Back to running

I started couch to 5 K a few times before I was able to finish it in 2011. I was never a runner growing up, in fact I use to HATE HATE HATE running. Turns out I just hate running fast. Me and my whole 5 feet and two inches of awesomeness were not meant to run a 7 minute mile, and you know what… that’s ok. I just had to learn that running did not mean running fast. So a year ago I decided to train for a half marathon and ran 13.1 miles with my mom in February 2012 at Disney. It was pretty awesome and I wore a tiara and sparkly red running skirt. EPIC is what it was. I had the grand idea of continuing that training into marathon training, but my better judgement reminded myself that I had to finish residency get my licenses and what not and those two things are not compatible with not killing someone. Fast forward a few months later when I find out I have narcolepsy. YAY? The medicine is awesome in turns of not falling asleep all the time but the downside is that my heart rate goes from normal to 170 in 3 seconds with exertion. Minimal exertion. 1 flight of stairs, running, walking fast, etc. It was frustrating going from running 20 miles a week to unable to go up the stairs at work without needing an hour to not feel short of breath from the 170 heart rate. I saw a bunch more doctors. Had my heart and lungs checked out and was put on more medication to slow my heart down. YAY? Now I have to find a balance of  running or exercising (so I don’t have to buy new bigger clothes) and not feeling like someone kicked me in the chest and which combination of meds lets me do that.

I previously was running a 10:30 mile with the galloway run/walk method. I usually ran somewhere around a 4:1 interval. Yeah that’s not happening right now. I’m lucky to not feel like dying with a 13 minute mile. But you know what, it’s still running and that’s all that really matters. I am embracing my inner tortoise a little more than before. The last week I ran a 2:1 interval and didn’t get too short of breath and my heart rate comes down during the walking intervals. Hills still suck immensely and I can’t run up them, but they sucked before too. I plan to increase the running time 15-30 seconds per week until I am back at 4:1. I like the 5 minute total interval for math purposes. It’s so much easier.

My mom is looking at doing the half or maybe the full Space Coast Marathon in November. I don’t think I am up for the full yet, but the half is definitely doable. It won’t be fast or pretty but you know what… I don’t care. I have secret (or not so secret since I am putting it on the internet) of training for the Boston Marathon for one of the narcolepsy foundations. I am waiting to hear if they get any bibs this year or not…

Radford has a lovely little trail along the new river (see picture above) that is perfect for running. Christiansburg/Blacksburg has the Huckleberry trail. A girl can’t ask for much more, other than her heart to cooperate with this plan.

I just need to remember running at noon on the first day the students are back on campus is probably a bad idea. Also sunscreen is a good idea. At least I don’t have wood floors anymore so I won’t repeat the sunscreen/fall incident of 2010.

More baking and cooking galore.

Apparently when I don’t work crazy hours I knit/bake/cook/clean. When did I become a 50’s housewife? That delicious pasta was based off The Pioneer Woman’s Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce. I added chicken and yellow zucchini that I got from the farmer’s market. The zucchinis needed to be used up. I had already made my pesto the day before (I used walnuts instead of pine nuts because 2 of the grocery stores didn’t have pine nuts and I didn’t want to go to a third that day.) I topped it with some fresh shreds of parmesan cheese. I ate the leftovers the next day and they were just as delicious cold. WIN. I also need to go to the farmer’s market tomorrow and acquire MORE basil because I ate all the pesto…sad Allison). 

That’s home made pasta sauce. Summer Tomato Sauce comes from Woman’s Day. (thanks mom for  mailing me ridiculous magazines – although they do have a few good recipes now and then). The bread is from the 5 minute artisan bread recipe. Another delicious meal and the sauce recipe makes enough to freeze some.

I went back to Three Bird Berry Farm and picked almost a gallon of raspberries (golden and red) and 1 pint of blueberries to top off the gallon of deliciousness. I used the Rustic Blackberry Pie with Graham Cracker Crust from Blue-Eyed Bakers substituting raspberries for blackberries. I also halved the recipe and filled 4 mini crusts. I topped them with some fresh whipped cream. Let me just say somewhere on pinterest I read about adding a little cinnamon to fresh whipped cream before you whip it… revolutionary my friend. You won’t be disappointed. Fresh cream, a dash of powder sugar/brown sugar or sugar substitute, little bit of vanilla and a few dashes of cinnamon. Try hard to not eat the bowl of delicious creamy goodness before it makes it to the intended dessert. 

Another genius recipe by Smitten Kitchen – Pink Lemonade Bars. I used frozen raspberries for the puree because I already ate all the non-frozen ones. I placed them directly in the food processor mashed them up as much as possible then popped them in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for a few seconds until they thawed. Followed the rest of the recipe and it’s taking all my will power to not eat them all RIGHT now. 

I’ve been knitting some baby stuff for a good friend… I haven’t taken pictures of that yet… maybe this weekend. 

 

Hand mitts

I’ve used four different needle sizes so far on one mitten. But I love how it fits so I guess it’s worth it. The double rib was knit with 3’s, the first bit of ribbing was on 2’s, the body on 1’s, and the top ribbing on 0’s.

Tomorrow I will knit a thumb and maybe start number two.

Adventures back into baking

I went to 3 Birds Berry Farm yesterday and picked a half gallon of black berries. I did not get there early enough for the raspberries. This just means I need to go back again, oh sad for me. As I was leaving the lady gave me a pamphlet on how to care for my berries…and a side mention of oh here’s a blackberry cake recipe that everyone’s said is delicious.

I used 1 pint or 2 cups of those lovely fresh picked berries of deliciousness and turned them into these…

 

Recipe from Hillside Acres, Staunton, Va

2 cups blackberries

1 cup sour cream (I used the less fat)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon (I used more, spices are guidelines for starting)

1 1/2 cup flour

Whisk together the sour cream, sugar and egg.

In a separate bowl mix together the baking soda, cinnamon and flour.

Mix wet and dry ingredients to make a stiff batter. Add fruit and mix with spatula.

The recipe calls for using a greased 8×10 pan or glass dish… um cupcakes are always more delicious. So that’s what I used instead. They baked at 350 for 20ish minutes until the tops were slightly brown (the original recipe calls for a baking time of 30-40 minutes in case you care).

When they were cool I made cream cheese icing. Then placed a fresh black berry on each cupcake. Delicious I tell you. Delicious.

I thought about only eating cupcakes for dinner, but instead I baked a piece of tilapia and made a delicious salad from stuff I got at the farmer’s market over the weekend.

I made pesto, but I didn’t take any pictures of it (sorry).

Saturday afternoon

This brought to you by yarn and hard cider/wine/beer afternoon.

Zombie Blog

So I dropped off the face of the earth. I blame residency. But you know what… that sucker is DONE!!! I officially finished June 30th at 7pm, oh thank you for being on call the LAST day. It pretty much just sums up my residency.

Anyways I moved. Oh dear I hate moving. I hate packing and unpacking and anything related to packing. The parental units tried to come help and all it did was stress me out. But thankfully 95% of the house is unpacked and organized. I no longer live in the ghetto. (aww little ghetto apartment… you were cheap but so not loved). The townhouse is awesome. The kitties chase each other up and down the stairs. My landlord painted the walls and let me pick out the colors. LOVE her. I have a real kitchen, a washer/dryer, dishwasher and central air. OMG it’s like living in civilization again.

Also big things that happened… in no particular order.
1. Won a pretty awesome award. (AKA Resident of the Year…I can’t remember how to post links… so you don’t get one about the award).

2. I lost 40ish pounds. West Virginia made me sad, fat and lazy. I wasn’t going to be the fat bridesmaid at my sister’s wedding. I am vain like that. I  also got a brother in law. HAHAHA. He married into our crazy family. Sucker.

I literally risked my life for those shoes and they were totally worth it.

3. Trained and ran my first half marathon with my mom.

Mom and me at the finish line.

4. I was diagnosed with narcolepsy. It took three sleep studies and three different doctors. Who knew I wasn’t just really tired. I don’t have any pictures for the narcolepsy. Dealing with having a chronic disease is harder than I expected. I probably have a little bit more sympathy for patients now. I dislike taking my meds and being a good patient, it’s hard work.

5. I finished residency. YAY!!! Best thing EVER.

6. I got a real doctor job that I start next month. I have a real license and DEA number. WHAT??? 12 years of training are done. Weird.

 

I didn’t knit or spin much. But with the move I did organize all the yarn and fiber. I still need to sort through the handspun yarn and reskein it out or something. It’s on the to-do list and is currently sitting in a plastic bin next to my desk.

I have plans to train for a marathon sometime this year or next year, knit a bunch of baby stuff (BFF from undergrad/med school is sproging this year and I have been slacking), stay organized, and do fun things (KD CAB at Virginia Tech, bowling league, etc).

 

 

DONE DONE DONE DONE!!!!!

So the computer ate this post a week or so ago….and I was too lazy to rewrite it.

I bound off the scrapy scarf this morning……done!!!!! All projects are done or frogged. The scrapy scarf is not as wide as I wanted but I ran out of green yarn and it just didn’t look right with other colors.

This post is brought to you on the new awesome droid phone.

I also finished a hat and mitten set for boyfriend’ s birthday. I do not win girlfriend of the year because said birthday was last week and said hat is still in West bygod Virginia. I will eventually mail it….hopefully tomorrow.

Holy Batman of non blogging.

Hey sorry readers — if you are still there?

There was a computer mishap with the Dell… it’s still not fixed. I had to get a new power cord for the Sony. Stupid computers breaking and what not.

Then I started nights. 4 weeks of being nocturnal – not so much blogging going on. Pretty much life consisted of work and sleep. Although Salem did think it was the greatest month in the history of time, because I came home and slept ALL day with him (oh poor deprived kitty). Between the crazy nights there was a little knitting going on. I am almost done with the purple cardigan of FOREVER. I started the shaping of the sleeves today. It’s only been 2 years since I started this sweater… which is probably not going to fit, but whatever. Damn it – it will be done.

There are a total of 4 projects left. Two will actually be done. Scrappy Scarf and Purple Cardigan of FOREVER. Heidi’s Firestarters are about to get the axe. The thought of knitting the second sock makes me cry on the inside. I can’t stand the pattern. I love the yarn (Dream in Color). They are going to become a different sock.

Jeanie…. you may be out when I get home. I love the yarn and the pattern is beautiful… but really I will never finish it. SO TEDIOUS.

The most important thing right now. I am off work for a week!!! and in CT!!!! There will be Glee dates, Hockey, Stitches East and kittens. BEST WEEK EVER!

Maybe next time I’ll have pictures.

10 on Tuesday

I know… I’ve been a slacker. But today’s 10 on Tuesday was too awesome to pass up.

10 reasons to watch college football.

1. It’s a good stress relief… yelling at people you don’t know is super fun. Just be careful not to scare the cat too much when you yell obscenities at the TV.
2. Reading my facebook updates during any Hokie game should make you laugh even if you have no idea what I am talking about.
3. Boys in uniforms for the ladies
4. Cheerleaders for the men folk.
5. Smack talk on Fridays and Mondays. I may lose my job for cheering for the Hokies, but really no one likes WVU and their couch burningness.
6. It’s a great reason to get together with friends eat food and drink booze. Sounds like a plan to me.
7. Did I mention yelling at the Hokies when they forget how to play football… I won’t even mention how horrible they were this past weekend, it’s just too embarrassing.
8. Tailgating – again food and booze. It’s a great combo with football.
9. Rivalry games… they are the best and worth every little bit of smack talk.
10. Impressing your dad with your new-found love of sports and your ability to know players by their names. Be amazed at my skills.

The end?

5 projects is an acceptable number… right?

I think as long I only have projects it’s ok to stop the project???