Just another bit of inspiration

I think that running might be in my genes. I've written about how my dad is my health and fitness inspiration, but I have another one, my cousin, who is a marathon runner.

C ran the Duke City Marathon, in Albuquerque this past weekend. She ran a personal best, which was good enough to qualify her for the 2010 Boston Marathon. Her time was also good enough that she finished 3rd overall in the women's division. Not in her age group, but 3rd overall, this was her 13th marathon and she has two more planned.

I told her about my half marathon and how I was trying to decide what to do next, and she said to be warned, that marathons are addicting. I'm really impressed, because she also works full time and has a one year old.

I actually have a fun run coming up this weekend, it's a 5k at a local nature center, with some family members and a friend from college. It's a loop around a lake, and the way the leaves are looking, it should be a pretty run.

Don't forget to enter the Amazing Grass Giveaway.....

Mike makes a mean pot pie

Don't let the oysters fool you, I'll get to the pot pie in a minute! This weekend we made a trip home to Long Island for an annual Oyster Fest in Oyster Bay. We look forward to this all year, and I've been going since I was a kid. Long gone are the party atmosphere days, where you could walk around with a beer while you sampled all the lovely seafood. Now it's more family oriented, which is good since I have one, so the kids had a ball on the rides and got their hot dog and cotton candy fix.

Back to the Oysters. I love them raw, Mike waited on the line for 25 minutes to get a few plates, but of course it was worth it. I squirted them with fresh lemon, and a bit of cocktail sauce. They were cold, and so clean tasting, I was done in a few minutes. Next up were fried Oysters, this line was much shorter, I still inhaled them. The batter was crunchy, but light, and full of black pepper, you could smell it in the air as they cooked. Again all they needed was a bit of cocktail sauce. It's not even 10 o'clock and I could go for some right now.

Last week Mike made one of his fall specialties, Chicken Pot Pie. We had grilled chicken thighs the other night, and had a ton left over, so Mike chopped it up to make the pie. Sometimes he substitutes lobster for the chicken for a special dinner. This time instead of a biscuit crust, he used corn bread, which added a sweetness that worked with the salty inside.

Here is the recipe, he usually doubles it so we have one pie to eat, another for the freezer:

3 cups of cooked, shredded chicken

1 cup chopped onion

2 cups chopped carrot

2 cups diced potato

2 cups frozen baby peas

1 can of Nibblets Corn

3 cups of chicken stock - we use organic, or MSG free Swansons

1 cup of milk

butter, salt and pepper, flour, Bisquick or corn muffin mix

Heat oven to 375, grease a medium sized baking pan with butter

In a saute pan, melt 6 tablespoons (I know, it sounds like a lot) of butter and sautee the onion and carrot, after about 5 minutes stir in 6 tablespoons of flour, until it turns a light brown. Pour in stock, stir and bring to a boil, cook about 10 minutes until it thickens. Then add milk, and cook about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, mix in chicken, peas corn and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, pour into baking dish.

If you're doing a biscuit top, mix 2 1/4 cups of Bisquick and 2/3 cup milk, and pour over the top of the chicken mixture, and make little slits in the crust so steam escapes. For the corn bread topping, we used a box of Jiffy, followed the directions for corn bread and poured that over the top.

Bake 35 - 40 minutes until bubbly, and crust is browned. Let it sit about five minutes before chowing down.

Mellow Much?

I planned on getting outside this afternoon for a run, but I just wasn't into it. It's a grey, cold, wet day, and it took until noon to get up in the 40's, and I'm tired.

I love to sleep, I'm just not very good at it. My insomnia is acting up again, the past two nights have been horrible, I was up last night watching Baby Mamma at two in the morning wondering when I was going to fall asleep. Of course once I did get to sleep Eliza was up early asking for her Sleeping Beauty Barbie. I had to get up anyway, we had a field trip to the apple and pumpkin farm, so I needed to dig out the winter coats and boots. This weather is nuts, I haven't even had a chance to buy Eliza a coat, I put her in one that was her cousins', and way too big for her.

Mike went to the farm with us, and after lunch, we miraculously got Eliza to sleep, so I got my gear together to run. I reeeaaallly wanted to sit on the couch, but I knew I would feel better once I got out the door, so I forced myself out.

My ipod matched my mood, I had it on random, and it came up with what I think of as mellow music with a running groove. I listened to the lyrics, and thought about things, it's so true that running is a great form of therapy. I haven't posted a playlist in a while, so I thought I would share what I heard today.......

New Slang ~ The Shins

Breathe Me ~ Sia

Runaway Train ~ Soul Asylum

You Are The Sunshine of My Life ~ Stevie Wonder

Hunger Strike ~ Temple of the Dog

What's Up - 4 Non Blondes

Anyone Else But You ~ Michael Cera & Ellen Page

One ~ U2 and Mary J. Blige

Lightning Crashes ~ Live

So What ~ Pink (not mellow, I sprinted for this one)

South Side ~ Gwen Stefani & Moby

Nothing Compares 2 U....Sinead O'Connor

I'm not a Vulcan, I just look like one

This photo was from last weekend, my friend D came up for the night, and we got a little goofy. If you look at it quickly, I think I look like I have Spock ears. Well, maybe you just had to be there.

Before I forget, go and check out my triathlete friend Kelly's Giveaway for WhooHa Gear.......it's a cute line of inspirational workout gear.

Things have still been a bit up and down lately. Mike's Jeep was in the shop on Friday, and now today, my Jeep is in the shop. $$$ ouch. On a good note, Eliza is now in her big girl bed, and is Binkie Free, I was geared up for nights of crying, but it really wasn't that bad. She's okay at night, but her naps have been a nightmare. As in she won't take one. Normally she goes down in the afternoon for at least two hours, and that is when I jump on the treadmill. Mike got the treadmill back in place, now that the carpet has dried after the hot water tank tanked. But these past few afternoons she will NOT go to sleep, and I've been up and down the stairs in my running clothes trying to get her to go to sleep in between stretching. Today I finally took the baby monitor into the basement, and banged out four miles while she chatted away to her pillow. If she's done with naps I'm going to have to switch to morning runs. I actually considered getting up this morning at six, to get outside for an early run before the kids got up and Mike went to work, but HELL-O it was 35 degrees, and I'm not ready for that temperature extreme yet.

I have been doing well with my nutrition challenge. I achieved 15 points last week (but as the evidence shows, I slipped over the weekend. Those homemade cookies were particularly tasty). I'm already good at getting my fruits and veggies in, but I was very conscious not to throw an M&M in my mouth every time I walked into the kitchen. And I took the time to just toss the kid's leftovers into the garbage before taking a bite of whatever looked good. No Weeknight Wine was hard on Thursday night, it was the Wedding Episode of the Office (love it) and along with Survivor, that is my must see TV night. But my jeans fit better this week, so the trade off was worth it.

Hey, check it out!! I'm on Runner Dude's Blog!

If you haven't read Runner Dude's blog, you simply must. He shares not only his personal stories about running, but he gives info on how to run. Such as what carb loading really means, and how to do it properly. And his product reviews and giveaways are pretty cool too. Runner Dude asked his readers to share their stories on how they became runners, and what it means to them. And I am totally psyched that he featured my story today! Get over there and check it out!

Sunday Run

I think my week of rest made a difference, just returned from a six mile run and I'm feeling good. Today it's sunny, although it's hovering around 50 degrees, the leaves are still changing as well as falling, which I love crunching into as I run along. I brought my camera to take some photos while I did my loop around my neighborhood. I made a game of it, after I stopped to take a photo, I would sprint to get my heart rate up again. Today I decided to ask for a Garmin for Christmas, I felt like I had a strong pace, but I want to start tracking it to know for sure. Right now the only thing I do is write my miles on the kitchen calendar. My ankle felt a bit sore as I started mile 2, but I walked for a couple of minutes, then was able to keep going pain free, I've got an ice pack on it to be on the safe side.

This is on the path near my house...

This is where I stopped to adjust my underwear, thinking I was alone....until this guy ran past me, so I guess I wasn't.

This is the lake down at the end of my street. It's the perfect distance to walk the kids to, when I'm trying to fill that short time after school but before dinner. I get paranoid when I run by people who are fishing, I'm always afraid I'll get a fish hook in my eye a la "There's Something About Mary."

I thought about how I need to pick my next big race, I'd like to do another half marathon sometime soon. I saw J last night, and we talked about the Mountain Goat, which is a popular 10 mile run in the city of Syracuse. I've been afraid of it because it is verrrry hilly, I can take hills, but these hills are steep, and they are plentiful. The race isn't until next May, but we tackled a half marathon, so I think we can take on a little old Goat.

My ipod was annoying me, I had it on shuffle, and every song that came up was slow, it's hard to run fast when listening to the Mama's and the Papa's. Speaking of which, what is UP with that whole MacKenzie/John Philips scandal? Nutty. I need some new running tunes, any suggestions?

Just Squash It

Friday, it will be week five of get active..........hmmmm. I had a rest week, so I'm off the hook.

Don't forget about the Amazing Grass Giveaway!

One of the many things that I look forward to about fall, is the squash. Spaghetti, acorn, butternut, you name it, and I will eat it. At least until Christmastime, but that's another post.

This is one of our favorite veggie side dishes, Mike found it, in all places, in US Airways Magazine. We make it often in the fall, and we had a request for it for last Thanksgiving's menu. I made it tonight, and doubled the recipe, because I have to have leftovers.

Roasted Rosemary Butternut Squash and Shallots

3 cups peeled and cubed squash (I use a potato peeler to get the rind off, works really well).

4 medium shallots, sliced thin

olive oil

1 tsp dried rosemary (even better fresh)

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

Toss everything. I let it sit for about 15 minutes before tossing it onto a cookie sheet, and roasting at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Stir it around, then roast for another 20 minutes or so. The edges should be browned, but not crispy.

I'm going to eat some leftovers....