To GU or not to GU?

So last week we fretted about weather for our long run on Friday. This week I have a different dilemma (although the projected 17-19 mph winds are a bit concerning for tomorrow afternoon. wishing that changes but we all know how well my wishes come true when it comes to the weather...). The conundrum (i SO love that word) is whether to fuel up mid-run with the tried-and-true (but pain in the ass to use come race time) Sport Beans or switch it up and try a GU.

For those wondering what in the heck I am talking about...
It is recommended if you are running (or cycling) for an hour or more you should take in some kind of energy every 30 minutes (and hydrate along with it). Old school would be the leather-like Powerbars (you know, the ones that you'd rip out your back molars trying to eat). Now there are more types of gels, beans, blocks, gummys, etc. than you can shake a stick at (that phrase is a shout out to my Pop-Pop in heaven). Since I've been running long, I've stuck to the beans. Now this is OK for the little water stops during Diva training. But trying to consume these suckers while you are actually racing (not that I am ever really "racing", but I like to think I pick the pace up a little during races...) is another story. You either try to suck the whole package down (approx. 10 beans) and wind up chomping and slopping, and drooling out your water, because your mouth is full of...well...a crap load of mushed up jelly beans! Or you drag it out by popping a few in your mouth at a time. Regardless, they stick in your teeth so you are losing your breathing trying to toungue them out, all the while your mouth gaping open. Not so pretty for that mile 8 photo-op!

The GU is in a little packet and its...well...GU I suppose. Let's just say I don't want to think about what it is because it has been described to me as something that about puts my gag reflex into overdrive (sorry Mom). There are a variety of flavors, from fruity to candy. I have heard the chocolate one tastes just like chocolate frosting. HIGHLY doubtful. But, I think the ease of getting one of those puppies down would be much easier than doing the Sport Bean "chompy chomp" (as my 4 year old describes my 6 year old at the dinner table).

So. *They* say you should experiment while training, never while racing. So the big test will be tomorrow. To GU or not to GU? I'd better bring a packet of beans just in case...

A 10 mile run full of mystery and suspense...

I am sorry I didn't get to post this sooner...it's been a crazy few days around here!
Before I get into my story, I wanted to post a recipe for the "breakfast cookie" that I ate for breakfast before the run. It was yummy!

Chocolate Cranberry No-Bake Breakfast Cookie
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tbls peanut butter or almond butter
1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
splash of milk (to hold it all together. maybe 1/8 cup)
1/2 mashed banana
cranberries
mini chocolate chips (dark choc. if you can find)

Mix it all together in a bowl. Spread on an appetizer/salad plate and wrap. Let sit overnight in fridge. I needed to use a fork to eat mine the next morning but it was super tasty. You could mix in any favorites (raisins, nuts, dried cherries, peanut butter chips).

So after all of our hemming and hawing (would that be the correct spelling?), the weather wound up being perfect for our 10 mile run on Friday. Cloudy, no rain, even a bit warm (we all overdressed...mental note for this Friday when the temps will be in the 60's...can you say SHORTS???). We did our new "normal" 10 mile route and after battling the traffic on Old 27 (which is a 4 lane fairly busy road with a nasty gradual hill) we turned onto Dill Road looking SO forward to the water Sara dropped for us earlier. For every long run, we always have a water stop. Someone typically leaves 4 water bottles in a grocery bag and we are *usually* very good about picking them up following our run. We usually put the water (to appease my girl Sara's neurosis) exactly at the 1/2 way point. We stop, guzzle water, chomp on a package of Sport Beans, and start back to it, waiting for our "bean high" (which I don't think I have fully experienced yet!).

Anyway, we get to the stop sign and lo and behold, there is no Meijer bag filled with our liquid love. We all sort of stare at each other, dumbfounded. Where the F is our water?!?!? Who the heck would have stolen our water? Peg, who does not possess the potty mouth that the rest of us share, blurts out "A$$HOLES!!!!". Peg really loves her mid run water, can you tell ;o) Sara accuses, "I think it was that guy across the street, he watched me as I dropped the water earlier" and she points to an interesting looking gentleman who is missing several of his teeth. So we ask him and he mentions that the woman that lives on the corner where we placed the water may have taken it.

Now that's just not cool. So picture 4 crazy runner women, a tad sweaty, a bit pink in the face, and just a little bit stinky marching up this woman's driveway and standing on her porch. The sign on her front door read something like "NO SOLITICTORS, NO RELIGIOUS PEOPLE, NO POLITICAL PEOPLE. DOORBELL BROKEN". Inviting.

So I pound on the door, ready for confrontation, flanked on either side with the rest of the girls. An older woman answers the door, mildly disturbed (clearly being interrupted from her daily dose of Guiding Light and/or Y and R). We ask her about the water. And she is as nice as can be, explaining she finds everything from whisky bottles to beer/soda cans by that stop sign so she figured it was another round of trash for her to clean up. Why she thought 4 unopened, full water bottles with initials on them were trash I am not sure. She grabs the water for us and returns into her house, probably to see how her "stories" turn out for the afternoon. And we happily gulp our treasured water, hoping it isn't tainted by anything.

The rest our run was full of suspense. I won't get into the details, as it's not really my story to tell. But, let's just say one of our runners had to really go to the bathroom. I mean REALLY go to the bathroom. And it wasn't going to be something that could be done squatting in the bushes, either. So our last 3 or so miles we ran at a pretty quick clip, with our poor running friend wishing her bodily functions away. By the time we got to the entrance of my subdivision, we were at a full sprint for the house.

Needless to say everything turned out just fine that 10 mile run. No rain. Water to drink. A runner that made it successfully to the bathroom. Success on all accounts!

Deja Vu?

I think when you start running you become a junior meteorologist. Checking weather.com, accuweather.com, the Weather Channel (which is the same as weather.com but you never know if Jim Cantore will say something undisclosed on TV) and Lansing's 11 o'clock news with Andy Pro. You study the Doppler radar like nobody's business and pour over precip percentages and wind direction variables with conviction. Finally, you go with the prediction that suits you and your run best. If weather.com says only a 20% chance of rain and the local guy says "definitely rain", well I'm sticking with the weather experts online. What does that local guy know anyway?

It brings me back to a memorable race our group did back in August. The night before we all poured (get it!) over weather reports and none were changing: Rain was imminent for our Mint City 10 mile race in St. John's the next morning. I went to sleep wishing the rain away and woke up to a hammering of water against my bedroom window. So much for wishing. Since this was the beginning of my long distance running stint, I didn't have any fancy rain gear. So thanks to my ingenious husband (brownie points), I grabbed a garbage bag at the last minute. I loved that garbage bag.

The drive to the race was silent (pretty rare for our gaggle of women) as we watched the wind howl, the rain pour down and the sky get darker. The race got delayed a couple of times (due to the cracks of lightening within arms reach from the start) and as we waited, sheltered in the middle school gym, we wondered what the heck we were doing there. And I secretly wished they would cancel the race altogether.

"Pre-race, pre-garbage bag wearing"

l-r Deb, Abby, Peg, Lisa, Sara, me, Danielle, Jenny

But, they didn't. Again, so much for wishing (my fairy godmother must have been busy). So, clad in our Hefty specials, we lined at the start and took off. By the end of the first mile my feet were sloshing in my Saucanys, my ear buds for my Ipod were wet (causing whoever was crooning in my ears to sound like they were underwater), and my hat was soaked through. But, thanks to my black garbage bag of love, my body remained dry and somewhat warm. At that point Sara (who I was running with) and I sort of embraced the weather. We got pelted with rain, heard rumbles of thunder, saw lightening on the horizon, and I swear got hit with some hail at one point and just kept on running, like little Forrest Gumps. We couldn't believe when we hit mile 5...halfway though and we still had the trash bags on our bodies. We shed our protective cocoons and I swear it made us go a little faster. Never in my life did I feel as hard core as I did that day.

We all finished the race, believe it or not, with smiles on our faces. For me, it was the longest race I had ever done. But as I scarfed down post race cookies, bananas and bagels, with my sopping clothes hanging on me, it wasn't about the 10 miles I just ran. I knew I could do that. It was completing 10 miles in a continuous (seriously, it never stopped) torrential downpour-something I would have NEVER done.

Post-race...all smiles (albeit soaked-check out my shorts)

l-r Me, Danielle, Sara (nice towel skirt), Abby, Lisa, Peg and Deb

So that walk down memory lane is because our long run is today and all week the weather people were predicting rain. Our run happens to be another 10 miler. We studied the maps, listened intently to the news reports, going back and forth deciding on what time of day would be best. Or would we be stuck inside on a treadmill? But we settled on just running as planned, outside in the afternoon. Please. If we could endure last year's storm, we can get through a little sprinkle. Besides, now we have fancier rain-wear instead of Hefty specials ;o)

Time to organize (and a good granola recipe)

Get ready for a barrage of new recipes! Zach is out of town again next week which means I get to experiment with random foods and recipes (all while feeding the boys their favorite kid meals of chicken nuggets, noodles and butter and the like. I still slip them a green smoothie every now again to give them some nutrients, I promise...).

BTW-how is the Quinoa tasting going? Anyone try it? I did find it bulk at "Better Health" which was a bit cheaper than at the grocery. It'll be on my menu next week for sure. And, I've got a new ingredient for you to try...but I'll fill you in on that next time. I'll let you hang on the suspense ;o) Ha!

I was wondering how to organize all of my favorite recipes so I have one "go-to" book with all of our tried and true foods in it. It seems I have a binder with loose recipes (rip outs from magazines, print outs from online, hand scribbles on napkins, etc.) and then a shelf full of cookbooks where I consistantly use a few recipes. It would be nice to have them all together. So that is my spring project; putting together a binder of all the Aeschliman best loved eats to avoid leafing through cookbooks and papers ("Now where did I put that Clean Granola recipe? Which cookbook is it in?"). I am slowly going to leaf through my dog-eared cookbooks and make copies of recipes (thanks to my new printer/copier/scanner...LOVE IT). And I have pile of tear outs from various magazines and websites that need going through as well. Who knows, if I get adventurous and anyone is interested I can copy you all the book as well. I'll keep ya posted.

Anyway, I've got a minute this morning before we hit the elementary school book fair (good times...good times...) so I wanted to share another granola recipe I tried from the Eat Clean cookbook with a couple of *Kim* changes. This is a great snack when I am looking for that evening sweet or great for breakfast with skim milk. I am not a yogurt fan, but you could certainly make a mean parfait out of it with fresh fruit.

Granola-The Eat Clean Way

3 cups multi grain cereal (by the oats)

1 cup plain rolled oats

1 cup raw, sliced almonds

1/2 unsalted sunflower seeds

1/4 sesame seeds

coating

1/2 cup Sucanat or Rapadura sugar (found Sucanat at Better Health but I think they also sell at regular grocery stores in baking section)

pinch sea salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp good quality vanilla

1/4 cup honey

at end:

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dried cranberries

preheat oven 300 degrees. in large bowl mix all dry ingredients and set aside

in a small saucepan, place all coating mixture ingredients. gently warm contents and stir until honey is dissolved. pour liquid coating mixture over dry ingredient mixture in bowl. use large spoon or clean hands mix well until all ingredients are well coated. spread granola onto a large cookie sheet (with parchment for easy cleanup). Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so so everything is evenly toasted. transfer baked granola to cooling rack and sprinkle with raisins and cranberries. Let cool completely. When cool transfer to airtight container. Makes a whole bunch and will keep for about a week or you can freeze it as well. Throw in some mini chocolate chips for a tastier treat!

Stay tuned tomorrow - I'm trying out a "breakfast cookie" before my 10 mile run and I'll share our new challenge food :o) I know you are just hanging on the edge of your seat...

The more I run, the more I eat

I had an aquaintance that told me when she trained for her first marathon she actually gained 5 lbs. Impossible, I had thought. How could you possibly gain weight when you are running ALL the time. Well, I'm not sure about the gaining weight part, but I certainly see eating a WHOLE lot more. And justifying it too. For example, Sunday morning went for a nice 6 mile run with the Divas. Came home to Zach making eggs and sausage for everyone. I need protein, I figure, so I grab a small plateful of eggs and 2 sausages. Then I go back for another sausage. Then another. Why not, I figure? I just ran! Or how about after Monday's run? I did what Hal Hidgon calls a "race pace" 4 miler. You are supposed to do it at 1/2 marathon race pace but I am feeling pretty good so I decide to bump it up to a 5K race pace. Sidebar: For those not too into running, runners are really obssessed with numbers. How far, how fast, splits, PRs, etc. I denied it for a while but I am just as guilty. Anyway, I busted that 4 miles out in 32:13 (another thing, gotta be exact) which is a little over an 8 minute mile pace. I have done 3 miles in that pace, but never 4 miles...so I was pretty impressed with myself.
Do you know what I was thinking about the whole time? A delicious treat in a brown paper bag that waited for me at home. Peg made a batch of peanut butter cup brownies and gave us all one to try. That's what kept my rounding the 4 corners of Dewitt like a little gazelle. Maybe a little Lady Gaga and Pink kept my pace up too. Anyway, I scarfed that sucker down when I came home...good recovery snack...protein from the peanut butter, carbs from the chocolate ;o) Peg got the recipe from my favorite baking site/blog: www.bakerella.com. Search for "Brownie Candy Cups".

Week 7 training is over. We bumped our long run up to 10 miles and I think we'll stay there for a bit. Spring is coming (i hope) and the layers are shedding. Whoo hoo!

So after 3 cocktails last night and no coffee yet this morning, I'm afraid I don't have anything too clever to say so I'll end it here. I do want to leave you with some recipes to help me with my running hunger. A muffin for your pre exercise energy, a smoothie to recover with, and peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies because you need something to look forward to!

Strawberry Orange Smoothie (serves 1)

3/4 cup skim milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 small banana, chunked
splash orange juice (1/4 a cup?)
handful ground flaxseed

Mix it all up. Very refreshing...I think it is the splash of OJ. Kids loved it.

Zucchini Muffins (from Cooking Light-I added some ground flax and chopped toasted pecans. You could also do mini choc. chips too)

4.75 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1 cup)
3 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup fat-free milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine whole-wheat flour and next 6 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Combine zucchini, milk, oil, honey, and egg in a small bowl; stir until blended. Make a well in center of flour mixture; add milk mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
3. Combine 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon; sprinkle over tops of muffins. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks (hands down my fav. cookie recipe)
from Bon Appetit

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup old-fashioned chunky peanut butter (about 9 ounces)
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture in 2 additions. Stir in chopped chocolate. Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm and no longer sticky, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 heavy large baking sheets. With hands, roll 1 heaping tablespoonful of dough for each cookie into 1 3/4-inch-diameter ball. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies until puffed, beginning to brown on top and still very soft to touch, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to rack and cool completely. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

Just a WILD and CRAZY Saturday night

When I was in high school/college, I remember getting ready to go out to the movies, or a party, or a dance club with my friends. My mom would be sitting on her comfy chair, in her PJs, drinking a steaming mug of tea. She'd be watching whatever drama was popular at the time (probably the last season of "Dallas"), curled up with a blanket and her feet in fluffy slippers, our old dog Jingles lying next to her chair (or probably on the sofa). As I was headed out the door in my pegged jeans and flannel shirt, ready to dance to the techno beat, I felt sad for my mom. How awful, I thought. She *has* to sit here, all bored and lonely, while I am headed off to be shoved around in a stinky sweaty dance club with wall to wall people and beer being spilled all over me (and perhaps even some spilling into my mouth! And down my throat!). I get to stay at this club until the wee hours and then finish off the night at the Pleasantville Diner with a dish of "Disco Fries" (OMG. You don't know what Disco Fries are?!?! They are a New York/New Jersey diner staple. It's a plate of greasy, salty french fries topped with melted American cheese and brown gravy. And I wonder why i put on 10 pounds between high school and college?!?).

Then I couldn't fathom the fact that my mother was up at the "crack of dawn" (probably 7:30 am), putzing around the house doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, running out to the grocery store, working out at the gym, etc. while my lazy butt remained in bed until at least 11 am. And if I didn't have anything to do the next night? UGH! I was SO bored!! How could someone possibly sit home on a Friday or Saturday night and do NOTHING?

Fast forward almost 20 years (Jeesh, does that make me sound OLD or what...yikes...).
OK. Let's be technical here because that is really making me feel old.

Fast forward 17 years (ah. much better). It is Saturday night at the Aeschliman household. After a fun filled day of morning karate and the elementary school carnival (my head is still reeling from that one, Lisa!), Saturday night is upon us. Our evening officially began with homemade guacamole with chicken fajitas that I was thinking about since 2 pm. Promptly after dinner, around 6:30, I threw on my PJs. No use keeping these jeans on. I hummed happily as I set the coffeemaker for 7:15 am for my Sunday morning jolt. I laid out my clothes for the 6 miler the girls and I are doing at 8:30 am. I kicked the husband out for his neighborhood poker game (of which he left in sweatpants and a running shirt. I said to him, "Jeez, you really get dressed up for these things, don't you?" and he replied, "Kim, it's just a bunch of guys drinking and farting...". Good times...). Once he leaves, I tuck my little boys into bed. Thank God they are not old enough to be driving off to techno clubs or college bars. At this point all I worry about is when SpongeBob says "Stupid" or Mr. Crabbs calls Patrick an "Idiot".

Now I sit in the office with a steaming cup of decaf green tea, typing this. After I am done here, I will head into the living room and switch on the TV in hopes of finding some sappy Lifetime movie, or an episode of "What Not to Wear". I can't wait to just sit down, curled up in a blanket with my slippered feet sticking out. Other than my old yellow dog farting beside me (she should go to the poker game), I will be totally alone. And the stillness of the house will be utter and complete bliss.

All these years later, Mom, I can relate.

Are you up for a CHALLENGE?

As most of you know, I am addicted to cooking, especially finding good, healthy recipes using fresh, whole ingredients. Don't get me wrong...you'll find the occasional box of Lucky Charms and Cheese Its in my pantry (all for the kids, I swear!) but for the most part we try to play it pretty healthy around here. Steer clear of the transfats, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), and anything with more than 50 different ingredients. I am queen of pouring over different "Clean Eating" cookbooks and experiment with my family and friends (which I KNOW they SO appreciate). So here is my challenge to you, me and anyone else bored enough to be reading my blog consistantly (which I hope there are some of you out there b/c it can get kind of lonely!). Let's try a new FOOD every week. You know, going down that aisle of Meijer (insert your favorite grocery store) that's labeled "International Foods" and wondering what in the heck some of that stuff is? Or actually checking out the section of produce that is "exotic" fruit? Not buying it? OK, how about this? I will try the mystery food first and give you the bottom line. Then you can decide if you want to check it out. Fair enough?

And this is active participation...I want you to comment about what you've tried on this post. So. My first challenge food for you is QUINOA. According to Body and Soul mag: "Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) isn't a true grain but a plant related to chard and spinach (it is the seed). It has more protein than most grains (5 grams per serving) and is gluten- and wheat-free. Quinoa is also a good source of dietary fiber, packing 5.2 grams per 1 cup serving. In its unprocessed state, quinoa is coated with saponin, a bitter substance. Most quinoa has been "desaponized." However, it's still a good idea to rinse it under running water in a fine-mesh strainer before cooking to remove any remaining residue." You can find it easily at Trader Joe's by the rice, but for those of us not priviledged to be near TJs I found in good old Meijer, also near the rice. I also found in the bulk bins at Better Health.

Below is a recipe I tried. My kids wouldn't even look at it and my husband was a bit leary. But, I think it was b/c it had red peppers in it and he doesn't care for those. But...I LOVED it. It is a perfect replacement for rice. I wound up eating the leftovers all week for lunch. I even threw it cold on top of a bed of spinach.

Quintessential Quinoa (from Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno)
1 tbsp EVOO
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 large red pepper, chopped
1 cup rinsed quinoa
2 cups water
1 veggie soup stock cubes or low sodium chicken-flavored cubes

add chopped onion, garlic and salt to EVOO and saute until onions are slightly brown. Add chopped red pepper and continue to saute until onions are caramelized. Add water, stock cubes and rinsed quinoa. Bring mixture to simmer for another 35 minutes or until water has been cooked in. Fluff mixture with fork.

Here is another one (from the same book) that I want to try:

Sweet Inca Porridge
1 cup quinoa grains, soaked
1 cup rolled oats, not instant
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 cups water
1/2 cup chopped dates (might try raisins instead)
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Place first 4 ingredients in pot with tight fitting lid. Cover. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer 30 min. Add remaining 4 ingredients and mix together well. Turn off heat and let sit, covered, for five minutes. Serve for breakfast with berries.

Or, feel free to find your own recipe out there. I love www.epicurious.com, or www.myrecipes.com or http://www.wholeliving.com/. (if you find a good one, post it!)