A Case of the Runs

A simple recipe for meatless burgers that doesn't require the likes of Boca or Gardenburger. Not that I have anything against them, but sometimes, they are just not on hand. 2.5 c. cooked kidney beans 1/2 c. oats 2 tbsp soy sauce garlic powder or fresh minced garlic onion powder (optional) / onions oil Mash beans. Add oats, soy sauce, seasonings. Mix & form into patties. Fry in oil until brown on both sides. I did not get to photograph the process, as I was (as usual) in a hurry. But while these puppies were frying, I snapped one photo. I got five patties out of this recipe, but as they say, your mileage may vary. My burger. I added cheddar cheese to "The Ukrainian"'s. A can of green beans became the side, along with some mushrooms and Earth Balance spread, which just happened to already be in "The Ukrainian"'s fridge! Dessert waited for us in the freezer. I had whipped up a strawberry/banana/soy milk/lemon juice smoothie and poure...

This Amphipod Hydration Belt has been sitting in my closet, unused, for a while (a year?). I have been running on paths that go in loops, so hydration came from water hidden behind car tires or water fountains. I used to run with mine regularly before I realized I could plan my routes better. But this gets boring after a while, and it is nice to be able to drink whenever the urge hits. I always have to battle this obstacle when I'm stirring about the house in the morning: Here's this unflattering from-behind shot of me heading out the door for my run. Excuse the strange surroundings. As you can see, I set the two bottles (6 oz) to lie horizontally in two plastic snap slots that go on each side of the belt. I mentioned in my previous entry that they can go vertical as well. A storage pouch lies in between them, which is perfect for carrying pepper spray. Running with 12 oz of water sloshing around is not the best this, as the bottles actually slide around while running. The bo...

The days of my easy-day 3-milers are over. *sigh* So I've gone 6 weeks of Hal Hidgon's 18-Week Marathon Intermediate I schedule without missing a mile. I suspect that the other 2/3 of the program won't be as easy to follow, though. This only means that I have 12 weeks until Marathon #7 . ------ This Week's Workouts : Sunday - rest And boy, did I! Monday - 7 mi; 15 minutes of abs/arms; 10 min hip openers yoga Best indoor run in a long time, though admittedly not easy. Running 7 miles before work = can I go to bed??? Did not finish yoga session due to taking too long on dinner... Tuesday - 4 mi - outdoors Wednesday - 7 mi; 15 min strength Horrid heat = no salsa again Thursday - 4 mi; 30 min strength training with some stretching blended into that For the sake of logging my workouts for future reference, I will also note a few observations. First , I feel like I could sure use a back massage. Second , I have become noticeably more hungry all the time lately -- "lat...

First off, if you are not new to my blog, you will notice it's been tweaked many, many times over the past few weeks as I experiment with certain features. Many of these are offered directly by Blogger (e.g., lists, tabs), while some require a little more back-end tinkering (which sounds just about as wrong as a Shake Weight ). I added a "Related Posts" feature. This took a few tries to get right, but it basically required going into the blog template and pasting some code. This thing works okay, though not perfect, but I will not complain. It uses tags from entries to figure out what is "related." And then, I added the "Recent Comments" thingy on the side. This, on the other hand, was pretty simple to put in -- it's a lot like doing a feed, which is something that Blogger offers. Now that I've ruined the magic behind my blog, onto the post at hand: ------ Due to my Asian heritage, I have frequented many dim sum/seafood restauran...

This isn't a conventional restaurant review in the sense that I am reviewing a special event. However, much of the food found here could be found on a normal day, too! I was invited to hit up Ikea one Friday evening for an all-you-can-eat event. Furniture-browsing and food? Yes, I was sold! Ikea has great, cheap food on a daily basis. I have tried their desserts and bread. You can get a plate of Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes for a few bucks. "The Ukrainian" and I headed there as early as possible, since traffic going east is definitely a challenge on Friday evenings. There, we met up with our friend Mrs. McWang (not her real name, of course), who found out about this thing, and walked up to the cafe area. $9.99/per person later, we gained admission into this Crayfish Party! Infinite crayfish, salad, and even lingonberry sauce! Boiled potatoes, mac n'cheese, meatballs, and gravy. There were also a few desserts, not pictured, which was a bluebe...

As a native Los Angelina (i.e., a female someone who's lived in/near Los Angeles) all my life, I had never been to Griffith Park, which is located off the 5 Freeway near the Los Angeles Zoo. Griffith Park is home to many challenging trail runs for those enthusiasts as well as an observatory that I still have not visited. I got to go there this weekend for a picnic and some arts. And by "arts," I mean an independent production of Shakespeare . Before I left, I had to make sure to bake something: So I took the old oatmeal cookie recipe... you know, that one on the lids of Quaker Oats . I halved it and tweaked it a bit by adding a mango/cranberry/golden raisin mix instead of plain raisins, almond extract instead of vanilla, and a 50/50 old-fashioned and quick oats combo. I also baked it in one big piece rather than a bunch of cookies. It yielded 24 cookie squares. I kept 'em cool so they got hard, and they were "Ukrainian"-approved! I liked how the almo...

After seeing many runners, including my own sister, Tea Time, wearing these at the San Diego Marathon , I joined in the fray of compression socks and sleeves. I got my pair from Road Runner Sports , online. "The Ukrainian" is a VIP member, so with the discount and a coupon he got in the mail, I ended up paying around $29.95+tax for this black pair. Based on my un-small calves, I had to get them in the Medium size. I'm looking forward to seeing whether these can really prevent my terrible marathon cramping and muscle-pulling episodes . Also, I don't mind adorning something that makes me feel like a soccer player! So here's my initial reaction after pulling them outta the box: These look like arm sleeves, so the intimidating thought of getting these onto my legs = *gasp*! "The Ukrainian" helped me get them on the first time, though I did get used to that after a few tries. So after a few long runs with these, my verdict is overwhelmingly positive. I h...

I spent some considerable time reading (and rolling my eyes at) THIS New York Times article about people in their 20's. What a long article! As a member of this cohort and someone who is supposedly an academian, I thought I had to comment on it. Mainly, I wanted to point out that although many of its points are true, not much is put behind the reasoning of some of these things. For instance, most pointedly, they brought up how people my age tend to move back home, bounce around jobs, and put off their adult lives. While this may be occurring, some of us don't WANT this to be happening. Case in point: 1) Moving back home - A dumb thing that I did when I got a job very close to home after college. I had considered commuting, but at the time, I had no car. Plus, even with one, it would have been 1 hr (at least) each way. Plus, I wanted to start graduate school once my finances were stable. Graduate school was also close to home. Living at home also meant faster financial stabili...

My latest food meanderings resulted in a stop to Orean the Health Express , a drive-thru (and walk-up, if desired) establishment in Pasadena, CA. And of course, "drive-thru" = fast food! I have good memories of downing a Big'n Tasty burger from McDonald's once during high school, and less-than-good memories of my parents feeding us 29-cent hamburgers and 39-cent cheeseburgers for breakfast on many mornings. I'll cut to the chase. I ordered an Orean Cheese Burger and Chili Fries, two things I normally wouldn't have, but you've guessed it right if you thought to yourself, "This place must be vegan." So look again at my burger and fry gluttony. Yes, I pretty much ate all of that, sans a bun and a heaping of chili that I saved for another day. Sure, I had run 6 miles and did weights in the morning, followed by a decently small breakfast. But look at that -- wow, my stomach was reeling, but my sense of adventure was indeed fueled. Note: I add...

Long ago, while I was still in college, I used to cook the most cruddy things to satisfy my burgeoning vegetarian palate. I called it Vegeslop , which I've mentioned before in this blog. Thinking back, that was quite progressive of me to put up a recipe blog, since the whole "healthy living blog" wave really did not come in until later. By now, I've grown up a bit and have access to more things. Health-food is becoming cheaper and available. And I'm really starting to feel the effects of pushing unhealthy food down my gullet. I don't know where this running blog crosses the line with food blog. I mean, I originally created this blog as one for races and gear . But inevitably, if being a good blogger means frequent posting, then these daily life details such as food creep in. At this point, I am not worrying much about distinctions anymore. After all, I have written enough blog posts so that I don't need to post again for a month or more. And...

This is Week 6 of 18, a stepback week, and 1/3 of the training program. Still streakin' in terms of not missing a run. So maybe I can work on pace this week? I'm still inconsistent in the fact that I will have good runs, normal runs, and downright crappy ones. Last week, I was feeling twinges of my hamstring injury, so I will need to be more careful from now on... ------ This Week's Workouts: Sunday - rest Monday - 4 (out of 5) mi; 10 min strength; 1 mi walk outdoors; 20 min backbends yoga Ugh, it was so hot in the gym this morning, making this run impossible to finish, even at a slow speed. Right foot arch, which has acting up lately, also wasn't helping. Will try to run an extra mile tomorrow morning to make up for it. Honestly not feeling it at all lately. Does this end my streak? Well, as long as I hit the weekly mileage... Tuesday - 4 (of 3) mi - outdoors Wednesday - 6 mi @6.7-7.0, 20 min strength, 4 mi walk (half of that was unplanned) Thinking about not going to ...

We had a bunch of Friday the 13th-s last year, didn't we? I feel like we haven't had one in AGES! In honor of this so-called Friday the 13th holiday, I have compiled a list of 13 things that I am too afraid to, or not willing to, try, in relation to superstition or otherwise.... Ouija boards - I heard countless stories of death resulting from playing this board game, even if it's made out of paper and coin for the pointer. I KNOW it's just the other players' will (ill or just hopefully) moving the thing, but STILL. Skydiving - I am not interested in this at all. I already scream my head off and get all barf-y on roller coasters. Smoking - I've only had one serious offer to try this (in middle school), and I had absolutely no desire to try. Mostly due to those anti-drug campaigns, I was freaked out to even try. I mean, I know that my lungs are already a healthy shade of grey due to living in cities... no need to make it worse. Pulling an all-nighter - I survived ...

I am not really paying much attention to whether a run should be done at "pace" or not. To get it done is miraculous in the first place these days. I wonder how long I can go before I "miss" a run... This would be considered Week 5 of 18, FYI. ------ This Week's Workouts: Sunday - bike 26 mi Wasn't intended on being this far, but my friend, Giraffe, intentionally lied about the distance between my house and the Santa Fe Recreation Dam . Then we went up this steep, steep part to get a view, and yeah, I had to walk my bike up after about halfway. Monday - 6 mi; 15 min strength Tuesday - 3 mi - outdoors; 10 min abs/arms I blasted through the first half of this run, unbeknownst to me. On the other hand, yoga was a no-ga because I was working on my dissertation and frankly in a bad mood. Wednesday - 6 mi; 20 min strength; 1.5 hr salsa Thursday - 3 mi @6.7-7.2, 30 min strength/abs/foam roller I incorporated some yoga into my stretching due to my guilt of not doin...

Yes, I guess I can't stay away from blogging for long. If I needed something to motivate me right now , this certainly is it. Remember this post from last month about getting a nice kudos from my associate dean? Yesterday, I received the below, both in print and via e-mail. Unreal! Dear Julie, Congratulations! You have been selected for our prestigious 2010 #### Dean’s Excellence Scholarship Award of $10,000. The #### Dean’s Excellence Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student who possesses an exceptional combination of educational achievements and leadership abilities. Your annual scholarship will be provided in two payments of $5,000. Your first award payment will be provided upon verification of fulltime enrollment at the start of the Fall semester 2010, the second will be provided at the start of Spring semester 2011 once you are enrolled fulltime. We wish you much success at your academic endeavors at ####. Signed, "The Dean" I got a couple of scholarships as ...

Since I've gotten into a new routine , I've on a cooking roll ! This sure beats the "cereal dinners" or "hummus and pita chip dinners" of yore (not like they won't happen anymore, just more seldomly!)! This nicoise (rough pronunciation: knee-shwaa ) salad was inspired by one I saw at Fresh & Easy (Neighborhood Market). I think these salads are common in France, although I'm untraveled, so I wouldn't know. So I rounded up these ingredients below: The actual cooking involved included boiling eggs and potatoes, cooking quinoa, and blanching green beans. Here's the intermediate/end stage of the salad assembly. These plates were enjoyed with little nibbles of cheese and wine from "The Ukrainian." Followed by some watermelon and a couple of mini rice-cakes. Schm-ancy? Yes. Notes : Green Beans/Spinach : Wish I had gotten fresher green beans, but the ones I got were on MAJOR sale. Spinach didn't turn out the freshe...

Dear all, I am taking the week off from the blog world. You see, I was informed by my dissertation chair that I can start preparing for my preliminary orals. Finally! I have been waiting about 10 months and something like 7 drafts for this! I know that sounds like gibberish, but basically this means that I can finally go before my committee to get approval to run my study. To complete a dissertation at my school, you need to get through two "orals" -- preliminary and final. So assuming everything goes as planned, my preliminary orals will take place sometime in the middle or late next month. Committee approves, and I wait another 2-3 weeks for International Review Board (IRB) approval... then run the study. Hoping to finish collecting data by the end of this year, and although I would love to finish the write up and do my "final" orals by May and graudate "on time" (4 years since I entered with a BA)... I think I will need the summer to finish up. In othe...

Okay, so given that this post has a specific focus, it's not random . I know I'm more than a month late in posting this, but for his 30th, I took "The Ukrainian" to Universal Studios in Hollywood. He grew up in Hollywood, and he had never gone. Above: He said it was okay to post pics of him (I asked about this one particularly), though I still don't do it too often... We went on the tram right away, since the King Kong 3-D attraction just got added to the tram ride, and we were worried about the lines that would ensue... Above: View from the tram. Drizzly -- but this was early July! Above: Facades ... I have a funny story about the first time I learned that word in my freshman honor's English class in high school. Having never seen it before, I had to read it aloud to the class and said something like, "FAH KADE." Oops! Anyway, these FUH-SAHDs/fake buildings are new, because the old ones were damaged a few years ago... Above: Cool, huh? Above:...

At the LA Marathon expo this past year, I tried some of these Perfect Food Bar in Peanut Butter. These bars are supposed to be eaten cold, I think, although at an expo, it certainly wasn't. It tasted good, dense and moist, yet crumbly. A somewhat almond-y taste was also pleasing. All in all, it's like a cookie! I wasn't sure if these were vegan, so a trip to Whole Foods solved that mystery. I got this bar in Fruit & Nut flavor. Strangely, it tasted somewhat like that Peanut Butter bar. Anyway, disappointingly, this bar contains milk protein. Also, look at the calorie and fat content. It's nearly 300 calories, which I guess is attributable to its larger-than-normal-bars size. Looking at the fat content, there's 15 freaking grams of it, some of it saturated! While not a totally bad choice, I think I will stick to some more "perfect" foods that are out there...

Down goes me, up goes the mileage. Observations : - Definitely have been falling off the yoga train. Not inspired to do it in a hot, crowded house. Not throwing in the towel just yet, though. A few switcheroos in my schedule should allow for 2 yoga sessions a week, which is probably enough for now. - My legs are definitely feeling a lot better than they did a month ago, and especially two months ago. Over these past 2 months or so, it's almost as if I had to start running from scratch, and I never even really took a break. Heaven help me in the re-start-up should I need to take an actual hiatus at some point in life... - My hamstring is feeling much better. The pain will sometimes emerge when I go too fast without the proper progression, but the pain is a lot less intense and easily remedied. THEREFORE... - ...even though I'm still trying to recover fitness and motivation to run, I'm enjoying it a whole lot more due to not hobbling around every run. ------ This Week's W...

Before I joined a gym, I used to do workout videos. They were convenient and more motivating than writing down exercises on paper and attempting to do them. I don't watch The Biggest Loser , but I am not hiding under a rock. I do know that Jillian is a tough trainer on the show and has been semi-responsible of hundreds/thousands? of pounds of weight loss. So when I saw this video at Target for $9, I decided to add it to my collection. A 40-minute attack on women's worst ailments -- abs, arms? -- I'm sold. Plus, I saw a good review of it on the blog Healthy Tipping Point . The recommended tools for this workout are a mat and set of hand weights. The first realization that I made was that the set of hand weights I have at home (at 8 lbs) is WAY to heavy to complete all the moves without dying. I think 5 lbs would work better, but I am too cheap and paranoid about stuff taking up extra space to add another set. So this means that I need to get stronger! After a 5-minute warm-u...

I'm not sure why I found this video so amusing, but if you have 50 seconds of time, it's worth a watch:

Besides tragedies like breaking my $12 sunglasses... ...this summer has thus far consisted of: Above: Sizzling plates from Denny's! Above: Yummy foot court food from Fashion Island in Newport Beach, CA. Wow, if only all food courts were this pretty! Above: Longboarder's in Oceanside, CA. The top is a BBQ burger, obviously not mine. Much more boring is my soy sausage and salad.