Tag Archives: oatmeal

Running in the Dark

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This morning, after finishing up a shorter run, I realized that I suck at running in the dark. It’s not that I’m scared to run in the dark (although I used to be) or that I run slower (I actually run faster) it’s just that I am totally unprepared for anything that could happen.

Take today for instance. It was chilly when I woke up so I put on my running tights (black no reflector stripes), a long sleeved tech shirt (also black with dark purple panels), and my running shoes (blue, red, and black with no reflector stripes). With me I took my watch, my keys, and my iPod. I didn’t have any identification or my iPhone with me and Ian was fast asleep at home with no knowledge of what route I’d run.

Now I am usually totally fine and nothing strange happens to me but I’m not sure it’s worth taking that chance anymore… weird and scary things have been known to happen to runners. Plus, when I’m running in the morning most stores and businesses are not open, if I’m uncomfortable or feeling nervous there is really no where for me to go.

Here are some basic things that can be done to improve the safety of your early morning/evening run?

  • Try to run in well-lit areas as much as possible. In Chicago, most parts of the Lake Shore path are pretty well-lit. If you’re running on streets make sure to run against traffic.
  • Be visible- this means wear a reflector vest/headlamp at all times. Also wear brightly colored clothes.
  • Always carry identification and a cellphone.
  • Vary your routes and/or run with a buddy.
  • Listen to your instincts, if it doesn’t feel safe to run in a certain area don’t run there.

In terms of how I plan to make my morning runs safer, I’m going to finally purchase a Road ID so that I always have identification and emergency contact information with me whenever I’m running or cycling. Also, I think my mom might also have an old reflector vest that I can steal. I like to run early even during the winter and given that my running jacket is black, having a neon vest might be a good idea.

Do you run in the dark? How do you make sure you feel safe?

This week has been mentally exhausting. I’m not more tired than usual but feel wiped out by the end of the day. What gives? Hopefully the weekend will reinvigorate me!

Given that by my mind has felt like mush, I haven’t wanted to cook much of late; however, I’ve still managed to pull together some pretty tasty AND easy-to-make meals! Food success!

On Wednesday I wanted something carby and toasted some gf waffles and topped them with almond butter, banana slices, strawberries, and a drizzle of maple syrup. It only took about 5 minutes to throw together and tasted awesome!

I also made Emily’s Black Bean Quinoa. I didn’t have enough mushrooms left so I used the ones that I did have and then added a bunch of dino kale. It was so good with a drizzle of hot sauce!

After my midweek long run on Thursday I tried something a little different, an avocado smoothie. I blended 1/2 an avocado with less than a quarter of a banana, 1/2 scoop protein powder, almond milk, and a drizzle of honey. You could just barely taste the avocado and it was super creamy. Along with a brown rice cake with almond butter and banana slices, the smoothie held me over for a looong time.

This morning all I wanted was a bowl of oats. I cooked 1/2 cup oats with 1 1/2 cups water, 1 tsp chia seeds, 1/2 packet Amazing Grass Chai powder, 1/2 banana, some blueberries, and frozen strawberries. Topped with peanut butter this was a delicious breakfast.

Luckily, lunches have consisted of leftovers and fruit. I love when packing a lunch is so easy!

What are your favorite quick and tasty meals?

Monday Things {08-20-2012}

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1. Friday night was spent in the car driving to Michigan. Dinner was a hummus + spicy pb sandwich, a plum, and a small side salad from Culver’s. Don’t judge.

2. On Saturday morning I got to run around my old neighborhood. It was wonderful! Sometimes I forget how much I like seeing trees and grass when I run. Not being near a ton of busy roads and cars was a nice touch too.

3. My mom, Ian, and I explored the Dream Cruise on Saturday as well. Basically the cruise is a gathering of a bunch of antique car lovers. They bring out their old cars that are in amazing shape and cruise down Woodward, a large boulevard that runs from Detroit to the surrounding suburbs. Traffic is always horrendous the week before the event and during the Cruise, we’re always stranded at my moms. It’s annoying but fun to look at all of the cars. The people watching isn’t so bad either.

4. We decided to grab lunch right off of Woodward so we could watch the cars as we ate and ended up going to Crispelli’s. Their vegan/gf options were slim (it’s primarily a pizza place) but I managed to find something I could eat. I ordered a Mediterranean salad with no feta and added chickpeas for protein. It was pretty good!

5. Oh, I also chopped my hair on Saturday. It was much needed!

6. Ian and I walked to a local grocery store/market to pick up some dill for dinner and happened to walk by these huuuuge watermelons.

That’s Ian’s hand, crazy right?

7. On Saturday we decided to grill out at my mom’s to keep things simple (Dream Cruise was a ragin’).

We had grilled corn on the cob, grilled zucchini, grilled cauliflower, salmon with dill and lemon, BBQ chicken (not pictured), and a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and broccoli. Everything was fresh and tasty! I ended up going back for more fish and zucchini.

8. After dinner we tried to take Dharma for a walk but the cars were too loud and there were so many people outside that Dharma was way too excited to cooperate on the leash. Speaking of the pup, she has TRIPLED in size since I last saw her.

She also thinks I am either a chew toy/litter mate and did not leave me alone all weekend.

9. As good as dinner was Saturday night, the amount of veggies I ate did not sit well with me for my Sunday medium-long run. Luckily, I was able to run with minimal discomfort and finished the 13 miles feeling okay. It definitely helped that I listened to the 90′s pop station on Pandora. Gotta love me some Spice Girls, BSB, and 98 Degrees when I run.

10. Speaking of running, I signed up to volunteer at the Chicago Marathon. I will be standing somewhere around miles 25-26 of the course. If you’re running let me know and I can cheer for you!!

11. My grandma had a knee replacement on Friday, so I went and visited with her Sunday afternoon. She seemed to be in okay shape although definitely feeling some pain. My dad and step-mom showed up too so I ended up getting to see everyone this weekend!

12. My mom and I grabbed a late lunch at Vinsetta Grill yesterday. I usually get their veggie burger salad but was bummed to find out it has egg in it. I ended up ordering their grilled shrimp sans butter with sweet potato fries and asparagus.

I’m not ashamed to say I ate the majority of this plate. It was like 2:30 and I hadn’t eaten since 9!!

13. Last week I picked up this peanut butter to keep at my office. The granola is gluten free which totally surprised me!

14. Ian and I got home last night a little before 8, dropped the furball off, and then headed out to go grocery shopping. This means that dinner was at 9 p.m. and consisted of a “quesadilla” with mushrooms and tomatoes, a date, and a little almond dream ice cream. I don’t like eating that late but I was hungry!

15. Sonic is exhausted. After having guests last weekend and until Tuesday and then a car drive home to Michigan and then back to Chicago he’ll probably sleep for a week.

16. I finally found Naturally Nutty’s Pepita Sun Butter. The Naturally Nutty line is only made in Traverse City, MI and is hard to find elsewhere. A market near my mom’s house has always sold their almond butters and peanut butters but never the pepita butter. I nearly jumped for joy when I saw it!

This morning I tried it on top of almond strawberry oats.

I loved it!

I’m off to start my work week– how is it Monday already?

Have a good one!

Hot or Cold?

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Hot or cold? And no I’m not channeling Katy Perry….

I’m talking about oatmeal!

someecards.com - Did you hear the joke about oatmeal? It's a bunch of mush!

I think the general consensus is that hot oats are perfect for the fall/winter and that overnight oats (or cold oatmeal) are ideal during the warmer months. I don’t feel this way at all. I have been known to eat overnight oats in 20 degree weather or go for a run in 80 degree temps and then cook up a pot of hot oats. For me, hot or cold depends on convenience. Hot oats are my fave but if I know I’m going to be short on time, overnight oats do the trick with no prep time in the morning, I can just grab a spoon and dig in!

Anyway, I am here to tell you about my new favorite bowl of oats. I have tried it in both hot and cold form and I have to say, I can’t decide which one I like more!

Dark Chocolate Cashew Cherry Oats
1/3-1/2 cup oats
1-11/4 cups water
1 tsp chia seeds
small handful of cashews (~6 nuts)
1/4 cup cherries chopped
maple sugar to taste
1 T dark chocolate chips (I use about 6 vegan chocolate chunks)

Heat oats, water, chia seeds, and cashews over medium high heat until mixture starts to bubble. Turn down heat and add in cherries and maple sugar. Cook until oatmeal reaches desired consistency. Take off heat, pour into bowl, and top with chocolate chips.

These oats are so good. The maple sugar sweetens the oats just enough and the chocolate chips melt into everything. Mmm. I also topped my warm oats with cashew butter to keep with the cashew theme. Delicious!

And now for the cold variety:

Dark Chocolate Cashew Cherry Overnight Oats (vegan)
1/3 cup oats
3/4 – 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp chia seeds
1/2 sliced banana
small handful of cashews (~6 nuts)
1/4 cup cherries chopped maple sugar to taste
1 T dark chocolate chips (I use about 6 vegan chocolate chunks)
1 tsp maple syrup, added as topping

Mix everything in a bowl and store overnight in the fridge. In the morning, top with maple syrup and nut butter of choice.

While the chocolate chips don’t get all melty in the overnight version, the banana slices are a nice touch and sweeten up the bowl juuuuust enough!

I still can’t say which one I enjoy more but I can guarantee that I will be making this bowl on morning when I need a little something extra (like chocolate chips ;) ).

My only other notable eat since we last talked food has been zucchini tacos. It probably sounds strange but Ian and I are going to Michigan this weekend and we need to use all the veggies in the fridge before they go bad. As we had three zucchinis to use, zucchini tacos sounded perfect for dinner!

I sauteed the zucchini in olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili powder and then served it in corn tortillas with broccoli slaw & vegan ranch dressed. I had one taco as is and then another topped with an avocado sauce made by mashing an avocado, lemon juice, a little olive oil, and more chili powder.

I ended up preferring the taco without avocado. The taste was much cleaner.

And while we’re talking about food, I also want to address another issue. The start of marathon training has changed my workout routine from one where I did a mix of running, swimming, and biking to one where I’m primarily running. Running wears my body down a lot more than any other form of exercise and as a result, I’m always much hungrier.

While I haven’t addressed this much on my blog (a little bit here) I went through a phase where I was under eating for my exercise level. I have made quite a few changes since then but a remaining consequence of under-fueling my body is that whenever I up my mileage, I mentally go into panic mode and start to crave everything and anything. If I’m busy (who isn’t busy anymore) I can easily forget what is a reasonable portion size and I start going back for multiple servings of dinner and dessert. This has started happening again and I just wanted to address it on the blog to hold myself accountable. It’s a weird situation for me as I don’t want to restrict and under-fuel like I have in the past but I also don’t want to overeat.

My goal is to pay better attention to my hunger signals and to listen to and honor my cravings. If I am seriously hungry and craving sweet potato fries then I’m going to have sweet potato fries, even if I think I should have a salad. When I don’t listen to cravings is when I start to get into trouble with uber-snackiness. I think this is probably true for a lot of people.

Do you prefer hot or cold oatmeal? What are you up to this weekend?

Marathon Training Week 1

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Hey guys and happy Monday!

As many of you know, last week was my first week of marathon training and because I am completely obsessed with running right now, I thought I’d share my week in training with all of you!

Monday- Rest day after the Naperville Triathlon. As eager as I was to start my running plan, rest is key to preventing injuries.

Tuesday- I had a lactate threshold 8 miler on the schedule with 4 miles at 15k-half marathon pace. I started with a 2 mile warm-up and then increased my speed to complete the tempo portion of the run. My goal was to run between a 7:20 and 7:40 min/mile and I ran a 7:34, 7:19, 7:20, and 7:24. I finished with a 2 mile cool down. This was my first tempo run ever and it was NOT easy. I had a difficult time pacing myself during the tempo miles and it was definitely more difficult to run fast without the adrenaline of being in a race. However, the most difficult part of the tempo run was the cool down. After running 4 fast miles (and 6 miles in total) my legs wanted to shut down. It took a lot of willpower to propel myself forward during the first mile. I felt better during the second mile. In total, the 8 miles took me 1:01.

Wednesday- On Wednesday I woke up with stiff legs, nothing super sore but I definitely had some built up lactic acid. My training plan called for a 4 mile recovery run and it turned out to be just what I needed. Per the Advanced Marathoning training plan, a recovery run should be run so that you feel like you’re saving up energy, this translated to an 8:30 min/mile on Wednesday. However, according to the McMillan Running Calculator, I should be running between an 8:57 and a 9:39 min/mile. This seems really slow for a goal time of 7:40 min/miles but maybe I need to be better about slowing down? Any one have experience with this? Either way, my legs felt muuuch better after the recovery run. I felt re-energized and most of the stiffness had been worked out of my legs. The recovery run took me about 34 minutes.

Thursday- Thursday called for a 9 mile general aerobic run at 15-25% slower than marathon pace. For me this is between a 7:52 and 8:52 min/mile. The weather was absolutely gorgeous later in the week and I didn’t mind taking my time and enjoying the run. I pushed myself a little bit but mostly just ran by feel, my goal was to get in the mileage not run an incredibly fast 9 miles. This mindset was really wonderful and I never cramped up or felt tight during the run, I wasn’t even very sore later on! I ended up averaging an 8:06 min/mile and the run took me 1:13 to complete.

Friday- I had the option of either taking a day off or cross training on Friday so I decided to hit the pool and swim some laps. It was a rainy morning and the gym was pretty empty so I got a lane right away and had enough time to swim 2,000 meters. I felt good in the water but I could tell it had been awhile since I’ve swam laps. Isn’t it crazy how the pool can feel differently after only a week? I enjoyed my swim but honestly, I wish that my schedule had called for running. Later on in the training plan, I’ve given myself the option of cross-training/running on those days- just in case I want to fit in some extra mileage.

Saturday- I was so happy to sleep in and see 60 degree temps… maybe fall is coming after all? With only a recovery 4 miler on my schedule, I really wanted to make sure that I enjoyed my run. I took it nice and slow and enjoyed not sweating buckets and being able to breathe. It was also great to see all of the people out on the lake shore path, it was a perfect morning for running! My legs again felt a little stiff but the recovery run helped wonders. I averaged an 8:27 min/mile and finished in under 34 minutes.

Sunday- After doing a lot of walking on Saturday in sandals (when will I learn?) I wasn’t expecting too much from my 12 miler on Sunday. The plan called for the run to be done at 10-20% slower than marathon pace so I aimed for somewhere in the 7:50-8:20 range. My feet and legs had been hurting on Saturday so I took the run easy and didn’t push too hard. Fortunately, nothing bugged me during my run! The weather was nice again, not too hot but not chilly and it was overcast. I averaged an 8:09 min/mile and the 12 miles took me 1:38.

Total mileage = 37

Overall I’m happy with my first week. I’m not incredibly sore or feeling any unusual pain which is really good and I loved the variety of my runs. I do want my times to be a little faster but I think that will come as my body adjusts to running more mileage. It has been over 6 months since I’ve been in marathon shape!

We’ve had house guests all weekend (until Tuesday) so after my medium-long run on Sunday, I helped Ian make everyone breakfast and then made myself a big ole’ bowl of oatmeal.

Nothing hits the spot post-run like oatmeal!

I’m off to start the work week. Have a good one!

What was your favorite workout last week?

Terrapin 5k Race Recap

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Yesterday started out like any other Thursday. I woke up at 5, put on my running clothes, ran 6 miles, had breakfast, and went to work.

Oh She Glows Cookie Dough Oatmeal Overnight Oats (I made it previously here).

Work was pretty normal too. I did some reading, had a conference call, ate some pasta salad for lunch, and then worked on the computer in the afternoon.

So what made yesterday so different? Ian and I ran a 5k together.

I knew that it was going to take me about an hour to get from work to Soldier Field, so I lugged my running gear around all day and met Ian at an ‘l’ stop near the race. We walked over to the start line and I finished getting ready.

When we arrived I couldn’t believe how many people were there. It was incredible! I love that people want to spend their Thursday evenings running ;) . We checked our bag and then walked over to the corrals. I’m unsure how RAM Racing did the corrals because Ian and I weren’t placed in the same one. Actually, I was a corral behind him. I don’t recall us having to specify an estimated finish time when we registered but even still I’ve always run RAM races in corral A or B. Oh well. I snuck into Ian’s corral and we ran together.

Ian was so tired excited to run :P .

RAM Racing did a great job spacing out the runners. Corrals went off about minute and a half which really helped the bunching. The course was still incredibly crowded BUT it could have been a lot worse.

Ian could be a really good runner but he just doesn’t love running. In fact, I’m not even sure he likes it all that much but because he’s a great boyfriend and likes to support the things I do, on occasion he will suggest that we run a race together. Let me also say that he NEVER trains for them.

Because he makes the sacrifice (and doesn’t train), I do everything I can to make the race a good experience for him. I let him set the pace and try to keep talking to him throughout the run. We slow down when he wants to slow down and walk when he wants to walk. It really becomes his race.

Last night was no different. I didn’t wear my watch and just let Ian dictate the pace. The race was similar to the Big 10k in that we set off south, ran underneath the McCormick center, and then back up the lake shore path. It was also incredibly hot. There was only one water station but given that it was an evening race and near 90 degrees, we really could have used two.

Ian managed to run the first 2.75 miles before he asked me to walk. He was really hot and things were starting to hurt. At one point he looked at me and said “running is not easy”. Amen. We walked about a tenth of a mile before picking up the pace and finishing the race at a run. I was so proud that he was able to finish the race running, it can be so difficult to start running after stopping.

Official Finish Time (for both of us): 30:13 (9:44 min/mile)

I used to have a really difficult time running with someone else, especially if they were slower than me. I would feel like I wasn’t pushing myself very hard and I would get frustrated. However, recently I’ve learned to really appreciate spending time doing something I love with others. I know that one slower run will not kill me but if I am worried that it won’t feel like enough of a workout, I do what I did yesterday, run by myself at a different time so that the other run just seems like a bonus.

I also watch my form. Running at a different pace (slow or fast) can change your form and lead to injury. The key is to change your leg speed but not your gait!

After the race we both grabbed some water and walked around for a little bit. The Terrapin is also a concert but we just weren’t feeling hanging around and neither of us wanted a beer or food just yet. I felt lame leaving but I was ready to go home!

We got home around 8 and I started making Spicy BBQ Chickpea Burgers. It took me about an hour and most of them were crumbly (I didn’t follow the recipe exactly). Finally around 9 p.m. I sat down with a veggie burger salad.

It may not look pretty but it was awesome!

This Morning
I woke up and headed out for a recovery 5 miler. I slowed my pace and ran over an 8 min/mile. My legs were a little bit tired but not too bad considering I ran twice yesterday.

Breakfast was peach oatmeal in an almond butter jar.

Never. gets. old.

Have a wonderful day!

Do you like running with other people? How do you handle running with someone who runs a different pace?