Born For This

Know the one I mean?  Can’t sleep, can’t quite pin down what’s wrong….

I’ve suffered from extreme Sunday Night Feeling my whole life, but I’ve been working hard to start the week well-rested and enthusiastic.  Turns out I might not have been having enough fun on the weekends!  I think we took care of that for sure this time (though I’m still antsy…but there are some extenuating circumstances*…).

Saturday

I felt lousy when I woke up for my 6 mile run – too much rich food at night without eating enough during the day had taken its toll.  We call that feeling the “dinner hangover” – no alcohol necessary.  I got a late start and I couldn’t stand the thought of eating anything, so I moped around the apartment for about 30 minutes before braving the blazing hot morning (almost 90 at 7:45 a.m., gross but I’ve learned to survive).

The first mile was terrible and plodding.  I included my .25 mile warm-up in my overall mileage (or so I thought) as a way to pacify my petulant thoughts – a free quarter mile!  It didn’t help me get very far – my first mile took 22 minutes.  I could have crawled.  I’ve been putting a lot more time into a slow warm-up since it seems to help keep my soleus happy, but there were snails honking at me as they passed.

I don’t normally keep track of my splits, but after I noticed that I had taken 22 minutes to drag my rear through the first mile I made yet another mental bargain: if the second mile took 18 minutes or longer, I’d just turn around and go back home because it wasn’t worth it.  I felt so tired and clumsy that I was near tears!  So it was funny when I checked the time at the end of the second mile and it had taken me 14.5 minutes, which isn’t far from the pace I’m looking for right now in my long runs.

Intrigued, I checked again after the third mile.  10 minutes?!  I had even walked the first bit of mile 3.  Mile 4 – 11 minutes, still with some walking.  Miles 5 & 6 – back down to 13 (amazing that I could talk some sense into my legs since I have been running negative splits).  I “accidentally” took the long route on the last mile, which meant I finished up at a total distance of about 6.28 miles…just don’t tell my brain that I didn’t hold up my end of the “free warm-up” bargain.

I’m really enjoying the long runs, but I got too late of a start on this one – lawn crews were already working by the time I was back in my neighborhood, which meant stinky gasoline fumes and lots of dust and debris in the air.  Lesson learned: no more Saturday mornings without an alarm set.

I was accompanied by a playlist of all the bands I liked in high school since I recently finished backing up my CD collection to my iTunes library.  Poe, Garbage, Better than Ezra, R.E.M., Smashing Pumpkins…it was pretty darn awesome.

I was famished when I got back (having been too grumpy to pack a snack in the pocket of my adorable Lululemon running shorts), so we headed to my favorite breakfast place.  I had a delicious plate of migas with guacamole, but I forgot to take a picture   Silly, hazy, post-run brain.  Sounds like a good excuse to go back soon!

We went to the library and then went out for coffee.  I’m trying to read my book club book, but it’s not going too well so far – lots of battles, wenches, and swords.  I’m committed to finish at least the first 100 pages.  Then we hit up Nordstrom’s anniversary sale, where I did a SURPRISING amount of damage.  Photos on their way once I make sure I’m not returning it all

In between somewhere I had:

(A brown rice tortilla with brocolli, pesto, and a little nayonaise)

and:

I will miss summer when it’s gone – so many tasty, fresh treats!

Sunday

We’re going out of town for a few days soon, so I’ve been trying to use up everything that could go bad.  This morning I used up the last of our cottage cheese to make:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c buckwheat flour
• 1/3 c brown rice flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon ground flax
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 c cottage cheese
• 1/2 c almond milk

Procedure:

• Heat oiled or nonstick pan on medium-high heat
• Combine ingredients (technically, everything in the list before the flax (my egg substitute) should be combined first to ensure that the dry ingredients are well mixed before liquid in introduced.  Ask me if I care on a Sunday morning when we’re starving!); some lumps may remain.
• Ladle batter into hot pan and cook about 3 minutes on the first side (for 4″ pancakes), then flip and cook about 1 minute on the second side
• If possible, serve topped with blueberries you’ve recently picked yourself

Those were enough to tide us over for a morning of errands and cleaning.  We may have also devoured three more episodes of Mad Men (season 2 is crazy!).

Speaking of devouring, there was also some lunch:

(broccoli, pesto, and reduced fat Organic Valley cheddar on a brown rice tortilla with pan-fried tempeh)

…followed by the last of this:

(seriously, it’s the most amazing caramel chocolate bar – the fact that there aren’t more photos might be a good testament to that.  Tons of gooey, soft caramel peppered with bits of nut, restrained by a chocolate shell…divine.)

And somehow, after I worked with my mom on her new budget (and perhaps passed out asleep on the couch for an hour or two), it was time for dinner!

That lovely display is: roasted eggplant (with sesame-soy glaze), roasted squash (with chervil, paprika, and fresh garlic), polenta with peas (topped with yellow cherry tomatoes sauteed with garlic) and…a cheese quesadilla on a brown rice tortilla, because I clearly can’t seem to eat enough of those tortillas in one weekend.  The squash was a team effort, just short of throwing a dart into the spice cabinet and using whatever it pierced.

The squash and eggplant were soft and perfect!  I love that veggies cook so quickly – these spent just about 15 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Time passed, laundry was folded, and a walk was taken.  The litter box was also cleaned.  After that strenuous activity, I chilled out with the Yoga for Runners podcast from yogadownload.com.  I’m always amazed by how much tension I carry in the right side of my body – the first half of the flow series was torture!  My half moon was much closer to Injured Dog (you know, when dogs limp around with one leg up in the air?  Like that.), but I stuck with it nonetheless.

And then it was much closer to now, and we continued the celebration that is the week or so leading up to my birthday with:

(a small ramekin of chocolate cherry ice cream) and:

Celebration figs!  These figs are *amazing*…I may or may not have sworn today that my request for a last meal would be these figs and a bowl of fresh whipped cream.

Each fig is filled with a chocolate-brandy ganache, then enrobed in, what else, more chocolate!  They’re just plain perfect, and yet another reason to move to Spain.

But alas, Sunday nights aren’t all chocolate and blogging – they’re also when I make my plans for the week.  We’ve been setting household goals (like not leaving a million jackets on the dining room chairs, and doing something with the mail rather than leaving it all over the sideboard, and maybe even sweeping before the cat fur tumbleweeds overtake every corner), so my list includes whatever we’ve agreed on for the week, any important to-dos, and my workout schedule.  This week ends with our exciting trip out of town (location unknown – a surprise birthday trip!), so I also got to put down some fun packing reminders!  I do love having something to look forward to.

*The extenuating circumstances will be done with by the end of the month, after which I can stress about them publicly on this blog rather than keeping them nestled in my anxious little brain.  Decisions are tough!  But I know that I’ll make the right one in the end.

I missed another run yesterday, eek!  It’s not like I am totally inactive on days I don’t run, but I don’t want to lose all the progress I’ve made.  I’ve got my weekly long run tomorrow morning, and I love those (so no worries about skipping it, even if it’s raining).

And…it was worth it once again   I think I have some exciting news coming!

To recap everything I started to post yesterday before the noon whirlwind came and transported me away on a tornado of work, meetings, and very,very, very good news…

In addition to being a bad runner yesterday, I was a bad eater again (seeing the relationship, no?).  After my tasty breakfast, I stayed on track with my mystery bundle…

Cherries!  I still consider them such a luxury food (in my head, I’m still usually  a grad student who has $8 a week for food and gas and all other non-rent expenses), but they’ve been on sale supercheap – must be a good year.  Unlike what happened with blueberries…we’ve got a lot of blueberries around because we go blueberry picking every year, but this year the heat and lack of rain really made the crop kind of sad (lots of bushes looked like they had grown dried blueberries rather than the standard fruit).  We still picked about 12 pounds over two weekends, which sounds like a lot but…the way we eat them…:)

I had some company while I ate my cherries: Sneak Peek: Real Housewives Of Atlanta , Season 2 – Real housewives of atlanta season 2 sneak peek – Jezebel. I liked the show better when it didn’t feel like Bravo was really trying to show the worst about these women…I don’t think any of them signed up to be made fun of, and as a trained documentarian I wish they’d let the story tell itself.  (I mean clearly, we’d get the message that these ladies aren’t quite all there upstairs, but in a much more satisfying way than the endless parade of excess and “record deals”.) (Also, yes, high standards queen over here.  I didn’t watch TV at all until the past year or so…strange for someone with a background in film production?  Why yes, thanks.)

Things broke loose a bit at work after cherry time.  I had a lot of urgent things to get done, and before I knew it it was lunch time.  So I had:

No lunch.  I had already gotten a phone call about the potential good news that was coming my way and I was stressed about work, so my stomach was in no mood for food.  I spend lunch with my man at least once a week, and today was our day.  He took me for frozen yogurt:

(looks decadent, but you’re looking at less than 300 calories there)

and then we went to the book store because I have my first assigment for my new book club:

Seriously.  Not kidding.  (At least it was only $2.)  I’m being a good sport, but I’ve never read a romance novel in my life.  I was actually embarrassed to be carrying the book, with its bare-chested headless cover dude and swooshy font, and when I went to pay I slid it across the counter face-down.  I didn’t think the book club was going to be one of the “I’m so cool and girly and REBELLIOUS, new feminist order power!” book clubs, so I’m hoping there will be a sea change as the membership grows (or I might just join them for drinks).  I did a quick flip through the book and saw lots of “pelvises” and ye Olde Englishe…have to say, not enthused, ready to be surprised and learn some lesson about Why I Shouldn’t Be So Serious.

My man was amused by the whole thing (though he’s not familiar with the whole feminist-book-club-knitting-circle-roller-derby trope, so I don’t think he completely understands).

(you can’t see it, but he’s laughing.)

I got a Very Interesting Phone Call around 3 and spent the rest of my day juggling work and my New Information.  We decided it was time to celebrate when I got home, so I had another lame burger-sprout combo to stave off the hunger that had suddenly returned, while he went out and returned with the following:

• Amy’s rice mac and cheese (and an Amy’s Indian dinner for himself)
• P. J. Madison Cherry Chocolate ice cream
• a Green & Black’s chocolate caramel bar
• a Lake Champlain 5 star caramel bar (variety is key, no?)

We curled up on the couch and watched the Mad Men.  I never thought I’d say this about television, but I love that show!  I watched a few episodes during season one, but never really got into a habit…we started watching season one together on OnDemand and really became addicted quickly.  We’ve been saving season 2 for a special occasion (and until it was closer to season 3 – August 16!!), so tonight was the perfect night.

(Truthfully, we would normally go out to celebrate, or at least break out the champagne at home and keep it a bit classier.  We’re saving that round of celebration until I make my Big Decision, so last night was “cozy celebration”.  This news will actually merit a huge party, but all in due time.)

I don’t like waiting until the end of the day to consume most of my calories (our decadent grazing didn’t even get started until 8)…I don’t count calories very strictly, but I know what the range is for everything and try to keep things in balance.  Today was way out of whack, but at least most of the chocolate and ice cream are left over   I was torn between being upset with myself for missing two runs in a row or “learning to relax” (who, me?) and just basking in my good news…as long as the basking stops interfering soon, I’ll be content in that glow.

Today is casual Friday, so I’ll be able to squeeze in some yoga in my cube at lunch and, depending on the heat, maybe even a walk.  I keep extra sneakers at work with the idea that maybe sometime I’ll go for a walk, but between the heat and the fact that sneakers don’t usually complement my outfits very well, it hasn’t happened very often.  I haven’t even started my day yet and the bus comes in 30 minutes!

Trying to decide if a special social opportunity is worth missing my run tonight…I could use some new friends here, but…the run… …

I did something rare today – lunch out with co-workers!  I like my co-workers, but I don’t usually find much at their favorite restaurants (vegetarian options in general are pretty slim near my office).  Today we went a bit farther to one of my favorite Greek restaurants, where I consumed:

Fasolada and a special Greek salad (no lettuce, just tomatoes, onions, olives, peppers, and capers underneath a thick slab of feta, drizzled with a fresh vinaigrette – yum!)

(Actually, I hardly ate any of this – it’s sitting next to me in a big to-go container, waiting for dinner time.  We were too busy gabbing about the meeting I missed!  Not a great day for food so far.)

Fasolada is a tomato-based soup that’s full of beans and veggies.  I’ll have to try a home version sometime – here’s a recipe if you want to beat me to it: Fasolada Recipe

The rest of my day has dragged, which I’m sure is because I’d be really hungry if my brain would stop churning long enough for my stomach to get a word in edgewise.  Meetings on top of meetings, and an absolutely endless stream of requests.  I’ve got yet another meeting to attend today (seriously, guys, 5:30 meetings…), after which I may or may not meet some potential friends for a quick drink.

I don’t really like drinking before a run – I know there are whole groups dedicated to running + beer (before, after, during, to/from, etc.), but drinking + working out feels really unhealthy to me, especially in our hot, hot heat.  (We’re down to 97 at the moment, which is a nice break from the 104 at lunchtime.)  After a day at the office, a drink just seems like an invitation to kick back and unwind – not what I need if I’m actually going to get out the door.

I think I can keep my meeting REALLY short and still squeeze in 3 miles before 7ish.  I’ll have to post my healthy review tonight…too busy so far!