Broke Back Jon!

Looks like we have another snow day here in Boston! Man, I am telling you, the weather is crazy this year! I do not remember it being like this in the past. I mean it did not snow AT ALL before the holidays and then out of nowhere it will not stop! So another day of working out of the house.... Good thing I got my outside run in yesterday!

I ran with DreamFar after school yesterday and it was an interesting run. We had planned to go between 6-8 miles and run around the Jamaica Pond. We were supposed to run 3 times around the pond; however, our first lap around basically felt like we were ice skating! There was a huge sheet of ice around the whole pond.
So, the first 1.5-2 miles was HORRIBLE!!! All I could think about was not falling or breaking something.

Needless to say, we rerouted after that! We decided that the main roads were our best bet! So, we ran to Beacon Street, up to Cleveland Circle and then back to the high school. The road conditions improved a lot and the second half of the run was much better.

Unfortunately, I was so concerned with not killing myself that I forgot to hit my lap button on the Garmin, so I do not know the splits of each mile. But the total time for the run was 1 hour and 10 minutes and the total distance was 7.75 miles. I think we might have gone a tenth or two tenths more because my Garmin didn't start getting reception for a few minutes.

After my run, I hurried home because my brother and his friend were coming over for dinner. My brother had a little ski accident 2 weeks ago and fractured his spine ("Broke Back Jon"). I have not seen him since the accident, so I was anxious to have him over. Luckily, he is doing much better and has no permanent damage, but is in some pain and must wear a back brace.

I prepared my tiny apartment for the company:

And started with a UFO White

This beer was good, but not great. I used to LOVE wheat beers, but have been liking the Belgian beers better recently.

For dinner, Evan and I made Jenna's Chicken Parmesan with a twist recipe. It was really, really good! It was definitely a crowd pleaser.

On the side I made a large salad and had a fresh French Baguette.

Mmmmmmmmm

For my second beer I switched to a Harpoon Belgian Pale Ale. Much, much better!!!

Good Times!!

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Today I am hoping to be somewhat productive and work on a report for work. Not sure if I am going to take a rest day (It is VERY hard for me to "rest") or go to a yoga class. Not sure what's on the agenda for tonight, might meet Evan and a few of his work friends for drinks, but I am hoping I can get up to go running with DreamFar in the early morning tomorrow. We will see.............

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!!

Oops...Not quite at 100

So, I was doing a little recalculating and this is actually my 99th post and yesterday's post was my 98th  (not my 100th). When I sign in to "edit post" they tell me how many post I have done. Well, when I signed in yesterday it said "this is your 100th post." So, I posted and celebrated the 100th post. Well, I happened to go through and look at past posts and calculated the number in my head and realized it only added up to 98. Hmmm, either I can't do math or something is wrong. Well, what I figured out is the "edit post" tab takes into account posts that you don't end up publishing as well as the ones I publish. Oops! I guess I celebrated a little too early.........

As for running this weekend, I got in two great runs! I was supposed to run 10 miles on Saturday with the DreamFar team, but in the end could not make it because I had 4 wedding reception sites to look at and my first appointment was at 11am. And not only could I not make the run with them, but I also did not have much time to run on my own. In addition, it was only 7 degrees outside not including the wind!!

I decided I would run a few miles Saturday morning (on the treadmill) and then run a longer run (outside) on Sunday. Saturday I woke up nice and early and ran 5 miles on the treadmill in 45 minutes. Then on Sunday I ran a GREAT loop around the Boston/Brookline area. The loop left from my house then I ran a few miles around the "Fens" area to Beacon street in Brookline then to Coolidge Corner where I then looped back to the Charles River and ran home. The run turned out to be 6.5 miles. Here are the stats:

Distance: 6.5
Duration: 56:02
Mile 1: 8:44
Mile 2: 8:36
Mile 3: 8:41
Mile 4: 8:24
Mile 5: 8:48
Mile 6: 8:25
Mile .5: 4:21

It was a really good run and the weather was very nice! Chilly, but sunny and the wind was not too bad. Also, there was not many hills (only 2-3 gradual ones). I totalled 11.5 miles for the weekend, which is longer than the 10 miles DreamFar did, but I did not run them all in one day. I guess I could have just run all 10 on Sunday, but when I made my plans (Friday night) I did not know what the weather would be like on Sunday and I figured 6 miles would not be too bad if I had to do that run on the treadmill too.

Looks like it is going to be a cold/snowy week, so not sure what my running schedule will be like. I am hoping to get out for at least one day and maybe do the other two on the treadmill.

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Today I took a break from running and did a spinning class. It was hard, but great to change things up!!
For dinner, Evan and I made a whole roasted chicken.

We rubbed the chicken inside the skin and out with fresh rosemary and thyme, lemon pepper, salt, EVOO, garlic and fresh lemon. Then cooked the chicken in the oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes and then at 350 for 20 minutes per pound (70 minutes for a 3.5 pound chicken). 

Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!! PERFECTION!!!!!!!

On the side we had wild long grain rice and broccoli. 

Yum!

Getting ready to start another week!

If you had the day off today, did you do anything fun?

Burgers and Beer!

Just got back from a great run with the DreamFar team! Man, was it fast and cold!! There is a storm coming in tomorrow, so today definitely felt like the calm before the storm. Before our run today we got photographed by a photographer for a local on-line newspaper. She took a photo of the team plus a few "action" photos. I will link to the article when I find out when it comes out. Ok, so back to the run: we ended up running a little under 6 miles (I am not sure because we ran around a half a mile till I started my Garmin). Here are the splits once my Garmin started working:

Distance: 5:35
Duration: 45:39
Mile 1: 8:44
Mile 2: 8:45
Mile 3: 7:41
Mile 4: 7:58
Mile 5: 9:24 (running with an injured team mate)
Mile .35: 3:05

Mile 3 and 4 were FAST. This one kid really really pushed me hard. I was trying SO hard to keep up with him, but never did. Oh well, he really gave me a run for my money. I felt like I got a good training run in today. The Brookline High track team was running around the pond that we were running at, but they were doing some kind of work out. Man, they are fast!! They blasted right past me when I was going 7:41 minutes/mile.

We were only supposed to run 4 miles today, but our head coach likes to push us a little so we ended up doing close to 6. While I am glad I am getting in the miles, some of our kids are getting seriously injured. Over half of our runners are injured and some seriously injured.  


I know that you can get injured if you run too many miles, but we are only running three times a week, so I am not really sure if the students are getting injured from running just a few miles over the suggested amount.

How close do you follow a training plan? Do you think you can get injured from over training, even if you only run 3 days a week?

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Since there is a HUGE storm coming in tonight at midnight, the surrounding school systems (including the school I intern at) have already closed for tomorrow. So, what to do with a night off? 

DRINK BEER!!!

Eating Burgers (with sauted spinach)

And watching movies about beer: Beer Wars! Evan and I are currently drinking another beer and watching a documentary on Netflix instant about the war between large beer companies (Coors, Budweiser, Miller) and microbreweries. It is pretty interesting so far! I will let you know more about it when it is over!

Do you drink beer? If so would you rather a beer from a large beer company or a micro brew? What is your favorite kind of beer?

Two Incredible Meals!

I just got back from a really fun run with the DreamFar team! Before we headed out for our run the team's "nutritionist" came to have a talk with us. The nutritionist is a co-founder of a nutritional clinic in the area and has volunteered to work with the DreamFar organization. She agreed to teach the students (and coaches) about nutrition, specifically how to eat when you are training for a marathon. She is making her initial rounds to all the high schools this week. At our meeting, she stressed that eating for a marathon should be NO different than eating on a regular basis.

The nutritionist (we will call her Judy) talked about the foundation of everyone's eating should be based on a Real Food diet (sounds like Katheats!). Judy went over how processed foods should be eliminated from ALL diets and protein should be the main focus instead. She said 18-25 grams of protein should be consumed at all 3 main meals and 10 grams at 2 snacks per day. Complex carbs (fruits/Veggies and Starches) should also be consumed in high doses, as well as dairy and fats (Omega 3s and 6s) daily, but in smaller doses. The most interesting part of the discussion was when she explained that it is natural to gain weight during marathon training and explained she will go into more depth next time when she has more time. Finally, Judy said she did not believe in eating during a run unless you are exercising longer than 90 minutes. Judy will be attending and providing healthy snacks at our Saturday practices, so it will be great to have more in depth conversations with her!

After the talk, the students and coaches from Newton North High School joined us on our run. We ended up running 6.75 miles in 67 minutes. We ran to a local arboretum, which included running up a LARGE hill to enjoy beautiful views of the city! It was great! Even though it was dark outside the run wasn't very cold and the views were beautiful (even in the dark!). I LOVED meeting some new friends and being inspired by others! I am pretty sure a marathon is in my near future!

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Speaking of nutrition, Evan and I have had two AMAZING meals these past two nights (and also wine!). Recently Evan and I have been craving steaks, so we decided instead of paying a ton at a restaurant we were going to buy some really nice steaks and make them on our own. So we bought two beauties from Whole Foods: Fillet Mignon for her and New York strip for him.

Grilled with garlic butter and rosemary,

with some mashed potatoes and asparagus on the side

Enjoyed some wonderful wine that Evan's father bought us during their visit in September.

It was SO good and had a stronger flavor than most Pinot Noirs. Thanks Allen!!! It was a LOVELY meal!

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Tonight we went a little south of the border to Mexico and enjoyed Mexican Bowls!

Made with yellow rice, 3-bean salsa, peppers (green and red), chicken and cheese

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Two GREAT nutritious meals!!! Hope everyone is having a good week!

What are your Christmas/New Years plans???

From Pops to Tots

Hello Everyone! I am sorry I have been a little MIA, but work/Christmas shopping has been taking over my life.


Has anyone finished their holiday shopping??

One of the fun holiday events I enjoyed was attending the Boston Pops (Boston's symphony orchestra) with my family on Tuesday afternoon.

We sat at a cute little table in the "orchestra" section of Symphony Hall.

The four of us (Evan, unfortunately, had to work) enjoyed a bottle of Savignon Blanc during the performance. The performance was wonderful, the Pops and Tangelwood choir were wonderful! I loved singing fun holiday songs and listening to beautiful classical tunes. And not to mention Symphony Hall was incredible!

After the show, the four of us dined at The Paramount Boston on Beacon Hill (the restaurant won "Best of Boston" in 2010).

I started off with a smooth glass of Cabernet Savignon and then split "Peking shrimp dumplings" as an appetizer. 

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! For dinner I ordered the Tereyaki Salmon stir fry.

The salmon was HUGE and SO fresh tasting (not fishy at ALL)! The stir fry had lots and lots of fresh veggies, which I was surprised to see because I was expecting only a few frozen ones. I was VERY impressed by this meal! It was SO big I could not finish the whole plate. This restaurant was also affordable; my whole plate was only $18 and it was shareable. I will DEFINITELY be going back here soon!!

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As for running, I trained with the DreamFar team yesterday (Thursday). We went for a chilly 4.5 mile run around a reservoir. We finished in 40 minutes and actually ran a few of the miles in 8 minutes. I ran with the "fast" runners, so we really tried to push ourselves. I also think the cold really pushed us to run fast to stay warm! The team is running a 6 mile run tomorrow at 8 am. I am not sure I will make it that early (I would have to leave my house at 7am) and this week has been a little crazy/stressful, so I might need a morning to sleep in. However, I WILL run the miles on my own and train with the team on Tuesday. I am hoping to run a Saturday "long run" in the future!

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So, from a fun exciting night at the Pops on Tuesday, I had a quiet/relaxing night today babysitting the little boy I babysat over the summer. We had a lot of fun playing trucks, trains and "exercising/dancing" in his room. After we worked up an appetite we indulged in some delicious North End (Italian section of Boston) pizza and salad.

plus a second slice of veggie pizza

After an eventful first half of the night, we spent the second half watching TV, eating candy and reading Christmas books. FUN Friday night!

I plan to finish up my Christmas shopping tomorrow and attend another holiday party. Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

How was your Friday night? Any plans for the weekend?

Super Foods to Enhance Your Running

After reading this article I decided to try and incorporate some super foods into dinner tonight. And what better way to eat spinach and ricotta than in Vegetable Lasagna? More specifically, Kath's: The Best Vegetable Lasagna. I followed the recipe exactly, except I used Ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese in order to use another "super food" and I do not really care for cottage cheese.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Aspects of the recipe that I was wary about were: not cooking the lasagna noodles, not sauteing the vegetables and not using an egg.  However, the lasagna turned out great and I did not have as many dishes nor did I have to do as much "pre" work as I do with a "regular" lasagna.

My plate: INCREDIBLE!!!!

Plus a small second helping (I have to get those super foods in there)......

Prior to this yummy meal, I worked up an appetite by running 4.5 miles in 40 minutes at the gym (It was a rainy/dreary day in Boston). DreamFar's training run tomorrow is 4 miles and unfortunately (fortunately!?) I will be at the Boston Pops Holiday concert with my family and won't be able to make it. So, I did the run today and will (hopefully) run with the team on Thursday.

Hope everyone has a GREAT week!

Beer Marathon

This weekend Evan and I dined at Parish Cafe and OMG it was incredible! If you haven't gone there before, GO! Famous chefs from some top Boston restaurants create sandwiches for the cafe, so the menu is eclectic and changes seasonally. After a tough, tough decision I decided to go with the "Elephant Walking on an Egg Sandwich from the Mountain," created by Gerard Lopez (chef/owner of the Elephant walk).

The sandwich was basically like an omelet on French bread. The omelet had mixed veggies and herb goat cheese inside. YUM!!!!! This sandwich was great, but nothing compared to what Evan picked: "Steak & Blue." This sandwich included a generous portion of tenderloin, blue cheese bread, with roquefort butter and marinated red onions. Served with pickled ginger red cabbage, mixed greens and marinated red onions. AWESOME!!

However, the best part of Parish Cafe is the Beer Club. The deal is if you drink all 100 different kinds of beer they have within a 6 month period you receive your own 24oz mug (with whatever you want initialed on it) and can drink from your mug at only a pint price. Evan and I decided to take on this marathon of a challenge and have started training. I started with:

This beer is one of my favorites, I LOVE Belgian beers! One down, 99 to go. This challenge is going to take some hard work and dedication, but I am confident I will succeed (Evan might have to help me out a little bit...).  Wish me luck!

Speaking of training, yesterday I could not make DreamFar's training run, so I decided to run the 6 miles on my own. I ended up running around the Charles river in 53 minutes! It was a nice day in Boston and felt kinda warm compared to the frigid days we have been having, so needless to say it was an enjoyable run.

After the run, Evan and I continued the beer marathon at our friend's holiday party. To keep with the holiday spirit we enjoyed Anchor Steam's Merry Christmas, Happy New year beer:

and enjoyed some GREAT food, games and fun with our college friends!

Great time with good friends. We had such a nice time catching up with our college friends that we haven't seen in a while, THANK YOU HENRI AND ELIZABETH!

How was your weekend? Are you part of a "beer club"? If so, how hard was it to drink all the beers?

DreamFar

So, yesterday I participated in the DreamFar marathon running team at the high school I work at. WOW, can I just tell you it was SO inspirational! To see these high school students be so dedicated to a goal was amazing. There was SO much team spirit and pride amongst the students and "coaches" that I felt like I was back on my high school track team. I loved how all the teammates gave each other a high five after the run and some of the "faster" runners ran back to encourage the other runners to keep going! What also made this team so special was knowing the background of some of these kids and understanding some of the struggles they have faced or are facing and that they still show up three days a week and want to run! I really feel that there is a power to running that can be useful to people of all ages.

The best part of the run was when I was asking a few kids why they chose to do this team; one kid told me it was a good excuse to justify his smoking habit (I guess the good thing (running) cancels out the bad thing (smoking)). Of course I told him how unsafe that was and that he probably won't be able to maintain the smoking when we get into the longer runs. Other kids discussed how they wanted to feel part of the team, they wanted to be excepted, get in shape, and feel good about themselves. And one student discussed the challenge running a marathon brings and how that excites him.

We ended up running 5.5 miles around a reservoir in 54 minutes. WOW was it cold out and the wind was blustering! I am SO glad I had others around to motivate me to keep on running. I really, really loved this group and will definitely try to run at least once a week with them!

As for dinner, we made a recipe from one of those Whole Foods pamphlets they give you every few months: Risotto with Asparagus. Here is the recipe according to Whole Foods (We followed it to a tee).

Ingredients
10 asparagus spears trimmed
32 oz Chicken Broth
2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup uncooked arborio rice
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 TB finely chopped chives

Direction
1) While preparing asparagus, heat broth o a simmer in a small covered pot and hold there. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add rice and cook 2 minutes, stirring often.

2) Add 1/2 cup simmering broth while stirring constantly, shaking  pan forward and back as you do, until absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup more broth and repeat process. Continue repeating until rice is just tender and risotto is creamy and loose, about 20 minutes more.

3) Remove pot from heat and stir in 1/3 cup cheese, asparagus and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer risotto to bowls and garnish with remaining cheese and chives. Serve immediately and Enjoy!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

My plate

Of course we also had a little wine too!

A Yummy dinner on a cold and blistery winter nights!

Happy Friday everyone! I am getting ready to go out to my School Psychology Holiday party at a local bar! Have a good night!