It feels so good...

...to run at 7am.

On November 27 my car overheated when I tried to drive back to Lansing after the long Thanksgiving weekend. I made it three miles down the road before I turned around and drove back to my patents house. Luckily I have some of the best parents ever because they drove me back to Lansing that night. We dropped my car off at the shop in Lowell and back to my home. On Monday I learned that it would cost me $1400 to fix my car, and I had to make a decision whether to fix it or consider buying a new car. It wasn't a hard decision considering how much is wrong with my car other than the $1400 to fix the head gasket. The hole somewhere in the gas tank and the smashed rear end mostly deem my car worthless to everybody besides myself. I came to to the rough realization that I will need to spend some or most of my savings on a new(er) car. This was two and a half weeks ago and I still don't have a car. I have looked a little at cars online, and have narrowed it down to a Mazda3 or Dodge Caliber, but that might change when I go to test drive some cars.

In the mean time, I have been running to and from work. It's 1.2 miles each way, and it is a good way to wake up in the morning. In the past two and a half weeks I have ran every day except for one day it was raining. I even ran the morning we got 10 inches of snow and all the schools in Lansing were closed. It takes 10-12 minutes, so it's not much longer than driving to work. Ohh, the joys of city driving. I really don't mind not having a car. I like running to work. It is a hassle when I need to go to the store or go anywhere other than work though. Yesterday I left work, ran around the Capital, and all the way down Michigan to the Kroger in Frandor because i wanted to get some candy flavors, bread flour and yeast. Then I took the bus home.

Not having a car has taught me how much I don't like it when I need others to do things in life. I want to be this self sustaining person, but in reality, we all need people. I have realized how much people are willing to do for me, even when I don't ask. It's a great feeling, but I still have a hard time accepting peoples' offers for rides places. Why? I have two legs. I can get there on my own. Why be an inconvenience to other people? I have realized that what I think is an inconvenience to other people might not really be as much of an inconvenience as I want to believe. People are generally good people, and are willing to help. It's good to know there are still kind people in this World. It's comforting!

More Deliciousness

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

4 (1 ounce) squares Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

In a double boiler, melt unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup of the chocolate chips, and the butter stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, whip eggs and sugar until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and the chocolate mixture until well mixed. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; gradually stir into the chocolate mixture. Fold in mini chocolate chips. Cover dough and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll chilled dough into 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart.Bake for 9-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Bars

I found a recipe for pumpkin cheese pie on the internet and decided that was a good use for the leftover pumpkin I had sitting in the fridge. I found some other recipes that were almost the same, so I used all of these to make my own recipe for Pumpkin Bars. Instead of the pie crust and pie format, I decided I wanted to use a ginger snap crust. I have never made one before, but it just sounded good to me. I used a little too much butter in the crust, so I think I will use one or two tablespoons less next time. Everything else was pretty good. This is the recipe I used:

Crust:

2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (about 40 cookies)

1/2 stick butter, melted (a little too much butter, try 6-7 TBSP next time)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x13 in. pan. Mix melted butter and crushed cookies and press into the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Filling:

2 cups pumpkin puree

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix filling ingredients together and pour on top of crust. Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before cutting.

It's Friday already? SCORE!!!

Sunday morning was the second time I ran through Hell. I borrowed Troy's Woopie Cushion costume, and it was a big hit! This time I got Mel and Andrew to come with me! We had a lot of fun! I ran the 5K in 26:45. Not my best time, but for all the hills, I am satisfied. I beat my time from last year by a couple minutes, so that's great!

This year I had five different Halloween costumes, and I didn't spend a penny on any of them!

Last Wednesday I dressed up at the Cat in the Hat and did a little volunteering at Trick or Treat on the Square in downtown Lansing. I have never touched so many donuts in my life! Saturday I wasn't planning on dressing up, but I ended up being a cowgirl when I went out to Buffalo Wild Wings for Kim's birthday. Sunday morning was the woopie cushion. Monday at work we did a Jack-O-Toxin Lateral Flow skit, and I dressed as 'gold' and wore all red. I wore my cape at work all day just for fun. Monday night Marissa wanted to go out, so I brought out my Superwoman costume and went to the Tin Can with Amy Winehouse for a couple drinks! We made it an early night because we're both old and have real people jobs, but it was nice to catch up on stuff. All the Halloween festivities were a lot of fun.

126.6 miles to go!

On the up and up

Yesterday I ran 7.5 miles. That's the longest I have ran at one time. I think my previous record was 6.2 miles from a couple 10Ks. I had to pee so bad by mile 4 that I had to find a spot to squat on the river trail. Almost exposed myself to a biker, oops.

Next year I will run a half marathon.

Today I hurt. Two days to re-cooperate before my 5k through Hell!

Be who you are

Don't compromise who you are for someone else, you'll start believing all the wrong things about yourself. One day you'll wake up not knowing where 'you' went. I'm not saying you should never change. Change is good, change is growing into a better person. You shouldn't change who you are if it goes against your beliefs and morals as a person. Don't change for anyone but yourself. If they don't like you for who you are, they probably won't like you for who they want you to be either.

You never let go

Do not confuse confidence with arrogance

Every teardrop is a waterfall

I have been listening to Coldplay tonight as I re-calculate how many miles I have left to run to make my goal for the year. As of today, I have ran 204.61 miles this year. That leaves 160.39 miles to run in 71 days. I have 10 weeks left. I have been running between 15 and 18 miles per week for the past 2 1/2 - 3 months, and I just hope I don't get burnt out before the end of the year.

2.26 miles per day. I can do it!

I need to get a few really long runs in. I just have to find the time. Maybe tomorrow!

A week of daily thoughts

Sunday: Missed opportunities can be small victories.

Monday: You can't be honest with others if you're not honest with yourself first.

Tuesday: You call it persistence, but I call it desperation.

Wednesday: Ignorance leads to complacency.

Thursday: If you feel abandoned, it is only a lesson in humility.

Friday: You have to have the want to change your life, and you need to let God help you.

Saturday: Everybody will let you down at some point or another.

It's still not too late

Back in January I made a goal of running a mile a day in 2011. It seemed realistic at the time, but I had not intended on having chest pain that turned me away from running for a good part of the year. Part of that was laziness, but the other part was the discouragement of not being able to run a mile without my chest hurting.

So far this year, I have totaled 156.18 miles, 96.5 of those being in the past two months.There are 91 days left in the year, so I would have to run just over 200 miles in 3 months. I have to run 2.3 miles per day, or 16 miles a week. If I continue to run like I ran in September I can achieve my goal. Let's see if I can do it!

I'm getting faster!

When I go for a run I never really have a particular destination in mind. I usually make that decision a mile or so in. I have gotten pretty good at being able to tell how far I have gone, but lately I have been getting much more efficient with my running. Meaning I am getting faster, and that is super exciting. Yesterday I ended up running a 8 minute mile for 3.7 miles. I thought I started slow, but I guess I was running like the wind! I usually run an out and back, so by the midway point I make a goal time for myself. usually it is around twice my out time. Yesterday I was 40 seconds faster on the way back, so maybe I actually did start out a little slow. I am proud of myself to say the least.

Take a look at how much I have been running lately! 18 miles last week? Yeah, that's all me! the only real break I took this month was when I went to Atlanta at the beginning of the month. That took a couple days out, but probably a much needed break from running. I don't want to get burned out. I think i might have to take another short break soon- just so I don't lose interest in running.

More Races

I took some time off from running. My last 5k
was on Halloween 2010 and I only ran once a week through the winter. When spring arrived, I ran about once a month until July. I had this pain under my rib cage every time I ran and it was so bad I just didn't run. I started to run through the pain and by late July I was running more than ever, mostly barefoot. I registered for the Merrell Naked Foot 5k on August 28 with Marissa and I ran an unofficial 26:45 completely barefoot.

Two weeks later a couple friends convinced me (the night before the race) to run a 10k with them. Saturday morning, September 10th I get up early and go register and run the Pink Arrow Pride Quiver 10k. I stayed with Anne and Cori until the last mile and ended up with a 1:01:39. It was a couple minutes slower than the last 10k, but I wasn't going for a PR, it was for fun. Natalie was there at the end to cheer me on. She got 2nd place in the 5k! Awesome! after running 6.2 miles, I ran 2+ miles more back through the Wittenbach center with Natalie and Anne and then we went to Keiser's for breakfast. I wore my five fingers for this race. It was the first time I went more than 4 miles with them. My feet hurt for a couple days, and I lost a toe nail, but it was worth it.

Yesterday I signed up for the Cooley Race for Education 5K, which I ran this morning in under

26 minutes. Another PR, and I will know my official time when they put the results up later today.

edit:

Official time: 25:44. I can't believe it...

And because I am crazy, I ran another 3 miles tonight. I thought I was taking it easy, but I did it in just over 27 minutes. Maybe I am getting better at this running thing. My chest pain seems to be getting better, or I am just getting used to it. Either way, it is making it easier to run more than a mile at a time. I'm hopefully going to do a couple more races before hardcore winter hits. I think if I work at it I could get down closer to 25:00. That will be my goal.

Jack Johnson would be proud

Banana Pancakes

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoons salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large banana, mashed (over-ripe)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and mashed banana. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides.

* add ½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips and/or ½ cup chopped walnuts if desired.

Running without an iPod?

When I started running almost two years ago, I would strap on my iPod touch and go for a jog. When I finished, I would use mapmyrun to calculate how far I ran. Sometimes I ran with my iPod, but I quickly fell out of that habit because I didn't need the music. Last year for Christmas I got one of those Nike+ chips to put in my shoe. It's pretty much a pedometer that communicates with your iPod while you run. It keeps track of the distances for you. I used that for a few months, but the problem is that you have to take your iPod with you when you run. I had become accustomed to leaving that at home since I realized I didn't really need it. I started running with my iPod strapped to my arm again so I could use the Nike+, but I didn't listen to music. When I finally got an iPhone this February, I downloaded the mapmyrun app since that was the website I had been keeping track of all my running on. I started running with my phone. I still wouldn't listen to music, and I'm not really sure why I was bringing my phone to keep track of the distance. That fad wore off and now I don't bring anything with me when I run.

These days I call myself a minimalist runner. Why do I say that? Well, it's because I don't really take anything with me when I go out for a run, and I even ditch the running shoes. I don't need my iPod, smart phone, or GPS to guide me. I actually prefer to run without music, and something in my hands or strapped to my upper arm is rather uncomfortable, not to mention making sure the ear buds stay in my ears while I'm running. Instead of listening to music, I let my mind be free from whatever has been consuming it. I can observe my surroundings and I notice what is going on all around me. Yes, sometimes I talk to myself (silently) while I'm running, but other times there is absolutely nothing going through my mind. It is quite a relieving experience. If you haven't had the opportunity to let yourself do it, I would recommend it. Next time you go for a run, leave your ipod at home. Don't worry about having your GPS or phone with you to keep track of your distance. You can do that pretty easy with mapmyrun when you're done. All I wear when I run is a watch, my roadID bracelet (for safety), and my Vibram Five Fingers . About a year ago I decided to try out the barefoot running fad. I purchased a pair of Vibram Five Fingers and I rarely run in anything but them now.

Who needs anything else?

Let your mind be free to enjoy what's going on around you.

It made me a little gassy

Lebanese Lentil Soup

[The recipe - and bonus commentary to follow]

Ingredients
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup red lentils
1 tablespoop olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
½ cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons cilantro
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice

Directions
Bring chicken stock and lentils to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and onion, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir garlic and onions into the lentils and season with cumin and cayenne. Continue simmering until the lentils are tender, about 10 minutes. Puree half of the soup in a blender, or with a stick blender until smooth. Stir in cilantro and lemon juice before serving.

based off of http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lebanese-style-red-lentil-soup/detail.aspx

It was pretty delicious. I added 1/4 teaspoon cayenne and the juice from one lemon and both were a little much for me. I could handle the spiciness, as it was a good level, but I think it took away from the flavor a little, it being my first time tasting it. You know how spiciness can do that sometimes... I would add less...and that's why I put 1/8 tsp in the recipe. I also would add less lemon juice than I added. I kind of measured and it was less than 1/2 cup, but nothing too exact. Just add maybe half a lemon at first and taste it. Stir it a little while it's cooking because the lentils will stick to the bottom of the pan (and make a delicious browned lentil mass of goodness) that I just blend back in. The recipe I mostly followed called for 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, but I didn't have any, so I ended up adding about 2 tsp cilantro.

I am pretty sure it gave me gas, so I wouldn't advise making it the day before you have to go somewhere. Maybe it's a friday night meal and a stay in Saturday kind of occasion ...ya know what I mean. :)

Oreo Softballs

A few months ago, I brought some Oreo Balls into work. Everybody loves them, so I try to make them on occasion. Plus, everybody is amazed at how simple they actually are. I was talking to a co-worker last time I made them and he came up with a great idea. He then proceeded to send me an Outlook invitation to make "Oreo Softball Thingies." Good thing he did that, or we wouldn't have had Oreo balls that looked like softballs at out Neogen/Hooker softball game Thursday night. I even made a double batch and brought some to our dinner on Wednesday night.

I don't remember where I originally got the recipe from. It's been such a long time, and I never actually had a physical recipe. It's not hard to remember the two basic ingredients.

Oreo Balls

1 (16 oz) package Oreo Cookies

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

White chocolate for coating

Crush the Oreos in a food processor until you have a fine crumb. Mix in the cream cheese and form into a dough. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Roll dough into 1 inch balls (I usually get 50-60 balls per batch). Place the balls on wax paper and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.

Now comes the fun part. You can make these Oreo Balls look like anything you want. Personally I like them dipped in semi-sweet chocolate, but most people prefer white chocolate. I have also tried rolling them in cocoa powder. Nuts or extra oreo crumbs would work too, but I have not tried them.

I dipped them in white chocolate and let them set. Because it was already midnight, and I have to be to work at 7, I cheated on the red stitching lines. I just used one of those Betty Crocker frosting pouches with the decorating tip. It worked out pretty well considering my artistic abilities are quite limited.

Here's the end product:

I brought them to the softball game, and everyone enjoyed them. We even won our game!

Gyoza

Gyoza!

[Dumplings]

Like always when I cook, I didn't really follow one recipe in particular. I based most of it off of http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/gyoza/Detail.aspx

I also got some ideas from http://japanesefood.about.com/od/tempuraappetizer/r/gyoza.htm

2 cups shredded cabbage - I used cole slaw mix

Almost a whole bunch of green onions, chopped

One carrot, grated

1 clove garlic, grated of pushed through a press

I heated some sesame oil in my wok and added all the veggies and cooked for a little bit.

I added 1/2 lb ground chicken, a few shakes of dried ginger (I forgot to buy fresh ginger root), a little soy sauce, and one egg and cooked until the chicken was done. I put about a tablespoon of the filling into each wonton wrapper and sealed them up into triangles. I boiled them instead of frying. They were probably in the boiling water for 1-2 minutes and then I flipped them and cooked for another 2 minutes.

Next time, I am going to try not cooking the chicken, but adding it to the cooked vegetables so the filling will not be as loose and crumbly. This would increase the time you would boil them. I'd say 4 minutes on each side should be reasonable in that situation.

I put the extras on a cookie sheet to freeze them. [I only had 10 left]

A mile a day

Continuing my tradition of not making resolutions, I have made a goal for this year. I am going to run 365 miles this year. One mile a day (but not really every day)

That is all.