new Garmin. It was 42 degrees outside which sounded absolutely warm to me. I have a few “usual routes” that I run along the river, each with a different distance. I set out to run what I thought was my 4.7 mile run: from the apartment down to about 64 street near the dog park and then up to the big dock that juts out, probably around 100-110 street.

I started out my run and immediately  was looking at my watch. Then I decided to just let things go for a bit and see what happened. At 1 mile it beeped at me and I looked down to see my speed. I love the little mile alerts. Here are my run stats:

Mile 1: 8:29
Mile 2: 8:24
Mile 3: 8:50 (oops – darn stairs)
Mile 4: 8:28
Mile 5: 8:33
.2 miles: 2:05
Total mileage: 5.2 in 44:52

I feel like I ran this much faster than I normally do because I had the Garmin. To be fair, I did run faster at one point when this boy passed me acting all cool with his keys jangling annoyingly (I ran sans iPod for some reason) and then shortly after he stopped to walk, so I passed him and turned around and then he turned around too and was jingly right behind me again, obviously trying to pass me for the second time. Didn’t happen. Wow – I think this Garmin and my sense of competitiveness could be a dangerous combination.

It actually felt like a tough run – I think because I wasn’t 100% and because of the large breakfast I ate – I was burping sausage for the first half of the run. After my run, I proceeded to cough incessantly for a while. Maybe I pushed it.

When I got home from my run I snacked on some Chobani yogurt with granola and some tea to calm my raging throat.

A little while later, before we started our cleaning, I also had a Larabar.

Oh my – look at my awful nails. This flavor was okay. It wasn’t as bad as Ginger Snap, but Pecan Pie is still my favorite of the ones I’ve tried to date.

For the remainder of the afternoon the Hubby and I cleaned the apartment and put away all the Christmas decorations. There is still more cleaning and laundry to do today. Boo.

For dinner, I decided I needed some veggies after my pizza dinner the night before. I made a giant salad with Mediterranean lettuce, carrots, cheddar cheese, walnuts, raisins, and cucumber. I covered it with some balsamic vinegar. I also had a side of blackberries.

Up close

And then I finished the night with a nice glass of Cabernet.

I am definitely a red wine girl – I used to be white, but in the past few years I’ve switched.

If you drink wine, do you like red or white? What’s your favorite kind? I’ve been liking Pino Noir lately.

I’m hoping that maybe by later this afternoon I’ll start to feel better, but my throat is killing me right now and I’m feeling exhausted. Have a good Saturday all.

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Potluck Lunch and Mile Reps

Posted on December 22, 2009 | 5 comments

Good morning! I don’t know about you, but I had a really tough time getting out of bed today. I was so warm and cozy. Not to mention, I went to bed pretty early last night and enjoyed a good night’s sleep. I never want to leave a really good night of sleep.

But the day goes on right. So I forced myself up and out of the house.

Let me do a quick recap of yesterday’s eats and activities.

Breakfast was lazy – Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with almond milk and light cranberry juice.

I had my usual unphotographed mid-morning snack of a granola bar and then waited ever so patiently for our department potluck lunch…which didn’t actually happen until 2:00! Eeks. Hence, when we finally got to the food, my plate ended up looking like this:

Lots of food: green beans, roasted potatoes, eggplant parm, pasta salad, rice and low mein. It was a lot, but I was ravenous. I managed to steer clear of most of the fried things, but I’m pretty sure the rice was fried. Oh well.

After the main meal, I put together this dessert plate filled with a sugar cookie (I made), a carrot cake cupcake (love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting), and a chocolate chip butterscotch cookie.

I feel it’s important to note that I only ate half of my sugar cookie.

I didn’t snack for the rest of the day after that enormous lunch (I might have had seconds of the pasta salad and eggplant parm – shhh). By the time the potluck lunch was over, it was 3:00 p.m. anyway!

Around 4:00 p.m. the tempting ideas of skipping the gym and potential excuses I could use started popping into my head. But, I brushed them away and forced myself to go.

How do you squash those excuses and avoidance techniques and force yourself to hit the gym?

I felt much, much better after going to the gym. My body thanked me for it. Here was my workout:

.5 miles at 6.3
1 mile at 7.5
.5 miles at 6.3
1 mile at 7.6
.5 mile at 6.3
.5 mile at 7.7
Total: 4 miles in 34.25 minutes

That was my version of mile reps! Oh I remember my cross-country days and how much I hated mile rep practices. I would dread them all week. That’s probably why most of the time our coach wouldn’t tell us what kind of practice we were doing until we got there. Now I’m willingly doing them – ha!

Have you ever tried running mile repetitions? It’s great for your speed. (But much better when run outside)

After my quick run I did some ab stuff as well:

75 crunches
30 alternating leg crunches

I was kind of an ab slacker. Oh well.

I got home from the gym and wanted an easy and quick dinner. I remembered I had a pilaf package in the cabinet that I wanted to try.

I also threw in some sautéed green peppers and onions, and  some grape tomatoes. Clearing out the fridge.

I added some chicken to Bill’s version of the dinner (no photo). I wasn’t in the mood for meat – especially chicken. The pilaf had a bit of a kick. I enjoyed the addition of soybeans to the mix though. I’d buy it again. Bill ate it, but I’m not sure how he felt about the soybeans. 🙂

After dinner, I finished up the remaining half of my grapefruit with a packet of Truvia sprinkled on top.

It was yummy, but my weekend sugar kick left me wanting more sweets. Second dessert was a teaspoon of peanut butter with some semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Finally my sweets-craving was satiated.

Some interesting health headlines:

REGIMENS: Click Off the TV, and Burn More Calories

Hangover impairs judgment in young adults – funny because of my recent terrible hangover. Good thing I wasn’t making big decisions that day or operating dangerous equipment.

Fake sugar may alter how the body handles real sugar – this one doesn’t say much other than further studies need to be conducted to determine more conclusive results. I’ve started using Truvia and Stevia, so I’ll be keeping my eye on this one.  What kind of sweeteners do you use?

Have a great Tuesday everyone – we’re inching closer to a nice holiday break – hang in there!

5 Comments

Posted in Holidays, Running, Uncategorized

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Annoyed Kitty and Fabulous Fudge

Posted on December 15, 2009 | 8 comments

I woke up today thinking it was Wednesday – getting a little ahead of myself. Happy Tuesday! Inching through the week. Here’s a quick recap of yesterday.

For breakfast I was lazy and had some Kashi Heart to Heart with Almond Milk and orange juice. I am really feeling much better and think I may have headed off that cold its very start.

My morning snack was two clementines. I also stopped and picked up a coffee on my way into work. I was needing a pick-me-up after our late movie night on Sunday. I try to limit how much coffee I drink because I tend to get a little addicted and then if I go without I get a caffeine headache.

However, yesterday I was swayed a bit by the following article discussing the benefits of coffee and tea. I also realize that just about every other week there is a new study out either touting the benefits or warning of the dangers of various food and drink. So I am taking this one with a grain of salt.

More evidence coffee, tea could prevent diabetes

How often do you drink coffee?

Here Are A Few Other Health Articles That Caught My Eye…
City takes its anti-soda campaign online
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Video

Fat in diet won’t affect weight gain over time

Next, for lunch I had a mish-mash of veggies (carrots, cucumber and grape tomatoes) with some cheese and balsamic. I also had a Greek yogurt (honey flavored) with granola.

My afternoon snack before the gym was a Larabar – Apple Pie flavor.

After work I hit the gym reluctantly (because I had a bunch of other things I kind of wanted to get done). I managed an okay workout:

4 miles on the treadmill in 35:26
85 crunches
35 scissor crunches
20 leg lowers

I stopped at the store and picked up a few things on the way home and then I set to making a really quick dinner. I called this dinner a Burrito Bowl. It’s basically brown rice, peas, corn, salsa, cheddar cheese and shredded lettuce all thrown together. I made the Hubby’s with chicken, so his bowl was a little larger. Here’s mine:

And yes, my bowl has a giant chip in it. I think it may be time to revamp some of my bowls. They are looking a little sad.

I forgot – just before I started dinner, I had to have one of these little babies. I was really hungry after the gym.

After dinner, I set to work making some fudge to bring into work next week. This will also go in the freezer until Sunday. Here it is:

And here’s the recipe, courtesy of my mama:

Chocolate Fudge

1 lb. Confectioners sugar  (1 box)
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
 
In medium saucepan, heat butter and milk – add sugar, cocoa, salt and vanilla, stirring over medium heat until well blended and smooth.  Remove from heat, stir in nuts (optional).  Spread mixture quickly in a buttered 9×5 inch loaf pan or 7×7 square pan.  Cut into squares once it has cooled.   (I put parchment paper in the dish, bringing it up two sides, so once it has cooled, you can lift it out of pan to cut easier.)

I made mine without nuts. I had a few pieces once it cooled and it was yummy!

After dinner Bill and I decided to watch a movie. But not before I showed him the Surprised Kitty video on YouTube. This thing has been making the rounds and it makes me smile.

Surprised Kitty

I love it so much that I decided to try it with Murphy.

Murphy was not amused. The last is him basically attacking my hand. He does a great “Annoyed Kitty.” If you haven’t seen “Surprised Kitty” check it out. Hope my link above works okay. If not, just search YouTube by that title.

After annoying Murphy we settled in and watched “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” with Jack Nicholson. My father has been insisting that we watch this movie for years! It won a slew of awards back in the day and has co-stars including Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd. It was a pretty funny movie. I think Bill and I were both expecting way too much after the way my father built it up for us. We thought it was pretty good – not absolutely fabulous. Sorry Dad – but at least we finally watched it!

Have a great Tuesday!

P.S. – I will leave you with this Murphy lounging photo, just to show that he didn’t stay annoyed for too long…

8 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Running, Uncategorized

Movie Mania Continues

Posted on December 14, 2009 | 2 comments

Weekend Recap
Saturday: Cold Weather Weekend Warrior
Sunday: Not Such a Warrior

Happy Monday. I can’t believe it’s here already. My weekend didn’t fly by as fast as usual, but they are always too short to begin with anyway. I can’t believe it’s already mid-December!

As I mentioned, on Sunday morning I was supposed to go for a fun run with some local bloggers, but I wasn’t feeling great and didn’t want to chance making it worse. So I went back to bed and slept until about 9:30. Then I got up and had a breakfast of oatmeal with apples, pumpkin butter and cinnamon with a side of orange juice and cold medicine. Lovely.

After breakfast I popped out to the store and picked up some ingredients to make sugar cookies. I’ll be bringing these to our holiday potluck on the 21st, but I wanted to make them now and freeze them until the night before. I used my mom’s recipe:

Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup butter   (softened)
1/4 cup Crisco – regular or butter flavor (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together Crisco, butter, sugar and vanilla.  Add egg, beat till light and fluffy.  Add dry ingredients and blend into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half, wrap in glad wrap and chill for 1 hour.

On lightly floured surface, roll to 1/8 inch thickness, cut in desired shapes and bake on cookie sheet at 375 for approx. 6 to 8 minutes.  Cool slightly and remove.  Cool completely before frosting.

For frosting the cookies: confectioners sugar, a pinch of salt and milk.

I was so busy baking that I didn’t really stop for lunch. So when the baking was done, this was my “lunch.”

Dinner was much better than lunch. I was craving soup, so I tried Amy’s Tuscan Bean and Rice soup and it might just be my new favorite. It was so yummy. I also had a side salad with romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, goat cheese and walnuts with balsamic drizzled over it.

Finally, I needed something sweet to end my night, but I also wanted something that might help thwart an impending cold. I had half a grapefruit with one packet of Truvia sprinkled over it.

The best part of my Sunday was when Bill arrived home earlier than expected and we decided to watch another movie together. We’ve sort of been on a movie kick lately. I think we’re subconsciously trying to get the most out of our Netflix subscription.

Last night we ended up watching “Notorious.” I know what you’re thinking – it must have been awful. But actually, I was somewhat surprised with how decent this movie was. It was a solid 2 hours, but it didn’t feel like it was dragging and it never became too much about rap. I mean, it definitely was about rap, but I was never overwhelmed. I thought the actor who played Biggie was absolutely great and the little boy who played the child biggie was really good as well. Come to find out, he’s actually Biggie’s son! The resemblance was uncanny.

Anyway – I wouldn’t rank “Notorious” as a favorite by any means, but it certainly was a decent, different kind of movie. If you’re looking for something to mix up your movie line-up a bit, I would recommend it. 

My final comment: the guy who played Puffy looked nothing like the real Puffy. For the first few minutes he was in the movie I kept telling Bill there was no way that this “Puffy” character they were talking about was supposed to be Sean Combs.  The casting on that one was way off.

Have a good Monday everyone!

2 Comments

Posted in Bloggers, Dessert, Recipes, Running, Uncategorized

Cold Weather Weekend Warrior

Posted on December 12, 2009 | 11 comments

Happy Saturday! I’m going to try to make this a quick post because I have laundry to do and possibly some cookies to make. I was up early this morning to meet Katherine for a 7:30 a.m. run in Central Park. I’m a baby when it comes to running in the cold weather and usually find an excuse not to go when the thermometer dips below 30 degrees. Well, this morning I knew I had no choice since I was meeting someone. This was my outfit for the weather, but then at the last minute I threw on another long sleeve shirt instead of a short sleeve, so this isn’t 100% accurate.

Before I headed out I ate a granola bar and some triscuits with peanut butter.

And please note the temperature when I headed out: 27 degrees (okay, almost 28)! Cold weather warrior!

I think our run went really well. It was the first time we’d run together, so finding the right pace can take some time, but I think we hit our stride soon after we entered the park. And it was certainly COLD! It was a bit shocking for me for the first few minutes, but once we were moving constantly I began to heat up. Katherine is an established winter runner, having run in Pennsylvania and Boston, so she gave me some helpful tips along the way. Thanks for the great run and tips Katherine!! Here’s what we ran:

1 mile to the park
6 mile Central Park loop
1.6 mile reservoir loop
1 mile from the park back home
Estimated total: 9.5 – 9.6 miles

What are some of your favorite cold weather running tips? My face was really cold throughout the run. Does anyone wear a face covering?

I have no clue how fast we ran any of this because I’m pretty sure I left my running watch up at my parent’s house again. Oh how I wish I had a Garmin!

That was this morning and here’s a brief recap of yesterday.

The Hubby took some pics of the Gossip Girl trailer area right outside our apartment door on Friday. I also saw them taping last night when I got home around 8 p.m., but couldn’t see any of the characters.

Do you know who Desi and Lucy are? I’m assuming they are some GG characters right?

Breakfast yesterday morning was some Kashi Heart to Heart with almond milk and blackberries.

My mid-morning snack was tea and a Larabar. I was so cold, I wanted something comforting and this was perfect!

I had to venture out in the cold to get some lunch and I didn’t feel like thinking too much, so I grabbed my usual salad: romaine lettuce, carrots, walnuts, dried cranberries, peas and cheddar cheese.

My afternoon snack was Greek yogurt with granola and the leftover clementines from yesterday.

After work, I decided to meet up with my friend for happy hour. We went to a dive bar in the West Village and I had one beer. I knew I had to get up early to run and I very rarely go out on Friday nights.

When I got home I made a quick dinner of multi-grain pasta with marinara sauce to help fuel my early-morning run.

And my dessert was my new fave again:

I think I was in bed and asleep by about 10:45 last night. I did have to get up once in the middle of the night because I heard Murphy playing with a tree ornament. I managed to find the ornament and wire hook in my sleep walk and non-contact blindness and then went right back to bed.

I’ve got another fun blogger run tomorrow morning – yay! The rest of Saturday will be some housekeeping, relaxing and maybe a movie tonight. Enjoy your weekend!

11 Comments

Posted in Bloggers, Running, Uncategorized

Freezing, Frigid, Friday

Posted on December 11, 2009 | 7 comments

Holy moly it’s cold outside! I left the house this morning and the temperature gauge was reading a chilly 23 degrees. Yikes. And I couldn’t find my hat, so it was not a very pleasant commute.

I also stepped out the door and found myself walking onto a t.v. set pretty much. There were Gossip Girl trailers everywhere! I didn’t have my point and shoot camera on me (left it at work), so I asked Hubby if he wouldn’t mind taking some shots before he left for work. I also saw the t.v. studio’s “snack caravan” set up just up the street. Must be nice!

As far as my snacks go, here are yesterday’s eats:

Breakfast was rather boring – Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with Almond Milk. Yes, you read that right, I gave almond milk a whirl and have to say that I really liked it. I used it again today and it was so good. I’m not vegan or opposed to drinking cow’s milk, I would just like to cut back my dairy intake wherever I can. I don’t think it’s entirely necessary and my stomach tends to feel better with less of it.

What kind of “milk” drinker are you? Dairy, soy, rice, almond?

I’ve been eating Heart to Heart for a while. But after visiting Tina’s new NuVal blog and exploring the “Trading Up” section, I might try the Kashi 7 Whole Grain Cereal Puffs. It received such a high NuVal score!

Lunch yesterday was some Reduced Fat Triscuits, Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Flavor cheese and carrots.

And my afternoon snacks were supposed to be Greek yogurt, a few Rice Works chips and two clementines. But it ended up that I ate two helpings of the chippers and then didn’t want the clementines later. Oops.

I came across this NY Times article yesterday and found it pretty interesting: 

Ready to Exercise? Check Your Watch

It talks about how the different times you workout (morning vs. evening) can affect how “good” your workout is. I always feel like I’m stronger and faster in the evening, which apparently is the norm for many people. Although I do also feel very proud after completing a morning workout – not so much because it was fast or hard, but just because I actually got through it!

When do you feel at your best as far as running or working out goes?

After work I had an appointment to go to, so I ended up skipping the gym. This week hasn’t been as great as I wanted as far as running and the gym are concerned, but I’m slowly getting back into it.

The past few days have been filled with lots of grains, so I was really craving some veggies for dinner. Bill was at a work happy hour, so I was solo. I made myself a nice big salad with romaine lettuce, asparagus shavings, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and goat cheese. 🙂 And I had some leftover couscous on the side.

I actually stopped and got cranberries to make the cranberry dessert, but then lost motivation and had this instead.

I might have had it times two actually.

I’m ashamed to say that I also watched a bit of Jersey Shore last night as well. It’s just so God awful that I couldn’t turn away. Thankfully, I got sidetracked and eventually moved on, but I’ve heard from a bunch of people that they find themselves watching in horror as well.

I was toying around with my Rebel camera settings a little later and caught this picture of Murphy with a  litter nose.

I read a little bit of my new book Ahab’s Wife and am getting into it. It’s historical fiction, which I typically really enjoy (like The Other Boleyn Girl). So far the main character “Una” has been through a lot and has grown up tremendously. You start out with her as an adult, married to Captain Ahab (yes, the one from Moby Dick) and she is giving birth to his child, and then the story flashes back to her childhood and we learn where she came from and how she ended up with Ahab. At least that’s where I’m assuming it’s going. Right now she’s only 16 years old at the point I’m at.

I swear, I’m going to write my David Copperfield review this weekend! I’m looking forward to tonight – Happy Hour with Rachael – and then a weekend of relaxation and running. Hope I don’t freeze!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

7 Comments

Posted in Books, Running, Uncategorized