Recipe of the Week: Banana Bread

I will come out and state this for the record, this is without a doubt the best tasting and healthiest banana bread recipe that has ever existed!

I know that's a bold statement, but take a look at the ingredients and you will not see any oil or butter, limited sugar, and no white flour. Make it just once and after you eat the entire loaf in a day, you will agree with me! (just kidding....I don't know anyone that would eat an entire loaf in one day....ooopppps!) It also has a healthy dose of flax seed that provides lots of fiber and Omega-3. I got this recipe from a running friend and it has quickly become a favorite within our group!

World's Best Tasting Healthy Banana Bread

• 4-5 ripe bananas (mashed)
• ¾ cup of ground flaxseed (you can buy it ground or buy the seeds and grid them in a blender or coffee grinder)
• ½ cup of sugar
• ¼ cup of honey
• ¼ cup of fat free yogurt (the original recipe uses cottage cheese but I like the yogurt better)
• 1/3 cup of milk
• 2 egg whites
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of cinammon
• 1 cup chocolate chips (optional but serious, who would leave these out?!?)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all ingredients except the last three.

3. Once mixed, add in the flour and baking soda (optional - mix in chocolate chips!!!)

4. Spray a loaf pan with PAM and bake for 60 minutes. This makes one very large loaf of bread so I often split it into two loaf pans and bake for ~45 minutes.

Eat it slathered in peanut butter and you have a perfect breakfast or pre-run snack!! So yummy!!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

This past week of training went well. In fact it went really well! There were a few runs that stood out that I'll share with you.

Monday: 10 mile run with 4 miles at lactate threshold pace. Tempo runs are definitely my weakness. They intimidate the heck out of me and I usually dread them for a couple days leading up to it. Not this time as I set out without any definite plans for my run. I felt good and decided to go for the tempo pace. 3 mile warm up and 3 miles cool down sandwiched my 4 miles at LT pace (7:38, 7:30, 7:33, 7:33). I'm really happy with the last mile as this was into a pretty strong headwind.

Thursday: After skipping my run on Wednesday in exchange for playing with my cats, making a yummy dinner, and cuddling on the couch with Bryan watching the Olympics (I think I made the right decision!), Bryan and I set out on Thursday evening for a 10 mile medium-long run. This was Bryan's first double digit mid-week run! We ran the opposite way of the marathon course (into another headwind!) and then came back up the hills. Besides some asthma issues on my side, it was a nice run for both of us.

Saturday: Another type of run that I dread are my marathon pace long runs. I usually see them in my program a few weeks in advance and the anxiety builds all week when its coming. While on our recovery run Friday night, I decided to spring the idea of some MP miles in our 18 mile long run the next morning. He was game for it so we decided to play it by ear and see how the morning went. Even though I wasn't really feeling it and my asthma was still acting up (getting it checked out this week), we had a GREAT long run!! 18.3 miles with 10 miles at marathon goal pace....8:19, 8:12, 8:23, 8:10, 8:17, 8:40 (quick stop to take my inhaler), 8:11, 8:06, 7:54, 8:27. It was a huge confidence booster for both of us....Bryan felt great and I learned that I can still hit my paces even when I'm not feeling great.

Throw in a couple easier runs and it was a great week for both of us. 8 weeks until Boston....Bring It!!

PS. In case you are trying to do the math in your head, Bryan has finally stated a goal time. In his words "I'm want to qualify like a girl.....sub-3:40!"

Lucky

I am a complainer. I wish I wasn't, but I am. I try to keep it to a minimum but sometimes I just can't help myself.

Today I found myself doing some cleaning around the house (usually something I would complain about) while the smell of baking banana bread filled the air (I'll post the recipe when its done!). I was dancing around the kitchen while my two cats looked on like I was crazy. My ipod was on shuffle playing everything from U2 to Lady Gaga to Greg Coplen. Jason Mraz's song Lucky came on and while dancing with Tigger, all of a sudden I realized how much I love my life!

I feel so lucky to have a husband that I am crazy about, a body that allows me to run and practice yoga, two kids (yes, my cats are my kids) that love me even if they can't tell me with words (see picture below for proof). Its funny how the somewhat mundane acts of cleaning, baking, and dancing can lead to such a deep break-through!

Getting some kisses

We even share ice cream!

For those of you who know me, you know that there are some changes that will be happening over the next couple months (I promise to fill the rest of you in all in due time). For now, I need to remember to be more thankful of the amazing things and people in my life and do less complaining about the things that don't really matter!

Now I gotta run as Clover is waiting for her dance with me....she loves Lady Gaga :)

Practicing What I Preach

On Friday afternoon, I sent out my weekly training e-mail to the marathon charity team I coach. This week's topic was on motivation and how no run is a bad run.

"During good runs, you finish feeling awesome about yourself and your training. Even during tough runs when you just want it to be over, you finish and feel a sense of accomplishment because you toughed it out and did it even though you were tired. No matter how the run goes, doing it will always feel better than not doing it! "

Immediately after sending the e-mail, I headed out to a yoga class. For some reason, I just could not get comfortable during class. The room seemed hotter than usual, my stomach wasn't feeling very good (and the heat wasn't helping), my nose was all stuffed up making proper breathing difficult, and my asthma was bothering me. I kept thinking about how awful this practice was going and just wanted it to be over!

Midway through class, I remembered my e-mail. Yoga is much like running....no practice is a bad practice. Maybe this one wasn't going as I had planned, but just like a run, sometimes you need to adjust your goals. So I backed off and let my body dictate how far to go. I was still happy when the 75 minute class was over, but I definitely felt better than if I hadn't done anything at all.

I guess sometimes I do give good advice!! Now if only I could practice what I preach when it comes to foam rolling and stretching after every run :)

New Recipe of the Week: Healthy Fried Rice

A few weeks ago, I found myself trying to come up with something for dinner. A few problems....we didn't have much in the house, neither of of us wanted to go to the store, and I was craving Chinese food. After a quick search on Epicurious, I found the following recipe for Fried Rice and thought I'd give it a try.

The best part? Since I made it at home, I could keep it much, much healthier than anything you would get as take out! I used cooked chicken as my meat, brown basmati rice (its what I had in the pantry), and just threw in whatever veggies I had on hand. It turned out really yummy and was so fast and easy to make....especially if you already have the meat and rice from leftovers!

Healthy Fried Rice

(with my edits)

• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 bunch scallions, roughly chopped (I didn't have scallions on hand so I just used some diced onion)
• 1 cup leftover pork, chicken, or beef, diced (I used cooked chicken)
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed (plus any leftover vegetables you have on hand...I used frozen peas, fresh carrots, and fresh red peppers)
• 4 cups cold cooked white or brown rice (any rice is fine..I used brown basmati rice)
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce (I used low sodium soy sauce)

1. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat.

2. Add the eggs and scallions. Cook, breaking up the eggs with a spoon until they are lightly browned.

3. Stir in the meat, vegetables, rice, and the remaining oil. Increase heat slightly and cook until the rice is crispy, about 5 minutes.

4. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce with 4 tablespoons of water. Pour the mixture over the rice.

5. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the rice has absorbed all the liquid, 3 to 5 minutes.

6. Season with the salt and pepper and serve, with extra soy sauce on the side.

He's one of us!

In the past when I've trained alone, Bryan always says to me when I get home from my long run (usually still in is PJs sipping coffee...thanks babe!) "I just don't know how you do it?!?!" Well, this weekend he was able to stop asking that question as he officially became one of us!

I always say that in my mind, an 18 mile long run is really the deciding distance of marathon training. Once you can run 18 miles, you can be pretty sure that you will finish the marathon. Even if you have to death march it in for the last 8.2 miles, you will finish. Anything beyond 18 miles for a long run is definitely good training, but 18 is kind of a milestone (no pun intended!)

18 windy miles from Boston to Newton to Wellesley back to Newton and then Boston and Bryan is now officially a distance runner! We had a great run and we really seem to be perfecting our negative split. That or maybe we both just want to be done that we unconsciously pick up the pace in the last 5 miles along the Newton Hills! As his coach, I couldn't be more proud of him :)

Of course I documented the whole thing:

Before

After

Much after....at a Superbowl party (many miles of the run were spent talking about all the food we'd eat at the party!)

As far as crossing over to the dark side? He's getting there. He did comment that his vanilla Gu tasted pretty good :) Welcome to my world honey!