Track 800's and Some Food Ideas

Ugh!  Stop this madness already! 

The winter of 2013 has been a long, cold, icy wind-blown season of not so pleasant freezing temperatures and I have officially had my fill.  The conclusion of Tuesday’s rainy, slushy mix brought the 25-30 mph winds into our area and they were not particularly pleasant for a workout on the track.  I am ready for spring.

Last night’s track workout consisted of the following: 5 x 800 on descending rest and 2 x 200.   

This picture was from a few weeks ago but it was taken at the exact same track in the exact same outfit.  It worked.....

Here’s how it went:

Warm-up – 2 miles + drills

1 –3:01 {2:30 rest}

2 –2:58 {2:00 rest}

3 –2:58 {1:30 rest}

4 –2:56 {1:00 rest}

5 –2:54 {1:00 rest}

2 x 200 - 37.2, 36.9

Cool down - 2 miles, plus hurdle mobility drills/stretches at home

Running on the homestretch was a little rough due to the wind, but the rest of the pace felt relaxed.  I can't say that I went "all out" for this workout since I'm just getting back into speed, but it was a good session to begin the progression into spring training.  

 

Onward to food…

I made my chicken and brown rice soup on Monday night and my family has been enjoying it for a few days now.  That’s the beauty of soup…it can be converted into several meals, both lunch and dinner, while getting tastier as time goes on.  The only difference between this batch and the original recipe was that I used a plain, organic rotisserie chicken from the market rather than roasting my own and I added brown rice rather than noodles.  The result was equally tasty...AND I saved about a half hour in cook time. 

I also made banana muffins from Jesse's leftover bananas from a track meet using this recipe.  I swear, this is the best banana muffin recipe that I have come across in a while and everyone who tries them asks how I get them so moist.  The trick is the sour cream {I used light}, but next time I want to try Greek yogurt in its place.  

Last night I whipped up tomato sauce using a 28-ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes, some spices, a teaspoon of sugar and a tad of butter.  Every time I make this sauce, my family gobbles it up like nobody’s business.  San Marzano tomatoes are a little more expensive than regular canned tomatoes, but they are well worth the extra dollar or two.

What are your workouts or what are you whipping up for dinner?

V-day Review and a Wine Weekend

Hi everyone!  Sorry I've been a bit MIA for the past few days but here I am, ready to share my weekend adventures.  First things first, here's a glimpse at what my Valentine's Day looked like...cupcakes from two local bakeries, flowers from my husband and a student, cookies that served as table favors at my family's special meal, and a snapshot taken of my daughter and I at her school party.  

This past weekend was also filled with some running, a trip to a winery and a whole bunch of relaxing.  Fred and I found ourselves with no children on Saturday, so we decided to take advantage of the situation by heading out of town.  We live in an area where there are quite a few vineyards nestled together in what is called the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail.  Last spring I posted about some of our trips during their March Madness event...you can catch them here and here.  Because one winery in particular is far off the beaten path, we jumped in the car and headed north to Galen Glen for a visit.

Galen Glen was hosting a Valentine's event where they paired their Barrel 29 port with a chocolate peanut butter tart.  Holy moly, it was excellent...both the wine and the dessert!  Barrel 29 has to be one of my favorite port varieties and in my opinion...chocolate and PB is the best flavor combination going.  

Once we finished tasting, we left with a few bottles...some red and some white.  After the visit to the winery, my husband suggested another stop on our journey, the Yuengling Brewery, for a tour.  We weren't too far from Pottsville, PA, the home of Yuengling beer, so we headed that way.  Neither of us have ever been to the brewery itself, but we did go to college with one of the Yuengling daughters.  Plus, their Lager is Fred's favorite beer so it just felt right that we made a visit while we had the time.  

While it sounded like a good idea in the moment, we should have checked to see if they were open for business.  Apparently, the brewery is only open for tours during the months of April through December.  Fail on our part.  :(

However, we were able to turn our trip to Pottsville into a good situation by stopping at this little pub for a drink and some snacks.  Check out the cool {old} mural on the side of the building...

As for food, we split fried pickles with a spicy petal sauce and stuffed peppers with prosciutto and feta cheese.  

After a few other stops, we met our friends {Sib and Jolene} at the Riverwalck Pub for some burgers and beers to wrap up the evening.    

Sunday I woke up to frigid temperatures and windy conditions as I dressed for a longer run with the girls from Moravian.  Luck was on our side because I truly think we ran at the best part of the day.  As Sunday progressed it got windier and colder, so we were lucky and we covered almost nine miles in 70 minutes.  Afterwards, we headed down to the gym for some hurdle mobility drills and plank exercises...75 seconds per side.  Phew...!      

Yep...that's ice on their shins!  :)

Monday was a day off from school to honor Presidents' Day and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.  An extra day off gives me time to make meals for the week, catch up on laundry and relax just a little bit more.  Plus, I was able to get in five miles before I started my day.  Gotta love holiday breaks!  Have a wonderful Tuesday... 

   

 
  

Progressing through Six

Happy Valentine's Day!  My day was filled with a party with my students in the morning and a party in my daughter's classroom this afternoon.  Once all the partying was through, I ducked out for a little run.  

It was gorgeous weather...all 45 degrees of it and I fully took advantage by doing a six mile progression run. 

Here's the lowdown...

First three miles - 23:56 {~8:00 pace}
Second three miles - 20:10 - {6:59, 6:44, 6:27} 

Total time: 44:06 / six miles
  

   
My Garmin has been acting up lately.  Sometimes the GPS doesn't start right away, sometimes the final mile will register and be way off what I actually ran, or sometimes {like today} the final mile time doesn't even show up at all!   Does anyone else have that problem?  It's very frustrating, especially after a long run or hard workout when it's important to have my times accurate.

I'm now off to cook my family a special Valentine's dinner - Penne Vodka with chicken and a tossed salad {their request}....

Have a great night!     

Pet Peaves

Saturday morning I thought I would try a little experiment and take my phone with me on my run hoping to capture a few pictures.  This is probably the first time EVER that my phone got a little running action but I was glad it came along for the ride.  Keep in mind that this run was right after Friday night's storm, so the roads and sidewalks were a little snowy and icy. 

While running, I got to thinking about my two major runner pet peaves and because I had my phone with me, I was able to catch one of them on film.

Pet Peave While Running #1:  Unshoveled sidewalks and intersections, especially those that belong to a business.  

Here you will see a nice, clean sidewalk that belonged to a local dentist.  There is not a stitch of snow or ice and I was easily able to trek right on through and proceed into the neighborhood.  

On the flip side, this sidewalk was literally a block away and these people obviously didn't get the memo that we had weather.  The result...running shoes filled snow.

Pet Peave While Running #2: People who don't yield to pedestrians.  The last time I checked, it was a Pennsylvania state law to yield to any person who is running or walking.  I love those people who cut you off at an intersection or nearly run you down in the midst of their route.  

Maybe because I've been a runner for a long time and have been a victim to these careless drivers, I am extra conscious about letting pedestrians cross in front of me.  The worst part? Being cut off in the middle of a tempo run or progession.  That's enough to tick you off, especially when the seconds count towards an ultimate goal. 

Ok, I'm done.  What are your pet peaves, whether in life in general or while running?  I'd love to hear!!  

       

Back on the Track

Despite yesterday morning's ice and freezing rain, the afternoon ended up being fairly decent -- about 45 degrees and foggy.  I met Moravian's team for the second day in a row for a workout on the track. I tried to go back in my schedule to figure out the last time I was actually on the track and it's been quite a while, especially with a workout consisting of shorter, faster intervals.  Even with the warmer temps, the track was still a tad slippery {Jesse shoveled the first two lanes earlier in the day} and very wet and we felt like we were kids running through the rain! 

This is what the track normally looks like on a nice, summer day...

This workout consisted of sets of intervals totaling 600 meters which were broken apart.  After each set, we had a three minute break.  

Here's how the workout went: 

Warm-up: 2.5 miles and some drills 

3 x 200 - 38, 37, 38  {45 seconds in between each}

{3:00 rest} 

2 x 300 - 58, 57  {1:00 rest in between each}

{3:00 rest}  

600 - 2:01

{3:00 rest} 

2 x 300 - 58, 57  {1:00 rest in between each}
  
{3:00 rest}   

3 x 200 - 38, 37, 37  {45 seconds in between each}

{3:00 rest} 

400 - 80

Cool down: 1 mile

Workout total: 5.86 miles

In a perfect world, I would have done a longer cool down, but I had to scoot out to be home in time for my daughter.  For the first time on the track in a while, I was fairly happy with the results.  That last 400 meters was supposed to be "ballin" in Jesse's terms, but I wasn't feeling so "ballin" at that moment.  In the end, I was glad to have that workout under my belt while looking onward to the next one.  

What speed workouts have you recently done?