Shamrock 4 Miler

Earlier this week, I was considering driving down to Beaufort, SC to race the Paris Island Sprint Triathlon with some Sport Factory teammates.  Ultimately, the 4 hour drive was quite the deterrent, and I opted to keep my training in Charlotte for the weekend.  A day later, however, my desire to race was still persistent.  After a quick glance at the Charlotte running calendar, I compromised and registered to run a race here
instead.  It's not a triathlon, but it was a race, and that alone was enough to satisfy me.

Speedwork has essentially been non-existent in my run training recently.  Most of my runs are on tired legs and end up being more about completing the distance rather than focusing on pace.  A 4 mile race is shorter than I prefer, largely because I am just simply not one to enjoy sprint-type efforts.  10k and half-marathon is much more my distance.  However, by signing up to race, I knew I would push myself much harder than I would on a typical Saturday training run.

Clothes out the night before.  I may be living in Charlotte, but I was still set to represent The Sport Factory!

Race morning weather was unseasonably warm.  It was 58 degrees and perfectly clear at 7am.  After downing my typical pre-race breakfast (toast with peanut butter, honey, cinnamon, and banana) and cup of tea on the drive to the race site, I set out to get in a good warm-up.  I ended up running 1.5 miles and followed that with some dynamic stretching.  Despite a weak of some significant training, my legs were feeling pretty good.

The course was an out and back layout with NON-STOP rolling hills.  I was expecting a relatively flat course, but this was anything but flat.  My goal was to average sub-7 minute pace, and I had planned to start out slightly conservative so that I could consistently drop my pace each mile.  In typical fashion, however, I went out fast and at the quarter-mile point noted I was holding a 6 minute pace.  Hmm, not exactly the conservative start I had intended.

I tried to keep my leg turnover high on the downhills and then maintain a consistent effort, albeit slower pace, on the uphills.  Coming into the turnaround, there was a significant downhill, which only foreshadowed the significant uphill we faced after the turn.  My mile 3 split was much slower than my first two miles as a result of that climb.  At the turn I counted a single girl ahead of me, but 2 girls within striking distance behind me. I knew then that I had to hang on to my current pace to prevent being overtaken.  Around mile 3 was when the reality of running fast and maintaining a HR about my lactate threshold started to wreak havoc.  I found myself nauseated and struggling to hang on to my pace.  The downhill sections seemed to be incredibly short and the uphills just never seemed to end over that last mile.  As I was verging on puking, the finish line came in to site and I made one last push to get myself across the line.

With a time of 27:41 (6:55 pace), I was happy to have accomplished my goal of sub-7 minute pace.  

Mile Splits: 6:35, 6:48, 7:06, 7:02

2nd overall female out of a field of 413.  I'll take it!  The award for my sufferfest - a mug and a Michelob Ultra.  Hmm, not exactly my thing, but appropriate given the St. Patrick's Day theme.  Guess they'll be an ice cold one waiting in the refrigerator for company.  Beer was the theme of the day, as there was ice cold green beer waiting at the finish line for all the participants.  In case you're wondering, I passed on that too.  Instead, I headed back out for an extra 3 miles to cool-down and bring my total mileage at 8.5 for the day.

Looking over my data, I've struggled yet again to negative split a race.  Arguably, there was a net uphill grade over the second half of the race that contributed to the slowed pace.  My heart rate, however, indicates a consistent effort, averaging 177 overall and progressing from 171 to 183 from start to finish.

I'm not sure what will be next on my race calendar.  I had planned to race the Cool Breeze Sprint Triathlon on April 1st, but it looks like I'll be working in the trauma ICU instead.  Oh boy, aren't I lucky!

St. Patty's Day Triple Green Avocado Pasta

It only seemed appropriate to include lots of GREEN in my dinner tonight.  This dish was inspired by Oh She Glow's recipe for Avocado Pasta.  I've had this recipe bookmarked to make for at least a year, so it was about time I got cooking.  I made several additions/changes, so I've included my recipe below.

Triple Green Avocado Pasta

Ingredients:
5 oz kamut ditalini pasta
1 cup chopped frozen spinach
1/2 cup edamame
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 ripe avocado
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp EVOO
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp Cantanzaro Herbs (dried garlic, lemon peel, marjoram, basil, thyme, rosemary, and oregano)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly grated pepper

Directions:
1.  Boil pasta as directed.  During the last 2 minutes of cooking, add spinach, edamame, and chopped garlic to pasta and water.  Drain well, saving 1/4 cup of pasta water.  Place in the refrigerator to bring to room temperature.
2.  Mash avocado until pureed.  Add lemon juice, EVOO, nutritional yeast, herbs, salt, pepper, and reserved pasta water.
3.  Once the pasta has cooled, combine the pasta and avocado "sauce".
4.  Serve immediately.

The addition of the avocado makes this incredibly creamy, without the heaviness of a mayonnaise or cream sauce.  This is a great pasta to add to your summer meal rotation.  Served cool, it is a refreshing dish that would be great as a light dinner or as a side at a BBQ.  Enjoy!

Holy Heatwave!

8 days ago I was walking around New York City in 28 degree freezing cold temperatures, cursing my frozen fingers and toes and wishing for some warmth.  This afternoon I went for a run in record-breaking 82 degree heat, and it didn't take long before I was complaining about the summer-like temperatures.  Holy heat and humidity!  Charlotte hit a record high temperature today of 83 degrees.  What happened to spring?  It seems the 60 degree temperature swing has taken us straight from winter to summer.  I can only hope we will enjoy some milder temperatures between now and the dead of summer.

Red-faced, hot, sweaty, and salty after an hour-long run in the summer-like temperatures.

As I was running, I contemplated what I would eat for dinner.  I knew I had leftovers of my Mole Skillet Pie that I could heat up, but the warm weather had me craving a sandwich and cold fruit.  And as soon as sandwiches came to mind, I quickly was craving another tempeh sandwich that I created the other day.  Here's the tempeh that I used:

The nutritional stats on this product are pretty good, and it's mighty tasty.  All it takes is a quick sear for about 2 minutes on each side, and then it's ready to serve between the bread.  Tonight's sandwich was pretty similar to the previous one - Great Harvest bread (toasted), dijon mustard, lettuce, tomato, tempeh, and a spread of mole spice spread.  Mmmm, tasty yet again!

Served with roasted kale chips doused in ketchup (don't knock it until you try it) and icy cold mango.  There's nothing more refreshing than deliciously cold summer fruits - watermelon, grapes, mango, and melon!

And another thing that screams summer = ICE CREAM.  I might just have some of Earth Fare's coffee ice cream in the freezer that is calling my name!  

Mole Skillet Pie With Greens

How do you feel about chocolate for dinner?

I came across a blog post this week challenging readers to tackle a recipe that they ordinarily wouldn't try - perhaps one that seems to take too much time or ingredients that you don't regularly stock.  The idea is to try a new recipe once a week for the month of March.  Knowing that I would have plenty of time to get crafty in the kitchen this month, I decided I was up for the challenge.  

I turned to my favorite cookbook to hunt for a recipe.

I came across this recipe for a mole sauce that sounded intriguing.  The ingredient list, however, was quite lengthy and  included many spices that I didn't have in my cabinet.  I kept flipping the pages and soon found myself tempted by a Mole Skillet Pie with Greens that featured this sauce.  It sounded like a great vegan meal that had all of the qualities of typical American comfort food.  I was up for the challenge and soon found myself browsing the spice rack at Earth Fare to gather all of the necessary ingredients.

The mole has two components, a dry spice mix and a sauteed saucy component.  Here's the dry mix perfectly mixed thanks to my Vita-Mix.

Adding the spices to the saucy mix.

After combining the mix and pureeing it in the Vitamix, I returned it to the stove and added the special ingredient - DARK CHOCOLATE!

Preparing the Skillet Pie filling - a mix of greens (kale and spinach), carrots, black beans, and onion.

All of the veggies sauteed and combined with a cup of the mole sauce.

And finally, the addition of a hearty corn bread topping.  Time for the oven.

The finished product.  Is your mouth watering yet?  Doesn't this scream comfort food?!  I just finished enjoying a plate of this "Cooking Hard Stuff Challenge" recipe, and I declare it a success!  Great mix of flavors that would satisfy anyone, vegan or carnivore.

A close up of the plated recipe.  All together, it took about 1.5 hours from start to finish.  Fortunately, the mole recipe made about 3+ cups of sauce, so I was able to refrigerate some for use this week as a topping for the pie and while also freezing a container for later use.

So, are you up for taking on the challenge of cooking a tough recipe that you've frequently skipped over due to it's lengthy or challenging preparation?  Go for it!  See you next week for the next challenge meal.

Sunny Weekend

Who needs lots of words when pictures do justice to summarize a beautiful March weekend?

A Chipotle Burrito Bowl is an easy dinner solution for a hungry girl with an empty refrigerator
after an early morning swim, long day of work , and a run.

A typical weekend pancake (or, in this case, waffle) breakfast.
Topped with almond butter, applesauce, baked cinnamon bananas, and molasses.

Farmer's Market goodies - kale, greens, avocados, grapefruit, tomato, mango, and yellow onion.  

An ice bath after a tough hour of weights followed by a long run. 

Lunch in the sunshine.  Not a very photogenic meal.
Stuffed pepper diced up and mixed with roasted veggies and topped with nutritional yeast.  Random, yet tasty.

The Cooking Hard Stuff Challenge - Mole Skillet Pie

Getting down to business.  90 minutes of blood, sweat, and tears.

Killer lunch!
I miss the days when I enjoyed a toasted sandwich for lunch everyday during the first two years of medical school.

Check this out!  Great Harvest Multigrain Flax Bread, Mustard, Avocado, Maple Smoked Tempeh, Greens, and Tomato.
This was my first time trying this particular tempeh, and holy moly, I'll definitely be buying more of it! 

Pure deliciousness!

70 degrees, sunny, and not a single cloud in the skies.  Thank you Charlotte weather gods for the absolutely perfect weekend weather.  I certainly got my winter's worth of vitamin D in just two days and have a nice tan to show for it.

So there you go, you're all caught up on my weekend happenings.  Quality workouts, home-cooked meals, immersing myself in a novel, and lots of sunbathing.  I'm certainly thankful that my neurosurgery rotation was perfectly timed to allow me to enjoy this early spring weather!