Monday, October 28, 2013

Squashing, squashing the disposables, and some lasts for 2013?

Congratulations to everyone that ran the Marine Corps Marathon yesterday! I was cheering you all from afar! I have heard great things about how well-organized the festivities were, too. Awesome!

With all the buzz about Marine Corps and about the New York Marathon next weekend, plus being awash in excitement over the Chicago Marathon two weekends ago, I am starting to consider whether I am up for the challenge of another marathon next year. While I was spectating Chicago, I had absolutely no regrets about not running it this year. Then, I saw how much improvement many friends experienced in their results this year and it reminded me how much I want to improve, too. I am wavering. In any event - I will have another post up later this week about how race plans are shaping up for 2014.

But first - I've got some semi-random things to share:

All the fall vegetables
In my efforts to take advantage of the best seasonal produce, I have already made three homemade pumpkin pies so far this fall (they never last long in my household). I've eaten lots of apples and I am even considering trying to make homemade apple butter. Plus, the grocery stores have been stocked full of colorful squash varieties.

In my cooking repertoire, I've had some success making butternut squash and acorn squash dishes. I had never tried making spaghetti squash, though. That changed yesterday!

Please disregard the banana photobomb in the corner.

I used this recipe as my foundation - it's basically roasted spaghetti squash with olives, feta, tomatoes, and basil. However, I added some baby spinach, and used dried oregano in place of the fresh basil. I liked the results (although Adam is reluctant to try it; he's more of a meat and potatoes type of guy).

In my opinion the feta really made the dish - I found myself pulling out all the feta pieces to eat first. Therefore, I would definitely increase the feta next time. The final results were also a bit watery for my taste, too, so I would make some effort to drain out the tomatoes and the squash next time.

Overall, though, I consider this dish a success. Yay for simple, easy seasonal produce recipes!

A tyranny against the kitchen supplies
The kitchens at my office are stocked with plastic cutlery and styrofoam plates/bowls. I have been hearing a lot about you should avoid microwaving your food in contact with plastic due to potential chemical leaks. Styrofoam has to be even worse since it melts so easily (shudder).

Beware the sinister styrofoam monster who comes alive in microwaves everywhere.

Today I finally decided I was done with the disposables. I brought a glass bowl and a set of real silverware to the office. This is for health purposes as well as for environmental purposes (producing less garbage). I plan to store them either at my desk or in one of the kitchen cabinets, and will just wash them each day.

Plastic and styrofoam, be gone (but not melted)!

And finally...

Last long run of 2013?
The Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon is coming up in less than two weeks. In preparation, I ran 11.4 miles yesterday. (I had 11 on the agenda but in my wanders, I ended up doing some extra in order to get home. In retrospect I should have tacked on an additional 0.1 so I could have logged an even 11.5. Oops.)

Next weekend I will be taking the usual long-run stepback, then the following weekend it's race time! (I'm still need to figure out if I'll be wearing any kind of costume for this race, but that's a topic for another day.)

Wine and Dine is my final half marathon for 2013. Therefore, it hit me yesterday that it was probably the last time in 2013 that I have to do an obligatory long training run! I can't lie - even though my training has been inconsistent for much of the year, it will be very nice to be relieved of the pressure of training for specific distance events.

On the other hand, though, I really don't want to let my current fitness level subside. It's a tough balance.

With that in mind, I am starting to think about what kind of training routine I want to attempt to maintain during the dead of the winter. Maybe a double-digit run once every three or four weeks, at least one 3-mile-ish run during the week, and weekend "maintenance" runs of 6-7 miles during the other weeks. Is that too much or too little? I'm not sure. (It might depend on how cold it gets this winter, heh heh.)

Yeah, I've lived in Chicagoland my whole life and I still brace myself for this every year.

All suggestions on "maintenance" training are welcome, as always.

Happy Monday and I hope everyone's weeks get off to a great start!

28 comments:

  1. I think maintenance training is a good thing, but is very specific to the individual. For example I basically need to do some form of training everyday and I would probably set my running baseline marker at 20/miles week at a minimum, averaging 5 miles 4 times a week. I would fill in the other days with swimming and strength workouts. That way, once a race is a few weeks away, I would have a decent "base" to build off of to get in race-shape more quickly than if I were starting from scratch. Hope that helps. Anyway, I love that snow picture and am looking forward to running through it soon! :)

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    1. Pete, thanks for your thoughts on the maintenance training that works for you! I definitely agree that winter is a terrific time to focus on strength workouts and cross-training, too. I also find that I feel more energetic if I limit my rest days to just once, maybe twice per week. Once the workout momentum stops for me, it's hard to get it back. You, too?

      I do actually enjoy running in fresh snow, too. It's so peaceful! What I don't like at all is all the ugly gray slush. THAT is the worst!

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    2. I think the first month back into training (after a layoff) can be frustrating. I am not as fast as I was before and workouts that used to be easy are hard. Also the pains and twitches in my legs have not been worked out yet. From experience I know that once I get past that first month, I will get faster and my legs will be less painful. Yes, the ugly gray slush is not fun or pretty to look at! :)

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    3. Oh my gosh - the first couple of weeks after a training layoff are TORTURE. The thoughts of "I have such a long uphill battle" and "Will I ever be able to run like I did again, EVER?" are really, really hard to take. The thoughts of those first few runs are nearly (but not quite) enough to prevent me from ever wanting to take an extended layoff from training. UGH!

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  2. I love spaghetti squash! Your recipe sounds delicious. And feta makes everything better! :)

    Congrats on the last long run- I mean you only have one more left until you're free to train how you wish and that run will be in the happiest place on earth :)

    For maintenance mode post half, I like your idea of running less frequently. Maybe also download the Nike training club app and do a couple of those crazy 30 minute sets a week to keep things interesting.

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    1. Cheese, glorious cheese! =D I think a harder goat cheese would work very nicely in this recipe, too. Goat cheese is another cheese that makes everything better!

      Ahhh, your Naperville Marathon is just around the corner! I bet you are excited to be able to take a bit of a breather after Naperville is over, too. You've been training so hard this entire year!

      Ooooh, great idea on the Nike training club app. I do find myself having to battle boredom when it comes to cross-training and other fitness pursuits, so any suggestion to keep things diverse is great!

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  3. I'm building my base back up this winter and MIGHT start half marathon training in January. We'll see how my neck holds up until then. :)

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    1. Katie! It was such a bummer that your triathlon ended up getting cancelled. =( But yay for building your base back up and looking at January for half-marathon training! Do you have any specific half marathons in mind that you want to shoot for!?!?!?

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  4. smart to ditch the plastic!! i did away with plastic years ago and bought a huge set of glass bowls/storage containers. i also keep a ceramic bowl at work in my desk just in case i have to use it. all of my utensils are stainless steel that i bring back and forth with me in my cooler.

    i live in toronto which means we also get a shit ton of snow (boo!). i don't run outside in temps below 5C so for the winters, i switch to HIIT cardio and interval lifting to maintain. but because of my knee, i'm now doing low impact stuff so yoga, lifting and modifying the moves of the HIIT cardio that i usually do. i'm going to start looking into swimming soon. maybe you can do some of that?

    -kathy
    Vodka and Soda

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    1. Awesome that you use glass storage containers! I need to switch to those, too, and cross my fingers that minimal breakage occurs during transport!

      My threshold for outdoor cold weather running is not what it used to be, unfortunately. It hasn't gotten anywhere near the freezing mark and I am already thinking about indoor workout options! Interval training is AMAZING - I need to get on the ball and try to do it at least once per week! And yes - I love swimming! Need to find an indoor pool that stays open year-round!

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  5. Do you have a crockpot? I heard making apple butter or apple sauce is super easy in those.

    Mmmm.... Feta!

    Good luck on your upcoming race. It's kinda sad to admit the snow is coming (thus no more races on the schedule), but spring will be here before you know it!!

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    1. Oh yes, I have a Crock Pot and LOVE it! I was definitely planning on using a slow cooker recipe for apple butter - from what I have seen, it basically entails just throwing in about 10 lbs of peeled apples with some spices and then just letting it cook away. Can't get much easier than that, eh?

      Thanks for the well wishes on my last half in 2013! How about you? After completing 2 half marathons in 6 days, do you have any other races on the calendar soon? Btw - I saw the picture of your costume on FB and it is super cute!!!

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  6. Ugh you have no idea how bummed I am to miss spectating the NYC marathon! Two parts of the route (the best parts - right during the tough miles at the 20 mile mark) are literally 2 blocks away from my apartment in either direction. It would've been so great to spectate! I hope to run it next year.

    I really like your winter running plan! It seems perfectly reasonable with just enough effort. I might just steal your plan :)

    -Irina

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    1. Irina! That is a huge bummer that you'll be out of town for the NYC Marathon! But at least it is because you will be relaxing on a tropical Caribbean beach. That is not a bad tradeoff, eh? I would take it!

      I am also thinking very seriously about trying to enter the registration lottery for the NYCM year! You will probably have a much better chance of getting registration than me, though, being a local. Based on your love of the city, I bet running the NYCM would be a religious experience for you!

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    2. Sorry for the typo...trying to enter the registration lotto for the NYCM *next* year!

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  7. You finally tried spaghetti squash! I just love how much you get out of one, and since it's so bland, there's so much that you can do with it. And apple butter is so easy! I don't even use the crock pot, it just takes an hour or two on the stove (but obviously the crock pot is good if you don't have the time).

    I think your winter base sounds pretty good - it's similar to what I was doing last winter, and will probably do again this year until I'm actually training for something specific.

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    1. Yes! Spaghetti squash is such a fantastic blank canvas for cooking! I am hooked! Please share your stovetop apple butter recipe (the slow cooker recipes I've seen literally take days, so something a little faster would be much better).

      I am glad to hear that the winter base training from last year worked well for you, this is very helpful feedback!

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    2. Hehe, the problem with me making stuff like applesauce and apple butter is that I tend to just throw stuff into a pot and let it go :) But here's what I do: Peel and slice 10 medium apples. Put into a pot with 3/4 C cider or apple juice, 1/3 C granulated sugar, 1 T ground cinnamon (to taste - I like it spicy!), 1/4 t ground cloves, pinch of ground nutmeg. Now, if you can't find ground cloves, put a couple whole cloves in a food processor with the sugar and pulse until they're ground up. Don't skip the cloves because they add a ton of flavor. Bring this to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low for at least an hour, stirring occasionally. At this point you've probably got applesauce. Mash the apples, then keep cooking it down until it's as thick as you want it.

      I think a lot of recipes tell you to puree the apples first, but I like a chunkier apple sauce or butter :)

      Well, my base helped me keep my fitness up, though I may up my mileage a bit this winter. I was still just getting into running last year, so I had no idea what i was doing or any plans ;)

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    3. Oh, that should be 10 small apples (like what you'd probably get from an orchard/farm stand) OR 6 medium apples (like what they sell at the grocery store).

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    4. LOVE!!! Thank you so much for sharing this, Anne! I am excited about how good it is going to smell as it is cooking, too. Who needs potpourri when you can make the real thing? I'm off to the grocery store ASAP to pick me up some apples and give this recipe a whirl!

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    5. Let me know how it turns out! I'm always nervous sharing non-recipe recipes, since nothing is really measured...

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    6. No worries, I am a cook that is all about using ingredients to taste, and to tweaking things based on my own preferences! So in general I almost always use recipes more just as a guideline than anything else. Yours will be great for that!!!

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  8. Like Pete, I think a maintenance plan is VERY specific to the individual. I like to stay in HM shape so I try to run double digits a few times a month. But not everyone wants to do that. I am perplexed though! You said you are relived to do less specific training but are considering a full for next year? LOL. I was just surprised, I mean :P Do you think a winter of not training for something specific will make you feel like training for a marathon next year? :)

    Good call on the glass ware! We have paper stuff in our office, but sometimes it's not there (no $$ to stock the shelves) so I bring in my own stuff too :)

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    1. You are also a powerhouse who runs 2 miles before a half marathon, then a 5K after the half marathon. ;-)

      Yeah, I am going back and forth on whether or not I want to go for a full marathon next year. It's the same adage where I like the idea of it and very much want to improve from my first marathon... but I don't like the idea of the rigorous training. So yes, the HOPE is that having a few months off of focused training over the winter would help jump-start the motivation for later in the year in 2014... but we shall see. In the meantime, a runner can always dream, right?

      Yay for utilizing your own food items and reducing waste while saving $!!! Every little bit counts and it all adds up!

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  9. Have so much fun at Disney! I would love to do Wine and Dine at some point! I'm interested to hear what you think about it :) This time of year I also always struggle with trying to figure out what to put on the schedule and how much I want to commit to. Right now I'm kind of worried about the fact that I have a marathon in June but I'm hoping that we'll have more coverage at work by early next year and I won't be picking up as many shifts (which will free up a lot of time AND energy!)

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    1. Kayla! I know you are looking at Disney races for next year, too bad that you aren't able to make it to Wine and Dine this year. It would be so great to catch up with you!

      It does sound like you have been completely swamped at work! Hopefully you are still getting enough time to relax, despite the craziness. Every year I read about how the demand for pharmacists SO exceeds the supply - so I hope you get more coverage soon, too. Thankfully you have PLENTY of time to get ready for Grandma's Marathon next year!

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  10. Your snowy picture made me smile. My husband and I are totally into re-watching ever season ever of ER right now, and it takes place in Chicago. Every winter episode looks miserable! I love snow, but I don't think I like living somewhere that snowy. Our 6 months of snow in Germany was enough to last me for years!

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    1. Ah, ER!!! I used to watch ER every week when I was in college, and loved that it took place in Chicago, too! And yes, that depiction of Chicago winter looking miserable is pretty much spot-on, LOL. I've lived in Chicagoland my entire life and to this day I am still not used to the brutal long winters. I always say that I like the cold and snow until January 1 - because to that point, it is "festive." I imagine that it was the same way in Germany, yes? Afterwards, the cold and snow just becomes a nightmare!

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