France-y Pants

My feet are tired. My eyes are dry, from wearing my contacts for hours and hours and hours. My brain is both tired and wired, from not sleeping and trying to sort through all these new experiences and sights. 

But, my heart is happy. My camera is chock full of pictures, from trying to capture every last thing I pay eyes on that I just can't forget. 

These past 5 days have been a busy, fulfilling blur. We have been walking all around France, or so it seems. We've walked at least 45 miles alone since Wednesday, and it doesn't seem that we will slow down anytime soon. There's too much to see and feel. 

Sure, we have had some fantastic food since we landed in Paris on Wednesday morning, sleepy-eyed with hollow stomachs. With Scott's gluten intolerance, it has been tough finding him a balanced meal, or at least one that doesn't focus solely on French fries (but hey, they are French, oui?) We have had our fair share of quick food, when hunger strikes after walking 12 miles and dinner still isn't for another 3 hours. 

But the best meals have been our picnics.   We focus on he basics: bread, cheeses, lettuce, fruit, vino. Maybe some pre made quinoa salad. And then we sit on my scarf-gone-blanket and talk about how it can't really get better than that. This. 

We leave for Turkey tomorrow morning for 6 days. France has been invigorating, and while I'm sad to leave, I know there will be so many other experiences to be had in Turkey. Like hot air balloon rides and sleeping in a cave. Seriously, I think I'm ready for that. 

Euro-trip 2013

Hi, friends! Sorry for the lag in updates, but there really hasn't been too much running going on my way after Ragnar. I've logged in some summertime evening miles whenever I've felt like it, which has been really lovely. 

We're leaving for a vacation abroad today (!!!), so I made sure to get lots of exercise yesterday to try and tire myself out. While the effort was there , it proved to be futile as my excitement completely negates any muscle tiredness I'm currently feeling.  

We will be flying into Paris about 14 hours from now, and will be posting an update soon! I tried to find a race to run in one of the three countries we are visiting, but it was a loss. Even in Greece! 

Alright, I'm off to board our first plane. Paris, here we come!

Ragnar Northwest Passage | Race Recap COntinued | To-Do for Next Year

... or whenever I decide to throw myself into the throes of the madness that Ragnar is.After I detailed my experience in recap 1, I got to thinking about how different of an experience this could be every time I participate. The team, the  different legs, the events - it all makes a difference and can quash any prior expectations I originally had going into the whole thing.

That being said, there are definitely a few bullet points I want to remember for my next Ragnar. While they may or may not end up happening (like should I decide to just forget drinking water or pack all. the. snacks. wait, that will never happen), at least I will feel a little less anxious and more prepared about running at 4am.

  
1. Packing! Pack all my running outfits in separate Ziplock gallon-sized bags, with the leg map printed out with them. This worked out great, and I was incredibly thankful for an easy pull-out-the-outfit-without-looking move, as well as having a place to put my sweaty, stanky clothes that I had just ran in. While there was nothing that I didn't bring that made my time any less great, there were a couple items I wish I had brought:

• Warm clothes for the night runs - leggings, sweats, or a sweatshirt. I brought a zip-up, but  ended up having to borrow my friend's thick leggings as well, since it was pretty chilly. 
• A bag for all the swag! Mine ended up being shoved under the seat in front of me in an extremely disorganized fashion. Minor detail, yes, but I wanted my free Cliff shot blocks to be well-contained so I know exactly where to hunt them down the exact second I need them! #Ragnarspoiledbrat

Other than that, I think I did a pretty good job of appropriately packing. Baby wipes were a definite lifesaver.

2. Expect ZERO sleep. I had thought I would at least get a few hours, but that definitely did not happen. I got a solid one, which turned out to be fine since my adrenaline and the aforementioned shot blocks were running in my veins, making me an un-sleepable mess anyway.

3. Embrace the finish line. At this point, our whole time was sorta just "over it." I think had we all been closer friends, we would have been more into the fun finish line vibe of "let's get the pizza and beer and hang out and recap for hours," but maybe not. It's a long 2 days, so maybe this one just isn't bound to happen. We did manage to grab out medals (duh), more swag, and a legit Ragnar team picture.

4. Get everyone's contact information. More specifically, their phone numbers so that everyone can stay connected with whomever. This was something we should have done, and learned a lesson when one teammate was supposed to text another when I was finished running leg 12 to let them know to meet us, but accidentally fell asleep instead. Total first world problems, true, but it was a whole TWENTY MINUTES OFF OUR TIME! J/k, it was fine. Just another thing to take care of for next time.

5. Stay hydrated and nutritioned. This sounds like a dummy, but after having our captain visit the hospital for dehydration it's worth tucking away as a future reminder. While it may not even be hot out, your still running and putting your body through different habits that you probably aren't too accustomed to. The best thing to do is make sure it gets the water it requires (and lots of it) and good nutrients that won't make you feel like poo. I honestly felt like I was eating the whole dang time, but not once did I feel sick. The body runs on fuel, fuel that is what is going to help you woman-handle those three legs like a champ.

Speaking of woman-handle...it's important to wear a wrestling singlet while running Ragnar. #buyasmallertankyouidiot

I hope this little series was of some assistance to you future Ragnarians! I truly had a great time, and the Northwest Passage route was drop-dead gorgeous. Feel free to drop me a line with any questions!

Ragnar Northwest Passage | Race Recap

Well, I made it! We made it. Team 12-pack/Team Ragnarasauras (yeah, somehow we ended up with two different names. We went with it). It was a fun, wild, eventful weekend that made me appreciate the regular occurrence of sleep I get in my life, and in a bed to boot!

Thanks to it being 94 degrees, conditions we are certainty not accustomed to, our fearless captain ended up in the hospital with dehydration after her first run. I ended up taking her second run, which was 8.9 "very hard" miles at 4am, a mere two runs after I had ran my 5 miles at 2am. It was seriously one of the most physically rewarding things I've ever done, mainly because I really didn't think I could do it.

Instead of giving you a breakdown of times, conversations, bat and rat run-ins and cray-cray 4am fog, I am going to spit out a couple posts: things I learned on this wild adventure and things I will be putting into play next year.

Lessons Learned:

1. Adrenaline pushes. It's no secret that you run faster on race day, when you're completely immersed in the whole experience, but I didn't think it would be like that on my third (of four) legs at 4:30am going uphill in fog. My legs felt like rubber bands at that point, and I was wide awake and ready to run past any sucker that happened to be in front of me. Except there wasn't anyone, and that would have been a bad idea because man, my body was secretly exhausted at that point.Adrenaline was also the stinker that got me a 19:45 5k my first leg. Oops...not a good idea. There were black spots.

2. Team participation is key. Especially after the first legs, when the whole shebang gets real. You need support through and through - a driver, a navigator, a waterer, someone who won't fall asleep when the other team needs to be informed that they are on deck to meet us at the next exchange for their legs. Ragnar is great, because it turns an independent sport into a team activity, and having those 11 ladies backing you is crucial to making this a positive experience.

3. Night running is awesome. Um, yeah, la-HOV-ed it. My first night run I felt like I could have kept going forever (which I sort of felt like I was doing 2 hours later). Running in the dark is so much different than the day - there's so much more silence and serenity. The temperature was a million times better than it was during the hot, hot day, making for a very comfortable run.

4. Be flexible! There a thousand and one things that will not go the way you had planned, and it's important to move past it and figure out plan B stat. Sometimes even plan C. Sucky, but Ragnar lives on and will leave your team in the Northwest wilderness if you don't, so figure out a solution and get to it!

Flash? No flash?

Stay tuned for the next segment of Ragnar NW Passage Gone Wild: Next Year Do's, which includes a whole lot on packing and food stuffs.

Weekly Rundown & 2013 Northwest Passage Ragnar Countdown!

How is Ragnar staring me in the face already?! I feel like it was just four days ago that I started packing. Oh wait...it was. Don't worry, only a week in advance. Anxious much?

Got those baby wipes! Since I have already decided that I will not be showering (there's just too much involved), I have a feeling these babies (har har) will come in handy multiple times a day. More for my van mates benefit than mine, that's for sure.

Also key - the ziplock bags. I printed out each leg map with the outfit I'll be wearing into each bag to try and keep the whole thing organized and the post-run smell contained.

My mileage last week crept up slightly from the week before, which I'm happy about. My knee is feeling beautiful, and my runs have been pretty much pain-free, aside from the standard niggle here and there.

I've grown to really l-o-v-e running in the mornings when it's all quiet and stuff. Bonus: endorphins flowing all day long. Not a bonus: I'm physically more tired the rest of the day, which means I seem to rely way more on caffeine these days. This makes me feel like a sissy, but I'm alright with that.

Tuesday: 7.11 miles, 9:02 pace
Wednesday: 5.23, 9:9:22
Thursday: 3 miles, 9:27 pace
Friday: 4.36 miles, 8:27 pace
Sunday morning: 6 miles, 819 pace


 Grand total: 25.71

It's strange not following a training plan and having a set workout for the day. I'm so used to thinking I have to run a certain number of miles at this pace, or do a track workout of sorts but it's a nice change to just take it day by day by what my schedule and body can handle. Especially during the summer, when I like a little more free time to hang out like this:

Have a wonderful night!

Vegetable Lasagna (vegan | gluten-free)

I'm here today with a recipe that stemmed from a serious problem - too much zucchini. I know, it was a toughy to work through, but I think I found the best solution possible.

My parents have always had a garden. As long as I can remember, my dad has planted and provided the required TLC to grow tomatoes, zucchini, squash, and herbs. The resulting bounty gets used pretty quickly, but sometimes they need a little help putting it all to good use, which is lucky for me.

I have adopted this gardening tendency,  and while I'm not nearly as successful with it as my father is, I have been able to keep my tomatoes, lettuce, onions, rhubarb and beets alive this year. I harvested my first round of beets this week, and I felt so cool. Little did we all know that Dwight Shrute had it figured out a long time ago that beets are totally the way to go. So did Doug Funnie.

Instagram: brittawebb

So last night, I had two fat zuccs and three hefty beets sitting on the counter, and we had a little brainstorming session on what their fate would be. After crossing off a simple saute (too boring for these beauties) and zucchini bread (I needed dinner), I decided that the zucchini's lengthy physique would not only make for fantastic "noodles," but they would pair quite nicely with those beets when nestled together in some Italian flavors.

I instantly remember this cashew "cheese" recipe my sister and I had used for our pizza, and realized then and there that a layered casserole of sorts would have to come into play. And oh MAN, it played hard. I can't wait for leftovers today.

This cashew cheese is so good. It has the same texture as ricotta, which makes it quite perfect for this dish. I found myself dipping leftover zucchini bits in it, so it makes a great dip as well. I also loved being able to use the entire beet, from the greens to the actual flesh. I don't particularly love the taste of beet greens, so this covered that up well so I was able to get all their amazing nutrients.

Lemon Ricotta Cashew Cheese
From Lunchbox Bunch

1 1/2 cups soaked and drained raw cashews (soak in salted water overnight)
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cloves of raw garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup water + more as needed
1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
dash of pepper
dash of cayenne
1 tsp mixed dried Italian herbs (optional)
a few dashes of ground flax seeds (optional)
small scoop of nutritional yeast (optional)

For the lasagna veggie portion
Based off this recipe


1/2 block firm tofu, diced
1/2 cup diced onion
2 Tb minced garlic
red pepper flakes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, pureed in a food processor
Italian spices
3 beets, cooked and cut into chunks
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1 cup garbanzo beans
1/4 cup diced kalamata olives
1 large zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch strips
beet greens, torn into chunks
1/4 cup green onions

1. Make the cashew cheese sauce, and refrigerate.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3. In a skillet, cook the onion, tofu and a splash of water over medium heat until the onion softens. Add in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and red pepper flakes and continue to cook in low heat for 10 minutes to let the flavors mingle.

4. In a medium bowl, mix together the beets, cherry tomatoes, garbanzo beans, and olives. Add in 1/4 cup of the tomato mixture and stir all together.

5. In a casserole dish, pour all the tomato mixture into the bottom. On top of the tomato mixture, add in half the beet greens. Layer on zucchini slices, then cover with half the cashew cheese - I just sort of dolloped and spread it on each zucchini slices. On top of the zucchini, layer on half the beet/tomato/chickpea mixture, followed by the remaining beet greens, then the last layer of zucchini, then the cheese, and finally the remaining tomato mixture.

6. Cook for 40 minutes and let cool for 10. Garnish with green onions.

Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage Planning

This past week our Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage team had our first team meeting. It was so fun to meet all the girls that we will be running with. I had only known two of the girls, one of whom is my sister-in-law, so it was great to hang out with the other girls that I'll be spending two straight days with.

We had a Ragnar veteran come to speak to us about all things important, who was a huge help. Get your butt light! Paint your van! Eat your snacks! We had so many questions, some that I definitely hadn't thought of. I can't believe it's now only 2 weeks away - which means I really need to get on the planning/packing bandwagon for this event.

1. Can we shower? YES! Total surprise to me. I guess some schools will be open, along with a couple campgrounds, so bring some change. Here's the thing though - I'm not our household's the world's biggest showerer. I don't want to get into details, but showering isn't a big priority for me most of the time. My husband, on the other hand, takes two a day. I consider it a nice form of balance, and keeping our water bill at bay.

Long explanation short: while I plan on being sticky sweaty and nasty hot, I highly doubt I will be taking advantage of this showering business. It sounds like a lot of work? (Who would have thought a girl that lazy would even sign up for Ragnar in the first place.)

2. Can we eat? YES! Like, real food, not just Cliff bars and bananas? Still a yes! Total relief. This was a worry of mine, since as much as I love snacking, runners need some serious fuel in meal-form. I felt sort of "duh" after this, since obviously we will be driving all over, past placed that sell real meals, soooo yeah. We can actually stop at those! Unless I smell too bad and am refused service (see number 1 above).

3. Can we get our art on? Yes! It's highly encouraged to decorate our two SUV's that we're bringing, so we can flaunt our team name, number of kills (when you pass people), and other such important things. Done and done.

In order to appropriately prep as best as possible, I've perused the internet for thoughts on what to pack and what to expect. Sarah OUaL has been a big help, who outlines all her relays here, and Meghann and Erika give detailed posts on what to pack here and here.

In relay running expertise you can provide?

weekly rundown

I realize that it's 120 degrees in Death Valley, and that's truly a blistering boil. However, as I stated yesterday, this late June/early July heat is truly unreal for us here in the Pacific Northwest. I had to create a rough summary of my day to portray exactly how bloody hot it is here (and while it may sound like I'm complaining, that's really not the case. Bring it on, sun.):

2am: Wake up drenched in 12 gallons of sweat
5:15am: Wake up again, this time to one ridiculously beautiful sunrise.
6:00am: Don't go running because I'm already sweating and tired from not getting any REM's last night.
7:00am: Hair dries in three minutes
8:00am: One grande iced orange coffee (it sounds weird, and it tastes weird. Go figure.)
10:45am: Finish third 16.9oz water bottle-full of water
11:30am: One hour lunch with my mom, straight in the sun's rays. It was lovely.
2:00pm: Four is the magic number my air conditioner needs to be on, which is the highest setting and yet still not powerful enough to keep my armpits dry. 
3:30pm: Jumped in a lake two minutes after arriving at a friend's house.
6:30pm: Watered four wilting lettuce plants that were looking quite sad.
8:00pm: Ran three miles to the husband's softball game with one water bottle in hand that didn't stay frozen for more than 13 minutes.

But I LOVE IT. It makes my entire day feel more relaxed and stress-free. I can't imagine if I lived in Arizona. Actually, I can, and it would include me being unemployed because I would never want to get any work done.

Play in the sun. Play in the sun. Work? Nah, play in the sun!

I did manage to squeeze in 24.71 miles last week when it was pouring down rain 4 days and pretty dang hot the other 3.

Tuesday: 5 miles, 7:58 pace
Thursday: 6 miles, 8:46 pace
Friday: 5.7 miles, 8:36 pace
Sunday morning: 5 miles, 8:51 pace
Sunday evening: 3 miles: 8:22 pace

 Grand total: 24.71

I am now off to convince my husband that it would be in our best interest to sleep outside on the deck tonight. Did you guys ever do that growing up? I'm pretty sure my neighborhood friends and I would spend more nights sleeping outside together than we did inside apart. It was such a novelty! Yes, I think I need to bring that back tonight.

weekend happenings

The past 3 days have been so. Much. Fun. That, combined with the fact that's its only a 4-day work week anyway, has left me feeling completely unenthusiastic about that work thing tomorrow. 

Oh, and given that the weather has been in the high 80's the past few days doesn't help my motivation either. We don't get this sort of sun in June! We're blessed with "Juneuary" until July 5th, and then summer is on. 

This is exactly the reason why we were hesitant about planning our annual bocce ball tournament on a June Saturday. We knew there was a nice chance of it raining all over our bocce balls, but also knew that everyone would adapt just fine if that happened since rain is what we've evolved to manage. 

Amazingly enough, the sun, oh sweet sweet sun, decided to do is a big one and but out loud and clear Friday and hasn't left us since. It made for an awesome lawn game day, as well as some sweet tan lines. 

That little pool brought back so many memories. When I saw this I immediately imagined my dad doing the same thing 15 years ago. He probably had the same excited look on his fave, too. 

Scott won one trophy and a good friend won the other after a long, heated (literally) fight for the gold. We now have a total of 3 bocce trophies in our household. It feels pretty good to be winning at life. 

Sunday was an incredibly easy day for me while my husband spent 6 hours doing homework. He did, however, manage to sneak in a softball game and scored an awesome win. 

I had ran there, and quickly realized .5 mile on that this body is not cool with running in this hot heat. I had froze a 16 oz plastic water bottle beforehand, which was completely warm by the time I had trekked the 3 miles to he field. I think I'm going to stick with morning and evening runs whenever possible. 

We were both pretty ravenous when we got home, and while I really didn't feel like turning on any heat I settled on making fajitas since it only used one element on the stove. Oh, and the microwave but THAT I can handle. 

How was your weekend? Any tips for exercising in the heat?

Blog Lovin'

 While I am not a huge fan of the name, I believe Blog Lovin' wins over Feedly as my new blog follower. While nothing can compare to the good ole Reader, it's demise comes Monday so I figured I better get all this figured out. I'm such an adult.

Anyways, I would be honored if you wanted to follow me over on Blog Lovin' (yeah...I officially can't stand the name.) Here's the link! I'll try to make it a worthwhile endeavor for your precious time. :) See you over on BL (that's a little better..?)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Poulsbo Beer Run | race recap

In the past few years, breweries have cropped up out of nowhere here in Kitsap County, to my great pleasure. While I'm never the biggest beer drinker of a bunch, (unless I'm with my husband - he'll just have water, thanks) I love the atmosphere of breweries. Everyone is having a good time (and if you're not, you might want to think about just leaving because there is no un-fun allowed) and not only is the beer unique and interesting, the food is typically off the chain as well.

For whatever reason, three of these brew masters decided to build their small empire within miles of each other to make the perfect tri-beer-fecta. That is to say, perfect until you are to drink a rather high-quality beer at each while intermittently running amongst them.

Homegirl, we need some breakfast. And lunch.

Wait, it's not fair for me to start at the end of the show. It really was perfect for the first 3 hours.  My sister, Brooke, and I arrived at the first brewery, Volholl, at 8:45am. We luckily started at the brewery that happens to be right in downtown Poulsbo, which also means we got to end there (=more post-race food and fun choices). The sun was shining, it was 70 degrees, and the Pacific Northwest could not have been in a better mood. (Sidenote: This was also the day of Seattle's Rock and Roll marathon, so you know they were singing praises.) The registration was great - quick and easy. We each got our bibs and a green dot, displayed prominently on our cheeks, which meant that we were to start in the 9:15am wave.

I can't remember what beers we got, but they were bomb. My brain was absent when I said I wanted an amber though, should have stuck to something a leetle lighter.

We ran the first mile to Sound Brewery, which was a nice downhill trek that seemed to go by in a minute. This palce had a nice set-up, with a small beer garden and some picnic tables posted up. You would think that we would have taken that as nature's gesture to say "here, sit down, stay awhile. Please. Nurse your beer." But we didn't. We were finished within 15 minutes and outta there.

Third stop was the Slippery Pig Brewery, which is down a little dirt road on a farm. It's my favorite brewery by far, which a cute outdoor seating area complete with comfy couches and a sweet wooden bar. The beers were right my alley, too - fruity and light. I went with a rhubarb-flavored one while Brooke chose kiwi. Oh, and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries was passed around, which could also be 4th reason this place was my fave.

At this point, we knew the rest of our day was screwed. It was only 11:00, two hours after we had our first beer, and we were three beers deep. I realize this isn't a lot for many people, but for two girls who don't drink a ton this got us in a solid way.

Oh, and I didn't have breakfast (which never happens except for when I run myself drunk, naturally.)

Oh, and we kept forgetting to drink water while sweating buckets in that gorgeous sunshine.

So essentially, we screwed our own selves over but WHATEVER, it's a beer run.

Oh, lookey there, two sunburned drunk girls. I can't even remember what's sticking out of my bra. That's a sign of a good time.

No, but really, we had a fantastic time. What's not to love about beer, sun and run - and combined, at that?

We ate lunch at The Loft, and ohmygosh it was so incredibly delicious. It may have just been the ravaged state we were in, but that quinoa pita thing Brooke got was the best food I've tasted in weeks. I got a roasted veggie wrap that was also super good.

We too our time eating and downed the jug of water before walking back to my car...and then deciding to instead take a giant, 2-hour nap in the park o the waterfront.

What I'm trying to say in this post is I'm a total goal-completer. I completed a race, was drunk before noon on a sunny Saturday, and had some quality time with mi hermana. That's all I wanted to accomplish that morning, and I'm pretty proud of myself for being so productive.

However, there are a few things I would change next year:

1. Eat breakfast
2. Wear sunscreen
3. Drink water, at least within the first 3 hours I'm beering

I'll leave you with a little advice on how to be a better friend (good thing all my friends are evil and are happy to let me drink sissy beer ;) ).

What has been the most fun race you've ever ran? Do you have a "fun run" coming up soon?

the weekly rundown

This week left me feeling pretty drained, which I couldn't quite figure out because my mileage wasn't super high. I think physical therapy might be leaving me a little fatigued, which is funny because I don't do a whole lot of strength training. There are some squats and some booty/quad work, but nothing strenuous. Most of PT has been reconditioning my muscles and stretching, which leaves me feeling really refreshed. Stretching has never been my thing - it's so boring. Luckily I've learned that it's the peanut butter to running's jelly, so I need to stick with it.

Monday: 4 miles, 8:55 pace
Tuesday: 6.5, 8:46 pace
Wednesday: 3 miles, 8.54 pace
Saturday:4 miles, 2 beers an hour pace ;)
Sunday: 4 miles, 8:53 pace

*Sidenote: The picture above was taken Saturday at the beer run in downtown Poulsbo. It's a city that is filled to the brim with Norwegian heritage, and its downtown streets totally reflect that.  You guy buy frozen lutefisk TV dinners, all the black licorice your heart desires, and Uff-Da shirts. I mean, what else did you ever want to own in your life?

Have a great start to your week!

weekend happenings

Friday night my sister came over and we made vegan pizza. It was ahhhmazing. We topped it with cashew "cheese" and pesto, along with the required tomatoes and onions. 

Saturday was the great Poulsbo Beer Run! I will give a more in-depth description this week, but lets just say it was so fun that we had to take a three hour nap in the park promptly after our forth and final brew. 

Sunday we took on the outrageously fun role of babysitters for my sweet little niece. This girl is a trip, and not to be taken lightly. She's the only person I know who chooses just one topping for her FroYo. And the only one who makes me laugh when she plays s fun game of "let's scream really loud in the house for hours!!!" 

What, your hometown doesn't have a museum dedicated to insects? There was also a tortoise present...and a boa constrictor. Pretty solid Sunday!

What is the strangest thing/place in your town?

the doctor said...

that I have a fiiiiiine looking left knee! I went back for my follow-up appointment today and got the A-OK on my knee. He said my x-rays are perfect and that he can't feel any swelling or such negative things around it. While I knew that the pain was "just" inflammation and that physical therapy has helped heaps and bounds, it was nice to hear the good news from a professional.

So, what does this mean for my future running endeavors? I was thinking about it on tonight's run, and I'm not sure how I"m going to proceed. I'm definitely going to take it easy and limit my mileage, which should be easy since summer is here (!!!) and that always means fun, non-running activities are in the works.

I'm still on for Ragnar Northwest Passage, which I could not be more excited for. My sister-in-law just booked us our hotel room for the night before, seeing as how we have a 3am wake-up call the morning it all begins. My legs are on the shorter end (3.1 | 4.8 | 5.8), which I'm hoping will be nice for the old knees of mine.

Seattle has some great 5 and 10k's in the summer and fall, so those are definitely in my future. I was also thinking it would be sweet to run a race in Europe, where we will be traveling a good chunk of August. I could totally set aside my pride to run a race in Greece and get beaten by thousands of people who have hailed from the land of the marathon birthplace. Has anyone ever ran a race internationally? I need the deets!

Alright, thanks to Netflix I'm off to drown myself in season 3 of "Parenthood" (why oh why did I allow myself to get sucked in a sitcom that so does not jive with my lifestyle? Is that what makes it so appealing?). To accompany me, I have these tasty treats:

Only 12 of these squares are supposed to go to the potluck tomorrow. Trust me...the other 4 weren't invited.

Poulsbo Beer Run: +2, please

After dealing with the slight depression I felt after having to drop out of the North Olympic DIscovery Marathon, and then feeling the highs that have come with recuperating, I decided that it's time for me to get back out on the road to manage all these feelings. Yeah...it makes sense. We're rolling with it.

Tonight, I successfully ran 6.5 miles, which is the longest distance I've covered since the 8 miles I did at the marathon. There was hardly a squeak from ye olde knee, so I feel like this is a huge success story. Granted, it wasn't 8 miles, but seeing as how I've been running 11 out of the past 12 days (and pain-free, might I add) I believe that if there was going to be pain at all, it would have already taken me down.


To celebrate this milestone, I did something selfish. I forced my sister to run (or, stagger/swagger/crawl) this fancy race: Poulsbo's Hopstock Beer Run. It's 4 miles total, but you stop at 3 different breweries along the way for beers and breaks, which will nicely chop up the mileage. I think my knee can handle this kind of race.

When I first informed my sister of our plans, she was hesitant. She's not a runner, she would be the slowest person there, she would make a drunken fool out of herself (oh wait, that was my worry). It took a mere 3 seconds for me to reassure her that this is a beer run, and that "run" is most likely (100%) not the accurate description for what this whole event will consist of.

Unless it's to the bathroom. Or the pretzel guy. Those sort of runs will definitely be in the books.

And they used to be such sweet, charming girls...

the weekly rundown

Since marathon training is currently over and I've been dealing with this stinkin' injury, I haven't been posting my workouts of the week lately. This has bummed me out, not only because it means I haven't been running but because they're my favorite posts to pull together.

So, I decided it's time to bring them back, rundown style. My physical therapist has me running very consistently now (bless her heart), so it makes even more since now that I have some actual logging to do. They have all been pain-free, too, which sort of just makes me want to scream "weak hips don't rule your life" from the top of Mount Rainier. At least not anymore.

Sunday: 1 mile, 8:27 pace
Monday: 2.84 miles, 9:04 pace
Tuesday: 2 miles, 9:00 pace
Wednesday: 2 miles, 9:06 pace
Thursday: 3 miles, 8:55 pace
Saturday: 3 miles, 8:57 pace

All my runs have been much slower than what I'm used to, which is just fine. I realize I'm coming off both an injury and a long period of severely decreased mileage, so I remind myself that this is the safe way to creep my miles back up.

And of course it feels damn good to be running again.

Sidenote: The picture above was taken Saturday morning while I was at breakfast with a friend. It's a little secret treasure of a cafe, all tucked away on the Puget Sound where it takes a good 30 minute drive to reach. I got 2 incredibly large pancakes (all gone) and my friend got the seafood omelete = to die for.

If you live anywhere in the Seattle area, you really should grab your honey, your homie, or your hound and make a fun morning of coming out for this breakfast. It's a beautiful drive, and there's a state park right down the way. Your taste buds will thank you...your thighs probably won't, but who cares about them, anyway?

Have a great Monday!

on why physical therapy does a body good

I admit that I was a little skeptical on going to physical therapy when it was prescribed to me. Why? I'm really not sure. Maybe because it's something new to me and I feel like why partake in something that I've lived without these past 27.5 years? And to be honest, it made me feel weak, which I wasn't expecting. I WAS weak - my knee was screaming like a mother at me - and yet, I couldn't come to terms with that fact that I was injured.

Sure, I got by those first 27.5 years...but these past 4 months of knee pain? Yeah, I can do without that. And if (since) I want to continue pounding pavement these next 3 decades, I decided it was time to really get down to serious, real-runner business and figure out this body of mine.

And I am so glad I did. Because my physical therapist? Is the bomb. I've only been twice and already I feel like a new, better runner.

At my first appointment, she had me show her the strength-training exercises I do at home. Now, that was a tad embarrassing given that I've done a little number called "The Mini-Skirt Workout" since it came out in, ohhh, 2009. (Maybe. Maybe it was actually 2007. The fact is, it works! Mini-skirts are like magnets to these thighs.)

As soon as I got to the lunge part, she was like WHOA, girl, there you go. That's your problem. Your knees are sneaking inward, when they should be going in a straight line downwards.

The oh-so-accurate diagnosis? Weak hips. Which I really should have known, since my hips are constantly telling me they're weak and my hips don't lie. She also magically determined that my right tibalis anterior (ohh, fancy name) was "stuck" so to speak, and that it needs to be worked out a little more.

She gave me exercises for both my hips and for me tibalis, and va-voom, 5 days in and I feel great, albeit sore. It's weird to feel my muscles and form shifting after just a few short days of trying a new routine. It's sort of weird to imagine all the different things the body secretly does underneath all this skin and stuff we carry around. And with that, how easy it is to modify those by certaian exercises - who knew ankle circle could un-stick a stubborn tibalis?

My physical therapist-gone-goddess  has me steadily increasing my mileage (so long as it doesn't hurt anything), by instructing me to run one mile/day for three days, then two miles/day the next three days, then three miles/day the next three days, etc. If my knee does start acting up like the attention-seeking child it is, then I am to divide that day's mileage in half and run that. Pretty doable, I say!

I hereby dedicate this lovely Tuesday to weak hips! Oh, and for coming in third (cough, out of four teams) in Beer Olympics 2013 this weekend. Now there is an athletic accolade worth boasting about.

Cheers for beers!

thoughtsday :: 6.6.2013

1. First and foremost, can we all just agree that these shorts are the bomb? I don't know if it's the reusable grocery bag material or the serious creases, but I need to buy these in bulk like Hanes socks.

I sported those at the doctor's office yesterday, where I got an actual diagnosis for this knee biz. After having zero pain with all the pulling, pushing, (hit it! Bop it!), the doctor seemed pleased to say that it's just inflammation. SCORE.

I'm going to have two weeks of physical therapy, followed by another doctor's visit, followed by rest, followed by...run? Yeah, let's hope so.

2. In the meantime, I'm trying to adhere somewhat to the "anti-inflammatory diet" to try and heal up from the inside out. This has involved a large amount of smoothies, cherry juice, almonds, and dark chocolate.

Yes, there's a hunk of life-changing bread in there. Carb me up, baby.

Something you might already know that I wish I had known when green smoothies were first born into the universe as nature's cure-all: tart cherry juice 100% cancels out all vegetable taste, making your smoothie taste like dessert, and sometimes almost too sweet. The first time I got a little heavy-handed with it and ended up not using any milk, which was a little too much for me. I get mine at Trader Joe's every week and drink it pretty much every day.

3.  I'm the co-co-chair of a little event my friends (AKA my fellow co-chairs) and I are hosting on Saturday called BEER OLYMPICS. So what if this makes me sound like I'm still a sophomore in college - there's beer and sports and sun involved! Bring on the debauchery!

Oh, and I plan on bringing this little guy to really get the party going. There's nothing like a good fruity shark to get everyone wanting that W.

Courtesy of Taste of Home

What do you typically put in your smoothies to make them oh-so-delectable?