Training Wk2

I love that I'm back in training. I feel more grounded. There's a plan for my (fitness) life.  I am best I have a solid goal to meet. Now thru next March I will running with a goal.

Last week went well. My legs feel fine after a run. My lungs felt like I hadn't taken a break. The only trouble is my belly. Re-training my stomach to handle Gu hasn't been fun. Staying near a potty and hydrating well are necessities right now. But y'all know all about that I'm sure.

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
06/20	06/21	06/22	06/23	06/24	06/25	06/26
30min run	off	30min run	easy walk	off	4mi	off

I really am enjoying this plan. I love the idea of an easy walk day instead of another run. During the week I get up at 3:45AM to run. Two days in a row is really tough. But an easy walk I can do at lunch.

Yesterday, I made the mistake of looking ahead at the next few weeks in my training pan. For what ever reason, I panicked at the idea of running 6.5mi in a few weeks. What a silly rxn?! I've run/trained for 3 half marathons. Which means, I've run 6mi or more at least 20 times. I know I can do it. In fact, I know that if I had to run a half this weekend, I could do it. It wouldn't be fun but I could do it.

What's on tap for your week?Do you ever panic about something you now rationally you can do?

Sunday Dinner - 06/20/10 (Father's Day Edition)

Just a to give you heads up, I didn't make the "healthy" meatballs. Nor is this a  quick cooking dish. This meals is for the Big Man on Father's Day. And I decided we could splurge and eat the the full fat and I could spend hours making meatballs. You can easily substitute ground turkey for the pork and sausage. 

Everyone in my family love Italian food. Whip up pasta and a sauce and they are happy campers. This meal can easily be doubled, freezes beautifully and can be made ahead.
This meal was actually made on Saturday since we'd be spending today at the in-laws 2hrs away. 

Spaghetti and Meatballs


Ingredients (Red Sauce)
1tbsp olive oil
1 cup onions,diced
1 1/2tsp chopped garlic
1/4tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomato
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/2tsp dried basil leaves
1/4tsp dried oregano leaves
Salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste


Ingredients (Meatballs)
1lb ground chuck
1lb fresh Italian Sausage
6 eggs
1cup onion, minced
1/4cup garlic, chopped
1/4cup basil, chopped
1 3/4cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsps salt
2 tbsps pepper

Directions (Red Sauce)
In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for 1min. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.

Season the sauce with the basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.

Continue to simmer the red sauce over med-low for at least 1.5hrs. The longer the better.

Directions (Meatballs)
In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef and ground pork, using your hands. Add eggs, onion, garlic, basil, breadcrumbs and cheese.

Again, using your hands, blend thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper. Roll the meatballs (MBs) into the desired size, 1in dia. Heat (medium) 2tbs of  olive oil in a large skillet. Add a few meatballs at a time. Be sure to leave enough space to turn the MBs .

 
Brown all sides of the MBs. Then transfer to a plate. Continue making MBs until all the meat mixture is used.  (Just a warning, this is time consuming.)

Add MBs to the red sauce and serve over pasta.

I hope you enjoy this dinner as much as I did. What did y'all have for dinner?


If you have any question/comments about this recipe, pls leave me a comment or email at megmehell at yahoo.

Happy Father's Day to the Big Man, Don (my daddy), and Pawpaw. 
I took a few pictures of the girls with their favorite men.

MM and Li playing my little ponies with Don

The Girls snuggling the Big Man

Sitting on Pawpaw after Father's Day lunch

Hope your weekend was good. How did you spend Father's Day?

It's hot and I love it

It's mid-June and for the past week NOLA has been under a heat advisory, temps reaching 93°F with a heat index of 105°F. For most people, all that means is sweating while walking between two well air conditioned locations. But for me it means it's time to start training. Most people would not even consider training outside in this weather. But I love it and am looking forward to sweating so much I look liked jumped in a swimming pool.

The first of two halfs I'm registered for in October 19wks away (on 10/10/10). The Louisiana half should be fun. The course is in shady, historic Mandeville, an hour north of NOLA and the entry fee was $40. How could I pass it up?! But now, I need to get my but into gear and start running regularly.


Since I am semi-injured, I decided to use Jeff Galloway's plan. Not too many miles. And I start off slow this week to ease back into to my schedule.  Here's my plan for the week.

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
06/13	06/14	06/15	06/16	06/17	06/18	06/19
30min run	off	25 min run	easy walk	off	3mi	off

I'm very excited (or at least I'm trying to make myself be) to start running again.  I enjoyed my training last year so much. I can't wait to be running with a purpose again.

What's on tap for your week? How do you feel about running in the heat/humidity?

Sunday Dinner - 06/06/10

For this weekly post, I usually cook family recipes. But I've been trying to add new things to my repertoire. The recipe below is from Women's Health Magazine. It is tasty, easy, and healthy. 

At the farmer's market yesterday, Li was struck be the gorgeous eggplants. So I bought a few. My favorite way to eat eggplant is eggplant stuffing, a traditional New Orleans dish. So today y'all are getting a two for one. (But I forgot to take pictures)

Shrimp, Cucumber Salad with Feta


Ingredients
2/3cup bulgur
1 2/3cup water
1/3cup fresh lemon juice
1lb shrimp, frozen coarsely chopped
1/2tsp pepper
1cup cucumber, diced
1cup tomatoes, diced
1/2cuo red onion, chopped
1/4cup parsley
2tbsp olive oil
1/2cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4tsp salt

Directions
In a medium pan, combine bulgur, water, and 2tbsp lemon juice; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15mins. Drain and let cool.

 
Boil med-large pot of water. Add frozen shrimp. Cook until pink (fully cooked) Drain and allow to cool.

Once cool, coarsely chop shrimp and place shrimp in bowl. Sprinkle with 2tbsp lemon juice and 1/8tsp pepper. Let stand for 5mins.

Stir in cucumber, tomatoes, onion, parsley, oil, and feta. Add salt, remaining lemon juice, and remaining 1/4tsp pepper and toss. Stir in cooled bulgur.



Eggplant Stuffing


Ingredients
2 eggplants
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 med onion, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/4cup parsley
1/4cup Dry white wine
1cup tomatoes, diced
Salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1/2cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4cup Parmesan cheese

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350deg.

Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onions and garlic. Add the parsley, wine, and tomatoes.

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Cut away the eggplant flesh from the skin. Using the food processor, grate the eggplant.

Stir in the eggplant pulp, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the bread crumbs and place in an oiled baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cook for 35mins.

I hope you enjoy this dinner as much as I did. What did y'all have for dinner?


If you have any question/comments about this recipe, pls leave me a comment or email at megmehell at yahoo.

National Running Day

Happy National Running Day, y'all!!!

Today we celebrate our love of this sport. For most runners, it's more than just a cardio exercise. Running is a release, a way to challenge yourself, to prove to yourself that you are stronger than you thought. Like all relationships there are good days and bad. The day you run one more mile than you ever had before. The race you under-perform. Both teach important lessons about who you are. If you have time today, lace up your kicks and hit the pavement (or the mill). Enjoy it. Be glad for it.