Happy Valentine's Day!!!  

er...day after V-Day!  I started this post yesterday but didn't have a chance to finish it, so bear with me if some of my wording is off...  :) My hubb and I started the morning right with the Amnesty International Valentine's Day Couples 5K...so fun!!!  What a beautiful morning for a race! There were probably 200-300 people there, all in their bright-colored cool-weather gear.  The temperature was 25* when we left the house, and it probably climbed to 30* by the time the race started.  My hubb and I stayed together for the first mile, then I urged him to go forward without me once I heard our 1-mile split...9:14!!!  That is fast for me, and I felt like I was going to burn myself out too quickly if I tried to keep up with him.  He pushed ahead and I slowed down just slightly...my second mile split was 18:42!  The first two miles were on a hilly road, and the last mile was on a very hilly trail through the woods that slowed me down quite a bit.  We even had to climb over a fallen tree!  So my final time was 30:20...which I am THRILLED with!  I really wanted to beat a 10 min./mile average and would have loved to beat 30 minutes, but I wasn't expecting the trail and that totally threw my time off.  If the entire 3.1 miles had been like the first 2 miles I think I would have finished around 28 minutes... My hubb did really well too for his first race, finishing just ahead of me.  I can't wait for our next race together! So...I have been thinking about running a lot lately.  You all know that I had a foot injury a few weeks ago that slowed my training down quite a bit, in fact it completely halted my training for about a week and sent me from a 5.5-mile long run back down to 3-miles because of foot pain at any greater distance. It was frustrating.  Its still frustrating, because even after last weekend's 4.5-mile push my foot was really sore.  You all know how much I wanted to finish the Charlottesville 10-Miler this year after injury kept me from it last year, and you've been an incredible support system, helping me to get through ridiculous cold weather runs and injury and being a great source of advice and encouragement.  I have been dreading writing this post ever since last weekend's run, because that run was my test.  The test to see how my foot would feel at a distance greater than 3.5 miles.  The test to see how my endurance held up during my training hiatus.  The test to see if it was possible for me to push forward and complete the training for the 10-miler, which is now a mere 7 weeks away.  And...my foot failed the test.  I hope that I don't get any negative feedback for the statement I am about to write, for my greatest sadness in this whole experience is my fear that I am going to disappoint you all. I've decided to stop training for the 2009 Charlottesville 10-Miler. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who think that going from 4-5 miles to 10 miles in 7 weeks is totally a possibility, and it probably is, for some people.  But I've learned that my body doesn't handle accelerated training and big increases in running distance very well.  I injure myself, and no race is worth me injuring myself any further than I already have.  And, I realized in the last few days that the last sentence in the above paragraph was what was keeping me in the training program, not my intense desire to run the race by my even greater desire to not disappoint you all.  When I went back and read my running story yesterday, these are some of the statements that leapt from my computer screen...

I never liked running, it was hard, I told myself I wasn’t made for it.  But secretly when I would see a runner out on the road lost in their own world or a pair of runners chatting away as they jogged I would think “I wish that I loved to run.”  I’d hear friends talk about how they “just NEED to run, my day’s not complete without it” and I’d think “why I can’t I have that passion for something so good for me?” ...in an effort to find the inner runner in ME, I’ve signed up for the training program again this year.  To be clear, I am participating in the program to find my motivation, my inner runner and hopefully a few more running buddies. I will be perfectly happy to get back up to 4-5 miles and stay there if I feel like my body can’t handle any more distance. I am determined to listen to my body and slow down if I start to feel injuries coming on.

I remembered that I started this training program so that I could get back into running.  So that I could learn to love to run, whether with a running buddy or on my own.  Through this experience I've learned that I really enjoy running 3-4 miles, and anything past that gets boring and tedious for me.  I've learned that 5K's are a lot of fun, and I get a big thrill out of pushing myself to go faster, but not necessarily longer.  I've learned that I look forward to a 3-4 mile run with my hubb or a friend, but when I get to 5-6 miles I dread it.  I've learned that my body may not be capable of safely running long distances...and I'm ok with that.  So, in my eyes, this training program was a complete success. I've decided to stick with shorter distances.  To run for my health and my enjoyment and to challenge myself by increasing speed rather than distance. There are plenty of 5K's out there, the C'ville Women's 4-Miler, even some 8K's and 10K's that may be possible.  I may even try a mini-triathlon sometime.  And maybe eventually I'll try long distances again, if after running consistently for awhile my desire to challenge myself in that way returns.  But I won't be disappointed with myself if I never get to that point, and I hope that you all won't be disappointed either. Whew!  Thanks for sticking with me, if you've gotten this far!  I really needed to get it all out there, and I'll be updating my running page soon to reflect the latest events in my story.

Now, on to food!

My apologies for not posting the last couple of days.  I know you all understand since I have been on a big big big deadline.  Unfortunately, my deadline was pushed from Friday to Monday.  Typically I would be thrilled to have 2 extra days to work on a project, but not when those two days are my weekend!  Argh.  Most of my meals were packed up in the morning and eaten at the office, so they are pretty standard. Breakfast Thursday:  toasted ezekiel muffin, 1/2 with 1 tbsp TJ's natural PB and 1/2 with 1 tbsp sour cherry preserves.  And some red grapes. [415 cal] Lunch Thursday:  big ol' salad with spinach, baby blends, red bell pepper, broccoli, cucumber, hearts of palm, black olives, roasted garlic hummus and some TJ's fat free balsamic vinaigrette. [207 cal] Snacks Thursday:  an apple (saved my pear for a snackie dessert bowl once home) and a Clif White Chocolate Macadamia Nut bar, 1/2 before my run and 1/2 after.  I am IN LOVE with the WCMN bar...even more so than the iced gingerbread.  Which is a good thing because the WCMN bar isn't seasonal! [321 cal] Exercise Thursday:  3-1/2 mile run with my friend Kelly...it was fabulous and got me totally pumped up for my 5K. [-360 cal] I actually made dinner in the morning and packed it up to take to the office with me, knowing it would be a late night.   Dinner Thursday:  baked chicken breast with Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce, 1 cup steamed broccoli and 3/4 cup Near East Whole Grain Blends, roasted garlic flavor. [406 cal] And I know you all have seen this fabulous sauce popping up all over the blog world...  I received two bottles of Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce last week and was excited to try it on my chicken.  Let me tell you, it is some good stuff.  Its kind of a cross between bbq and worschestshire sauce, with a smokey tang that truly would be good on most anything I can imagine.   I"ll be hosting a give-away so that a couple of my lovely readers can try out their own bottles of Country Bob's, but I need to clarify a couple of things with the company first.  Stay tuned! Dessert Thursday:  snackie dessert bowl with 1 sliced pear, 2 heaping tbsp Fage 0% yogurt, 1 tsp honey.  No picture, I was too tired. [149 cal] Daily Totals: Thursday

• Calories Consumed:  1498
• Calories Expelled:  360
• Net Calories:  1138

Breakfast Friday:  toasted ezekiel muffin with 1-1/2 tbsp TJ's natural PB and a sliced banana [423 cal] Lunch Friday:  1/2 a leftover chicken breast, thawed black-eyed peas and ham from New Years Day on a bed of spinach, and some red grapes. [360 cal] Snacks Friday:  a mandarin orange, I decided against my apple because it just didn't sound good.  Weird. However, when my boss brought in red wine, cheese and crackers for our Friday afternoon festivities, that sounded good.  It had been a long week, and it wasn't close to being over.  I had a small glass of wine and about 2oz of swiss cheese, with 4 table water crackers. [402 cal] I wanted to load up on carbs for our race the next morning, so dinner Friday was a kitchen sink pasta. Saturday is grocery day, so I had some veggies that I wanted to use up.  Basically anything and everything I could find went in. Dinner Friday:  kitchen sink pasta and lots of water [548 cal] This yummy bowl contained:

• 1 cup brown rice pasta
• 365 brand marinara sauce
• onion
• garlic
• bell peppers
• broccoli
• chickpeas
• shitake mushrooms
• fresh basil
• crushed red pepper
• 2 tbsp part-skim mozzerella

It really hit the spot.  Sometimes a big bowl of pasta is exactly what you need after a long week. Daily Totals: Friday

• Calories Consumed: 1733
• Calories Expelled:  none
• Net Calories:  1733 (yikes!  luckily wine/cheese friday is only one day/week!)

I don't have many pictures for Saturday... Breakfast Saturday:  1/2 Clif Iced Gingerbread bar pre-race, 1/2 banana and 1/2 bagel post-race [330 cal] Lunch Saturday:  3/4 cup Fage 0%, 1 sliced banana, a drizzle of honey and 1/4 cup TJ's pumpkin spice granola...it was exactly what I wanted. [331 cal] Snacks Saturday:  1 pear and 4 table water crackers while at the office, a ZBar after grocery shopping [311 cal] My hubb and I had a lovely Valentine's Day evening.  We started off at an engagement party for some good friends.  I have a picture of Liz and I, but sadly none of me with my hubb!  Such a shame because he looked so handsome all dressed up... After the party we went to dinner at L'Etoile, a French restaurant in town that I have been dying to try for quite some time.  They serve food prepared using a lot of locally-produced products, which I am a big proponent of.  Again, no pictures!  So sad because it was really a wonderful evening. We started with wine (I had chardonnay) and an amuse-bouche from the chef, a bite-size morsel of cornichon, prosciutto and roquefort sprinkled with fresh chives.  It was perfect. Then I moved on to the lobster bisque, which was hands-down my favorite part of the meal, even better than dessert.  I just don't get enough lobster in my life... My hubb had the duck confit, which I also tried a bite of and loved.  I'm not usually a fan of duck because it is so oily, but this dish was divine.  After our appetizers we were brought the winter salad, which consisted of arugula, apples, walnuts and local cheese with a champagne vinaigrette.  I am a huge fan of arugula, I loved the combination of its spicy bite with the sweet apples and vinaigrette.  For my entree' I picked the rockfish in brown butter sauce with fingerling potatoes and hericot verts.  The fish was cooked perfectly, but the flavor wasn't anything outstanding.  And my potatoes were undercooked, still a little crunchy and lacking in flavor.  For dessert we decided on the tasting for two, which consisted of chocolate cake with peanut butter ganache, kettle corn revisited...a sweet/salty combination of cake and ice cream which was truly wonderful, a "french toast" brioche bread pudding with maple syrup and brown sugar, and an undercooked creme brulee'.  It was a lovely evening in a beautiful atmosphere with delicious food and the love of my life.   And now, I must return to the office.  :(  I am going to take a break mid-day to go to yoga, and hopefully we'll be having dinner with a friend tonight.  I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!