I May Not Make it to 30 Posts in 30 Days

Earlier this week, I found out a installation for my company had to be rescheduled from this week until next week. That meant my colleague who was supposed to go as the trainer wasn't able to go, so I got drafted. I was supposed to leave on Sunday. Tonight when Alec and I got home from running, I had two messages from my boss. One of the bigwigs from the property we're going to is irritated about the reschedule (though, from what I understand, it's not our fault). So, I am now leaving early Thursday morning (as in, the day after tomorrow).

So, I'll have a lot to take care of tomorrow - laundry, packing, etc and I can't be sure I'll even have a minute to blog. On the trip, I'll be using the property's computers so it won't be appropriate for me to blog unless they have a public computer lab.

But hey, I gave it my best shot!

I think this is my 100th post

I think I may be hitting a milestone with this post. My "dashboard" says this blog has 100 posts. I think it's counting one I have in draft about our vacation though. So, I think this is actually my 100th "live" post. Pretty cool, huh?

Running Results for the Week

Alec found a program for his Mac that can track my workout info. It's really neat, especially because it figures the pace, which is what I really want to be looking at.

So, here are my results for the week:

Tuesday
run/walk combo
2.1 miles
31 min 30 sec
15 minutes/mile

Wednesday
treadmill - 2 x 10 minute intervals with 2 minute walk break between them & after the 2nd
1.5 miles
23 min 33 sec
15:41 minutes/mile

Thursday
run/walk combo
2 miles
29 min 8 sec
14:33 minutes/mile (woo hoo - faster than the Disney goal pace!)

Friday
rest day

Saturday
cross training
20 minutes - elliptical w/ varied incline
20 minutes - treadmill w/ varied incline

Sunday
run/walk combo
5.1 miles
1 hour 13 minutes
14:27 minutes/mile

Tonight's 5.1 mile run was the farthest I've gone, ever, since I set out on this goal in January! I did have to both run and walk. The first 3 miles, I was pretty good with alternating between running and walking each time the song changed. The last two miles, however, were mostly walking with a few spurts of running. But, at the end, I felt decently good about what I'd done.

Next week I think will be a good week. The plan seems reasonable. The following week will be a challenge. I have to go on a last-minute trip for work. I don't know yet if the property has a gym and I don't know my class schedule. I'm sure I'll have to conduct some evening classes, as we typically try to accommodate the staff members who only work during that time. Sometimes when that happens, we get a break during the day, but I will be the only trainer on the trip so that may not happen. Obviously, I'll do the best I can. We are signed up for a 5K on the 22nd, the day after I get back, so I hope I'll at least get to run some. I'd like to do better in this 5K than I did in my first one back in April.

Recipe of the Week - Week of 10/18 - Greek Pitas

One of our go-to meals for a while has been what I call "Greek Wraps" - tortillas with grilled chicken, feta cheese, homemade hummus and sometimes lettuce if we have it. I used to marinate the chicken in Greek dressing. But, our grocery store here surprisingly doesn't carry one. So, I've tried a couple of different things and haven't been happy with any of them.

The first day we were home from D.C. of course we didn't have much food in the house. So, we went to eat lunch at one of our favorite places here, a Mediterranean restaurant. Alec was already having Moby Dick withdrawal (he ate there again the night I was at my cousin's bachelorette party). The owner made us some of his special Taziki sauce (I probably spelled that wrong) and we had some left over, which of course we brought home.

That prompted the idea of "Greek Wraps" for dinner. I complained, though, that I hadn't found a good Greek marinade since we moved. Alec suggested that I find a recipe on-line. Such a smart boy!

So, I checked some of my sources, and found this recipe on All Recipes.

Marinated Greek Chicken Kabobs

recipe from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

1 (8 oz) container fat-free plain yogurt

1/3 c. crumbled feta cheese with basil & sun-dried tomatoes

1/2 t. lemon zest

2 T. fresh lemon juice

2 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. ground black pepper

1/4 t. crushed dried rosemary

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large red onion, cut into wedges

1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

Directions

In a large shallow baking dish, mix the yogurt, feta cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, salt, pepper and rosemary. Place chicken in the dish and turn to coat. Cover, and marinate 3 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat an outdoor grill to high heat

Thread the chicken, onion wedges and green bell pepper pieces alternately onto skewers. Discard remaining yogurt mixture.

Grill skewers on the prepared grill until the chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear.

The Verdict

I made several substitutions here. First of all, I didn't make it as kabobs, so I didn't cut up the chicken, and I didn't need the onion & green pepper. I used the same Greek yogurt I used for the Yogurt Parmesan Chicken, which is only 6 oz. I also used plain feta cheese. We grilled the chicken on our indoor grill.

It came out really well. I tasted the chicken on it's own before we assembled our pitas and it was quite flavorful. We created the pitas by smearing hummus on them, then topping that with chicken, more feta cheese and the restaurant sauce. We also had hummus and cut-up pita on the side. I warmed the pitas, wrapped in foil, in the toaster oven while the chicken grilled.

Instead of tortillas, we went more authentic and got fresh pitas from the bakery at the grocery store (they make their own pitas, but they don't sell Greek dressing. Go figure). I whipped up some hummus and we had pitas with chicken, hummus, feta and T. sauce, with more hummus and pita on the side.

The Photo

Here's the photo. The plate's not very pretty, but everything sure tasted good!

A Post About Nothing

I'm really not a fan of the show Seinfeld, but I stole this post title from it anyway.

We are getting ready to go to the city for the evening and we need to leave and I was writing a longer post, but I don't have time to finish it.

But, I didn't want to miss a day of posting. So, here's a post about nothing.

My Peppy Playlist

First of all, today's run results: 2 miles in 29:08! Faster than I need to be! Woo hoo! I was supposed to walk 5 min / run 20 min / walk 5 min. I ended up walking for a bit (one song) in the middle of the run. I'm not sure exactly what my times were for each interval, because I don't have a watch for running so I just ran for a certain number of songs.

So this is my playlist now. I need to make it about twice as long, because right now it's only 41.7 minutes and I need at least an hour and 15 minutes for a 5 mile run.

Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
Stronger - Kanye West
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs (Thanks for the Memories) - Fall Out Boy
Don't Stop the Music - Rihanna
Because the Night - Patti Smith
Ray of Light - Madonna
Disturbia - Rihanna
Beautiful Day - U2
The Boxer - Carbon Leaf
We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel

I do have a few more songs in mind. I just wish I could find my 80's mix my friend S. made me years ago - there are some good songs on there and I really don't want to pay to download them when I know I have the CD somewhere!

Leave me a comment if you have any ideas for peppy (but not too peppy - I'm shooting for 120-140 beats per minute, which is on the slow end of what's good for running, but I am a slow runner!)

A Quick Running Update

We've been without Internet most of the day (the horror!) and now it's bedtime. But I wanted to get a post in.

I've made a training plan for the 1/2 Marathon. Here are the results so far this week:

Monday
Goal: 4 x 10 minute running intervals w/ 2-minute walk breaks between
Result: Had a nervous breakdown over my unpreparedness instead. Never made it to the gym. Came home, got a pep talk from Alec and a nice e-mail pep message from M.K. Made a new playlist for iPod w/ upbeat music.

Tuesday
Goal: 2 mile run
Result: Success! Did a run/walk combo for 2 plus a little miles (went a block past the turn-around point b/c it's been so long since I'd run the route I forgot where it was). Time: 31:30. Peppy Playlist helped a lot!

Wednesday
Goal: Training plan says 30 minute walk, but decided to try to do Monday's intervals instead.
Result: Went to the gym (even though Alec didn't - extra points for self-motivation). Did 2 x 10 minute intervals w/ 2-minutes walking between them & after the 2nd one. Decided to go ahead and cool down so as not to kill myself & become unable to complete the week's training. Plus, my iPod died near the end of the 2nd interval. That's what happens if you leave it on, and maybe even playing, for 24 hours. Oops. Time for first mile: 15:45. Total time & distance after 2nd walk period: 1.5 miles, 23:33.

Goals for the rest of the week:
Thursday: 5 minute walk / 20 minute run / 5 minute walk (seems ambitious but I'll try)
Friday: rest day (absolutely do-able!)
Saturday: 5 mile run (I think I can do it, if I alternate running & walking. Must add more songs to Peppy Playlist; currently only runs 41 minutes. Need at least 1 hr. 15 minutes for 5 miles.)
Sunday: 40 minutes cross training (probably do-able, though 10 minutes on the elliptical about did me in the other day.)

Okay, so that wasn't so brief. I'm going to be now! I need my rest!

I Voted!

I didn't get an "I Voted" sticker though. They didn't seem to be handing them out at my polling place. I guess I could have asked, but the people were kinda crotchety.

I registered to vote right near the deadline. For the longest time, I didn't think I could register because I haven't gotten my drivers license here. (I have one, it's just for our old state. Why I haven't is a long story.) But, then I found out you don't have to have a license, so I went ahead an sent in my registration form.

Then, I started waiting for my voter card to arrive in the mail. It didn't come before I left on my work trip. It didn't come while I was gone, before Alec left on our trip. It wasn't in the held mail from the Post Office when we got back. It didn't come after we got home.

The other day I checked on-line and saw that I was registered and that my registration was valid as of Oct. 30. So, I checked to see what else you can bring to the polling place: drivers license (no good, wrong state), birth certificate (possibly no good, has maiden name - duh), passport (also possibly no good, has maiden name & is expired), utility bill (bingo - right name, right state, right address!). It was all over the news that it's much easier for the polling people if you have your voter card, but I couldn't really help it.

I also checked on-line for my polling place and found out it's two blocks from the house, which was great. I planned to walk there. Since I work from home, I planned to go at a random time to avoid lines.

So today at 2:00 PM, I got up from the computer, found some shoes, put on a little makeup (I was going out in public, after all) and headed to the polling place. There was no line at all! Three people came in at the same time as me, but we were it.

There were two people checking registrations - A-M and N-Z (or something like that). So, I go up to the cute grandmotherly lady at the N-Z table and tell her my name. I even spell the last name for her.

Grandmotherly Lady: Your name starts with "C", you need to go to the other line.
Me: No, my first name starts with "C." My last name starts with "T."
Grandmotherly Lady: Oh.

So, she finds me on the roll and stamps the little "voted" stamp next to my name. I hand her my utility bill and explain that I didn't receive my card. She starts to write what I guess is my registration number on a little sticky note to pass to the next person, who is writing the numbers & names on another sheet and having people sign.

Meanwhile, the 3 other people are in the A-M line. The man checking that line has already passed the first person on to the lady filling out the signature sheet. Grandmotherly Lady is still writing my number on the sticky note. The next person steps up to the A-M Checkin Guy and hands over his voter card.

A-M Checkin Guy: Good, you have your card. I like it when people have their card. It makes it so much easier.
A-M Voter: doesn't say anything
Me (in my head): It's not my fault. My card didn't come in the mail. If they didn't have time to get the cards sent out, they should have made the registration deadline earlier.

So finally Grandmotherly Lady passes me on to Signature Lady, who writes my info down on the sheet and slides it over to me to sign.

Signature Lady: Sign here on line 20
Me: OK (reaches for pen Signature Lady is holding)
Signature Lady: (in kinda mean voice) This is my pen. You use that one.
Me: (nicely) Oh, I'm sorry.

So I sign and Signature Lady passes me over to the Booth Lady, who explains how to use the voting machine. This is actually the first time I've ever voted on an electronic, touch screen machine. It was kinda cool. I picked my candidates, reviewed them and pressed the flashing red "Vote" button. And, I was done.

Me: (as I'm leaving, to the volunteers generally) Thanks y'all.
Me: (in my head) I don't get an "I Voted" sticker? Bummer.

Then, I walked back home and sat down at the computer to get back to work.

Total time elapsed: 25 minutes. I think that might be some kind of record.

Anyway, I hope you voted too. I'm going to go cook some dinner and watch the returns.

PS - I went running tonight! I've been a real slacker. But, I'll post about that tomorrow. If I'm going to post every day for 30 days, I gotta have something to say.

Washington DC - Day 4

So I just learned from my pal Diana that November is NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Post Month. Apparently one is supposed to post one blog entry a day for 30 days. Like Diana, I'm starting late. And, I'm kind of cheating. I had this post mostly written, I was just trying to figure out what to do with the pictures, because I have quite a few. If anyone knows of any good (free!) sites where I can create slideshows for my posts, please let me know! I know I can do it with a Picasa album, but that seems to just be a link from here to my Picasa page and I don't know if people would find that annoying.

Anyway, I hope y'all aren't too bored with the vacation stories yet . . .

Tuesday, October 14

Tuesday we went to the museum I was most excited about, but that ended up being our biggest disappointment, the National Museum of the American Indian. This is a new museum. I'm not sure it was even finished last time we were in D.C., back in 2004.

The building is gorgeous. The exterior captures the feel of a pueblo, the desert and the rolling prairies all at the same time.

There is also a beautiful fountain.

The rotunda, where you enter, is beautiful with a display of 4 different types of canoe. This is particularly striking viewed from above.

The exhibits, however, left a lot to be desired, at least the ones we looked at. First we visited "Our Peoples" an exhibit about Native history. Although I was impressed with the exhibition design when we first walked in, the more I got into the gallery, the more I disliked it. The majority of the exhibition consists of 8 small galleries highlighting the history of 8 different tribes , 4 from North America and 4 from Central & South America. The thing I didn't like about the exhibit was that it was a lot of information to read and videos to watch and not many objects to look at. If I want to read or watch a video, I'd rather do it curled up in a comfy chair than standing in a museum.

Next we visited the "Our Lives" exhibit, showcasing the modern lives of 8 tribes. Unfortunately, these were 8 different tribes than in the "Our Peoples" section, so it was very difficult to get a sense of how the tribes have managed to merge their history with modern life. Again, there was a lot to watch & read and not much to just look at. So, we didn't spend much time in that exhibition.

Finally, we spent a little time in the "Window on the Collections" area. We both thought this was very cool. Various objects from the collection (yay, stuff to look at!) were installed in cases along the wall. In front of each section was a touch screen computer showing a layout of the case. You could touch an object on the screen to get more information or zoom in on a picture of the object to see the detail. Under each case were drawers with even more objects. Opening the drawers and exploring them really gives a sense of exploring the collection. As much as we were enjoying this area, we'd already been there more than an hour, and overall were not enjoying our experience, so we decided to head out.

I'd pretty much used up Alec's museum tolerance for the day (at least his tolerance for museums in which he's not particularly interested) so we just headed to the Ballston Common mall to hang out until M.K. got finished with her day. We went over to M.K. and E's apartment, where E. was trying to organize the usual weekly volleyball game. But, not many people were around, so that didn't really work out. So, we all piled into the car to head for the thing Alec had been waiting for for months . . . dinner at his favorite restaurant.

Dinner was at Moby Dick House of Kabob. Alec really, really, really loves this place. Their website says "This could become an addiction." That is so true. Honestly, we're both addicted. We went there on our first trip to D.C. together and I've loved it ever since. We had our usual - Kabob-E-Joojeh - marinated chicken kabobs with rice & bread. It was so yummy. E. ordered the Falafel (basically a chick pea patty) as well for us to share. I had never had that before. It was okay. But, not as good as the Kabob!

We actually went to a location that I hadn't been to before (yes, this is a place that falls into CRC #1) and when we pulled into the shopping center, what did I see? A Krispy Kreme with the Hot & Now sign on! I said right then that if it was still on when we finished dinner, we were going there for dessert. (KK absolutely falls into CRC #1 - do you know how long it's been since I've had a hot Krispy Kreme donut? Well, now it's only been about 2 weeks, but before that, it had been forever!) Lucky for me, the light was still on after we ate. They didn't have any donuts on the belt when we went in, but they put a couple on just for us! The gal at the counter thought it was cool that I was from Winston-Salem, the home of Krispy Kreme. We at our hot donuts, plus took a couple home for later. I got the custard filled, my favorite next to a nice, hot original glazed!

All in all, it was a good day!