Marathon. Been there. Done that.

So here I am in my first ever marathon. This is the White Rock Marathon in Dallas to be precise. Can you see me in this video? Ha! Yeah right! The race was organized in waves according to our estimated finishing times. I was in group "N," as in the 14th letter in the alphabet. There were 22,000 runners that day. I'm way back in the back beyond camera view.

So really, here I am.

My results are below.

This race was a once in a lifetime experience for me. Thanks Kevin for helping me make it happen! We have so many great stories that came out of training for this race and just as many surround the event itself. And thank the Lord we're not too worse for wear. For posterity's sake, I'm going to give you the blow-by-blow of the race day. Several funny/absurd/interesting things happened that I don't want to forget. So here we go!

Early Wake Up Call
Kevin and I both woke up at 5:00 am the morning of the race. We got dressed and I put on my new tights that I bought especially for the occasion. My plan was to wear tights with shorts on top, a long sleeve wicking shirt, a short sleeve wicking shirt, arunning jacket, and then a trash back on top. I had also planned to bring my water belt (with Gaterade), my stretchy bib holder with bib number, and my electronic chip already tied to my shoe the night before. We left Kevin's uncle's house at 5:30 after I crammed down about 5 rice cakes with jelly. Thanks Alan for driving!!! We had a few comments in the car about "why are we doing this again," and "why are we here," but I've heard worse. :)

The Wait
We got to Fair Park about 2 hours before the race, so we hung out in the car and stayed warm for a bit. We watched people in shorts get out of their cars and jump up and down as though they were warming up (I'll say it again: 2 hours before the race). After hanging in the car, we decide it's finally time to brave the crowds and make sure we knew were we were supposed to wait. This includes my 20 minute wait in line to go to the bathroom where several nice ladies were sharing their kleenex. Thank goodness more toilet paper arrived just before I stepped into the stall. We were originally going to meet with other family members who were running the relay, but we quickly realized that it wasn't going to be feasible. So then we hung out for a bit in one of the staging areas (in doors) until they started making announcements outside. Then Kevin and I split up and I went looking for sign "N" and waited with my group.

The Race Begins
I didn't start the race until an hour after the starting gun went off because of the staggered start. The "elite" group went first, then group "A" then "B" then "C" and on an on. Keep in mind that the temperature was in the 30s-40s around this time. So I'm trying not to waste too much energy, but I can't help but shiver and waste energy. I felt the need to go to the bathroom about 30 minutes into to wait, but I was afraid I'd miss out on the start. So, I made some nice conversation with one of the ladies waiting with me. She said that this was her second marathon, she ran one in Austin, and she was hoping to just break 6 hours. After hearing this, I decided to make my way to the front of the pack as we got closer to the start. No sense in having to pass a lot of people. Right before my group got to the start (like 5 minutes before), I found an empty port-a-potty. Impeccable timing.

On the Road
Minus the wait in the beginning, this was one of the best organized races I've ever seen. Every aide station had Gatorade and water. People handing out the drinks would often encourage me by name (it was on my bib). There's nothing better than hearing your name in a race! Some guys at one aide station all dressed up like women. They must have had at least 10 to 15 different bands playing along the way, most of them playing in people's front yards. Some people held up generic signs encouraging everyone. Others were more specific. One said "I love holding up signs!" Another one said, "Because Running 26.3 miles Would be Crazy." In big races like this, some runners also wear interesting outfits and unique t-shirts. I passed one girl diressed up like a carton of french fries and on her back it said something like, "At 100 calories per mile, you'd have to run 26.2 miles to burn off 2 large french fries from MacDonalds." I told her that I thought she was making a great statement. I saw several women with tutus. Not sure what that was about. Saw a couple of interesting wigs too. Several people saw my t-shirt and assumed it was my team name or something. Nah. It's just a local running club. :)

My friend.

At about mile 10 I felt the need for a bathroom. And low and behold, a port-a-potty appeared on the left side of the road. Only one person was in the bathroom, so I waited a bit. While I waited, I looked around at the houses in the neighborhood and caught my breath. Then it just dawned on me that this wasn't a racing pit stop. This was set up for construction on one of the houses. Ha! Oh well.... Had to get the job done.

As expected, the first 13.1 felt better than the last. My left foot started to hurt a bit like I expected during the last 8 or so miles, but everything else hurt just the same in the end. I had just enough Gatorade and honey along the way that I never felt like my legs were cramping. I have a feeling it might have something to do with the formula of Gatorade they used too (Pro Endurance). I felt pretty good, and I even sprinted towards the end and across the finish line after I saw Trina, Kayla, Brian, Cheryl, Kevin, and Seth. Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better marathon experience. I didn't meet my goal, which was to finish in under 5. But I'm not so sure it's worth it to train for another 6 months just to chop out 2 more minutes. I'm pretty satisfied.

After the Race

Medals and bibs looked like this.

This guy put a "finishers" medal around my neck and said to me "This is it. This is what you've been working for," or something very similar. I would have cried I think had I not told myself that I wouldn't cry just earlier that morning. It was a pretty emotional experience. But first things first, I went to the bathroom. Then I picked up my finishers t-shirt, some oranges (they gave me two, but I took 4), and then I went to find my family. Kevin gave me the biggest hug! I think that was what I was waiting for; the medal was just a consolation prize. I'm only sorry that our family of relay racers missed the buses to the hand-off points! But now they're all inspired to run their own marathon. And I'm sure glad they were there and could cheer us on.

After the race, I was sore. I walked dreadfully slow. But I didn't have any collapsing issues. We took a nap after the race and ate with abandon. Alan made the best tacos I've ever tasted. Ever. I can still taste them. With their beefy, corn chipy, tomatoey, lettucey goodness. I must qualify this statement, though, by saying that I think Alan could have made us oatmeal and we would have been in heaven. Kevin had more strength than I did after our nap so he packed up our supplies and drove the first section home. I was so very thankful.

The trusty travel mobile.

Day after the race
I felt pretty good! A little sore, but not too bad. Kevin's usually more sore than I am, but my worse days are usually the day of the run. So I made sure we had plenty of food. And we did nothing. Not a thing. The whole day.



The week after

I got the worst cold I've had in years. But we hear that getting sick after a marathon is pretty typical. I've still got symptoms, but at least I'm back at work and I'm able to run a bit again. My athlete's foot is back again, so that tells me two things: (1) yes, my imune system is fairly low (2) still haven't gotten rid of the nasty fungus that Kaiya shared with us last year at the exact same time. Lovely. Yet another reason for me to be thankful for the marathon experience, and yet never do it again.

Two weeks later
I ran two miles on monday in the 9s. Felt pretty tired still, but it's mainly because of the sicknessessess. Then yesterday I ran 2 miles in 16:06. That's an 8:03 pace. Wahoo! I'm looking forward to working on more speed rather than distance. I think I've got distance down. :) Unfortunately, Kevin's now sick with a cold. So I'll repeat this for his benifit: "Yet another reason for me to be thankful for the marathon experience, and yet never do it again."

Future
Not sure what we're planning on doing next in terms of exercise. But for now, we're going to relax! We're done! We did it! Been there. Done that.

White Rock Marathon This Weekend!

Kent: "Can I eat it? Will it move? Can I chase it?

I'm baaaaaccckkk! :)

See our new Christmas Tree? That means it's time to run! This Sunday, December 5, I will be attempting my first ever (and probably last) marathon in Dallas, TX and Kevin will be attempting this 3rd. We've been training hard. We've been eating good. We've rested up various injuries. Now is the time to perform. I'm excited, but very nervous.

Shiny! Must touch shiny!

The Run
Kevin and I have been talking and we've come to several conclusions about this race:

1. We're not going to do a marathon again, if not for a very long time.
2. We're bringing our own food for the day before the race, so no potty trots, headaches, or loss of lung capacity due to funky foods in the gut.
3. If Kevin's going to meet his goal race pace, it'll be because he's having a good running day and he's eaten that magic quantity and type of food that sits well on his stomach, so flip a coin.
4. If I'm going to beat my goal race pace, I'm going to need to pay extra attention to my race pace at ALL TIMES, which is hard to do when I normally like to zone out and just run.
5. I'm going to need to ignore foot pain for around half of the race. I'll see a doctor later if I need to.

#1 and #2 are pretty certain. Everything else is going to depend on us. I just hope to finish in under 5 hours.

The Food
In terms of food. I'm going to be cooking up some rice and bringing along some turkey and a few other easy to digest things for Saturday. I personally have to stay away from fiber the day before an extremely long run otherwise I'll end up spending more time in a port-a-potty than on the pavement. Kevin's probably going to follow my example as well. For the morning of the race, I'll be eating rice cakes with jam. Tasty? Not so much. But it's pure carb and pure sugar. So my inner chef is going to be on vacation, and in her place is Katherine "the machine."

For all the family peoples who will be running the marathon relay, hope y'all all have a good race and lots of fun!

Turkey Day Vaca

"I'm a beauty!"

I'm out for Turkey day, but I'll come back to blog the week after Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Ready for Some Relaxation

I don't know about y'all, but Kevin and I are tired and ready for a break from marathon training, house work, yard work, work work. A few holiday breaks will definitely help. Kaiya needs a break too. She's got it rough.

My new lap dog. She barely fits!

One Pot Wonders



Gingery Chinese Wonderland



I was born into a household of one-pot wonders, microwaves, TV dinners, 30-minute meals, and leftovers. Don't get me wrong, all the food was hand picked to be rotated often and it was all healthy. But food was always made to minimize time in the kitchen and maximize time elsewhere in life. So in case you're wondering, that is why I quite often create a lot of one pot wonders. Thanks mom!

Like the one above.

This one is courtesy of the shrimp my parents brought the last time they were here (thanks Mom and Dad!) and some fresh ginger that my mom chopped up and placed in our freezer (easy to use and way more tasty than the dried powdery stuff). Yummy!

Ginger Fried Shrimp
Ingredients
1 lb pealed shrimp
2 chopped bell peppers
1 chopped large onion
1 can of salt-free tomatoes
1 tsp of chopped ginger root
1 tsp of salt
1 tbl spoon of grape seed oil

Chop up all the veggies and fry them at the same time. When the potatoes are almost cooked, add the tomatoes and shrimp and stir well before the final cooking. Tastes great on spaghetti squash, vegan Mac and Cheese (with added goat cheese), rice, or spinach leaves! Serves 5 (leftovers, yeah!!!).

We used vegan Mac and Cheese

Cream-Cheese made out of Goat Milk makes this Stuff Taste Good!

On the Running Front
During my shorter runs in the middle of the week, I'm running a lot faster. I'm averaging in the 8s. That's just insane! If you think about it, I did my two mile run yesterday in less time than it took me to run my first mile, which took me around 16 minutes, in 2007. Never thought it would happen. Ever! Thanks Kevin! You said in the beginning that I could get it down in the 8s if I tried really hard. And I did!

Of course I've got two great motivators on my runs right now:



Muddy Buddies


The brown nose on the left is particularly helpful. Kent's still pulling a lot in the beginning. Kaiya (right) is more of a casual jogger like myself. She likes to stop and sniff the flowers (and poop) on the side of the road. No, I don't sniff poop. That's all Kaiya. I'm not a poop sniffer. No sir.

We are a day and a month away from my first marathon. We'll be tapering off a bit as time goes on (running more frequent 3-5 milers in the middle of the week and less extra-long distances on the weekends). Our final 22-miler will be two weekends from now. If we can survive that, we'll be ready for the White Rock! I'm pretty confident that I'll beat my expected race pace of 11 minutes per mile. My 20-miler (RP) was at a 10:35 pace and my last 11-miler (FP) was at a 9:53. Yeah!!! Whoop, whoop!

Miscellaneous
Next on our list of first-time home ownership is to purchase our first Christmas Tree! I'm excited!!! Doing the Katherine celebration dance! La la la la la! The tree we're looking at looks a lot like this one at Target (but ours is not going to be that expensive).

Quick Fix Tacos and Allergy Mythbusters

Fast beefy goodness.

There may be a good reason why people with food allergies are often the objects of ridicule in movies and other works of fiction. How we treat and mitigate our food allergies is not an exact science. So many bodily functions are interrelated to food allergies that I might not be 100% even if I stay away from the foods that bother me the most. Also, I can say that I know what will push me over my threshold, but that may be very different for someone else or it may even change over time for me. So where does that lead us?

To some good practices and some absurd rituals and myths.

For example one day: "Oh, I've been getting lots of headaches lately! This is a sign that I'm eating something wrong. What have I eaten in the past few days that's new? Or possibly old but problematic? Throw them out, throw them out! The ship is sinking! Abandon ship! Let's eat nothing but acorn squash and baked chicken for forever! That does my body good."

Two days later: "I have no energy! Need carbs! Food not digesting! Slowly melting, melting, melting...oh wait...I just had my period...that must have been the problem. Oops."

While it's good to utilize the elimination diet to get rid of bad symptoms, if used improperly it can screw up my life. In order to determine allergy fact from fiction, I always need to keep two people in mind: the Mythbusters.



Yeah, these guys are rock awesome.

Back in the earlier episodes they had this specialist, Heather Josheph-Witham, who'd help describe the background to the myths that there were about to test. She's a "folklorist." Below is an example of something she might say.

"Women's bodies, particularly their breasts, have been held in high esteem since the beginning of time. This is due to our ability have babies and provide them with life through a mother's milk. Our children then go on to idolize milk and milk products to the point that now, milk is in everything. It's a comfort food to which we are all emotionally attached. This is in a large part why we use that old adage 'No sense crying over spilt milk,' largely because we have to remind ourselves that milk really isn't that important." [And then they go on to test whether people cry when they spill milk.]

Yes, I wrote that in jest, not Heather. :)

But the history of an "adage" doesn't make a myth true, just like my known history with a certain food doesn't make my diet the law. While I might throw out one problematic food I might throw out five good foods at the same time. While I might be tempted to stick with certain foods, allergy medications, exercise, etc that have worked before, I could be limiting myself to a safe but very boring place and hurting myself in ways I can't even imagine.

It's no wonder our rituals are made fun of in movies and fiction. They look silly even to a person with allergies. There's a lot of truth to our quirky eating habits, but there's a lot of myth too!

To avoid living my life based on ridiculously stretched reasoning like those in my examples, I've got to keep an open, yet scientific mind while self medicating. I've got to be a Mythbuster and a scientist! I need to make sure that I'm only eliminating one thing from my diet at a time. I need to make sure that I don't grab onto one food like my life depends on it. When a doctor suggests only eating certain foods during certain pollen seasons, I've got to test it out for myself with no preconceived notions. I need to test and retest and retest my theories again, no matter how old my food traditions may be or how much I fear the pain! Because who knows, I might pleasantly surprise myself. Just like I've done a hundred times before.

So, here's a prayer for all of us with allergies, food and pollen. May God inspire us to constantly re-examine our rituals and never let us settle for traditions because their just "comfortable."

Quick Fix Tacos
Here's a tasty recipe for a quick and easy Microwave taco meat. You can substitute Turkey for Beef and throw in even more veggies if you'd like. Just make sure to cut up every thing small and stir often so that everything cooks uniformly. We like to make lots of toppings for our tacos while the meat is cooking. Or we use all the toppings as part of a salad instead of tacos.

Sides cut up the way Momma taught me.

Ingredients:
1 lb low fat beef
1 small onion (chopped)
1 bell pepper (chopped)
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Directions:
Microwave all in a Pyrex dish (so it doesn't melt the plastic) on high for 2 minutes. Stir and then microwave for another 2 minutes. Make sure you have a breathable lid on top to contain any splattery messes. Continue to microwave and stir until all meat has turned brown.

Eating Out this Weekend

I rarely rant, so please bare with me...

We should have done something similar...

The Conversation as it Happened this Saturday:
Waiter: What can I get for you?
Me: I'd like the BLT salad with
Waiter: No you don't.
Me: Yeah, I do. I'd like the BLT salad with
Waiter: No you don't. Really you don't. It's not one of our best items.
Me: Well, uh, I have several food allergies and I'd like to avoid them by ordering the salad.
Waiter: We're going to work on your food allergies here because that salad is not that good.
Me: I just want the BLT salad with the grilled chicken and a side of potato with nothing on it. Is that okay? [I can't believe I asked this as a question]
Waiter: That's like a $4 plain baked potato. You'll end up spending like $15 on no taste.
Me: Right, no butter or anything.
Waiter: Any dressing?
Me: Nope.
Waiter: Okaaayyy...[moves on to next order, while I excuse myself to the bathroom so I can cry]

What would have been fun if I didn't have self control:
Waiter: What can I get for you?
Me: I'd like the BLT salad with
Waiter: No you don't
Me: Yeah, I do. I'd like the BLT salad with
Waiter: No you don't. Really you don't. It's not one of our best items.
Me: Well, uh, I have several food allergies and I'd like to avoid them by ordering the salad.
Waiter: Well we're going to work on your food allergies here because that salad is not that good.
Me: Look you JERK, I've been "working" on my friggin allergies since I was eating solid food and pooping in diapers and it doesn't take a genius to realize that I might know a bit more about what I can and cannot eat when I look at a menu. I'm not an idiot. I'm not timid about trying new things like those high school kids in the corner. And you're not funny! Sure, I could have your steak, but your sides are either battered, buttered, or cheesed all of which I'd be happy to eat as long as you get to suffer with me to see how it feels to have a headache and diarrhea for three days. No? Oh, you don't want three days of torture? Oh, so you want to see if we can change another menu item to suit my needs instead?

NO!

See, I also learned at a very early age that you waiters have a limited amount of RAM when it comes to "special orders." You forget to leave off certain things if the list is longer than 2-3 items, which my list would be considering the amount of crap you have on this menu; the amount of crap that fills almost all restaurant menus. It may be tasty, but it's crap for all I care. Then I'll have to send back your pile of poo twice while my family finishes eating and I'm staring at their gravy, cheese, and chicken fried whatevers. Then someone will mention how great their food tastes; "mmm...this is good." Then I'll excuse myself so I can go outside and eat dirt from the front flowerbed to fill up my hungry gut.

I DON'T THINK SO.

No, I'd like to order something else. Something like maybe a SALAD and POTATO. You can't kill a salad or a potato when you order them plain. People like to eat out. People like to eat to socialize. I realize that. I'm hear to visit with my family not value what I eat, especially not YOUR food you righteous, pompous horse's rear-end. I will never enjoy eating out as much as I enjoy eating in. Ever! It's always, "let's modify this" and "let's cut out that." Until we have something with no taste that I could have made for $2 in the comfort of our home.

Do you think I LOVE salads? Does anyone just say instead of this mouth-watering chicken fried steak with gravy, buttery mashed potatoes, breaded okra, and mac n' cheese, I'll have this salad DRY? NO! But because I see crap that I can't have on your food and I know there's crap that I can't see on your food, I choose to eat salad when I go out. Unless by some miracle my 28 years of food allergies decide to take wing and fly away at this very moment, eating out sucks. It sucks! And so do YOU and all RESTAURANTS. But I do this for my family and friends. So give me the LAME salad and potato and MOVE ON! ...IDIOT!

INCONSIDERATE MORON WHO THINKS HE'S FUNNY BECAUSE HE'S TALKING BACK TO ME LIKE THIS IS WILL AND GRACE, AND HE'S WILL AND I'M GRACE. CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE AND GET AWAY FROM ME.

What should have happened (because what I said above would have been, of course, hypocritical):
Waiter: What can I get for you?
Me: I'd like the BLT salad with the grilled chicken with a plain baked potato
Waiter: Are you sure you just want a salad? We're really great at steaks, mashed potatoes, gravy...
Me: Yes, I'm sure.
Waiter: Any dressing on that salad?
Me: Nope.
Waiter: Okay, and for you sir...

What would also have been acceptable:
Me: I'm sorry, I can't do this. Let's leave.

Or:
Me: I'd like to speak with your manager.

Good Idea. Bad Idea.

Apples

When Lindsey came to visit last weekend she came baring gluten-free, milk-free gifts! Whahoo! One was a bag of Ginger Snaps by Mi-del. That's a definite yummy in the tummy that I've had before.

Then she brought two packages of cookies that I've never sampled. One box has snickerdoodles and the other one's the "No-oat Oatmeal" recipe. Both are made by Enjoy Life and both have apple (apple sauce to be precise). Ahhh! But I haven't had apple in a long time so it was time to try it out again (based on the elimination diet).

I tried out both cookies on Sunday after refinishing our kitchen cabinets with a fresh coat of polyurethane. And they certainly are tasty! The cookies, that is. Not the cabinets. Moist and chewy! I give them an A+ for yumminess. And did I have a headache on Sunday?

Drum roll please...No!

Alright! Wahoo! Yippidy skippidy! Doing the Katherine celebration dance. HOLD IT! Before we get too excited about apples, I'm going to have to try them again. See the next day, Monday, I did have a headache. But I'm not sure if it's related to the cookies or...

(TMI moment approaching so cover your eyes if you don't want to read and skip down to "Continued")



...because of the monthly bill that I'm currently paying.



Continued...

But I'm very optimistic. Mi familia will will be visiting this weekend. Looking forward to that. We'll probably do a lot of cooking, touring, and maybe a little fall planting. Should be fun!

On the running front, I ran my first sub-8 minute mile this past Monday. Two of them to be precise. Some person, and I'm not naming who (hint: they "tried" to beat my half marathon PR this summer), will need to work out a bit more than just a couple of times before the big Turkey Trot 3 mile. No pressure or anything. :) That would be tacky.

Kind of like...

In the meantime, I hijacked a recipe for fruit oatmeal bars from one of my old gluten-filled cookbooks. It's super quick to make and substitutions galore are possible. I took this batch to work to share as a going away present for one of my coworkers. Nobody seemed to notice that it was cow-milk-free and gluten-free. Yeah! The original recipe calls for a super cool fruit filling, but I tossed that idea out to reduce prep time. Anyway, the recipe was basically calling for a thick, jelly-like substance and that's what I made, super-sonic style.

Fruit Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients

• 1 c. flour (Pamela's gluten free bread and baking mix)
• 1 c. oatmeal
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ cup brown sugar (or half sugar, half brown splenda)
• ¾ c. jelly (orange marmalade)
• ½ butter (coconut oil, or milk; might need less milk than oil)
• 1 tb flour (for jelly filling)
• 9/9/1 pan (sprayed with Pam)

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Mix flour, oatmeal, baking soda, and brown sugar in large bowl. Pour in butter/oil into mixture gradually until you have what looks like a big bowl of crumbs (may need to use hands). Take about a half a cup of the mixture and set aside. Place the remaining mixture in the pan and smooth out evenly.

Place jelly in a small bowl and microwave for about 30-60 seconds or until the jelly is more liquid-like (don’t boil). Add the tb of flour to the jelly and mix well. Spread Jelly over the crumb mixture in the pan. Then sprinkle the remaining half cp of crumb mixture on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

God's Unexpected Blessings

This past weekend, and old friend came to visit: Lindsey. We reconnected after about 5 years of silence. Why the silence? That's a long story. But suffice it to say, we reconnected over tragic circumstances. Her brother just passed away from his battle with cancer. But where God closes a door he always opens a window.

If I hadn't pushed myself to move out of Austin for a graduate program partially due to a rotten relationship, I never would have met the love of my life.



figure 1: Love

If I had never acquired a food allergy, I wouldn't have decided to run a marathon and I wouldn't have made this.



figure 2: Goat Cheese

 With these helpers watching over me.

figure 3: Assistant Cooks (the one on the left likes to nibble butts)

If I hadn't heard about Preston's cancer, I might have never found the "right" time to contact Lindsey and we would have missed out on our first ever run together (she ran at about a 9:15 pace! And she never runs! So not fair!), two hours in Lowes while Kevin, Lindsey, and I decided what flower bed stones we should by, and some really great conversations (especially on Sunday).

figure 4: Our Final Decision

Big problems and small, doesn't matter. There's always a plan.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

A case in point:
Here is my food allergy life.

Here's everything else (click to view bigger picture).

Thank you Lord! Love you Lindsey!

Also, Dixie, we're going to miss you!

[Word Clouds by Wordle]

Homemade Goat Cheese!

So about 2-3 months ago I found this really easy recipe for making your own goat cheese. I can't have cow milk products, so I've been enjoying goat milk tremendously. This recipe doesn't require that expensive rennet enzyme like your average cheese recipe, so I thought it was a good place start. I hadn't tried it yet for two main reasons: (1) our freezer's been stocked with goat cheese from our trips to Austin's Whole Foods, so why make it? and (2) they don't sell cheese cloths at Wal-mart, our main grocery station.

A few weeks ago, I removed both road blocks when I used the last of the delish mozzarella goat cheese (nom nom, yum) and we found cheese cloth at HEB. So this past Sunday I decided to take the plunge.

Now, keep in mind I've never made cheese of any kind before, so I felt a little helpless at times when the recipe called form me to make a judgement based on milk consistency. It's a lot like making candy: the look and feel are important.

So, I followed all of the directions about heating and adding lemon juice...

Side track...

Kevin and I went to Sam's Club on Saturday to pick up a few things, and I remembered that we were out of lemon juice. So we went to the cooking aisle thinking, if we find a container of lemon juice that's not too ridiculous in size we'll get it. Well the containers they had weren't bad (about half gallon), but they came in groups of two. We decided, might as well. So we now have about a gallon of lemon juice. Stop by our place if you ever need some.

Back to the main story...
Then the recipe said that the milk will be ready to strain in about 20 seconds after adding the lemon. The milk will curdle, the directions said, but not look like cottage cheese curdle. Okay, when I think curdle, I think lumps of some size, any size. I wasn't seeing lumps of any size in my lemon milk. So I chalked it up to a failed experiment and decided to let the milk cool on the stove and then use solution for ice cream.

30 minutes later...
I stick my finger in the milk and notice this fine white sand-grain sized pieces. Huh? Maybe that's what the recipe was talking about. So I pour the mixture into the cheese cloth (folded over about 6 times), and viola! Cheese! I took pictures, but they're not accessible at the moment so I'll have to post them next week. The pictures seen here are from other Web sites.

The cheese has the consistency of cream cheese and it's really mild in flavor! I also added in some fresh rosemary from our garden and a sprinkle of garlic powder. The only thing bad about this recipe is the waste. Lots of whey went down the drain and the quart of milk made less than a cup of cheese. Now I'm not sure if this is generally what happens with all cheese production, so I'm thinking that my next step is to get my hands on some rennet and try again with a new recipe.

On the running front...
I ran my first sub-9-minute-per-mile pace this past Monday. Wahoo!!! I've never run in the 8's before, so I must have hit a new mile marker in running. I ran 2 miles in 17 minutes and 13 seconds! The temperature when I got back home was 79 degrees. Way cooler than July, but still not quite cold, so there's hope that I'll go even faster once the temperature drops some more. Yes!!!!!

Cars, snakes, and Kent. Oh my!

Snakes
Went fishing again. Won't bore you with the details of the hunt, but needless to say we started out in the reeds and left rather quickly because, to the right of our kayak about 5 yards away, out popped a nice sized water moccasin. Hello! Not that much later after we high-tailed it to more open water, I spotted a big fat spider getting ready to crawl on my leg. I yelped in horror while Kevin pulled anchor and started pattling away thinking I had spotted another snake. Nope! Sorry Kevin, just a flesh-eating spider. Then the bees seemed to be really attracted to the bright colors on our life vests and the kayak. That was another tense moment. But I caught a 8 inch channel catfish. Yeah! Too small, so we threw it back. It needed to go back to school. Get it? Ha! Yeah...And then we lost our lure while Kevin was switching them around. Boo!

Cars
So after hour Power Hour class on Tuesday, Kevin and I left the parking lot in our separate cars. I made it home, Kevin didn't. I thought, hmm maybe he bumped into a student on the way or went back to his office? Wrong! Kevin called me at home. His car won't start and he thinks it's the battery because the positive connection is super corroded and might not be charging the battery properly. So I drive back to the parking lot. We decide we need to move his car backwards into the slot behind him so that I can bring my car around front. So we put it in neutral and we're rocking the car back and forward, back and forward and then get it moving off of the curb. Then we stop it and I go around the side to get in and steer. Noticed the car is locked. All keys are in said car. Right.... So we let the car roll back into position, call Pop-a-Lock, waste $30, then finally push the car into the right position. But does my car start his? Nope. So we call campus police and they come by with their battery jump start thing-a-ma-gig and we finally get it going. Rough day! But good thing we're in shape to push, we made it home, and we're were safe. Thank the Lord!

Kent
So I went on my first run of the week on Wednesday night with little "Clarp Kent." Decided to let him go as fast as he wanted for 2 miles. Well, that was fast indeed! Ran around a 9:27 pace. That's closer to my short distance race pace. He ran out of poop though towards then end and kept trying to take short cuts. I'd tell him, "come on Kent, you can do it, let's go, let's go." Then he'd reach down deep and pick up the pace again. Cute as all get out (not convinced, click on the pic to enlarge). Love it when he looks at me while running, like "Mom, this is fun!"

Thus endeth the week of extremes (so far).

After Run Wrap

Food Heaven

Kevin and I have been l-o-v-i-n-g our new George Foreman Grill. Although we don't use it every week because we have to take a little more care to hand wash it, it's allowed us to really add that grilled flavor we've been missing.

Grilled to Perfection

So, if you've been reading, you know that I've added more carbs to my diet the day before long extra long runs. That's helped tremendously with my little issue! But AFTER long runs, it's good to pack on the protein and veggies to feed my broken down and tired muscles (pronounced mus-culls in baby talk).

This is one of my favorite meals that we've had as of late. You got your GF (that's gluten free and George Foreman! Ha!) burger wrap with dressing and tomatoes, extra tomatoes on the side with sweet cucumbers (seasoned with sugar, wine vinegar, salt), grapes, and fresh corn on the cob. Whahoo! That's a tasty meal! We cooked up a pound of 80/100 beef (got to have some fat so the GF grill doesn't create rock-for-burgers), mixed in some fresh rosemary from our herb garden, and it's a major wham-oh on the taste buds.

Sweet Cucumber Goodness!

Man! My stomach is a rumblin' just thinking about it. After run meals are the best!

Oh, and don't be fooled. I had many a hand full of grapes and almonds while we waited on the burgers to cook. Yummy in the tummy! Yummy in the tummy! [last two sentences must be read in a sing-song voice]

I Need Some Meat

Kevin and I had a pretty rapid-fire Labor day weekend of good fun, food (Katherine friendly of course), company, and exercise. One of the main events was our first lake-fishing adventure in Texas. We didn't come back with any fish, but for several good reasons: we'd never fished that lake before, we'd never fished at that time before, we'd never fished for bass/catfish/crappie by ourselves before, we'd never fished with the bait and lures suggested to us before, and we'd never fished while in a kayak before. So here's a summary of our adventure in a nutshell. Feel free to chuckle or guffaw.

We rented a tandem kayak for free and piled in with our two poles and a backpack full of fishing goodies. We head out on the water and immediately noticed the difference that is "Labor Day weekend on the lake." Lots of boats! Lots of People! The water was choppy! But we coordinated our paddling efforts and make it to the reeds across from the lake house. In fact Kevin said we were way better than last time in the tandem.

Tandem Kayak (needs anchor)

We find a little alcove and start to start to take things out and set things up. The backpack is soaked at this point. We have a self-bailing kayak, that may be why... There's also the choppy water, that might have also contributed.

Kevin takes the first plunge at casting while I try to maintain our position in the water. And that's all I remember doing for about half of our time on the lake (total time spent was about 3 hours). Our conversation went something like the following. It should be noted that Kevin has a high frequency hearing loss, and depends half on his hearing and half on his lip reading to understand what I'm saying in places with a lot of background noise. It was very loud that day.

Reeds (not a good anchor)

Kevin: "Point me to those reeds."

Katherine: "Which reeds?"

Kevin: "WHAT?"

Katherine: "Which reeds?"

Kevin: "The ones on the right."
Kevin: "Can you turn me around?"
Katherine: "Okay."
[Katherine proceeds to turn clockwise]
Kevin: "Can you turn me around the other way?"
Katherine "Okay."
[Katherine proceeds to turn counter-clockwise]
Kevin: "We're right where I want to be casting."
Katherine: "Where do you want me to go?"
Kevin: "Left."
Katherine: "I'm having a hard time staying here."
Kevin: "WHAT?"
Katherine: "I'm having a hard time staying here."
Kevin: "Just push us to the right."
[This goes on for a while]
Katherine: "Kevin, I have to say that my level of stress is v e r y  h i g h."

Kevin agreed. So we decide to paddle a ways up this clearing of reeds and try to anchor ourselves to the reeds using our stringer. That helped a bit. I was then able to fish using a jig for some crappie. I had a bite at some point. Wahoo! But neither of us caught anything. We still floated around a bit even while anchored, so we'll be looking into something a little more substantial for next time. But our good times we're over yet. Here's what happened within the last hour of fishing.

With my back turned I said, "Kevin I think I need to pee."

Kevin: "You need some meat? We'll I'm trying to get you some meat just as soon as I catch a fish."

I laughed for a good 2-3 minutes before I could tell him what I actually said.

Good times. Good times.

This is Tired

Cutie Little Pups!

Kevin and I did our longest run yet this weekend. We went out to a country road and pounded asphalt for 14 miles. I was going at a similar pace to my original half marathon, and doing that with hills. I'm very excited! But after the run, Kevin and I were blobs. Big ones. We looked similar to the two lazy pups over there on the left. VERY similar.

As the runs get longer, I'm learning things about my body (what I should eat, when I should eat, how much sleep I need, how often I should train, when I need breaks, etc). This past weekend and directly after the half marathon a couple of weeks ago, I've learned that I have a form of this not so fun symptom. So my next tactic will be to eat low fiber meals the day before a long run. Hopefully that will lessen the after-workout problem for me. But it might set me back a bit on the losing a few pounds. We'll see...

Going Faster

A Relative of Mine.

Okay, so my runs are going a little faster at this point. Last night, I ran 3 miles in 31:02 pace which is a bit faster than I've been running during the summer. I chalk it up to feeling more motivated because of the upcoming marathon. While training for the half, I was just moving forward at what ever pace felt good. It feels like I've had a mental break from the speed (not that I have any delusions that I think I'm fast or anything) and I'm ready to get back to it. Yesterday's run was also a mile marker for the year: it was cool and cloudy enough to run after work. Yeah!!! I love after work runs. Running right before bedtime tends to not give me the best nights of sleep.

On the diet side of things, I've slowly taken a lot of my "needless but tasty" carbs out of my diet. I'm having fruit and or nuts for breakfast, veggie and protein-filled leftovers for brunch and lunner (I've split my meal in half so I eat at like 11 am and 1:30 pm), a small snack at home, and a fairly good meal with a small portion of carb. My body's still growing accustom to the smaller portion sizes, but at least I'm not just craving buckets full of rice and GF pancakes the size of houses.

Run on allergy peoples!

Marathon Training Schedule and Fake French Fries

Sucking air.

The Goal:
Kevin and I have decided on the White Rock Marathon in Dallas, TX on December 5. This will be my first (and possibly my only depending on how it goes), so I'll be writing a lot about it as well as discussing new recipes to keep me motivated in the months to come.

The Plan:

In order to maximize pain and increase the possibility for a mental breakdown, Kevin and I sat down this past Friday evening and outlined a training schedule for the marathon. Ha! No, it's not that bad. A training schedule is actually really necessary so that we don't wear ourselves out with unnecessary workouts or speeds. Take a look below, and I'll describe the reasoning shortly after.

1. 8/21:     6 miles,     Fast Pace (FP)  completed, see my training log!
2. 8/28:     14.5 miles,Race Pace (RP)
3. 9/4:       7 miles,     FP
4. 9/11:     16 miles,   RP
5. 9/18:     8 miles,     FP
6. 9/25:     18 miles,   RP
7. 10/2:     9 miles,     FP
8. 10/9:     19 miles,   RP
9. 10/16:   10 miles,   FP
10. 10/23:   20 miles,   RP
11. 10/30:   11 miles,   FP
12. 11/6:     21 miles,   RP
13. 11/13:   12 miles,   FP
14. 11/20:   22 miles,   RP
15. 11/27:   6 miles,     FP
16. 12/5:     Race Day

So basically every other week we'll be working on long distance speed work (fast pace runs) while the other weekends we'll be trying to stick with the pace we have in mind for the marathon (race pace). We might have to change it up a bit because we also have the Turkey Trot 5K on November 20, and that'll conflict a bit. This type of training will hopefully ensure that we can maintain our race pace throughout the marathon because we've actually trained to go faster. My goal is to run the fast pace runs in under 10:30 per mile while a pace just under an 11:30 will be my goal for the marathon. This is a finishing time of 5:00 hours.

AAAAHHHHHHHH! Um, I'm going to try and not think about how long that is....

These times might change as the temperature drops and my heart is using less energy trying to cool me down when it's in the 90s.

Now, this schedule does not include any cross training exercises (weight lifting, sprints, biking, swimming, etc) that we will be doing during the middle of the week. We have to do other activities Sunday-Friday so that we feel adequately prepared for the long weekend runs, but we'll be a little more spontaneous about those.

Questions? Concerns? Psychoanalysis?

The Motivation:

In order to make running as easy on my muscles, joints, and mind as possible, I'll be trying to loose a few pounds or as much as possible. It's the eternal struggle. So I'm still trying to reduce calories in all my meals and snacks. This weekend, Kevin and I decided to make some George Foreman-grilled hamburger patties with french fries. Typically french fry recipes have an enormous amount of calories especially in comparison to a regular baked potato.

• Large French Fries from McDonalds (serving size is 5.4 oz, or 154 g) = 500 calories, 220 from fat
• Ore-Ida Golden Fries (serving size is 3 oz, or 84 g) = 130 calories, 30 from fat
• Small Baked Potato (serving size is 3" to 4-1/4" diameter, or 4.86 oz, 138 g) = 128 calories, 2 from fat

So how can you get the "beeest of both wooorlds" (Hannah Montana fans, please send me no hate mail)?

Fake the french fry! A childhood best friend of mine invited me over to spend some time with her and her immediate family at her grandparents house when I was in middle school, and they made this wonderful baked french fry recipe that I used this weekend. Given that I had been between 12-14 yrs old at the time, I've had to experiment few times to get this recipe right. But basically you can use Pam (with the oil of your choice) to make the fries in the oven and add only a couple of additional fat calories. Here's how it works:

Fake French Fries
Ingredients

• Slice up the potatoes french fry style (1/4 to 3/4 of an inch wide)
• Pam Spray Oil (I used the original version, but they also have corn oil and a few others)
• Salt
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder

Directions

Take a baking pan and lightly spray with Pam. I typically cover my pans with tin-foil before spraying to save on clean up time, but whatever floats your boat. Add the sliced potatoes to the pan and spread them out to where they are only one layer thick. I don't peal my potatoes because there are a lot of nutrients and fiber in the skins, but you can to make them a little more authentic-like. When they're on the pan, the fries can be pretty close together and touching to get more in. Then spray a light layer of Pam on top of all the fries. Add salt and and other spices to your liking. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown like the ones in the picture up top. You can flip them if you want all sides to be golden, but I haven't had the urge.

If you're really hungry, the fries are actually completely cooked in about 30 minutes, but they won't have that gold color or the taste that comes of it, like this picture.

By the way, Happy Belated Birthday, Lindsey! May remembering the happy times with your brother make this year and every year blessed.

Gluten Free, Milk Free Beef Stir-Fry Heaven

I was on http://www.msn.com/ the other day and noticed a link for quick recipes. So I clicked on it, fully prepared for the cheesy, gluten-filled recipes that normally saturate these types of articles, but I was happily surprised! Found a few to to print out and I tried out one later that night with Kevin.

It's called "Orange Scented Beef Stir-Fry" and the original recipes is located at http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/orange-scented-beef-stir-fry-recipe-5178?click=recipe_sr.

To tell you how good it is, Kevin and I argued over the leftovers. Kevin is not a big fan of leftovers.

It's not as quick as they advertised. I think it took us about 30-40 minutes. And of course we made a few changes based on what we had and what we wanted to deal with so I've listed out an altered recipe below. The recipe below is doubled from the original.

Ingredients
1 cup chicken broth (homemade, stored our freezer)
2 tablespoons arrowroot
4 tablespoons soy sauce (La Choy's gluten free)
4 tablespoons orange marmalade
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (soy)
2 pounds beef top sirloin (trimmed of fat and cut into 1/4 inch strips)
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 large onions (slivered)
1 small green bell pepper (diced)
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups peas

Directions
Combine 1 cup broth, arrowroot, soy sauce, marmalade, vinegar, and garlic in a bowl and mix well. Heat oil in a wok or large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add beef and stir-fry until brown. Transfer to a plate leaving the juices in the pan. Add ginger to the pan and stir-fry for 10-20 seconds until fragrant. Add onion, bell pepper, broccoli, and peas then add the remaining 1 cup of broth, cover and cook until the vegetables are crisp and tender. Push the vegetables to one side of the pan. Stir the sauce mixture and add it to the other side of the pan. Cook, stirring, until the sauce becomes think and translucent. Stir the vegetables into the sauce and return the beef to the pan. Mix well and serve immediately.

Comments
My mom came to visit a while back and fixed up some fried rice and she used some fresh ginger. She didn't use it all, so she chopped up the rest and froze it in a bag. Worked great!

Also, yesterday was my first run after the Hottest Half. It was a struggle to put on my running clothes and get out there with Kaiya. Once I did though, it felt so good to be moving again. Kevin and I have been a wee bit sore so we took it easy for a couple of days. I was pretty fast too in comparison to what I have been running (two miles in 20:06). Not sure what made the difference...

In the Words of Andrea...

That was the "hotttttest runnn everrrr!"

Here's me getting ready to pass woman in pink shirt. (I've blurred her identity).

Here's me passing woman in pink shirt. Yeah!

Okay, so let's start with the statistics

The race started a little after 7:30 at about 87 degrees and I finished up at a little after 10:00 am somewhere in the mid-90s we believe. My time was 2 hours 30 minutes and 11.26 seconds. That's exactly 7 minutes and 11.26 seconds slower than my first half marathon last January. That's not too bad considering the heat. I finished 46 out of 95 women in my age group which is about the 48th percentile. I finished 615 out of 994 runners (62 percentile). For the first 4 or so miles I was running a little under a 11 minute per mile pace. Then it got hot. I walked quite a bit at the end, about a half a mile to a mile total overall. Katrina beat me by about 7 minutes. Immediately after the run, I drank 4 bottles of water 2 bottles of Powerade and split a large cherry slush with Kevin. I was still thirsty the rest of the day.

Discuss the feel
I was hot from beginning to the end. I had the "chills" for about half of the race even though I was sucking down Gatoraid (electrolytes) and water like there was no tomorrow. If you've ever been on a long run and you've had water or an athletic drink during the process, you know there is that certain amount you can swallow without getting a cramp. Sometimes you can drink more because it's hot, sometimes you have to drink less because your body doesn't need it. Yeah, I don't remember having to limit how much I took in. It went straight through my stomach to where ever it was needed. No cramping involved. I was sweating so much that my hands were prunes by the end.

Prune:

That said, I don't think I pushed my legs hard enough. I was able to sprint by like 4 or 5 people during the last 100 meters or so. So what was limiting me?

It was my head and heart telling me "you are burning up, you better not go too fast or we'll put you in a world of hurt. We will make you pass out. You will have the biggest headache you've ever dreamed of. You won't be able to drive home."

So I listened. Kind of had to because the racing coordinators ran out of water and Gatorade towards the end and I had to run without additional liquids during the last 4 miles. That was highly undesirable and not exactly helpful for setting a PR (not that I was expecting to, mind you).

The Sun.

When I passed the finish line, I couldn't find the finishers drinks or the family. So I'm walking all over the place and I just start to cry I was so hot.

[Editor's note: Katherine has never cried after a race before. That's darn crazy!]

Then I find the buckets of water bottles. Grabbed three bottles. Downed two immediately. Poured one over my head. Grabbed ice from the bucket and shoved it down my sports bra...front and back. That felt good. So I dried my eyes and looked for the family peoples.

I found them shortly after. I remembered them cheering for me right before I crossed the finish line. Then I cried a bit again. Then I was fine.

Sounds horrible, right? Nah. I was just thirsty and tired.

Thirst.

Normally I would be scared to death of having the world's worst headache after this type of run. Didn't happen. Whether it was the cold drinks during and after the race, my pace, the short nap on the car ride home, or my training, I'll never know. But that makes me so proud and excited. Plus, my pace wasn't too bad. By comparison, I think Kevin finished 10-20 minutes slower than his target. Keep in mind, Kevin's slower pace is still faster than Katrina's and all of the family members who were running that day and he finished in 2:00:38, 210th overall, 24 out of 80 in his age group.

Overall, we had a great weekend with the family, a new racing experience, and a good base for training for a marathon this fall. Would I have run this race knowing what it was going to be like? Yes. A lot of what I experienced was expected. Thanks, Trina! Will I do this race again in the future? No. There's a good chance Kevin and I won't be running this race again unless we're just doing the 10K.

And end with the consolation
I still hold the fastest half marathon time (female division) out of Kevin's immediate family. My first half in January was in 2:23:00! Sorry Trina. :) I know you were hot and I know that achilles was hurting. But there it is. Good luck next year! I'm sure you'll beat my time at some point.

And besides that, I'm an Aunt now! And Kevin's an Uncle! Welcome to the world little Cameron!