A Case of the Runs

Happy Halloween! I'm mostly on schedule with my school stuff, so I'm posting this now! The theme of this entry is "Faux Pho," which was inspired by a lunch with some co-workers to Pho Bac Ky in Tustin, CA. Pho is a Vietnamese soup dish, usually made with beef broth and rice noodles. This place had lots of variation! Above: Tofu pho!! Who coulda guessed?! Above: Some sweet green tapioca coconut "soup" that came with the meal. Above: This was the best I could do...

Chia seeds claim to exceed the benefits of flax seeds in that they deliver heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids without grinding them up. Diana from GREENS+ sent me a jar of chia seeds to see if they really are the "superfood" they claim to be. As you can see from the picture, chia seeds are tiny black/white-speckled seeds that I've thus far blended into smoothies and dumped directly into kefir. They didn't work too well in the smoothie because they all sort of clumped together, and when wet, they become a huge gel blob that is rather inpalatable (if that's a word). What worked better for me was to throw them in my kefir. They seemed to give texture to an otherwise sour drink (pictured here with a slice of Ezekiel bread, which I will attempt to review in an upcoming post). When crunched on, chia seeds taste a little... grassy... but not in a bad way. I'm sure these would work better baked into foods or scrambled with eggs... Did these give me the burst of energ...

This LINK is a little busy, but if you get through, a sample of PowerBar Gels (see previous review from Tea Time) will be on your way! I hope the wind over here dies down so I can get a nice outdoor run in today. Yay, Fall!!

I decided to randomly post about things I am currently "diggin'" and will probably make a series out of this (much like my Random Photo Entries). Why? Oh, I don't know... just celebrating life, I suppose! You'll notice, though, that running is mentioned here and there, showing how it is a large part of life. Current Favorites: running song: Pointer Sisters' " I'm So Excited " : This came on during my workout last night, and I was instantly in the mood to dance around the gym... I recently refreshed my song list, so I am always jammin' on my runs! cereal: Cracklin' Oat Bran : Finally, this thing went on sale, and I got some. I swear I ate some of this as a kid and liked it, but it is beyond expensive now. It is crunchy and sweet, each piece the size of small mailing stamp, but I can't eat more than a handful due to a fear of stomach issues from the fiber. Each 3/4 c. serving offers 200 calories and 11 grams of protein. show: Heroes (N...

As part of training for my next marathon in December , I have become set on doing two 20(+)-milers. So although I wasn't planning on it (sorta) and didn't really carbo-load much beforehand, I started on my three-hour, 21 minutes-ish run after work. Yes, ridiculous I know, but when I am set on something, I just go. Above: Quick pit-stop beforehand. (Pics taken from phone that I carry around while running, which is a good idea for the fearful like me.) Above: This is where I hid my water bottle (that's my ride), but ultimately someone has stolen my water the last three times I've run at this park! =( Above: Mile 7... gel-lin' like a felon! Above: With 6.88 miles to go... I've run quite a few half-marathons slower than this! Above: Mile 15... still alive, but the sun is setting! Soon, it got dark. As I rounded out mile 18 (3 hours), I realized they closed the exit to the park, so I got in my car, crampy and all, and eventually found my way out and drove to the my g...

This entry is about as far from running as can be, but it is close to my heart because it has to do with my favorite musician, Moby ! On Wednesday, October 14, Moby performed at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. That evening, I ran 10k on the treadmill alongside "The Ukrainian," grabbed some vegetarian banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches), and got there just in time to eat dinner in my car and get in line. Since I got my tickets so early, our tickets were actually for the pit, so we were close to the action. How close, you ask? Yep, we were pretty much two feet away from him at times (and my hair is like straw!), and he often edged the stage to reach out to his audience (not me, as my arms are not long enough). The rave-esque yells he did during "Feeling So Real" (always his last song at concerts) was awesome...! I've touched Moby a few times before, but having him perform in front of my face was an unparalleled experience. I had so much fun knowing that he ...

EVENT: Long Beach ICB Half-Marathon DATE: Sunday, October 11, 2009 LOCATION: Long Beach, CA RACE BEGAN: 7:00 am FINISH TIME: 02:01:31 This was the third race I needed to run for the California Dreamin' racing series. I've run this race twice before, so was the third time the charm? I'm finally taking the time to update this, so I guess this ends my short hiatus from blog postings. Prelude Race weekend was wonderful. I took off a couple of hours early on Friday to take "The Ukrainian" to the expo at the Long Beach Convention Center. There, we picked up our jackets that we earned from the California Dreamin' series, got our bibs/ D-tags , and other goodies. Since it was SUCH a beautiful day... sunny yet cool... we spent the day walking the pier, eating breakfast (at The Omelette Inn in Downtown Long Beach -- see pics of black bean omelette and biscuits that we shared!) and beer (Yard House!) for dinner, and getting free admission into the Aquarium of the Pacifi...