Odds and Ends

Here are some odds and ends:

1.  I have been waiting for a back ordered item from Running Skirts and it came in time for the coldest temps we have had.  I was so excited to wear my  new capri skirt at this weekend's race.  Temps were in the upper 40s for the start of the race and I was glad to have my legs covered.  For those of us who are used to lows in the 60s, this IS chilly!

The race was a local 5K - Run Nona.  As you can see it was a beautiful day.   I had great race and ran my second best time of 26:33.  I wasn't sure I could run quickly since most of my training is at a much slower pace, so I was happy with my results. I needed to run 14 miles that day, so after the race I ran an additional 11 miles home. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  I am a John Grisham fan and am listening to his new book The Confession.  That helped a lot!



2.  The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has been on my mind a lot lately.  Since it consists mostly of plastic, I have made an effort to reduce my plastic use and properly dispose of plastic.  I bring reusable cloth bags to the grocery store and use lunchskins to take my lunch to work. These are choices I have made to help make a difference.  This may be more of a commitment than everyone is ready for, but there is one small thing we can all do that will help.  Please cut the plastic rings that hold canned drinks together and the pull tab ring that they now use on milk cartons.
Just by cutting these rings, so there are no closed circles, you are saving sea animals from possible strangulation and injury.  It is a fast and easy thing we can all do.

Cut rings before disposing

3.  Although I don't sit a desk everyday for my job, there are days I am in the office just sitting and working on the computer.  After reading some articles about the benefit of sitting on an exercise ball versus an office chair, I decided to bring my exercise ball in to sit on at my desk.  I love it!  It is fine whether I wear skirts or pants.  In fact it now feels weird to sit in my chair.  If it is an option for you, I suggest you try it.

Using my exercise ball as a chair

Have a great week and don't forget to do something fun!

Marathon Training Week 11

I have made it over the half way mark in my training!  Its hard to believe I have been sticking to this training schedule for that long.  The time has gone by quickly, and I know the race (1/9/11)will be here before I know it.  I am getting a bit anxious as I look at my training plan for the remainder of the weeks and see really large numbers for my long runs.  Beginning this Saturday, I will be running distances I have never run before.  I try not to think too much about it, but these are LONG RUNS and are only going to get longer.

This weekend I am scheduled to run 14 miles! In two weeks, 16 miles, 2 weeks later 18 and then another 2 weeks 20.  I will run 8 miles on the in between weeks.  That is now my new low number.  Believe me that is strange to write, because 8 miles has never been low for me before. The number of miles is overwhelming.  I used to run a total of 12 a week before, now I am running more than that in one day!  I worry that I won't be able to do it, or that I might get injured or...   I am very good at worrying - I have had years of practice. I know worrying doesn't change a thing, so I try not to let it consume me.

I have been diligent with my training, have stuck to the plan and have only missed 1 day due to traveling out of state.  My life pretty much revolves around training.  I am tired most days due to my early start to run before work, and plan my weeks around my runs. If I am going to commit to something I follow all the rules, almost to a fault.  I don't cut myself any slack.  My hope is that if I follow this plan I will be able to run the race, I don't want to take any chances and veer from the path, just in case.

I am happy about the progress I have made.  My second half marathon, was much easier than the first and I recovered faster too. Intellectually, I know that I have done the work to prepare me for these long runs it's just the anticipation of it all that is killing me.  So I will go out this weekend and knock out 14 miles and wonder why I was so worried.

Happy Running!

Homemade Chubby Hubby Ice Cream

On my recent trip to Vermont I indulged in Ben and Jerry's ice cream a couple of times.  Once on the factory tour and the other at a scoop shop.  One of my favorite flavors is Chubby Hubby and I have had my family on the lookout for it every time we go to a grocery store.  No one around here seems to carry it anymore and I was worried it may have gone to the flavor graveyard.  

It wasn't even available at the scoop shop, so you can understand my delight when I noticed a Chubby Hubby flavored Mash item on their menu. The Mash is very similar to a blizzard.  I ordered one and it was delicious.  My craving had been satisfied, temporarily....  So during my tour  of the factory I made a point of inquiring about its status.  It is still in circulation (Yippee!!) but, until I can get my grocer to get some, I have another solution.

I paid close attention as they made my Mash at the scoop shop and took note of what they added to create that flavor combination.  Chubby Hubby is vanilla malt ice cream with chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels with ribbons of peanut butter and fudge.  They used whoppers, reese's peanut butter cups and pretzels.  

On the plane ride back to Florida, I was thinking about making some of this ice cream at home.  I could use the same items they did, but I wanted more chocolate and more peanut butter without using candy.  I decided to create my own version and that's what I'm sharing with you. 

I decided to use Snyder's peanut butter pretzels and cover them in chocolate.  I love these pretzels and during the holidays they actually sell a chocolate covered version.  I have a peanut butter problem so I decided to mix in some regular peanut butter too.  I stuck with the whoppers for the malt flavor because I had some at home, but I could have used powdered malt.  I have whoppers at home from Halloween and put a few aside for me to use.

The first thing I had to do was melt the chocolate so I could cover the pretzels.  I used a double boiler to keep it warm enough to dip the entire bag of pretzels.  I like these chocolate covered pretzels all by themselves.

I covered a tray with wax paper and set the wet pretzels out to cool.  To speed things up, I put the tray in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Once cool, they were very easy to remove.  

I put the chocolate covered pretzels and whoppers in the mini chopper and pulsed it a few times to give me a chunky mixture of the two.

I took two large spoons and mixed it in like I've seen them do at Cold Stone Creamery.  I let the ice cream sit out a little while to soften up to make the mixing easier.

There you go - it's just that easy.  This was one yummy treat!!

Homemade Chubby Hubby Ice Cream

6 malted milk balls

6 chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels

1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter

3 scoops vanilla ice cream

Serves 2

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzels

1 bag (8oz) peanut butter pretzel sandwiches (I used Snyder's)

1 bag (12oz) semi-sweet chocolate baking chips (I used Ghirardelli)

Melt chocolate by placing chips in double boiler over simmering water.  Stir until melted.

Alternate method - place chips in microwave safe bowl and heat on 50% power for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes.  Stir.  Continue to heat for 15-30 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. 

Using tongs, dip pretzels in melted chocolate to coat.  Place on wax paper to cool.  Repeat with entire bag. Place in freezer for about 10 minutes to cool faster. 

Once pretzels have cooled, place malted milk balls and pretzels in food processor and pulse until broken into chunks.  Keep pulsing until no whole pieces remain.  I like mine on the chunkier side. This makes 1/2 cup of mix-ins.  

Add to bowl with ice cream, and peanut butter.  Mix together and enjoy. 

Hearty Pasta e Fagioli

As the days get shorter and the temperatures cooler, I find myself craving comfort food.  This heartier version of a familiar dish hits the spot!!

 This recipe is a twist on the Pasta e Fagioli soup you may have had at Olive Garden.  The twist is adding less liquid to make it more hearty and less soupy. This is a homemade version with the same great flavors and it can be made with or without meat. This makes a great weeknight dinner.

 Most of the prep involves opening cans and dicing vegetables. You can substitute kidney beans and cannellini beans for the pinto and great white northern beans if you prefer. Don't leave out the Frank's RedHot sauce it adds some great flavor, without much heat. You can find it in the condiment aisle of the grocery store.

 This recipe makes enough for 6-8 people, and can't be easily reduced so we had some leftover.  I take my lunch to work everyday and most days it's a pb and j sandwich or a frozen 

diet meal ....unless we have leftovers.  So this gave me a few days of yummy lunches!

Pasta e Fagioli

1 teaspoon oil

1 lb. ground beef

2 large carrots, thinly sliced

1 small onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, sliced

2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (16 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (16 oz) great northern beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups broth, vegetable or beef

1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon Frank's RedHot sauce

1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce

8 ounces dry pasta, ditalini or shell

Heat oil in large pot.  Add beef and cook until browned. Add carrots, onion, celery and tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients to the pot (beans, broth, Italian herbs, pepper, parsley, Frank's sauce, spaghetti sauce and noodles).  

Simmer for about 45 minutes.  Until pasta is cooked, carrots and celery are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

Serves 6-8

Halloween Candy

 I love this time of year, cooler temps, pumpkin flavored treats, apple cider and Halloween.  It's great having a child with an October birthday - we had a Halloween themed party every year!  Of course candy is an important part of the holiday.

Growing up my brother, best friend and I would map out our route for the 2 hour trick-or-treating window.  We wanted to hit as many houses as possible and of course hit all the houses we knew gave out the best stuff like full size candy bars or homemade cider doughnuts or had the best decorated house.  Our goal was to collect as much candy as we could in our paper grocery bags before we had to be home.   Once home, we sorted, traded and stuffed our faces with candy. ;) I have great memories of Halloween!

Since then my goal for Halloween as changed, not so much about collecting all the candy I can, in fact I try to satisfy my sweet tooth without over doing it.  If you find it hard to resist all the candy you are giving out, you don't  have to.  I find depriving myself of something only makes me want it more, and makes me miserable.  So have some candy, just be smart about what you choose.
To help you make those decisions here is some information about the candy you might be seeing this weekend, or sooner if you've already broken into your candy stash.

Candy	Calories
Almond Joy snack size	80
Baby Ruth fun size	83
Butterfinger fun size	85
Kit Kat miniature	42
M&M Milk chocolate fun size	60
M&M  peanut fun size	70
Milky Way fun size	80
Swedish fish treat size	55
Sour Patch Kids treat size	55
Reese’s peanut butter pumpkin snack size	90
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate snack size	67

If you think you know a lot of useless information about candy or want to learn some, try the 10 question
candy trivia quiz and see how you do.  You can brag about your score in the comment section.

Happy Halloween!!

What is your favorite Halloween candy and/or memory?  (I love reese's peanut butter pumpkins, eggs, christmas trees, hearts...)

Happy 21st Birthday!

First sight of the 21 year old!

I do some of my best thinking while running and one of the better ideas I have had is to take each of my children on a trip of their choice for their 21st birthday. It is a trip for just the two of us and is a great memory for both of us to share.  I came up with this when I realized I have no recollection of how I celebrated my 21st birthday and I didn't want that to be the case for them, plus with them getting older and their lives getting busier, opportunities like this won't always be available.

My oldest turned 21 in 2009 and we visited Seattle together.  This month child #2 turned 21 and she picked a trip to Vermont.  We went on our trip this past week.

Beautiful fall colors

We spent 4 days in Vermont starting in Burlington and visiting a different part of the state each day as well as a day trip to New Hampshire.  For those of you who experience fall every year it may be no big deal, but we have not lived in a part of the country that has fall for 16+ years.  So traveling to a cooler climate with beautiful fall scenery is very exciting.  To the locals we were considered leaf peepers and Vermont is a popular destination.

Franconia Notch State Park, NH

In making a schedule for our trip, we considered what Vermont had to offer as well as what interested us and created a daily itinerary.  We were not bound to this but we have found that we enjoy our trips so much more, when we are well prepared. It takes a lot of preplanning, but is well worth it.  

Day 1 - Highlights in downtown Burlington:  We ate lunch at Stone Soup and had delicious sandwiches on fresh baked bread.  We walked throughout the Marketplace and visited some shops. 


Day 2 - Highlights included an early morning visit to Ben & Jerry's Factory for a tour.  We beat the crowd and got there when they opened @ 9:00am.  A cow greeted us in the parking lot and we got a sample of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream at the end.  Ice Cream is a great way to start the day!

While there, I visited the flavor graveyard and was saddened and surprised by one of the flavors I saw.

How could this be???  This is the ultimate flavor combination.  

Next we went to the Burlington Pumpkin Festival at the waterfront just in time to see the pumpkin races. 

Yes, those are real pumpkins hollowed out and used as a boat.  They are not easily controlled and are easy to tip. 

Day 3 - Highlights started with food.  I found this fabulous little diner in Lincoln, NH.

It only has 6 booths and counter service.  I had the best breakfast of the trip. Corned beef hash, eggs  and hash browns with a homemade chocolate whoopie pie to go.

We got an early start because we had plans to go zip-lining through the White Mountains. We made reservations through Alpine Adventures.  In a group of twelve we zipped six lines on the Tree Top Canopy Tour over a 2-hour time period.   You actually zip from tree to tree.

On the last run they have you climb up on a platform surrounding one pine tree and the take off is a free fall.  We decided to leave it all on the course and both dropped off backwards!!  WOW!!  What a great ending to a super experience (and I don't like heights). We both want to go again.

Day 4 - Highlight was a trip to an apple farm and Shelburne Farms.  It is a historic working farm with beautiful trails and farm animals (donkeys, pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, llamas, cows)

Looks just like Donkey from Shrek

We couldn't leave Vermont without a visit to a brewery and some taste testing.  So we squeezed in a stop to Otter Creek Brewery. We were able to see them brew and bottle the beer while having a free taste test of their six draft flavors.  The organic pumpkin was our favorite.

All in all it was a perfect trip, perfect weather, perfect food, perfect fun and perfect company!  I am so thankful we had this time together. 

Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Race Recap

The Wine and Dine half marathon is a new addition to Disney World's race schedule.  It began at 10pm on Saturday, October 2.  The race started at Wide World of Sports and ended at Epcot with an after race party. We ran through Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.  The field of 11,000 ran through the night encountering various bands, light displays, performers on stilts, dancers and Disney characters under a clear sky and temperatures in the 70s.

This was my second half marathon and I enjoyed it much more than the first one.  I tried to take the pressure off of earning a PR by reminding myself this was a training run, but I knew this wouldn't be enough so I decided to stop and take advantage of every photo op along the way. I took the first race way to seriously and all I cared about was making the time goal I had set for myself.  This time I actually enjoyed myself and had fun.

I had much better placement in this race and that helped as well.  These Disney races can be so crowded that it is actually hard to get around people and the pack doesn't ever seem to thin out.  Last night, there was space to run by the end of mile one.

Turk - Tarzan

Timon - Lion King

Fantasia

Goofy

Army man -Toy Story

It is a relatively flat course and running through the parks is entertaining.  I liked Hollywood Studios the best.  We ran through a behind the scenes section that was fun to see. Plus there were great characters!  This is the first time I have run with a camera and I'm glad I did.  I bought a new iFitness belt at the Expo and it did a super job of holding all my stuff without bouncing up and down.

Woody -Toy Story

Incredibles

Running that late at night was not bad.  Although you have to be there quite early before the race (about 8:15) there is plenty to see and do, like standing in line to take a photo or go to the bathroom. Plus hundreds of people to watch and entertainment on stage. We got in our corrals around 9:20.  I was in the second wave, so I started soon after 10.  In typical Disney style the start was accompanied by fireworks.

Carl - Up

Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights

Darth Vader

 I felt pretty good during the race except for around mile 6.  I think I had too much water in my stomach and felt a little sloshy.  I wanted to walk at this point, but kept on going.  I had a surge of energy near  mile 9 and reminded myself I only had a 5K left at mile 10- that was very motivating.  I definitely ran the second half of the race faster. One great thing they have for runners is text updates for family and friends.  Every 5K your current pace and expected finish time is sent out to them via text message.  

 I truly had fun and earned a fabulous medal.

I ended up  finishing with a time of 2:20:38 for an average pace of 10:43 per mile.  Considering all my stops along the way, I am happy with my performance.