My new BFFs

There are two things that have gotten me through the last few days and kept me (somewhat) sane. These things are my new BFFs and I can't imagine what I would be like without them.

#1 - Without these, my feet (and everything from the knee down) would have been soaked just trying to get into work the past 3 mornings. Just looking down at the bright yellow helped to cheer me up!

#2 - Yes, they are sometimes thought of as evil, but ever since my blister/hypothermia experience, I've been a wimp about running in the rain. Because of the wonderful treadmill, I was able to log my 6 miles on Monday and10 miles on Tuesday (including some good speed intervals of 5 x 1200m).

But just like most teenagers, BFFs don't last long....I'm hoping to cozy up to some nice sandals and an outdoor run ASAP :)

New Recipe of the Week: Black Bean Burgers

Don't get me wrong, I love me a thick, juicy hamburger!! But I'm also one of those people that would love to be a vegetarian but know its a lot of work to get the right nutrients and everything. Plus I have a husband that wouldn't go for the whole no-meat thing!

Instead I settle for meat-free days or meals and this is one I had to share! Even Bryan, the burger loving carnivore, likes these Black Bean Burgers. My friend Maria passed along this recipe and I've made it a few times. What I love almost as much as the taste is that all of the ingredients are things you can store in your pantry and they take no time at all to prepare!

The wheat gluten is a must as this is what makes the texture perfect. The first time I didn't have this so I used whole wheat flour...not bad, but nothing like the wheat gluten! You can buy this at Whole Foods among other places. I served them on toasted whole wheat sandwich rounds with a side of baked sweet potato fries!

Black Bean Burgers

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup plain whole wheat bread crumbs
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste or ketchup
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (optional)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 small onion
About 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus olive oil spray
Whole wheat buns

Mash the beans with a fork in a mixing bowl. You don't want to puree them; just get them mashed so that no whole beans are left, but leave some half-beans.

Add the wheat gluten, bread crumbs, chili powder, cumin, water and tomato paste (and cilantro) but don't mix yet. Use a microplane grater to grate the garlic in. Use the large holes on a box grater to grate the onion (I just chopped the onion very fine with a knife).

Mix everything together with a fork and then proceed to mix with your hands until the mixture is firm and uniformly mixed (about a minute).

Preheat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat.

Divide the burger mixture into six equal pieces (I preferred to make bigger burgers so I had less out of one batch). Roll each piece into a firm ball. Use your palm to press the ball down on a clean surface to form a patty that is about 1-1/2 inch thick. Press so that the patty is flat on both sides. Make six patties.

Pour a thin layer of olive oil into the pan. Cook the patties three at a time for 5 minutes on each side, gently but firmly pressing down on them with a spatula. Spray with olive oil before turning them over, for uniform browning. Once cooked, the patties should be very firm when you press down on them.

Worst. Weather. EVER.

Remember back in 2007 when I ran my first Boston Marathon? Remember the big Nor'easter that was predicted for race day? Remember the fears of a "storm of epic proportions!" Remember how it ended up not being that bad and we were all relieved? On Saturday Bryan and I ran through that exact storm just 3 years later and now I know why the Dave McGillivray almost cancelled the 112th Boston Marathon!

I don't have to tell any of you how bad the weather was this weekend as its been all over the news (um hello 8" of rain!) Hoping to get our run in before the worst of it (HA!), we headed out Saturday afternoon. Here's a play by play of the run:

Miles 1-4: Directly into the wind....25 mph sustained winds with 40 mph gusts. Not sure why I bothered wearing a jacket as it was soaked from the rain within a few miles. Sure this is going to be a tough run, but we'll be fine. (HA!)

Miles 5-12: Running with the wind. Okay, this isn't too bad. Rain is picking up but we're both feeling good and chatting to keep our minds off the weather. Hurdling and dodging puddles to keep the shoes as dry as possible (HA!)

Miles 12-19: Back into the head wind. Am I really moving forward? Rain is coming down hard. Shirt suctioned to my stomach because its so wet. Temperatures are dropping (38 degrees; real feel of 28 degrees). Must keep head down so hat doesn't fly off. Can't feel my fingers. No longer have the will to dodge the puddles and can hear squishing sounds with every step. Want to lay down just to make it stop.

Back at house: Can't move fingers to unlock door. Strip down to underwear and sports bra in kitchen. Clothes leave big puddle on the floor. Skin is bright red. Take temperature just to see. Me - 94.1 degrees; Bryan - 91.6 degrees. Holy Crap! Start shower. Hot water burns as body defrosts. Ouch, what's that on my neck? A blister? On my neck?

Seriously, it was the worst weather I have ever run in. EVER! I mean, we were clinically hypothermic when we got home. Yikes!! But as with everything, there is a silver lining. Both our legs felt really good during the run, we actually averaged a great pace of 8:39 min/mile (probably trying to stay warm and make it stop sooner!), and besides the blister we are no worse off.

I guarantee that when we line up in Hopkinton, we will remember this run and know that we can handle whatever is thrown at us.

This is how we earn it!

A new set of lungs please!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been having some asthma issues lately. For those of you who didn't know, yes I have asthma. Have had it pretty much all my life and I've never let it stop me or limit me from doing things. For the most part it is completely controlled with medication. Until recently....

It started a little over a month ago. I noticed that if I didn't take my albuterol (the quick acting bronchodilator) prior to my runs, I would have this tight feeling in my chest. This then progressed to really needing my inhaler before my runs. It further progressed to needing the inhaler every couple hours even when not running. The final straw what when I needed to stop and take the inhaler mid-run!

Finally I made an appointment with my PC and she confirmed what I already knew. I was constantly wheezing even after taking my inhaler and my lung function was much lower than it was earlier this year at my annual check up (550 down to 390!) My current maintenance medicines weren't working for some reason. So we upped the dose of my inhaled steroid (guess I can't win any prize money at Boston and need to take a drug test!) and put me on a longer acting bronchodilator.

The great thing about asthma medications is that they act so quickly since they are locally delivered to your lungs. Within a day, I was feeling better. It literally felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest and I could breath without sounding like an 80 year old smoker! (unfortunately now I have the medicine cabinet of an 80 year old but at least I can breath!) I'm still not sure what triggered the change and I have to go back later this month to talk to my PC but for now it feels like I am running with a new set of lungs!

Case of the blahs!

I know, I know...I haven't posted in a while! I've noticed that the frequency of my blog posts is directly proportional to my excitement for running. Actually I shouldn't say running, but rather training. When I am enjoying training, I tend to post more often and when I am in a slump the post tend to slow down....sometimes waaaaay down!

This slump seems to happen when I am about 6 weeks out from a race. I've been training for a while but the race still seems so far away. My legs never feel like they are fully recovered or have any spring in them. I don't feel like I am getting any faster. I start to question my goals and why I am even training for another marathon.

But luckily I have successfully trained for and run 6 marathon so I know this feeling will pass and that I just need to continue logging the miles. Taper will be here before I know it and then I will be wishing I had more time to train!

I guess that's where the expression "if it were easy, everyone would be doing it!" comes from :)