Season Training is Here!

So here's my lofty set of goals for this year. The upcoming races I plan to attend are:

• Lake Nasworthy Triathlon (July)
• Dallas Half Marathon (August)
• American Heart Run 3M (September or October)
• Rock 'n' Roll Marathon (November)
• Turkey Trot 3M (November)

The main goal is the Marathon (my first), so if I don't make it to the other two, then that's okay by me. I'm going to take it really easy and just increase my running distance by a mile ever week or every other week (this weekend I'll run 8).

Crazy? Maybe. But there's no time like the present. I don't particularly want to train for another half marathon because I kind of feel like I've already done that and I don't relish the idea of trying to beat my old time (that's so tough, mentally). I really like the goal of "let's just finish." Yes. Yes, I do.

So, beyond the miles, here's a few things that I'm planning to do this summer. This comes from my experience from my previous half marathon and a four-mile run I had this weekend.

• Buy reflective tape/attachments. I'm going to have to do a lot of running after the sun goes down and before it comes up to beat the Texas heat and I don't want to get run over. This weekend, Kevin and I will probably go to Academy or Wal-mart and see what's available. Whatever we get has to be light, easy to attach, and add no additional clothing that my cause us to pass out from heat exhaustion.
• Don't eat chips before a run. So I love to have my corn days on running days, but that presents a problem when the salt content leaves me with dry mouth and my tail hangs a little lower like Kent and Kaiya's after they've been run down. I'll either need to start using my rice days or other carb day for the run -OR- wait to eat the chips after the run (so hard to do when I'm running at 9 pm!).
• Wear head bands, not clips. Since I've got bangs now (thanks Kayla!!), I've gotten a little fussy about the hair on runs. I like them, no doubt. But I'm sure I look like I'm slapping myself for motivation rather than moving hair out of the way. I tried clips this weekend, but that's not cuttin' it with my blow-away hair. So, it's back to the rubberized head band from college. Hopefully I won't loose this one. :)
• Drinking water/sports drink no matter how long the run. It's hot and I can't get away with running a three miler without my water belt right now while my body is adjusting to the heat. Maybe later in the summer, but not right now. I'm going to go easy.
• If I start to hurt too much, I'll back off on the miles. I can say that the Marathon is my goal for this year, but if I feel like it's too soon. That's okay. I'll just meet some of the other goal races on my list, and then see if I can't run a full another year. No big deal. No pressure.
• New music. While I was training for my half, I started out with music from our own collection (you know, up beat stuff like U2). When I heard that music enough, I added a different selection after going through our less used collection. When I heard that music enough, then I went to the radio and used that mostly throughout the training. But radio stations put their music selection on a loop, so the longer I'm out on a run the more often I'll hear that whole loop, and that makes me think about how long I've been out there. That's no fun. So I'll need to do some re-thinking about the music.

Hopefully I'll be running injury free here and it will all be a matter of sheer will power.

Vacation Trout!

Ah! Vacation was great. Hiked, ran, fished, ate, slept, and vegged with my husband and two silly dogs. Yeah! Glad to be back, though. I was having some problems with the dry climate (dry hands, nose bleeds) and the pine trees were pollinating big time (caked up our car's windshield every day). Kevin and I caught eight trout while we were away and we froze them in water so that we can have a couple of meals off them over the next few weeks. We'll probably be frying them up in Katherine's famous corn meal batter (see below).

Egg Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free Fried Trout

Filleted Trout (scale free, please; you could also use talapia or catfish instead)
Corn Meal
1 Large Paper or Plastic plate
Salt
Pepper
Corn Oil
Small glass of water
Large Frying Pan

Since we freeze our fish in Ziploc bags filled with water, the un-freezing is the most time consuming but also the least labor intensive. Just rinse one side of the sink, add a drain stopper, pour in warm water from the tap, add the frozen fish, and about ten minutes later, POW! Defrosted fish!

Then it's time to take the fish and press them into the dry batter mix on the paper plate. Since the fish is wet, it'll hold most of the ingredients while it's frying. I generally eyeball the batter ingredients. I just make sure that I have enough corn meal on the paper plate to cover all sides of each of my fillet's (it's so annoying to have to wash my fishy hands to make more batter). I mix the pepper and salt with the corn meal on the plate before I cover the fish.

Next, I add about a teaspoon or two of corn oil to the pan, lay the fish in flat, and turn the heat to medium. I generally add a drop or two of water to the pan throughout the frying process to keep the fish from burning. The corn meal tends to soak up the oil underneath quickly and I'd rather add water than more oil to combat the burn. I usually flip the fish to cook on the other side when the majority of the fish has turned either white or grey (just push aside a little of the corn meal to test). If I wait until the entire fish is white, then it's harder to flip (crumbles).

Enjoy!

On Vacation!

Back to blog June 17.