5 nights down, 15 to go! I'll spare you the whining associated with night float, and instead piece together random pictures and happenings over the past two weeks.
1. Ironman Florida was last weekend and I literally couldn't peel myself away from the live coverage. Between several friends that were racing and my own Ironman debut (Chattanooga 2014!), it seemed so much more real than before. I kept thinking about my own race and the upcoming long training cycle that will carry me to race day.
2. In an effort to keep healthy while living the vampire life, I stocked up on a ton of fresh produce from the farmer's market last weekend. Can you believe there were still some heirloom tomatoes left? The appearance of cranberries screams fall - pumpkin cranberry muffins, cranberries on pancakes, and cranberry orange sauce at Thanksgiving.
3. I am currently addicted to a new sandwich creation. Great Harvest Dakota bread, dijon mustard, smashed avocado, heirloom tomato slices, salt and pepper. This may become my mainstay meal on night float.
4. There's not much worse than the food offered in the hospital cafeteria most nights. Instead of the mushy vegetables (broccoli and carrots, day after day) and the counter of brown (fried everything), I planned a easily portable meal. Quinoa pasta + asparagus + spinach + clams + garlic sauce.
Simply sauté the asparagus in a tablespoon of EVOO, add the spinach, toss with one cup of trader joe's garlic simmer sauce, and finally mix in a can of clams. Once heated through, combine with your cooked pasta and serve. My inspiration was a clam spaghetti that Mom has made several times in the past. It was delicious!
5. I'm contemplating running a spring marathon. On one hand, if I could build run mileage sufficient for 26.2 miles than that would be one thing to feel confident about going into Ironman training. On the other hand, I seem to be injury prone with long distance running. Regardless, last weekend I headed out for a 10 miler, but felt so great, that I decided for a nice round 13.1 miles. Not a bad way to begin a Sunday morning, right? It was followed promptly by an ice bath, of course.
6. I spent the majority of my run tossing ideas around in my head of what I would eat for breakfast. Pancakes sounded perfect, but the process of making so many always seems to take longer than I want - especially post 13.1 miles. Instead, I whipped up a vegan pumpkin cinnamon waffle in less than 10 minutes from start to finish.
For some reason it decided to stick to the pan in some areas, so it certainly was no work of art. Nonetheless, topped with bananas, cranberries, and maple syrup, it tasted just fine.
7. Thank goodness the OITE (orthopedic in-training exam) is over! After what feels like months of studying, I need a break from practice questions and notecards. The morning of the test I woke up with a killer migraine, so needless to say, I was pretty miserable for the first hour of the test while waiting for medicine to kick in.
8. Last but not least, you won't be seeing many gourmet meals around here over the next few weeks. Night float has a way of zapping my hunger, and certainly results in a major lack of cooking time. Hence, you can expect meals like this - roasted broccoli, radishes, and a Trader Joe's masala burger (doused in ketchup for good measure).
