totally screwed + race goals? + sangria

I'm running the Attleboro 10k on Saturday (aka tomorrow) and I'm totally screwed. I'm not feeling confident about this at all, seeing as I can't run the whole 6.2 miles. This past week I tried to run/walk 7 miles on the treadmill and by the end of it, my body hated me and I passed out in bed at 7:00pm (when I should have been up late outlining).

I probably should have trained more, but life (aka school) got in the way.

There's a 5k on the same day. I went back and forth about whether to register for the 5k or 10k, but ultimately I decided that I need to start running further distances and there's no better time to start than tomorrow.

10k race goals: (I am not sure I even have any, other than trying not to die)

1. FINISH

2. Run at least the first 5k, and then alternate between running and walking

3. I am too scared to put a time down. 

My friend, Ashley, who lives in Attleboro, is having a BBQ at her house post-race and on the menu is sangria! I know everyone has their own recipe, but here's the recipe she's going to use:

Sangria
Ingredients:
1 bottle of red wine (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, rioja, zinfandel, shiraz)
1 lemon, cut in wedges
1 orange, cut in wedges
1 lime, cut in wedges
2 tablespoons sugar
splash of orange juice or lemonade
2 shots of gin or triple sec
1 cup of raspberries or strawberries
1 small can of diced pineapples, with juice
4 cups ginger ale

Directions:
Pour wine into a large pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange, and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and pineapple. Then add sugar, orange juice, and gin.

Chill overnight. The next day, add ginger ale, berries, and ice just before serving.

In other news, May is a big race month for me. In addition to the 10k tomorrow, I'm also running:
Sunday, May 20th - Harpoon 5 miler
Sunday, May 27th - Run to Remember 5 miler

I also have finals the week of May 14th-18th. Needless to say, it's going to be a crazy, busy month!

turkey chili with white beans

I've been behind in blogging. I blame school. The good news is that the quarter is almost over! Only 2 weeks left of classes and a week of finals. It's so crazy, I don't think I will ever get used to the quarter system. Things just happen too fast. I feel like I just got back from California and here we are, almost done with the year.

I'm posting this chili recipe to procrastinate on homework. I am supposed to be writing a research paper, but I really have no idea what I am doing. My paper is a hot mess. Anyways, this recipe originally appeared in Bon Appetit (Feb 1997). It's been my go-to chili recipe for awhile now. And you know it's good because I asked my friend, Ranwei, what her chili recipe was and she sent me the exact same one!

My favorite part about making chili is that you can easily substitute ingredients and add whatever extra stuff you have lying around in your kitchen. In my case, it was carrots and sweet potatoes (a little weird, but I made it work). I've copied the original recipe and then put in parenthesis what I added/changed the day I made it (based on what I had).

Turkey Chili with White Beans
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
1/4 cup chili powder (I actually added 1/2 a cup to give it a kick. Otherwise, it's not spicy at all. Next time I plan on also adding some hot peppers. If you can't tell, I'm trying to eat spicier foods)
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (obviously I did not measure this, I just dumped salt in to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes (I only had a 16 ounce can of diced tomatoes, but it seemed to work fine)
3 cups beef stock (I used veggie stock that I was trying to get rid of)
1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce (I used tomato paste)
3 15 ounce cans small white beans, rinsed, drained

(+ I added some diced carrots and a diced sweet potato)

Directions:
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions (+ carrots and sweet potato). Sauté until light brown and tender, about 10 minutes.

Add oregano and cumin. Stir 1 minute.

Increase heat to medium high. Add turkey, stir until no longer pink, breaking up with back of spoon. Stir in chili powder, bay leaves, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add tomatoes with their juices, breaking up with back of spoon. Mix in stock and tomato sauce.

Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add beans to chili and simmer until flavors blend, about 10 minutes longer. Discard bay leaves.

Eat with sour cream (or greek yogurt). If you're asian like me, you'll probably eat it over rice too.

badass saturday night breakfast sandwich

Avocado, buffalo chicken, american cheese, and a fried egg on When Pigs Fly baby spinach, onion, and garlic ciabatta bread.

Yum.

Tomorrow's the best day of the year....Patriots Day aka MARATHON MONDAY!

9 + 1

My body hurts. I'm trying to increase my distance so that I'm ready to run a 10k by the first weekend in May. In order to do this, I'm doing this new thing on the treadmill where I run 9 minutes and then walk 1 minute. During each 9 minute interval, I also increase my speed by 1 click on the machine. I'm normally on the treadmill for an hour, and I can get a little over 5 miles in.

Surprisingly during my runs, things go great. Time passes by super quickly and I don't feel like I want to die. Its easy to stay motivated knowing that you can walk in just a few minutes.

After my workout is a whole different story. It makes me want to eat EVERYTHING in sight and my legs (which are not used to running this far) get super tired.

Pictures from a recent run along the Charles:

Charles River (going west towards Harvard)

Boston is a GREAT town for running outside. I've been back for about a month and a half now and I've gone on all sorts of different routes. I'm all over the place...from the different sides of the Charles, and in different directions, Castle Island, around the Emerald Necklace, down Beacon Street, and random loops around my neighborhood. So much better than running the Saratoga Town Loop every weekend.

 Castle Island + Fort Independence in South Boston

Cloudy day on the Charles (photo taken from the Cambridge side)

Beacon Street in the Spring

future road trip? (+ luv2run 5k)

I've decided I NEED to go to maine...asap. I just realized that I've been back in Boston for over a month now and I have yet to leave the city. It's time to breathe fresh air, eat fries fried in duek fat, and sit around a lake. Maybe consume a lobster and some blueberry pie as well. Oh yeah, and drink a lot of allagash.

In other news...another 5k done!

I ran the Luv2run Boston 5k this past Saturday. I woke up to quite rainy and cold conditions (38 degrees and the forecast called for snow). Luckily, the colder it is, the easier it is for me to run. The course started in Artesani Park and the Publick Theater in Brighton, MA and ran along both banks of the Charles River.

I also set a PR! Wooo! 29:48. Nearing the end of the race, I could see the pace clock and was determined to come in under 30 minutes. I think the flatness of the course as well as the cold and damp weather helped really with my time.

I'm such a dork in this photo, but it's the only one I took after the race. Yes, I am pretending to use the banana as a phone. Please don't judge me, I was clearly delirious. Also, I hate coconut water, but the vita coco van was pretty fun (and it also signaled the finish line for the race).

pork and sweet potato curry

I had some help with this one. I used Golden Curry's Sauce Mix...which are blocks of curry spices that you dissolve in water. What can I say, I'm in grad school, sometimes (actually most of the time) I take shortcuts. I bought this pack of curry mix at Hong Kong Market (formerly Super 88) in Allston, MA. Rumor has it, Vermont Curry is quite good as well.

Pork and Sweet Potato Curry
(makes TONS of servings)

Ingredients:
1+ pound of pork, cut into cubes (I used boneless pork chops because they were on sale, but I am sure you can use whatever type of pork you want)
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 normal potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 onions (my onions were kind of small so you probably only need 1 big onion), diced
6 cups of water
Oil
1 box of Golden Curry Sauce Mix

Directions:
Chop everything (onions, pork, carrots, sweet potatoes, and potatoes).

Get a big pot out.

(Note: I own this huge pot because I used to enjoy cooking 20 pounds of potatoes for Thanksgiving)

Saute onions, carrots, and pork in oil for 3-5 minutes, until lightly browned.

Add water, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender, approximately 15 minutes.

Kinda looks like the soup I used to make.

Turn off the heat. Break the sauce mix into cubes (it'll be obvious once you open the package) and add to the pot. Stir until completely melted.

Serve! (I normally eat it over rice. Sometimes with a soft boiled egg!)

ras na hEireann

I've been a very bad blogger. Apologies to all. A combination of moving back to Boston + school + my mom came to visit and cooked 100 pounds of food so I haven't had to try to feed myself or try out new recipes.

Our food supply has dwindled, so I promise I will be blogging more in the coming days.

This past weekend and I ran the ras na hEireann ("the most genuine Irish race this side of the Atlantic") with a few of my friends. The race was a 5k that started and ended in Davis Square in Somerville, MA.

Davis Square! + my sister looking like a leprechaun.

Before the race I like to text instead of stretch. I also like to eat ramen noodles for breakfast (which I was not allowed to do. I had to settle for some pasta instead).

Ashley, Orlando, me, and Carla - FINISHED!

 We got these awesome medals with a bottle opener attached to it. I'm going to start wearing it to house parties so I can crack open a beer at anytime.

At the Joshua Tree in Davis Square. 

Afterwards, you are supposed to go drink free beers at the bars in Davis Square. I think its a trick because you're so dehydrated that you drink 2 beers and end up wasted...and hungover by 3pm.

I ended up with a time of 32:04, which I was really surprised by because I had a rough time during the race. I hit a wall between miles 2 and 3 and ended up walking for a bit and getting water at the water stop. The course had a bunch of rolling hills (which we all know I can't handle) so maybe it was a combination of the hills and the warmer weather. I'm not sure.

Special congrats to Carla and Orlando who ran their first 5k's like speed demons.

Also for those of you who can't tell, there's a zebra on my shirt. This is what happens when you wait until the night before to get your st. patrick's day race outfit together. You end up at TJ Maxx with a zebra t-shirt. Whatever, it's awesome.