Mediterranean Stuffed Bell Peppers

The other day I tried a new recipe which included an ingredient that was also very new to me. It called for Quinoa. If you were like me than you were thinking, what is quinoa? According to wikipedia, it’s “a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds.” Quinoa can be used as a rice and/or couscous substitute.

I thought the stuffed peppers were just ok. The recipe called for quinoa, diced tomatoes drained, feta cheese, and fresh basil. The fresh basil was too overpowering, so I ended up picking out most of it. I think I prefer fresh cooked basil. I also felt it was missing something in flavor, but I’m not sure what. I’m thinking if I added some balsamic vinaigrette to the mix, it might have been more satisfying. Maybe. I also realized that I prefer cooked stuffed peppers as opposed to raw peppers. I discovered my stomach doesn’t like that much raw peppers. But than again I guess I never really practically ate a whole pepper in one sitting. I also think you could use small to medium sized peppers instead of large peppers. Large was a bit too much red pepper for me. I may or may not make this again, we shall see! The prep time and cook time didn't take long at all. I also cooked the Quinoa in too much water, I think it is suppose to look fluffier and maybe not quite so slimy. It looks slimy but didn't taste slimy.

The stuffed peppers did look really colorful and yummy! Oh and I do like quinoa!

1st Annual Fort McHenry 5k Tunnel Run

We did it! Jamie and I completed our second 5k run...

and Stephanie finished her first 5k run! What a perfect day for the run, the weather was gorgeous…sunny and comfortable. I hadn’t realized that this was the first time they had ever done a run through any of the Bores of the Fort McHenry Tunnel. I’m happy to say I was a part of this event! We ran to support the Maryland Special Olympics.

Tolls Before the race

I was lucky enough to have my mom there to cheer us on! She was very nice and held/watched all of our bags for us while we were running. She also took most of the pictures for us! Thanks mom, I love you! The race started at 9am and everyone started to gather around the mysterious starting line around 8:45am. A blow horn sounded and the race began!

I was a little worried about the race course because a little over half of the course was up hill and the rest was down hill. Picture running down into the tunnel, up out of the tunnel, turning around and running down back into the tunnel, and the last mile or so is uphill. We did not have time chips to capture individual times so I have a very rough estimate of my time. Based on my time (not sure where the starting line was so guesstimated it) my “rough” splits are as follows:

1st mile – 9 mins

2nd mile – 7.34 mins

3rd mile + .14 – 10.96 mins

Like I said, who knows for certain when I started and when I finished according to time. The finish line was a little confusing because the women had to go to the left and men to the right. The girl in front of me literally stopped at the finish line which confused me because aren’t you suppose to run through the finish? That slowed me down some, area was very narrow and there wasn’t room for passing unless I had intended to plow her over, which I wasn’t! Although the thought did cross my mind. The time on the clock at the finish line was 28:08.

Here’s me (pink shirt/blue shorts) just a little while after crossing the finish line.
Overall, I felt really great in this run. My first 2 miles were awesome! I felt pretty good my last mile considering it was all up hill. I kicked up my pace a little too soon and petered out some towards the last stretch. I truly believe the training I’ve been doing the last 3 weeks (easy, long, tempo, repeats) really contributed to my endurance and pace. Granted I don’t think I beat my last 5k time, but I think I finished in the same time or right around it. I feel AWESOME because the majority of the race was hills and that is WAY different than running mostly level ground. I just know that if there wasn’t that last hill I would have creamed my last 5k time. I was well on course to a personal record. Another time!!

Jamie and Stephanie finished the race not to long after me and they were FANTASTIC!

Race mascots!

Yummy Treats

Just the other day I was happy to find my bruised and battered sample of cereal from Kashi! Thankfully it was only the outside box and not the actual cereal box that had taken a beating. Before I opened the box I was already going through my head how I was going to ask Kashi for another box of cereal, I was desperate to try it. For those of you that don’t know, I heart Kashi products more specifically their cereals and granola bars. Anyways, back to my free sample of cereal… I selected to try the Oat Flakes and Wild Blueberry Clusters. I tore into the box Friday at lunch time and ate it with skim milk. Wow! I really enjoyed this box of cereal. The blueberry flavoring was great, not overpowering and not too sweet! I can see myself eating this for breakfast, lunch, and/or a snack. You still have time, hurry and get your free sample of cereal!

This evening I decided to try my baking hand at Montana Whoppers. I first heard of them on Meghann’s blog. They looked so yummy! So of course it was my turn to recreate these cookies in my kitchen. I put semi-sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate M&M's, and raisins in mine. There’s a reason why I don’t bake cookies very often. I enjoy the mixing of the batter, but get really impatient with the baking part. I don’t like to wait which leads to huge cookies and them being in the oven FOREVER because I made them too big so they have to cook 10 times longer. I tried a cookie from my first batch and it was ok, it didn’t wow me. My other batches look pretty good, so I’m hoping they taste just as good!

Tomorrow, I will have the perfect test subjects! I run my second 5k tomorrow through the Fort McHenry Tunnel with Sweaty Hugs and her friend; this will be her first race!! EXCITING…so what better way to reward them than to treat them to one or two of my cookies?! After the race of course! I’ll let you know what they think…hahaha!

Night, Night…dreams of running in a tunnel…hmmm…

What a difference!

What a difference a week and the proper preparation make in my 6 mile run! Yesterday was Week 2, Day 3 in my 5k running plan. The goal was to run 6 miles, each mile at an 11:14 pace. I ended up running it in 58.31 minutes! This run went way differently than last week’s 6 miler. Here’s what I did differently:

• Ate a big nutritious breakfast which consisted of an egg, 2 slices of whole wheat bread, banana, some cottage cheese, and a mug of English Breakfast tea.
• Continued to hydrate moderately with water for the next 2 hours.
• Downloaded new music
• Stretched before my run
• Wore my knee strap, stopwatch, and hat
• Drove to my running site and began my run approximately 2-3 hours after breakfast (ran same trail as last week).
• Monitored my pace and ensured I ran at a comfortable, not too fast of a pace.
• Focus on relaxing my body
• Found the 10 mile marker post; they replaced it! I started at the end of the trail so the 10 mile post told me when I had run 3 miles and that I needed to turn around.

I felt so good and happy that it wasn’t a rerun of last week. I wasn’t sure how I would do because I was out celebrating a friend’s birthday the night before and I consumed some beer as well as a hot dog, hamburger, chips, crab legs, and some dip. On top of the not so good food and beer, I didn’t get home until 2am. I did drink lots of water throughout the night though. I find that does wonders for me both during the evening as well as the next morning. So when I woke up Sunday morning I decided I would allow my body to relax, eat a good meal, and ensure I was completely hydrated before going on my run. I went around 1pm and finished just before 2. The weather was great! I still need to purchase a new pair of shoes, which I’m going to do as soon as I post this!

Week and a half in review

9-11: I WILL NEVER FORGET! ALWAYS IN MY HEART, PRAYERS, THOUGHTS, and BEING!

Wow it’s been a very busy week and a half for me: beach, work, workouts, planning, etc. My excuse for being MIA for this past week. So for your reading pleasure I’m going to share with you what I’ve been up too! In an effort to keep from writing a book, I’m going to use key words and phrases to describe some of my days :)

Fri, Sept. 4: 6:30am take-off (road trip), brunch at Sonic…YUM, meet up with the other half of our posse, 3 hours later…arrived at BEACH, 5 ladies grocery shopping, snacks, hummus and veggie crisps, boxed wine, chatting on the beach=cloud & slightly chilly, turkey & cheese roll-ups, dancing, beer, shots, pizza, awesome DD = Amy, more snacking, sleep!

Sat, Sept. 5: Breakfast = scrambled eggs & ham, whole wheat english muffins, fresh strawberries, juice, milk; SUNSHINE, hours on the beach, dolphins, playing in the waves, 1 mile walk to boardwalk, dinner at Mangos, mint chocolate moose track ice cream, 1 mile walk “home”, 80’s movies marathon needed, charm city, chocolate city, sleep!

Salmon w/mango sauce, black beans, rice, steamed veggies

Sun, Sept. 6: early riser = reading on balcony while listening/watching waves crash on the beach, quick trip to Outlets, MORE BEACH TIME, paddle ball, jellyfish, beach “police", moved chairs 10 feet to our beach, almost time to go, dinner = not so good server, very helpful bus girl, drive home. Thanks Michelle for driving, very much appreciated!!

Monday: Week 1, Day 3 of 5k training plan = 6 miles. Goal to run easy 11:14 miles. Was suppose to do Sunday. 1st mile = 9:00, 2nd mile = 9:11, 3rd mile = couldn’t find mile marker, confusion, lost momentum! 4-6th mile = 4:1 run/walk ratio. Wasn’t well hydrated and didn’t eat enough nutrients. My hips, quads, and calves were a bit sore as well as my lungs, lol! I powered through and finished!! I’m in desperate need of a new pair of these:

Tuesday: Feel good day! Picture…new black button up dress and red heels. Lots of compliments! I’m in no way bragging, but we all need compliments every now and again and this was my day! I felt great. Week 2, Day 1 of 5k training plan = 2 easy miles. 1st mile at 10:23 and second mile at 10:54. I made a mental effort to focus on my pace. Felt great!

Wednesday: rest day. Received awesome news!! My Grandma, who is a cancer survivor is going off chemo for the next 3 months!! I’m thrilled for her. LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

Yesterday: Attended training for work = best training I’ve had in ages! Dealt with the Law Enforcement aspect of my agency. I have a huge appreciation for our nation’s law enforcement officers (LEO), probably because it’s always been a part of my life. Thanks to my dad, I’ve grown to understand and appreciate the importance of LEOs and how every day they are putting their lives at risk to protect us. The training was engaging, exciting, informative, and I’m trying to convince my director for more. Ha!

Week 2, Day 2 of 5k training plan = 5 miles. I ran 1 mile for warm-up and then ran the next 3 miles at a 9:31 pace, my last mile was my cool-down. I did this run at the gym on the treadmill. It was raining and getting dark by the time I was ready for my run.

Today: 5 minute warm-up on the arc trainer, 20 minutes on Stairmaster…Aerobics program, levels 9-11, 10 minutes on treadmill walking at 3% incline. Abs and lots of stretching. Planning my dear friend’s 30th birthday party and planning my other wonderful friend’s bridal shower! Lots of fun things happening the next few months!!

Week 1 Day 2 = Speedwork

Today was my first day ever doing any organized speedwork. I debated trying to run on a local school track, but didn’t want to risk being booted off. So I headed to the gym, which was very painful because the weather is unbelievable!

I ran a total of 5 miles in 51:19. This included an easy 1.5 mile warm-up. I then did 3 x 800 meter runs in 4:19. In between each repeat I jogged 400 meters. For my cool-down I ran 1.25 miles to complete my 5 miles.

I did complete each 800 meters in under 4:19. I made sure I ran a slow 400 meters in between allowing myself to recuperate and be ready to run the next 800 meters.

The workout was challenging. I did notice a small cramp creeping its way into my side but managed to keep a full blown cramp at bay. I didn’t hydrate enough before my run, which is probably the cause of the cramp. I also had a slight headache off and on throughout the end of the run. One last thing…I really need to learn how to relax my upper body when I run. Like a lot of people I hold tension in my neck and shoulders. I’d say about 50% of my runs are uncomfortable for the simple fact that either my right or left shoulder is tight. Over and over again I have to remind myself to relax and allow my body to move in a natural flow while running.

All in all, I’m quite pleased with my first speedwork run. I believe doing speedwork outside on a track or wherever will be more challenging because I have to pace myself instead of the treadmill setting my pace. This is part of my goal…learning to run outside successfully!

Week 1 Day 1

Today was the first day of my 3 week training plan to a faster 5k. My mission was to run an easy 2 miles at a 11:14 pace. My mission of running 2 miles was accomplished; however I completely failed at running at the 11:14 pace. I ended up running a tad over 2 miles at ~7:52 pace. Big OOPS! I know your probably thinking, is she crazy, she ran faster that should be good, right?! It’s not bad, but I really want to stick to the plan to see if the science behind the different paces/tempos/repeats really does make me run faster come race day.

I stepped outside, the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, the temperature was an awesome 70 degrees, I turned my IPod on and it was all over! I downloaded several new songs today and HOLY SMOKES did they make a difference. The first song in my new list was My Time (thanks Jamie for the recommendation!). The song started and I immediately felt chills run up and down my body; the chills you get when you literally feel a song that good! My feet started tingling and I just couldn’t wait to get started. What an awesome feeling!

These lyrics especially, spoke to me:

“Go hard today. Can’t worry bout the past, coz that was yesterday. Ima put it on the line coz it’s my time…”

I started off fast and was trying to slow down both mentally and physically, but the beat of the music was propelling my feet. I was really pumped! My next easy run is next Tuesday. I’m going to change my strategy up by listening to more relaxed chill music. Slow it down some!