I don't even know if my title makes sense, I am so groggy from allergies and exhaustion that I'm not thinking straight.
Point the first: Nick and I biked 7 miles, walk/jogged another 4 or so with a coworker, and then biked 7 miles back. I was impressed because we have five minute biking miles now! But oh, how my calves were burning. And now I am typing this lying in bed with my knees and calves throbbing and my lower back aching. Lovely.
Point the second: Allergies: Kicking. My. Butt. The last few days, I have taken Sudafed and Benadryl and eye allergy drops to combat the itching and the sneezing and the runny nose and the congestion. Ugh.
Point the third: Race for the Cure 5k is next Saturday! We picked up our shirts and numbers and time chips today, and I'm getting very excited for it!
Point the fourth: the last few days I did not train at all. I kind of wish we had another month so I could work on speed instead of just getting to the point where 3 miles is possible!
Point the fifth: I'm reading marathon bloggers like a crazy addict. These people talk about 20 mile runs like it is nothing, man, and I am just in awe. AWE.
Ninight.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Flowers for my Patio
Today my parents came down and we went flower shopping! We started and ending at Home Depot, and in the middle went to a lovely family-owned flower nursery, where we bought nearly all the flowers. At Home Depot we bought pots and potting soil.
The tricky part was finding beautiful plants that will thrive in shade, because our patio is mostly shaded. We totally succeeded.
Here is my $5 hanging pot that we planted with a red and purple fuschia in the center, surrounding it with red begonias and white alyssum. It will look so beautiful when they are all blooming!
Here is some clivia, in a Home Depot Malaysian pot. I LOVE the colors and the thick leaves! There are a few sweet basil plants surrounding it, and an alyssum.
Here is the clivia close up!
This is a type of lantern flower that will grow 4-12 feet! (If it survives my not-so-green thumb!)
A close up of the lantern flower!
Aren't they beautiful? I can't wait to see them all when they've settled in!
The tricky part was finding beautiful plants that will thrive in shade, because our patio is mostly shaded. We totally succeeded.
Here is my $5 hanging pot that we planted with a red and purple fuschia in the center, surrounding it with red begonias and white alyssum. It will look so beautiful when they are all blooming!
Here is some clivia, in a Home Depot Malaysian pot. I LOVE the colors and the thick leaves! There are a few sweet basil plants surrounding it, and an alyssum.
Here is the clivia close up!
This is a type of lantern flower that will grow 4-12 feet! (If it survives my not-so-green thumb!)
A close up of the lantern flower!
Aren't they beautiful? I can't wait to see them all when they've settled in!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Ow. This is dedication, ya'll. Also me being dumb.
I ran 1.5 miles home from school today, clutching my cell phone and car keys, at 7:30 p.m. In my ballet flats.
I will give you a moment to picture that.
I had some reasons for doing so: 1) laziness, because if I didn't run now I'd have to do it later when I was tired, 2) laziness, because if I ran home then I would leave the car for Nick to drive home after his class and I wouldn't have to pick him up an hour later, and 3) an intense desire to be awesome and run 1.5 miles just like that.
And I did. Yay!
Present-time Katie would like to borrow somebody's time machine in order to go back and smack Past-Katie around for jogging without stretching and without proper supportive shoes, because her knees hurt now.
Ow.
I will give you a moment to picture that.
I had some reasons for doing so: 1) laziness, because if I didn't run now I'd have to do it later when I was tired, 2) laziness, because if I ran home then I would leave the car for Nick to drive home after his class and I wouldn't have to pick him up an hour later, and 3) an intense desire to be awesome and run 1.5 miles just like that.
And I did. Yay!
Present-time Katie would like to borrow somebody's time machine in order to go back and smack Past-Katie around for jogging without stretching and without proper supportive shoes, because her knees hurt now.
Ow.
Citrus and Peanut Asian Pasta
Tonight's quick, random, thrown-together-at-eight-thirty-with-whatever-ingredients-I-had-on-hand dinner was freaking delicious. So I am sharing. You're welcome.
Ingredients
__________________________________________________________________
1/3 C peanut butter (real peanut butter please, not that crap mixed with palm oil and sugar)
1/2-1 C fresh squeezed orange (I used 1 1/2 oranges for juice and then peeled the rest and arranged the slices on top of the noodles after it was cooked, YUM)
1/4 C soy sauce
1 garlic clove, diced
1 Tbsp sugar
1 drizzle honey
1 big squeeze Sriracha (a spicy Asian sauce, you can sub any spicy thing you want: Chipotle seasoning, red pepper flakes . . . )
2 + long carrots, grated
1/2 + C of frozen peas (or fresh, or snap peas, or any veggies)
Ginger if you remember it, I didn't but it would probably go very well
Roasted, unsalted peanuts to top (I love peanuts and used probably 1/3 C in the sauce)
Linguini for two or however many you have!
Boil salted water and add linguini, cook until done. While this is boiling, mix the peanut butter, orange, and soy sauce in the wok and let it heat for a few minutes, until the warmed peanut butter incorporates into the sauce. Then add everything else as you chop it! Let simmer as long or as little as you like. Drain the pasta, put it in a bowl, top with big spoonfuls of carrots and peas and peanuts and deeelicious sauce over it all, drop some fresh orange slices in the mix, and enjoy!
This was delicious and really, really quick. Nick even said "You have to make this again" which is a good compliment from my gourmet-loving boy! He suggested using rice noodles instead of linguini next time, which I may or may not do.
Adding more vegetables would just make this better. Adding more peanut butter or more honey would be very, very delicious. And considering I was craving Panda Express yesterday, I think this was a pretty healthy was of satisfying that craving!
Enjoy!
Ingredients
__________________________________________________________________
1/3 C peanut butter (real peanut butter please, not that crap mixed with palm oil and sugar)
1/2-1 C fresh squeezed orange (I used 1 1/2 oranges for juice and then peeled the rest and arranged the slices on top of the noodles after it was cooked, YUM)
1/4 C soy sauce
1 garlic clove, diced
1 Tbsp sugar
1 drizzle honey
1 big squeeze Sriracha (a spicy Asian sauce, you can sub any spicy thing you want: Chipotle seasoning, red pepper flakes . . . )
2 + long carrots, grated
1/2 + C of frozen peas (or fresh, or snap peas, or any veggies)
Ginger if you remember it, I didn't but it would probably go very well
Roasted, unsalted peanuts to top (I love peanuts and used probably 1/3 C in the sauce)
Linguini for two or however many you have!
Boil salted water and add linguini, cook until done. While this is boiling, mix the peanut butter, orange, and soy sauce in the wok and let it heat for a few minutes, until the warmed peanut butter incorporates into the sauce. Then add everything else as you chop it! Let simmer as long or as little as you like. Drain the pasta, put it in a bowl, top with big spoonfuls of carrots and peas and peanuts and deeelicious sauce over it all, drop some fresh orange slices in the mix, and enjoy!
This was delicious and really, really quick. Nick even said "You have to make this again" which is a good compliment from my gourmet-loving boy! He suggested using rice noodles instead of linguini next time, which I may or may not do.
Adding more vegetables would just make this better. Adding more peanut butter or more honey would be very, very delicious. And considering I was craving Panda Express yesterday, I think this was a pretty healthy was of satisfying that craving!
Enjoy!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Training
So. My first 5k is on May 7th. That gives me (and Nick, who will henceforth be part of "me", mostly because I am a self-centered blogger [redundant!]) just over a month to get into shape.
(And by "shape" I actually mean "ability to jog 3.1 miles without collapsing into a sweaty disgusting heap at the end.")
Prior to even knowing about the Race for the Cure, Nick and I had randomly decided to get into shape and started jogging on the treadmill and working out at our tiny apartment gym a few nights a week. We both can run about a mile and a half without dying. Much.
Enter Katie finding out about this race and registering, all within 24 hours, and suddenly we're both like, "Uh-oh. We actually have to DOUBLE our endurance. Crap!"
Friday we biked 16 miles, and actually felt pretty good after, aside from a sore bottom or two from sitting on uncomfortable bike seats!
Saturday we jogged 1.5 miles outside on the American River Bike Trail, and walked back home.
Sunday we biked 12 leisurely miles with Nick's family (lovely afternoon!)
Monday I biked 6 miles and stair climbed 1 mile, plus weight training. (Stupid treadmill-hogger guy was being a treadmill hog, so we didn't get any treadmill time. Grr.)
And tomorrow morning I juuuust might wake up early enough to go for a jog in the gym before I have to leave for work. Knowing me, however, I will set my alarm, wake up slowly, kill the alarm, and decide that working out is overrated and I could totally run 5k right now, blahblahzzzzzzzzzzzzcakes.
We will see.
(And by "shape" I actually mean "ability to jog 3.1 miles without collapsing into a sweaty disgusting heap at the end.")
Prior to even knowing about the Race for the Cure, Nick and I had randomly decided to get into shape and started jogging on the treadmill and working out at our tiny apartment gym a few nights a week. We both can run about a mile and a half without dying. Much.
Enter Katie finding out about this race and registering, all within 24 hours, and suddenly we're both like, "Uh-oh. We actually have to DOUBLE our endurance. Crap!"
Friday we biked 16 miles, and actually felt pretty good after, aside from a sore bottom or two from sitting on uncomfortable bike seats!
Saturday we jogged 1.5 miles outside on the American River Bike Trail, and walked back home.
Sunday we biked 12 leisurely miles with Nick's family (lovely afternoon!)
Monday I biked 6 miles and stair climbed 1 mile, plus weight training. (Stupid treadmill-hogger guy was being a treadmill hog, so we didn't get any treadmill time. Grr.)
And tomorrow morning I juuuust might wake up early enough to go for a jog in the gym before I have to leave for work. Knowing me, however, I will set my alarm, wake up slowly, kill the alarm, and decide that working out is overrated and I could totally run 5k right now, blahblahzzzzzzzzzzzzcakes.
We will see.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Race for the Cure--I just registered for my first 5k!
On May 7th I will be running (at 7:30 a.m., can you believe it?) in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure! I am so excited right now!
You know how a while back I was all chatty about a 500 miles in 365 days thingy? And how I haven't talked about that much? Well, I am still doing it, but only recently started to actually jog and be more serious about it. I had checked that blog and noticed a lot of runners were starting to participate in races! And I remembered how last year I saw one of my friends participate in the Race for the Cure, and how I thought that was a wonderful activity and a great cause, especially since my grandma was a breast cancer survivor. So I searched around and saw that it was actually happening soon near me! It was perfect!
I mentioned it to Nick, and said that I wanted to do it. He was really supportive and said he would as well! ^_^
I invited all my friends to come with me, and so far Andra and Cassie have expressed serious interest and will probably register soon. I hope more will join us but even if they don't, it is going to rock!
You know how a while back I was all chatty about a 500 miles in 365 days thingy? And how I haven't talked about that much? Well, I am still doing it, but only recently started to actually jog and be more serious about it. I had checked that blog and noticed a lot of runners were starting to participate in races! And I remembered how last year I saw one of my friends participate in the Race for the Cure, and how I thought that was a wonderful activity and a great cause, especially since my grandma was a breast cancer survivor. So I searched around and saw that it was actually happening soon near me! It was perfect!
I mentioned it to Nick, and said that I wanted to do it. He was really supportive and said he would as well! ^_^
I invited all my friends to come with me, and so far Andra and Cassie have expressed serious interest and will probably register soon. I hope more will join us but even if they don't, it is going to rock!
Delicious Eggless Whole-Wheat Waffles! My new breakfast favorite that doesn't make me feel like I am indulging!
Ingredients for Healthy and Delicious Eggless Whole Wheat Waffles
- 1/2+ C oats
- 1 1/2 + cup whole wheat (the 1/2 cup may be white flour if preferred)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 4-5 Tbsp applesauce
- 1 cup sour milk (milk with 1Tbsp lemon juice)
- 1+Tbsp water as needed to thin mixture as preferred
- Handful chocolate chips
PS The more chocolate chips the better!
PPS This makes a healthy, filling, still-fluffy and delicious waffle! We don't even use butter and syrup on top of our waffles anymore, but if you wanted to omit the chocolate chips I am SURE that adding diced apples in the waffles would be delicious, or putting berries and real maple syrup on top would be just as perfect!
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