Vente Fiesta

Ok alright I know I have been super lame and haven't updated in a month. Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business. Bullet points are in order:

- Two weeks ago I was supposed to run 18 miles but broke from the pack and accidentally followed the 20 mile route. Big oops. Upside: I ran 20 miles.
- Proceeded to get overwhelmingly busy and fell behind on mid-week training.
- Went apple picking instead of running 12 miles. It was worth it.
- It was worth it until today that is. I had to run 20 miles again with my marathon team (City of Oaks woop woop) and it was a killer. It was a terribly humid day and I just was not prepared. Live and learn.
- I tell my mom tomorrow at her surprise birthday soiree at Lois and John's!!!!!!!!!!! It was really ad hoc but I really wanted to make it something special and to be able to include friends and family that gave so generously. Lookout for a party post.

I don't really feel like typing much more because I am super tired from being up since 6am for my run and preparing for the fiesta. I am so excited about tomorrow!!

Stuffed

I came to DC Monday night to help Zack finish moving and to bid farewell to one of my co-workers who is about to return to Uzbekistan after two years stateside. Last night I satisfied my craving for Thai X-ing with three delicious plates and a soup shared with Zack and Justine while we watched the best show, "I didn't know I was pregnant". We gorged on tofu panang, pad thai (you've never had one like this!), pineapple-tofu curry, and a bowl of tom kha. It was my first pad thai experience there. So good. I feel like that is usually one of those dishes that is good but in no way exciting as compared to curries flavor-wise, but this thing was awesome. There were so many elements and the noodles actually had a bit of sauce on them that spiced up the dish. Most important though was my Tom Kha. The soup stands alone.

Today, to celebrate Ahmad's last day (and birthday!) we went to Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian churrascaria steakhouse. Guys dressed as gauchos walk around with giant forks of meat and serve it table side cutting desired portions onto your plate (see below). As a non-meat eater this place is obviously ridiculous to go to. Or so you would think! While it is definitely too pricey to justify going to outside of occassions where you are joining a large group of beef/chicken/lamb/pork lovers, if you do find yourself in this position, have no fear because they have a seriously decadent salad bar with amazing cheeses and vegetables (including fresh artichoke hearts!). This place also has these incredible little buns about the size of a golf ball that hold within them a soft, barely glutinous, cheesy center that's not melty but perfectly melded together and mouth watering. Then they bring unlimited fried polenta squares, fried bananas and mashed potatoes. Craziness. Oh we also got a giant piece of chocolate mousse cake covered in ganache. I can barely move.

Craziness

New kicks

I got some new running shoes. I went to the store thinking I could get away with some inserts but the guy was like no way these shoes are busted. He was right, I am just cheap. Oh well. Considering my foot magically healed after getting these new guys, it was well worth the money I don't have.

Poor feet

On Saturday I did a 15 mile run with the training group. It went surprisingly well. Until about 10PM that is. I could kick myself for not coming straight home and putting my feet in an ice bath (ahh!), but I was sleepy and climbed into bed as soon as I got out of the shower. Then I proceeded to do my dogwalks for the day, then went to see The Never/Hammer/others play which required standing up, then I walked down the street for Lady DJs. I think my fatal error was wearing these really crappy shoes with zero arch support. The next day walking was excruciating. Unfortunately I had more dogwalks so I had to take it really easy and forced Zack to come with me in case I had to give up. My feet are feeling much better today as I have basically stayed off of them completely since Sunday night. I am definitely going to the running store to get some new inserts before I run tonight.

Whining complete.

Ahh!

Sorry I couldn't come up with a more clever title to express the way I am feeling about the marathon these days. Race day is closing in really fast. I cannot believe it's almost September!!! This is seriously scary. Training is still going pretty well, this past week was probably my worst training week though and I really just need to shake it off. It's so easy to slip into a negative mentality especially when you are out there running alone a lot of the time with no one to push you forward but yourself. My cassette player is a bit of a nuisance on 12 mile runs in addition to my water bottle, so it's just me and the sound of my heavy breathing. I try to keep reminding myself about what I am doing and why I am doing it and it does help, but sometimes I do give in and start walking or decide not to go as far as I had originally planned. This never feels good in the end though.

This morning I went out to do at least an 8 mile run and I managed to do that, which is good. This coming weekend the training team is doing a 14 mile run and I will be joining them because I don't want to do it alone. I usually can't make it out with them on Saturdays because of my dogwalking, but I gotta work it out because I need that group motivation or peer pressure or whatever you wanna call it! I am not giving up! I will run 26 miles!!!!!!!!!

♥ Dolla Dolla Billz ♥

So despite the fact that I took a few too many days off from training and then went out today with spirits low and had a really sad little jaunt full of walking breaks, things really are looking great. The most recent batch of donations I sent in just processed and we (yes, YOU!) raised $7000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just can't believe this. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen. The love and support I have received from friends and family so far is blowing me away. On top of that, there's the support from people I have never met. People that knew my mom many years ago and didn't even know she had been sick have sent me words of encouragement and unspeakably generous donations. I will be thanking every one individually in the coming weeks, but I just want to say it right now because I am so ridiculously full of gratitude: THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH.

Tarheel running

I have been staying in Chapel Hill the last week taking care of my pal's dog Nona (see last post for pics). I am so so so in love with this pup and so is everyone that meets her. Even though she chews on stuff and can be a little naughty tryin' to sneak on the bed while her mom is away, she is just so cute it is impossible to be mad at her. Oh god just thinking about how cute she is...eeetz keeeeling me! And I digress...

The point is I have been running around Carrboro and Chapel Hill this week which has been pretty nice for a change of scenery. It was crazy hot Monday and Tuesday so I had a couple pitiful jaunts (no seriously, it was sad), but I picked it up last night when the weather was perfect with a nice 8-miler.

Oh did I mention my favorite boyfriend (I have a few) has finally moved down here? Yay.

A whine and a tune

I actually got up this morning after just two snooze hits and was out running by 6:30am. As if that weren't a feat enough in itself, I also managed to run 12 miles and tackle some hills*. That said, now for my whine: wahwahwahwahwah my knees. Okay thanks. I mean they are fine just mad at me for torturing them without their consent. I try to make it up to my lil knobbies by wrapping them in these. Buying wrap-around ice pack things was a great investment. Using bags of ice that melt and won't stay put is a real hassle and therefore I ended up never icing my knees, which I think is a bad move.

Today I heard this dance jam in the car on WXYC Chapel Hill. I really liked it and called to ask about it so now I am sharing it with you guys. It's a French gal called Yelle. I guess some of her tunes are pretty famous or she is getting famous since one song had like 10 million views and she apparently remixed a Katy Perry song as per her request. The song I am posting didn't seem to get as much love and there isn't even a real video. I am putting a snippet of the tail end which is probably the best part. Hit the link for the full track beneath the vid.



YELLE - Tristesse/Joie**

*It has come to my attention that the marathon I am running is very hill-y.
**I did not put this track on the internet, it was already there. It's just a link, take it or leave it.

It's gonna be a scorcher!

So the next few days are supposed to be really hot around here. I gotta get a loooooooooong run in early tomorrow morning before it heats up. Since it was a pretty mild day today it should be fine. Monday, however, is going to be brutal as I have a bunch of mid-day walks and it's predicted to reach the high 90s. A suggested method of staying cool:

Slurpies!

Otherwise, you might end up like this:

Dazed and confused.

*That fine lady loungin' in the pool is Nona, le pooch de DJ Don Knotts!!!

run. rain. DANCE!!!

Last night I did a ten mile run in the rain. As soon as I got out of the shower and dressed I skipped over to see my grrrl Alex aka DJ Don Knotts spin some tunes. It was a Lady DJ night and I had my besties, Tricia and Katie, there with me to back it up, or whatnot. At one point in the evening I started dancing in circles around Tricia and Oliver not realizing I was doing a weird run dance. Always training!

I am posting what is like my favoritestestest jam right now. No one played it last night that I know of, but it's always in my head and guess what????? HERE IT IS BABY!!! LOOKOUT!!!!!!!!!!



xoxoxoxxxxx

Summer eats

I just took my "lunch break" and made a delicious salad. It was so colorful and fun I thought I would share a picture with you all!

Ingredients:
Spinach
Red cabbage, thinly sliced
Peach (my current obsession)
Lighted toasted almonds
A few plump golden raisins
Fresh mozzarella
Salt and pepper, to taste

I topped it with some shredded soy chicken that isn't as photogenic but so so so tasty and a bit of my favorite dressing, papaya-poppy seed.

The Climb

Hey dudes, uh yeah, so long time no typey. I got nothin'. I just didn't. Sorry. But, NOW I AM BACK. I went to the beach last week for a few days which is part of the reason I haven't been around. I was in vacation mode. Though tso much that I didn't do any running. I would have slacked off more had my dad not been asking me regularly if I had done it. Rascal. I had a bad run the first morning there. I felt a little sick when I woke up and foolishly thought "Hey, I will just run this off." Ehhh, wrong. I definitely had to side step and do a little yacking into a bush next to a hotel. Classy as Carolina Beach. I skipped running the next day in favor of lying in the sun and splashing in the waves. Picked up on Friday with an 8-miler.

Now, back in the Triangle, I am dog- and kitten-sitting in Carrboro having a swell time. It's nice to be in a new location to change up my running routes and this lil town is very pedestrian friendly with lots of sidewalks and bike lanes. Tonight I am going on a group run around the area and afterwards we get free house-made chips at Tyler's. I guess I will have to buy a beer. Shucks.

Finally, I bet you guys thought the title referenced that awesome Mylie Cyrus jam, and guess what? It does, but I am going to blow your mind and post a different jam that fits the bill too and it gets me to the other side.

First World Problems

What's better than dog poop in your yard? Oh, I don't know, maybe a wooden cut out of a pup in the midst of doing the deed permanently installed for everyone to see. Seems like an odd way to say you don't want people to let their dogs relieve themselves on your lawn.


I always think the anti-excrement signs are a little unfair because you can't really predict when the dog will want to go and then it feels really messed up to pull him/her away just so some one's stupid grass can remain untainted. Outty.

Update Gun

All right, I know. I have become one of those people that blogs all the time at the beginning and then starts slowing down and then it seems like I will never come back. Well boys and girls, this will not happen. Today I offer you some BULLETS (get it? get it? the title? oh me, so clever).

• Been runnin'. Doing a 9/10-mile long run now. That puts me a bit behind my goal of being up to a half marathon at this point in my training, but I am keeping my head up. Except when I am keeled over trying to catch my breath. Just kidding. Sort of.
• Been walkin'. Still hanging with dogs on the regular. Must love pups.
• Been eatin'. Hooked on eggs over easy like an addict. I will put one on top of anything. Name it. Don't bother actually, I've already done it. Also got some amazing produce from my Grandpa's garden - cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, beans, greens and blackberries. He is 90 years old and works a garden that takes up most of his backyard! Incredible. The figs are coming in and I am so so so ready to grill those lil suckers.
• Been readin'. My girl Amy got me into Lorrie Moore. I am reading her short stories now and wondering why the Durham Public Library doesn't carry Anagrams. I also picked up Reading Lolita in Terhan but I stopped a couple chapters in because I decided it was time I actually read all of Lolita.
• Been watchin'. Finally saw Milk. It was good, but I definitely agree with people that said Paranoid Park was the far superior GVS movie to come out in 2008. Watching Freaks and Geeks with some first timers. What a thrill! That show is so darn good. I also caught the new Woody flick. This was the best line: You should never go in a tomb! It's hard to see Larry David in something other than Curb, but Patricia Clarkson is great.
• Been hangin'. Lots of good times with friends and family lately and coming up. Last week included a great house show at Craig's including an insane smorgasbord at about midnight and an amazing taco/housewarming party at John and Lanae's the next day: homemade bbq seitan + pups + kitties + friends + jams + guac + vegan choco pb crunch treats = BEST. Right now I am in DC seeing my main man Z. This coming week I head to the beach with my family for some relaxing (and running, of course).
• Been reachin'. And exceeding my fundraising goal! I have now passed my minimum, and with the latest batch of check donations that will process in the next couple weeks I will have met my personal goal. It doesn't end there for me though and I will be setting a new goal in the next week. I just want to send out a preliminary THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that has donated to the cause so far. I am blown away. I just can't wait to share this love and generosity with my mom.

That seems like a pretty good overview. I am gonna get better at updating regularly again. Until then, check out this cat I take care of sometimes:

Doesn't his face look like a lioness? Maybe it's hard to see, but I am telling you!

Running water

Today I used my free pass to the local YMCA (all I had to do was take a tour) and did some swimming! It was pretty great. I haven't done this in quite a while, but it's probably my favorite way to exercise. Though there were not many people there to swim laps, the "fun" pool was closed for some reason so they had to block off half the lap pool for the day campers to play in. It was pretty funny seeing like 100 kids in this small square of the pool. Maybe a little dangerous too? They were all in the shallow end. I guess most are not strong swimmers. Should kids be required to learn how to swim? I dunno.

Anyway, after they left it was super quiet, like only 3 other people. There were more lifeguards than people. Ah the perks of not having a 9-5 job. I swam a little over an hour and even did some "water running." It's a great low-impact work out. I would like to try their "extreme" deep-end water aerobics class. I have never done one, they seem wild with all the foam "weights." Good thing I have one more free visit!

* Image retrieved from http://www.ci.poway.ca.us.

Running my mouth off

Last night I attended my first group run, finally. Up to that point the dates and times never worked out for me. Also, for no good reason, I was nervous to go on one because I was afraid everyone would be a better runner therefore causing me great anxiety which would ultimately give me a cramp forcing me to quit after one mile, thus experiencing total humiliation. Obviously, that is a little crazy. Turns out running with other people is pretty fun. There were only three of us, so it wasn't too overwhelming. We were able to carry on a conversation the whole time thanks to a relatively easy pace. This definitely makes the run go by a lot faster. It did for me anyway, though I am pretty sure I talked more than my share. My bad.

I ended up doing about 4.5 miles looping around the streets of Carrboro. The day before I did some strength training, so lots of lunges and whatnot. It actually hurt to sit down yesterday and things have slightly improved today, but I guess that means something is working.

Okay Pete, here it is.

Durham NC is the home to some pretty big tobacco companies - Liggett and Myers, P. Lorillard, R. J. Reynolds and the American Tobacco Company (check out some history here). Though no longer in business, they left quite a legacy especially with regard to the giant warehouses downtown, many of which are now residential and commercial buildings, and the famous Lucky Strike smoke stack.


Another remnant of the tobacco industry is the American Tobacco Trail (ATT). As the name indicates, the American Tobacco Company is involved. Their processing plants and warehouses were connected by rail lines built at the turn of the 20th century. In the 1980s the Triangle Rails to Trails Conservancy (TRTC) was formed to preserve the corridor as a multi-use trail. The ATT is still a work in progress, so though it claims to be a 22 mile stretch, it's pretty broken up and "volunteer-maintained" in many parts. When it's totally finished though, it will be awesome.

So, the point of all this was to say that I ran on the ATT yesterday. I did a six mile run in the morning. It is a super pleasant path to run on (biking too) because most of it is shaded by trees so it's much cooler. In fact, when running into the sunny patches I could swear the temperature increases by at least 10 degrees, at least. I really do have to start getting up earlier because July and August are going to be rough no matter how much shade I can find.

*Photo from http://www.everywheremag.com/places/1813.

El Regreso

I just got my bike (not mine, but it's exactly the same) back from DC, and it has been truly missed. In an effort to make up lost time I decided to cycle to all of my dog walks today instead of use the car. It was a really great day, but my legs were definitely killing me by the time I got home at 4:30 PM. I actually had to walk it up the last hill because I just couldn't find it in me to pedal. For whatever dumb reason I always feel a little embarrassed about walking the bike, but c'est la vie. Using google maps I figured that my total mileage for the day was just short of 20 miles. The longest rides were 6 miles of which there were two, so it wasn't anything too crazy. Combined with the walks, it was a pretty active day. But I don't know what YOU guys are up to, so maybe that is considered mellow. Intimidate me in the comments section.

The art of walking a chihuahua

Sometimes I walk a chihuahua. Yeah, yeah, get your laughs out now. It's like a step away from walking a cat. That's my conclusion anyway. The other day I fashioned an analogy to describe my trouble in convincing the dog to actually move forward: It's like playing golf on the nintendo wii. You know when you get to the final shot and you have to hit the ball just very lightly or it will go into the red zone and start flipping out? Well that's what it's like tugging on a tiny tiny creature in hopes that it will come your way. I fear that if I pull too hard it will just fall over and get dragged across the ground. To be fair though, I have thought about doing that a couple times. Anyway, what I have learned to do is just pick the dog up and carry it a few blocks away, put it down and let it walk home. What can I say, I got tricks.

The dog is very cute though. I don't usually like chihuahuas, and this pup is really sweet outside its efforts to prevent me from doing my job. Also, the owners have the most amazing cat. He has thumbs and I love him.
In training news, I ran about 5-5.5 miles around Durham this morning. The weather was really nice. I just finished my walks for the afternoon, so that was an additional 4-4.5 miles of walking. I have two more tonight. Nap time. ♥

I done did it.

I was able to get all 100 letters signed, sealed, and delivered to the LLS headquarters today in time to benefit from the sweeeeet postage deal they had going. Now I have time to sit back and contemplate how many people I might have sent a letter to that are not the people I thought the were. Better yet, I enjoy imagining the look on person X's face when they see the envelope and think: "Who the heck is Emily O'Sullivan?" All I can hope for is that they read the letter, and even if they haven't been in contact with my mom in a while (ever?), they are moved to donate anyway. Thinking positively. Speaking of that notion, did anyone read that piece about Oprah in Newsweek titled "Crazy Talk"? Let's converse.

ANYWAY...

After getting all that fundraising jazz done with, I had some doggy walkin' to do. I did three walks tonight, so something like 3.5 miles. It would usually be a little more, but two of the pups are slow. One is just huge, like tiger size, and the other is just not that into it. The latter is more interested in sitting in the middle of the road as cars are approaching and forcing me to drag her around. On my last walk of the night I saw this awesome cactus bloom:

The pup tried to taste. I told him it was not a good idea.

Real talk: I didn't run five miles yesterday like I said I was going to do. Instead I ran directly after my walks tonight, but just three miles. My bum hurts tonight. Tomorrow is going to be about 8 million degrees and I have about that many dog walks, so I will not be running. Nope. Happy weekend kids.

My team

These little guys work around the clock taking the phone-in donations I am receiving at a non-stop pace.


Actually, I just wanted an excuse to put that picture* on my blog. Instead of enslaving kittens I am in go-go-go-mode trying to get together the last of my letters to send out on Thursday. This is round one. Hopefully I will get more together. Big thanks to anyone that sent me their address or helped me get lists together of people to contact. FYI: I am now proficient in internet forward and reverse yellow page use if anyone wants to pay me for this skill. Just sayin'.

In training news: After a couple days off, I got back out there today. I ran three miles then walked about 3-5 minutes and then ran one more. Not great, but I will be out again tomorrow with a goal of five miles. Not sure where I will run though. I need a new trail. Wah wah. At the end of the week I plan to do a long run of 8 miles. Let me clarify: For me, that is a looooooooooooong run. Use your imagination to picture what I must think of a full marathon. ♥

*The picture was found on cute overload's site and it's from the Humane Society. Thanks lil A for sending it my way!

Do I know 100 people?

I need to have 100 addressed envelopes to send out by this Thursday for donations. I have about 65-70 right now and I am struggling. If you have a chance, drop your addy in the comments box or send it to me by email: lefty3870@gmail.com. Thanks a million billion in advance. Seriously. ♥

Just so you know

I did what I said I would do. Ran all around Latrobe's high school/middle school and some adjacent neighborhood and few times. The cheerleaders and football players got to see how cool I am.

Genius

Greetings from Latrobe, PA! Training up here hasn't been outstanding, but I managed to run four miles yesterday. I plan to run four again tomorrow morning before I catch my plane back to Durham (there now I have made my intention public and must stick to it). In other adventures, I went to Fallingwater today. It's just the most incredible place. Frank Lloyd Wright, you leave me speechless. I can't imagine what it would be like to have such visions and the skill to execute them so perfectly. Thank you so much Western Pennsylvania Conservancy for freezing the house in time, encouraging the surrounding environment to thrive, and still managing to bring tens of thousands of people through every year. Please, please go to this place.

Amazing.

Summer Babes

Jack & Sally

Confessions of a Naughty Runner

I went for a run today for the first time since Tuesday. Oops, didn't mean to take so many days off. First confession complete. I planned to redeem myself by hitting the path around east campus at Duke for several loops this afternoon. After about 2 miles, or a lap and some change, I just quit. It was pretty lame. I don't even really know why I quit. I wasn't too tired and I wasn't too hot. I was just being lazy. Second confession complete.

On the way home I had to brainstorm so I could salvage the day's attempt to train. And boy did I ever. I got the boom box and put it out on the porch, grabbed the jump rope and started. I did one minute of jumping between sets of lunges - forward, backward, sideways. Obviously, this was tough, but when I was done I was feeling a lot better. I do need to say one more thing on jump roping (jumping rope? what's your preference?) though: It's hard! I maintain my position that you would need to be 12 years old and/or a member of the Bouncing Bulldogs in order to continue this type of exercise for any extended period of time.

Because I am awesome, I indulged tonight with a great dessert. Last night I made mint chocolate ice box cookies and stacked them with layers of whipped cream and left them to set in the fridge overnight. They were soft and decadent and tasted like a thin mint cupcake. The end.

mmm.

Home, again.

D.C. was pretty chill. I spent most of my time there working the last few days of my "old" job's contract. It ended with an amazing dinner at my boss's house. Cow racing on the Wii and sipping Venezualen rum with great company are among the best of ways to spend an evening.

Other than work, I didn't actually hang in D.C. proper at all. It was mostly a Columbia, MD trip. I like it there. Zack's family is great and I love their dog Opal. She has these eyes that will make you do anything (see below). Suffice it to say, she gets a lot of late night belly rubs. One night she was in such ecstasy she refused to get off the bed so we could go to sleep (she's a big girl and there just ain't room) and Zack had to carry her out.


Unfortunately, I didn't get much done in the way of training while I was there besides my one six miler. Ooops. Between the rain and the 1.5 hour commute each way for work, my motivation to bust it on the trail was definitely compromised. However, I had a pretty good workout today, but I will tell you about that later along with a picture of the dessert I am rewarding myself with. Go me.

Oh also, duh, best part: I saw Pete! We had breakfast and he brought me gifts! A Dave Van Ronk LP and fancy dried pears from Annie. I guess word is out that I enjoy those. Anyway, I gotta get better at this stuff and remember to take phone pics with special people I want to post about. See Annie's blog, gag spot, if you wanna creep on their San Fran lives.

Desk Lunch

I just took a walk to Trader Joe's on my lunch break so I could pick up a canister of whipped cream for these chocolate icebox cookie "cupcakes" I made last night. I ran out of the homemade stuff and I needed something to spruce up the lids (pics to come). They are for the bbq I am going to tonight at my boss's house with the rest of my co-workers. We are in the midst of completing a study about water-related projects financed by the World Bank so I will be topping them with blue sugar. I know, so clever.

Of course, I can never just get one thing! In my defense, I needed something for lunch and it's a better deal to grab a couple things to prepare myself that would leave me with extra for later. I grabbed a bag of dried Bartlett pears (had never tried- awesome!), some pre-sliced asiago cheese, and flax honey flatbread crackers. I had some spicy three pepper hummus (zingier than I anticipated, but good for making me want to hydrate) already. I made a couple little "sandwiches" with that and the cheese. Between my 8-grain bagel this morning and the flatbread I am doing a pretty good job of eating complex carbs today (yay me). Apparently something like 65% of my diet should be carbs now. I guess I will need to cancel my zone diet subscription. Ha ha.

Chow!

Grubbin'

Last night I made dinner for Zack and his sister, Liz. I always have this idea of frying polenta. At the same time, I always forget that submerging the stuff in oil doesn't make it crisp up. Instead it just absorbs it all and becomes a really nasty greasy goop that belongs in the garbage. Oh well. Having learned my lesson (again), I pan fried the polenta in a little butter in a non-stick skillet (which also helped improve things) over med-high heat and it came out nice and crisp on the outside and warm and soft in the middle. Yum. The rest:

1. Saute a bunch of spinach (I am always amazed at the shrinkage) with minced garlic (I like a lot, but whatever's your pleasure) in some olive oil until wilted.


2. Pan fry polenta rounds. I used that pre-made stuff that comes in the sausage-esque vacuum tube thing in the produce section. It was sundried tomato flavor, though not sure I could tell. Anyway, transfer to a paper towel lined plate.


3. Almost best part: Fry eggs over easy. Two per person. If you don't know how to fry an egg over easy, watch this tutorial and start enjoying life!


4. Spread a layer of spinach on each plate, top with several polenta rounds. Two eggs on top of those (make eggs last so they are hot!). Then sprinkle with feta and throw on some sliced cherry/grape tomatoes.


5. Best part: EAT

I took that picture with my phone after I scrambled it all up. Sorry I don't have a fancy Nikon rebel slr digital camera that makes the food look as good (sometimes better) as it tastes. Just make this easy dish and you will be happy.

Run-Walk Experiment

After work yesterday we went over to Lake Elkhorn in Columbia MD (where I am staying) so that I could run the trail there a few times. Note: Lake Elkhorn is not a lake. It is more like a glorified pond. More interesting though is this little tidbit about Maryland: There are NO natural lakes in the entire state! Crazy. Anyway, there is a path that goes around the “lake” which is said to be 2 miles. All along the path are many offshoots so it was a little confusing at first. I definitely took one wrong turn. It was alright though because I ended up stumbling upon some kids doing some fun stuff on skateboards like riding down a hill then crashing into grass and jumping off the boards. Meanwhile this other kid was being forced to sit in the adjacent park and practice trumpet. Wah wah.

Back to business! I decided I needed to run 6 miles last night, so three loops (and a little change due to my detour). I also decided to try out this training technique known as the run-walk method that I read about in the New York Times in an article "Better Running Through Walking" posted yesterday. Apparently some people are big proponents, while others are skeptical to say the least. The idea is that you run, and then walk. Duh. However, it’s not that you run until you are tired, then walk to rest, but walk before you are tired. Some say this method prevents injury and can even improve running time. It went pretty well for me, though there was definitely a little devil-me on my shoulder when I was walking saying "Doesn't this feel great? Running sucks." I asked my runner pal Amy* what she thought about it and she expressed a similar sentiment:

For me, it’s just uncomfortable. Like if I start walking, I never want to start running again. My lack of willpower forces me to run the entire time.

She also name dropped some famous dude Jeff Galloway, so you can check him out if you want more deetz on this run-walk thing. If you have anything to say on the topic, or any other topic for that matter, drop it in the comments section as per usual.

Overall the run last night went well. These were the highlights:

• Skateboard kids, as previously mentioned.
• A million tiny babies in strollers that would look at me when I ran by.
• Crazy cute Jack Russell puppy.
• When this lil kid pointed at me and said “She’s like mommy” and the dad said “Yeah mommy runs too, but she’s not that skinny.” Yesss, I am skinnier than someone’s mom.

Then we went back to the house and had butternut squash ravioli. Before I knew what was in it I suggested we put marinara on it. After we proceeded to do that, Zack’s mom was like “Are you sure you want to do that? It’s squash.” But you know what? It was darn good. Then a dead bug fell out of the light over the kitchen table and landed on my plate. The end.

*Amy is a great runner. She has run several half marathons and done very well. This October she will be running her first full marathon in the Baltimore Marathon. Whether she likes it or not, she will be featured on this blog somewhat regularly.

Thank you Marti Brauer!!!

I received my first donation last night! I am so deeply grateful for this. ♥

Wardrobe Malfunction

Unfortunately, in my eagerness to get out of the house yesterday and on the road to DC I managed to forget my running shorts. I am left with several options:

a) Borrow a pair of my boyfriend's giant mesh gym shorts (I might need suspenders too).

b) Run in men's boxers (preferably ones with an obnoxious print).

c) Buy a new pair (downside: $$).

d) Go sans pantalones (see the wiki page for "nudity in sport").

It's a tough call. Too bad I don't know how to set up some kind of voting mechanism so that I could avoid making a decision all together. I will add that to my to do list along with "read more books" and "take an art class." Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments section.

In 153 days I will run 26.2 miles.

Apparently I will have to do it all at once. Yeah, it turns out that's what a marathon is. I have been running a fair amount over the last few weeks, but I am really going to have to get my "A-game on" or something to that effect.

I am in DC for the next few days so hopefully I can run some of the more interesting trails around here and just bop through the city. One thing I hate is to run in one direction for a long time only to have to turn around and follow the same path back to where I started due to a lack of paths or sidewalks. Cities are perfect for zigzagging around. It really keeps you entertained weaving through different neighborhoods. When I lived in Montreal (shout out to my MTL homies) I used to be able to run for so long without acknowledging my exhaustion just because I was always discovering new places. Durham is a little different. The Duke trails are nice, but they get a little boring after a while. Le sigh. I will just have to get more creative. Probably a little more daring too.