Taming the Craving

Running Again!

2010-01-13T10:31:00.002-05:00

Despite the temperature never climbing above freezing, I have been out running two days in a row! It feels good to reacquire that addiction that carried me through the fall. My toes, albeit, are a little numb after each run and the big one takes a while to gain full capillary refill. But other than that, I am surprised how well everything is going! My breath is shortened by the frigid air but it's not impossible to breathe and earlier today I ran four miles at a 9min pace! I was totally pumped by this!

B-May reminded me last night about training for triathlons as an excuse for carrying in the groceries by myself. She claims that for her half-marathons she doesn't need the upper body workout that I do. While it seems a little lazy (just kidding!) she does have a point: I need more strength in my upper body. I feel confident that the bike and run portions of the triathlons will go well. I should note also, that I never thought my run portion would be one of my strongest legs. Unbelievable the progress one can make in a year!

That being said, I have decided to schedule a swimming lesson with my cousin who had the opportunity to swim for the US Olympic team. Yeah. I figure (in agreement with my coach Brad) that if I learn proper technique, I'm good to go. With an efficient stroke the distances will be much more do-able and perhaps even make some decent time on the leg! I'm excited to get in the water. I do miss my bike. Snow and the road bike do not mix very well. Sadness.

Monday B-May and I went for a little snowshoe hike in the Belknap region of New Hampshire and climbed to the top of Mount Major with beautiful views of the Lake that I won't try to spell. I doubt that half of the ice fishermen on Lake W can spell it. Perhaps there's not much solace in that my spelling ability of locales is equal to the guys who sit in a 6 X 9 shack and drink beer on weekdays fishing through a three inch hole in the ice...

Fitness is on the up and up and our eating continues to be excellent as well! Aside from a handful of PBRs last night at a friend's house, I feel pretty good about things!

More running in the future and I can't wait!

Run today!

2009-12-28T18:46:00.002-05:00

Good evening!

I am pleased to report that our run today went very well! We covered just over six miles at a ten-minute mile pace and I felt great the whole time. Granted, with my FiveFingers I was a little cold but aside from that, I was able to keep warm and moving. B-May does an excellent job setting a comfortable pace whenever we run. I admit that when I set out by myself I end up going too quick for my own good and am often left breathless and walking amid a sea of swear-words. I should be able to maintain my own pace without someone holding my hand. Well, sometimes that's not terrible at all but I would like a little more autonomy of pacing. That was a weird thing to say.

My calves are a little sore and I expect to feel the effects a bit more tomorrow, especially at work. My feet are feeling strong and I am excited to take advantage of the warmer weather - or at least this period of the year devoid of snow. It's hard to run barefoot (more or less) without shoes. B-May is looking forward to a half-marathon in the Great Bay area this March or April and at present I would just like to be able to run five miles a day. Speed will come with the consistency, or so I think. I have a buddy who runs 7, 7:30 minute miles and I feel like I can't run with him anymore. I sometimes worry about going faster, being able to cruise at 8 minute miles but it's not worth the cramps and ragged breathing right now. Perhaps I'll take my occasional 5K's more seriously but if beer remains the prize, I doubt that I will.

Note to self: figure out definitively if a license in New Hampshire is critical or at least not a terrible obstacle so I can swim in the city pool. I. Really. Need. To. Get. In. The. Water.

Later!

Run Tomorrow

2009-12-27T22:48:00.002-05:00

Alrighty!

B-May and I are planning a "big" run tomorrow. It's the first time we've set out for more than five miles in quite a while. I snuck in a little jog on Christmas morning - 1.5 miles to dampen the effects of the vertiable banquet that would follow. I should note that I did over-do something on that run as my left foot was KILLER the rest of the day. Now that's two days later, I am doing a lot better and gearing up for the six miler. I argued with myself that it was not the running specifically that plagued my foot but an over-extension or I simply stepped on something that freaked out the ball of my foot. The evidence, to me, is that my other foot did not hurt. So there, fore-foot strike is still the way to go.

On a related note, my unintentional evagelization of the forefoot strike produced another convert: a buddy from college grew tired of shin splints developing as he labored on a treadmill and gave running on his forefoot a shot: shocker! it worked like a charm. He said that he was breathing better and the pain in the front of legs subsided quickly as he pressed through his workout. Sweet!

Our food choices have been less than stellar - cookies in ABUNDANCE but we did have a wonderful butternut squash risotto for dinner tonight. It was excellent and I think there's a little leftover that I plan on skipping on sharing.

So I just wanted to post a little something before a more detailed post come tomorrow afternoon.

'Till then, later!

Terrible Run!

2009-12-18T10:34:00.002-05:00

For the rest of the day, I will be followed by the ghost of this morning's terrible run. The plan was simple: dress warm, (5 degrees out) and jog for an easy 3.1 miles. I did it last Sunday in Somerville without trying and averaged sub 9-minute miles. Understandably, I thought I could stand up to the elements today and I straight could not.

Seriously! What the hell! I am a good runner! Though in light of the day's disaster, perhaps I should specify that I am a good "barefoot" runner. (For the record, I do not run barefoot but my many times aforementioned FiveFingers give the same idea). And what I did today was "dress warm" and kept my socks on for a run for the first time since August. Clunky and heavy-footed, always concentrating on my stride on the uneven shoes, refusing to give in to the heel-strike I've rejected in my training and I forgot about breathing. I cramped up three times and was forced to walk, unable to conquer the demons with mind over matter. I swore when I sweat through my first layer and did a strange cult-like dressing and removing my hat and gloves as various parts of my body began to go numb.

I wanted to score three simple miles for the winter training log but it seems I have much to learn. The plan tomorrow then is to reduce my mileage and dress slightly lighter than I'd like the second I walk outside. I don't anticipate Portsmouth remaining in the single digits like this all winter but I want to be prepared for the times it does. I also need to find a suitable winter alternative to my FiveFingers.

When I started this blog, I concentrated a lot on the foods I was eating, demonstrating and often illustrating my healthy choices in the stead of starchy, sugary - or both type of foods. I have come to realize that I will never rid myself of my ice cream cravings and that a beer or three every once in a while is nothing I intend to give up for a decade or so. But with these exceptions, I consistently and more importantly, voluntarily ingest more fruits and vegetables than ever. Consider yesterday's lunch: whole wheat cereal with almonds and fat-free yogurt. Dinner was a tall vegetable pizza made from whole wheat dough. Two nights ago, B-May and I dined on a wild mushroom fricasse with tempeh. It's what we shop for and what we eat. Once the Halloween candy is gone and the holidays have passed, we'll be out snowshoeing or running or swimming or whatever burning more calories than we can eat! Well, hopefully not but the picture looking to 2010 is that of health and frivolity be it on a trail or at a bar with friends. I look forward to keeping my diet, standing out from my friends and brothers during the Christmas break and maintaining a consistent and strong running schedule. Triathlon season will be here soon and I'm determined to be ready for it!

Later!

Going into the Weekend

2009-12-04T09:26:00.002-05:00

Good morning!

It's finally starting to cool off in December. Yesterday was unseasonably hot outside. Well, not hot but certainly spring-like and that's just weird. As such, I will soon be taking off for a run this morning after my oatmeal settles in my stomach. What makes this oatmeal worth mentioning however, is that we added our first servings of Flax-Seed to the mix. While I did not taste any nutty flavor promised by the package, I do feel slightly healthier for having ingested it. I think.

So I would normally rewind a bit and review my past runs but I haven't got many to review. The last time I ran was Sunday night with headlamps. That really was fun and enjoyable to out when it was so quiet, even before dinnertime. The air was cool but not uncomfortably so and we kept up a good sub-10 minute a mile clip. Like I said, nothing fancy or fast but comfortable.

It's worth noting how motivation from upcoming events, even in the very recesses of our thoughts is critical to our simply getting out. Our next "race" (read: fun run) is December 13 and since it's a 5K we're not sweating it at all. I suppose we could train harder and look to increase our times but that would be contradictory to all the rants we tend to spill on people who do just that: take a fun run and aim for a PR. I'll admit that I run these events quickly, often sacrificing B-May's company in the process, but I never go absolute balls-to-the-walls looking for the time of my running career. I was speaking to a co-worker about this the other day and we agreed that individuals timing themselves and picking up water at aid stations on 5k (5K!) runs are straight up silly. It's not an insult to their fitness, but a valid point that demonstrates people aren't having fun with running. I try to keep up a pace that is brisk enough to haggle my breath but still easy enough so I can smile throughout. It sounds cheesy but the point, I think, is clear. We shouldn't be out running for the obligation of it - leave that to the Catholics. No, we should run because it's enjoyable and a great social community. This is where Somerville gets it right: after the run, there's beer. What better social magnet than booze? On a Sunday no less!

Anyways, we're looking forward to that though bumming it's officially sold out and none of our friends we've been trying to recruit will be able to join. Alright, that's enough of a rant for now. Besides, I'm pretty sure if I checked through older entries I would find a similar tirade.

Later!

An Experiment

2009-11-29T13:14:00.002-05:00

I just got back from a 10 minute run. Boring, I know but insightful. I've recently been of the opinion that you can use kung-fu shoes in the place of Vibram Five Fingers, given their sparse support and super-flat sole. They go on and off quickly which makes me wonder if they'd be a good alternative for the FiveFingers come triathlon time.

Well...I was not overly impressed. I managed to snag a pair from my folks' home this Thanksgiving and my run left me with some tough spots on the sides of my feet and each footfall was louder than any I've ever taken in my FiveFingers. I am not dismissing the idea entirely yet - but it's not looking good. At the end of ten minutes, my attention wandered to barefoot running and I gave it another go on the last two hundred yards home. That was awesome! I kept thinking about a recent article I read about the road being like a massage for one's foot. I don't entirely agree but it was MUCH easier than I expected. I'll definitely do that some more - perhaps tonight on a night-run with B-May.

Back up a little: on Thanksgiving, B-May and I entered the Feaster Five Road Race in Andover and we crushed it. We both did the 5 mile distance (as did her sister from Somerville) and I finished at 43:20 and she was about two minutes behind that. I was moving and felt great the entire time. Though it wasn't very cold, my toes got numb and by mile four, I regained complete sense of them. Oh well!

Food updates: Thanksgiving x2, given my family and B-May's family. We hit them both. Been snacking on leftovers since. Lunch, which is soon to follow is probably some sort of turkey sandwich if I am good like that. Dinner tonight is predicted to be leftovers as well but will be wonderful after a cool, 4-mile run to the Newcastle Cemetary and back!

Later!

I Earned my Burrito Today!

2009-11-23T16:32:00.002-05:00

So I skipped lunch today. I think it was because of a spoiled Clif Bar that I ate anyway. Rewind: last night after a wonderful dinner of fettucine and turkey-meat sauce, I emptied out my camping gear box. It was full of finds and garbage and things I should have considered garbage. I wasn't exactly ruthless with what I should have thrown away and consequently kept a couple Carrot Cake Clif Bars. These are normally excellent and I was excited to re-acquire, as it were, a stock of them before my morning of bouldering! So this morning after a breakfast of oatmeal with a banana, cinnamon, syrup and brown sugar, (plus a chocolate chip muffin and coffee from Dunks - gotta stop...) I set off for a 20 minute approach with a work buddy for the best bouldering the Seacoast area has to offer: Pawtuckaway State Forest.

It's a strange forest with multiple accesses and the guys I climbed with today had no idea where the nearest ranger station was. It's crazy how big this place is and the quietness sets in with a healthy dose of solitude. This allowed me to concentrate on the rock before me but also led to my dwelling on my soft and strained fingers. All in all, I was pleased with my performance today. I'm just starting out on the climbing sport and I dived in with enthusiam. I stopped when I knew I should and didn't trick myself into any really uncomfortable places - like freezing half-way up a particularly high climb. My friends are strong climbers but encouraging guys who enjoy climbing with beginners and I appreciated their return enthusiasm. I struggled but I sent (read: got to the top of) a couple problems and, like I said, was pleased with my performance. We were out for four hours. At the end of those four hours, downed 5/6ths of the aforementioned Clif Bar and thankfully the sore stomach did not settle in until my next great achievement: a 5K at 8:01 pace!

I decided on my ride home that I would go to bed tonight with a 100% sore and tired body. Well, that is pretty much how I feel right now. I popped in my tunes and bolted. I jogged faster than light to my start and took off. I felt a little heavy-footed but I cruised and my haggard breathing was covered by the blasting of punk rock. It was unhealthy to run with my tunes but I needed to disengage from the difficulty of what I was doing. In the end, I finished at 24:58, which according to runningahead.com, works out to a pace of 8:01. I was pumped!

But then my stomach hurt from the Clif Bar and I didn't even finish my Nuun. That should tell one something! Showered and after a quick trip to the library, I am totally ready to chill out 'till B-May gets home and then totally pysched for Dos Amigos $5 Burritos. Up yours, Subway - Burritos are where it's at!

Work, work work!

2009-11-21T17:51:00.003-05:00

Good evening,

I shouldn't complain but I think I might. I have been very work centered and have had little time to enjoy life's pleasures. I've been eating leftovers from the fridge - no pasta shall expire in this house! - and I've been trying to sneak in runs whenever I can. For example, yesterday morning I got up early to run with B-May but also be ready for my Dad to pick me up en route to Maine to visit my grandmother. It was worth the trip not only to see my grandmother but also to retrieve my car that she has been driving for a while now. It's good to have my wheels back but I haven't rode my bike since Thursday morning to work. It's Saturday now. Ooops!

Back to the subject of the run: it wasn't too fast or far at all - two miles - but it was a nice wake-up call that kept the coffee at bay. As I get older coffee is becoming more enticing each morning and I make strong efforts not to drink much and develop the headaches that some of my co-workers do. It would be awful to be addicted to caffeine and not know it until your head hurt. That's messed up. So I find that running or riding my bike to work really helps with that and keeps me from needing the pick-me-up. It's in the ride and the run!

Today was a basic eating day, perhaps dinner will hold more interest though if I make it, I doubt it. For breakfast I put together an egg sandwich of oatmeal bread, a fried egg and a slice of cheese. I enjoyed a corn muffin on the side with liberal amounts of butter and because I drove, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts on the way to work for a small black coffee. I don't wanna get addicted but I'm not going to let any sugar or milk dilute it either! Lunch was PB and J with leftover Sun Chips which are losing their appeal over time. When I was eating my sandwich however I multi-tasked and threw two kayak racks on my car for B-May and my's upcoming paddling adventure scheduled for tomorrow - weather pending. I'm looking forward to a picnic lunch somewhere on the bay and an afternoon of kayaking, getting to know our area better.

Here's to tomorrow!

A Productive Day Off

2009-11-18T14:17:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon,

Just doing what I do after a good run: downing a Nuun. I've written about these before but they're worth mentioning again. It's a simple electrolyte replacement that gives me my soda fix but are only the size of Alka-Seltzer tablets that - bonus - come in a recyclable container. They're awesome!

This means that I just got back from a good run. Indeed! A little 4.1 mile jaunt down to Newcastle and back again at a 9:17 mile pace. I can be happy with that indeed! I have been reading Zen and the Art of Running recently over lunch - an uneventful grilled cheese on soon-to-expire bread with an egg on top - and read about pacing. This seems like a very good idea as a means of getting faster, which I want to do but I am content at present with what I can already do. This is also in perfect congruency with the pattern of my running - content with 1 mile, all of a sudden doing 2 - and so forth. So check in for faster runs, haha.

Breakfast was oatmeal, something I have truly fallen in love with since our move up North. It's been a reliable and filling and wholesome meal that I fall back on frequently when I'm without eggs, or pancakes or something similar. Okay, this brings me to the reason for my post:

Stuffed acorn squash. There are some asparagus above in the oven tray which complemented the garden veggie quite nicely. B-May put together a mixture of diced corn muffins, Craisins, pecans, onions, spinach and peppers for a crunchy filling even before we dived into the squash itself. Acorn squash comes apart easier than grapefruit - and without the shooting citrus - and, no surprise here, tastes like squash. I liked it a lot. I was quite full and remained during almost all of our movie last night, Fistful of Dollars, a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western classic. Actually, I was hoping to catch a different plot than the one I ended up seeing but I was glad that B-May stayed awake and attentive throughout. Always a wonderful way to spend the evening.

Off to shower as my stink is getting into the computer I feel...

Later!

Post 40!

2009-11-15T11:27:00.002-05:00

Good morning,

Though it is a lousy morning...B-May and I went for a short, two mile run today. It was drizzling the whole time and we were sore from life I guess. I put in a fast 5K yesterday (translation: 8min miles) and felt a little tight as a result. Our next event is the annual turkey trot in Andover, MA - the Feaster Five. Unlike last year, we will be running the five mile run, not the 5k. One could say we've graduated. Actually, this was a goal of ours and now that we can regularly put down five miles, or more we're excited for a good result.

We have agreed to a grocery ban for the remainder of November. There are some exceptions: milk, bread and other perishables. But the point is that for the most part, we are not visiting the grocery store for much at all. This is an effort to save money but also to be a little more creative with what we have. Call it an Advent awareness or something. So for example, yesterday at work, I had Annie's organic macaroni and cheese with tuna mixed in. It was excellent and filling and I barely had room for half a brownie.

I should note where this brownie came from: B-May's sister who ran the Somerville 5K with us came up for the day to shop with her sister and before I had to go to work, we all went to Ceres Bakery in town. Excellent sandwiches! Wow! I had a tofu on ciabatta with sprouts, spinach and a tomatoes with a rich horseradish drizzled on top. Incredible.

Today I made pancakes to keep up a semi-tradition of pancakes on Sundays. They were excellent compared to the last time I screwed up nearly an entire batch. Chocolate chip pancakes, plain pancakes and banana pancakes - I covered them all! I've been trying to incorporate power foods - to me, ones that are found at the end of a race on giant tables - into my meals. Here's another example: after my "fast" 5K yesterday morning I mixed up my usual oatmeal with peanut butter, syrup, cinnamon and a banana. This was very filling and I could feel a very present pick-me-up after having it all. And that was without milk! We ran out for a while so I had to make do with water. Never a bad thing. Water is my favorite drink.

Last big note: Friday night B-May and I along with another couple, Robbie and Christina, took part in Portsmouth's restaurant week. It was a fantastic excuse to eat monstrous amounts of food with a pittance of a check compared to its usual rates. I had a seafood cocktail trio of crab, lobster and jumbo shrimp for an appetizer, a Longboard beer to wash it down. For my entree I enjoyed a massive slab of swordfish swimming in a light lentil soup and topped off the meal with a chocolate mousse before heading out to catch some jazz with a couple beers to end the night. It was indeed filling and I think that sheer amount of food kept me from running any faster when I did my "fast" 5K.

Another website worthy of note: runningahead.com This is a neat online training log that allows users to map out usual routes and input them as part of workouts. I have since saved a number of my routes and being able to recall them quickly makes choosing a distance easier than ever. I usually end up trying to retrace an old run trying to distinguish one turn-off from another before giving up and inventing something new. While I am a little hesitant of abusing certain routes, I have been able to use the program to see when I getting bored and use their map software to spice things up.

I have a dude-day ahead of me: a college buddy is coming up from Boston and the plan is to drink coffee and beer and listen to records with some errands such as picking up another PS2 controller also on the docket. So off I go!

9.3 Miles!

2009-11-11T12:51:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon!

I just finished an eventful morning of errands that I kicked off with a 9.3 mile run! My plan was to set off for a loop I knew but apparently I forgot the distance. I did not anticipate that distance at all. So...sweet! I was able to run along the ocean through the roads that bisect Odiorne State Park and feel the mist of the water. I have been talking about getting down to the ocean to fly a kite with B-May for some time now but weather has always cancelled our plans. Today though, I flew down the roads that racked me with pain the first time B-May and I attempted (and completed) a half-marathon distance. I should add that I walked for three VERY brief stretches. Since I started running on my forefoot and finding some real pleasure in running, I have had difficulty running when it really hurts or when I'm really panting for air. So, in three instances on my run today, the run was simply not fun. As soon as I realized this, I took it easy for 20 paces or so and then the spirit was with me again and off I went! As an added bonus, the wind was blowing the remaining leaves off the trees I ran by, enabling me to keep occupied with the task of catching one as it fell to the ground without stopping my run. Honestly, fun!

I have noticed another interesting pattern about these long runs: I skip (though not entirely) my breakfast. I never skip breakfast! I can't function without breakfast! Yet when I run these longer distances, I find two slices of toast, one with butter the other with peanut butter to be sufficient. It's kind of bothering me how the long run can throw me off so much.

So like I mentioned, I ran and did some errands and just finished polishing off a bowl of pasta with a sprinkling of butternut squash and onions. Leftovers, of course. Now I should be off retrieving a boiling pot to make some hot cocoa for this cloudy day!

Bouldering and Beers

2009-11-09T15:46:00.003-05:00

(Originally supposed to be posted on Monday...)

Bouldering and Beers: Well, not in that order but both did happen within the past 24 hours. I just finished hosting a friend from study-abroad on a blundersome morning of driving around central New Hampshire looking for the parking lot of site we thought we'd try. Turned out to be a little harder than expected and we only got a chance to climb for about 30 minutes. That was a bummer. It made all the beer we'd drank last night even harder to swallow (literally: I still have hot-burps, a rude reminder that PBR in excess is never without consequences). For breakfast beforehand, we had some bagels from The Works, a small chain presence in town and I had a VitaminWater XXX to feel somewhat human again.

Another departure from the blog has left me wondering what I've been eating or doing with my life lately. Nothing particularly interesting actually. I did have a wonderful chicken pot pie that B-May made from scratch.

It was excellent. Heated up a good portion for leftovers at work and now it's all gone. It's always sad when a good food is no longer in your refrigerator. As such, I've been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! I forgot how good these things are! B-May is a faithful customer of Trader Joe's peanut butter which is the crunchiest peanut butter I've ever had. Excellent with a grape jelly that even though it contains high fructose corn syrup is still enjoyable.

At some point I went to Panera because I figured we didn't have any lunch foods in the apartment (which B-May quickly corrected me on and let in on PB&J's, etc.) I got the usual for me: smokehouse turkey panini with a slice of french baguette. Oh! And a Jones organic soda which was tasty.

Got a couple runs in too, and am still pumped about the race in September. Just need to find four other events to make it a strong season. Off for another run perhaps?

Bricks and Bowls

2009-11-04T17:26:00.003-05:00

I am officially signed up for Lobsterman 2010. It's crazy! Olympic distance triathlon? No big deal. At least it better not be after nearly an entire year of training. Enter the first session: I biked for five miles and ran for almost one. The problem: I forgot to take off my helmet after dismounting the bike and jogged a quarter mile without noticing and was forced to carry it the rest of the way. Foolish rookie mistake.

I also had trouble breathing. Since I've been landing on my fore-foot, I have not worried about breathing - in fact, it comes that much more naturally. Really, a wonderful thing. After getting off the bike however, bricks truly did become a different animal: I was strapped for air and the generous swig of water I downed in between sports left me feeling quesy and with a rolly stomach. It was that strange, uncomfortable feeling where one wants to burp and clear their throat but can't because the body needs oxygen. I'll get better though.

So let's go backwards: during my lunch today, I watched Castaway. I haven't seen this movie in a long time and given my frequent viewings of Man vs. Wild I was intrigued to see how many survival techniques were employed by Tom Hanks' Chuck Noland. Turns out, quite a bit. I digress. Lunch was organic! It was also painfully simple; macaroni and cheese. Annie's from BJs that B-May picked up yesterday.

Quite good and not overly filling. I had milk to drink and snacked on three cookies we made with applesauce instead of butter and a whole wheat flour. As B-May says, there are only so many things one can do to change a cookie. Lesson learned.

For breakfast, I ate a meager bowl of Oats and Almonds from Hannaford before my misadventure of a brick. Afterwards, I sat in Popovers for a couple hours and in the course of that time, had an egg and cheese sandwich on Texas toast instead of a bagel with an orange juice. And then I couldn't resist a cup of coffee. Organic Bali!

Last night we hung out with some work friends and snacked on two fish tacos with chips and guacamole and a Corona at Dos Amigos Burritos in Dover. For dinner, B-May made me this delicious stir-fry of veggies with a bed of rice. Excellent dinner! I just didn't eat enough and had the appetite for fish tacos.

BUT LAST NIGHT, before I forget we saw Christopher McDougall speak at UNH. He's the author of Born to Run the mantra of my running cadence. As one audience member pointed out, it's not about the barefoot runners nor the fore-foot strike: the book is about loving running as a natural activity, the one pursuit that connects all humans. Good speech and the Q & A session was even better.

For lunch at work I had the leftovers of my dinner I made for B-May. It was, as promised, the Southwest stir-fry. It was served in a bowl and thus forms the theme of this post. Here's a picture:

Now that I'm back from the past, I am off to have dinner with my parents. We're thinking "Radici" in town. Hooray!

Weeks from Serious

2009-11-02T17:50:00.002-05:00

Good evening,

I am far from a professional blogger. I have no photos to share and no appealing itinerary of foods. I will say that I ate well but am in no way capable of accounting for even the good stuff. That will have to suffice for a sorry excuse for my departure from the regularity of blogging.

Yesterday, B-May and I went to the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival. It was sort of insane. I have never encountered so many vegetarians in one place. And they were all in that one place - we're talking wall-to-wall people. I sampled some wonderful foods, slurped a terrible green mixture that I should have refused and pocketed a number of coupons and interesting brochures. We were joined by friends, Dave and Chelsea and later ventured into Cambridge for some beers at the Cambridge Brewing Company and then for dinner at Veggie Planet in Harvard Square. See the theme there?

Not all of the vendors were preaching vegetarianism but most were. Some were trying to hit passers-by over the head with messages on loving all animals and just eating plants. The punk-rocker in me wanted to spite them for taking such a close-minded view. I don't often get to experience the other extreme (opposite the folks sipping porter on Beacon St) but it was not the happiest nor most positive series of encounters. This is not to say that people were hostile because they were not. Rather they utilized every square inch of the soapbox provided to them by the festival to let their messages ring among the crowd. Most vegetarians though seemed just as selfish and cheap as myself and skipped out on the fanfare for the free food.

On an exercise note, I ran 6.5 miles with a buddy always good for introspection on Friday. We kept up a good clip and did a decent lap of Newcastle before breakfasting at Colby's in town. Enter a slew of breakfast staples: chocolate chip pancakes, home fries, and scrambled eggs plus one radical: veggie sausage for a wonderfully filling post-run meal. I haven't run since but I rode my bike to work today and that was cold but worth it.

I am about to cook a warm supper for B-May who is feeeling slightly under the weather today and it looks to be a southwest chili fettuccine or something of the like. I didn't have all the ingredients I hoped for but am confident I can make do for now.

I guess that's it for now, I'll make a conscious effort to photograph it and keep up - strike that - begin, the good work. OH! Before I forget, I'll be signing up for the 2010 Lobsterman that I saw Brad compete in this year. I am officially entering into the sport of triathlon. Sweet!

Four Days Later and a Short Post

2009-10-26T16:40:00.002-04:00

Good afternoon!

It is truely gorgeous outside. I saw the temps rise to 60 degrees today and I just got back from a four-mile run on the bay. Plugged in, I cranked up some tunes (though only at 60% of max volume, B-May) and took in the wonderful views. Felt good to get some miles in on a day that was made for miles. That being said, I am snacking on some rich desserts - the remnants of the weekend. But I'll get to that in a second.

Friday morning I pulled the 9-5 at work and finished off the tostadas for lunch. I brought along some desserts - congo bars - and washed it down with the usual seltzer water. When I got home, I found B-May laid up on the couch, and feeling quite sick. Something had been bugging her I remembered in the morning and apparently that fatigue or whatever remained throughout the day. Having just got off my bike from the ride home, I was eager to eat some dinner! But when I found B-May like this, I thought of running instead. I owe this inspiration to some mulling over a new book I'm reading, Zen and the Art of Running. It's quite fascinating and while my grasp of the subject is elementary at best, I can already see myself applying its practices. Clear of any negative connantations of running in the dark, I did just that. As soon as I stepped off the deck and onto the curb I started running. As it turns out, I was moving! I set a new PR, finishing a 5K distance in under 24 minutes. This works out to be my first run at a 7-something mile pace. It was awesome!

I kept my excitement to myself and whipped up some black bean burgers while B-May prepared sweet potato fries. This was a wonderful dinner and a pleasant and healthy way to spend Friday night. I also had a couple PBRs for dessert with dessert. That's not a typo.

Saturday I made disastorous chocolate-chip whole wheat pancakes. I called them "the Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Only two pancakes came out as I hoped they would. They were not photographed. Afterwards B-May and I walked about in the rain and sipped a coffee from Breaking New Grounds and went birthday shopping for my mom and B-May's cousin. Neither of these intiatives proved to be very successful but we enjoyed ourselves. With a tuna melt and a slice of apple for lunch, I was out the door and off to work. Staying late, I finished the remaining black bean burger and tried an entire Chobani vanilla flavored Greek Yogurt. I was quite thrown by the tart-ness of this yogurt and did not enjoy it nearly as much as I did the Stonyfield. When I got home, B-May had been baking some sweets for my mom's birthday: pumpkin, chocolate swirl brownies with cream cheese frosting. I had four. Then we went to a Halloween party and down two beers from a Long Hammer IPA keg before heading home.

What I ate on Sunday would take too long to list so it will suffice to say that after leaving brunch at the Colonial Inn in Concord, MA, and indulging at B-May's cousin's birthday party, I was uncomfortably stuffed. For the record, nearly everything was vegetarian - thank goodness chocolate does not have meat - and while we ate in extreme excess, there was cause to. B-May got a run in before the morning started. I did not.

Today, I headed up to Maine for some fall cleaning with my parents for my Gram and beforehand I enjoyed a big bowl of oatmeal and sipped another coffee on my ride up to South Portland. After a couple hours of chatting, cleaning and raking, we went out to Applebees where I had tortilla chips with their spinach and artichoke dip before my chicken fajita roll-up. Water for a drink!

Well, I cut out quite a bit there, but I'm all caught up and looking forward to a more routine eating week while upping my mileage on the runs.

Later!

Pizza, Pie and Polenta!

2009-10-22T20:23:00.006-04:00

Good evening!

I have much amazing food to report! But first, I realize I have been negligent of my exercise reporting. B-May and I have gotten back into the swing of running. I think that she has run just under 15 miles this week and while I only have six miles under my belt week to date, I enjoy feeling the tightness in my calves and cadence of running again. Don't know how we got away from it but it's nice to be back.

Okay, so at the end of my last post I was eagerly anticipating dinner and dessert. It was worth it! B-May whipped up a fresh pizza dough from scratch! The whole wheat dough was soft and crunchy on the crust. We absolutely covered the pie with vegetables - eggplant, peppers, zucchini, spinach and tomatoes. Covered it! A liberal soaking of tomato sauce and and many handfuls of mozzarella cheese later we had a delicious vegetable pizza.

AND while it was cooking we mixed some sugar and cinnamon and other pie ingredients with some freshly skinned apples from earlier that day and made an ENORMOUS apple pie. (Notice the fork and how high the pie piles up in comparison!)

It was an evening of insanity but I have no regrets. As soon as the pizza finished cooking we put in the pie and when we finished the pizza the pie was done! Everything was delicious.

So yesterday morning I finished the remainder of the french toast and tried a little Kashi with half of a banana all tossed in some yogurt! I continue to enjoy eating the newest healthy food for me. Then I headed back to Massachusetts for some dental work but first tricked my mother into buying me lunch at one of my favorite sandwich shops in town, The Ultimate Perk. I enjoyed a spicy Thai chicken wrap while my mom had "the best veggie wrap ever." As the feeling returned to my mouth from the local anaesthetic, B-May and shot some hoops at the park. It

was pretty cool and I look forward to more nights like that!

Okay, so for dinner last night, we made tostadas! We used tortilla wraps broiled first which served as the base for a turkey and veggie mixture. Sprinkled some more cheese on top and baked the whole lot for four tostadas. Excellent!

Last night was reading night so after dinner, we sat and read for two hours. Awesome! I finished the book I wanted to - Devil in the White City - which was quite good and read the newspaper and a couple magazine articles I wanted to finish. At the end of our two-hour block we had a piece of pie each - mine twice the size of B-May's - and I enjoyed a couple scoops of ice cream as well.

This morning I kind of rushed out the door. As such I didn't finish my oatmeal nor my corn muffin. Bummer! Good breakfast though.

At work, I was treated to a cup of coffee by a co-worker and snacked on raisins with water. Good snack, huh? During my break I enjoyed the remainder of the tostadas and two congo bars with a seltzer water for lunch. After work, I stopped at Flatbread for a couple beers - one organic - before settling in for the night with a plate full of freshly made ratatouille and polenta! I have never had anything like it and it was quite good. I tip my hat to B-May and the various cookbooks she employs to keep me well, well, well-fed.

Now I'm all updated. I just had another slice of pie, a small (seriously!) scoop of ice cream and got rid of the Reese's Peanut Butter cups residing at the top of the cupboard by eating them. I'm still hungry so I might eat something else. Not sure. It's a mystery!

Today was a Day for the History Books!

2009-10-20T18:47:00.003-04:00

But not yesterday. Yesterday was a slew of chains: Dunkin Donuts for breakfast (egg and cheese on a plain bagel with a black coffee), Panera Bread for tea (earl grey), and Friendly's for lunch with friends (TurkeyClub SuperMelt with very little fries and a giant chocolate Fribble, a.k.a., frappe). For dinner B-May and I whipped up a quick stir-fry of rice and veggies. I had seconds! And drank a PBR. Which was awesome.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of any of those things. Friendly's and the stir-fry of course, I regret failing to do so. I have an unconditional love for the sandwich I ordered at Friendly's, a New England staple and so have to have it every time I go. This time, was in the face of everything I learned from Food Inc. and every thing I promised to do in my last entry. Which brings me to my next point: I bought Odwalla Organic super-berry mixture (of sorts) and a Stonyfield yogurt, black cherry. The Odwalla I have not consumed, though I tasted it and loved it. It's only a matter of time. As for the yogurt, well...not only is it organic but is amazing!

I officially love yogurt! This was a wonderful afternoon snack that has filled me up and satisfied my sugar craving for that part of the day. It's not correct that one gets one sugar craving a day. Rather, they come in frequent waves. (At least for me.)

So today B-May and I made pumpkin french toast, which came out excellent and was delicious. I was surpised how full I got from this breakfast. I can usually put down six or seven slices but I think the combination of whole wheat bread and pumpkin puree set my intake limit slightly lower. Milk for a drink!

During the course of the morning, B-May and I headed down to Applecrest Farms for a pumpkin to be a jack-o-lantern and a peck of apples.

We got both despite nearly all the apples had been picked from the orchards. For lunch we returned to the apartment and I smushed a tuna sandwich to make a tuna melt and enjoyed some almonds before as a snack. I also had some chips and salsa with my tuna and two congo bars for dessert.

This brings me to the yogurt experience which was magical and to dinner which I will post either later tonight or tomorrow. Hooray for yogurt being in my life!

Portsmouth Film Festival Continues and Ends

2009-10-18T21:46:00.006-04:00

When I last posted, I eagerly anticipated breakfast. Unfortunately it was far from a grand affair: I fried one egg white and put it on two toasted slices of bread with some oatmeal.

Water was my beverage as we ran out of milk. These things never happened when my folks bought me food but alas, I am an adult now and have to reconcile that I occasionally fall a little short and forget to buy a steady supply of milk.

In the morning, I walked down to the Moffatt-Ladd warehouse and saw a short documentary on Ethiopian women who suffer from childbirth injuries and their proximity to care. It was disturbing, yes, but fascinating and truly eye-opening. Google "fistula" for a topic not to be covered here but one that should not be ignored.

After the film, I was invited up to a swanky club of the rich and famous as an extension of B-May's work and we dined on fresh salmon, pasta with veggies and a sip or two of fine cider. It sounds so unfair to the food to simply qualify it as "pasta with veggies" but I will never eat there again so it's not worth considering any further. I did not carry my camera with me for this event. Another point about food bloggers: it must be easier (if not, less conspicuous) to be a female blogger, owing to the purse or handbag in which to conceal and carry a camera....I digress.

While I managed an eventful morning, I still had to go to work. Before though, I slurped down a Hannaford chicken noodle soup which lacked any semblance of flavor. Never again. I rode my bike despite the cold again (woot!) and snacked on raisins and two Nalgenes worth of water. When I took my break I had (yet another) serving of the veggie mac and cheese and few bars of the granola with apricots B-May made I think before I started this blog.

For dessert, I wolfed down a granola bar - Chocolate Chunk, etc. etc. - and gave in to a Clif Bar. This last treat I nibbled on for the last hour of work before B-May picked me up. That was nice of her!

We bought a bottle of wine and half gallon of ice cream. It was a perfect Saturday grocery purchase. At home, we uncorked the wine - something red - and I had two glasses before deciding that a bowl of ice cream was absolutely necessary. (It rarely is.)

Now to today! For breakfast, I enjoyed a warming cup of Breaking New Grounds coffee and an onion bagel with cream cheese.

This lasted me until just before noon when I went to Weathervane with my grandmother, her sister and my aunt. For a greasy seafood restaurant I managed a (somewhat) healthy avenue of fried haddock sandwich with veggies instead of fries. One could argue it was all in vain as I downed an entire fountain soda, negating any benefit from the veggies.

When I got home, I poured a tall glass of milk and snacked on three cookies, trying to get rid of the temptation, bit by bit.

Okay, so now I'm at the exciting part!

Tonight we saw Food Inc. This is a mind-blowing movie. Its delivery is original and the topic is particularly gripping: where food comes from. The film manages to cover all the angles - grocers, farmers, businesses, and organics - in less than two hours. Part of it was hard to watch (reaffirming my abstinence from meat) but the rest was so educational I'll have to watch it three more times to retain the parts needed to win an argument for organic. A special treat was a Q and A session immediately afterward with the Stonybrook CEO. My takeaway: "There are thousands of reasons to eat organic, but only one not to: price." The man knows his stuff is expensive but his infiltrating Wal-Mart helps reduce the prices of his signature yogurts and make the healthy stuff more accessible to all Americans. It was not my intention when I started this blog and recording what I eat to actively pursue eating organic, but with the influence of this movie and B-May's resilience for the products, I will start.

With this new information kicking out our heads, we scoured the cupboards of our apartment for foods with ingredients we could not pronounce. Still we ate a fine turkey chili with corn muffins and chips and salsa for dinner. We also sipped some more wine. It was lovely!

I must report, I felt another instance of necessary ice cream and did just that.

Regrettably, I finished the whole bowl. So now I'm craving, truly craving, a cold glass of water. I'll go get one.

Serious Moonlight

2009-10-17T08:37:00.002-04:00

Good morning!

Even before I enjoy some breakfast, I wanted to post my supper! B-May, who has been working at the Portsmouth Film Festival yesterday and all day today and tomorrow, got home around 645, 7. Like I said before, I was waiting for her to feed me, and I was glad I waited. She took some cheese tortellini from Buitoni and layered it in pie dish with spinach, sauce, and more cheese. It was an interesting presentation of this typical pasta! She thought the sauce needed to be boiled first but I thought it came out fine.

Then we went and saw one of the premiere movies of the Festival: Serious Moonlight. It starred Meg Ryan, Tim Hutton and Kristen Bell with a strange appearance of Justin Long as well. We really enjoyed this movie and hope that it circulates wider as it is worthy of much bigger audiences! Perhaps the highlight however, was catching a few glimpses with Brett Cullen - better known to me, at least, as Goodwin from LOST. He's starring in one of the films here and is apparently hopping about and catching some others. We didn't get his photo or anything. Oh well!

Breakfast awaits: later!

Successful Taming of the Craving!

2009-10-16T18:01:00.003-04:00

Good evening!

I just got back from my bike ride from work and on the way felt two things: a headache and after seeing a bag from Wendy's, a strong craving for fast food. Then, I got to thinking: I am dehydrated! I don't think I drank enough water at work and the Wendy's wanna-treat was actually craving the salt! Well, now I'm sitting comfy watching a little Cash Cab and sipping some cranberry pomegranate juice while dipping some Food Should Taste Good: Olive chips in a garlic hummus. An excellent alternative!

A little catching up: For dinner last night, I enjoyed a small bowl of B-May's macaroni and cheese (how much of this stuff did we make anyways???) and a handful of the aforementioned chips I picked up at the grocery store during my break. Oh, and two Reese's, dark chocolate. I don't know if they make me healthier but I wanna believe that they do.

So in over-preparation for my cold bike ride today, I loaded up on probably unnecessary energy: eggs - without yolks -, whole wheat toast with peanut butter slathered on top, and a bowl of oatmeal. With milk. What was I thinking? I wasn't about to take off for a killer run or something and I got hungry at work like I would anyways. What gives?!

For lunch, I nuked a canned veggie soup from Hannaford that loaded me up with more sodium than I'll need for the rest of the day. Not that I need sodium. Isn't that bad for you? After my warming soup, which it wonderfully was, I snacked on a cheesecake slice with cream cheese and pumpkin that B-May made for her work and this tiny box of Multi-Grain Cheerios from CNN we picked up in Chicago at a health fair.

As I watch the idiots of Cash Cab I'm waiting for B-May to get home and feed me. Wish I was kidding!

Later!

Winter is Coming!

2009-10-15T12:38:00.003-04:00

Oy vey!

It's getting cold outside! I feel a little head-cold coming on and a cough that brings up the nasty reminders of phlegm and...winter. Granted, I am totally psyched for skiing, snowshoeing and winter backpacking. I can't wait to welcome the warmth of hot cocoa after a day of sledding and the coming holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fall is definitely my favorite season so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can. Accordingly, I will be biking to work today, tomorrow and every other day I can until the snow falls. Perhaps when that happens, I'll run to work on Micro-Spikes or something.

So when B-May and I were preparing for our trip to Chicago we finished off all perishables, which given our lunch and dinner tendencies, that was nearly everything. I had dry cereal and the one remaining slice of whole wheat bread with crunchy peanut butter with a glass of milk for breakfast.

This morning I was productive in cleaning the apartment, dodging jury duty owing to my move to New Hampshire and paid some bills. To reward myself for these efforts, I took a walk into town and stopped in at the Works on Congress St. for a Thai Chicken wrap. As I recall, there were sprouts, onions, red peppers, chicken of course, and a spicy thai peanut sauce. They called it "hot" but it was not "hot." Slightly disappointing but I enjoyed it much-ly.

Knowing work will prevent me from eating for another four hours, I snacked on three of the peanut butter blossoms which are actually not peanut butter but a chocolate base with pumpkin Hershey kisses in the center. A B-May original, I might add.

Off to layer and prepare for work! A cold bike ride awaits!

Chicago Recap!

2009-10-14T20:27:00.004-04:00

Good evening!

B-May and I just got back from a three-day vacation in Chicago, visiting my brother. We did not stop. It's almost too much to bullet-point the entirety of our trip - we got a complete experience. The "integrity" of the food went from bad to good, but B-May mostly kept me on the straight and narrow. Highlights included the requiste Chicago Deep Dish Pizza with vegetarian toppings (pictured below), a black bean burger with guacamole and sweet potato fries from local organic grocery Fox and Obel, pub fare of pulled pork and fresh beer from Goose Island Brewery and two light breakfasts of coffee and bagels from two prime bakery/shops less than five minutes from my brother's apartment.

We flew in on Saturday night, just in time to wake up early for the Chicago Marathon. We met up with my uncle, a multi-marathon veteran, for color commentary and true runner insight. While we didn't run, we did walk just about everywhere.

On Monday, we headed down south of the city for a look at Hyde Park, the neighborhood with the University of Chicago and Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House. I'll do my best to satisfy the historic preservationist in B-May by adding that the Robie house provides a clear demonstration of Wright's signature prairie style.

Behold the standard tourist photo of Millenium Park's Bean with city skyline. Despite the type of gawkers it attracts, it's still pretty cool.

Perhaps the most unique visit of our whirlwind tour was an hour-long trip north to the suburb of Wilmette, home of North Ameria's only Baha'i House of Worship. It's a place of devotion for the members of the Baha'i Faith, a fledgling independent religion exported from Iran in the mid-1800s, whose beliefs are an inclusive amalgation of nearly all major faiths throughout the world. I'll post a good sized bite about it sometime. Really, a beautiful building.

Oh! We also bought a bottle of wine from 7-Eleven. Yellowtail Merlot though, so it was legit.

Proper food and strength training updates to resume tommorow!

Lots of Room for Improvement

2009-10-09T20:16:00.005-04:00

Good evening!

I have very little good to report. Truth is, I took a two-day whirlwind tour of New York City and ate terrible things - McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, two NYC pizza joints, etc. - and visited a few too many bars. I even had cheeseballs at one of the bars. Regarding my training, it was a GIANT step backwards. Not that I have to make up the difference, it was just unnecessary. I had fun but there were many moments I was wishing I was asleep, running, or eating vegetables. Actually, those moments happened quite a bit. To be fair, I should note that during my visit, my friend and I walked just under 100 blocks on the island of Manhattan. It works out to be seven miles. We were severely dehydrated however and I wonder if it just made my headache worse.

MOVING ON.

That's the theme of my life and training lately. Moving on. Today I woke up and had two fried eggs and a couple slices of toast with a tall glass of cranberry/pomegranate juice. At work, I sipped a medium sized coffee and enjoyed a big handful of raisins before lunch. I haven't got a photo but I will soon. Before my trip, B-May experimented with a pot pie of sorts of mushrooms, brussel sprouts, spinach, peppers and whatever other veggies we had in the house. Tacked on four little oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for a filling and redeeming meal. Seltzer water for a drink.

Dinner was excellent! This was a huge step back towards Taming the Craving. Gnocchi with roasted cauliflower. B-May whipped up a cream sauce to hold it all together and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

Okay, so now for What I Learned Today: I would rather be moving than sitting on a barstool past midnight. It was immature taking the trip I did - though it comes with some good stories - and the fact that I still have hot-burps from lousy beers is a telling sign. There's fun to be had in going out on a bender but it's no good maintaining that as a lifestyle, even if it's just two nights in a row.

Ironically, B-May and I are contemplating a beer out on the town tonight or ice cream. Speaking on rare occasion, my liver, says ice cream.

Later!

Uh...Half marathon? Yes!

2009-10-05T22:25:00.004-04:00

There's been nothing subtle about my life lately.

To project a self-fulfilling prophesy, I brought my friends to Dos Amigos Burritos for the namesake burritos. I ordered a fish burrito with guacamole (for an extra dollar) and sipped a Coke for lunch. I have never been to this staple of Portsmouth dining but it was amazing. I'll be back very very soon.

After they left B-May and I took a walk and debated on dinner. It didn't take long to decide on a vegetable calzone which we started on as soon as we got back. The pictures tell the story and one can easily deduce that it, too, was amazing. (B-May also allotted some of the dough taken from the enormous calzone and worked it into three breadsticks we eagerly dipped into a olive oil concoction on par with Not Your Average Joes).

For dessert I had a couple more of the bites (see last post).

This morning was sort of epic. First of all, we woke up at 6 30am. Then we each ate half of a bagel with some peanut butter. Then we ran 13.1 miles.

13.1 miles! That's a half marathon! I felt pretty good during miles 1-8 and 10-13.1. Miles 8-10 were a different story. I developed a devil of a blister on my left foot and my legs gave up the whole running thing. What I Learned Today: run like B-May. I need to slow down my pace when I put on the big miles. She did amazing. She said her legs were sore too - after all, she is human - but for the most part, when I needed to walk, she never stopped running. Very impressive girlfriend!

Our run ended right next to a convenience store and I quickly downed a quart of Gatorade, B-May half that much. I wolfed down a couple waffles and tall glass of milk before running a quick errand (no pun intended) to Maine, during which I sipped a Diet Coke.

At work, I had one of the portions of our macaroni and cheese with veggies. Like before, I added a bag of Wheat Thins and four of the bites. Not completely awake at work, I picked up a Coke and got the necessary caffeine kick to get me through.

When I got home, B-May and I celebrated the completion of our run with a beer each and generous bowl of ice cream. Typically, I'm sheepish to share a photo of one of my favorite snacks but given the serious mileage we put in today, I don't mind posting this sweet snack on the blog.

I am thoroughly exhausted. Bedtime.

Later!

A Run and a Regret

2009-10-04T13:42:00.003-04:00

Before I wax poetic on why I can't seem to bring myself to blog a regular basis, I have to boast about these amazing waffles!

I can honestly say (and B-May can testify) that I made these all by myself. One step towards autonomy! Granted, I followed a recipe from Betty Crocker, but made it my own by adding a banana and a solid handful of almonds! Excellent breakfast that I had to wait for because we didn't have eggs, among many other things needed at the grocery store.

So back up a little: Shortly after my previous post B-May and enjoyed a simple but veggie-licious take on macaroni and cheese. We made excess macaroni and cheese. Seriously, there are three tupperwares in the fridge, and three in the freezer. It was out of hand. Four types of cheeses and peppers and mushrooms. Filling but, given the whole wheat macaroni base, it ranked on the healthier side of things.

For dessert, we baked oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies. Lots of good things there. Strangely, the recipe did not call for an egg which is probably why they look like bites and not traditional cookies. Triple (or quadruple?) the number of bites here to arrive at my total consumption that night.

Breakfast the next morning was next to nothing. We stopped for coffees and chai lattes, respectively at Caffe Killim in town. This was at 6 30am because we were headed back down to the Commonwealth despite the rain for the Somerville Homeless Coalition 5K. I've already said it was our first race exactly a year ago. As such, we've been eagerly awaiting to see our improvement since then. At press time, I have not been able to dig up the official times but I recall something around 26:25 for myself, and B-May just 30 seconds or so behind. That's five minutes better (at least) than our times in 2008. And I ran it in my Five Fingers!

Afterwards, we were treated to a post-race BBQ of sorts put on for runners by a couple local restaurants in Somerville, chief among them, Anna's Taqueria supplied grilled chicken and grilled veggie breakfast burritos. These were of course excellent.

And there was mixed fruits and corn bread. I ate a lot of corn bread.

Soon after, I was back in New Hampshire for work and during work enjoyed leftover macaroni and cheese and some of B-May's homemade applesauce - despite not having a spoon. I just finished fishing out the pasta with my fingers like a Beudoin when a generous co-worker offered me spoon for my applesauce. It was good timing.

Work proved to be particularly stressful and so a co-worker joined me for a couple of beers at the Coat of Arms in Portsmouth. I had a Black and Brown - Guiness and Newcastle and a Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale. Both were pleasant treats I slowly sipped.

All caught up! I have friends from college arriving soon - I forsee burritos at Dos Amigos - and other hearty portions in my immediate future.

Later!

Fridays are Awesome

2009-10-02T18:46:00.004-04:00

Good evening!

I was spirited today. I hopped out of bed and into the surprise of the sun. We have been expecting lots of rain and it didn't come today. Apparently, the rain is arriving with violence tomorrow for our 5K in Somerville. This event was the firs that B-May and I ever did and our debut to the world of running with others. It was awesome and I'm confident that tomorrow will be better. We're shooting for well under 30 minutes.

To get me going today, I scarfed down some oatmeal with maple syrup and brown sugar. Not the finest of choices but it was sweet and a good boost of energy for a busy day at work. I forgot to take a picture.

During my ride to work, it became obvious to me that I needed more food and some caffeine or something. So I went to Dunkin Donuts nearby for a blueberry muffin and a chocolate frosted donut with a small black coffee. Again, not the best but it was good in the moment.

Looks good though, doesn't it?

Around 2pm I took my lunch and enjoyed another tuna melt on an Arnold's Thin with some reduced fat Wheat Thins I boosted from my parents when we were in Massachusetts. Sitting out on the lawn with the cool wind whipping at my backside, I finished lunch with a Chex Mix Turtle flavored granola bar. All in all, not that bad.

Rode my bike to and from work today to count for some exercise and am currently sipping a Samuel Adams Irish Red waiting for a huge plate of macaroni and cheese with all sorts of veggies. Like a true blogger, I'll post again after supper.

Funny note, I thought that this beer tasted like blood in college. Now that I have it again, I wonder if I was actually bleeding at the moment in school because this does not taste like blood at all. Rather, it's quite good!

Almost Forgot!

2009-10-01T22:22:00.002-04:00

Last night, as I lay in bed, unable to sleep I sifted through B-May's collection of older Self magazines. There's not much story here so I'll just cut to the important part:

Check it out. plus3network.com

You run, bike, swim, hike, play an hour of baseball and depending on the level of activity a donation is made to a charity of your choice by the site's sponsors. I just signed up and my run from this morning made .19 cents for Project Rwanda. And, it's totally free. At least so far, my experience has been free of charge.

Awesome!

Two Days off of Work

2009-10-01T20:57:00.005-04:00

When I last posted, I was hungry.

So I went to Me and Ollies for a sandwich. Seeing the special of the day matched the number of dollars in my pocket, I ordered the turkey club panini. (Not pictured.) I was proud of myself for eating it! Considering the mix of alfalfa shoots spread over lean turkey meat, lettuce, tomatoes and a couple strips of bacon, it was not my usual fare. I did have a soda with it - can't seem to break that habit. I'll get on it.

More work to do: home from a day of reading and tired from cleaning and packing for the night back in Massachusetts (the excuse), I nuked another sizable slice of lemon pound cake (the crime) sprinkled with far too many chocolate chips...doused with too much chocolate syrup. (Not pictured). But whatever man, I ran ten miles the other day...I know; it's a poor excuse.

Which brings me to the debut of my newest segment: What I Learned Today. Such an addition to this blog was so predictable. So here's What I Learned Today. Just because I run a lot and bike to work every day and am rocking a crazy high metabolism I can't eat cake with the simple idea of replacing calories as energy. B-May let me in on the fact that the cake and all the Hostess Cakes I've been likewise justifying are loaded with refined sugars which pass right through me (and you!) and serve no good. Rather, I should be ingesting natural sugars from fruits and stuff. Okay, I clearly have a new subject to research. Still, despite my ignorance this was an important reckoning for me as I strive to embrace a healthy lifestyle.

For yesterday's dinner, B-May's mom served up two calzones - one with broccoli and cheese, another with ground turkey and tomato sauce. Both were exquisite and filling. I should note that I did not, as B-May says "drink my calories." It seems there is a milk shortage in my life -none in my fridge and none in her parent's fridge. Seriously, I'm close to with withdrawals. I had water. That was the point of that.

THEN, B-May and her mother brought out a mixture for pumpkin whoopie pies from the Stonewall Kitchen. These things were deadly. Thankfully there were only 12, entitling every one in the room to three pies but even I had to stop at two. Then I waited 20 minutes and had my third. Totally stuffed.

In the morning, we took off for a brief three-mile run. We took off on what used to be our usual route in our sleepy New England town. We talked about how difficult the course used to be for us. We talked about how something happened when we moved to Portsmouth, and all of a sudden we were running six, seven miles without batting an eye. It was my first time running in my Five Fingers in my hometown and I was quite impressed with myself on my stride. I even sprinted at the end for 100 yards. Totally awesome!

Breakfast was far from enchanting: two scrambled eggs and a bowl of corn flakes. Water for a beverage. I did however, down a SlimFast before leaving town. Apparently these things are supposed to be a meal replacement. I cannot for the life of me see how. "Controls hunger for 4 hours?" Yea, right.

Which brings me to lunch at Not Your Average Joe's. A longtime favorite, not just for its bread and olive oil preceding every meal. I must admit I ate an entire basket of bread on my own and then a little more. This was well within four hours of the SlimFast. Sometimes I forget they serve more than their bread at Joe's like just now. Before I do forget, I had a bland, forgettable, (and perhaps, regrettable) turkey burger. Some asparagus too, which was excellent but the sandwich was blase. No accent on the "e". Sorry. Oh! And then I had a beer for dessert: Roxy Rolles, a fall offering from Magic Hat Brewery. Excellent choice, Jon! Why thank you!

Back in Portsmouth, B-May headed out for a work event and left me to my own devices. I played a lot of video games and a quickly nuked some leftover penne with three slices of breaded eggplant. I'm a big boy now! So what do I do now that I'm a big boy? I enjoy the first mug of hot cocoa of the season like a child. (Free from whipped cream and chocolate chips, though they were offered to me.)

I just scrolled through the above post and it's crazy long and wordy. I really should update more often and play a little less catch up. That's the other thing I Learned Today: real bloggers update three times a day! Forgive me if I'm wrong but I gotta thing that's crazy, man. Think how much you're on your computer. Do you even have time to cook and eat? Perhaps not. I notice a lot of the girls eat raw vegetables.

Later!

Long Distances and Leftovers

2009-09-30T13:19:00.004-04:00

It's been two full days since our run on Monday and I am still a little sore. Perhaps this is because we ran 10 miles! That is easily the farthest I've ever run, B-May too. Our course took us through the beautiful coast of Newcastle and back into town to rack up the double-digit figure. Honestly, I'm impressed with our improvement, making leaps from 5ks to 10k to 10 miles! Granted it was not easy and dare I say that part of it was not fun - hypocritical of my whole mission of running just for fun - but we did it and it was awesome. I got total bragging rights at work and to top it off, I only got a few very small blisters (which have since healed)under my toes. Because that's right - I did it in my ruby red slippers. Boo. Yah.

So for fitness accomplishment I was quite pleased. Our breakfast beforehand is typically, and in this case was, toast with water. There's so much room for improvement on that front and I think we both know it. It's worth noting that we (read: I) carried a bottle of water that we took frequent, tiny sips from. I think this hydration on the go was critical to our being able to complete the distance.

Exhausted and starving, I wolfed down the leftover apple cinnamon pancakes after a ritual
Nuun.

Nuun's are an electrolyte replacement tablet - very similar in composition to alka-seltzers - and accordingly dissolve into a glass of water. I find nearly all the flavors, sans Kona Cola, to be wholly refreshing and sweet after a run or bike ride. I like to believe that the product is actually picking me up, doing some good in place of the suffering I put my body through though I don't exclude the possibility that it's all psychological. Perhaps the reader will just have to find out for themselves. Bonus: they come in plastic tubes - no plastic wrappers - so when the tablets have been consumed, the tube is recyclable. Excellent green product!

For lunch I dug out a can of tuna for my fish fix (and protein?) to grill up a tuna melt. Also at the top of the cupboard was a bag of chips I think from our Exeter 5K a while back which although bad for me, I welcomed the salt and the crunch, still reeling from our run. At work I dined on the leftover leftover spinach ravioli (I tried to finish it before) and leftover chili with the three remaining corn muffins.

It was all excellent. Then inspired to keep my legs moving and feeling the need to treat myself, I did just that and walked down the road a little to pick up a package of Twix! Towards the end of the day, I felt myself tightening up and asked a fellow runner and friend at work how to stretch out my calves. Proving that I've been a runner for just over a year, I was thrilled to see how a lunge stretch with both straight and bent knees on a rising surface smoothed out my aching calves. (Seriously though, nothing else was sore from the run - this barefoot thing is legit!)

Then when I got home I finished a frozen slice of cake, which, after my Twix I was not
entitled to but ate anyway.

Tuesday morning, feeling fresh from the run but still very sore, I successfully made oatmeal
with bananas. (One step towards autonomy!) A liberal dash of cinnamon and I was good to go
until lunchtime at work where I kept up my new pattern of tuna-melts. Tuna-melts were often
a typical sandwich choice of mine throughout the summer and I often forget that tuna exists, let alone is a viable option of lunchmeat for months at a time. I was quite happy with its au pair - homemade applesauce!

B-May demonstrated once again her ability to turn apples into another something delicious. Apparently I made the mistake of not heating it up as it is "best out of the pot." I shall not make that same mistake twice.

When I got home, we went for a walk around town where we played on a swing set (!) and
practiced hop-skotch at a local elementary school. Feeling the desire not to cook, we set off for the Brewery Lane Tavern in Portsmouth. We have passed this place every time we have gone grocery shopping and I ride by every day before work. Granted, it's only been two months since we moved in but we finally satisfied our curiosities. It's a simple bar with an inexpensive menu of sandwiches and pizzas and select salads. My Texas Chicken (BBQ chicken with onions, tomatoes, and melted cheddar on a slice of French Bread) was excellent. I want to go back right now.

Once home, we watched a movie I had a generous slice of lemon pound cake with chocolate syrup and still feel kind of guilty about it. Not really taming the craving lately...

Which brings me to breakfast today. Opting for something filling I fried an egg, threw some cheese on top and a put the mixture in between an Arnold's Sandwich thin. It was quite good!
I understand why B-May loves these things - and I thought I was full until just now when I'm feeling the pangs of hunger start inside. I believe that's quite enough for now so,

Later!

Weekend!

2009-09-27T20:09:00.004-04:00

Tonight marks the end of the weekend. And boy, was it a weekend! B-May had her friend Michelle up on Friday night and I joined them after work at the Portsmouth Brewery for a couple rounds. Then we headed over to The Press Room where it was kind of boring so we split after one beer apiece and returned home where an ambitious B-May was willing to make congo bars! For the unenlightened, that's chocolate chip cookies in the shape of brownies. So...amazing. We snacked on them throughout the weekend and at present, there are only four bits remaining from the batch.

Breakfast the next morning totally deserved a couple pictures but in my continuing amateur-ness, I forgot. It's too bad though because we made delicious and filling apple cinnamon pancakes. It was a group effort - B-May whipped up the batter and I plied my trade flipping flapjacks to perfection. Thumbs up all around.

In the morning we sauntered through the city and split up so B-May could pull a quick shift at work. Michelle then watched me eat another scrumptious meal that I should have photographed: BBQ chicken panini from Me and Ollies. We of course sat outside despite the breezes which kept all the tourists inside. Maybe I already touched on that subject last post but it's still pertinent. Crap, just remembered I had a soda with that...Failure.

At work I finished off the remainder of the homemade raviolis from a while ago -thank you freezer! Toss in a couple Fig Newtons and I think it was four (!) congo bars and I had a content belly. On my ride home I picked up some beers and helped B-May and Michelle tame their cravings for more congo bars...by eating them myself. You're welcome girls! Then there was a party at a co-worker's house and when we got back to the apartment, I successfully burned the life out of two slices of bread originally destined to be toast...and went to bed.

Today - that's Sunday if one can follow this rambling - I treated myself (for no reason) to an enormous chocolate-chip pancake and a slice of anadama french toast at the aptly named Friendly Toast. It was an adventure!

Thoroughly stuffed with breakfast treats I didn't eat again until seven hours later at work when I went the veggie route with this wrap slathered with sweet potatoes and onions, caked in black beans and topped with baby spinach leaves. I wish I could take credit - it was B-May's idea. I must admit though, it was quite of bland. More variations on this theme to follow. Also had some more Fig Newtons and a bottle of Coke to get me through my shift.

Which brings me to now. B-May cooked up an original chili of veggies and some pumpkin pie filling. And some corn muffins! Honestly, it was amazing. I can't wait to eat the rest for lunch (or dinner) tomorrow.

Excellent dinner and now reclining with a bowl of pumpkin ice cream and chocolate chips and chocolate syrup. I'm too embarrassed to photograph it.

BIG run tomorrow. Leg feels better, time to get off my butt and keep training.

Later!

Omelets are Hard

2009-09-24T20:21:00.003-04:00

Last night before bed, I resolved to make an omelet.

This morning when I gave up on making an omelet.

It's really hard! I ended up with scrambled eggs. So, to (literally) spice things up, I added some pepper, crushed red peppers, miniature tomatoes and a slice of cheese with a splash of milk for a balance on the pH scale. All in all, not my favorite breakfast but certainly filling considering I added three eggs. Perhaps that was my greatest error in this mishap of a meal but it's been just over four hours and I'm starting to get a little hungry. For a guy like me, that's saying something.

So it looks more like porridge even Papa Bear would pass on. Lesson (somewhat) learned.

Just finished a slew of morning chores - prepping the apartment for the arrival of a friend this weekend - and managed to find an hour to sit at my favorite curbside coffee-spot, Popovers for a quickly cooling Vermont Maple Nut Coffee. Afterwards I enjoyed a nice ramble on my bike back to the apartment and now I'm contemplating the leftover spaghetti with turkey and onion meatballs.

Work soon, so later!

Doldrums of the Week

2009-09-24T20:03:00.004-04:00

Bummer.

Nothing terribly exciting has happened since our hike on Monday. We were so beat after our hike that I couldn't muster the energy to see our buddy play jazz at the Press Room in town. A weak moment...but we did make some vegetarian pizza! We made a quick stop for whole wheat pizza dough and some generic four-cheese Pizza cheese. Wow, redundancy. But with a generous helping of zucchini, onions, and peppers, we managed to put together two wholesome pies. I, of course finished off the remainder of the slices for lunch the next day with the addition of my greatest success to cooking since I started this project: steamed broccoli! I took some stalks from the fridge, raw, and just splashed some water in the Tupperware before zapping it for a minute or so. They came out great!

Unfortunately at the 11 o'clock position of this photo, I had two brownies with caramel and coconut on top. Oh, and a cookie made entirely of fatty, sugary cookie ingredients and Reese's Peanut Butter cups! Needless to say, it was amazing.

Oh! But before that, B-May and I headed into town and sipped a cup of coffee (for me) and a chai latte (for her) at the Works. The point of our lingering, is much more exciting. We're going to Chicago in October to see my brother! We jotted down attractions and sights from a couple guidebooks while enjoying the beautiful noontime sun.

So then Wednesday I finished some more leftovers - this time shepherd's pie - with more broccoli and more brownies. It was a mostly uneventful day except that B-May's friend, Christin came up and we set off for a filling dinner at Poco's on the water (soft tacos with pork and a helping of spinach con queso dip for an appetizer). Then we started drinking. The girls sold me (very successfully) on a mix of apricot juice and a bottle of Magners in a pint. So had a couple of those, some micro-brews, watched a little Man vs. Wild (!!!) and headed out to the Coat of Arms for another pumpkin beer and a horrible mixture of Guiness, Strongbow and a shot of Jameson's called the "Celtic Warrior." Terrible.

Anyways, woke up today with zero appetite and managed some toast with a glass of water for breakfast. Yes, that kind of breakfast. Then at work, while putting down a massive Gatorade, B-May brought me a cup of coffee and a bag of donuts (chocolate frosted, pumpkin spice, and a chocolate crueller (sp?). So had those and then indulged in a simple lunch just outside of work, soaking up the afternoon sun. In spite of my aching body, it was wonderful.

As I write this, B-May is popping some popcorn as dessert after our spaghetti with turkey meatballs and mushroom-tomato sauce. Considering the girl ran a total of 11 miles!!! today, she needed the starch or something. I'll research that more definitively as the training gets more serious.

On that note, I have done next to no exercise aside from my daily bike ride to work. I'm pretty sure I strained my calf muscle (more pointedly, my gastroc nemius (again, sp?) and have been taking it easy to prevent further injury. So that's my excuse but it's not a good combination with drinking and crappy foods.

Oh well. Later!

Dayhike!

2009-09-21T18:42:00.003-04:00

Today (so far) went like this: Wake up at 7am. Mix oatmeal with apples and cinnamon. Pack up daybag and jump into car bound for the White Mountains!

B-May took off for the North and hiked to the top of Mount Chocorua in the western edge of the Sandwich Mountain Range in the White Mountain National Forest. I know, there's a lot of mountains in there, but check out the views below to realize that it was not without reason!

In the morning, our spirits are lifted and the day was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature hovered at "room" farenheit. We shed the sweaters well before this beautiful outlook, which was actually a mile from the top:

And after about two hours of hiking, we had lunch here:

And I had this for lunch: Hiking food if there ever was hiking food! Pumpernickel When Pigs Fly Bread with peanut butter and sliced apples...and then repeat with pumpkin and six-seed bread. Some of the trail was really steep. This iron stake was driven into the rock to prevent this situation from happening. This was obviously not on the mountain. This was obviously our treat for finishing however: a childhood favorite of B-May's, the Dam Ice Cream Shop. (There's a dam nearby.) Behold two scoops with jimmies! Oreo and mint chip! In a styrofoam bowl...haven't felt this wasteful in a while...

And then we got back after a very tiring drive and I enjoyed another snack. But - not just another snack. This was a Golden Snack!

Then we made a couple of vegetable pizzas from leftover veggies and now I am in my first vegetarian food coma. Remarkable.

Bit By the Bug: Triathlons

2009-09-20T23:12:00.010-04:00

Been a while since my last update but that's not to say I've been a slouch...

Though it would be unfair to say I've been eating entirely healthy and honestly have seriously come up short in my efforts to tame the craving (read: late-night Mama Celeste microwave pizza, double helpings of apple crisp after a cup of ice cream from Annabelle's, etc.) Really none of it is warrants a photo (had I remembered to do so...) because it's quite a trainwreck of poor eating decisions. In the midst of all this chocolate, sugar and unnecessary carbs, I was left to my own devices and revisited some simpler foods. Check out this chicken soup (with stars!!!) for comfort food on Friday afternoon after spending two hours outside of a cafe reading in the cold wind:

And here's a personal creation of rice, black beans, mushrooms and what I thought was guacamole (it turned out I ingested way too much pesto - B-May told me three days later...)

But, regarding the exercise portion of the equation...it's been alright! B-May and I have taken off as the average mileage of our runs is comfortably capping around 6 or 7 miles. A 5K is no problem and it's becoming easier and easier to do 5 miles. Sweet! And I got my bike tuned up for a reasonable fee and have sweet new handlebar tape in addition to responsive brakes and tighter shifting. It's like an entirely different bicycle and I love it. Must remember that big mile days are also for the bike - not just running! '

So there's a reasonable account of my eating and exercise during my weekend off from blogging. But I must mention in some detail the coolest part of the weekend: I went to a triathlon! The Lobsterman Olympic Triathlon in Freeport, Maine. My coach, Brad, was competing in his third race of the year and with 32 miles of forward motion behind him in under 3 hours! he totally crushed it. This dude is 53 years old and he can move.

So here's a brief narrative: This is Brad just before he hits the water. Notice his wetsuit - they were required by the race directors given the water temperature of 62 degrees. Some people could not unzip their own suits when they got out; their hands were too cold.
Here's all the masochists just before the race, getting a warm-up dip. I was wearing two sweaters when this photo was taken...Yeah.

With the first leg of the course complete - a mile-long swim, the triathletes hurry through the throngs of spectators and bee-line it into their first transition to the bike.

This is the transition area, a vast collection of expensive endurance equipment. There are over 700 bicycles, wetsuits, pairs of running shoes and lots of other cool stuff. It was guarded from spectators but I did manage some close-up shots, satisfying my inner gear nerd.

And here is the same zone after all swimmers got out of the water and onto their bikes - like a storm tore through.

Brad was by no means the last swimmer out of the gate onto the bike. Rather the opposite; he swam a mile in just over an hour and set off blazing on his 26 miles ride. And just before his three-hour mark, Brad spirits down the finish chute. And thus ends the race. While I did not compete myself, I had plenty of time when Brad was not whizzing by to contemplate how I wanted to get ready for next season. Being surrounded by athletes and the spirit of the race, I can say with certainty that I have been bit by the bug.

With that, I am off to hike in the White Mountains for the day with B-May as part of my cross-training, and an opportunity to enjoy a sport we haven't practiced much in a long while! Pictures to follow...

Later!

Lots of running ---> Lots of eating

2009-09-17T19:12:00.005-04:00

Good evening!

After a delightful lunch of grilled cheese and apples, I hopped on my bike down to the city pool. Turns out I can't swim for a majorly discounted rate unless I get my license renewed which is a total bummer. Well, perhaps for now. Maybe I'll figure it out soon. Anyways,

I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting alone with a good book on the shore of Four Tree Island. It was a bit windy and the breeze was crisp so it probably kept any picnic-ers out of the area. I settled down for two hours before the wind wore me down. I biked back into town and continued to read on the curb of Popovers while sipping a warm apple cider. It hit the spot. Munched on a granola bar waiting for B-May to get out of work and then headed home to change for a big run.

So, big run. We took off for 6.5 miles of evening running! We didn't bring watches but we did map it out of mapmyrun.com - brilliant site - and just dove into cooking dinner immediately after. Totally awesome to feel that good after a long run. I'm addicted.

In our sweaty clothes we put together spinach raviolis with a homemade tomato sauce. Check it out!

Here's the sauce simmering in the pan. It's probably too small for the two can of diced tomatoes we added but it worked all right. B-May carefully double-checks the recipe from Cooking Light. You can make out the picture of the intended result, sort of. By the way, check out my celebratory Coke can from Monday. Finally finished it as my energy drink post-run. So original.

Really, check out the wontons we used to make the raviolis. Laying them on a cookie sheet with a dab of spinach and ricotta cheese (and other ingredient of course), we splashed some egg wash on the perimeter of the wontons to serve as an adhesive. That being said, they all pretty much stuck together.

We boiled them two or so at a time and generously piled on the sauce for the end result: Perfect blend of veggies with starch and dairy to complement our big run. Thankfully there are leftovers which I actually intend to share. This is worth noting because it is very rare.

AND THEN THE BEST PART:

APPLE CRISP. Here we have eight apples with a crisp topping. I added some ice cream for good measure and BAM!

Bummer - this picture does not do the dessert justice. Apologies for my complete lack of photography skills. Anyways, it was good and that's all there is to know.

So then fast forward through a regular bowl of oatmeal with a banana for breakfast and the remainder of the spaghetti pie for lunch (with fig newtons and another coke...crap!) and arrive at dinnertime. We stir-fried a handful of veggies with some rice for a low-key dinner. The "meat" of the dish was a return to tempeh.

So this was another great post-run meal because I ran to work today. And back. My bag was a little heavy in the morning and slightly lighter this afternoon and I made it back at a good clip. This racks up just over 10 miles in the past 24 hours so I'm going to take it easy tomorrow and Saturday but am still stoked for this boost in my triathlon training!

Off to indulge in more apple crisp with ice cream! Later!

Grilled Cheese WITH APPLES?!

2009-09-16T13:38:00.003-04:00

B-May had this brilliant idea. We've been trying to incorporate apples into our meals since we acquired this numerous collection Monday. I have been successful - apples spread over pancakes from the last post, sliced apples in grilled cheese, and an apple straight up for a snack after dinner at work last night.

So back up. I love grilled cheese. One of those things that never left from my childhood. Second, I love apples. Yet I never considered the combination of the two! So a sincere thanks to B-May for this inspiration she nonchanantly quipped to me on her way out the door yesterday.

Today marks the second lunch of grilled cheese and apples and I am loving it!

I should also note that beside the cheese, all the ingredients are pretty darn healthy. Being the bread-eater in the house, I often select the type when we visit the store. This last time, I took home an oatmeal scotch bread. While it does faintly resemble breakfast in taste, I would have a hard time distinguishing it from whole wheat. Which brings me to my next point: I think that white bread (from the grilled cheeses of yore) is boring. Bring on the wheat, the seeds, the grains, the whatevers. I like flavor with my starch and this is just the beginning. Hooray for expansion of options!

Just bought an Arthea Franklin disc from Bullmoose down the street. She is amazing.

That's it for now, going out to research the city pool and try to talk them into letting me swim without switching my driver's license for a righteous discount. But tonight! Tonight we make ravioli's from scratch and APPLE PIE! Fall isn't here according to the calendar but it sure as hell is here in the heart!

Day of Awesomeness

2009-09-15T09:41:00.006-04:00

So right after my last post, B-May and I whipped up some dinner. And it was literally whipped up in a food processor - B-May made pesto from scratch and we enjoyed spinach almond pesto pasta. Unfortunately it was a brightly colored dinner in a brightly colored dish so it doesn't pop nearly as well as it did for my taste buds:

In a more common theme of this blog, I have to say that yesterday was gorgeous! And in keeping with our enthusiasm to embrace these days, B-May and I were up early (though not that early) and out for a day of activities!

With the day ahead of us, we fueled up on oatmeal filled with pumpkin puree and cinnamon and other spices for a delicious pre-run breakfast.

Without being too full, we set off for the Rockingham Trail, a multi-use bike path running from nearby Newfields all the way to Manchester. Apparently it's 25 miles long one-way, but we had some pressing events in our calendar and decided on an out-and-back of...7 miles! The farthest we've ever run! It was amazing cruising down the old railroad bed, completely alone in a beautiful wilderness with only a few quiet country road crossings. I should admit that my feet took an absolute beating on the rocky portions since I was wearing my ruby red slippers but when not negotiating crushed stones the size of sharply cut golf balls, I felt great.

When we finished our run, we were neither tired nor sore. Amazing! With minimal time to spare, we headed down the road to Applecrest Farm for some P.Y.O. (pick your own) apples. For $15 we trotted across the road and into a vast orchard of apple trees, their branches drooping to the ground under the weight of enormous Macintosh apples!

We figured for the price of the peck, we could allow ourselves a freebie snack - the first thing we ate since our run. Look at size of these things!

Just a selection of our bounty for the day. We filled the bag to the brim and then some. Now of course the challenge is eating the lot before they go bad.

With a pressing dentist appointment in Massachusetts, B-May and I stopped for a picnic at the center of Hampton Falls. I award myself points for modifying my summer sandwich staple: In addition to turkey and swiss cheese, I added red pepper hummus, baby spinach leaves, and guacamole from the other night. All this on an Arnold's Thin and I was quite content with my lunch! I got suckered into a 16oz, 99-cent can of Coca-Cola to wash it all down but did not come close to finishing. It's for the better.

When we got back from Massachusetts, it was classic afternoon snacktime. Here's my idea of it:

A chocolate frappe! Mixed up the remaining ice cream in the freezer with chocolate syrup and skim milk. We figured that we really didn't eat enough given the amount of running we did so it was unanimously allowed to indulge accordingly.

We met up with my folks who were "camping" (actually, one could google "glamping" instead) and they took us out to dinner. I easily put down a plate of "rashers" - pork tenderloin with asparagus and potatoes - not to mention a generous helping of onion rings and cheese fondue for appetizers.

This morning, B-May reminded me of leftovers from her and couple friends' recent visit to "The Friendly Toast." Chocolate chip banana peanut butter pancakes. They're called "The King" after some delicacy enamored by and perhaps invented by Elvis Presley himself.

Put some apple slices on top for good measure to mark the beginning of our assault on the plethora of apples we picked. Excellent breakfast!

Off to read in the park on this beautiful day. Later!

Ups and Downs

2009-09-13T20:56:00.009-04:00

Good evening!

On Saturday B-May and I ran a race! Well, it was a race for the snot-nosed kids from Exeter High School who chidded obnoxious interruptions throughout the 5k. They probably been forced to run it by their teachers or more likely their coaches but we were not forced and we were not forced to CRUSH IT! In a driving rain we ran the fastest 5k times either of us had ever run. I finished in just over 26 minutes and B-May kept me in her sights the entire time and came across the line about a minute and a half behind me. It's very encouraging for us to consider the improvements we have made on our times and our running overall. Tomorrow we are planning on a six mile "trail run" not too far from the house. The key of course is confidence - the belief that twice the distance of what we ran yesterday, is attainable.

So that's the news from the running front. Everything is going well with the Five Fingers and I've never felt stronger before, during or after any run. I realize it's a combination of the shoes but mostly my gait and stride which have been so radically altered it's still a little awkward.

Pretty soon I will start swimming at the city pool. I'm excited to finally put my money where my mouth is.

And with a healthy bit of cycling (just tipped over 1,000 miles of riding this summer) that completes the triathlon update.

Now, the bad news. After my leisurely ride and last post, B-May (and I, sort of) made a pie of spaghetti! There was a combination of cheese sauces and pasta and tomato sauces and everything else I have since forgotten (I finished the last leftover for lunch today).

THEN we decided that it was necessary to hop on down to the local Hannaford for some ice cream. And then we ate it. Stupid, but amazing.

I partied Thursday night (which is a gross understatement) and had a few more beers last night with some friends from out of town. In addition to $1 PBRs at a pub in Dover, I created a debt of nearly an entire bag of chips and a tub of salsa to a buddy after raiding his fridge early Friday morning.

Hooray! Hangover food. Initially a breakfast sandwich (egg and cheese) before the lighter fare of toast for my pissed off stomach.

With such a void in my healthy lifestyle I will spare the reader and myself the rigors of food accounting. Instead, here's a slew of pictures of with sparse captions!

Post-race food from Me and Ollies! Bagels with cream cheese and a cup of coffee. Here's a muffin from Caffe Killim (sp?) down the street from us. It was delicious and cheap! I got a cup of coffee - freshly brewed Turkish Blend - as well on this stop from earlier this weekend. Delicious and cheap indeed!Hooray again! This time for the end of Eggo waffles. With no intentions of buying more, that's the last of this long-time habit. The horizon is filled with healthy alternatives!

Later!

Leisurely Ride

2009-09-09T09:23:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I decided that on my ride to work that I would not break a sweat. Just enjoy a smooth and calm (despite traffic!) ride to work. I wore jeans and made no effort to look the part of cyclist with all the gear necessary to pass for the role. The reason I bring this up is to illustrate that we sometimes need to just take it easy. Especially when it comes to exercise. I once read in Bicycling Magazine a column that encouraged its readers to strip their bike of a cyclocomputer and just ride without knowing how far or how fast you're going. The emphasis was enjoying the act of riding a bicycle and not just using it as a means of churning lactic acid. Perhaps it was the lingering effects of my speed 5k earlier in the day but I gotta say, it felt right just enjoying the bicycle for the beautiful and wonderfully efficient machine it is. And the ride home from work - at 10pm there are almost no cars on the backroads of Portsmouth and I enjoyed an equally calming and quiet ride home as well.

For the most part, I am content with my food intakes yesterday. Shortly after my last post, I broiled up the leftover slices of Saturday's pizza and the remaining black bean burger. In addition to actual hamburger roles (all white baby!) from my folks' BBQ, I paired up the burger with some grilled veggies - asparagus, peppers, onions and others I am not able to name:

I must report also that after my lunch before I set off on my leisurely cruise to work, I had such a craving for chocolate. But willpower prevailed! I had a glass of water and brushed my teeth - another remedy to discount the sweet tooth - and off I went.

For dinner I made a pathetic lemon-pepper chicken sandwich with a slice of cheese melted on top. Again, leftovers from the BBQ. It was of course delicious though lacking in much flavor. Fortunately I was enveloped in my reading of Under the Banner of Heaven too much to notice until now, really. This sad excuse for a sandwich went with a corn salsa that ALSO came from the BBQ. Lots of leftovers!

Then, on my ride home I asked B-May to nuke a slice of my aunt's birthday cake ALSO from the BBQ. While we watched the entire first disc of the fifth season of The Office I had that with some milk and later a beer. Then I broke down with another sweet tooth craving, so inconsolable I succumbed to a package of Funny Bones. Terrible little treats but reminiscent of my childhood and while "comfort food" is not a label I can attach to them, every once in a while I pick up this cheap snack at the corner store.

Breakfast this morning was less than enchanting - eggs and toast. Thought I should get a move on the eggs before they go bad - B-May and I have been pretty good about now throwing away food since our move. Gotta keep it up!

Later!

Bleh bleh bleh

2009-09-08T11:39:00.004-04:00

In the immortal words of Snoopy, "bleh." It's been a while since I've written and my frustration comes from the emptiness of something I thought I had: willpower. Willpower is the very basis of my training and a clear alternative to the name of this blog. Willpower wakes me up in the morning and gets me up to speed on training runs. Willpower prevents me from eating a bowl of ice cream right before going to bed. Willpower finds me on my bike to commute rather than my car. And willpower should have been the device and means to keep me updating this project daily. Granted, it's a minor slip but since I've last updated, I have no photos to show and no good news for my inner food accountant. (To be fair to myself, there is one exception which is posted below.) That being said,

Labor Day Weekend was just lovely. B-May and I entertained a friend of mine, Liz, from high school on Saturday night and we went out for pizza and beer. Not just any pizza though - a Mayor Foley at Portsmouth Gaslight Co. Delicious veggie pie accented throughout with a sweet tomato sauce. Mental note: buy sweet tomato sauce.

The next morning the three of us had a couple slices of toast each and shortly thereafter set out for a three mile run. We got the loop right this time - and finished just above 30 minutes. We felt like we were going fast but apparently we weren't. My Vibram Five Fingers which I will hereafter refer to as "Ruby Red Slippers" have proven their worth. I worry that my gait is relapsing back to a heel strike, but with this morning's run (fast forward two days for a second here) I am not so worried. More on that in a second.

So B-May went to work but not before a cup of Breaking New Grounds coffee, Costa Rican La Minita - perfect. Liz and I walked everywhere in the city. Portsmouth was once again blessed with a beautiful, temperate day. We break-ed once for lunch at Me and Ollie's where I had a turkey chipotle BBQ sandwich and a (stupid) soda. I most assuredly will get that sandwich again so stay tuned for some digital artwork of its crunchy, saucy construction.

After four hours of walking, we stopped in at Popovers for a lethal slice of carrot cake and a much-needed bottle of water. Waiting for B-May I tried Liz's Frozen Cappuccino which was delicious very very much. B-May caught up with us as we soaked up the afternoon people-watching. She couldn't tame her own craving for something hot and sweet and soon walked out with a chai latte. In her own words, "I'm addicted."

That night we dropped off Liz where she was staying with another friend in Massachusetts and the two of us headed to our respective folks' houses for the night. Around an enchanting fire in my backyard I toasted some marshmallows and even though I followed the sweets with a warming bowl of oatmeal, I couldn't talk myself out of a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate sauce (FAILURE) as my Dad and I played Wii Sports Resort to the midnight hour.

Woke up to some comfort food - pancakes and milk - and helped prepare the house for the BBQ that afternoon. With the help of good friends from college and B-May, I snacked on shrimp cocktails, ginger ale, orange soda, veggies with all sorts of dip and tortilla chips with four different salsas and of course guacamole. That was unfortunately just the snacking but thankfully my folks are Weight-Watchers-driven and the following meal of lemon spiced and teriyaki chicken with grilled veggies and orzo salad was entirely from Weight Watchers cookbooks. We of course roasted a few more marshmallows and put together a couple S'mores and we all shared our first Octoberfest from Samuel Adams of the season.

Overall, I had two wonderful days, nearly both of which spent entirely outside. Between walking all over Portsmouth to hundreds of cannonballs and diving practice in the pool with friends, I was more than content.

Today B-May and set off for another 5k in the neighborhood. My misjudgement of distance resulted in times that measured a run that was only 3.0 miles and not the 3.1 we expect to do on Saturday at Exeter High School's Kick'n Into Gear 5k Road Race. Regardless, I think we did pretty darn good. For myself, I gunned it. I shouldn't have as my calves are hating me for it but I wanted to see what was possible. Well, here's the result: 24:56 in 3.0 miles. Without question, my best effort. And B-May was delighted to see that she completed the same distance in just under 30 minutes when she felt she was going slower than usual. Cheers to both of us!

Okay, so now that I'm all caught up, I do have this to share: earlier last week I ambitiously made my own black bean and corn burgers! Check it out!

(Which is more or less what I made sans some ingredients and the relish. Over it)

So the mixture, as it was coming along, looked like it lacked a bit of moisture so I improvised!

Here they are before the grill and to my surprise, they retained their shape nicely!

The finished product. Toss on spinach with a liberal dab of BBQ sauce with some applesauce and my soda substitute and you have one delicious, healthy lunch! Oo-rah!

Later!

Crushing it!

2009-09-04T12:16:00.002-04:00

Okay, so first the bad news: we didn't run an entire 5K because the roads of Portsmouth can be very confusing and my calves were sore and my arches were feeling it hardcore after my run the other night. (Been a while since an update!) Good news: we were crushing it! Seriously, we put two miles down in fifteen minutes. That is by far the best time we've ever run. Ever! A friend at work suggested that my quickened pace was the result of a placebo effect stemming from the new "shoes" and while I am inclinced to agree, I would argue that a shortened stride and better, more natural form were the major contributors. And the cherry on top of the whole experience: I could have quite going. It was sweet. Now of course, I must consider the effects of this super-run on my calves which are straining to re-learn how to run altogether. I blocked out yesterday and today to allow for rest and stretching. I should be up for a short jog either tomorrow or a longer, three to five mile trip on Sunday. We'll see!

To remain on the topic of triathlons and requiste training, I have begun research into joining the local YMCA for the winter season. Funds are of course, a limiting factor but with small sacrifices here and there, I think I'll be able to pull it off.

So more bad news: we tore it up the night of the run. And my tore it up, I mean went to a Scotch and Pizza party hosted by a co-worker in Dover. From there, we hiked down to a local barroom to see the jazz man rip on some funk well into the night. Got home by roughly midnight but not before drawing myself the total hypocrite, and succumbing to the craving of:

Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream from Ben and Jerry's. A terrible failure that had me questioning if I would ever wake up from my food coma. As it turned out, I would rather toil in and out of consciousness than endure the day at work that followed the next morning.

Perhaps it was the full moon, but just the weirdest stuff happened at work. I will omit all the details in the interest of retaining a dwindling interest in this very blog, but it was thoroughly exhausting and stressful. But as they always do, the day promised to be a good one. I haven't got a photo but I enjoyed a bowl of oatmeal with bananas and cinnamon for breakfast. B-May has got me hooked on oatmeal for breakfast. I'm all for it! Lunch was leftover "mexican" - our concoction of turkey meat, spices and veggies. Finished with some Yorks and found it difficult to swallow as I got into my newest read: Under the Banner of Heaven. Written by Jon Krakauer, it's a story about Mormonism and the schismatic sects that split from the core church and their adherence to the long-deposed tenet of polygamy. It's gut-wrenching at times, particularly when relating the main storyline of a vicious murder committed to fulfill a spiritual vision. Anyways,

B-May and I hosted a college buddy for the night and we headed down Route 1 to Wings Your Way where, we ingested a pitcher of beer and perfect recipe for another food coma. I had an enormous chicken tender/ranch dressing wrap with onion rings and did more than my share of finishing 20 wings. As it turned out, we were home by 830 and from the combination of grease, beer, and weirdness that defined the day, I was asleep by 930.

Today so far has been wonderful. B-May cooked up a special helping of oatmeal with vanilla, bananas, pecans, and peanut butter for a perfect breakfast - it was just missing milk. So, within thirty minutes of cleaning the dishes, I was off to get groceries. I realized that I failed on this trip on two fronts: fruits and vegetables. The very basis of Taming the Craving and I haven't got the slightest clue about what to buy, or if depending on price and ripeness or seasonal availability. One of my goals is to develop a stronger sense of autonomy concerning this aisle of the grocery store especially and I totally dropped the ball today. Oh well, there's plenty of time for education and with fall around the corner, I'm confident a love for apples and cider donuts will make it a null point!

Apologies for so much text and lack of pictures. But let's be serious, the only one that mattered and that would remembed is already posted. (Thank you vermont!) So I'm mulling over what to make for lunch...

Later!

Picnics and Perishables

2009-09-02T08:26:00.009-04:00

Did you see yesterday?! It was gorgeous! Absolutely beautiful day and a killer one to spend outside. B-May and I made the most of it but spent a considerable amount of time in the car. It was alright because we did some pretty cool stuff. But even before we set out for a journey for the day, check this out:

We had a couple peaches leftover from our picking on Sunday and decided it was do or die for the remaining fruits. B-May mashed them up into a pancake/waffle batter and added some pecans! Brilliant! Delicious homemade waffles with a little bit of a crunch and sweet, fruity aftertaste. Totally recommended that you steal that idea.

Just remembered we stopped in town to take care of a few errands and picked up a Costa Rican La Minita coffee at Breaking New Grounds. Not bad at all!

Our adventure took us to the SEE Science Center in Manchester. We are considerable fans of the Museum of Science in Boston and looked forward to what our new state, New Hampshire had to offer. Upon arrival, we saw kids running around, kids crying and kids playing with the mostly "hands-on" exhibits at the Science Center. For reasons below, we coughed up the admission fee and sauntered in. Here's a quick review of the fun stuff we found:

First: build an arch. I've never done this before. It was totally awesome to see opposing forces hold together this ancient staple of architecture. As I said to B-May, I don't know science, but what I do know, I love it! The Science Center presented its guests with a number of these puzzles like the arch from before. The challenge here was to stack 14 bolts on the singular red one. We cheated after an embarrassingly short time and were quite impressed with the solution that called for this peculiar construction.

And here is a photo of B-May levitating a ball! It was under a scientific leaf blower and challenged us to float two balls at once. That didn't happen. We're such amateurs.

Then there were these two chairs that reduced one's body weight to either a fifth or a seventh. B-May is seen above pulling her own weight up. It was rather simple. Yet, when she tried to pull me up the same chair but at a different angle than where I was sitting, this resulted:

...she fell down. It was cute though. So from my vantage at the top of the pulleys, I could see the exhibit we really came to the Science Center for. A re-creation of the old mills in Manchester made entirely out of...LEGOs!!!

As a lifelong enthusiast of LEGOs courtesy of an enabling grandmother, I was truly taken back by the sheer scale and size of this project. I won't ramble on about it, but I cannot recommend it highly enough. Seriously, incredible.

So the plan was to find a place to have a picnic lunch in the city and then go explore some of Manchester. Perhaps we did something wrong but...nothing did look worthy of exploring and the parks were less than appealing. Maybe we're just close-minded, or spoiled by our home in Portsmouth but we split town soon after. Driving back on 101 we exited towards Epping, hoping for another quiet town to enjoy a picnic in a park or something. Remember how beautiful it was? We just wanted to get outside. But alas, we drove through Epping in too short a while and through a series of backroads, ended up in Exeter again which proved a fine backdrop to the day and a nice place for lunch on a blanket.

Before we got to this parkway (I guess that's what it technically is), we stopped at a sandwich shop which is sure to make a bigger appearance in this blog soon enough - I forget the name for now. Picked up some chips and a soda to complement my chicken, mushroom, tomato, zucchini, and spinach sandwich, served up on a deliciously crumbly Arnold Multi-Grain Sandiwch Thin.

So yea, there's a Coke in the picture but I rarely have them and damn their marketing - it seemed like a cool refreshing summer drink. Anyways, we hightailed it back to town and stopped at a bakery to find that their pastries were running two for the price of one so late in the afternoon. Well of course we'll take two! They are pictured a little further down.

After we got back, we decided the day was still too wonderful to sit inside and so we walked down to Four Tree Island where I started reading Born to Run in order to do a little reading of our own. We left when our toes got too cold for comfort. Came back and threw together the main ingredient B-May was concerned was going to go bad: turkey meat. She had been thawing it for some time and we fried it with some leftover rice from the stuffed eggplant and a slew of veggies from corn to black beans and a hint of salsa with all sorts of wonderful spices to end up with this!

We love eating out of bowls and so we rightly filled up on this Mexican-inspired solution to thawing meat. I decided it was the kind of hearty meal that called for more carbohydrates and had a Tuckerman Ravine Pale Ale. An excellent combination but I left room for the pastries from that afternoon:

We're looking at a raspberry turnover and an apple/raisin/raspberry strudel. Washed it down with some decaffeinated green tea and enjoyed a quiet evening of research on weekend activities while watching the Red Sox.

And for today, I had one and a half of the remaining peach and pecan waffles with some milk. Spent the day working with my parents on my Gram's house in South Portland, Maine where we enjoyed Amato's for lunch. I haven't got a photo but I wolfed down a foccacia (sp?) turkey sandwich loaded with veggies. Gram also had some un-salted potato chips so I had a couple of those too.

After leaving, we stopped at The Maine Running Company where I picked up my newest toy: Vibram Five Fingers. I won't elaborate until after my run this afternoon but I anticipate some wonderful and wonderfully weird things to happen!

Running!

2009-08-31T21:04:00.006-04:00

Holy crap! B-May and I just went for a killer run. Well, it's of course all relative what makes a run killer but I have never successfully run 50 minutes. Which I totally did today! Not only that, but I felt really really good. Seriously, no labored breathing, no aching feet, legs, etc. No heaving chest or cramps of any kind. And I wore Chuck Taylors! Incredible. Maybe there is something to this ancient practice of running...B-May took me to Newcastle (Island?) just before dark. Perhaps it was a bit longer than we should have struck out for given the receding daylight but it was cool and a welcome breeze was coming off the bay always at the right moments. In the end, the longest run of my short running career was my by far my favorite.

For the record, B-May and I started running last summer as the remedy for a summer of lethargy and recooperation from the rigors of college - tests and tequila. We signed up for a 5K in Somerville, MA and started training just about a year ago today. We ran intervals, juggling walking and running. Throughout the fall and some of the winter, we ran a monthly event usually somewhere in Boston. Well, now another season begins and we are 100% stronger than last year and hoping to really kill it. Should. be. awesome.

So today I tried to have a green tea with my breakfast of Eggo's. (Ooops.) Instead, I was running a little later than I thought so I gave it to B-May. At work, I snacked briefly on cereal and a sizeable Gatorade that I got yesterday to remedy the festivities from two nights ago.

Cold and refreshing. Apparently these things are really not that good for you but I like the purple ones regardless. Lunch was pizza leftovers and the standard granola bar with two Yorks. I'm pretty sure I'm out of bars and running low on the Yorks. Add it to the list!

Rode my bike home and soon after headed out with B-May for the run above and prepared a unique dinner (for me, at least).

Stuffed eggplants. Never thought I'd be that guy eating stuffed eggplants. Let alone actually liking it! She chiseled out two eggplants and added the guts to a bed of vegetables in a stir-fry with a healthy dose of garlic. It was baked for twenty minutes with some cheese drizzled on top just before taking it out. Really, I must admit, it was quite good. "Clean plate club" to quote everyone's youth. We have two other "boats" for leftovers and I'm looking forward to it for tomorrow's dinner. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I pulled out a couple Ghiradelli Milk Chocolates (four makes a serving!) with some cold skim milk and I believed that successfully tamed the craving.

And just because I miss my dog, Kasey, so much, here's a photo!

A Few Steps Backwards...

2009-08-30T20:33:00.005-04:00

In the time since my last post, I have acquired a coach for my triathlons. He has bestowed on me that I need to buy and wear and train in a Speedo. It's "where we separate the men from the boys" he says. He told me more importantly though, that I need to get serious.

And I will, I promise. But with the training and the fact I'm by no means a couch potato (except for Saturday morning ), I can allow myself some...cookies...for example! So on Friday, I had an extremely productive morning cleaning and preping the apartment for visitors on Saturday (see below) and went for a quick two mile run. Not trying to break any records but with a new gait and reverting to simple shoes, I'm working different muscle groups than ever before. I actually caught the name of them, one being the solius. The other - I forget. Bottom line, I felt amazing! I gave high-fives to little children and just kept running! My breathing was light and I finished not from exhaustion but rather erring on the side of caution and not running myself too thin too quickly. How good of me! Then with time to spare, I walked to work! It was wonderful not rushing to the whims of traffic, be it on a bike or a car. I munched on this very plain sandwich and a can of Arizona Iced Tea during my trip.

Boring but it was satisfying and filling. Three hours later, I took my break at work and munched on this:

Cheeseburger casserole with a seltzer water. Quite good and also very filling. I'll post the recipe later when I find it. B-May has a voluminous collection of recipes so it may take me a while to dig it all up. So after this meal I'm feeling pretty serious about healthy eating and enjoying the feeling of having exercised and accepting a ride home from a co-worker in another effort of going green. Then when I got home, B-May and decided on these: Peanut butter oatmeal cookies! Amazing. Found the recipe online and cut out the shortening to make them a little lighter than they were intended to be. Correction: B-May says we didn't use shortening because we don't have it. She's reading over my shoulder. It's. awkward.

Got to bed at a reasonable hour looking forward to another bright and healthy day. Alas, it was not to be.

Well, here's a little bit of a tease. Oats and honey cereal (dry, naturally) with a couple slices of toast and for the first time ever, a half of grapefruit. After a blunderous attempt, how the hell do you eat these things? It's all grounded up into a pulp and juice got all collected at the bottom and it would have been a terrible mess had it not been for a spoon. So then, in my defense it was a terribly rainy day (I haven't ridden my bike to work since Thursday) and I planted myself in front of the PS2 for the morning. While blasting away stormtroopers I sipped a freshly grounded El Salvador Matalapas from Portsmouth's trendiest coffeeshop Breaking New Grounds. Fantastic. Then...

I spent too much time potato-ing on the couch and was nearly late for work. Had to eat lunch though, so, dammit.

I won't show the gory details, but yup. Fast food. It totally sucked! I was craving mushrooms or something but it seemed like a good idea at the time. And it always does. Stupid move that I paid for the rest of the night. With a complete lack of appetite I only put down a couple Combos and some more peanut butter oatmeal cookies.

Got home from work and found two good friends sitting around the table drinking beers! (And wine too for one). B-May and I commenced a night of revelry that brought us from the apartment to the brewery to two closed bars and then back to the apartment for the remainder of the cookies (and there were a lot) which I pretty much singlehandedly finished. Cheez-its, cookies, bread - they all fell victim to the festivities.

Breakfast today was out at Popovers for the nominal popover and a breakfast sandwich I would have enjoyed more if I couldn't taste beer in every unwanted burp. At work, finally finished up the salmon and pasta with all sorts of veggies and granola bar. It's pretty much a staple but it's not the step backwards I've been wrestling with this weekend.

Good stuff, again would have enjoyed it more if I didn't have residue of Tums on my teeth. Got home and B-May and I made this return to the wonderful!All's well that ends well! From L-R: Veggie Pizza with onions, zucchini, tomato sauce, and mushrooms. To the right, BBQ Chicken pizza with red onions and Sweet Baby Rays sauce. I have to get better about writing daily because it's no fun for anyone to read a litany of food accounting. Right now, B-May is pushing me to try a cookie. Taming the craving be damned when a beautiful woman asks you to try a scrumptuous cookie! Thankfully though, for the integrity of this blog, she rarely plays the role of the temptress.

Later!

Got some catching up to do!

2009-08-28T10:21:00.009-04:00

Before I get into the food accounting, I have to say this: Buy/borrow/steal and then READ Born to Run. This book has changed my life as an athlete, runner and a human being. Christopher McDougall is a phenomenal writer with a gift for making complicated subjects accessible to his reader. Throughout the text, he delves into the history of mankind and its parallel (and he later shows, necessary) relationship to running. He introduces the (willingly) lost tribe of the Tarahumara, deep in the recesses of Mexico's Copper Canyon, a hellhole ridden with drug cartels, deadly animals and a "masochistic spirit of the canyon" that breaks down the will and logic of its visitors, often with fatal results. Yet through this landscape of violence and desolation exist the world's best runners. The book tells of their culture, and their discovery by anxious Americans looking to capitalize on their wisdom and skill. In conjunction with the narrative lie of the most enlightening pages ever to be penned on the subject of running. We as humans, he writes, were literally born to run. Google "persistence hunt" to understand how homo sapiens triumphed (read: survived) over our much stronger and bulkier cousins, the neanderthals. It's fascinating.

Right, enough book review. More on that later. So on a scale of one to ten of my approval of what I ate throughout the last four days, I would give myself a six. There's no need to laboriously include every morsel from the missing days, especially because in my amateur efforts at blogging, I have forgotten to photograph almost everything. Granted this comes with some arrogant assumption that the reader is heavily invested in appearance and presentation of what I am eating. Arrogant indeed. So I will give you the 5 Best and 5 Worst:

5 Best: (in no particular order)

Veggie burger w/sweet potato fries while out my brother and his friends.
Ziti with tukery meat, veggies and light cream sauce.
Discovery of seltzer water as a substitute for soda that even my dentist would be proud of.
York Peppermint Patties instead of chocolate en masse. (see note below)
General abstinence from Eggo's.

and now, the 5 Wost: (also in no particular order)

7 (or was it 8?) beers with several Chewy Chips Ahoy cookies.
3 popovers with specially fattened maple butter the following morning.
1 1/2 Pepsi with aforementioned veggie burger.
Pigging out at B-May's family BBQ on too much bruschetta and ice cream.
Indulgence of 3 Eggo's yesterday morning due to laziness.

Whew! Got that off my chest. So I had some serious ups and downs. My excuse this time: having just moved into the Portsmouth area and my first apartment I am all too eager to show off the place and its many fine drinking establishments to frequent visitors. Perhaps I should post photos of those adventures as they would be much more interesting than a bowl of oatmeal, no matter how many fruits and sugars inside...

So, on the matter of Yorks (forgive my conversation with myself here), I have theorized this favorite mint candy of my youth to be an excellent means of taming the craving. Like many, I have an inconsolable sweet tooth after a particularly lip-smacking meal. I now turn to Yorks for a combination of dark chocolate and the minty after-taste of just brushing one's teeth. It's a great way to curb further hunger and satisfy that desire for chocolate. Try it out!

Okay, so yesterday was beautiful. B-May had an interview in the city, so I pigged out on three Eggos for breakfast. Weak, I know. But then we took off for a hike/trail run up Mount Agamenticus in Maine! Awesome place, gorgeous summit with the ocean to one side of you, the White Mountains looming in the distance just opposite. We're planning on heading back every season, so when the leaves start to turn, I'll post some foliage photos.

So on the way home, we stopped at a store for When Pigs Fly bread. Amazing. A woman behind the counter was all too eager to let us try every style and flavor that we almost got full. Ended up purchasing a six-grain pumpkin seed loaf:

Wonderfully fresh and flavorful. It formed the basis for my lunch, this excellent sandwich:

I guess it would be better called a panini but in this monster, I've got spinach, mushrooms, two slices of cheese and some turkey meat. Filled me up (with some applesauce, comme toujours) but didn't put me over the edge. Thanks to When Pigs Fly for a great product and no thanks for the headache I got from too many fine choices at the store. I wanted them all.

Enter another bout of amateur blogger excuses for no photo of my dinner but it was a cheeseburger casserole I'm pretty sure I'll be finishing tonight at work. I'll put up the recipe tomorrow - very good and filling for my often-empty stomach. I topped it off with some Yorks and a granola bar later in the evening in an attempt to hold me over till bed.

Failure.

You know much I wanted this knowing full well it was bad for me, and that I not only heated up this amazing and deadly cake but took the time to photograph it as well. I probably should have had milk instead of beer but I am a terrible pushover. B-May helped me eat the cake so it's not entirely my bad.

At last! Today for breakfast, I enjoyed more of the bread from yesterday, making toast, for the first time since college, the centerpiece of my meal.

I didn't particularly dig the shredded wheat like I assured B-May I would. Even with milk, it sort of sucked. Lesson learned. Lastly, so it wouldn't go bad, I had to heat up the last popover and sather it with butter. I get weak for popovers. But you would too.

That's it and that's all for now. Out for a run with Christopher McDougall's revelation ringing clearly in my head. I'm greatly looking forward to it!

Later!

Summer Reading

2009-08-24T12:05:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the gorgeous afternoon of quiet, reading time I was hoping for. I walked down to the ocean as planned though foolishly anticipating swells from Hurricane Bill. Little did I realize that swells are only on the open ocean and I was simply in the bay. Ooops, but a wonderful setting regardless. I got in a long, hot walk and had an opportunity to feel the grass under my feet, something I've been lacking since I moved into the city and all around me is concrete. I decided not to sit at the table but rather in the shade. It was a good move.

Ugh, I am feeling uninspired writing this. I think it's because I'm wrapped up in Born to Run and the fact that it's so damn good, I can't stop reading/thinking about it. Anyways, here is a sliced peach that was too early for consumption as it had the consistency of an apple but i ate it anyway. Delicious despite my ignorance. B-May later told me how to find the good ones. But I thought they all were good ones?

Anyways, she got home from work and before we set out to see Grease in the park, we agreed on making gnochhi with ricotta, tomato sauce and a helping of veggies. It was also DELICIOUS and I was filled so much that impossibly there were leftovers. Thankfully, it was my only opportunity to photograph this delicious dish, so here it is:

Got rained out of the show and had a few cookies (they're almost gone!) and a beer before reading well into the night. This book is fascinating. Really.

Right, so for breakfast today, after an invigorating four-mile run, we prepared oatmeal with all the fixin's! Added some peanut butter, half a banana, brown sugar and a pinch (or three) of cinnamon. Quite good and a possible departure from waffles on a more permanent basis. We'll see. Washed it all down with frigidly cold milk and have been nursing an Arizona Iced Tea for the majority of the morning. It's not tea actually, it's half lemonade with half-tropical. Whatever that is. But it's not tea.

Off to a BBQ at B-May's folks' tonight to mark the end of their summer before returning to school as teachers. Should be a very colorful meal as they never disappoint!

A man of his word!

2009-08-23T12:42:00.004-04:00

So I didn't get too drunk last night! Great fire and excellent beer with new friends made for a pretty good night. I should thank the birthday boy for letting me on this record I'm listening to: Freddie Hubbard's Straight Life. Awesome stuff. So let's do a little recollection work here...

Lunch was not the hummus wrap I was anticipating. Rather, with the two leftover pieces of bread from yesterday's french toast, I threw together a turkey and cheese sandwich per usual. Then of course, I got thinking about this blog and in an effort to balance it out with some veggies, I added quite a bit of spinach. B-May is not the biggest fan of this particular type from Hannaford but I don't mind it much at all. Just for good measure to make the piece come together I included a couple dabs of BBQ sauce and set it up on the George Foreman. God bless that man. What an invention, and what a delicious sandwich! It totally held me over until I got to dive into this:

Yep! Ziti with spinach, zucchini and summer squash (and maybe some tomatoes? I forget). Quite good and had all the vegetarians at work turning heads until they saw the substance of the dish: turkey meat. Excellent, filling dinner that prepped me for a little lot of drinking that night.

So while I ate all sorts of little snacks from cookies, to crackers to Oreo combinations, I did not get out of hand on that front or the beer consumption. We heard some more jazz from the fellows in the basement of the party and set out soon after to start up a little fire which attracted party-goers like moths. Interesting...

Which brings me to now. Just got back from peach picking with B-May and her folks and we took home just over eight pounds of peaches for pies and fruity snacks. Before that put down two Eggos and a bowl of dry cereal with a tall glass of milk, none of these things worth the effort of uploading (or even photographing). I should have pictured a cider donut that I had two of with her folks and the Vitamin Water (hangover solution #34) also but I am lazy on this Sunday. Hot and humid all over again with a chance of showers. So before that happens, I'm going to set off to the ocean and consume a little bit of this new book I picked up from a co-worker: Born to Run by Christopher MacDougall. Book review to be posted soon.

Serious Grocery Run

2009-08-22T11:48:00.005-04:00

Despite the title of this blog, I should note that willpower has never been a difficult virtue for me to maintain. As a practicing Catholic for many years, I would regularly give up with ease the things I now crave and am trying to distance myself from - be it chocolate, ice cream or meat. Some years it was all three. Yet now that I have started training for serious athletic events, I find I am just hungrier than usual and my sweet tooth is insatiable. Thankfully though, B-May and I went on a serious grocery run today before breakfast. But first...

Yesterday was plagued by hot and humid weather and boring eats. I did manage a quick run despite the heat - just over 20 mins at a good clip. I had to stop with a heaving chest and a foolish case of early dehydration. Poor planning on my part. For a fix after the run, I had another hummus wrap - this one with spinach and...wait...nothing else. Poured myself a helping of applesauce and fried one egg without most of the yolk to hold me over until dinner.

For dinner I think I deserve either a pat on the back or an intervention to stop drinking cheap, cheap beer. Even though Thursday saw the intake of about six pints, I still had some spare cash set aside for the bar. Yesterday it would be used for the salad bar! Hooray finding leftover cash/using it for something 100% healthier than beer. Unfortunately, the salad bar was horrifically picked over and even for this newbie, the greens looked dry and bland. Thusly, I settled for a prepared salad which was decent but probably only because of the chunky blue cheese dressing. Here's a photo so all can avoid it if possible:

I honestly tried to find a vegetarian option but there was nothing but turkey or bacon. Now, I'm not a vegetarian but I don't eat any beef and I try to limit my general intake of animal as much as possible. Turkeys are an exception as they are incredibly stupid animals. They are so dumb that roofs must be built over their heads so they don't look up at the rain and drown.

True story.

Got home after a vicious and awesome thunder/electrical storm during work and made two more cookies and a glass of milk disappear. Oh, and another beer...

But now the tide turns in the direction I had been hoping for! During commercial breaks of Survivorman we sifted through some Cooking Light cookbooks and methodically planned out our meals for the next week or so. On the horizon, for example: BBQ chicken pizza, Gnocchi, sweet potato soup and stuffed eggplant in a concerted effort to have me learn to enjoy this elusive vegetable. We walked to the grocery store and for just over fifty bucks picked up all the necessary ingredients including a couple extras for me. (York Peppermint Patties to satisfy sweet tooth and store-brand granola bars for fallbacks to keep in my locker at work).

But then we got back and had FRENCH TOAST WITH BANANAS FOR BREAKFAST! WOO!

Now of course, lunch is approaching and I forsee another hummus wrap with the requiste applesauce and a cookie or two. But I am walking to work instead of riding so it should take a little longer and with this heat and humidity I'm sure to arrive five pounds lighter.

Tonight is a birthday party for the jazz-man we saw on Thursday and I am excited for two selling features in particular: a fresh keg of Red Hook ESB and a firepit. Can't be beat! Can't also get too drunk either as 1.) it is bad for the adherence to my training and 2.) B-May and I are going peach picking in the morning with her folks! Blueberries have been in season for sometime but peaches are where it's at! Back with photos of that for sure.

What the Hell is Tempeh?

2009-08-21T09:03:00.012-04:00

I've been meaning to post this but have been sidetracked and a million other excuses. Anyway, two nights ago, B-May served me a peculiar dish called tempeh. We did it up with some veggies - summer squash, zucchini, green peppers - and salsa to form little soy fajitas. This was my first big step towards what I am calling alternative eating. I should admit I was not too surprised to find that it was delicious! Hooray for tempeh and here's to another (soybean based product)! We munched on this stuff after a particularly hot and sweaty (keyword: sticky) day. I did manage to get a little 5k run in though. Though I didn't complete the loop entirely, it was probably for the better that I didn't try to willing succumb to heat stroke.

Okay, just wanted to make a special note of tempeh. Yesterday (I am already trying to catch up with this endeavor...) I spread out my breakfast choices and came up with this:

Here's my excuse: I worked in the morning knowing that I would not get lunch until at least 2pm. Tack on a bike ride to work (daily occurrence) and I get pretty hungry. Now I realize of course one scrambled egg, two slices of toast and a bowl of dry cereal is the course of a lousy diner but I found it quite reasonable for the order of my day. Half a banana is pretty weak also but I hate throwing food away so I perhaps I just ate it out of principle and not for potassium...

Regardless of my carb-itarian breakfast (just missing bagels, really) I brought along a blueberry muffin which I'm fairly certain held back no fatty anything because it was that good. Whoops, there's a glowing point of controversy that I am finding to be untrue: healthy foods are not all bad-tasting. I accept I sound like a third-grader refusing whole wheat crust on his grilled cheese but regarding my healthy living maturity I've got a long way to go. (Just re-read that, who says "bad-tasting?" Not. even. a. word.)

Lunch was especially delectable! It was so simple I can even post the recipe!

-a whole wheat tortilla
-liberal amounts of Garlic Lover's Hummus
-remaining grilled veggies from "What the Hell is Tempeh" night.

Add a whole bunch of applesauce (another third-grade connection...) and I was blissfully content with my first lunch in I don't know how long that didn't contain cheese, chicken or soup.

Notice the spork. That thing rules. It's made by Light My Fire and I've put it in near boiling water and it's not melted enough to make me delusional with plastic poisoning. The knife doesn't cut my mouth when I use the fork and it's red! Red is so visible at the bottom of my bag. Truly: simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.

Here's where it gets tricky for me. I'm trying to tame the crave (translation: mostly chocolate). I have a difficult time finishing a meal without some sort of chocolate fix. In my weakness I bought a Clif Mojo bar at work and ate half with my lunch and the other half before my ride home a few hours later.

Anyone who hasn't, by the way, should check out Clif Mojo bars. They are a very satisfying mixture of sweet and salty (this one with chocolate dipped on the bottom like cheap granola bars) and a perfect complement to a day-hike or cool-weather bike ride. Highly recommended.

Ugh, then the day went downhill. But not all of a sudden. B-May and I got invited over to a friend's for a BBQ and we brought along a couple veggie patties by Gardenburger called "VeggieMedley." Top it off with some grilled zucchini from Saturday's farmer's market and knock the whole effort down with a slice of American cheese for me. Burgers were quite good, zucchini was delicious and end scene for better living. Do a 180 and crack open two tall boy PBRs followed by three/four freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Repeat PBRs four more times and toss in two more cookies right before bed (with a liter of water, of course) and now you've arrived at my present desire to go for a run. I must say the night was accompanied by some top-notch jazz standards at the bar and made it all worth while. That and the fact PBRs are $2 a pop. Overpriced but this is not the venue for that debate.

Cool, I'm all caught up. Woke up without a hangover (huzzah water!) and just general lethargy. Perfect entrance for my breakfast staple: Eggo's with giant glass of skim milk. Does that really need a picture? You bet it does.

Yea, three Eggo's a day...is definitely one of the objectives of this blog. Rather, to break free from it. More on that later. Right now, I'm sipping leftover orange juice from a Dunkin Donuts run I don't know how long ago before attacking Mount Dishes that has been accumulating for a few days now. Time of attack:

now.