why I broke up with Daily Mile

Will this blog ever talk about food again? Better question: will I ever have time to cook and eat again? Sadly I’m right in the middle of preparing for the comprehensive exam for my MA and honestly cooking is low priority right now. Hopefully this weekend I’ll get in the kitchen and make something delicious, but for now my random thoughts will have to suffice. Apologies, etc, etc.

(Oh and if you’re joining me from Skinny Runner, thank you for clicking over!)

So, riding on the coattails of my half marathon I figured I’d talk shop a bit about running. I guess now that I have a medal, I can consider myself a real runner? I think it is funny how new runners are, typically, reluctant to call themselves “runners” because there is a very clear image that goes along with being a runner.

But, I honestly think a website, Daily Mile, has the fault for a lot of my running woes. When I first started running I was logging my miles religiously on Daily Mile, a kind of Facebook for fitness. I found other local runners who friended me and would comment on my workouts and I on theirs. But I started to get really into it — too into it. I compared myself to them, pushed myself to keep up with them, and ultimately pushed myself too hard. I got an injury in my IT band and virtually quit running, mad at the running gods of the universe.

I took over a year off but when I came back to it for this half marathon training, I started my DM account again. And the cycle continued. I completely deleted it and began to log my miles on a spreadsheet on my computer, comparing my stats to no one but myself and much happier, despite my slowed pace.

This is not to say that DM is evil. I met some great people and even had a few group runs because of it. I got to know some local athletes who inspired me in my running and could pass on their wisdom to a newbie like me. But ultimately, social networking of my workouts was not for me. I am far too competitive of a person for it to be productive.

So now I use SmashRun, a website with a much better interface (I think) with the option to push notifications out to Facebook or Twitter. I do neither and keep it all private, but I like the analysis it does of my runs. It tells me that I rarely get my butt out to run on Mondays. It tells me that when I run after 10am, I’m a good 20 seconds/mile slower than average! And it tracks cumulative miles so I feel super impressed that I’m almost at 100 for 2012.

These are just my 2 cents on the issue. Do you use DM and love it? Had you never heard of it before? Do you track your fitness (of any kind!) on some kind of website? Are my questions stupid? 

Lent already?

Whoa. When did Lent sneak up on me?

Clearly I’ve been out of it for a while because I suddenly looked at my calendar today and saw that it is Ash Wednesday. Did it sneak up on anyone else too? Perhaps this explains all the weird Facebook status updates about not using Facebook for the next 40 days?

So last year I attempted to give up alcohol for Lent. Not because I have a drinking problem (which is nothing to joke about) but because I thought it would help me save money and concentrate on finding ways to spend time with friends outside of happy hour. Well it was an epic failure because I forgot and only realized it halfway through a happy hour at Fado’s in downtown Austin a week into Lent. But, I figure it is fate that I forgot about it because that is the happy hour where I met Rahul!

This year, after quickly debating (read: today) what I am going to give up for Lent I decided that I’m not going to give up anything. I won’t get deep into religious doctrine, because everyone has their own beliefs and why would you care about mine… but basically, I don’t feel like giving up something like dessert, beer, or meat will bring me closer to God.

Instead, I am going to continue to live my life as usual, but save all my receipts from coffee shops and bakeries — purchases that I consider total luxuries and certainly not a necessity. At the end of Lent, I will total up how much I’ve spent on all of that and donate it to a charity. I’ve yet to choose a charity (suggestions?) but I am thinking something to do with the military since my big brother is in Afghanistan. It won’t be much money, I’m guessing maybe $30-40, but maybe I’ll divide it into a few small donations to a few charities.

I also saw this, the 40 Days of Water mission that looks amazing. If I hadn’t failed so miserably to give up alcohol last year I might consider it. But I think this sounds incredible! Let me know should you feel so inclined to participate — I’d love to hear your experience! (And it doesn’t have to be for religious reasons, either!)

So are you giving up anything for Lent? Do you have a suggestion for a charity? Do you think we church goers are crazy?

livestrong half marathon recap

So yesterday I shed (metaphorical) blood, (real) sweat, and (copious) tears as I finished my very first half marathon.

13.1 miles later, I am still alive, really sore, and really proud.

At 6:15am, I headed to Austin’s Capitol building to meet up with my teammates from Team Asha and took some touristy pictures. Here’s my #1 cheerleader from the course… Rahul!

He came to town to visit, cheer for me, and to make me look even paler than I already am.

He took off at 6:45am to start on some mimosas with my other cheerleaders and I nervously made my way to the start line, pairing myself with some people from the Austin Fit pace group I’ve been doing long runs with. The race started at 7am and since 15,000 crazy people had to cross the start with me, it took me until about 7:15am to even run.

The first few miles were great, I was feeling strong and even saw Rahul and my friends Mary and Cliff cheering for me around mile 2.5. It was a huge boost as I saw the steady 3 mile climb up South Congress from there! The turn around to the 3 mile downhill was wonderful, as I saw another few teammates, smelled bacon from a local restaurant, and saw how I was rocking my pace nearly 30 seconds under my usual. I was cautious not to go out too hard, but I was doing okay except some nerves affecting my stomach.

I saw my cheerleading squad around mile 7 for the last time and took off the rest of the way on my own. I had only run up to 10 miles prior to the race, since I missed the 12 mile run with my group. I got to mile 10 and hit a wall, realizing I had never taken in more fuel (Shot Blocks) at mile 8 like planned, and I felt it. With a short break to chew I got reenergized and tackled some rolling hills.

Then I got to mile 11.8 and wanted to cry. I suppose this is the race organizer’s fun little way to torture us all? It was awful. You saw it coming and dreaded it the whole way and climbed something like 8 stories in .15 of a mile. I walked up part of it and felt really out of breath at the end of it. I tried to pull it together but ended up having to walk up another short hill at 12.6… so close to the end!

I finally did manage to pull it together and rounded the corner towards the finish line. I was slightly ahead of pace so I wasn’t expecting friends to be there and I just gave it my last bit of energy. I cried and threw my arms up as I ran the last .05 miles to the finish. I have been dreaming about doing a half for 3 years and had finally completed it!

I felt momentarily like I couldn’t catch my breath but after chugging some water and getting my medal, things got better. I found Rahul, who is the most amazing person I could ever ask to be with, and he was so proud of me that it made me even prouder of what I had accomplished. We reunited with friends, had a mimosa, and then I stuffed my face with bacon and eggs and all was right with the world.

So there it is. My first 13.1 in 2:26:41. I couldn’t be happier. Well, maybe I would be happier if I wasn’t hobbling like an old lady right now.

tamale bake

The other day, while gazing blissfully into the abyss that is my pantry, I noticed the sad little bag of masa harina (MAH-sah ah-REE-na) sitting on my baking shelf. Masa harina is the powdered corn that is used in such delightful things as corn tortillas and my tamales. In fact, the last time I even used the masa was for my tamales!

I hate wasting food so I started thinking of things I could do with it. Eventually I came up with a tamale bake that is kind of like a version of Mexican lasagna (which I also haven’t made in a year! whoops!) but has delicious masa crust.

Masa harina is very readily available these days. Check near the flour in your “baking needs” aisle, and if you can’t find it there, see if your store has an “ethnic” or “Latino” section. Please don’t use corn meal or a corn bread mix, they aren’t the same thing.

My favorite thing about recipes like this is how variable they are — you can add chicken, pork, or tofu and you can pick your very favorite salsa, mild or hot! I like cilantro and I like spice, so I ended up getting a hot cilantro salsa that rocked my world. I also added additional spice on top of all that. What is up with me and spicy foods lately? I am my mother’s antithesis.

So give masa harina a chance and make this great vegetarian dish soon. But perhaps not for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, as cheese + beans does not equal romance.

Tamale Bake (serves 4)
1 cup masa harina
1/2 cup water
1/2 T chili powder
2 cups cooked black beans (drained!)
2 T lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 cup salsa of your choosing
1/2 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese
sour cream or Greek yogurt for topping (optional)
Heat your oven to 425*. In a small mixing bowl, combine the masa harina, water, and chili powder. Mix with your hands for best results. When you can incorporate all of the masa into a ball, place in the center of an 8×8 (square) baking dish. Press down and into the corners, creating an even, flat crust. Bake in the oven for 7 minutes to set it. Remove from the oven and turn the oven down to 350*. In another mixing bowl, combine the black beans, cayenne (optional), salt, and lime juice. Once mixed, spread on top of the tamale crust that has just come out of the oven. Top the black beans with a layer of salsa and finish with cheese. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is nice and melted. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt!

The Color Run Austin recap

It was your typical Saturday morning in Austin that started like this…

And quickly turned into this…

3 of my friends and I decided a couple months ago to participate in the Austin Color Run. It basically takes the concept from the Hindu holiday, Holi (March 8th this year), and combines it with a 5k and fundraising for Habitat for Humanity. The concept of Holi, in the least amount of words possible, is to cover everyone in pigment so we all look the same and no one can see our differences.

So we came up with a great team name, The Violent Lovers (thanks to a Wu Tang Clan name generator…) and bought awesome tube socks from Target for $1.50. I ran with my friends Marcy, Mary, and Cliff and while it was a harrowing experience, I couldn’t have chosen better teammates.

Because of the random drought-busting storms we’ve been having lately, Austin is muddy. But we were prepared and everyone had a towel and some extra shoes and we figured we’d be fine. We were happy and hopeful. We’d gotten emails from The Color Run, who does a great job of communicating pre-race, about a change in location because of the overwhelming interest. Well, despite changing the location, it still caused a 5 mile back up on the road leading to the park. We were on track to get to the park by 8:15am for the 9am start when we hit the traffic. It was horrible. I went 1 mile in 40 minutes. We ended up pulling into a nearby neighborhood around 9am and walking over a mile to the race.

We finally got to the venue and even though we were a little chilly and bitter about the traffic situation, we found out that nothing was on time because of the traffic and other planning failures. I admit I am a little upset about the lack of organization at this point. If the logistics of the race caused them to move venues, perhaps they should have been more prepared for the huge amount of people they were expecting… But we got in line, about 3/4 of the way back, and waited for the staggered start of our “wave”.

We did not cross the start line until 10am (an hour after projected) but we tried to smile and jog to warm ourselves up. But the congestion was awful. People were stopping at every person who had a bucket of the color (an eco-friendly pigment powder) and we walked the first 5 minutes. There were spectators with color, but at every kilometer (of the 5-kilometer race) there was a “color zone” so we figured we’d get color there and dodged our way through the crowd, color-less. The course started to get muddy, but nothing a little washing wouldn’t fix later, so we stayed together and trekked on.

Unfortunately we got to the first color zone to find out they had run out of color. We were all cold, muddy, and not covered in yellow powder yet so the 4 of us started to get a little grouchy. At this point the mud had gotten so bad we could not even attempt to run. Our shoes got stuck and Cliff and Marcy had to physically pull my leg out several times. We started slipping and sliding (see above picture) and people left and right were cursing, losing shoes, and complaining about how there was no color left.

We found a quick cut-through and decided to knock off about .5 miles of the course. At this point I looked at my Garmin watch to find out we had only gone .75 miles total, in over 20 minutes. There was no way I was going 3.1 in those conditions. We start hearing from the chit-chat happening around us that none of the zones have any color left at this point, that it was all used up in the first few waves. People were getting angry. I was getting upset. At some point, Mary and Cliff got separated from us and Marcy and I grumbled and climbed our way through mud. We ended up taking another huge short cut and rounded the bend, seeing the finish line ahead of us. In 38 minutes, we traveled 1.48 miles and I think I used the phrase “They should have rescheduled” about 38 times.

We ended the race with no color on our bodies and found a tent where they were giving 1 bag of color to every participant in exchange for a wrist bracelet. This was the first color we’d seen all morning! We grabbed our bags, miraculously found Cliff and Mary, and we all covered each other in powder.

At the end of it, our shoes were ruined. We ended up throwing them in a box that subsequently went into the dumpster at my apartment (coincidentally, the same dumpster that had to be stepped into when we realized, hours later, that Cliff’s camera — where all these pictures are from — was also in that box.)

We were cold, in terrible moods about the lack of organization from the Color Run and full of complaints. With our shoes quite wet and heavy, we trekked back to my car, tried our best to rinse our hands and feet with water from water bottles, and sat on towels. Bloody Marys and mimosas followed and our moods lightened up a bit. We ended up having brunch at Austin Java and cleaning ourselves up a bit in their bathroom.

All in all, I have mixed feelings about the race. It was an adventure in many ways and it was great to spend my morning with friends, but because of the horrible mud situation and the poor organization at the race itself, I felt like I wasted a morning and $40. If the Color Run is coming to a city near you, I would recommend signing up because I think it could be a really great experience. I think they’re learning from their mistakes and hopefully there won’t be a giant rainstorm for the 10 days prior to your race. I honestly think I want to do the September event in DC, since I’ll be living there by then, so I can give it another chance. It has great potential, but Saturday stunk.

a sweet & spicy cookie

Anyone else love those fancy Lindt Chocolate & Chili bars??

Yeah, me too.

I’ll be honest, I really like anything spicy. I like to eat food that makes my nose run and my face sweat. I especially love things with cayenne pepper or red chili flakes. I once was stupid enough to try the “Thai hot” level of hot at a Thai restaurant. Horrible, awful, terrible mistake, people.

But I saw one of those delicious, dreamy chocolate bars at Tar-jay the other day and thought about how awesome it would be to make a chocolate and chili cookie.

And thus was born the Sweet & Spicy Cookie… just in time for a sweet and spicy Valentine’s Day (yes, I know it is in 2 weeks but a girl needs to prepare accordingly).

Sweet & Spicy Cookies (makes 15-18 cookies)
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 – 1/2 cayenne pepper (more or less to spice preference, I went with more!)
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 T molasses
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cayenne pepper. Mix well. In a separate mixing bowl combine melted chocolate, vanilla, molasses, milk, and egg (be sure to make sure the chocolate has cooled a bit so the egg doesn’t cook!). Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until you have a smooth, loose batter (like a cake batter). Heat the oven to 350* and on a well greased/butter baking sheet, drop large spoonfuls of the batter 3 inches apart from each other. Bake for 13 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to cool. Enjoy with a glass of milk to help the spice!