I finally ran a marathon! I completed the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, AL last month in February. I will post something later about my experience but the short story is I had a great first Full!
Hope you're all doing well.
March 11, 2014
June 12, 2013
Free Sock giveaway
Vital Sox is giving away some free recovery socks (while supplies last). You simply pay $5.95 shipping but if you promote it on Facebook you save another $2.00. How can you go wrong with this offer? I've never worn recovery socks before so I'll let you know how they work. By the way, I get nothing out of posting this on my blog.
Here is the link for the giveaway. Enjoy, and happy running!
Here is the link for the giveaway. Enjoy, and happy running!
June 2, 2013
What Am I Getting Myself Into?
I recently started joining the Sunday Morning Group at the old Brownwell Building (NBC Bank) in Mountain Brook. In the past I would do solo runs here because I didn't like getting up early enough to run with a group of people. I work a lot of nights and usually stay up for a bit to catch up on the NHL playoffs, or watch some crime show on ID. But "the times they are a changin" as Bob Dylan said so many years ago.
Runningearly before the butt crack of the sun comes up 2 times a week - once for hill work, once for speed work with some cheetahs - has made me rethink keeping my carcass in the latex bed for extra shut eye. Even Mrs. Runner Runner has been impressed with this new found dedication. Sort of. She's just happy she can get the bed made before she goes to work.
So now I started running with Suman and crew the past two Sundays. It's been really fun talking a bit to others and the pace hasn't been too bad, as I'm right where I want to be leading up to my July race.
Mrs. Runner Runner will be running here for her first Half as well! I'm very excited about her running her first Half in my hometown!
SO where was I? Oh yeah, back to Suman.We're He's chatting away about how I need to run more with him, which I intend to do unless he starts running nothing but trails (more on that in a different post) and I'll be "ready for a PR in an October marathon." GULP! I quickly let him know I haven't run a full before but it's been a scratch in my throat this year and I MIGHT be thinking of doing one but I'm not certain I really want to. Deep down I think I'm ready scared to try and he's currently winning the argument. So with that, I'm trying to talk myself into doing this and picking a marathon to run. Right now I'm leaning towards 7 Bridges in Chattanooga, TN or the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, AL.
I have no idea how to train for a full - I'm not hiring a coach because I'm cheap - so I guess I'll do some research on plans and all that entails getting ready for this. And that's if I pull the trigger and register. So I guess the trigger needs pulling..... GULP!
Running
So now I started running with Suman and crew the past two Sundays. It's been really fun talking a bit to others and the pace hasn't been too bad, as I'm right where I want to be leading up to my July race.
Mrs. Runner Runner will be running here for her first Half as well! I'm very excited about her running her first Half in my hometown!
SO where was I? Oh yeah, back to Suman.
I have no idea how to train for a full - I'm not hiring a coach because I'm cheap - so I guess I'll do some research on plans and all that entails getting ready for this. And that's if I pull the trigger and register. So I guess the trigger needs pulling..... GULP!
April 16, 2013
Post- Boston Marathon
This is a repost of comedian Patton Oswalt's thoughts after the explosions at the 117th Boston Marathon and pretty much sums up how I feel. My heart goes out to all the victims, especially the families of those who lost a loved one.
Hug a runner today. Thank a police officer, firefighter, or any first responder you see. They have a thankless job at times.
"Boston. Fucking horrible.
I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."
But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.
But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.
But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.
So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will."
Hug a runner today. Thank a police officer, firefighter, or any first responder you see. They have a thankless job at times.
"Boston. Fucking horrible.
I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."
But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.
But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.
But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.
So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will."
February 25, 2013
Soup!
This isn't a post about the Mercedes Half Marathon. I'm still trying to get that together. I thought you would enjoy another post about soup! I love soup. Probably more than I love salsa on my eggs and if you're one of the few who still read this sorry excuse for a blog you know about my affinity for salsa and eggs already.
I made this Mushroom Barley soup from the same cookbook in my previous post. This one is Vegan too. I've never cooked vegan before so this was new territory for me. My wife is trying to eat cleaner foods and this seemed the perfect opportunity to try it. So without further ado, here are the deets on the soup.
Prep the following:
1 diced medium white onion, 2 diced small carrots, and 2 celery stalks.
Slice 8 ounces Button mushrooms and mince 3 cloves garlic.
Shiitake mushrooms, sliced. Remove the stems first.
Herbs : I didn't have thyme so I used Herbs de Provence here. It works the same and gives it more flavor.
Now on to the fun part.. COOKING!
In a large stock pot with a lid, sweat the veggies in 2 Tbls. olive oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Stir often.
Add the garlic, thyme, and bay leaves and cook until fragrant, about one minute longer. The recipe doesn't call for it, but I added a couple splashes of red wine too.
Pour in 48 ounces vegetable stock, cover, and bring the soup to a simmer.
Add 1/2 cup pearled barley and cook for 35-45 minutes until the barley is tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and fresh ground pepper if needed.
A race report from Mercedes weekend is coming, as well as my thoughts on the Adam's Heart 10 mile race I ran 6 days later. If you try this soup please let me know what you think. Hope to see you on the roads soon. Happy running and eating!
I made this Mushroom Barley soup from the same cookbook in my previous post. This one is Vegan too. I've never cooked vegan before so this was new territory for me. My wife is trying to eat cleaner foods and this seemed the perfect opportunity to try it. So without further ado, here are the deets on the soup.
Prep the following:
 |
| Mire Poix |
1 diced medium white onion, 2 diced small carrots, and 2 celery stalks.
 |
| Button Mushrooms, Garlic |
Slice 8 ounces Button mushrooms and mince 3 cloves garlic.
 |
| 8 ounces Shiitake mushrooms |
Shiitake mushrooms, sliced. Remove the stems first.
 |
| Herbs: 1 Tbs Thyme, 2 Bay Leaves |
Herbs : I didn't have thyme so I used Herbs de Provence here. It works the same and gives it more flavor.
Now on to the fun part.. COOKING!
 |
| Veggies and Mire Poix |
In a large stock pot with a lid, sweat the veggies in 2 Tbls. olive oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Stir often.
 |
| Adding herbs and spices |
Add the garlic, thyme, and bay leaves and cook until fragrant, about one minute longer. The recipe doesn't call for it, but I added a couple splashes of red wine too.
 |
| Vegetable Stock |
 |
| Pearled Barley |
 |
| Mushroom Barley Soup |
February 18, 2013
Quick Mercedes Post
Had a great time at the Mercedes Half Marathon this past weekend. Made some new friends too. I'll collect my thoughts and post something about it later. If you ran this race I hope you reached your goals.
February 11, 2013
Runner Dude's Give-Away
Check out Runner Dude's blog for this great give-away here. It's a $110 jacket and he reviewed it in a previous post if you want the 411 on this gear. But hurry. You only have until Feb. 17 to enter. If you're running Mercedes, like I am, enter now! Winner will be announced on his blog on the 18th.
After you enter please scroll around on his blog too. There's lots of good info, like interviews with running legends, recipes, injury prevention, and running tip for people of all abilities. and even though it lessens my chances of winning... so what. It's a really freakin' cool looking jacket! Good luck!
After you enter please scroll around on his blog too. There's lots of good info, like interviews with running legends, recipes, injury prevention, and running tip for people of all abilities. and even though it lessens my chances of winning... so what. It's a really freakin' cool looking jacket! Good luck!
February 7, 2013
Bacon, Tomato, and Cheddar Chowder
This is the soup I made last week and the recipe comes from this cookbook. It is simple to execute and tastes amazing! Read through this post and have all your prep work done before you start this recipe. As always, cooking times may vary.
First, you'll need to dice one pound of super thick bacon. Putting it in the freezer for a few minutes will make it easier to cut.
Warm a large pot over medium-low heat and add the bacon. You want to cook the bacon slowly, rendering the fat and not burning the proteins in the meat. We'll be using the fat to cook the vegetables in the next step.
Shown below are 2 cloves minced garlic and 5 seeded and diced vine ripe tomatoes. These were on the small side so I used 5. If you find large tomatoes use less. The third bowl has 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, 1 Tbsp. flour and 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme. If you're using fresh thyme double the amount.
You'll also need to dice 1 large potato. This will be used later in the recipe. After dicing put it in a bowl of water to avoid the potato turning brown from oxidation.
When the mire poix is done add the garlic and flour mixture to the pot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
After the garlic and flour is cooked add the tomatoes and 32 oz. of chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
Once a simmer is reached add the bacon and potato to the pot, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Taste the soup and adjust your seasonings as needed with salt and pepper.
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in 8 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese, 4 ounces at time. Before you do - this part isn't in the book - coat your cheese with a spoonful or two of corn starch. This will help the cheese mix into the soup better and prevent it from breaking, wherein the cheese falls to the bottom and the oils rise to the top. (thank you to Chefs Robert and Brady from The Club for this tip!)
This is what it should look like when you're finished. Garnish with fresh parsley and enjoy!
What soup is your favorite to eat during these cold, winter months? Okay, maybe it's not too cold down here in the South but it's sure good to eat anyway, right?
First, you'll need to dice one pound of super thick bacon. Putting it in the freezer for a few minutes will make it easier to cut.
Warm a large pot over medium-low heat and add the bacon. You want to cook the bacon slowly, rendering the fat and not burning the proteins in the meat. We'll be using the fat to cook the vegetables in the next step.
Now we need to cut our aromatic vegetables, called mire poix (the classic French combination of carrots, onions, and celery). Today we're dicing two shallots, two small carrots, and two stalks of celery. The recipe calls for 1 stalk of celery but mine were on the small side and I LOVE celery so I usually add a bit more.
Once the bacon is done remove it to a plate and add 1 Tbls. of canola oil. Raise the heat to medium-high. Sauté the veggies until fragrant, about 5-8 minutes.
Shown below are 2 cloves minced garlic and 5 seeded and diced vine ripe tomatoes. These were on the small side so I used 5. If you find large tomatoes use less. The third bowl has 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, 1 Tbsp. flour and 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme. If you're using fresh thyme double the amount.
You'll also need to dice 1 large potato. This will be used later in the recipe. After dicing put it in a bowl of water to avoid the potato turning brown from oxidation.
When the mire poix is done add the garlic and flour mixture to the pot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
After the garlic and flour is cooked add the tomatoes and 32 oz. of chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
Once a simmer is reached add the bacon and potato to the pot, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Taste the soup and adjust your seasonings as needed with salt and pepper.
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in 8 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese, 4 ounces at time. Before you do - this part isn't in the book - coat your cheese with a spoonful or two of corn starch. This will help the cheese mix into the soup better and prevent it from breaking, wherein the cheese falls to the bottom and the oils rise to the top. (thank you to Chefs Robert and Brady from The Club for this tip!)
This is what it should look like when you're finished. Garnish with fresh parsley and enjoy!
What soup is your favorite to eat during these cold, winter months? Okay, maybe it's not too cold down here in the South but it's sure good to eat anyway, right?
February 5, 2013
Week In Review
Here's a recap of my running lately. Not much in the past two weeks.
Family illnesses and Mrs. Runner recovering from surgery have put heavy running on the back burner, as can be expected. Everything will be fine though. Mrs. Runner's goal is to train for a Half and I'll be happy to help her achieve it, and as long as my girls are healthy I'm a happy camper. I'm still trying to work out details so I can run the Mercedes Half Marathon.
Wednesday - 2 miles at the local YMCA run at a slightly faster than normal training pace. It felt wonderful. There is a flat, shaded gravel trail that follows a creek and bends around some playing fields. It's a short, peaceful loop and a calm place to run without head phones. I rarely run without them. Except this time. I was a dummy and mistakenly left them at home. I'm good like that!
Friday - 4 miles on the treadmill broken into a 5k at my Half pace and a 1 mile cool down. I'm not a fan of treadmills. I know they have their place, especially in crappy weather conditions and they help with pacing but I find myself getting bored extremely fast while using one. But Lala had swim practice and I wanted to get in a few miles so this had to do.
Sunday - 13.1 miles - Trial run on the Mercedes course with water/Gu stops provided by The Trak Shak (thanks, Val!) I didn't plan on running the entire course given the tiny amount of miles lately. I thought if I could make it to 5 Points South I'd head downhill at 20th St., cruise back to Linn Park
and be satisfied with the effort. That's when I noticed a bunch of people continuing on and I blindly followed along like the lemming I am. I'm glad I did, but felt stiff and sore afterwards. I needed to hit the foam roller post-run but when I broke it out this is what happened. Future runner, imo!
So, since rolling the old legs was out of the question I made a killer Bacon, Tomato and Cheddar Chowder soup instead. I guess the recipe and steps on how to make it should be my next post? How did your running go this past week? Do your kiddos commandeer your rollers too? Here's hoping our paths cross sometime soon on a run!
Family illnesses and Mrs. Runner recovering from surgery have put heavy running on the back burner, as can be expected. Everything will be fine though. Mrs. Runner's goal is to train for a Half and I'll be happy to help her achieve it, and as long as my girls are healthy I'm a happy camper. I'm still trying to work out details so I can run the Mercedes Half Marathon.
Wednesday - 2 miles at the local YMCA run at a slightly faster than normal training pace. It felt wonderful. There is a flat, shaded gravel trail that follows a creek and bends around some playing fields. It's a short, peaceful loop and a calm place to run without head phones. I rarely run without them. Except this time. I was a dummy and mistakenly left them at home. I'm good like that!
Friday - 4 miles on the treadmill broken into a 5k at my Half pace and a 1 mile cool down. I'm not a fan of treadmills. I know they have their place, especially in crappy weather conditions and they help with pacing but I find myself getting bored extremely fast while using one. But Lala had swim practice and I wanted to get in a few miles so this had to do.
Sunday - 13.1 miles - Trial run on the Mercedes course with water/Gu stops provided by The Trak Shak (thanks, Val!) I didn't plan on running the entire course given the tiny amount of miles lately. I thought if I could make it to 5 Points South I'd head downhill at 20th St., cruise back to Linn Park
and be satisfied with the effort. That's when I noticed a bunch of people continuing on and I blindly followed along like the lemming I am. I'm glad I did, but felt stiff and sore afterwards. I needed to hit the foam roller post-run but when I broke it out this is what happened. Future runner, imo!
So, since rolling the old legs was out of the question I made a killer Bacon, Tomato and Cheddar Chowder soup instead. I guess the recipe and steps on how to make it should be my next post? How did your running go this past week? Do your kiddos commandeer your rollers too? Here's hoping our paths cross sometime soon on a run!
December 19, 2012
Another awesome give-away
Head over to YoMommaRuns Blog to sign up for a great give-away from Runner Box! This is a newer company that sends a box full of goodies (bi-monthly) every runner will love! Good luck to you!
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