Moving Day!

January 25, 2009 at 8:21 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

I’ve moved to my very own domain! Don’t worry, you’ll still get the same old Jess.

Update your favorites and your Google Reader: http://www.seejessrun.com/

See you there!

Love,

Jess

Daily Run: Meh

January 24, 2009 at 3:37 pm | Posted in Daily Run | 4 Comments

Time of Day: 7:25 AM

Weather: Gusts of 20-30 mph brought the wind chill to 28*. Yesterday’s high: 80*

Duration: 2 hours 4 minutes 53 seconds

Distance: 16 miles

Average Pace: 7:48/mile

Average Heart Rate: I didn’t wear my HR monitor. I’ll probably just wear it for speed workouts now.

Notes: It’s a dreary day here in Central Texas, a stark contrast to the gorgeous, sunny, summer-like Friday. A cold front with a harsh wind just in time for the weekend, and just in time for my long run.

I don’t feel like I had a particularly good run today. It wasn’t bad, but I ran quite slowly. Maybe it was the weather, maybe the hills, or maybe I’m just comparing it to last weekend’s fantastic 15-miler, but I felt lacking in energy today. My legs felt fine, my knee held up well, but I felt lethargic.

Last night I went to bed ridiculously early for a Friday night and woke up before my alarm. Despite my full night’s sleep, I think my body is tired. It’s likely that my two speed workouts and cross-training on the reject elliptical tired me out for my long run.

But like I said, not a bad run. Sometimes that’s all we can ask for, right? I got my 16 miles done in a strong wind and a hilly course.

By the way, Snickers Marathon Energy bar is still my pre-long run bar of choice. I tried a Gu gel for the first time today in Chocolate Outrage. Yummy, for a gel, but I’ll have to try another Gu before I can determine if they work for me or not. My refuel method: No Sugar-Added Carnation Instant Breakfast in Chocolate, mixed with soymilk and canned pumpkin to make a Chocolate Pumpkin Smoothie. Delicious. Thanks for the idea, Lacey!

And yes, my pre, during, and post run fuel all contained chocolate.

Food for Fuel: Seafood Penne with Vegetables

January 24, 2009 at 1:42 pm | Posted in Food, Nutrition, Pasta, Seafood | 2 Comments

This is my first laidback weekend since December 7th of last year. Yes, really. The next weekend was White Rock, the next three were spent in Houston, my dad visited the next, and the next one was back in Houston. So, while all those weekends were busy, they were also very fun. However, I need some Jess Time, and I need to get a few things done. I’ve made a substantial dent in my list already: last night I grocery shopped, did laundry, vacuumed, watched last week’s Desperate Housewives, and made a delicious Seafood Penne with Vegetables to fuel me for this morning’s long run (more on that later).

Remember when I said that I’m going to lower my grocery bills by using up pantry staples? No? That’s good, because I’m doing horribly. Anyway, I decided to buy frozen shrimp and canned baby clams for my pasta to combine with a few of the frozen scallops already in my freezer.

First, I started cooking my whole wheat penne. Then I heated up a little olive oil in a skillet and threw in a chopped clove of garlic, the scallops, and the shrimp. I let them cook for a bit and then added sliced mushrooms and capers.

Next, I added a dollop of my favorite jarred sauce: Central Market Organics Primavera sauce. I just used a little because I wanted to taste the other flavors in the dish–like the white wine that I added after the sauce.

I let the wine reduce slightly and then added the clams, chopped tomatoes, and a sliced up wedge of garlic and oregano flavored Laughing Cow cheese. I stirred the cheese into the sauce to make it creamy, and then added a few handfuls of baby spinach. After the baby spinach wilted, I stirred in a few sliced kalamata olives and  feta cheese.

dinner_01-23-09

It was a really good, kinda fancy (but still quick and easy) version of my favorite dinner the night before a long run or race: whole wheat pasta with a lean protein and vegetable-based sauce. (Don’t forget to add a little healthy fat like olive oil as well).

Nutrition of this Meal

This meal contains 10 ingredients on the World’s Healthiest Foods list (estimate because the jarred sauce has lots of herbs and veggies that I am not counting):

  • Garlic
  • Mushrooms
  • Olives
  • Tomatoes
  • Spinach
  • Scallops
  • Shrimp
  • Low-fat cheese (I buy reduced-fat feta, Athenos brand)
  • Olive oil
  • Whole wheat

Food for Fuel: Stir-Fried Tofu with Bell Peppers

January 23, 2009 at 3:40 pm | Posted in Food, Nutrition, Pasta, Tofu, Vegetarian Entrees | 4 Comments

I wasn’t going to share last night’s dinner because it looks like so many of my other soba noodle creations and because it’s from a cookbook and I can’t post the recipe. However, I did a google and found it online: Mark Bittman’s Stir-Fried Tofu with Bell Peppers or Other Vegetables. Apparently Bittman included the recipe in more than one cookbook–the one I used is How to Cook Everything. I guess that’s proof that this is a good recipe.

I added shiitake mushrooms and a frozen Asian blend of veggies. I used leftover baked tofu from last week, so this was a nice, quick meal.

Served over the last of my Annie Chun’s soba noodles.

dinner_01-22-09

There are a lot of vegetables in that bowl. This recipe is not spicy, so it’s a good choice if you don’t like spicy Asian flavors.

Nutrition of this Meal

This meal contains 9 ingredients from the World’s Healthiest Foods list:

  • Bell peppers
  • Garlic
  • Mushrooms
  • Onions
  • Soybeans (edamame in frozen blend)
  • Tofu
  • Buckwheat
  • Ginger
  • Soy sauce

Cross-training, Strength Training, New Clothing?

January 23, 2009 at 12:02 pm | Posted in Cross-training, Strength Training | 10 Comments

Strength Training – Thursday Evening, Jan. 22nd

Time of Day: 5:20 PM

Weather: Climate-controlled

Duration: About 40 minutes

Notes: Another crowded gym day. I’m getting tired of hauling a mat, dumbbell, and stability ball to the gym hallway so that I have room to workout. I did, however, get to do lat. pulldowns today. Not much to say about the weights, so I’ll just report. Besides, I have a lot to say about my cross-training session this morning and don’t want to make the post too long.

2 x 15 reps of the following:

  • Lat pulldown
  • Lat row
  • Chest press
  • Vertical butterfly

1 x 15 reps of the following:

  • Biceps curls on stability ball
  • Tricep dips
  • Lateral shoulder raises with a dumbbell
  • Dumbbell shoulder press on stability ball

Core exercises (all of these in Ultimate Abs):

  • Back extensions, 25 reps
  • Swiss hip extension, 10 reps then 11 reps each side
  • Erect lateral bends, 15 reps each side
  • Turkish get-ups, 15 reps each side

Legs:

Cross-training – Today, Jan. 23rd 

Time of Day: 5:55 AM

Weather: Climate-controlled, yet freezing

Duration: 50 min. elliptical

Notes: My gym has three elliptical. I like exactly one of them, and I use the term “like” very loosely. Today I showed up early, and yet the gym was already crowded.  Apparently they’ve been opening a little earlier and not telling me. Anyway, my favorite elliptical was taken. My second favorite elliptical, also taken. I had to use the reject elliptical, the one that feels stiffer and more awkward than the others, despite being the same make and model. Sad story, I know.

Thankfully, that is not the most interesting thing to happen to me today, because somehow, before 6 AM, someone managed to ask me:

“You must wear children’s clothes.”

I’m not quite sure how to respond to such a statement. Was this woman complimenting me? Should I be offended? Is she saying I look fit? Does she think I’m too skinny?

But then it hit me: her statement is rude, but brilliant. Because you see, readers, I’ve been buying pants in petite sizes and then attempting to shrink them in the dryer to make them shorter. I should just cut out the middle man and buy kids’ clothing.

And then the statement hit me even harder: I can go shopping at Limited Too.

Most of you may not realize the significance of the above realization, but it’s huge, people, HUGE. You see, when I was 9 or 10 years old, my best friend had many, many pretty clothes, most from Limited Too. And she let us all know they were from Limited Too. She pranced in her Limited Too jeans. She preened in her Limited Too tees. She sparkled around school with her shiny blonde hair and her Limited Too matching ensembles. At least I was smarter–the Velma to her Daphne, if Velma was good at Freeze Tag.

I also wished to dress in Limited Too, of course, so I would drag Mumsly into the store, where she looked at the price tag, laughed at the manufacturer’s apparent audacity, and redirect her silly daughter to the sales rack of a much cheaper store.

But now, readers, I have my own money, most of it expendable. I can buy all the Limited Too I desire. I may desire none, but it’s the principle.

Also, I’ll be able to tell people I wear size 14 pants next time they rudely inquire (yes, a co-worker did this!). I’ll leave out the information about children’s sizes. They can ponder that for the rest of the day.

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