Running | Pancakes and Postcards

Sidelined No More and Sweet Potato Fries

March 27, 2012 by Courtney 8 Comments

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I do exist.

Ever since I started blogging, even in Africa with hardly any internet, I did my best to be consistent and post as frequently as I could. Not necessarily because I was making a single cent off of my blog or because anyone was waiting with bated breath for my next scintillating update, but it was more for me—blogging is something I do to really have a record of my life, shared with the world. And for the last month, radio silence. Why? I’ll cover that in another post.

There is far too much to catch up on today but I’ll share a few highlights in my worlds of food and running:

I’m running again! Okay, not completely, but I can run about four miles at a time. It’s been a LONG time off so I’m getting really winded very quickly, but still can at least get out there and run with my buddies.

I had to miss the Oakland Half Marathon, but I handed my bib over to a friend and I still got to go and cheer them on. : )

I traveled to LA for my best friend’s bridal shower (!!!). That will be a post in itself.

I’ve gone on some SF adventures. More on that to come.

I’ve also been eating well—very well. I recently received a free sample of an Alexia Foods product via the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program and totally neglected posting about it on time with what’s been going on, but I figured better late than never. I love French fries, especially sweet potato fries, so I was excited to try their sweet potato julienne fries.

The premise is very simple: slap them on a baking tray and throw them in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

It actually couldn’t be easier, and coming from someone who has made her own fries in hot oil before, it definitely feels much better for you! I threw mine in for over 25 minutes, probably 28, for them to be extra crispy. With oven fries, if they’re soggy or limp you might notice the difference, but crispy fries are delicious either way.

These are lightly seasoned with chipotle/salt; sodium freaks like me can add some more salt or seasoning, but they have a lot of flavor as is. And of course, mustard makes everything more delicious. I am excited to have a whole bag of these in the freezer to enjoy. I definitely recommend them if you want a healthier, unique fry fix.

And how adorable is this apron?

Lots of things going on this week for me, but I’m really excited to get back to a normal blogging schedule (at least every other day minimum). P&P has always been something I cared about very much but that occasionally has to take a backseat to professional and personal life—though I’m definitely going to work on spending more time on the activities I love that make me happy.

And signing up for things that scare the sh*t out of me.

More to come this week. Have a great day!

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Filed Under: Pancakes (Food) Tagged With: foodbuzz, fries, running, sweet potato, tastemaker

Sidelined

February 13, 2012 by Courtney 21 Comments

Not being able to run sucks.

It just totally sucks. But the funny thing is, it’s not the simple “not running” part that’s getting to me.

Yes, running is a great activity. I love the way it makes me feel. I love the high I get at the end of a run and carry with me all day. I love feeling powerful and fit and strong. Even though my body is not perfect, when it carries me 16 miles easily and all before breakfast, it’s hard to begrudge it for what it is not.

Whatever the injury is I am dealing with, I don’t believe it is severe. Yet. It could easily become so if I don’t get the right diagnosis and treat it accordingly. I am likely looking at about a month without running if you count the last two weeks (2 runs in there somewhere) and what I assume will be 2+ more weeks off. It’s really nothing compared to any legitimately serious injury!

But yet I feel so horrible and I realize it’s not necessarily about running.

What upsets me isn’t necessarily that I can’t get in an easy six before work. I can stay active—the gym, walking, hiking when my knee/leg/whatever does not hurt, join CrossFit, find somewhere to swim.

It’s the weight of expectations that I seem to have placed on running, and the reality of not being able to live up to them.

Running for me started in Africa where it was an escape. When my mind was concentrating on running, it was easier to block out the stress and loneliness of living in a bamboo hut overseas.

I decided to run a marathon last year. It was the most empowering thing I have ever done. Every single weekend, a new personal distance record. Every weekend, another step towards doing something I never thought possible. And I’d never been happier.

That was kind of the theme of 2011 for me. Do what you can’t do. I never thought I’d run a marathon. I ran one and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Then I ran another one at SFM, undertrained but with the goal of having fun (a quad thing knocked me out for a few weeks—it’s likely the same nagging injury that I have yet to figure out). Then I ran a third at CIM without really training for it either. And a fourth in Maui that I didn’t train for either, walking and just having fun.

And you know what? I was okay with this. I was okay with running “just to finish” and not carrying about time or splits or sub-whatever or any of that other gunk. I just didn’t really care.

But then something made me start feeling like I’m supposed to care. I’m supposed to be faster. I’m supposed to win an AG award. Break X:XX in whatever race. Even though I’m not good at running, and used to be okay with it, I started not being okay with it.

Last year I phoned it in. The week after Hawaii was the week I was supposed to start training. Training. Not for anything big, just a goal half marathon, a trail marathon that would get me into Marathon Maniacs, and the Ogden marathon for which I declared 3:55 or bust, and pacing for SFM. I was ready for 40+ miles a week every week, a strict diet, speedwork every week, running up Twin Peaks for fun, dropping 10 pounds, and anything else that would finally qualify me as a runner in my own mind.

And then that same week I got hurt.

It’s probably not related to the chaos I’ve created for myself in my mind. But the timing is horribly coincidental. I’ve been dealing with running related injuries since I started running and always just squeezed through them on luck, and I’ve got a feeling that that is over. My luck has run out and it’s going to be a bit of a break.

And I’ve already seen my goal half marathon and the elusive Marathon Maniacs membership slip through my fingers (toes?). Hundreds of dollars and dreams of goal race glory are on the line. And I can’t really handle it.

I rarely feel relaxed these days. I feel so much pressure at work. I feel so much pressure in my relationships. In my hobbies. In my schedule. And running is supposed to be the release from all of that. And yet somehow, it’s become an equal source of pressure on me.

Maybe I need a break. I want to be running and I truly do love it, but my favorite runs are the casual ones with friends when you just chat and you don’t care if you are running eight or eighteen minute pace. The runs back in the day Before the Garmin where I wasn’t constantly berating myself for being fat and slow based on those numbers on the screen. Before I turned the thing that was supposed to free me of stress into a great stressor. Though I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I need to get back what running had always been about for me: Release. Peace. Love. Joy. Not mile splits of PRs or Marathon Maniacs or finally having a 3 in front of my time to feel more legitimate. I have an obsessive personality, and each of my hobbies I tend to go a little too far. I’ve hit that point, and my body is probably doing the only thing it can to protest: screaming ‘ENOUGH ALREADY!”

I’m going to do whatever I can to be able to run pain free. But once I can I’m going to try to remember why I fell in love with it in the first place.

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Filed Under: fitness Tagged With: injury, life, Musings, running

Maui Oceanfront Marathon Race Recap

January 29, 2012 by Courtney 24 Comments

Blog hiatus over!

I tried to be as unplugged as humanly possible last week as I took my first VACATION in the year that I’ve been working to Maui, Hawaii with my friend Alyssa. I’ll be sure to do more posts about Hawaii itself including the delicious food that we ate and activities we engaged in but my first post will involve the marathon that we spontaneously ran there.

I titled my CIM race recap “the spontaneous marathon” as I decided to run it just 3 weeks before. Now, the award goes to the Maui Oceanfront Marathon, where the decision to run the full 26.2 (as opposed to the half) was made approximately 17 hours before race start time. Alyssa and I really just wanted to see 4X more of Maui’s coastline, and to remind ourselves that we are badasses. For the cost of a bottle of wine (or in our case, $10) we were officially full marathon entrants. Gulp.

We spent the day drinking margaritas (winning) and eating pizza for dinner. I was still hungry and we needed bananas so we stopped at a grocery store. In a fit of irrationality I also bought whipped cream vodka. Needless to say that bottle was never opened and is now in the hands of whichever lucky person cleaned out our rental car.

Alarms were set for 3:30AM. Mind you, this would be day 3 of vacation time and Day 1 involved a 5:30 alarm, and day 2 a 2:30AM alarm. this was not really starting out to well. It was warm when we walked out at 4AM (great sign…) to catch the bus down to Wailea. We had some announcements from the race director including shoutouts to people who had run ridiculous numbers of marathons (I think someone was at 800… please do the math on that one). We also had a traditional hawaiian blessing/song which was amazing.

Then, us 330-some full marathoners were off, jogging down the road in the pitch dark carrying flashlights. And sweating. It was HUMID! I felt like we were running 8:40s (which is definitely an effort for me) and it was more like 9:15s. So weird. We settled into a comfortable slow jog and enjoyed the sights as it grew a little bit lighter. THE MILE MARKERS COUNTED DOWN! Pain in the ass if you were doing mile laps on your Garmin, but wayyy cooler to see how many miles you had left instead.

It felt exceedingly easy until mile 10 which was a slight uphill inland into SCREAMING WIND. God. I could barely even run. Okay, I’m a wimp and complaining but it was hard! We finally saw the sun rise above the mountain at mile 11.5, which I knew meant trouble for the rest of the race. We ran the first half in 2:05, without many stops other than to fill our bottles, chat with volunteers, eat cookies (okay that may have been just me) and a “I need to catch my breath because I am dying” break right after mile 10. But other than that we were cruising.

This was so different than any race I’ve done to date. There were only 330-something marathoners, everyone was SUPER friendly, and we were actually running ON the shoulder of the road against oncoming traffic (which is much less scarier in Maui than it would be on the mainland, I’m sure). It was so fun to not be giving a rat’s ass about time and to just enjoy the experience. I laughed several times—what the heck were we doing running a marathon on vacation? Who does that?! (Okay, a ton of people I know, but that’s besides the point.)

We entered a period of rolling hills probably from mile 12 through 17. This section reminded us a lot of Big Sur as it was on jagged, hilly coastline with similar views. The hills were not insignificant and once we got to mile 15 I WAS TIRED. Let’s talk about my prep for this thing:

Ran CIM on December 4 (7 weeks ago)
Ran no farther than 10 miles in those 7 weeks
Now currently running marathon on a whim

Yeah so. I was tired. I was out of shape. I started requesting more walk breaks at this point. Alyssa is a machine and could have easily just jogged the whole thing straight and been fine but I couldn’t—everything was starting to hurt by mile 18 or so. I started getting angry at myself at this point, feeling out of shape, feeling fat and heavy and SLOW and like a sucky runner, and then I just had to stop and realize hey, you didn’t train for this and YOU ARE HERE TO HAVE FUN. That’s what this day was about—fun.

It was really hot and humid at this point and at each aid station I was dumping water on me in addition to filling my bottle. I got a little dizzy at one point and stopped to drink and have some cliff bloks but other than that it was okay. We were taking it really easy which helped—I can’t imagine going all-out in this weather! It wasn’t even uncomfortably warm or anything, but you felt the humidity when running.

My feet, knee and hips started really hurting in the last 10K. Granted, I ran my first 3 marathons in stability shoes and I’d never gone longer than 10 in the super lightweight shoes I was now wearing, so it makes sense that I’d feel a little weak. Definitely needed breaks to rest and my focus became DON’T GET SORE. Those of you who have run a marathon know what I’m talking about: those days after when looking down a flight of stairs is the scariest sight imaginable. I did not want that to happen on my vacation! I wanted to SURF! So, lots of walking. Which ended up being great as I was “Long-Run sore” afterwards but no such normal marathon aches and pains. Hooray for lots of walking! And please check out the most amazing “break through the wall” aid station below. I would have been dancing with Alyssa if I had the extra energy. Winking smile (see “one mile to go” photo for evidence)

The views were really stunning, the participants were friendly and the volunteers were amazing. Even though the last miles were very hard for me and I had to count out loud to get through them, I had a really amazing time. Even though I felt bad about myself at a couple of points because of my current fitness level, I had to squash those feelings and focus on just how BLESSED I was in those moments. Here I was, in Hawaii, on a gorgeous day, running a marathon, in a body that can carry me 26.2 miles on a whim, with a great friend. What an amazing experience!

I am so, so glad we decided to do the full (even if I kind of wasn’t from miles 22-25. Ha!) It may be the only time I get to run a marathon in Hawaii. It’ll probably be the only time I’ll ever get to run a marathon with Alyssa, one of my favorite running friends who is a total speedster but graciously slowed down to share this experience with me. It may be the only time I am rewarded with a medal in the shape of a fish and four days to just sit on the beach and drink.

Despite the humidity, the huge patch of skin missing from my upper inner thigh from my running skirt, and my new marathon PW, this was one of the most fun things I have ever done. Not every race needs to be a race—some of them just need to be about celebrating the joy of running and the running community. And celebrating is much easier when you’re in Hawaii.

More Maui updates to come. Aloha!

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Filed Under: fitness Tagged With: hawaii, marathon, maui, maui oceanfront marathon, race recap, running

Crystal Springs 11-Mile Trail Race Recap (Or, “The Hardest 5 miles of my life”)

January 8, 2012 by Courtney 28 Comments

On Tuesday, my friend texted me and asked if I wanted to do a 22-mile trail run with him on Saturday. I considered it for a minute, checked the website and then decided that 22 might be a bit ambitious for my first trail run but hey, 11 should be easy! I recruited Alyssa, Kabri, and Naomi into coming to play with me (and Aron would be there too).

Bright and early on Saturday morning, we headed down to Huddart Park in Woodside for the Coastal Trail Runs’ Crystal Springs event.

Alyssa and I were both a bit nervous about the fact that this race was pretty much up a mountain. See, I get tired on the hills of Golden Gate Park and those are anthills compared to this. I was committed to walking up all the big hills and just trying to have fun.

Showing up, the vibe was TOTALLY different than road races. People were friendly but also hardcore. Some of these people were the “I eat a 50K for breakfast every Sunday” types and they scared me but also made me kind of want to be them. We got there just in time to see Aron off on her 22, then Naomi left for her 5 and Alyssa and I were left with trail expert Kabri who went over the ins and outs of how this whole shebang worked.

I was kind of terrified.

Soon, they said “go” and we ran about 0.1 mile just to stop for a few minutes in a complete bottleneck as the runners entered the trail. No one cared, it was chill. No screaming or “I’M SUPPOSED TO BE RUNNING SUB-8 PACE!” or anything else—we were all joking and laughing. Soon we were en route and running along a fire road.

The first two miles were nice—slow, calm, rollers but no mountain, yet.

Then the mountain hit.

I am not strong on hills. Okay, I LOVE rolling hills. I thought CIM’s hills were PERFECT, I’d take that over a flat course any day. But big hills? I kind of sputter and die and have passed out cold on the side of the road before you even realized I wasn’t behind you anymore. So then we started climbing a mountain and I sputtered and died. Somewhere between mile 2 and 3 I was actually trying to formulate a way to tell Alyssa that I was turning around and going back.

Mile 1: 12:35

Mile 2: 12:11

Mile 3: 13:03

But then we hit mile 3 and I realized it was three miles back to the start for M&Ms or three miles up a hill to the aid station for M&Ms so I might as well give it a go.

Damn, that thing was hard. I was walking a ton and wasn’t even recovering on the walks because it felt more like speed hiking. I realized how ignorant I was of trail running and how I really had no idea how to pace myself, when to walk or what strategies to use at all! It’s such a different mental game. I felt very humbled by my inability to conquer nary the smallest hill on the course. I really didn’t think we would ever get to the top. But eventually somehow we did.

Mile 4: 16:16 (yes, really…)

Mile 5: 15:48 (yes, really…)

Mile 6: 19:00 (…)

I took a gu at mile 4.5 – I usually gu every 6 miles in a race, but it had already been over an hour by the time we got to mile 4.5 and more than three hours since I’d taken in any calories so it was very much needed. Though, gel on the trail tasted disgusting for some reason—I wanted real food. And at mile 6 (aid station) I was rewarded.

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY AND OREOS. This may have been the best thing that has ever happened to me. Ever.

I dropped one of the oreos on the ground and picked it up immediately—no way was I letting that go so easily. I put it in my glove that I was carrying to save for the way back. Yes, I ran 3 miles with an oreo in my glove. Best decision ever.

I also ran into Dorna from Lazy Chick Runs Too at the aid station! I knew she looked familiar. So funny! She was also getting beat down by the trail like I was but remained happy – it was great to meet her!

Going back was so fun. Downhill! Me wanting to fling myself off the mountain turned into me actually having a really good time. A and I were talking about Ogden, running downhill, what hurt (everything) and the general jabber and the last four miles went by quite quickly. Yes, four. The course was actually ten miles. Following in the theme of running races much shorter than advertised. Kabri, who came in fourth in her AG, finished 20 minutes ahead of us and also clocked 9.5 miles. The mystery of trail running.

Mile 7: 11:24

Mile 8: 11:42

Mile 9: 11:57

Mile 10: 9:06 (WOOOOOOOO!! SUB 10!!!!!!!!)

Overall, it took me 2 hours and 13 minutes to run ten miles. That is a 13:20 pace. Some people finished the marathon and 50K at sub-8 pace! I have such newfound respect (and awe and disbelief…) for trail runners. What a different mental game! But at least there are things like cookies at the end.

Afterward, I felt like I’d run a marathon or ten. My ankles were stiff, knees were angry, shoulders sore from keeping me upright. I felt like an old woman! But I am so glad I did it. I am looking forward to running more trails. It really is beautiful. I just need to learn the mental game and really not care about the fact that I’m doing more hiking than running. : )

And then lunch was fries and an unpictured Banana Oreo Snow with large tapioca from ~~Quickly~~ heaven.

Fun stuff. I’m going to have to do this again soon. Once everything doesn’t hurt anymore.

Courtney

Ever done trail running? What do you prefer – road or trail?

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Filed Under: fitness Tagged With: bay area, coastal trail runs, hiking, hill training, race recap, running, trail running, training

2011: The Year In Running

December 31, 2011 by Courtney 10 Comments

Greetings folks. I planned to do a whole 2011 series this week but frankly life just got in the way. So some of them may be belated, but I did want to do a little recap of my running year. The other, harder-to-quantify stuff can come later.

In January I started training for my first marathon.

In March I ran my first half-marathon and shocked myself.

On May 1st I crossed the finish line of my first marathon in Big Sur and it was one of the greatest moments of my life. I knew I was hooked. (note the unintentional post-race beer theme…)

A few weeks later I did Bay to Breakers – notice I didn’t say “run” – in two and a half hours. : )

In June, I met some amazing bay area runners and bloggers who now I count as some of my closest friends.

In July, I crossed the finish line of the San Francisco Marathon, a truly amazing race that I was blessed to share with many others.

In August and October, I ran three more half marathons, with various times and experiences.

The Giant Race – August

San Jose Rock & Roll Half – October

Nike Women’s Marathon – October

And then in late November, an opportunity presented itself to run the California International Marathon. I finished it on December 4th in 4:08.

Tally for the year:

3 full marathons
4 half marathons
1 12K
1 10K
1 5K
1,200+ miles
5 pairs of running shoes
4 lost toenails
2 boxes of GU
A scary amount of $$ spent on running clothes
An unquantifiable number of new memories

It’s really hard for me to look back on this year and truly dictate what a big role running played. It was the source of stress at times, of course, but it was so much more than that.

Running became an escape. It became something to throw the stress and hurt into and meld it into something positive.

It provided a constant in my life when nothing else was. Moving from Africa to America, moving cities, starting a new career, starting a new life. Everything seemed so transient. Running remained the same. One foot in front of the other.

It gave me a mental challenge: the marathon. The marathon is as mental as it is physical. Where your mind goes at mile 22 is a dark place that few experience. You know more about your deepest self after a marathon than ever before.

It gave me confidence. I used to believe I could never run a marathon and now I’ve run three.

It gave me some great friends. There are some new people in my life who I’m incredibly grateful for and blessed to call my friends.

It gave me new goals. I was ecstatic when I hit 1000 miles, then ending the year at a bit over 1200 momentarily makes me feel like I didn’t try enough when half my twitter beat 2,000, but then it gets me back to the main thing:

Running is one area where ironically, I don’t feel like I’m competing about anyone but myself. I compete for seats on the bus, better tasks at work, the soup special before it runs out. With running, it doesn’t matter how many miles other people ran. What matters to me is that in my first year of being a “runner” I did things I didn’t know I could do, and that’s what matters.

I look forward to 2012 and seeing what it brings. Thanks to everyone who’s been a part of my running journey this year. I can’t wait for the next chapter.

Courtney

What were the highlights of your 2011?

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Filed Under: fitness Tagged With: 2011, goals, race recap, recap, running

Christmas Actually Is All Around

December 25, 2011 by Courtney 9 Comments

As I sit here on Christmas evening, I’ve found myself thinking about what Christmas means to different people. It’s Jesus’s birthday, of course, but the holiday is celebrated in many different ways by people who believe many different things. There’s an overarching “holiday spirit” that infects us, and takes on a variety of forms. I’ve seen Christmas manifest itself in several ways over the last few days.

Christmas is nighttime Embarcadero runs with friends, followed by fries.

Christmas is a Christmas Eve trail run with mom, a beautiful day with some big hills to boot.

Christmas is cinnamon rolls, cookies, waffles, more waffles, more cookies…

Christmas is spending hours setting up what seemed like thousands of paper bags filled with dirt and votive candles two feet apart across two huge corner lots, only to have the end result be completely worth it.

(Please note the bottom sign: Occupy Christmas! One man controls 99% of the presents!)

Christmas is time with family.

Even the adopted family that barks.

Christmas is receiving Funfetti cake, pancake mix, a waffle maker, and The Stick for Christmas, and recognizing that your loved ones know you pretty freaking well.

Christmas is watching movies that are definitely Christmas movies, some that are debatable, and others that most definitely are NOT.

But to me, most importantly, Christmas is a time to reflect on the faith that shapes my life that defines my heart, that gives me comfort in times of turmoil, that gives me hope in times of despair.

The holidays have been pretty loaded for me these last few years. In 2008 I was overseas and lonely, away from all I held dear; in 2009 I was home for two weeks after 15 months abroad and in extreme culture shock and confusion; in 2010 I had just returned home after 27 difficult months overseas. The post I wrote last year really shows where I was at that time—grateful.

This holiday season has been hard. Instead of filling consumed by joy and love, I’ve been, to be honest, a bit sad. Loneliness has ruled in my mind over togetherness. Stress has overwhelmed peace. But finally this weekend I’ve been brought back to Earth, to focus on what truly matters instead of getting caught up in everything else.

This week is my one year anniversary of returning home from Africa, one year since going vegetarian, one year since the most recent chapter of my life began. So it’s a little emotionally loaded. But what I pause to reflect on is LOVE. Just love.

I’m looking forward to an exciting new year ahead, to new beginnings and endings. And to remember the spirit of Christmas for what is truly is: a gift of love.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Courtney

PS. The winner of the coffee giveaway is MCM mama. Send me your address! : )

What does Christmas mean to you?

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Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: Christmas, dogs, Faith, family, holiday, holidays, Musings, presents, running

Sidelined No More and Sweet Potato Fries

Sidelined

Maui Oceanfront Marathon Race Recap

Crystal Springs 11-Mile Trail Race Recap (Or, “The Hardest 5 miles of my life”)

2011: The Year In Running

Christmas Actually Is All Around

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