Tag Archives: gnocchi

Saturday: Bachelorette and 9-Mile Run

Good morning – happy Saturday! This going to be a quick post because I’m heading out to a bachelorette party for my friend Kelly at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut soon. I’m very excited!! It’s going to be such a blast.

I just got back from a 9+ run with Katherine in Central Park and despite the balmy 42 degree weather, it felt a little chilly while running. My nose was running so terribly. Here is our breakdown of the run:

Mile 1 – 9:56 (on our way to CP)
Mile 2 – 8:46
Mile 3 – 8:59
Mile 4 – 9:03
Mile 5 – 8:52
Mile 6 – 8:52
Mile 7 – 9:13
Mile 8 – 9:10
Mile 9 – 11:17 (on our way back from CP through the streets)
.21 – 9:57
Total of 9.21 miles in 1:26:18

This is actually more than my Marathon Training Plan called for for today – so that’s good – I’m right on track. Here’s yesterday’s recap:

For breakfast yesterday I had Kashi Autumn Harvest with almond milk and a side of cranberry and orange juice mixed.

Lunch was leftovers of Thursday night’s dinner and it was just as good.

My afternoon snacks were Chobani pineapple yogurt (my fave!) with granola.

And a handful of walnuts and raisins.

After work on Friday night I headed to the gym because my training plan called for a 5-mile “pace” run – meaning run it at the pace you would want to run at the marathon (for me that means to BQ). With my first marathon I usually took the night before a long run as a rest day, a light workout or cross training day. I decided to try and follow this new Higdon plan, but chose to run 4 miles instead of 5.

4 miles in 32:51

That was a pretty fast pace for me, averaging about 8:12 per mile, which is actually faster than what I would need in the marathon to qualify for Boston, but I was feeling good so I went with it. I must admit that running hard the night before a “long” run does not seem to work for me. I think I’m going to need to tweak Hal Higdon’s plan a bit to meet the needs of my body. I need more of a light, short run the night before a long run. I may move the “pace” runs toward the middle of the week.

If you’ve trained for any kind of race using a training plan developed by someone else, have you tweaked or changed it at all – how and why? Did it work out better for you?

After that I did some core work and some arm exercises with a 5-pound weight and headed home.

I decided to use up the remaining spinach gnocchi for dinner, since the package said to use within three days. They did not disappoint the second time around! Yum!

After dinner I also ate a handful of un-pictured chocolate morsels – they’ve been my obsession this week. Then I headed into read for a bit before bedtime (which was super early). I am totally into The Historian at this point and I’m only about 80 pages in, but I’m loving it!

That’s all for now folks – time to pack and get myself into party mode!! Have a great weekend everyone! 🙂

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Marathon Decision, Book Review…FRIDAY!

Good morning all!  Happy Friday!!

So it’s time to announce my big Marathon Decision for 2010. Here it is:

I’ve decided to run the Pocono Mountain Run for Red Marathon on Sunday, May 16, 2010. I made my decision based on several factors and I thank everyone so much for all the feedback and suggestions yesterday. I tried to take everything into account. Here is why I’ve decided to run it:

  • I’ve got two half marathon races in the next few months and I plan to add a few more road races to the list, so I think this will help increase my speed and endurance.
  • I don’t enjoy training and doing long runs in the peak heat of summer (July and August), so hopefully I’ll feel great during my longs runs in March and April.
  • If I don’t qualify for Boston this May, I would still have time to try in the fall of 2010.   
  • We’re planning a trip to Ireland in the fall and I know that it would put a hitch in my fall training. I definitely wouldn’t have enough time to run while in Ireland since we’ll be on the go and sightseeing the entire time.
  • I feel confident that I can increase my speed significantly in the 18 weeks I have for training and have already outlined a training plan.

So there’s my reasoning, now here’s my training plan – I’ve already started!

View my Poconos Marathon Plan in PDF version – I know the image above it pretty terrible. I’m also going to be incorporating some hills, tempo runs and mile reps in the training runs outlined above – I just haven’t decided exactly where yet. I should note that I used Hal Higdon’s Intermediate Marathon Plan as a guide for my training plan.

I feel very relieved that my decision has been made and my training has started! No turning back now. Thanks again for sharing your opinions and thoughts!

And I welcome any suggestions, tips, hints for running faster that anyone has to offer! Do you have any advice to share with me?

Book Review

Finally, before I get into my eats, I have to let you know that I posted my book review for The Weight of Silence. Check it out! Now on to eats:

Yesterday’s breakfast was a honey wheat double fiber English muffin with peanut butter on one side and almond butter on the other, topped with banana. And of course, a side of light cranberry juice.

Lunch was some leftover spinach gnocchi – yummy yum – and some carrots.

My late afternoon snack was some black cherry Stonyfield yogurt with granola.

Dinner was kind of a mish mash. I cooked 4 baby red potatoes in olive oil and lemon juice for a bit, then added chopped up green pepper, onion and garlic and some butter. While that cooked, I microwaved three veggie sausage links. Then I added them to the mix when everything was just about ready. It was soo good – the lemon really gave it a kick.

Dessert was a few of these again…

After dinner I watched the new episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” and I have to say, I’m just not as into it as I used to be. I did watch part of the cross-over episode to “Private Practice”, but then I gave up and read more of my new book instead:

My friend Katie recommended this book , The Historian, after I finished the Twilight series and was on a vampire kick. However, I didn’t get around to reading it until now. And so far I am loving it. I was so into it on the train ride home last night that I almost missed my stop.

I’m so excited for this weekened! I’ve got my friend Kelly’s bachelorette party tomorrow at Foxwoods Casino in CT and I can’t wait! Do you have any fun plans for this weekend? I’m also going to work in 2 runs hopefully – the weather is supposed to pretty warm!

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend all!

What to do, What to do…

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.