2013 goals: one month (plus a few days) in

January is over. February is well, almost half over. Here's how I am doing so far on my 2013 goals.

1. Run faster - Maybe? Friend me and follow my progress on dailymile. (I only have 4 friends on it so far...sad). I'm also in the process of trying to link my dailymile account with my blog, but so far it is not working. In other news, I've done some speed intervals at the gym and I'm running my first 10K of the year this weekend. Lets be honest though, I really don't think I am any speedier than when I started. Good thing there are still 320 days for me to work on this.

2. Train for a half marathon - I recently signed up to run the More/Fitness Women's Half in Central Park on Sunday, April 14. I am SUPER PUMPED! It's basically 2 loops around Central Park and apparently quite hilly. I just started training for it on February 1 and so far its going well. Running 3x a week is much more doable with my schedule than my Philly training plan, which involved running 5x a week. I normally do 1 short hilly run, 1 short run with speed intervals, and a long run on the weekend. Sometimes, I just say screw it and run outside when it's snowing. I do what I want. I love it.

Here's a recent picture from one of my chilly long runs...Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Boston, MA.

3. Blog more consistently - Seeing as my last post was over a month ago, this one's probably an epic fail so far. Sorry Lynn, looks like those Turkey Trot posts will be happening after Valentines Day. Crap.

Happy Valentines Day (I know this is so unrelated, but look how cute those hedgehogs are!)

4. Strength training - I've started going to North End Yoga. I love it...not just because it makes me feel more zen, but because I can also get a pastry from Modern Pastry afterwards. So far I've had a lime tart, numerous cannolis, a rum baba, and a lobster tail. I wasn't a super fan of the rum baba (too much rum) or the lobster tail (too big and crunchy), but I LOVED the cannolis and lime tart.

Anyways, back to yoga. I'm terrible at it and can barely do a downward dog, but I love it and plan on going at least once a week. I've learned that I am not very strong and not very bendy, but these are great things I need to work on. Plus, I love ommm-ing. My favorite is going on Friday nights after work. It is a great way to unwind from the week and fresh, healthy start to the weekend. Unfortunately, I might have to switch studios, my beginner introductory special is about to expire. I am thinking of going to Karma Yoga Studio on Comm Ave.

5. Watch more Grey's Anatomy - A+ on this one. Favorite character these days? Christina.

And...as a special treat, here's another goal that I'm adding:

6. Run 500 miles - This means I need to log about 10 miles a week. 54 miles down, 446 to go.

creamy chicken with broccoli and baby bella mushrooms over rice

CONFESSION: I'm too scared to leave the crockpot on when I am not in the house. It's a silly fear, I know. One that I'm hoping to get over...soon. I'm just convinced something will happen. E.g. my food will overcook, I'll forget about it (go out with my friends, get drunk, and come home 20 hours later), or there will be a fire. Ridiculous, I know. I am making a little bit of progress. Tonight I left my crockpot unattended for 2 hours while I went to the gym (although I must confess, my roommate was home the entire time). That's why this recipe calls for the crockpot to be set on high (so it cooks faster because of course I started cooking this when I came home from work...at 5. #lifefail). I'm sure you could cook it on the low setting and just go to work and come home to a delicious meal (like normal people).

This recipe is super easy and I am sure someone could adapt it so its made with less canned items (aka less preservatives). Honestly, that someone is probably not going to be me. Maybe in the future...

Creamy Chicken with Broccoli and Baby Bella Mushrooms over Rice (excuse my capitalization. it's probably wrong)

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken (I used defrosted, previously frozen Trader Joes thighs)
1 can of broccoli cheddar soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup of sour cream (I only had a scoop of sour cream...I tried to make it work. 1 cup = definitely better)
2 cups of broccoli
1/2 a small container of mushrooms (you know, those grocery containers that the mushrooms come in)
Seasonings! - the recipe I used called for salt, garlic salt, and cajun seasoning. I used garlic salt, adobo seasoning (don't ask, I put it in everything), paprika, cayenne pepper, and normal pepper.
Brown rice

Directions:
Put chicken, soups (and broth), and seasonings into crockpot. Cook on high for 3 hours.

Shred chicken with a fork. Add broccoli and mushrooms. Cook for another 30 minutes.

In the meantime, cook rice.

Stir in sour cream and serve over rice.

Sorry, no photo. Just imagine something creamy with chicken, broccoli, and mushrooms. I would totally make this again. So easy!

pumpkin dutch baby pancakes

Well, I guess it is technically a pancake, and not pancakes. Either way, this requires no stovetop and no griddle, just the oven. Gotta love lazy Sundays.

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe, so here you go...

Pumpkin Dutch Baby Pancakes
Serves 4 (I'm convinced it really only serves 2-3 because I always want seconds)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk (I've used whole and 1%, I don't think it makes a big difference)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (The first time I made this, I only had salted butter. It came out alright)
Powdered sugar (for the top!)

Directions:
Combine milk, flour, eggs, pumpkin, spices, and salt into a bowl and mix.

Spray 8x8 pan with cooking spray. Place butter in the pan, put in oven, and preheat to 450 degrees. When butter is hot and sizzling, remove from oven and pour batter into hot pan.

Put pan back into the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and fluffy.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve with coffee (coffee + powdered sugar...an absolute must).

Obviously, as soon as I snapped this photo, I then dumped 4 more pounds of powdered sugar onto my pancake. Really, I made these so I would have and excuse to eat powdered sugar.

Also, I think it might be prettier if you double the ingredients and bake it in a 9x13 pan, but since I am basically just a 1 person household, I really don't need a 9x13 pancake for myself.

In other news, I am going to NYC next weekend. I've been informed that I haven't been in over 5 1/2 years. I've also been informed that I need to get out more. I'm looking for cheap, tasty things to eat while I am there. Any ideas?

2013 goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's going to be a snowy one here in Brookline.

I'm not big on New Year's Eve (which is why I'm staying in tonight) and I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. I've never really had anything I suddenly wanted to change on January 1st. This year, however, I do have some goals I'd like to accomplish. They aren't very big, but hopefully they are somewhat attainable and something I can work towards throughout 2013.

2013 Goals! 

1. Run faster - How do I quantify this? I'm not a very fast runner (but hey, I just started), but it's something I definitely want to work on. I ran my first 10K back in May with a time of 1:01:42. I'm convinced it's a fluke because I've never been able to run a 10K even close to that time afterwards. In fact, here are my other 10K times - 1:09:08, 1:04:42, 1:03:56, 1:08:40, and 1:07:33 (Wtf???). In 2013, I want to run a 10K in less than 1 hour. I want a 59:XX next to my name. Obviously, I would plan to improve my half marathon time as well.

2. Train for a half marathon - Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I trained for the Philadelphia Half Marathon, but did I really train? Not really. I skipped a lot of runs, and in the last month leading up to the race, I barely ran at all. No long runs, no short runs, no nothing. It's going to be different next time. I'm signed up for the Run to Remember on Memorial Day weekend. I'm going to write a training program and I'm gong to stick with it! It's a ways away, but I'm envisioning 1 short run with speed work, 1 short run with hills, and a long run on the weekends. That's doable right?

3. Blog more consistently - especially after races. Lynn (and everyone else), you won't have to wait until Valentines Day to read about our double turkey trot! Especially since there was a pretty badass medal involved.

4. Strength training - I'm pretty much all fat, no muscle (I had one of those body mass index tests done once. Let's just say, it wasn't pretty). #plankaday and arm muscles are the plan.

5. Watch more Grey's Anatomy - ha, just kidding. I watch PLENTY of Grey's Anatomy already. I also watch a lot of Scandal.

In other news, I'm running a New Year's Day 5K tomorrow. The weather tomorrow is forecasted to be a high of 30 and a low of 11. I've never really run in the cold before so good thing I got some new cold weather gear! Including a really awesome hat from City Sports with a hole for my ponytail! How cool is that? Here's what I plan to wear. 

Hopefully I don't slip on the ice and fall on my ass (and if I do, I'm sure I'll blog about it).

philadelphia marathon: race recap!

Pre-race
Wake up time: 5:30am. The race started at 7:00am (with my corral probably starting around 7:30am) so I wanted to get to the start line by 6:30am (I'm anal, I know). We stayed at the Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, which was located in Rittenhouse Square...a little over a mile from the start line. It was really convenient to stay somewhere that did not require cabbing it in the morning.

My sister and I texted photos of what we were wearing to my mom so she would be able to easily find us in the crowds (Unfortunately, this did not work out as well as I had hoped because I decided to strip down to a tank top in 45 degree weather. What is wrong with me?!).

For breakfast I had a banana and half a cup of coffee from Wawa. No McDonalds breakfast sandwiches this time!

Ashley and I at the start line

After saying goodbye to Ashley, I headed towards the bag check. I don't normally check a bag, but I learned my lesson at the Tufts 10K and wanted to have some warm clothes for after the race. I forgot to bring a plastic bag or a drawstring backpack, which meant I had to check in my Longchamp purse. I must have looked like such an asshole. 

View from my corral. Good morning Philly!

I was in the blue corral, which was the very last corral. The half and full started and ran together for the first 13 miles, so there were both half marathoners and marathoners in my corral. I stood in front of the 5:30 pace group (2:45 half time) and wanted to try and stay ahead of them during the entire race.

The actual race
FIRST (and most importantly)...I high-fived Mayor Nutter at the start line! WOOT WOOT! The previous night I wrote as my Facebook status: I only have 2 goals for the Philly half marathon tomorrow: to finish (and get my medal) and to high five Mayor Nutter at the start line! #weonlyrunformedals. Lucky for me, I managed to make both these things happen!

The first 7 miles FLEW by. Irene and I started the race together and stayed together for the first 4-5 miles. Even though it was only 45 degrees, of course I managed to get hot ASAP and took off my half zip by mile 2...leaving me with just a tank top. I also managed to re-pin my bib while running (very slowly, #sotalented).

My mom snapped a photo of runners in Center City

I ran the first 7 miles without music. Just enjoyed the scenery and the crowds. Parts of Philadelphia are super cute! I loved running past Independence Hall, along the Delaware River, past old row houses in Old City and Queens Village, and of course South Street (a whole different story for a whole different day). I'm convinced they picked all the best parts for our run. Here's the course map. When we ran through Chinatown, I screamed to Irene, "Asians!!" I don't know what's wrong with me.

Mile 8 after crossing the Schuykill River, I put in my headphones and started zoning out to music. I was feeling great until I hit Mile 10.5. That's where my legs started to hurt...A LOT. I started to walk, mainly because it hurt too much to run. Clearly I should have trained more. Haha. Too late for that. I would run until I thought my legs would fall off, walk a bit, run again, walk a bit. I may have also texted my mom and sister a lot at this point. I really wanted to finish under 2:30 so when I saw the 5:00 marathon pace group coming up behind me (and pass me for a bit), I said fuck it, I need to run the rest of the way. I yanked out my headphones, listened to the crowd, and just tried to run as fast as I could (so not that fast).

Eventually, I made it to the finish line!! Ridiculously enough (the full and half finish across the same line), they were announcing 3 hour marathon finishers when I ran across the finish line. Crazy people!

I did it! I finished my first (and definitely not my last) half marathon! Who would have ever thought I would actually do this, considering that a year ago, I did not run at all (see my second blog post ever here).

The finish line! (in photos)

Everyone! (Irene, Ashley, Me, Lisa, Dave, Ranwei, Ranyee)

2 hours 27 minutes 54 seconds later...I'm done

Me and Irene (we ran the first 5 miles together)

Me, Lisa, Ranwei

Rha, Ashley, Me. Lisa

Me, my mom, Lisa

For some reason, I'm convinced I gained weight during the half marathon. How is this possible? My face and stomach definitely look a lot fatter than when I started.

And most importantly: our post-race meal...Federal Donuts! There are only 3 things on the menu - coffee, donuts, and fried chicken. This may have hindered my recovery and led to a strained hamstring (ok, maybe they are not connected). Whatever, it was so worth it.

I would totally run Philly again. Thank you for being mostly flat. See you in 2013!

philadelphia half marathon: rothman 8K + expo (sat)

I left Boston on the Amtrak at 9:30pm on Friday and arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday morning at 4:30am. I met up with my friend, Rha, at the train station and we cabbed it to my sister's apartment. I was rushing to finish my Corporations take home final (please don't ask why I was STILL working on it on Saturday morning) so that I could go watch the Rothman Institute's 8K!

This was Rha's first race! How exciting! She did an awesome job. Hopefully we can trick her into running more races in the future.

Afterwards we hit up the expo and got lots of free stuff (obviously). I love free water bottles, chapstick, and Geico gecko masks. What I don't love (but still take anyway because I have a free stuff problem) are 5 hour energy bottles, grocery bags, and bandaids.

I tried to find a long sleeve t shirt to wear during the race, but no such luck. I couldn't find any that I liked (this turned out not to be a problem because apparently I get hot when it's 45 degrees out and like to run almost naked).

not free stuff :-(

After the expo, I took a nap while Ashley and Rha went on a hunt for Philly cheesesteaks. My friend Irene met us later on, where we carbo-loaded at Panini Trattoria in Old City. There was free sangria! but there may have also been a food poisoning incident, so if you go there, maybe you should order something that does not involve salmon. Aside from the poisoned salmon (which I fortunately did not try), I thought the pasta was quite delicious.

Next up: race morning!

spoiler: philadelphia half marathon

Yes I know it has been awhile since I last posted, but guess what. Last Sunday I ran the Philadelphia Half Marathon!! This has been a goal one year in the making and I finished in 2:27:54! and I didn't die (although at one point I thought my legs were going to fall off).

I'll post a full recap soon. I'm on vacation in California so I have plenty of free time. In other news, I'm running a turkey trot tomorrow for Thanksgiving!