A Case of the Runs

Back in December, I posted my "resolutions" for 2011.  I still find the practice a bit cliché, but admittedly, it's fun to look back and track my progress as we wrap up the month of June.  Whoa, half the year is gone?!  I can't say that time has flown... it ran, walked, crawled, and maybe flew sometimes . Anyway, here's the update on each of the goals: PR. Niet .  I simply have not given myself ample opportunities in the first part of this year.  But I did run my first trail half and first 5K in which I was attached to someone else the entire way.  I have a few more races and a few more months to achieve this goal as I had intended, though.  And don't forget the new training plan I will be following soon for a hopeful marathon PR! Finish dissertation. :) Perhaps if I reach no other goal this year, this definitely took the cake.  Strangely, in January, I didn't know I was going to make the leap to finish.  SO glad I did, though! ...

A long while back, I did a review on chia seeds  (which remains one of my most-viewed posts).  In short, I found these healthy little nuggets to be palatable only in certain instances, but otherwise, the gel-ing was hard for me to eat. Recently, I learned that cold, gloppy foods like puddings and overnight oats (where you soak oats in milk overnight instead of cooking) were good homes for chia seeds. First exhibit: pumpkin chia pudding.  I had leftover pumpkin from a recent vegan brownie expedition, so I snacked on the rest of can throughout the week.  Here, I mixed a small 1/3 c of canned pure pumpkin, maybe about 1/4 c hemp milk, and 1 large Tbsp of chia seeds, along with some pumpkin spice and stevia.  After mixing and a few hours in the fridge, I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious this was... literally like pumpkin pudding!  Couldn't even taste the chia or gag at the gel-ing.  In this case, it was GOOD gel-ing! Next, I tried a ...

I started regularly driving my lovely car (a 2006 Corolla, which doesn't narrow things down much in these parts!) in 2007.  For years, I didn't do much driving because of no need to in college.  But as I started graduated school, I bit the bullet.  My dad got me the thing he has so far bought all of his daughters... a ride! Unfortunately, about three months after I started driving it, I found a gaping hole in the taillight cover one day.  I freaked out, thinking I had done it.  Without putting any blame on anyone, I found out later that I wasn't the one who had taken the car out when it happened.  Whew... less heartache.  Still, I had to live with this, and knowing I'd have to take care of it myself, I procrastinated until recently. See hole (and tape used over the years to cover up said hole). My handy "Ukrainian" helped me switch it out.  I was actually able to find the part pretty cheap online, and even a YouTube video on how to ch...

I don't know if I have ever mentioned this on the blog, but I wear contacts.  I am not ashamed to admit this fact, because I have come to the realization that LOTS of people wear them! It has been about four years since I got my first contacts exam.  This was around the time I started graduate school and had completed my first marathon .  Here's a little "before" shot of myself in my dear old spectacles.  I've been wearing glasses since fifth grade, and had it not been for my stubbornness to NOT wear them, probably a few years sooners than that. I didn't feel badly about my glasses until I got older.  When I was younger, they were tools for sight, but as I came out of my teenage years, I felt they made me totally unattractive. :(  How I wish that glasses were as cool back then as they seem to be now (e.g., "emo" glasses). But to put my sight tools in my eyes was a little too much. Running came to my rescue.  I didn't run with my glasses on ...

I mentioned that I am starting a full marathon training program on July 18th.  The goal?  Get as close to 4 hours as possible.  Beyond (hopefully) keeping my Daily Mile updated, I have decided to document the process here on the blog under the tag " sbtraining ." For anyone running a marathon in November, you can follow along with me if you'd like!  I am going to offer my Google calendar in these posts so we can all keep up!  I can also post some variations for people aiming for up to a 5-hour marathon. :) ----- This month, my running has been quite... sorry. :( I'm lucky if I get in 15 miles a week (sometimes 10!), and that's mainly because I've been doing other cardio (e.g., elliptical).  After giving blood last week , I'm finally feeling like myself again and managed to run a few times this week!  I know it's important for me to maintain at least SOME base mileage before beginning the program, no matter how much experience I sho...

Given that I didn't spend my younger days eating out, I allow myself a little slack when I start thinking incoherent things like, "What do they eat in Peru?" I don't know why I say that's an "incoherent" thought... just something not well thought-out, because I use "they" like people in Peru are creatures from another planet or something. Bottom line is... I wanted to try Peruvian food, and I kept passing by a Peruvian restaurant in Old Town Pasadena ( Choza Mama ).  Finally, after some "almost" occassions, we went in: Love their cool menu!  However, there weren't too many veggie options, though enough for me. Here's the comped bread and dipping sauces.  All were mild and not too thick.  I liked the one on the left the most.  The green one, which I thought might taste like some kind of cucumber yummy dip, fell a little flat. "The Ukrainian" ordered Inca cola, which kind of tasted like liquid cotton candy t...

This is a story with a happy ending. However, it started with this: I burned my hand on top of "The Ukrainian"'s stove while flipping some kale chips in his oven.  It was my first attempt, and they came out pretty good. How did I suddenly get into kale-chip making?  Well, "The Ukrainian" bought a bag of kale from Trader Joe's .  Not wanting to subject him to raw kale, I decided to make chips. First, I rip the stems off the pieces.  Stems = no good.  If you are using one tray to bake them, you probably only need about 1/4 of the bag or less.  Do NOT cram the kale on the tray, or else they will crowd and not crisp properly.  Remember that greens shrivel up, so this doesn't make very much more than what I show at the bottom of this post.  If you want more, bake two trays. Then, a drizzle (1 tsp) of olive oil, a tiny pinch of salt, and a large pinch of nutritional yeast flakes.  You can experiment with toppings (such as paprika), but d...

It's supposed to be the first day of summer.  I thought this might be an appropriate topic.... I've made mention of my bunion problem before. In this picture, I'm hiding it pretty well.  I actually have a picture of my actual feet that you probably don't want to see unless you don't think bunions are abnormal. Whether I had started running marathons and such or not, I believe this was my destiny .  First of all, it's karma -- I have been weirded out by feet forever.  (Over the years, I have glad to learn that I wasn't the only one with this sort of aversion.)  I guess all those jokes and such caught up with me.  Second, here and there in the genetic pool of my family, women have had bunions, according to my parents.  Ugh.  Oh well. A college friend of mine (a male!) had an extreme case, to the point where his toes were crossing.  He had surgery done, and now he's totally fine.  While surgery is an option, it is often a last re...

I've been on a book-reading roll lately! Even before I officially filed my dissertation (May 24), I was already starting to read "fun" books.  Pretty much since my defense (April 27), I basically caved into reading like I would normally cave into a muffin . The Happy Runner sent me this book as part of a giveaway that I happened to win (yay!).  I figured it would make good casual bathroom reading material. So here's my review... Basically, I don't really read diet books anymore.  They are great for people who know little about nutrition, but these days, the Internet provides a plethora of information on specific questions one may have about staying healthy.  Additionally, the tagline "The last diet you will ever need" was gimmicky to the max. The (long) book mentions many studies, studies that provide evidence that you should (not really in any order): 1) Keep caloric intake "restricted" (not to an extreme level): I can agree ...

I finally bit the bullet and changed the URL of the blog: http://www.ACaseoftheRuns.com It should be fully functional soon, so if you notice weird stuff going on here, that could explain it. :) ADDED: One of those weird things is losing all my side-links/feeds to all of your blogs.  I'm trying to reconstruct it from memory, but if I've omitted yours (or would like me to add it for the first time!), please let me know!

I had the privilege of giving life. No, not THAT "giving life" (I'm a few years away from that, at least).  I'm talking about blood donation, obviously!  I was waaaaay behind on donations (a couple of years) and finally got to a training break where I felt I could safely do so. I blogged about donating blood as a runner a few years ago.  Partly why I haven't been very regular about this is because I run, which is a shame.  But then I remember that a good deed is a good deed. Personally, I believe that everyone who is eligible should give blood.  I started doing it in college and go back whenver I feel good and can fit it in.  I barely cross the weight requirement, don't like being pricked (who does?), and don't even have one of those cool "universal" blood types, yet I still do it.  To me, it's like building your karma .  If I or someone I love needed blood, I would HOPE there would be enough blood in the bank to help.  *Step...

For my birthday , my sisters took me to brunch at a cute little place in Pasadena, CA called Central Park Cafe.  This was brilliant, since breakfast/brunch is my favorite meal, and I'm a morning person!! My sister has already reviewed the place  on her blog, but here was my take. This is a picture of the salmon benedict that my sister got.  We all asked for our creams and sauces "on the side," because we're just a sad lactose-intolerant family.  By the time the waiter got to the "normal" guys at the table who wanted their sauce as normal, he gave us the cocked eyebrow. The little sister's waffle... the whipped cream was, you guessed it, on the side... My older sister's French toast looked HUGE and delicious, but when I tried a corner, I found it to be bland and dry.  Unfortunately, this French toast actually made me crave it for WEEKS until I finally had some ones from Denny's and in Vegas a few weeks later.... My brother-in-law'...

I won a copy of this book from Britne in a giveaway she hosted a while back (thanks, Britne!). I read this book several months ago because it's a quick read.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to a pure beginner, but it does give some useful tips for both training and race day.  Its goal is to get you to a 4-hour marathon, which seemed right up my alley because my PR is 4:19. My 10th marathon will be on November 12.  While I am proud of this milestone, I am a little embarrassed that I have not been running such stellar marathon times as of late.  Of course, finishing each race is stellar, but I start wondering if people in real life and even here on the blog take me seriously because I haven't cranked out this 4-hour marathon.  Long story short, I was busy with school, life got in the way, and frankly, I stopped worrying about speed and more about getting through each race injury-free. It has been a while since I've followed a training program . ...

I've figured out why Google Reader doesn't update with my race posts, and I can't figure out how to fix it without creating a bunch of dead links. So here is the link to my recap of the Valley Crest Half-Marathon . After running a half-marathon, it was churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse) time! This place, Kravings , is located in Tarzana, CA.  At night, they have torches lit outside, which looks awesome, but also at night, the meal is $39.95.  We went to brunch for $19.95. :) So given that I'm not good at buffets (especially meat ones), I think I made good use of "entry fee."  They had a nice salad bar.  As to not look weird, I snuck in this picture very quickly. This place is a bit on the fancier side.  We got a cute little enclosed-ish booth to sit in.  Unfortunately, lots of people also decided to bring their crying babies in.  I mean, a little crying is fine, but seriously, this one kid sounded like he was straining to cry as loud and mu...

EVENT: Valley Crest Half-Marathon DATE: Sunday June 12, 2011 LOCATION: Mulholland Fire Road, Santa Monica Mountains RACE BEGAN: 8:00 AM FINISH TIME: 02:11:57 ( Garmin ) I've stayed away from trail races. It's not that I don't like a challenge, but I figure that I can't even master road racing!! I once did a hybrid trail/road half-marathon at the Rose Bowl and liked it because it was "different." "The Ukrainian" had been hinting that he wanted to do a trail race. I finally pulled the trigger and forced both of us into this. even if Fargo (5K + Marathon) was only a few weeks ago. Pre-race dinner was semi-homemade  sopes  (remember?! -- posted the pic again below)! So above is the lovely elevation profile. All things considered, I didn't do TOO badly. The race started off with a steep uphill and the few miles after that, I was feeling really good. At around Mile 3.5, we turned around, only to do a 3-mile death march up an everlasting hil...