Generosity :)

Yesterday I posted my fund raising page for my Team in Training fund raising campaign for the Marine Corps Marathon. Since then, I have received $437 in donations! That is just crazy to me, I am so excited for how much I can potentially raise for this organization in the next five months!

So I was thinking about interesting things that I could do to raise money, and after browsing through TNT's tips and talking to some co-workers, here are some ideas:

• Partner with local restaurants to have a TNT night where a percentage of the profits goes towards my campaign (usually about 10%)
• Hold a "dessert-a-thon" where I invite a ton of people over for all you can eat desserts in exchange for a "cover charge" (I would like to do this in multiple locations, like once at my moms house with her friends and maybe once here)
• Seek company sponsorships, both locally and with companies I have connections with outside of Charleston
• Hook up with local sports teams to see how I could either get a portion of the night's profits, or work a booth to raise money

I'm sure there are tons more, but these are the first few that piqued my interest. Y'all let me know if you can think of any more!

Also I have been greatly surprised by those who have donated so far whom I only know through Twitter or the blog! How crazy is that?? Oh, the power of the internet! (And of course, a big THANK YOU to those of you who have donated! You know who you are :)

***
As far as training goes, I officially have 30 weeks until my next marathon. Wayyy more time than I had to train for my first, plus since I already have one under my belt I should be set. Our Team in Training kick-off meeting is next Tuesday, but unfortunately, I will be out of town for business so I will have to miss it! I'm kind of mad about that, but I think that our first group run should be next Sunday...so that's exciting!

I have a meeting tonight so I can't run, plus it's pretty bad weather here today, so I'm going to do some yoga at home. I have a TON of studying to do before I go out of town next week so I will have my nose in a book basically from now until Monday morning. Blah.

***
For some color, I thought I would post today about our three-year anniversary dinner at S.N.O.B. here in Charleston a few weeks back.

S.N.O.B. stands for "Slightly North of Broad" because the restaurant is right above the famed Broad Street in historic downtown Charleston. I had heard nothing but good things about this place, so I was pumped to try it out! Matt was too, and was in a pretty good mood once we got there :)

We had scoped out the menu online before we went, so we knew we wanted to try the cheese plate as an appetizer. Check this baby out!! Three different types of cheese (changed daily), plus strawberries, grapes, pineapple, walnuts, almonds, dried fruits and toasted bread. YUM!

When I asked Matt if I could take a picture of this, he said, "Yes. If you hurry." Gotta love a hungry man :) (Check out the top of the pic, he's ready, knife in hand!) The cheeses were fresh and creamy and oh so good. They also brought us out some white bread and cornbread squares. What more could a girl want?

This girl wanted fresh veggies, so I decided to order the Vegetable Plate when our server told me it had 12 different local veggies!

Oh man, this did NOT disappoint. Let me see if I can remember everything on this gigantic plate of food. Summer squash, okra, eggplant, zucchini, roasted tomato, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, scalloped potatoes, tofu, some sort of weirdo mushrooms, white corn, and even some southern grits with a sweet chutney. That's actually 13!

After eating the cheese plate, the bread they brought out, and tackling this, I had about 1/2 of it leftover to take home. (Matt's stuffed flounder came with sweet potato mash and mushrooms, which he promptly gave to me...needless to say I had a lot of food!)

So I transformed it into my lunch the next day.

All I added was some whole grains with a little leftover Kashi Pilaf and tomatoes. (I find that pilaf to be pretty bland on its own even after cooking in low sodium chicken broth, so I add a can of no salt added diced tomatoes, juice and all.)

What I loved most about this entree, was that it was cooked with minimal oils and sauces, and everything was cooked differently. Some were steamed, some baked, some grilled. It was delicious for sure! If you're ever in Charleston (you better call me up) I would definitely recommend S.N.O.B.

Ok guys, I've got to finish up a few things and then I am off to my Habitat for Humanity meeting! Don't forget...if you want some good karma, donate a lil bit to my Leukemia and Lymphoma fundraising campaign!

Simple & Clean

This morning when I opened my reader and discovered Bobbi's May Challenge to lead the Simple Life, I was excited because not only have I already been doing most of these things, but because for the past month I have been slowly transitioning myself into eating very simply and cleanly.

And I must say, I have been doing a fabulous job!

For me, my figure and weight loss are always looming in the front of my mind as I would still like to drop 5 to 10 pounds. However, leading a simple life in the way of what food I eat doesn't really have any bearing on the fact that I want to lose some weight. I know the only way I am going to lose any weight is by adding another component to my exercise regime because I already eat pretty healthy.

So, the way I see this Simple Life Challenge is just a way to further my own agenda of not only putting pure/simple/clean ingredients into my body but by also adapting this idea to other areas of my life.

I have posted before about my thoughts on healthy eating and I sometimes mention what I eat throughout the day, or I may post occasional recipes of meals I particularly like. You probably remember my posts on eating healthy on a budget. But this blog wasn't started to be a food journal and I don't intend to make it that.

But I do intend to further explore the things I love which is of course running and exercise, but also healthy eating, fresh ingredients, organic foods, sustainability, and easy ways that normal people can achieve a healthy balance.

After my first marathon is over on Saturday (!) I can quit thinking about my training for a minute and really start looking at whats next for me, whether that be another race in the fall, a new exercise activity to help me reach my goal weight, or simply a fresh outlook on my life. I think it's definitely due time! I have been stuck in a rut for a while and it's high time I do something about it.

So! Here are a few things I have been chomping down on this week in order to prepare myself (the best way I know how) to be nutritionally sound come Saturday morning.

First off, I have been eating Green Smoothies almost every day since last week! I honestly love them, and I really love all of the nutrients I am eating with my greens. I usually eat them for breakfast with some sort of whole grain for me to "chew" on. I think I am up to using almost 2 to 4 cups of greens, 1 cup of milk (soy or whatever else), 1 T ground flax, 1 spoonful of chunky natural PB, 1 banana and some ice. I haven't strayed too much from this, and have been primarily using kale.


I also made a big batch of dried lima and black beans Sunday night that I have been sitting in our cupboard for a while (probably too long) and have been incorporating them into my lunches and dinners this week. (Which is a very cheap and easy way to add some protein to any meal.)


I have also been eating veggie & protein packed salads and wraps for lunches.



Drinking tons of water as well as coconut water (as I can afford it) after my workouts and during the day.



And the number one thing I have been working on, is not to eat anything after dinner! This has grown increasingly more difficult for me lately and last night I finally said enough is enough! And I feel much better today :)

****
That's all I have for now, but here is a bit more about Bobbi's Simple Life Challenge and please head to her site for more information and to sign up!

The Simple Life Challenge from Bobbi at NHerShoes

"How about a SIMPLE LIFE challenge that will get you to save money and eat healthier?? I don’t know about you, but I need to save some money and get back to the more simple pleasures of life.

The challenge comes in three parts!

First part give up eating out for the entire month of MAY!!! I know a lot of you wanted a challenge to get that bikini body, well this is a great way to get there.

Second part, Health Commute Challenge!! Ride your bike at least three times a week(or more) to work or to the store, or taking public transportation, walking, shoot even running!

Third part, Being Simple & Green. Here is a list of ways that you can get simple, and I would love to hear more of your ideas as well.

• Having a date night out at the park
• Inviting friends over for dinner instead of going out, have everyone bring something.
• Do your own pedicure and manicure
• Instead of buying that cup of coffee every day, make your own at home, or shoot give up coffee all together.
• Make all your own breads instead of buying them
• Have a garage sale and make some extra money!
• Read the news online instead of buying the newspaper.
• Do a cloths swap with your BFF’s
• Making a gift for someone instead of buying them something, which is always better anyway.

This May challenge is keeping life in it's RAWIST and SIMPLEST form. I understand that some of you can not bike to work or take public transportation, but what about carpooling or riding your bike to the grocery store??Do you need to simplify your life and get clean inside and out, then this challenge is for you"

Grilled Zucchini Wrap

I went home for lunch today and whipped up this crazy good wrap, inspired by my lunch yesterday at local restaurant the Mustard Seed.

• 1 Healthy Grains Flat Out Wrap
• 1 T or so of Sabra Pine Nut Hummus
  
• 1/2 zucchini, grilled in strips
• Feta Cheese
• 2 slices of tomato, diced up
• Sea salt
• Handful of baby spinach

I just grilled up some slices of zucchini on the George Foreman and then assembled all this together, starting with smearing some hummus on the wrap and then adding everything else. Then I put the whole wrap on the grill to make the cheese melt and the outside a bit crunchy.

Was super good, quick and healthy! I still have the other half of the zucchini so I will probably repeat this for lunch tomorrow.


Running Schedule for the Week:
I haven't talked too much about running since my 18 miler on Saturday...I wanted to take off Sunday and Monday but I wish I had felt up to running yesterday afternoon. After my all-nighter and subsequent early morning test yesterday, I passed out literally an hour after I got home last night! (After I snacked on some tortilla chips and salsa...obvi.)

Tonight: 8 miles + yoga?
Thursday: 6 mile hill run (Amanda, want to join? Bridge run?)
Friday: 5 miles + track workout (possible run with a friend)
Saturday: 13 mile long run
Sunday: Off! Yoga

Recipe: Gnocchi & Chicken Vegetable Soup

I posted about this a few days ago, and got a request to share the recipe so here goes! This is simple and easy and could easily be adapted to add different veggies and a different starch. I also used most of the meat from a rotisserie chicken that I picked up last minute, but I could have eaten this without the meat as well. (I have to satisfy my carnivore boyfriend!)


Gnocchi & Chicken Vegetable Soup

• 2/3 of the meat from one store-bought rotisserie chicken, skin removed
  
• 3 carrots, cleaned, skinned and sliced
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 bag frozen corn
• 1/2 bag frozen okra
• 1/2 bunch kale, washed and chopped (stems removed)
• 4 low-sodium chicken bouillon cubes
• 2 bay leaves
• 6-7 cups water
• 1 package gnocchi (potato dumplings)
• Herbs & spices (I used what I had on hand, dried oregano, basil and a bit of cumin)
• S & P to taste
• Olive Oil
  

Start by heating up some olive oil in a large soup pot, and then add the onion and garlic. Sautee until translucent. Add in the carrots and cook for a bit in the oil and onion mixture. Start adding in the water, a few cups at a time until the pot is about 1/2 full. Add the bouillon,* stir and let cook through until the cubes are dissolved (just a few minutes). I added a few pieces of the skin here to add flavor and then removed it before I added the veggies, but you can skip that if you would like. :)

Then add the rest of your frozen veggies, the bay leaves, and your other spices. Cover the pot and let cook on medium to medium high heat for 10 minutes. Then Add in the chicken and the kale and cover and let cook for 10 more minutes.

You can actually let the soup cook for an hour or more, the longer it simmers the longer all of the spices and other flavors will mingle together. It just depends on how much time you have and/or how hungry the mouths are you're feeding. :)

Add the gnocchi at the end, and when it floats it's done! Usually only takes about 5 minutes. Add S & P to taste (remember that the chicken and the stock are probably already heavily salted). Remove bay leaves before eating.

A note here on gnocchi:
This was my first time cooking with these yummy dumplings, and I just happened to pick up a package from the pasta aisle at Target a few weeks ago. Upon further inspection, I realized they were made with dehydrated potato flakes and some other unappealing things, and I could definitely taste that in the soup! Apparently they are super easy to make, so here are a few links to some recipes. (I think Sweet Potato or Pumpkin would be a serious UPGRADE! I plan on trying that sometime soon.)

Mario Batali's Gnocchi
Sweet Potato Gnocchi!
Pumpkin Gnocchi from Delicious Days
How to Make Homemade Gnocchi from Bitchincamero
Crisp Gnocchi with Lemon and Garlic Greens (Kale!)

Here is a video showing you how to make your own!

Italian Food:How To Make Gnocchi


*You can also use powdered bouillion as well, it's harder to find in low-sodium though and more expensive so I usually stick to the cubes. They also sell veggie bouillion, but still harder to find in low-sodium.

Weekend Roundup + Monday's Eats

I will start by saying that I had a fabulous weekend, minus a few snafu's (I have no idea if that is spelled correctly or not). Saturday I set a new PR in a 5k race and then spent the rest of the day lazily studying on the sun-filled patio of our local Starbucks. Then I did some cleaning and we went to dinner at a friends house and had a great evening!

Sunday morning I got up and was lazy for a while before finally setting off for my supposed 17 miler. Last week, I had a horrible long run and I was really hoping this one would be better. It was worse.

I don't know what is wrong with me, but I could only manage 7 miles!! I turned around half way and decided that the bridge would just kill me so I whimpered home. I was experiencing horrible side stitches that I couldn't manage to shake. I was devastated, but I am not going to dwell on it because I have a plan for this week that will hopefully redeem me. I will share if it indeed does redeem :)

After this horrible run, since I wasn't as sore as I was expecting to be, I quickly showered and Matt and I picked up lunch from Saffron Bakery & Deli (one of my new faves) and headed to Battery Park to picnic! Food was great (I had the Veggie Pita which has hummus, cucumbers, parsley I think, feta cheese and sprouts plus a side salad and Matt had the Turkey Club with Potato Salad that looked fab!), weather was fantastic (in the mid 70s) and we just had a nice time.

Battery Park

We then walked around downtown for a while just enjoying our city :) We also did our weekly shopping and spent too much because we didn't plan out our week...definitely getting back on board with that next Sunday. We spent almost exactly $100!! Of course, we did have to buy some cleaning supplies as well, but I was NOT happy about that total.

Last night we made home made pizzas and watched Amazing Race!

Monday:
This morning I made a bowl of Total with blueberries and Light Soy Vanilla Milk. It was yummm mostly because I haven't been eating too much cereal lately and I haven't had Soy Milk around in forever! AND it kept me full until 1 PM today!

For lunch, I had leftover pizza and a small side salad.



On my pizza, I had:

• Steamed spinach as the base layer
• Mozzarella cheese made with skim milk
  
• Black olives
• Diced onions & peppers
• 1 tomato sliced
• Balsamic marinated tofu chunks

In my salad I had butter lettuce, leftover diced bell pepper and onion, cucumbers and a few black olives. I used Wish Bone Spirtzers in Caesar as my dressing. (This is what I use most of the time at work, when at home I make my own.)

Next time I will add garlic and more spinach! But all in all WAY better than last week's. Plus, I didn't burn it! BONUS :) Tonight I will be making more shrimp stir fry with brown rice!

As far as my running prognosis goes, I am at the very least, deflated about my performance yesterday. I had a great week in running up until Sunday, so all I can think of is that I am letting my nerves get in the way. It is now crunch time for this marathon with only 53 days away!

Hopefully I will have some good news to write on here this week regarding running...and hopefully it will be good news on something longer than 6 miles! GAH.

Hope everyone has a great Monday.

Beautiful Weather and Hooray Spring 6 Miler!

I could not be more thrilled that today is Friday. I woke up early, had time to make a nice breakfast and pack a good lunch, and even got to catch up on my reading! All before work. I am also excited because today was finally warm enough for me to wear a new dress I had been saving...PLUS, it looks like it may be warm enough this weekend for some beach time! Best time of year. :)

I started out this morning with some Apple Cinnamon Oats, only because after I started to make it I realized the only fruit in the house was one lonely apple.

Here's what I put in there:

• 1/3 cup quick cooking oats (do you guys all make steel cut oats? I am lazy and use the quick kind)
• 1/2 scoop Vanilla Soy Protein Powder
• NF milk
• Water
  
• almost 1 apple diced (munched on the rest of it)
• 1 packet of Splenda
• Some cinnamon
• 1 spoonful of Publix Natural Chunky PB
• 1 spoonful Dannon Lite and Fit Vanilla Yogurt

Yum! Next time I think I will add the PB and apple while cooking, it was kind of cold by the time I got around to eating it.

All mixed up:


I also started my day off with something other than coffee, which is kind of a shocker to me, a double dose of green tea!


Hooray for Spring 6 Miler!
RunningLaur over at When I get a little, run run run has been kind enough to arrange a virtual 6 miler on the first day of spring. Since I am new to the online running community, I haven't been able to take part in any of these so far! So I am pretty pumped about this one. Here's what she says about the race:

Here are the details, and keep in mind that I'm very relaxed on the 'rules':

• Date: Friday, March 20 - the first day of spring! Saturday, March 21 is the historic date of the equinox however, the tilt of the earth has changed, so the 21st is generally known as the traditional date. And well, Saturday is a lot easier to run on. I will also accept a race time from anytime during the first week of Spring (until Friday March 27) so that the celebration can last all week.
  
• Distance: 6 miles or 6 km. Like most real races, there are multiple distance corrals! Non-Americans, or those preferring lower mileage for any reason, may opt for the 6 km option. Let me know which one you did with your results. Note that this may be part of a longer training run if you like too. I'm easy.
  
• Purpose: To celebrate and enjoy Spring! Also, racers will compete for prizes (of a sort...), yay!
  
• Prizes: No real life prizes, sorry - I don't have cool sponsors like some bloggers, but I do have Microsoft Paint and the love of all things tacky and ugly. Winners, in various categories (not necessarily speed based), will be awarded wonderfully silly award logos that can be placed on your blog. Now who doesn't love pimping out their blog?!?!? All participants will receive a virtual bib, when printed, becomes a real bib.
  
• Registration: FREE!!! Comment with your name and planned distance. If you want to throw in a goal time too, go for it - this way you can race against yourself. My submission: RunningLaur, 6 miles, 66 minutes.

I have 'registered' for the 6 mile race, and I will probably do it sometime during the week since I will most likely be doing a long run on that weekend.

Running schedule for this weekend:
I asked for some opinions yesterday as to what I should run today (obviously I didn't get up and run this morning, so will be done after work) and joyRuN suggested I cross train, which honestly I hadn't even thought of. Since I don't have a gym membership yet, I haven't been able to get into too much cross training recently.

But I DO have a road bike that has basically been gathering dust since last February, and since it is such nice weather....I think I might take it out tonight.

I have my 5k tomorrow morning, and my long run on Sunday so I am trying to be as healthy as I can today and throughout this weekend. Especially since I ate Mexican last night.* I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend! Wish me luck on my race!



* I may or may not have eaten bean dip, chips and salsa, and a spinach quesadilla with guacamole and sour cream. If I DID eat all that, my experience may have been ruined due to the four screaming snot nosed kids whose baby-talking parents were letting them run throughout the entire restaurant. Note to self: stick to restaurants downtown near the college, where it is almost guaranteed you won't run into these situations.

Happy Friday!

Split times from Thursday's 70 minute run:

1	00:10:18	1.00 mi	10:18 min/mi	--	--	112 C
2	00:10:17	1.00 mi	10:17 min/mi	--	--	113 C
3	00:10:26	1.00 mi	10:26 min/mi	--	--	115 C
4	00:10:24	1.00 mi	10:24 min/mi	--	--	114 C
5	00:10:28	1.00 mi	10:28 min/mi	--	--	113 C
6	00:10:25	1.00 mi	10:25 min/mi	--	--	113 C
7	00:07:44	0.87 mi	08:51 min/mi	--	--	98 C

Told you I was taking my time! Here are the totals:

Activity Type: Street Running

Event Type: Training

Total Time: 01:10:04

Distance: 6.87 mi

Elevation Gain/Loss: 1,198 ft / 1,187 ft

Calories: 778 C

Avg Pace: 10:11 min/mi

Max Pace: 06:22 min/mi

Although this was a slow run, it was just what I needed to get back into the week.

Had a nice lunch yesterday with the boo at Red's Icehouse on Shem Creek. The weather was gorgeous, the food was delish, and the view was amazing. We even saw some dolphins swimming along! This picture doesn't really do it justice, as the plastic shield kind of gets in the way. We ate outside at the bar area, which has plastic "windows" for when it's not as warm.


I had a meeting after work last night that ran over, so we had a quick dinner when I got home. Baked flounder with Herbs de Provence, and a stir fry veggie medley for me (basically all of the veggies I had in the fridge that were extremely close to going bad). Sauteed some snow peas and shitake mushrooms in olive oil and minced garlic, then threw in some slivered almonds and salt. Yum!

I usually always bake my fish in an aluminum foil "basket" to lock in the juices and keep the fish moist and tasty. The bf's fish was perfect, but I think mine cooked a bit too long as I only had one filet and he had two. But, it was still a good dinner.

Then I got surprised with a dozen white roses for an early VDay! Will share the pictures tonight when I post about this morning's run...

Our night was very chill, cleaned up the apartment in preparation for our company this weekend, the bf's Army buddy and his gf from Maine! They should be arriving this afternoon and will be staying until Sunday. Then my Nana from Virginia will be stopping by Sunday evening on her way to GA. Busy weekend ahead!

Not to mention the 5 miles tomorrow and the 15 miles I have to do Sunday. The longest I have ever run was 18 miles and I think it was actually on my birthday last year. But I don't really count it because I walked a significant amount of it. Probably one of my worst "runs"ever! So if all goes well on Sunday, I will be feeling pretty good with myself. Fingers crossed!

Happy Friday everyone! More tonight with split times from this morning's 3 miler with 5x100m sprints.

P.S. Don't forget to enter to win a free sample of WIN Detergent from NHerShoes!