Two of My Favorite Things at This Moment

I tried something new last week and it's my new favorite thing and you're going to think I'm really weird that I find this so fantastic, but just stick with me here........... early morning runs.

You were expecting something more exciting? You need to find a more exciting blog, sorry :-) 

It's starting to get hotter. I've been super tired after work and struggling to find the energy to get the run in. Other blogs I follow tout the wonderfulness of getting it done early in the day, so I thought I would give it a try.

I was super nervous the night before I tried it. I did as much prep work as possible, laying all my clothes out, notifying a work friend that I was going to run and would text her when I returned as a safety measure, and having my other gear ready to grab (Bandi belt, pepper spray, housekey).  I was very nervous about running in the dark by myself so early--4:45am. But as my work friend so kindly pointed out, even thieves and muggers are smart enough to be asleep at that hour. Thanks friend.

That first run, in the dark, was amazing. I did feel nervous, tried to stay alert to what was around me, but at the same time, tried to take in the peacefulness of interacting with the world at this hour. It felt amazing. When I got near the end of the run, I just started smiling because I knew my workout was done for the day. Done!!! The best feeling ever. Here was just a part of my view...

Another plus about running so early? I can run in the street in most places. I can talk out loud to myself. I stop and take pictures of houses that are for sale and dream a little.

I've ran at this time of the morning 3x now and I truly love it. I do not love it when the alarm goes off at 4:30am, but once I'm up and moving, I'm ok. And the payoff is more than worth it.

Also got my second CSA share this week. Yummy goodness!!

Bok choy, kale, salad greens, asparagus, sweet potatoes.  Last week I roasted my sweet potatoes with some onions and white truffle oil, then served over a bed of quinoa. Super good. I'm also perfecting a fantastic salad dressing recipe, will post soon.

Bye for now........

I think I mentioned a few posts back that I had joined the Ellie Fit Fashion club. It seems like a pretty great deal, you join and each month you can pick 2 pieces of workout clothing for $50, free shipping each way. Don't like anything? Don't buy anything that month! No obligations! Sweet!

So I had ordered 2 bottoms and it was taking forever. I emailed the company, got a response within a day informing me that one of the items was out of stock and should ship within a week. For my trouble, they credited my account $10. Thank you Ellie!

Finally yesterday I check the mail and there was my pretty pink package! I think I squealed out loud a little because I love getting fun mail. Always have. My sister used to give me a hard time about it when we were roomies. I can't help it, it's just such a pleasant surprise.

I got my 2 bottoms and they sent me a free headband. Thanks again Ellie! One was capri style and the other leggings. When I saw the leggings I immediately thought that I would be sending those back because they looked really small. But when I tried them on, they felt amazing. They will totally work for running in cool weather or yoga. Ran in the capri's yesterday and they felt great as well. My only complaint is no pockets on either. Bummer.

Will certainly order again from Ellie.

Tonight I went to a historical tour in my neighborhood that started at a local greenhouse and progressed to a historic home. A little over a hundred people showed up. The greenhouse was lovely, I wanted to take so many things home.

 

 

Bye for now

CSA Day!!!!

It tells you how much of a food nerd I am that I've been excited for days to go and pick up my first CSA share today. For those not familiar with a CSA, it stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I have paid for a mini-share from a local organic farm and will get a weekly box starting today until October.

The exciting thing about your CSA is that you never know what you're gonna get. It's like an edible present each week! It's like fun mail! And I already told you how I feel about fun mail.......

So here is this week's share for me.....

Green Garlic
Fingerling Sweet Potatoes
Asparagus
Black Beans
Spinach
Romaine

Everything was so pretty and fresh. It came with a newsletter describing everything, how to store, and even some recipes. I'm hoping this experience will increase my creativity with foods I don't eat much (like asparagus) and maybe intro me to some new things. And it will certainly dictate that I eat my fresh veggies during the week, 'cause I've already paid for this stuff, no way am I going to waste it!

I'm already thinking I will roast the sweet potatoes and garlic. Not sure about the asparagus, I never fix this stuff. The spinach will go in my smoothies all week for breakfast and the romaine will be the base for my daily lunch salads.

Anyone with ideas for asparagus, please feel free to share.

Did run my 3rd 5K of the year this past Saturday. Nice course, beautiful morning, good finish. They were giving out the coolest horseshoes as prizes for Win, Place, Show in all age groups (it was Derby Day after all) and I just missed getting one!!! Arrgghh!!! I came in fourth in my group. Oh well, I'll try again next year, I'll have moved into the next age group by then :-)

This race did raise a nice chunk of change for the Boston One fund, so all good fun for a good cause.

Bye for now.....

5K on a Sunday

Second 5K of the season done! So much different than the one I did in March, mainly because I've been running longer and am much more prepared. Not to say that it is easy, it isn't, but it doesn't scare the crap out of me anymore. The upcoming 10K has that job now.

I just knew we were going to be running in the rain, but it completely held off until about 2 hours after the race. Score! Maybe because this race is for such a good cause. It's sponsored by an organization called Girls on the Run, which trains the little ones to run their first 5K and empowers them to be healthy and confident in their abilities. I like it!  Although, somebody needs to teach these kids how to pass people, I lost count of how many times a kid cut me off. And I guess I just let the cat out of the bag that some kids passed me. But they walked a lot! And then would pass me with bursts of energy! And then stop right in front of me! Anyway.....

The swag for this race was ok, not great. Nice shirt and some hair care accessories since one of the sponsors was Goody. The post race food was apples, bananas, doughnuts (?), pb & j, and water.

Oh wait, the best part! My time! 31 mins! My first 5K was 34 mins. Hello improvement! And I did not walk at all. Even up the small hills, of which there were 3. Who picks these race courses? Those kids didn't need so many hills and neither did I.

Next Saturday is the Derby Dash 5K. I'm a little concerned about that one, I hear the course is nothing but rolling hills. Super.

Here is the cutest shot of my puppy when we had our "it's Sunday, it's raining and mom just ran 3.11 miles".  Sweet boy.

Happy Sunday everyone!!!

Hiking With 16 Complete Strangers

Any of you ever joined a Meet Up group?  It's really quite the concept. Meet Up groups are usually in major cities and encompass a wide variety of interests. It's a way for like minded people to get together based on an interest, meet new people, do things as a group, even network I guess, if that's your thing.

This is the second city that I've joined some Meet Up groups. I belong to a vegan Meet Up (I've only been to one event so far, small turnout but nice people) and just recently joined a hiking group. The group had a hike today at a local nature sanctuary that I've never been to, so I thought I would give it a try, even with the prediction of rain at 50%.

People have told me that the idea of going to join a bunch of strangers to hike through the forest is crazy, bordering on dangerous. It is an amazing concept, isn't it? I guess it should be kinda scary, but for whatever reason, it hasn't been for me. It's actually pretty neat (do people still use that word?) for all these different people to come together because of a common interest. That being said, I do take a few precautions, always letting someone know where I'm going (today was my sister) and I took along some pepper spray in my backpack.

Sixteen people showed up for hike today. Pretty gloomy day, threat of rain present all day. It was billed as a spring wildflower hike and there were several flowers that we struggled to find names for. It was just so nice to be outside.

   

 

 



 

 

See how happy I look to be outside. Told ya.  I had a really nice time, the hike was about 5 miles and wasn't super challenging. Everyone was friendly, met some fellow runners, even a girl who is running in the same 5K I am tomorrow. My only complaint was that the 2 girls hiking behind me kept up a constant stream of chatter. It was starting to get annoying toward the end of the hike. I like to be a bit more contemplative when I'm out in nature like that, just enjoy the sounds and sights and get into my head. But at the very least, this group is a way to make myself get out and about and learn about some trails that perhaps I can go back to alone if I want a different experience.

 

 

check out a Meet Up group. I dare you to join one. And then actually go to an event. 

 

 

 



Like a Turkey Burger?!

It's been an interesting week.

It's been one of those weeks where I've been asked to defend why I eat the way I do. I am not a fan of this and I'm not good at it. It's a losing proposition. I feel like I either come across preachy or new age, I don't know. I mean, how am I supposed to answer this?

The reasons I'm gegan are multi layered, personal to me. It's not something I can answer in a quick sentence or two. So I always feel that I either give too simple of an answer or if I start to get into a little detail, I quickly realize the person asking doesn't want to hear it, they shut down and give me that "you're weird" look.

Here were the instances this week:

I was telling a funny story at work that related to vegan eating and a student at work asked my favorite question, one I've never heard, "How do you get your nutrients they way that you eat?".  Seriously?!?! This question always floors me. Why do people think that eliminating animal products and gluten leaves you no food to eat?! It makes me wonder what these people are eating! I feel like I need a laminated card I can whip out that lists ALL the amazing food in the world that doesn't involve death. Wait! I would need more than one card, because one card couldn't hold it all!!!!

This person then followed up her first comment with "We are meant to be carnivores" and then the classic "Well, I had a uncle (or insert favorite relative here, I've heard many different ones) who tried to go vegetarian, but he was just so weak all the time that he had to go back to eating meat. But he ate a lot of beans....."  I couldn't even manage a response for that one. Really?

Then my boss takes a few of us out to lunch today. He has no clue what vegan means. Asked me if I was going to get the fish tacos, I politely said no, and he asked why not? My co-workers that have been with me the past couple years all come out with "it has a face!". I guess he thought fish didn't qualify for animal status. So I tried to explain the whole "I don't eat anything with a face or that comes from a face", and the girl next to him says, "but you drink milk, right?" Ok.  He then asks why do I eat this way, and I just went with the "it's healthier" response. All he could say after that was that it must take a lot of discipline..... but his face said "hi weirdo".

But the best one of the week, the one that makes me laugh, is this:

At a local restaurant with my Theology on Tap group. As I've mentioned before, my church is cool like that. Anyway, the lady sitting next to me is vegetarian. She's looking at the menu and complaining that it doesn't have a lot of options for her. So when the waitress comes to take her order, she tells her that they need to work on having more vegetarian options. The waitress replies, "You mean like a turkey burger?".  My friend and I just looked at each other with that look of "did she really just say that?" Again, I couldn't even muster up a response.

This caused me to need some comfort food. Food Review!!!!!!

Bob's Red Mill GF Brownie Mix

Hello yummy goodness. I LOVE Bob's Red Mill products. They never let me down. I love that when the recipe on the mix calls for eggs (as this one did), he goes ahead and gives you options for substitutions. Thanks Bob. I subbed applesauce is this bad boy and then carried the madness a bit further by stirring in some of my homemade peanut butter before baking.

22 minutes later I was rewarded with these little gems. They were moist and gooey and quite delicious. And no animals were harmed for this moment of bliss.

Another thing I like about Bob's products is that there isn't a zillion ingredients listed (only 9 on this mix), and I can pronounce all of them and know what they are. Of course this is a treat, not something to make every week, but don't we all need a little chocolate now and then?

I guess weeks like this sometimes make me feel that the Standard American Diet or SAD, is just unbeatable, it's never going to change. And I'm not saying everyone should give up meat. I just want people to realize the abundance of amazing, healthy, whole food that exists and to realize that what we eat does affect our health and well being. It's just that simple.

Now, ignore these brownies and go eat some real food that doesn't come with a label!!!

Run, Yoga, Run

Ok, so I did it. I got up super early on Saturday morning so that I could eat something before going to the local Boston Memorial Run. It was cold, around 34 degrees, and I still stress about what to wear, never want to be too cold or hot. Hopefully knowing how to dress will get better with experience.

Over 300 people showed up to run. Wowza! I saw maybe a couple of people that I know, but no one to really stand around and chat with. That is always weird.  We sang the Star Spangled Banner (it was really hard not to cry), then a speech by the organizer and our mayor. Then the run.   It was pretty disorganized about running routes and leaders. Since it was so last minute, no streets were blocked off, so they were encouraging everyone to just break into groups and go different routes. I didn't have a clue who to follow since I only wanted to go 3 miles, but luckily I had ran around that area recently and kinda had a route in mind, along with my trusty run app. So off I went, left instead of right. Of course.

I was able to pass a few people, which is always a good feeling. Followed a group for a while, but then they went a way I didn't want to go, so I went my own way. Was pretty much by myself most of the time, occasionally would pass another runner. It was peaceful out that early in the morning, pretty nice run. Managed 3.2miles.

Went to "Gentle Yoga" on Sunday for my cross training. It wasn't all that gentle, but it did help to stretch me out. Ran again today, 3.5!! No walks! But man, I'm feeling a little sore right now......where is that foam roller???  5K coming up this weekend.

Had the best dinner tonight, will share that tomorrow for Tofu Tuesday!!!!!!

Bye!