Cap 10k recap: it stunk

Sorry I’m so lame and have been missing lately. I promise I’m not off having secret, fun adventures. I am studying for my Master’s degree comprehensive exams which are in a week and are draining my brain and my social life. But enough about that.

Amidst the studying, I have had some time to keep running. I knew going into this semester that I would need to keep running up after my half marathon for my mental sanity. So I signed up for a few races to keep me on track. It was a great strategy and reminds me that I need to get out of my apartment and take a break from the studying. Physical movement is good for brain function. It’s science or something.

(Side note: I’m totally into this picture in a narcissistic way. I keep staring at it. I think it is the way my leg looks so long and svelte? Or is it that my shining paleness attracts the eyes?)

I ran the Statesman Capitol 10k this past weekend and I had this idea that I’d be able to come back and tell you all that I had a big PR and was so proud of myself. But the morning of the race, I kind of knew that wasn’t going to happen. I had done some speed work and actually dropped 30 seconds off my average pace/mile (huge for slowpokes like me) and I thought I could drop time off my old 10k time. But then I realized the race started at 9am. And then I woke up not excited at all. I just wasn’t there, mentally.

Like my awesome Hunger Games shirt? Not a single person complimented me. Jerks.

WTF who plans a race at 9am in March in Texas? It was already 70* and climbing by the time the race started, which really isn’t that hot. But then the sun wouldn’t go away and there was not even a breeze. I saw people on stretchers and passed out on the side of the road with IVs because of the heat. It didn’t seem like it was that hot, but everyone around me was dying too. I took far more walking breaks than I did during my entire half marathon and crossed the finish line looking like this:

So sexy it hurts. I know.

I may or may not have puked at the end. The combination of needing water to not dehydrate and not needing water because it makes me feel sick when I run is not good. I drank too much for my stomach but not nearly enough for the warm run.

Discouraged, I grabbed a banana and hiked back to my car. I was pretty upset. I spent all day sulking. And then I got over it. I have another 10k coming up in a couple weeks, at 8am instead of 9am, and I’m going into it prepared to remember that “bad” races can happen and I should just enjoy what my body can do, no matter what speed.

Countdown to exam: 6 days
Countdown to visiting Rahul: 7 days
Countdown to moving to DC: 45 days

food planning

Recently I was chatting with some friends about how little time I have to cook lately with my crazy study schedule and just life in general getting in the way. I still love to cook (mostly to eat), but I am just not feeling it lately.

But every weekend I try to do some ahead-of-time preparation for the next week or two of cooking and eating and these are definitely strategies I plan to continue using, especially when I move to DC where we will both have real jobs and less time to spend in the kitchen. None of this is earth-shattering, but maybe you’ll learn a fun new tip and maybe you’ll have suggestions for me?

Sharing is caring, folks.

I hate grocery shopping. HATE IT. So I tend to do one “big” shop every other week and occasionally run to the store mid-week to grab something I’m out of or something I’m craving. I tend to plan out 1 or 2 main “dishes” to make that week and put the ingredients on my shopping list. And I always make sure to stock up on some basics for my fridge and pantry:

• Milk (I’m into unsweetened almond milk these days)
• Eggs & egg whites
• Plain yogurt
• Lean protein in the freezer
• Brown rice
• Pasta
• Frozen vegetables (for when you run out of fresh ones!)
• Bread
• Ketchup (necessary)

With the above ingredients, I can always manage to throw together some kind of a meal with the other ingredients I have. Even if it is boring, I make an effort to use the food I have purchased.

As soon as I get home from the grocery store I launch into Crazy Organizer Meredith and my Type A personality really comes out. For example, if I bought chicken breasts, I will open the package, re-package each breast individually, label, and freeze them. I un-bag my produce and put it away in the fruit basket or vegetable drawer. I buy a lot in bulk (dried beans, rice, nuts) and try to keep them organized by transferring them into tupperware or old glass jars that I wash and reuse (pickle jars and pasta sauce jars work best because they’re big!). It takes 10-15 minutes and the organization is totally worth it.

After all the organization of the fridge and pantry, I start some basic prep. If I am planning on a chicken dish, I’ll start to marinade it. I’ll soak some dried beans so I can boil them up later. I’ll hard boil several eggs to keep in the fridge. I’ll throw some rice in my rice cooker to keep on hand during the week.

When it comes to actually cooking, I like to make meals that are easily transported in a lunchbox to school or easily reheated for quick dinners. Some of my favorite dishes to have on hand are turkey burgers, channa masala, pasta salad, grilled chicken to throw in salads, and pizza dough to keep in the freezer.

I tend to make one dish on Saturday or Sunday and then make another, easier one mid-week. Also, remembering to pull things out of the freezer is now a habit for me. I scan it a few times a week. Do I have chili or cooked turkey burgers in there? Pizza dough? I just pull them out in the mornings and by the time dinner rolls around, they’re easily reheated. If you package individual servings before freezing, it makes it much easier to just pull a hunk o’ lasagna out and enjoy it.

Do you do meal planning or do you just fly by the seat of your pants? 

orange chicken a l’Harris… sorta

This is my best friend, Harris:

(I stole that from his Facebook, but have seen him be a yoga freak in person as well.)

Long over a year ago, he passed a recipe for his mom’s Chicken a l’Orange to me and I’ve had it on an electronic sticky note on my computer’s desktop for all this time.

I haven’t seen Harris in far too long as he’s been busy galavanting all over Europe for the past 2 years (I’m not jealous at all) and our Skype availability never seems to match up. Staring at this recipe really made me miss him!

Since I haven’t cooked in forever, or so it seemed, it finally felt like the right time to use that recipe since I couldn’t come up with anything better in my useless brain. By the time I got to the grocery store with the recipe in my hand, I decided to change it to a more Asian-inspired Orange Chicken recipe. The original recipe isn’t much different from what I did, but I merely switched out American chili sauce (like fancy ketchup) for Asian garlic chili so-spicy-it-makes-you-die sauce, added a vegetable, and used chicken chunks (appetizing) instead of whole, bone-in pieces. And I sauteed instead of baked the chicken in the sauce.

I’m by no means an authentic Asian cook. I consider myself an aficionada of Asian cooking but this is in no ways super authentic. However it did taste mighty good and satisfied an unhealthy Chinese food craving.

Orange Chicken (serves 3-4)
1.5-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6 thighs)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
salt & pepper
3 T vegetable oil
1 cup orange juice
2 T soy sauce
1-2 T garlic chili paste (spicy! be careful!)
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 T blackstrap molasses
1 red bell pepper, chopped
Cut the chicken into small pieces and set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine flour with a dash of salt and pepper. Lightly toss the chicken pieces in the flour, covering most of the exposed surfaces. Heat vegetable oil to medium high — ideally you’ll do this in a large wok but I used a Dutch oven since that’s all I had and it worked fine. When the oil is hot, it will glisten. Carefully (!!) drop the floured chicken into the oil in small batches and let it sizzle for a minute or two before stirring it and letting it brown for a few minutes longer. Remove and repeat until all chicken is brown — it will not be fully cooked at this point. Turn the heat down on your oil once the chicken is all removed. Carefully pour in the orange juice, using a spatula/other utencil to gently scrape the chicken goodness off the bottom of the pan with the help of the OJ. Add in the garlic chili paste, soy sauce, mustard, and molasses, stirring well to combine. Add in the chopped peppers, letting them simmer for a few minutes before adding the chicken back to the wok/pot/vessel. Stir everything well and bring the heat up until the mixture is at a low boil. Allow the mixture to cook, uncovered and gently boiling for 10-20 minutes or until the sauce has reduced by half. The chicken should be cooked through and the peppers soft. Serve hot with rice and broccoli, just like the Chinese restaurants!