On the Run: Martian Invasion of Races Half Marathon 2011

Today I ran my longest half marathon ever.  You read that correctly - not slowest, longest.  You see, instead of being 13.1 miles, this one was 13.4.  Initially, I was a tad disappointed with my overall time since it was a couple of minutes slower than the same race last year.  However, Running Fit has adjusted the results to reflect the correct distance and it turns out my pace is 6 seconds better this year than last.  Not too shabby, huh?

 

Despite predictions of snow and ice, the sun was shining and the course was dry.  Overall, it was a pretty decent run, although I started out too fast and began to tire out at mile 10.  I'll have to remember next time to take it easier at the start.  I think I was over-excited after having set a new PR two weeks ago and hoped to do just a little better today.  Even though I didn't set a new PR for time, however, I did set a new one for distance!

Time 

1:41:49

Pace 

7:46/mile

Fuel 

Iced Oatmeal Raisin Luna Bar, banana

Tunes

Rolling In The Deep / Adele

How You Like Me Now? / The Heavy

Lisztomania / Phoenix

Tightrope (ft. Big Boi) / Janelle Monae

LDN / Lily Allen

Howlin' For You / The Black Keys

Holiday / Vampire Weekend

Don't Shut 'Em Down / Flogging Molly

Keep Your Head / The Ting Tings

Mine Smell Like Honey / R.E.M.

Song Away / Hockey

Magic / B.o.B. (feat. Rivers Cuomo)

Under Cover Of Darkness / The Strokes

Shut Up And Drive / Rihanna

1983 / Neon Trees

Sweet Child O' Mine / Guns N’ Roses

Kids / MGMT

Bad Romance / Lady Gaga

Kick Drum Heart / The Avett Brothers

Second Chance / Peter Bjorn and John

Discipline / Nine Inch Nails

American Slang / The Gaslight Anthem

Fell in Love With a Girl / The White Stripes

Selfish Man / Flogging Molly

Bodysnatchers / Radiohead

Run This Town (Ft.Rihanna and Kanye West) / Jay-Z

Chop And Change / The Black Keys

Fighter / Christina Aguilera

Lose Yourself / Eminem

 

Next race: Back to the Beach, Half Marathon - May 22nd

Comments

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3rd Veganversary

This month marks my 3rd year of being vegan.  I don’t have an exact date.  In fact, it may actually be early April.  I’m not sure because I didn’t wake up one day and decide that I was going to be vegan from that moment forevermore.  There was no defining moment when I formally denounced the consumption and exploitation of animals.  Instead, it was a gradual shift over a 6-month period from flexitarian, to vegetarian, to vegan.  Here’s my story:

Growing up, I was an eater.  I ate what and when I wanted and never gave any thought to where my food came from.  Some favorite foods of mine were Velveeta Shells and Cheese, Ramen Noodles, Spaghetti-Os with franks, bacon sandwiches (for snacks, mind you), corned beef hash, fried bologna, string cheese, and superman ice cream.  I’m not kidding and the list goes on and on.  Sometime around 8^th grade, I decided to go vegetarian.  To be quite honest, it wasn’t for ethical or health reasons.  I wanted to lose a few pounds and I figured that would be an easy way to do it.  Because I viewed it as a diet and not a lifestyle, I didn’t stick with it consistently and was vegetarian on and off for about the next 14 years. 

Ever since I was a baby, I was plagued with terrible stomach problems.  As I grew older, they seemed to worsen and no doctor that I went to seemed to be able to help.  Finally one suggested I get tested for lactose intolerance and lo and behold, the test was positive.  Well, that sure helped explain a few things!  As I searched online for dairy-free options, I started to look at vegan food blogs.  Along with finding some great recipes, I learned about milk ingredients hiding behind other names – whey, casein, and sodium caseinate – and ultimately stopped eating dairy products altogether. I read a lot of information about veganism and thought it sounded great for many reasons, but it also seemed like a lot of work. Instead, I was going to be a dairy-free vegetarian.

Then two things happened.  First, I read the book Skinny Bitch and began to seriously question my choice.  I sobbed through the chapter about the horrible sufferings of chickens (those poor baby boys!) and what “free range” really means.  I started to take a good hard look at my diet and examine what it was doing not only to my body but to the earth, as well.  

Second, I made a last-minute decision to go along with my sister-in-law to “The Great American Meat-Out” (now VegFest).  Admittedly, I was thoroughly convinced it would be a “bunch of stinky hippies,” but I figured what the hell.  While there I sampled amazing vegan food, read informative literature, and joined Veg Michigan*.  The best part of the day, however, was meeting Colleen Patrick Goudreau and listening to her presentation on debunking common myths about a vegan diet.  Her words  – “Don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything” - really resonated with me.  Suddenly being vegan didn’t sound like so much work after all. 

I mulled things over for a few days and it wasn’t long before I was totally vegan.  It just felt right.  Unlike when I became vegetarian for the first time so many years ago, I was doing this for my health, animals, and the planet.  I truly wanted to live a compassionate life and being vegan seemed the best way for me to start. 

That brings us to today. While I sometimes miss having feta cheese on my salad or a peanut butter cup Blizzard from Dairy Queen, I’m not tempted to “cheat” because I strongly believe in my decision and making any other choice doesn’t cross my mind.

Tomorrow is the event that I wait all year for since I took a chance on it 4 years ago – VegFest!  It promises to be bigger and better than ever.  I can’t wait to share everything I see, eat, and learn there so check back for my report.  

Thanks for reading my story.  Feel free to share your own veg journey - I’d love to read it! 

My cat Zoe

*Look at the picture on the Veg Michigan site - that's me standing at Colleen's table holding a paper!

Leftover creations – Steamed veggies marinara with spinach noodles

After a day of indulging in 3 too many PB Energy Bites, I needed a wholesome dinner.  I had a race in the morning and didn’t want to awaken to find myself in a sugar coma.  I wasn’t in the mood to really cook anything but also didn’t want to eat out.   

I scrounged around in the fridge and found leftover sun-dried tomato and sweet basil pasta sauce and some vegetables - fresh broccoli florets, the end of a bag of baby carrots, half a red pepper, and two button mushrooms.  I also had some spinach pasta in the cupboard so while I cooked a small amount of that I steamed all the veggies in the microwave.  Then I just put the veggies on top of the noodles, dumped all the sauce on top, and sprinkled nutritional yeast over it.   

Yum!  It was so delicious and filling, but not something that weighed me down since it was mostly veggies with very few noodles.  Oh, I also had a slice of sourdough bread, toasted, with a little Earth Balance and garlic powder.  I wasn’t going to but the end of the loaf was just sitting there calling my name.  And hey, I needed my carbs for the race, right?

What's your favorite pre-race meal?

PB Energy Bites

I’d like to share another cereal bar recipe with you.  This is one that’s been in my collection for as long as I can remember.  I have no idea where or when I got it and I’ve tweaked it here and there over the years.  Be aware that with the agave, brown sugar, and dried cranberries, there’s a lot of sugar.  If you eat too many, prepare for a crash later on!  This time I used natural oat cereal (instead of Multigrain Cheerios, which the original recipe calls for) to cut back a little on the sugar.  If anyone has any other suggestions for reducing the sugar – but not altering the taste too much – please let me know.

Although the recipe says to cut into 16 bars, I can’t say that I ever get 16 servings out of this.  My latest batch didn’t last the weekend!

PB Energy Bites
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups oat cereal (I used Cascadian Farms Purely O’s)

1 ½ cups plain granola (I used Back to Nature classic granola)

½ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup agave nectar

¾ cup natural creamy peanut butter (I made my own in my Vitamix)

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, combine cereal, granola, cranberries, and coconut; set aside.  Spray 8x8-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

2. In small, microwave-safe bowl, combine remaining ingredients.  Microwave on high for 45 seconds or until peanut butter is melted.  Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal mixture and toss to coat.  Firmly press into prepared pan and cool completely, about an hour.  (The refrigerator will speed up this process if you can’t wait that long!)

Cut into 16 bars.

NOTES:

1.    The bars are rather crumbly and I think upping the peanut butter to 1 cup would help this.

2.    You can use any combination of dried fruits or try adding chocolate chips.