Fueled by Soap

Huh??  Yeah….lets rewind.  With our impending 9-mile run on the schedule for this past weekend, Brian and I decided it was time to get some fuel for our runs.

I was actually really excited to try out chews/shot blocks!!  Probably a little more excited than a person should be to eat a big gummy lemon-lime block...although I’ve always been a fan of fruity/chewy candy!  We also decided we needed a water bottle for the run.  The past couple weeks we planned out and back routes on the Minuteman bike path that would take us by our car halfway through so we could get water, but that wasn’t always going to be possible.

We had to do 9 miles and I wanted to plan out a new route (I get bored FAST running the same routes!).

This was a big loop from our house, through a surrounding town, and back, so we opted for the water bottle above that would slip onto our hands.

Because of our schedules, we did our runs separately.  I did mine Sunday when it was super nice out :) 

I had my ipod, Garmin, water bottle, and 3 shot blocks in the pouch that came on the water bottle.  All ready to go! 

At about 3 miles I took a sip.  Ewww….SOAP!!!

Apparently I did NOT rinse it out enough after washing, and while running and sloshing the water around I had a nice bottle of sudsy water!!!  AHHHH!

Thankfully my run took me by a grocery store around mile 5 where I ran in, washed the bottle out, and filled it up.  I really could of gone for a sip before that, but luckily I didn’t have to wait too too long.

Aside from my detour in the grocery store, and 2 quick stops to walk near the end, I was pretty happy with the run!

I did nine miles in 1:38:14 which is about 10:55 min/miles…I haven’t figured out the auto stop function yet so that includes any stops for walking, or at traffic lights. 

Training is going well so far!  I haven’t been as good with my 3rd “easy” run of the week, but I’m also happy to be back doing Body Pump!! 

I also had a 2 hour dance rehearsal only a couple hours after my 9-miler…definitely won’t make that mistake again!! 

Legs = Jelly.

Pancakes = Weekend…or a nice Monday off from work!

My company didn’t have Patriots Day off (Marathon Monday), but I took it off and after my running/dancing Sunday I was so relieved to know I didn't have to get up for work the next day.  

Brian had to go in for the morning, but I got stuff done at home while I waited…including a relaxing breakfast.

Protein Pancakes!

I love them with nut butter on top :) (one with PB and one AB)

and syrup, obviously.

Decided to try out a new juice combo….

• 1 orange
• 1 grapefruit
• 1/2 pear
• kale
• romaine
• pineapple

It was good, but not my favorite.  I think next time I’d double the orange, and leave out the grapefruit.  The grapefruit was a bit over powering, and even though I love grapefruit, it wasn’t working here. 

Oh well, Juice and Learn!

Once Brian was home we headed out to enjoy the weather and an afternoon off!  It was a little too late to try and get to the marathon, so we opted for Harvard Square.

We ended up dining al fresco for a late lunch at Russell House Tavern, which is one of the places I’ve been wanting to try for a while. 

It wasn’t that warm out, but it was nice enough to sit outside…at least we thought so.  We were the only ones out there!

I was a bit disappointed that they were out of the sandwich I wanted to try…and out of the beer Brian initially ordered, but our waitress was so nice and really I could order something else..like this!

 

Crab cake sandwich with greens!  DELISH!  Ate all of the crab cakes, half of the bread, all the greens and of course a handful of fries from across the table…

Brian got the: 

Smokey 12 Hour Brisket Melt:  Creamy Cole Slaw, House Pickles, Horseradish, Marble Rye

It was SO good.  A little messy…but worth it

Later on I picked up a cappuccino at Crema Cafe along with a couple goodies to share.

 

Our day concluded with grocery shopping, dinner, and ballz.

I think Brian likes these protein balls even more than me!

I made a double batch:

Protein Balls! (based on the recipe from Fitnessista)

• 4 T protein powder (Sun Warrior vanilla)
• 2 T Almond Butter
• 2 T Peanut Butter
• 4 T unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1.5 T maple syrup
• 1 tsp water
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• small square dark chocolate
• pinch of salt

All ingredients into a small food processor until beginning to clump.  I then dump it all out onto a plate or work surface and form into balls.  I store them in a tupperware container in the fridge :)

So far we both really liked the lemon-lime flavor Cliff Shot Blocks, haven’t tried the Gu Chomps pictured above yet.

What’s your favorite running fuel/product??
Any recommendations??

Stress

All this house buying stuff is sucking the energy out of me big time!! I mean I knew it wasn't easy but this has got to be one of the most stressful weeks ever!! When lots of questions and information is thrown at you all at once, even not-so-big-deal things can seem like HUGE deals. Combine this with not being able to workout all week, and that just adds another level of stress and frustration.

Well the hard part will be over tonight when we finally sign the purchase and sale and hand over the deposit...then it's done! Hopefully there's not too much between tonight and the closing on June 8th.

I'm planning a big Friday night workout haha...no but really I am!

Now for a little delicious recap of some food highlights this week thus far.

I don't eat as much tofu as some of you guys, but I do like it! I particularly like it marinaded and grilled like my dad used to make. When I found the marinade recipe he used to use I was so excited.

The marinade is from this vegetarian cookbook that my dad bought back in the day when he went Vegetarian for a little while. The book is "The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen" by Marilyn Diamond and was published in 1990 (omg I can't believe that was 19years ago!!). It's funny though because it's called a "vegetarian" cookbook but after looking through it, its definitely more a Vegan cookbook! I wonder if the term "vegan" wasn't as widely used then?

Anywho, the marinade is simple and delicious. I don't remember exact proportions but the ingredients were: (I used 1 block of extra firm tofu)

• soy sauce
• dried mustard
• honey
• molasses
• garlic
• onion
• dash of cayenne pepper

This is a very flavorful marinade! I'll say that I think this time around that it was a little too salty. The recipe calls for low-sodium soy sauce but I had to use half low-sodium, half regular because I ran out! I think next time I may just use less and add some water or maybe orange juice!

The next night I grilled these babies up on my grill pan as it was raining outside :(

I love eating them in a sandwich or bun with a little BBQ sauce.

I've also been enjoying little servings of the Eddy's Slow Churned Mint Chocolate Chip! I still can't believe this stuff is low fat!

Looking lovely sprinkled with some rainbow JIMMIES! Yes they are JIMMIES! I will never call them SPRINKLES...at least never when it comes to ice cream applications. My roommate and I haven't his argument ALL the time.

What do you call them? Jimmies or Sprinkles??

Another delicious item of the week is corn. I am just starting to see corn on the cob at the grocery stores. I can't wait to see the HUGE bins of overflowing corn soon!!

Well I steamed a few ears up and put them in the fridge to eat during the week. I just cut the corn off the cob, added fresh cut tomatoes and enjoyed!

Usually this combination is perfect with some fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil, but I had no basil so I just ate it plain. They were perfectly flavorful on their own.

I enjoyed this corn/tomato salad with a turkey and tomato wrap on Joseph's Lavash bread, and sliced red bell pepper.

My final "item of the week" is PB!! I know nothing new, BUT lately I feel like I've been enjoying almond butter so much that I have sent peanut butter to the wayside! (what does that even mean...'to the wayside'...I don't know but it seemed fitting). I was super excited to open a brand new jar of my FAV...TJ's Organic Creamy Peanut Butter!

I enjoyed this for breakfast yesterday along with my favorite "jelly" TJ's Organic Raspberry Fruit Spread, 1 banana, and 1 slice of Arnold's Double Protein Bread (toast).

Ok so maybe I snuck some almond butter on 1/3 of the toast. What can I say? I love options!!

Mmm melty.

Well hopefully the stressful week is dwindling down, because we sign the Purchase and Sale tongiht so after that we're in! Well not in the house, thats the closing, but we're locked in with our $$$$$!!!

Talk about most expensive year EVER!!!! New house, our wedding, our honeymoon, 3 weddings I am in (so that means showers and bachelorette's), 2 other weddings to attend....and who knows what else!

It's almost friday, just keep thinking that:)