In the beginning of some yoga classes, the instructor sometimes requests you to come up with an intention for that hour of practice. It can be a phrase, a goal, a wish,a dedication, just something for you to focus your thoughts on in that hour.
Even though I don't believe in all of the yoga speak (specifically those classes that have asked me to pretend I am tree and I am spreading the seeds with my breathing) I have found that setting an intention does help me to focus on some of those hard stretches and poses that are near the end. And I will admit it, I am a wannabe yogi so I kind of feel more in the zen mode if I set an intention. :)
So as I prepare to leave for DC today, I am setting my intention. My intention for this run will be my boyfriend.
As you probably have read in my previous entries, my BF and I have been training for this marathon together. Two weeks ago, he was seriously injured in a soccer game and his right calf swelled up to three times the size of what his left calf is. His right calf has not gone down much in size. Needless to say, he will not be running in the race with me. I am super bummed I am losing my running partner for the race. My BF is the one that usually keeps me going on our long runs. I am usually just trying to breathe and am sucking in wind while he is cracking up jokes. It is either the thought of wanting to push him off the road, or the thought of not wanting to disappoint him, usually the latter, that is what motivates me to keep going.
The resilient guy that he is, even though he has been in immense pain, and has barely been able to walk, he has been keeping his spirits up for me and has been encouraging me to continue on in this race. Even though he is the one in pain, I feel like I have cried more than he has over his calf. (yes I am a baby, and if I was the one who was hurt, I would definitely not be taking it with as much honor and pride as he is, rather I would be whining a lot and throwing things at the wall.) So I admire him even more for how strong he is, even when he is injured.
So that is why I am going to set him as my intention for the race. I will run for all of the hard work he has put in this summer. I will run for him because he deserves more than anyone, to be in this race.
Who knows what race day will bring, all I can do is set my intention and aim for the finish line.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Fall = Comfort Food =Chicken Pot Pies!
You can always tell when Fall has arrived. The sky turns a little gloomier, the wind blows a little harder and stronger. The air smells crisper and there are hints of firewood, and you find yourself craving a warm cup of hot cider or in my case, a pumpkin latte. The coming of this colder weather has had me seeking out recipes for comfort foods. Last week I made spinach and beef lasagna (oops sorry forgot to blog about that!) and this week I found a recipe for a healthy version of Chicken Pot pie.
Chicken pot pie always reminds me of my dad, he used to get Chicken pot pie from this restaurant called Tippins in St. Louis, and then when Tippins closed, he used to buy all of these frozen individual chicken pot pies and keep them in our freezer. I was never a big fan of these. Perhaps it was because I lack the virtue called patience and I think one time I was too impatient to wait for the oven to cook my individual chicken pot pie throughly and just microwaved it and it turned out in this disgusting soggy mess. That was the last time I had chicken pot pie.
You can't deny that just thinking of Chicken pot pie somehow brings a warm and fuzzy feeling to your stomach so I decided that it sounded good for a windy fall night. I found a makeover recipe for Chicken Pot pie (where they take a recipe full of fat and calories and make a lighter version) This recipe called for root vegetables. I didn't want to use root vegetables, so I did the following.
Ingredients
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cubed peeled baking potato
1/2 cup chopped carrot
3-4 stalks chopped celery
1/2 large onion diced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces), divided
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.
Bring broth to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add potatoes and next 3 ingredients (through onions) to pan; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 6 minutes. Add chicken; cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken and vegetables from broth with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl.
Increase heat to medium. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place all but 1 tablespoon flour in a medium bowl; gradually add milk to bowl, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add milk mixture to broth; cook for 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. Stir in chicken mixture, parsley, thyme, corn and peas, salt, and pepper. Spoon mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon flour on a work surface; roll dough into a 13 x 9-inch rectangle. Place dough over chicken mixture, pressing to seal at edges of dish. Cut small slits into dough to allow steam to escape; coat dough lightly with cooking spray. Place dish on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 16 minutes or until pastry is browned and filling is bubbly.
This recipe does take at least a hour to prep and bake. I only had a 9x9 pan so I put half of the mixture in the pan, and the rest of it in two large ramekins. Next time I will buy more ramekins and make them in those. I found that in a large pan it came out a little watery and was hard to serve. Also the puff pastry took more about 20-25 minutes to cook. The puff pastry in the ramekins cooked faster but if you are using a large pan, the puff pastry will take longer to cook.
Here is the link for the chicken pot pie with root vegetables if you would like to use root vegetables.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001654677
Chicken pot pie always reminds me of my dad, he used to get Chicken pot pie from this restaurant called Tippins in St. Louis, and then when Tippins closed, he used to buy all of these frozen individual chicken pot pies and keep them in our freezer. I was never a big fan of these. Perhaps it was because I lack the virtue called patience and I think one time I was too impatient to wait for the oven to cook my individual chicken pot pie throughly and just microwaved it and it turned out in this disgusting soggy mess. That was the last time I had chicken pot pie.
You can't deny that just thinking of Chicken pot pie somehow brings a warm and fuzzy feeling to your stomach so I decided that it sounded good for a windy fall night. I found a makeover recipe for Chicken Pot pie (where they take a recipe full of fat and calories and make a lighter version) This recipe called for root vegetables. I didn't want to use root vegetables, so I did the following.
Ingredients
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cubed peeled baking potato
1/2 cup chopped carrot
3-4 stalks chopped celery
1/2 large onion diced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces), divided
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.
Bring broth to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add potatoes and next 3 ingredients (through onions) to pan; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 6 minutes. Add chicken; cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken and vegetables from broth with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl.
Increase heat to medium. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place all but 1 tablespoon flour in a medium bowl; gradually add milk to bowl, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add milk mixture to broth; cook for 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. Stir in chicken mixture, parsley, thyme, corn and peas, salt, and pepper. Spoon mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon flour on a work surface; roll dough into a 13 x 9-inch rectangle. Place dough over chicken mixture, pressing to seal at edges of dish. Cut small slits into dough to allow steam to escape; coat dough lightly with cooking spray. Place dish on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 16 minutes or until pastry is browned and filling is bubbly.
This recipe does take at least a hour to prep and bake. I only had a 9x9 pan so I put half of the mixture in the pan, and the rest of it in two large ramekins. Next time I will buy more ramekins and make them in those. I found that in a large pan it came out a little watery and was hard to serve. Also the puff pastry took more about 20-25 minutes to cook. The puff pastry in the ramekins cooked faster but if you are using a large pan, the puff pastry will take longer to cook.
Here is the link for the chicken pot pie with root vegetables if you would like to use root vegetables.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001654677
Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Legs
I was in the mood for some chicken drumsticks so I looked through my CL recipes to find one that would satisfy my craving. I found the Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken thigh recipe. Instead of using thighs I used a package of six drumsticks. Here is the recipe below.
Ingredients
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika (i used smoked paprika)
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Preparation
Preheat broiler.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.
Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.
The drumsticks were pretty thick so they actually took longer to cook. Since I was also making sweet potato fries in the oven, I didn't want to use the broiler setting so I set both the sweet potato fries and the chicken legs on bake setting at 425 degrees. After about ten minutes in the oven, I noticed that the chicken legs were taking a long time to cook so I actually ended up cooking the chicken legs in a skillet. It still tasted great and I had more control of finishing the cooking of the chicken at the exact time they were cooked through so the chicken was super tender. If you do cook this on a skillet, make sure that you first sear the top and bottom of the chicken leg to seal in the flavor, then put a lid on top of the skillet so that you are essentially cooking and steaming the chicken so it cooks faster and doesn't burn as easily.
Sweet potato fries made an excellent side for this dish, and sweet potato fries are one of my favorites sides. (You can't go wrong with sweet potato fries) Plus these fries are baked not fried so you can feel less guilty about eating them!
Sweet Potato Fries
Take three large sweet potatoes (this is enough for 3 people) and microwave them for about 5 minutes. Then chop sweet potatoes into long wedges (so that they look like fries) In a large and deep bowl, put 2-3 TBSP of olive oil, and a couple shakes of salt and freshly ground pepper. Throw in the sweet potatoes and toss in the oil mixture. Then spread out on a greased cooking sheet and bake at 350-400 for 30-40 minutes. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes and flip the fries over to the other side and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
Ingredients
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika (i used smoked paprika)
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Preparation
Preheat broiler.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.
Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.
The drumsticks were pretty thick so they actually took longer to cook. Since I was also making sweet potato fries in the oven, I didn't want to use the broiler setting so I set both the sweet potato fries and the chicken legs on bake setting at 425 degrees. After about ten minutes in the oven, I noticed that the chicken legs were taking a long time to cook so I actually ended up cooking the chicken legs in a skillet. It still tasted great and I had more control of finishing the cooking of the chicken at the exact time they were cooked through so the chicken was super tender. If you do cook this on a skillet, make sure that you first sear the top and bottom of the chicken leg to seal in the flavor, then put a lid on top of the skillet so that you are essentially cooking and steaming the chicken so it cooks faster and doesn't burn as easily.
Sweet potato fries made an excellent side for this dish, and sweet potato fries are one of my favorites sides. (You can't go wrong with sweet potato fries) Plus these fries are baked not fried so you can feel less guilty about eating them!
Sweet Potato Fries
Take three large sweet potatoes (this is enough for 3 people) and microwave them for about 5 minutes. Then chop sweet potatoes into long wedges (so that they look like fries) In a large and deep bowl, put 2-3 TBSP of olive oil, and a couple shakes of salt and freshly ground pepper. Throw in the sweet potatoes and toss in the oil mixture. Then spread out on a greased cooking sheet and bake at 350-400 for 30-40 minutes. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes and flip the fries over to the other side and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Chicago Urbanathlon 2010
My BF and I signed, along with my BF's sister in law, to do the Chicago Urbanathlon. What? You have not heard of this? Don't worry, not very many people have. The Urbanathlon is sponsored by Men's Health and is a substantially smaller race. My BF actually did this last year and that was the only reason why I knew about this. Since my BF's sister in law wanted to do this, we figure it would be a good race to do. This race is the most unique race I have ever done and certainly kicked my butt, not once but several times over.
The Urbanathon is a 9+ mile run with six obstacles in between, sound easy enough? I thought so too, until I saw the obstacles in person. This urbanathlon is really targeted to the male population. When you sign up for the urbanathlon, unless you have ran and had a respectable time the year before, you are automatically signed up in a starting wave. My starting wave was 10. I realized the night before after looking at the assigned waves, that the waves are assigned according to elite status (if you have run the year before and met the minimum time for this start) and then, the next eight waves were all Males from the youngest age group first to the oldest men's age group being the second to last wave. That meant that wave 10 was ALL just solo female runners. (oh yea they had relay teams too, which in my mind, if you are going to run relay, you look lame running relay for this race since you basically only run 3 miles and do one obstacle) So naturally I was so pissed to find out that this race placed ALL of the females in the back. I was fuming and was totally ranting about how sexist this race was. I said they probably placed all of the girls in the back because they didn't think we could do the obstacles!
Then I told my BF that my goal was to beat as many guys as I could. So I actually ended up starting with my BF in his wave (he was wave 4) and when we reached the first obstacle, I realized why they put all of the girls in the back.
After you run three miles to Navy Pier (Start is at Columbus Dr.) you have to walk on top of the barricade like you would on a balance beam, then you have crawl over tires. In the picture, the tires don't look so bad,they kind of look like normal tires right? Wrong! I have no clue where they found these tires, but in person these tires were taller that I was! I tried hop and did not even reach the top. My BF actually hopped on top and basically had to pull me over it.
After the first obstacle, you run toward Museum campus and on the way you encounter the second obstacle which consists of hopping over two barricades and crawling under two barricades, there were six of these in all. This was probably my favorite obstacle.
Next, you run toward Soldier field, and this is where we met my new found worst enemy, the military hurdles. Actually they should not even be called hurdles because that implies that you can jump over them. These military hurdles were almost more than twice my height. Ideally you are supposed to be able to hoist yourself and then push yourself up, yes that would be ideal if my shoulders actually reached the hurdle. So my boyfriend had to bend down and put out his hands for me to hop on and then he basically threw me over these hurdles. There were six of these as well.
After these, we run up the stairs to McCormick place and then the next obstacles are a military crawl under nets, monkey bars, and then another military crawl under nets. If you miss a rung in the monkey bars or fall before getting to the end, you have to do the monkey bars over so I took it pretty slow on these so I wouldn't miss and fall!
The second to last obstacle is Soldier Field itself. They make you run up the steps of the stadium, run inside up through the stairs to the box area, back down the ramp and back up all of the ramps through Soldier field. Then they take you into the seating area of the stadium and you proceed to run up and down twice in the seating area. My legs were shaking after this one. Then we had two more miles until finish...
After two miles, what was left between us and the finish line, were two rows of cabs you have to hop over, a bus you have to scale, and a 10 foot wall.
I slide over the front of the cab (hint from my BF who did it last year) and scaling the bus was not bad because they have netting for you. It's just tough because the net is moving so much from the force of other climbers.
This race is actually pretty fun and it's unique in that it is not just running. Finishing this, I felt just as proud of myself as I would after a full marathon!
We finished this race in 1.27. (So I did manage to beat out a lot of guys!) But honestly, I could not have done this race without the help of my BF who so patiently waited for me through the obstacle and threw me over the huge tire and military hurdles. Also without him, I probably would have slowed down substantially in the end. So BF if you are reading this, thanks for your patience, support, endless encouragement and drive! You are the best!
The Urbanathon is a 9+ mile run with six obstacles in between, sound easy enough? I thought so too, until I saw the obstacles in person. This urbanathlon is really targeted to the male population. When you sign up for the urbanathlon, unless you have ran and had a respectable time the year before, you are automatically signed up in a starting wave. My starting wave was 10. I realized the night before after looking at the assigned waves, that the waves are assigned according to elite status (if you have run the year before and met the minimum time for this start) and then, the next eight waves were all Males from the youngest age group first to the oldest men's age group being the second to last wave. That meant that wave 10 was ALL just solo female runners. (oh yea they had relay teams too, which in my mind, if you are going to run relay, you look lame running relay for this race since you basically only run 3 miles and do one obstacle) So naturally I was so pissed to find out that this race placed ALL of the females in the back. I was fuming and was totally ranting about how sexist this race was. I said they probably placed all of the girls in the back because they didn't think we could do the obstacles!
Then I told my BF that my goal was to beat as many guys as I could. So I actually ended up starting with my BF in his wave (he was wave 4) and when we reached the first obstacle, I realized why they put all of the girls in the back.
After you run three miles to Navy Pier (Start is at Columbus Dr.) you have to walk on top of the barricade like you would on a balance beam, then you have crawl over tires. In the picture, the tires don't look so bad,they kind of look like normal tires right? Wrong! I have no clue where they found these tires, but in person these tires were taller that I was! I tried hop and did not even reach the top. My BF actually hopped on top and basically had to pull me over it.
After the first obstacle, you run toward Museum campus and on the way you encounter the second obstacle which consists of hopping over two barricades and crawling under two barricades, there were six of these in all. This was probably my favorite obstacle.
Next, you run toward Soldier field, and this is where we met my new found worst enemy, the military hurdles. Actually they should not even be called hurdles because that implies that you can jump over them. These military hurdles were almost more than twice my height. Ideally you are supposed to be able to hoist yourself and then push yourself up, yes that would be ideal if my shoulders actually reached the hurdle. So my boyfriend had to bend down and put out his hands for me to hop on and then he basically threw me over these hurdles. There were six of these as well.
After these, we run up the stairs to McCormick place and then the next obstacles are a military crawl under nets, monkey bars, and then another military crawl under nets. If you miss a rung in the monkey bars or fall before getting to the end, you have to do the monkey bars over so I took it pretty slow on these so I wouldn't miss and fall!The second to last obstacle is Soldier Field itself. They make you run up the steps of the stadium, run inside up through the stairs to the box area, back down the ramp and back up all of the ramps through Soldier field. Then they take you into the seating area of the stadium and you proceed to run up and down twice in the seating area. My legs were shaking after this one. Then we had two more miles until finish...
After two miles, what was left between us and the finish line, were two rows of cabs you have to hop over, a bus you have to scale, and a 10 foot wall.I slide over the front of the cab (hint from my BF who did it last year) and scaling the bus was not bad because they have netting for you. It's just tough because the net is moving so much from the force of other climbers.
This race is actually pretty fun and it's unique in that it is not just running. Finishing this, I felt just as proud of myself as I would after a full marathon!
We finished this race in 1.27. (So I did manage to beat out a lot of guys!) But honestly, I could not have done this race without the help of my BF who so patiently waited for me through the obstacle and threw me over the huge tire and military hurdles. Also without him, I probably would have slowed down substantially in the end. So BF if you are reading this, thanks for your patience, support, endless encouragement and drive! You are the best!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Last Six Miles
So at dinner tonight, my friends were asking me about my reasons for running a marathon and they asked me what were the first feelings I feel when I finish a marathon. I told them that you are usually in a lot of pain by the time you cross the finish line, and the first feeling is immense relief. You are just SO happy that you are done with it that you are just beside yourself that it is finally all over. So then my friend asked, then why do you do it then? I found myself hesitating before answering, and I realized it's so much harder to explain out loud. You can't even begin to explain the feeling of accomplishment that comes over you after you realize that wow you did it! You ran for 26.2 miles straight and you are still alive.
So coincidentally, I was reading my new issue of Runner's World (which by the way I highly recommend if you love running!) on the way home after this conversation and there was an article in there titled "The End" by Peter Sagal. I think Peter describes my reason for running marathons perfectly!
In this article, Peter also questions why we as marathoners continue to run marathons even though we know how much the last six miles hurt. Sure the marathon training guide takes you up to 20 miles, and it's tough no doubt but it doesn't seem bad. It is the last six miles that make all of the difference. Once you pass 20 miles, your body is like a home appliance that just passed the deadline on its warranty and is starting to fall apart.
Peter states, "What I have found is that the last six miles separate distance runners from those who are merely obsessive or have a high tolerance for boredom. They are crucible from which come molten, freshly recast marathoners, and each one of those miles is a distinct trial to conquer, and reason to train, and reason to boast, and as such, in truth, I love them, because though you'll never know exactly why you do them, it's over those last six miles that you finally find out if you can."
When I read that, I couldn't help but smile because that is exactly why I run marathons. So thank you Peter for phrasing that just so eloquently.
I am hoping that in three weeks, when it's my turn to face those last six miles, I will remember Peter's words and look those six miles in the face and say, BRING IT! (Obviously I am not as eloquent as Peter is :) )
So coincidentally, I was reading my new issue of Runner's World (which by the way I highly recommend if you love running!) on the way home after this conversation and there was an article in there titled "The End" by Peter Sagal. I think Peter describes my reason for running marathons perfectly!
In this article, Peter also questions why we as marathoners continue to run marathons even though we know how much the last six miles hurt. Sure the marathon training guide takes you up to 20 miles, and it's tough no doubt but it doesn't seem bad. It is the last six miles that make all of the difference. Once you pass 20 miles, your body is like a home appliance that just passed the deadline on its warranty and is starting to fall apart.
Peter states, "What I have found is that the last six miles separate distance runners from those who are merely obsessive or have a high tolerance for boredom. They are crucible from which come molten, freshly recast marathoners, and each one of those miles is a distinct trial to conquer, and reason to train, and reason to boast, and as such, in truth, I love them, because though you'll never know exactly why you do them, it's over those last six miles that you finally find out if you can."
When I read that, I couldn't help but smile because that is exactly why I run marathons. So thank you Peter for phrasing that just so eloquently.
I am hoping that in three weeks, when it's my turn to face those last six miles, I will remember Peter's words and look those six miles in the face and say, BRING IT! (Obviously I am not as eloquent as Peter is :) )
Monday, October 11, 2010
Kumas - Our treat to ourselves after our last long run!
This past weekend, my BF and I did our last long run. We went up to 21 miles and this will be our longest run before attempting the DC marathon. The next few weeks will be all about tapering.
As if the thought of 21 miles was not dreadful enough, we knew that the weather for our run was actually going to be quite warm, the high for the day was 80 degrees. Quite a change of pace from our previous long runs that have been in cold, windy and damp weather. I am not sure which is worse, strong gusty winds or sweltering heat, but I do not look forward to running in either!
After running 21 miles, it's both defeating and overwhelming to feel incredibly tired after running 21 and knowing that for the actual race, you have about another 5.2 miles to go before you are finished.
It is true what they say though, the training guide will take you up to 20 miles, but adrenaline and the excitement on race day will take you all the way to 26.2. After 23 it's a matter of telling your legs that they can do it no matter how much it hurts at the moment! (Wish us luck that it will take us there fast enough to get under 4 hours!!)
After our 21 miler, I requested that we have something to reward ourselves. And our treat was Kuma's corner. Imagine a small bar, filled with people both sitting down and waiting to be seated. In the background, heavy metal music is playing so loud that you can barely hear the person sitting next to you, every waitress has at least a sleeve that is tattoed, and in the back, there is a tiny tiny kitchen where three to four cooks are tearing up the kitchen, firing up the best burgers you will ever eat...and there you will have Kuma's Corner. There is always a wait for Kumas, you are lucky if you can get a seat within a hour. The bar area is first come first serve and we were lucky enough to snag two chairs within 20 minutes of being there. However, since the size of their kitchen is the same size of my bathroom, and there are about 30 people waiting for their orders, expect at least a 30 minute wait for your food. All of this though is WORTH IT!
This is an amazing Kuma's" burger, simple yet absolutely delicious! The Kuma's burger is a burger with bacon, cheddar, and an egg on top! Kumas cooks your burger the way you want it cooked, and in our case, we wanted medium rare!
Kumas' also has excellent Mac and Cheese, you can add a bunch of items to your mac and cheese (we chose broccoli and red pepper) and they give you a huge portion. Warning though, the mac and cheese is not as good re-heated. It actually grossed us out to reheat it as we saw that after microwaving our mac and cheese, there was a flood of oil at the bottom so our mac and cheese tasted like grease.
As if the thought of 21 miles was not dreadful enough, we knew that the weather for our run was actually going to be quite warm, the high for the day was 80 degrees. Quite a change of pace from our previous long runs that have been in cold, windy and damp weather. I am not sure which is worse, strong gusty winds or sweltering heat, but I do not look forward to running in either!
After running 21 miles, it's both defeating and overwhelming to feel incredibly tired after running 21 and knowing that for the actual race, you have about another 5.2 miles to go before you are finished.
It is true what they say though, the training guide will take you up to 20 miles, but adrenaline and the excitement on race day will take you all the way to 26.2. After 23 it's a matter of telling your legs that they can do it no matter how much it hurts at the moment! (Wish us luck that it will take us there fast enough to get under 4 hours!!)
After our 21 miler, I requested that we have something to reward ourselves. And our treat was Kuma's corner. Imagine a small bar, filled with people both sitting down and waiting to be seated. In the background, heavy metal music is playing so loud that you can barely hear the person sitting next to you, every waitress has at least a sleeve that is tattoed, and in the back, there is a tiny tiny kitchen where three to four cooks are tearing up the kitchen, firing up the best burgers you will ever eat...and there you will have Kuma's Corner. There is always a wait for Kumas, you are lucky if you can get a seat within a hour. The bar area is first come first serve and we were lucky enough to snag two chairs within 20 minutes of being there. However, since the size of their kitchen is the same size of my bathroom, and there are about 30 people waiting for their orders, expect at least a 30 minute wait for your food. All of this though is WORTH IT!
This is an amazing Kuma's" burger, simple yet absolutely delicious! The Kuma's burger is a burger with bacon, cheddar, and an egg on top! Kumas cooks your burger the way you want it cooked, and in our case, we wanted medium rare! 
Kumas' also has excellent Mac and Cheese, you can add a bunch of items to your mac and cheese (we chose broccoli and red pepper) and they give you a huge portion. Warning though, the mac and cheese is not as good re-heated. It actually grossed us out to reheat it as we saw that after microwaving our mac and cheese, there was a flood of oil at the bottom so our mac and cheese tasted like grease.
10.10.10
This past Sunday on 10.10.10 was the Chicago Marathon!! My BF and I went down to the Marathon to cheer on one of my good friends Jenny who was running her first marathon. I knew that going to the marathon would make us feel antsy since it's kind of funny to go to a marathon that is not yours knowing that just in a few weeks, it will be our turn to run! We are at the point in the training, where you just are tired of doing long runs on the weekend and you just want it to be over. However after our long run, I was grateful that we were just going to be spectacting and not running the 26.2 miles. At the end of the day we found that watching the Chicago marathon made us excited and eager to run the DC marathon..and have it finished and completed!
The Chicago marathon is always an amazing race to watch. It is always so inspiring to see so many runners running a marathon, especially when you know how much time and dedication marathon runners spend in preparing for this one race. You spend 3-4 months training for just one race day, in hopes that training can see you through 26.2 miles. The Chicago marathon is tough just because you can never predict the weather. Last year when I ran it was a chilly 50 degree start and I think it never even hit 70 degrees that day. I remember wanting to run just to stay warm! This weekend, I felt so bad for the marathon runners, we stepped out of the house around 8am and already I knew within a hour I would not need a long sleeve shirt. By 10:30am, we could already feel the heat of the sun starting to sear into our legs..and we were only standing and cheering. My heart went out to the poor marathoners who were already soaked with their own sweat at only 9 miles in.
Not only am I amazed and amused by the runners who are dressed in crazy costumes, I am even more baffled by the runners who decide that running 26.2 miles isn't challenging enough and they have to do something else like juggle while running! It is hard enough for me to focus on finishing 26.2, I couldn't imagine trying to do something else while running!
The best part about watching the Chicago marathon is you can feel all of the positive energy and optimism from the spectators, the appreciation and spirit from the runners, and you just can't help but feel hopeful and proud of everyone - the spectators for taking their time to cheer on not only their friends an families who are running but also strangers, and the runners for their spirit and dedication through their struggle for the finish line.
So congrats to all of the runners who ran Chicago on 10.10.10. It's no easy feat, and you deserve all the congratulations and all of the rest afterwards!!
The Chicago marathon is always an amazing race to watch. It is always so inspiring to see so many runners running a marathon, especially when you know how much time and dedication marathon runners spend in preparing for this one race. You spend 3-4 months training for just one race day, in hopes that training can see you through 26.2 miles. The Chicago marathon is tough just because you can never predict the weather. Last year when I ran it was a chilly 50 degree start and I think it never even hit 70 degrees that day. I remember wanting to run just to stay warm! This weekend, I felt so bad for the marathon runners, we stepped out of the house around 8am and already I knew within a hour I would not need a long sleeve shirt. By 10:30am, we could already feel the heat of the sun starting to sear into our legs..and we were only standing and cheering. My heart went out to the poor marathoners who were already soaked with their own sweat at only 9 miles in.
Not only am I amazed and amused by the runners who are dressed in crazy costumes, I am even more baffled by the runners who decide that running 26.2 miles isn't challenging enough and they have to do something else like juggle while running! It is hard enough for me to focus on finishing 26.2, I couldn't imagine trying to do something else while running!
The best part about watching the Chicago marathon is you can feel all of the positive energy and optimism from the spectators, the appreciation and spirit from the runners, and you just can't help but feel hopeful and proud of everyone - the spectators for taking their time to cheer on not only their friends an families who are running but also strangers, and the runners for their spirit and dedication through their struggle for the finish line.
So congrats to all of the runners who ran Chicago on 10.10.10. It's no easy feat, and you deserve all the congratulations and all of the rest afterwards!!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
STL! Toasted Rav and The Cupcake Cakery!
I am from St. Louis, the city best known for the "Arch" and the "Cardinals".
St. Louis is also home of toasted ravioli. For those of you who never had the pleasure of having this deep fried appetizer, it is basically a ravioli, coated in bread crumbs and deep fried. There is usually ground beef in the raviolis. Then you dunk this ravioli into marinara sauce. Growing up, these were always a staple in our freezer at home and my brother and I would make them for a quick snack after school.
If you are interested in learning more about deep fried ravioli, I have included the wiki link here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toasted_ravioli
I was also happy to discover that the cupcake trend has started in St. Louis. In fact, I think the Cupcake Cakery in St. Louis could rival Sprinkles' cupcake base. I found the actual cupcake to be very moist and soft. Even after a day in the fridge, the cupcake still maintained its' taste and moisture. My family also agreed that the base was really good. However, we all found the icing lacked flavor and creaminess. We all scraped the icing off our cupcakes and just ate the cake part. I guess you could say that we ate reduced fat cupcakes then. Ha ha ha.
This was the pumpkin cupcake. Yummy cake part, but the icing was cinnamon sugar which did not go with pumpkin cake. Also the cinnamon sugar gave the icing a weird texture.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)