A Case of the Runs

When I was a kid, I really wanted mac 'n cheese for dinner like the "average" American kid rather than the bittermelon on white rice that often appeared in its place. I tried this delectable golden pasta in small bits in my school lunches, but dang it, by the skin of my Americanized Asian self, I wanted Kraft. So Sister S made a whole box for a few of us, and a few tablespoons later, I was done. She made it correctly, but I guess I was not meant to wolf down a bowl full of buttery melted cheese powder and tube-y noodles. But once in a while, I do enjoy taking bites of mac 'n cheese at barbecues and other social functions. There's something about the cheesy goodness on pasta that lured me into trying a vegan version. I based my recipe on this one below, taken from THIS hink. I modified the recipe a bit by using whole wheat rotini instead of macaroni, and I also added 1/4 tsp. of tumeric to give it a more yellow color. ¾ cup plain soymilk ½ cup wa...

As I mentioned in my Workout entry, I spent a day at the LA County Fair this past weekend, even though I also did some of this: Okay, this is more like it. But I had to run my 18-miler the day before. Here I am, ready to go... BUT it was 90+ degrees out, so I ended up tying the shirt around my waist instead. But all you're gonna get to see is this... One of my worst runs ever! When I got back to my car more than 3 hours later, I hobbled back into my office to buy a cold drink. The only decent choice was a can of Cactus Cooler. Eh. Checked the temp. Still in the 80s. Good gosh, I don't like summer! Above: The next day, which was even worse in terms of heat, I watched these giant stuffed animals ride this lift. Reminds me of Mammoth ( Above: It look a LONG time to get to the Fair, and when we did, we were both HUNGRY. We went for this veggie combo. I had about a third with some ketchup/ranch. And then I ended up getting a horrific stomachache that ended in fried foo...

I really needed money and could not get to a bank easily, so the next best thing was to buy something from a supermarket and use the cashback on my debit card. This is how I obtained a package of Amy's black bean enchilada. I've tried other Amy's frozen meals before, though I don't eat them regularly, because this frozen meal was $4.69, and that is on the CHEAP end. The veggie pot pie, veggie meat loaf, and mac n' cheese were yummy and squelched down my craving for those dishes. Of course, they taste less processed and more wholesome than their normal counterparts, but the sodium is generally still up there. Enchiladas came in at 31% of the daily value recommended. Here's the snap after I took it out of the microwave. I was sooo hungry that I could not wait to try it. And look! It looks pretty darn close to the representation on the package, so no false advertising there! The enchilada was stuffed was tiny bits of tofu, corn, and black beans. It reminded...

My upcoming half-marathon will probably sway me toward toning down the mileage this week. I don't want to deviate, but I do want to do well in that race... **I modified tp 4 days of 4-milers due to my coach's input. "The Ukrainian" is my coach. =D I'm pretty beat up from last week . ------ This Week's Workouts: Sunday - rest Monday - 1.5 (of 5 mi); 20 min strength; 30 min stepper Alarm woke me instead of me waking naturally (unusual). 80 degrees at 5:30 AM. Decided to screw the run and cross-train. Yay for phoning it in!!! Tuesday - 4 (of 8 mi) Wednesday - 4 (of 5 mi); 15 min weights; 5 min stretching Thursday - 5 mi - outdoors I had actually planned on 4, but oh well; this is the only run so far this week that met the mileage was prescribed by the schedule Friday - 10 min s.bike, 40 min strength Saturday - rest Weekly Mileage: 14.5

After not being able to find canned pumpkin for a long time, I finally found a some in... what other place... but Hollywood! Above: I was pretty darn happy with the find, but I think "The Ukrainian" was even happier, as he knew baked goods were coming his way! While Fall spices and lattes are thrilling to me, I mainly only wanted the pumpkin for one thing: vegan brownies. Last year, I discovered this recipe on Recipezaar/Food. com and got rave reviews. I'm not much of a brownie person, but I couldn't stop eating these. I'm not sure what it is -- I think the flavors are just SO much deeper than normal brownies. The only substitution I make each time I make these brownies is swapping half the applesauce for pumpkin. I think I erred in this first batch of the season by not adding enough pumpkin, or overmixing the dough. Oh well, that huge can should be enough for a couple more batches! Above: Wet and dry. Above: Not sure if these chips are truly vegan... is ...

!!!! LONG-WINDED POST AHEAD !!!! I am pretty sure that this week's mileage will NOT be equal to what's planned here. Do people really need to run this much to do well in marathoning? What am I doing wrong? While I haven't re-injured myself *knock on wood*, I haven't exactly been 100% on the mileage for these past couple of weeks and feel that I might as well have not tried to do an Intermediate level training schedule . Given that this is Week 11 with four more weeks of heavy training before taper, I am trying to hold on. I REALLY want to know if being on this type of schedule will ultimately deliver better results than my haphazard ways or a more basic program . Given that I haven't followed a program so closely since... ever(?)... I really want to be able to say, when I finish the San Antonio Marathon , that my efforts were worth it. As I've mentioned before , I want to PR. I even joined RuntoFinish 's PR Challenge to motivate me. But really, really, at 6 ...

I made granola once, rather unsuccessfully, as it was too crumbly. So on my second granola-ish attempt, I decided that bars were easier and required less baking. 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 1/4 cup slivered almonds 1/4 cup sunflower seeds 1 tablespoon flaxseeds, preferably golden 1 tablespoon sesame seeds 1 cup unsweetened whole-grain puffed cereal (see Note) 1/3 cup currants 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots 1/3 cup chopped golden raisins 1/4 cup creamy almond butter (see Note) 1/4 cup turbinado sugar (see Note) 1/4 cup honey 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon salt I got the recipe from THIS website. I subbed the the currants for dried mango bits and apricot with dried cranberries. All I really had to do was mix the dry ingredients together and lightly boiling the rest. I did, however, have to toast some of that in the oven, but on a hot day, a few minutes toasting is better than a full-on bake... Pressed in the pan. Cut up, wrapped, and became a work-ti...

As of last week, "The Ukrainian" has seen my blog. He still owes me some text so that I can post a long-in-progress entry I wanted to co-write with him. This public acknowledgment will hopefully add some urgency to hurry up and do it, already! Okay, back to the post at hand... ------ Every month or so, my friends and I go out to a restaurant that we take turns choosing. Last month, it was my turn, so without any bias whatsoever, I chose Soi 7 in Downtown LA. Soi 7 is a Thai fusion restaurant with very reasonable prices. If you're ever on 7th Street and Grand (near were all the busses come in), you should definitely come check it out! Okay, so "without any bias" is a lie -- I have some relation to the owner of this place. Still, an excuse to go to Downtown is always good. On the way there, we saw a bunch of young hipsters walking around art exhibits and going to a slew of food trucks. While I still have not realized my life goal of going to a food truck, I didn...

UPDATE 1/19/11: As of 10/3/2010, I returned these shoes due to a lack of support in the arch area. While I thought these shoes were quite nifty in terms of design, they did not work very well for me. My previous two running shoes are depleted of their cushioning. I have noticed a general lack of support from my shoes lately. I just crossed the 4000 mi mark over the span of running career that my blog has covered, so appropriately, I got these new shoes to celebrate and hopefully put a spring back into my currently-uninspired steps. "The Ukrainian" and I went to Road Runner Sports in Torrance, and I was determined to find a "perfect" shoe or the most perfect one possible. In all the shoes I've run in so far , I have yet to find one that doesn't injure, bruise, or weigh me down. In the past, running stores have typically just told me that I NEED motion control shoes and give me maybe one or two pairs to choose from. This time, I marched in and announced tha...

So here is my first (and only??) attempt at doing a video blog on a vegan pizza recipe I saw on Sound Eats (though I blew it in the video... but now I got it straight!). Please excuse my post-work disheveledness, nervousness, and my lack of knowing how to use my camera. I tried to keep the video light-hearted and informal, though I probably should have rehearsed or something! Overall, I thought this pizza was pretty creamy. I am interested in trying more Daiya vegan cheese , though its use may be limited to pizza and quesadillas. The combination of flavors was good -- I did alter the recipe a little, but overall, it should be the same. I didn't like the thick hummus on there... need to get a thinner one next time. If this flies over well, I may try again.

I see freakish weekday and an even more freakish weekend run. Will I make it????? Ay caramba! ------ This Week's Workouts: Sunday - rest Monday - 4 mi; 30 min stepper; 10 min s. bike; 10 min strength As ambitious as I was to try to do Tuesday's 8-miler on Monday, I had my preliminary dissertation oral defense and really didn't want to exhaust myself beforehand. I had to present my research idea (with theory and all that) to my 3-faculty committee and basically allow them to fire at me. Fortunately, they were all really supportive and not too harsh. There was a lot of academic discussion and questions directed toward me that made my head spin, and after nearly 2 hours, my chair asked me to step out of the room while they discussed my fate. The verdict: 2 committee members signed my Dissertation Contract; my chair withheld her signature until some changes are made. This is the typical outcome for "prelims," according to my chair and the one I had expected. So in spi...

I used to eat tostadas for lunch in the school cafeteria. They were wonderfully greasy, crunchy, and yummy. Pita bread + tomatoes + spinach leaves + avocado + cilantro + lemon juice/salt/pepper + onion + vegetarian refried beans = I popped the split pita bread in the oven, heated the beans, shredded some cheddar and pepperjack cheese, and added a blob of Fage 2% Greek Yogurt . The "Ukrainian" arranged this tostada for the photo and told me to tell you (the blog readers) that "the key to making this look nice and yummy is a big glob of Greek yogurt." Thanks, "Ukrainian"! It certainly LOOKS like a tostada, doesn't it? Don't be surprised, but this Greek yogurt really, really tastes like sour cream. I got mad props for making such a healthy and realistic version of something that otherwise isn't so good for you. =) This was accompanied by a quick faux apple cobbler that I loosely based on this recipe . It is basically an apple with cin...

I'm a medal maker. It started well over two years ago prior to the Laguna Hills Half-Marathon. See this text taken straight from my original race review : There was no medal awarded at this race, which is unfortunate, though they had a finisher's glass and good food such as Souplantation muffins and pizza from the California Pizza Kitchen. I was feeling too sick to eat too much but managed to get down half a banana and some muffin tops. After about a month of hanging out (or whatever they call it these days) with "The Ukrainain," he asked me about the race and asked for the URL. I was taken aback, as this was not expected and a huge plunge for someone who has never raced before and only been seeing someone for such a short time. Reluctantly, I gave him the info, and next thing you know, we were at the starting line together! Above: My hair = holy moley! (Photo credit to Tea Time) Little did he know, I had something up my sleeve (or in my running short pockets)..........

EVENT: Run for the Memorial 5K/10K DATE: Saturday, September 11, 2010 LOCATION: Rosemead, CA RACE BEGAN: 08:00 am FINISH TIME: 00:51:46 ( Garmin ; tag time: +2 seconds) Without giving super-specific information about where I live (you can see the About page for the vicinity), I was very excited to be doing a local race! I had not done a 10K since 2008 , at least one not involving mud , so I was looking forward to gauging my fitness level. I wanted to do the 5K, but since "The Ukrainian," The Councilman, the BFF, and her friend Mak all decided to take the long route, I'm glad I decided to be more ambitious! Course Map -- Definitely weird to be running a race on routes that I've trained on numerous times... City of Rosemead Run for the Memorial Find more Runs in Rosemead, California So here is a parade of pictures that surrounded this event! Above: Packet pick-up. T-shirts (with the logo at the top of this post) were given, along with a few other small goodies like a c...