2011 to 2012

Will have to look back and see what all I wanted to accomplish, but happy new year! 2011 was great. Can't wait to see 2012 has in store.

5 things I am loving right now

I love it when people tell me what they love (or hate) as it gives me a little help which as a busy mom, I can always  use.  So here are some of the things I love right now.

1.  Peas and Thank You Cookbook

What can I say about this book?  It not only has great recipes but it is a hilarious read.  I read it as a book the first time around.  The stories she tells will have you laughing out loud.  We have tried many of the recipes already.  We even made Santa Mama Pea's Sugar Cookies (and he loved them BTW).  Check out her book if you are in the market for a new cookbook (or even if you are not).

2.  Garmin 305

I have not been running as much as I would like to right now, but I got this for my birthday a few years back and I wonder how I lived without it for so long.  It is so nice to just leave your house and start running.  If I want to run 6 miles, I can just leave in any direction and after 3 miles turn around and head home.  I don't have to spend time researching routes.  And I am a numbers person so I love having the miles I ran with the time it took me to run it, etc.  Love, love, love this thing!

3.  True Nutrition Protein Powder

This stuff I have found to be the best as far as vegan protein powders go without costing me a fortune.  I couldn't find anything good at the regular grocery store (where I traditionally bought hubby's), so I ventured to GNC where I found this brand.  It was the only vegan protein powder they had, so I bought it.  It wasn't bad.  I think I paid $13.99 for almost a pound.  It was chalky and I could only get the vanilla, but I was fine with that.  I thought I couldn't do any better unless I wanted to pay a fortune, until I found True Nutrition.  You create your own combination of protein powder and it's very reasonably prices (I would say cheap but you have to pay for shipping).  I got myself a combination of 1/2 pea protein and 1/2 rice protein, vanilla flavored, and unsweetened (I wanted to be able to sweeten it myself).  I got the hubs 2 different whey proteins, chocolate flavored, sweetened with stevia.  I ended up getting us each 2 lbs. because shipping was only a $1 more if we doubled our order, making it cheaper per pound.  I was nervous when it came, but wow, it is not chalky at all.  The powder is much finer and I am very happy with it.  I got 4lbs for $44 (2 vegan and 2 whey).  The whey is much more expensive than the pea and rice, but still very reasonable.  I have only made smoothies with it so far, but I am hoping to do some baking (bars) with it soon.  Maybe this weekend. 

Why the combination you might be asking?  Well I hated to just get all rice protein powder when I had the power to make any combination I could possibly think of.  I think those 2 are the only vegan options I used them both.  We also got the powder in the free bags to save money, so I had to transfer them into containers when it got here.  I may have just ended my search for vegan protein powder. 

4.  The Big Bang Theory

I had never seen this show, but the hubs started watching it over Thanksgiving OnDemand (love OnDemand) and thought it was pretty funny (did I mention he has a PhD in biochemistry).  I slowly started watching a few and have since gotten into it.  They show reruns on TBS now, so we caught a few while wrapping Christmas presents late at night after the kids were in bed.  It nice to be able to watch so many episodes that I haven't seen before. 

5.  Running Log Books

Because not all my runs occur on the road (and my Garmin can upload to the internet), it has been nice to have somewhere to put all my runs down on paper.  I got one of these a couple years back and used it last year.  I specifically asked for one last Christmas and hubs said it was a lot harder to find then he had anticipated, so he had to order it and it didn't make it here by Christmas.  Oops.  I like to have that one place where I can put everything and then look back and see where I have come from.  I forgot to ask for one for Christmas this year, so I guess I need to try and find one.  It appears book stores do not carry them, so I could order again, or maybe a running store? 

Bonus Love:  This guy

3 days before Christmas, my little guy slept through the night for the first time.  Since then, he has only woken up during the night twice.  It has made my life so much better now that I am sleeping more.  I have so much more energy and can actually get through the day.  Thank you son for sleeping (it only took 9 months and 10 days but who's counting).

So this is what I am loving right now.  What are you into?

Starting to sleep more, and feeling better

I know, I have been terrible, but being sick, not sleeping, and the holidays, I have had zero time to blog.

2 days before Christmas the little guy slept through the night for the first time. Yay!!! Since then, he has been doing really well. He doesn't always sleep through the night, but he does most nights and when we wakes up it's not for very long. Thank goodness!!! Only took 9 1/2 months. So now that he is sleeping, I have been recovering from being under the weather. I am not sick very often and I felt like I was sick forever this time around. But with the holidays, we have been so busy. I am still cooking a lot, some days more than others. Unfortunately, I did not take a lot of pictures but some things I love to make for the holidays are my mom's pumpkin bread recipe, which she used to make all the time during the holidays. I have kept the recipe the exact same except I made it vegan (exchanged real eggs for flax eggs), but that is the only change. The recipe calls for canola oil already so I don't have to change up the recipe much which is good because I wanted to keep it similar to what she used to make. Memories!

I also make semi-homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. This was the first year I made them vegan. They turned out pretty well, but didn't rise the second time around as much as they should have so they didn't look very pretty, so I didn't want to take a picture of that either. Any tips to helping dough rise when it's cold outside?

Christmas

I got a new food processor.  I have only had a junior food processor and my magic bullet and I just needed a full size one.  Now, I am not sure where I am going to put it.  Do you store your food processor or do you keep it on the countertop?  I haven't gotten it out of the box, but the box is big so I am not about storing it. 

The kids had an unbelievable Christmas! 

No, Santa did not give her all of those.  Santa is responsible for the dollhouse. 

Being sick and tired, I have not gotten a lot of workouts in.  I have only run a handful of times and broke out the yoga dvd too, but not much.  I know I need to get back to working on my abs.  I have neglected them for too long.  I don't know if they are just weak because I haven't done as many ab workouts after the little guy compared to Hope or if my abs are just shot after carrying 2 babies.  My new goal is abs 3 times a week. 

I also signed up for the GA Publix Half Marathon a while back.  I plan to do a 10 week training plan which will start in mid January.  I would like to start running again constantly before then so I am ready to train.

How was everyone's Christmas?  Were you naughty or good?  Santa knows!

Where have I been and Turkey Trot 5k

Let's see . . . kids not sleeping, crazy holiday travels which require me to start packing and prepping weeks in advance, and a tired mama.  The good part was since the hubs had only taken off 4 days all year (when our son was born), he was due for a vacation.  And surprisingly, even though I took off 12 weeks from work, I still had plenty of vaca time as well.  My dad invited the whole family (extended fam) to FL for Thanksgiving.  My brother-in-law (the genius that he is) decided we should take off the entire week and if we were going to take the whole week off, then why not leave the Friday before Thanksgiving after work.  I tell you the man is a genius.  So, the week before Thanksgiving, hubs and I started gathering up everything to pack for 8 days in FL.  So the kids and I took and picked up the hubs from work on Friday and started our way down to FL.  I was so excited to have an easy Thanksgiving.  The trip down was uneventful but we didn't arrive until 1:15am.  Yikes!  Of course both kids woke up and it took a little while to get them back down.  For all the families coming down, we had 3 condos.  So Saturday, we were able to trade off some to get some much needed naps.  The weather was ok on Saturday, overcast but in the high 60's.  We made our way to the beach to do some playing.  The ocean was freezing.

The days following were warm and sunny and we were able to hang out at the beach for some time during the day. 

On Thanksgiving, we had a number of family members who participated in the 5K Turkey Trot near where we were staying.  We knew the course would be flat (hello, FL), so everyone was hoping to do well.  I finished 2nd in my age group (24:05), my brother-in-law won his age group (19:30) and my father-in-law won his age group (24:33).

Dinner was stress free and then we headed home last Saturday.

My lack of posting is from my darling son still not sleeping well and I just haven't had the energy to write or run for that matter (have not even exercised once this week and it's Thursday afternoon).  Also, since my daughter has started school, I have had more responsibility (I am the PTO President of her pre-school and chairperson for the Breakfast with Santa).  I have been cooking some, but haven't posted many recipes yet.  I took pictures, so if I ever get around to it, you will see I am still going. 

I hope to post more soon.

Marathon Relay - Recap

Last weekend, I got the privilege to run in the Atlanta Marathon Relay for Team Trees Atlanta.  I had never run in a marathon relay, and really had a good time.  I liked the "team" aspect of the race.  I was not in charge of the team, so I just got to sit back and see how it was all going to pan out.  That Staruday, I actually walked a 5k for Making Strides against Breast Cancer.  One of my bunko/tennis friends formed a team, and we walked the 5k together.  Because it was not competitive at all, I was able to bring my jogging stroller and both kiddos (yep, hubby had the entire morning to himself).  The kids were awesome that morning.  We even ended the morning with a nice little breakfast at one of my favorite places - The Flying Biscuit.  I had the scrambled tofu (so yummy). 

Ok, back to the marathon relay, it was going to be cold so I was trying to figure out what I was going to wear.  All I knew was that I was going to get a Trees Atlanta shirt, but I was pretty sure it was going to be short sleeved.  On Friday I was told I would be doing the first leg (5.1 miles with a lot of uphills).  Well by Saturday afternoon, it had changed.  Now I was going to do the longest leg (8.4 miles with some hills).  The captain was going to run the first leg and then run with me on the 2nd leg (he wanted to get a real workout in).  Fun!  Someone to run with!

Sunday morning, I was up at 4:15am with the little guy, and no, that was not the first time he was up either.  So by the time my ride (the captain and my brother-in-law) picked me up at 5:30am, I was wide awake and very talkative.  We rode down to the race and got the lay out.  We met up with our teammates and then I was off to get on the bus to take me to the 1st exchange.  I got on the last bus and he even got lost, but that was fine with me because it was a lot warmer in the bus than waiting around outside.  I had decided not to use the porta potty at the start, but to wait until I got to the exchange.  Yeah, there was a line.  It took me forever to get through it but I didn't have anything else to do. 

The race had started.  They were giving us updates as to when the first person got to each mile.  Then as more runners came on, the race volunteers started shouting the numbers as they approached.  It wasn't too long before I heard 137.  Holy moly!  That's my team.  I got ready and saw Eric (captain + brother-in-law + awesome runner).  He passed the arm band to me and then we were off.  He was telling me about the course he had just run (he didn't think it was too bad at all), and that first 1.5 miles went back super fast.  I couldn't believe how well we were doing.  I told him I wanted to do a 8:20 minute/mile pace, or at least that was my goal.  The men on my team are pretty fast so I didn't want to slow them down too much.  We chatted and he coached me through some crazy hills, we had some gu, drank some water, and then between miles 9 and 10 of the marathon was our cheering section.  Trees Atlanta volunteers were out screaming and cheering for us.  They were so excited to see us and I got really pumped after seeing them.  Eric talked me through the rest of my leg, and we finished my leg averaging 8:31 pace.  Not too bad.  I passed the band to the next teammate and looked for my family.  Found them.  Unfortunately, they missed us coming in so, no running pics of me. 

Just after we finished.  Go Team Trees Atlanta.


My personal cheerleader with my medal and some chocolate milk.

And of course, my brother-in-laws cheerleader, who is not a morning person (aka my baby sister).

Our team finished our relay in just over 3:36.  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  It was a fun race, and I would definitely do it again. 

And just because I missed a good Halloween post, here are the kiddos all dressed up.

(Ariel/mermaid and a peapod)

Look what I won

I won a giveway from Natalie over at Lil Runner.  I now have some fall flavors of Clif bars.  Yum!

I survived Hopeapalooza

Last week was such a crazy week, I can't believe I survived.  My little girl is 3 years old.  I can't believe it.  I feel like she is a child now, not a baby or even a toddler (I know she is technically still a toddler, but it doesn't feel like it). 

Little Miss Hope Cecile has been giving us drama from the very beginning.  Not only was she conceived with love, but also modern science and medicine.  Then when I was 20 week pregnant, her growth dropped a little.  They told us not to worry but come back for another extensive ultrasound in 6 weeks.  We did and she had dropped even more, being diagnosed with borderline IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction).  I was put on modified bestrest and told to consume as many calories as possible (easy to say after they freak you out so bad that the thought of food makes you want to vomit).  I won't take you through all of the details, but the specialists wanted me induced after she stopped growing at 38+ weeks which was something I didn't want, but had been so upset for so long, I just wanted her out and healthy.  The induction went well and relatively fast for inductions and my "miracle" baby was born on Oct. 14, 2008 at 7:30am (yep I labored all night long).

3 years later, . . .

For her birthday, we took her out to dinner and to see Disney on Ice - Dare to Dream.  Dinner was nearby the arena at Johnny Rockets.  Little Hope wanted a "pink" shake and chicken fingers.  And they have a very good veggie burger, so I was happy. 

At first, she didn't like the show. 

We were very close, it got dark fast, and it was loud, so it was a good 20 minutes before she calmed down.  She survived and really enjoyed the second half.  The next day was her family birthday party, aka Christmas for Hope. 

For dinner, I did 2 veggies soups, vegetarian chili with butternut squash (pretty much used this exact recipe), and baked potato soup.  The chili is very good, btw.

For her cake, Hope wanted a pink cake with pink icing and pink ice cream. 

It was a whirlwind weekend, but we survived and lived to tell the story, including this guy . . .



Faux egg salad Sandwich

So I blogged a week or so ago about my Vegan Cobb Salad.  I know what you were thinking.  Great, but what am I going to do with the rest of can of chickpeas?  Well I will tell you.  It's called "Faux Egg Salad" and it's delicious.  And even better, you don't have to dirty a lot of dishes or gadgets. 

It's very simple, but very yummy. 

Serves 1

Ingredients

1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 T mayo (vegan or regular)

1 T diced pickles

Pinch of salt and pepper

2 slices of great bread (I used pumpernickel)

Nondairy butter (or regular butter) (optional)

Directions

Place chickpeas in a small bowl and mash them with a fork.

Add mayo next and continue to mash.  You can have it as smooth or lumpy as you like it.  The first time I did it, I kept it pretty lumpy, but the next time, I smoothed it out more (I prefer smoother).

Add in the pickles and salt and pepper to taste. 

Lightly toast bread and pat with a little butter.

Place chickpea mixture on bread and serve.

This is a great, filling lunch for vegetarians and vegans when you want something with some bulk.  I love it!

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Half marathon - Race Recap

Oops.  Should have gotten this out sooner, but blogger is just taking a back seat to everything right now and things have been crazy. 

Timeline

Saturday:  The hubs studied all day for his exam so I was on kid patrol.  We went to Home Depot for their Kid's Workshop (it's free BTW) and the little lady made a helicopter.

Then it was off to the "Expo" to get my race number.  Not much to do there so I just grabbed my number, shirt, and swag and left.  The rest of the day was typical.  Kids went to bed, the hubs and I watched some football and then he left to spend the night out to get a good night's sleep.  I was feeling very nervous.  I felt like I hadn't trained enough, and was concerned about hitting a wall (I know it's only 13.1 miles), but I was nervous.  With my lack of sleep, I felt weak.  I set my alarm for 4:50am.  The little guy woke up at 1:00am.  That was pretty good for him.  I fed him, then put him back to bed.  At 4:20am, my daughter woke up with a bad dream.  She was crying.  I went in there to help her.  Calmed her down and at 4:30am, the little guy woke up.  I fed him (this was going to hurt my pumping that I was supposed to do at 4:50am) and tried to put him back down.  Didn't work.  For the next hour, I was back in there every 5 minutes.  He would not go down.  At 5:30am my sister arrived to watch the kids and I was off.  I told her good luck (he didn't go down until 6:15am btw). 

I drove over to the race, not far from my house.  Got there in plenty of time.  Had my pre-race snack of banana and almond butter.  Went to the potty (no line) and then went back to the car because I was freezing.  I had debated about what to wear.  I decided on running capris, dryfit shirt, and a long sleeve dryfit shirt.  I knew I would be fine for the race, but I was cold now.  I sat in my car for 20 minutes and then I had to pee again.  Well now the line was super long, so I scratched that idea.  I did a warm-up lap and ate my Clif Shot Blok and got in line.  It was a smallerish race.  2,500 runners or so.  

Race started at 7am.  I was off.  I felt ok.  Looked at my watch (sometime I typically don't do) to see how my pace was.  About 8:30 at the beginning.  That was good.  I didn't want to go out too fast.  Now I am not sure if it's age, lack of sleep, or lack of training, but I used to be a 1 mile warm-up girl.  After one mile, I was ready to go.  Not anymore!  Now, it's at least 2 miles.  Those 1st 2 miles were hard.  I felt awful.  I thought, there is no way I am going to finish this, let alone averaging 8:17 minute miles.  After mile 2, I said (to myself), ok, all miles under 9:00 minutes would be great for me.  Mile 3 - 9:00.  Crap!  Ok, from now on.  After that, I started to get into a groove and my legs started to really loosen up and feel better.  I was only getting water at the hydration stations, because you never know what the gatorade is going to taste like.  Sometimes it's watered down and that's great, but sometimes, it's really strong and that is not good for my tummy while running.  At mile 4, I took off my long sleeve and tied it around my waist.  Around mile 5, I had another Shot Blok and then another around mile 9.  Basically, when I noticed my energy getting low, I had one.  I was familiar with the route from doing this race 2 years ago (last year I was pg so I couldn't run it).  Miles 10 and 11 were hilly and that sucked because both splits were over 9:00 minutes, but other than that, I stuck to my under 9 minutes and kept it consistent. 

At the end, I started picking people off.  Thank you to the course for giving me 2 small downhills at the very end.  So nice!  I saw a guy right in front of me at the end, so I just took off.  We ended up tying according to official race results, but in my eyes, I beat him. 

Would have loved to have finished under 1:55:00, but oh well.  Maybe next time.  Average pace was just under 8:46.  Not bad considering I have a 6 month old at home who doesn't let his mommy sleep.  :)  Hey, I am trying not to beat myself  up over my crappy time. 

After finishing, I grabbed my food and water and started to walk around.  There was a place to get a massage but I was holding all my food, so I decided to just go home.  No fan support for me.  Lucky for me, my daughter greeted me at the door and loved my new bling (race medal). 

We spent the rest of the day going to the park (pretty day) and watching football.  The hubs called at 2:20pm saying he was just now breaking for lunch because his computer crashed on question #9.  Took them over 2 hours to fix.  He also said the test was hard.  His goal was to start back by 3:00pm so he would call me around 6pm when he finished.  5:30pm hit and after that, I just kept looking at the clock.  At 6:02pm, he called.  HE PASSED!!!!!  I was so relieved and excited for him.  So while I didn't PR my race by means, I got the chance to run and hubs is a genius.  Good day!

Race Results

Chip Time:  1:55:11

Overall:  685

Sex Place:  209

Division Place:  44

Vegan Cobb Salad

There are few things I miss since going vegetarian a few years ago, but now that dairy is out of the question, I have been mostly vegan for the past 2 1/2 months (ok, some ice cream has fallen into my mouth a couple of times, but that's it).  For the most part, I can make anything that I had before in a vegetarian or vegan way.  The problem is when I go out.  Now I don't go out very much and definitely even less with kids, but when I only sleep for a couple of hours continuously, and try to run, maybe work that day, straighten up the house, make lunches for the next day, etc. I am pretty tired and making a lovely dinner is not a priority.  Of course, I would rather be in the kitchen making a yummy dinner than cleaning the house or doing laundry.  So I have had to down play dinner for a past few months.  One thing I used to love is cobb salads.  I never made them at home, but I used to order them a lot.  Now I know they are not healthy, but boy they were yummy.  Well this is something I really can't order anymore, so I had to come up with something I could do at home.

Vegan Cobb Salad

(serves 1)

Ingredients

2-3 cups romaine lettuce

1/2 plum tomato

1/4 avocado, chopped

1/2 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 strips of veggie bacon (I used Smart Bacon by LightLife)

1/4 cup celery

1/4 cup non-dairy cheese (I used Daiya cheddar shreds)

2 tablespoons of your favorite dressing (I wanted creamy so I went with Goddess dressing)

Directions

1. Make bacon according to packages (I have microwaved it and cooked it on the stovetop, if you have the time use the stovetop)
2. Spread out lettuce
3. Take each ingredient and line them up over the romaine
4. Sprinkle on the dressing

Yes, simple directions, but like I said, this was never something I made, I usually just ordered it in restaurants.  I haven't found a restaurant that does vegan cobb salads, so this is a great way to get my fix.  The chickpeas are a great substitute for eggs here.  And I usually got mine without chicken anyway, so I don't miss a thing with this version.

Do you have any meals you now make at home that you used to get only when you were out?

Last scheduled run before the big day

So I ran my 3 miles on Friday and only missed one run this week (work and lack of sleep are to blame).  I am not feeling great about the race, but I am excited to be getting out there. I had planned on running a race in Aug and Sept but I got sick in Aug and my lack of sleep made it hard for me to get out of the house early to race. Picked up my race number today. Not much there other than some shirts for sale. I had both kiddos so I just grabbed my Number and headed out (we had just come from Home Depot Crafts, Hope made a helicopter).

I have never run a half this unprepared. I did not get all my training runs, and I have not slept a full night's sleep in 6 1/2 months. My legs had a hard time recovering from long runs because I can't sleep more than 2 1/2 hours at a time. Should be interesting.

I am a competitive person but I am going to try and go out there and treat it as a nice long solo run. I have a new mix on my iPod and the weather will be cool (43 degrees at the start). I hope that will be enough to keep me loose. I set my Garmin virtual partner for 8:23 min pace, which would have me finish just under 1:50:00. Not a PR by any means but I would find that respectable. We will see how respectable I do tomorrow.

Also, just as I finish my race, my poor hubs will be taking the patent bar (9am-4pm). So if you are going to pray for anything, pray for him to pass. That is more I portent then my little race.

One pot meal and August running numbers

So for all you busy people who don't have time to do a lot of dishes, here is a take on fried rice that only requires one pot.  It is also nice because it's a good clean out the fridge meal as well.

My One Pot Fried Rice

Ingredients

1 T dark sesame oil

3-4 cups fresh veggies, chopped (I used carrots, onions, broccoli, celery and red bell peppers) - frozen could be used as well

1 cup uncooked brown rice

2 cups water (or vegetable stock)

3 T soy sauce

A couple of dashes of hot sauce

1 T toasted sesame seeds

Seitan chick'n strips or rotisserie chicken (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oil on medium high heat in a large pan with high enough sides.
2. Add chopped veggies and saute for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add uncooked rice and toast the rice or another 4-5 minutes, until it starts to turn brown.
4. Add water stir to combine and cover.  If you have real brown rice, it will take 30-40 minutes to cook the rice.  If you have parboil, it will take significantly less time.  Stir occasionally. 
5. Remove lid and stir.  Add soy sauce, hot sauce, and sesame seeds in.  You can also add in your protein now, or just add it to the plate.

Serves 4. 

Lots of colorful veggies

Cooking the rice in the sauteed veggies save you on number of pots to clean.

Dinner is served!  I added seitan to mine and the hubs got rotisserie chicken.

Running Numbers

I am such a numbers person that I have to tally up my miles at the end of the month.  Despite the lack of sleep and not feeling 100%, I surpassed July's number (72. something ) in August with 75.29 (and one week I only ran 4.04 miles).  I hope to get up over 100 soon.  I just the little guy to do some sleeping (we did pretty well on Friday and Saturday, but he made me pay last night, it was bad).

Do you have any one pot wonders?  Happy Monday!

Another kick to the head

When it rains, it pours.  So I took the little man to the peds for his 6 months check up.  I mentioned again, that we are having trouble with him sleeping still.  Well his sleeping is so bad, that it is now affecting his growth.  He has dropped off in height, weight, and head circumference. 

                                   Before 6 months                            At 6 months
Height                         40-50th percentile                         25th percentile
Weight                        25th percentile                              10th percentile
Head circumference     5th percentile                                2nd percentile

I took him to the ped at 5 months because his sleep was so bad that I wanted to have him checked out (he checked out fine), but they weighed him then and in one month, he actually lost 2oz.  Yikes!!! 

So he is on probation.  He has to come back in one month for another weight check.  The doc is only mildly concerned because he did meet all of his developmental milestones, so his lack of sleep is only affecting his growth currently.  Our doc thinks that because he is not sleeping enough, he is not giving his body enough rest in order to grow, but also, because he is not sleeping, he is burning more calories.  Double whammy!

So we are also on order to start solids twice a day too.  We started solids last week, and he is not crazy about them.  Some days he would eat it and some days no.  Well after the ped appointment, I went home and gave him 1 tablespoon of rice cereal and 1 tablespoon pureed carrots (yes, I make my own babyfood, it's fun really).  He ate it all.  So that was good.  But he had 3 immunizations and 1 flu shot, so guess who had a reaction to the flu shot, yep, the little man.  He got a nasty fever, runny nose, and just didn't feel good.  So, he refused all solids for the past 2 days.  Awesome little man, don't you know we are on probation here. 

And because of my lack of sleep (from his lack of sleep), I felt like the worst mother in the world after that appointment.  I cried in the room after the doctor left.  I called my husband and he asked if this was me overreacting or if it was that serious.  I told him I knew I was overreacting, but I am so emotional right now from my lack of sleep, I just felt awful. 

So since the ped appointment, he hasn't slept well because he is having a reaction to the flu shot.  His fever did break last night, and we instituited a sleep with mom night last night.  The hubs slept on the couch and the little man and I were in the bed together.  Everytime he woke up, I was there to feed him or console him.  The hubs slept much better, but guess what?  We both woke up with sore throats.  No!!!  I can't get sick!

If anyone has any advice on babies and sleeping, please tell me your secrets.  I feel like we have tried them all including some from my own baby whisperer. 

FYI - I did get all my training runs in last week.  I got to run my 9 miles alone on Saturday morning.  The air was cool and it was a great run.  I am hoping to get a nice 10 miles in this weekend if that is at all doable. 

I also have made some good recipes that I hope to post soon, I just haven't had the energy to do much posting period these days.

My less than stellar weekend

I am exhausted. I thought my daughter was a bad sleeper. My son woke up 7 or 8 times last night. I am drained. I have lost it. So no, I didn't get all my runs in. I also had a few unexpected things go on this week, so I could't make it to the farmer's market, which meant not many fresh fruits and veggies this past week, so my meals were not as healthy as they should have been. So I didn't feel my best either. Did I mention that I am having a few nursing issues so it's very painful still to nurse and even worse to pump. Neither kid is sleeping so everyone in my house is cranky. My morning actually started off with me crying in bed. You know when your day starts off like that, it's going to be bad. My weekend started out so great, I don't know how things changed unless it's the lack of sleep that is just getting to me.

On Friday, my brother-in-law had off work, so he went running with me, a lot of fun. Then I spent the night out Friday at my sister's house so I could get a solid night sleep, and I did, but we got up early to get a workout in before we started our day. We did 1 hour strength training class and 30 minutes of yoga at Chateau Élan before we hit the spa for a little R and R. I had a nice massage and a great time, but we tried to do so much that by the time we got home at 2pm, I was ready for a nap (which I didn't get). I could tell my mood was not great.

Sunday, I didn't even think about running. The little guy slept ok, woke up a couple of times, but we have had worse. Sunday night was awful though. And today has just been out of control, so no, another day of no running for me.

On one happy mote, I went to the farmer's market today (by myself) so we have lots of fresh foods in our house now. I had a nice big spinach salad for dinner. I needed that after this week's eating habits. I just feel so much worse when I eat bad. I am just having a "My life is a Greek Tragedy" weekend. I am hoping things are better tomorrow. I just hate when I have a long weekend with my family, that it isn't anything but fantastic. My husband works such long hours that to have an extra day with him and not be able to take advantage of it sucks!

I now have to deal with the fact that my fall racing schedule might not be as packed as I had hoped. I am just not going to be able to get all my runs in, and that is ok, but I feel so good when I get a good run in. Of course it's hard to get a good run in when you aren't sleeping well. I don't know what tonight will bring as far as sleep. I feel like we have tried everything. I don't know what is left to try.

Ok, enough of the pity party. I hope everyone is/had a great long weekend.

Training updates - 2 weeks worth

I have been battling with this lack of sleep for the past 5 months.  It's not getting a whole lot better either.  2 weeks ago, I was just not feeling well, so I just couldn't get a lot of runs in (only 1 to be precise).  Last week, I tried to get back into things and did pretty well, but struggled at the beginning of the week.  Not sure if it's due to my diet or lack of calories. 

So I switched up the past 2 weeks of my Runner's World training plan, and hear is how it worked out. 

Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Monday: Rest

Suggested Tuesday: 4 mile easy run
Actual Tuesday: Rest

Suggested Wednesday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Wednesday: Rest

Suggested Thursday: 4 mile easy run

Actual Thursday: Tennis practice (1 hour)
Suggested Friday: 4 mile easy run

Actual Friday: Rest
Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: 4.04 miles with the jogging stroller

Suggested Sunday: 4 mile easy run

Actual Sunday: Rest
Suggested mileage: 16 miles
Actual mileage: 4.04 miles

 
This past week was much better, but sleep, diet, etc. are still contributing making working out a struggle some days.
 
Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train

Actual Monday: Rest
Suggested Tuesday: 6 mile tempo run (warm, 4 miles @ 8:39; cool)
Actual Tuesday: 5.17 miles with 4.17 miles @ 6.5-7.0mph pace, ab wheel + pilate exercises
Suggested Wednesday: 3 mile easy run
Actual Wednesday: Rest

Suggested Thursday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Thursday: 3.01 easy miles with jogging stroller, Tennis practice (1 hour)
Suggested Friday: 4 mile easy run
Actual Friday: Rest

Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: 5.16 miles with jogging stroller, ab ripper X
Suggested Sunday: 8 mile easy run @ 10:08
Actual Sunday: 8.34 miles @ 9:44 pace

Suggested mileage: 21 miles
Actual mileage: 21.68 miles

I am trying to eat more, upping my protein as much as I can, and eating whole grains.  Hoping this week, I have more energy, but the little guy is making sure I don't.  :)

Off dairy again and the stuff that goes along with it

Several weeks ago, during the time when the little guy wasn't sleeping at all, we also noticed he had some tummy issues. I did some research and found that moms consuming dairy whole nursing can affect their little ones. That was the only thing that had changed about my diet. I had limited dairy while trying to lose the baby weight and it seems to give me more energy too. Well after the baby weight came off and I was running more, I added dairy back in for the calories. I was able to maintain my weight, but the little guy didn't approve. So now I am back off dairy, and I thought this would be a good time to try veganism (so no eggs either). I got the book (from the library), Veganist. I read it cover to cover in just days (that's pretty good when you don't have a lot of free time). She doesn't think eating soy is bad for you (something a lot of vegans and vegetarians have opposite opinions on). She also has some sample menus which included a good bit of fake meat (another controversial topic). It appears to be her way to get the protein you need.

So I have been doing the vegan thing for the past several weeks (a couple of slip ups), but for the most part, I have done pretty good. I am pretty hungry and have a difficult time getting that full feeling. Thing were going ok, until this week. I had serious troubles with my run on Tuesday and was sore for 2 days, aka not recovering well all of a sudden. Also, some of you may know that after you have a baby, your hair falls out, well mine has been falling out still. I was reading a post from Matt at No Meat Athlete about protein consumption. He mentions hair falling out and having a hard time recovering from workouts. Now I am concerned I am not getting enough protein to sustain my lifestyle (nursing my son and running 20-25 miles a week, cross training 1-2 times a week). I am getting so much conflicting statements, do I eat soy and fake meat to get my protein up, and how much protein should I be eating? Any good tips on foods with proteins that are easy that I might not be eating? I know there are people more active than me that have a vegan diet and perform well.

I hope to get a lot of comments and advice.

Best Vegan Pesto

Well the little guy has some really bad gas when I eat dairy, so I am back off of dairy.  So I have been playing around with some recipes.  Here is one I love. 

Best Pesto Sauce/Spread

Ingredients

1 bunch basil (1 1/2 - 2 cups)

1/2 cup EVOO

1 cup raw almonds, toasted

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

5 cloves garlic, chopped

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons low sodium veggie stock

Directions
1.  Toast almonds at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes.
2.  Throw almonds into the food processor first, and chop.  I like to do this first because it gets harder when you have all the other ingredients in there.
3.  Throw in the rest of the ingredients and combine.

The finished product is pretty thick, so if you like it a litlte thinner, just add more veggie stock.  I like mine thick so I can use it as a spread for sandwiches.  I thin it out with pasta water when I use it with pasta.

Today, this was a little more of a pain for me, because I have a Junior food processor.  My blender has broken.  Any recs on which one to get?  

MIA

Well this past week has been really tough to put it mildly. Finally, after 5 months of not sleeping well, trying to take care of my family, work, and run, I finally got broken down. I started to feel terrible. Despite all my healthy eating, taking my vitamins, etc., I was starting to feel ill. My throat was sore, my body felt spent. I couldn't shake it. The little man was not sleeping well despite our attempts of sleep training. I read a lot of different books on babies and sleeping and we came up with our own method when our daughter but she was older, so I didn't feel so bad. Out little guy though is a different story. He is tenacious to say the least. I won't go into our sleep training method right now, maybe another post. Well what we were doing was not working so he was waking up every 1.5 to 2 hours at night. From that, my immunity was starting to go down and fast. I woke up last Sunday and nursing hurt, and I mean hurt bad. I had at least one bad crack, maybe more. I thought it must be thrush. I talked to a lactation consultant and decided to start treating myself. Something had to be done. The little guy had no symptoms but I couldn't figure out why all this would be happening after 5 months of no problems. The treatment was going slow, especially when I had to nurse every 3 hours. The pain was excruciating. I wanted to cry every time I nursed. I talked to another LC and she added a few things to the list and I started pumping more (which I hate and it hurt too). Within a couple of days, it started to heal, but then I got a clogged ductfrom not fully emptying during his feeds. This was Friday morning. I hadn't run all week because I felt so bad and had planned to do an easy run on the mill that morning. It hurt so bad there was no way I could bounce around on the mill, so I took a hot shower to try to loosen it up. Of course, a clogged duct calls for lots of nursing and pumping to get rid of it. Awesome! By that evening I was able to get rid of it. I took the little guy to the ped on Thursday to make sure he was feeling ok. Between me having thrush and a sore throat, I thought it was best to make sure he was ok before continuing on with any type of sleep training. He checked out just fine and we discussed his sleeping. He weighed in at 15 pounds exactly and he is big enough to go all night without needing any milk. She thought he probably enjoyed having mommy all to himself in the dark quiet of night. He does seem to enjoy his mommy that's for sure. I was able to get out for a short 4 mile run with just the little guy yesterday. I wanted to more but I am glad I didn't. It was hot and my throat is still sore. I plan to get out again today, since I am feeling better again, but it is going to be really hot. Oh well. It's either that or run on the mill I guess. We will see. The little guy is sleeping better, but I am still recovering. I was suppose to do at least 21 or 22 miles this past week, and next week is supposed to be an easy week (16 miles). I am usually a stickler for rules and that includes training plans, but my body just said no this week. I am hoping to back next week.

So this is the reason I have been MIA the past couple of weeks. My meals have been boring and my exercise regimen has been non-existent. Being a mom and not feeling well sucks!!!

Training Update

Lucky for me last week went well for training, because this week has been bad.  The little guy is killing me with his lack of sleep.  More about that in another post though.

Like I said, last week I stayed on track and got all of my runs in.  Not too bad.  I do well with training plans.  I am usually pretty diligent about getting all the runs in and then when it comes time to run the race, I feel very prepared and it's usually an easier race for me too.  I have started to change up my speedwork runs though because trying to do them at the end of the week made it tough to power through.  Doing them after a rest day is much more doable. 


Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Monday: Rest

Suggested Tuesday: 5 mile tempo run (warm, 3 miles @ 8:34; cool)
Actual Tuesday: 5.2 miles with 3.35 miles @ 8:34 pace, ab wheel + pilate exercises

Suggested Wednesday: 3 mile easy run
Actual Wednesday: 3.2 miles on mill increasing speed (6.4-7.0)

Suggested Thursday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Thursday: Tennis practice (1 hour)

Suggested Friday: 3 mile easy run
Actual Friday: 5.15 miles with JS, Ab ripper X

Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: Rest

Suggested Sunday: 8 mile easy run @ 10:08
Actual Sunday: 8.43 mile run  with JS, little abs

Suggested mileage: 19 miles
Actual mileage: 21.98 miles
 
I am taking it easy this week and hopefully will be back on track next week.

Review on last week's training

Training has not been easy. It’s not the miles, it’s the fact that I don’t get more than 2 straight hours of sleep at night. It has been almost 2 weeks since I got any sleep. It is very hard to function with such little sleep. I think sleep training is in our future. He is a little too attached to mom.  I am not sure dairy has much to do with it, but I will continue with it a little while longer.


I was able to stay on track (don’t know how), so here is how last week panned out.


Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Monday: Jillian Michael’s Shred It
Suggested Tuesday: 2 mile easy run
Actual Tuesday: 5.00 mile run with JS, abs
Suggested Wednesday: 2 mile easy run
Actual Wednesday: Rest (Little guy not sleeping for for than 2 hours, so I needed the rest)
Suggested Thursday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Thursday: 3.33 mile run with JS, Tennis practice (1 hour)

Suggested Friday: 5 mile speedwork run (warm,2 x 1600 @ 7.5, 800 jogs; cool)
Actual Friday: 1 mile @ 6.3mph, 1.0 mile @ 7.0mph, 0.5 @ 6.5mph, 1 mile @ 7.5, 1 mile @ 6.5mph, all @ 1.0% incline,
strength training
Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: Rest
Suggested Sunday: 7 mile easy run @ 10:08
Actual Sunday: 7.46 mile run @ 9:37, ab ripper X

Suggested mileage: 18 miles
Actual mileage: 20.29 miles

Spreads and dips

So my little guy has been very gassy lately and we are still trying to figure it out.  We first thought it was this (the gas) that had him up all night, but now we are not quite so sure.  Well the only thing that has changed about my diet in the past few weeks (since the gas has started to get worse) is dairy.  And of course this is a big trigger food for increased gas according to Kelly Mom.  So I am back to laying off dairy.  It's a mixed blessing for me really.  I know I feel better when I limit dairy, but I am finding it difficult to stay full (or get full) when I don't add cheese to my sandwiches or eat a nice big bowl of ice cream after the kids are in bed (and before the little guy is up again).  Since the little guy is not sleeping (I mean really not sleeping), I could use all I can get to feel good about myself (lack of sleep sucks). 

So I turned to some websites to look at some new dips and spreads I could use to snack on or put on my sandwiches to help bulk up my meals.  I found 2 to try. 

#1 - Basil Pesto Spread
This is basically the same recipe from Oh She Glows, but when I made it it came out more of a spread than a pasta sauce.  It is also a little salty for my taste, so I would cut down on the salt next time.  I do like the fact that a can of beans are in there.  Nice protein/fiber kick.

Ingredients
1/4 cup dry roasted salted almonds
1 T EVOO
1.5 cups basil, packed
2 cloves of garlic, grated through micro plane
1 can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 T water
2 T nutritional yeast
3 T lemon juice (I didn't have fresh lemons, so I used the concentrate)
3/4 t salt (too much, next time I will use 1/4 t)

Rachael Ray method for mincing garlic so you don't have chunks

Remember to check the other side of the plane to scrape off all of the garlic

Directions
Pulse the almonds first to chop up. 
Add rest of the ingredients and process to desired consistency.

(For those of you who noticed, this recipe started in the blender, and then it broke on me, so I finished in the food processor.  Any blender recs?)

Recipe #2 - Roasted Eggplant Spread
Now this is one that came from Barefoot Contessa my friend told me about.  I pretty much followed this one to a T, with minimal changes. 

Ingredients
1 medium eggplant (I did not peel)
2 red bell peppers
1 1/2 small red onions, peeled
2 garlic cloves, grated
3 T EVOO
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
2 T dry white wine (veggie stock will work too)
1 T tomato paste

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes. Toss them in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Spread them on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft.

After taking them out (I forgot to turn them), pour wine over veggies to scrape bits off of bottom of the pan.
Place the vegetables in a food processor, add tomato paste, and pulse to disered consistency. 

Both spreads were so good, that I put one on each of my bagel halves for a very yummy sandwich.

(Sorry, not a pretty picture)

Any tips to staying full and satisfied?

Look at those tired eyes.  Still a cutie!



Half training has begun

I have signed up for a half marathon in early Oct.  It is one I have done before, it's close to home, and it is where I have my half PR so I obviously like the course.  I decided it's time to start some sort of training plan so I can keep myself accountable.  I really like the Smart Coach at Runner's World, so that is what I tend to use as my training guides.  You can personalize it a little more than you can at most training plans.  I am doing a 10 week training plan, so it started last week.  It's good that it started because Sunday's run was not easy and I wasn't really feeling it but I knew I needed to get out there.  I will be happy when the heat lets up a little.  It was over 80 degrees by 9:00am (I left the house at 8:35am).  It will also get a little easier when the little guy sleeps a little better and is a little more predictable.  I would love to get out of the house early, I don't want to leave the hubs with a hungry, angry baby, and I am not a fan of pumping, so I try not to that very often.  We will see as my running continues.  I might just have to change things up a bit.

Also, I do change up the days a lot for my schedule.  The plan has me running 4 days a week, which is what I typically do, but my running days are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and then one of the weekend days, so I have changed the plan to run on those days just for simplicity. 

So here is what was expected of me, and here is what I did.

Suggested Monday:  Rest/Cross Train
Actual Monday:  30 minutes yoga

Suggested Tuesday:  2 mile easy run
Actual Tuesday:  5.37 mile run with JS, abs

Suggested Wednesday: 2 mile easy run

Actual Wedneday: 2 miles on the mill (I was exhausted due to the little guy not sleeping at all)

Suggested Thursday: Rest/Cross Train

Actual Thursday:  Tennis practice (1 hour)

Suggested Friday: 5 mile tempo run (warm, 3 mi @ 8:34; cool)
Actual Friday: 1 mile @ 6.3mph, 3.35 miles @ 7.0mph, 0.85 @ 6.4mph, all @ 1.0% incline,
                         strength training

Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train

Actual Saturday: Tennis round robin

Suggested Sunday: 7 mile easy run @ 10:08
Actual Sunday: 7.06 mile run @ 9:54 (it was hot people)

Suggested mileage:  16 miles
Actual mileage:  19.36

Have you started training for any fall races?  How are you dealing with the heat? 

I have a foam roller, but don't use it often.  What are your favorite exercises or websites for the foam roller?





 

Food log from 7/26/2011

Here is another day of food logging.  This was on Tuesday, which is a day that I am at home and not working.  You will see how it differs from last week's log when I was in the office. 

Breakfast

Tropical smoothie

1 small peach

1/2 frozen sliced banana

3/4 cup almond milk

1 T rolled oats

1/2 T coconut oil

Half caff coffee with almond milk

After a little play time, we headed out for a run to the park (5.36 miles total).  I was famished after my run (not usual), so I grabbed a snack to tied me over until lunch.

Snack
Nutri-grain bar

Lunch
Open faced sandwich
Toasted pumpernickel bread
pesto sauce
a little extra sharp cheddar
red onions
kale

Oh She Glows -  Apple Sandwich
Apple
PB
Dried cranberries

2nd water for the day (first was during my run)

Snack
My big salad via No Meat Athlete's advice for an afternoon snack
Spinach
Romain
Tomato
Red bell pepper
Cucumber
Spanish olives
Homemade lemon vinaigrette

Dinner

Spaghetti and "meatballs" with nutritional yeast sprinkled on top

I am not a huge fan of fake meat, but it has been really difficult getting meals on the table these past few weeks.  The little guy is not sleeping well (advice?) and I am exhausted as well as not getting enough protein in my diet, so I had about 3 oz. of veg Italian sausage, the hubs had pork sausage meatballs.  This particular brand is very lean and tasty.  I had had in the freezer forever, so I needed to use it anyway.

Snack
Turkey Hill Choco Mint Chip Ice cream (I had a coupon, not bad ice cream, but not great either)
Dark Chocolate Chips

I ran so I get ice cream.  Yeah!!!  It is one of my 2 vices.  Unfortunately, I was hungry all day long but we were so busy that I didn't get a chance to eat enough.  Since coming back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I don't need to be cutting calories anymore, and I am running more, so I actually need more calories.  When I plugged this into Sparkpeople, I was only to 1700+ calories.  That is not enough if I am running and nursing. 

And I was still hungry to after the kids were in bed, I ate a small bowl of dry cereal (Kix) and a handful of Kashi crackers dipped in cottage cheese (not pictured).  That got me very close to 2,000 calories so I called it a day.  I didn't want to eat too much since it was so late.  If I am too full at bedtime, I don't sleep well. 

Daily Totals

Calories:  1,994

Carbs:  306 (61%)

Fat:  65 (29%)

Protein:  73 (10%)

I know I need to get my protein up.  Any advice?  I think I will have to start incorporting more cottage cheese into my diet to help me.