What's on my mind today...

I picked up a pair of new shoes and I can’t wait to give them a try. Another new pair of Saucony’s some version of the same shoe I’ve been wearing. But I have to say these shoes seem to work for me all the time so I’m hoping these will be no different. Now I’m trying to decide if I should try without the inserts, the ones I have been through 2 pair of shoes, or get new ones. And if I’m going to get some new ones should I try some of the ones I’ve seen posted on different blogs to help with the Morton’s Neroma I have self diagnosed myself with or stick with what's been working. Is there always something to worry about?

So now that I’ve got the shoes, a new saddle is for sure next. I don’t know why all the sudden mine has started to really give me problems. I don’t know if it was the loss of weight or has something to do with the height. It was already bothering me before the bike fit so I know that’s not it. Speaking of bike fit, I’m noticing a real difference in how my knees feel since the fit. I can’t wait to actually get out on the road and see how it goes. So any suggestions on saddles or what to do with this one that might help? It does seem worse with some shorts as opposed to others, especially the pair I have that is a little big, maybe it’s just a case of needing some Body Glide?

I really need to try on my wetsuit from last year, it was a little large last year and I'm thinking with the loss of 30 pounds it might be really large this year.....more money... :) I guess I better get on that.

I need to pic a training plan for the 1/2 Ironman. I've been using a winter maintenance from Beginner Triathlete and really like it. I think I will probably go with one of their 20 week plans just need to decide which. Do any of you have a plan that they would really recommend?

Don't ever buy any more Sea Salt pita chips...you have no control.

Long run by the numbers...

1 Cliff Shot Turbo Double Expresso ...my new favorite...oh my this sucker is good...really good...
2 bottles of water from my fuel belt drank(drunk? drinked?)
3 Cliff Shot blocks...love these too.
4 Pieces of pizza I ate the night before to work off.
5(9) degrees when I finished. A beautiful day for a run although it was a bit windy with some strong gusts once in a while.
6 More weeks until my 1/2 marathon.
7th mile mostly downhill and where left foot and toes were a little bit angry at me and reminding me that I really do need to get new shoes.
8th mile Feeling really good and thrilled when I looked at my splits to find mile 8 and 9 were my fastest and both just under 12mm
9 Miles done 1:54 minutes 12:42 average pace 597' of climbing according to Beginner Triathlete

A freakin great run today!

Feeling much better about my training for the week so far. I've managed to get at least some kind of workout in everyday so far and two today. I just have to say that I am so, so, so excited about my run this evening. My 1/2 marathon training called for a 7 mile tempo run (5 @ 11:16) this week. I knew that I couldn't get all 7 in but decided that anything was better then nothing so I hurried home from work to get out before it got to dark and did 5 miles.

1 12m 08s WU
2 10m 51s
3 10m 54s
4 11m 02s
5 12m 10s Cool Down

Average pace 11:30
Yes I am more then thrilled with that! For me that is a pretty fast run. I hope it is a sign that I'm getting faster and stronger.

Doing the happy dance.....

Have a great Friday!

What's For Dinner? LoMein

I actually made this awhile ago and just never quite got it posted because I had other good recipes to post. This one was really good and easy too. Both the boys liked it, and the leftovers were pretty good too. I'm unsure where it came from as it is just a page torn from a magazine and it's been around for some time waiting to be tried. The recipe was for pork but I used chicken, intend to try pork very soon.

Lo Mein
1 pound chicken/pork cut into strips
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 pound linguine (I used whole wheat)
2 T oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 large bunch broccoli (1 1/2 lbs) tops only cut into bite-size florets
1 sweet red pepper, cored, seeded and cut into strips
1 T minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 c chicken broth
2 T hoisin sauce
2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp water
1/2 cu unsalted cashes or peanuts chopped , optional

1. Place pork/chicken and soy sauce in a bowl: set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook linguine until tender, then drain and rinse. Toss with 1 T of oil. Set aside.

2. Heat remaining oil in a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook stirring until occasionally, about 5 minuted, until it begins to brown. Add broccoli and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally , 6 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Add garlic and ginger; cook 1 more minute, stirring constantly. Remove vegetables and set aside.

3. Turn heat to high; drain pork/chicken from soy sauce(reserving although I actually just used new as I felt it was safer) add meat to pan. Cook stirring for 1 minute add soy sauce, broth and hoisin sauce. Stir well. Add drained noodles, vegetable sand cornstarch mixture; cook until slightly thickened about 3 minutes, tossing well. Top with nuts if desired and serve warm.

If your me you also need to add a little heat by putting some Sriracha. Good stuff!

Listen to the bowl....

So this past week seemed to have its ups and downs. For some reason I decided it should be a rest week. Can you call it that when you just kind of decide to skip a good portion of your workouts? Well that’s what I’m calling it. I’m still working on what to call the part of the week that had me eating everything in the house. It was no surprise when the scale was up 2lbs on weight in day. I wanted to feel like this but I couldn't since I deserved every bit of it and probably more. However I am already planning to feel like this next week. It started with my new attitude run on Saturday and continued on when I found this bowl while out shopping the same day.

It spoke to me. Believe Julie, believe in yourself. Believe that things will work out. Believe that you can get to your goal weight. Believe that you can ride 100 miles. Believe that you can finish a 70.3. And what the heck as long as your believing why don’t you go ahead and believe that the crack in the transmission on the used car you just bought for son will be fine for a couple of years.( Maybe these are a few of the reasons I seem to be having a bit of an anxiety problem recently.) I believe that having my morning oatmeal in this bowl will remind almost daily of what I need to do to achieve my goals.

Could it really be as simple as that?

Every day is a new beginning....

Everyday
as the moon goes down

and the sun begins to come up
I have a chance
a chance to make different decisions, a chance to make changes
be different today.

Post number 200. Pictures taken this morning on my "new attitude" run.

What's for Dinner? Lemon Garlic Chicken (with Potatoes)

Beth at SUAR, you do read Beth's blog don't you? Posted that she was going to try making this for dinner and it sounded so good I had to give it a try too. It was super easy and all in all pretty good as well as something for all of us. Pretty healthy for me, meat for the meat lover (oldest son) and potatoes for the carb lover (youngest son). When all was said and done the reviews were just so-so. I enjoyed it but while the potatoes had really great flavor the chicken didn't seem to absorb it quite as much. Still all in all it was tasty.

Kotopoulo Skorthato: Lemon Garlic Chicken (with Potatoes)

Cook Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Ingredients:
•3 1/4 - 3 3/4 pound chicken, cut into quarters ( I used leg/thigh pieces)
•3 1/2 pounds of potatoes
•juice from 2-3 medium lemons
•2 teaspoons of salt
•1 heaping tablespoon of oregano
•1/2 teaspoon of pepper
•8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
•1/2 cup of olive oil (didn't measure how much I used but probably 1/4 cup)
•1 1/2 cups of water (I only added 1/2 cup and I used chicken bullion)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C).

Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters, lengthwise. Salt and pepper the chicken and potatoes. Transfer chicken to a roasting pan, and add potatoes, on and around the chicken. Add oregano, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice, distributing evenly across the pan. Add water and roast uncovered at 355°F (180°C) for a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes. Half way through (50 minutes), turn the chicken.

Yield: serves 4