Sleeping Beauty

Paris is great, but sometimes you just need to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. After eight days in Paris, we packed up our suitcases and headed to the train station.

Our destination was Chinon, a small town south west an hour away from the city of Tours.

We picked Chinon because it’s located in the Loire Valley, known for good wine and old chateaus. It turned out to be a perfect medieval town, laid back and welcoming of tourists.

Once again, we lucked in with our choice of hotel. We stayed at a family-owned bed and breakfast Hotel Didirot. The folks at the hotel spoke excellent English, and were super friendly and accommodating. They also had a small bar with a great selection of local wines for very reasonable prices (2-3 euros a glass ). The best part of all was the breakfast – real coffee (Paris only had espressos or cappuccinos at 3 euros a pop), baskets of fresh bread, goat cheese, walnuts, and a wide range of jams that are actually made at the hotel. My mouth is watering as I am typing this!

The only exercise besides walking that I did during the entire trip is when we headed for a 16 mile bike ride to Château d’Ussé.

This Chateau was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale so the rooms were staged with scenes from the book.

For a more mature audiences, there were rooms with decorations and clothing exhibition.

When you live in a Chateau, you’ll also need your own chapel, winery and stable.

and of course, you’ll need a garden with pretty flowers to stroll in.

After touring Chateau d’Usse and a fairly unimpressive lunch, we headed back to check out Chateau de Chinon. Apparently this is where the king resided when the country was under the British occupation back in the 15th century. Joan of Arc came here after her victorious visions to ask for the army to fight the British. She ended up bringing the crown of France back to Henry IV.

Unlike the first castle, this one was more of a military fort with numerous towers along its perimeter.

Besides beautiful and historic castles, the region of Chinon is known for its wine. Unlike most of the North American wineries that we’ve visited, a lot of Chinon wineries are in caves where the temperature and moisture levels are perfect for aging grapes. One of the wineries was conveniently located about 10 minute bike ride from our hotel. 6 tastings and 5 “souvenir” bottles of wine later we safely returned to our hotel.

 

THE BEST POST IS YET TO COME…

Americans in Paris

Bonjour, mon amis!

Ever since I could remember my mid-twenties, after my crazy college partying days were behind me and I could start thinking rationally again, I wanted to celebrate my 30th birthday in France. Back then, it seemed so far away that I could have wished I’d be celebrating it on the moon and it would be all the same. But how time flies, and this year, my dream came true.

We jetted to Paris on a direct flight from SEA-CDG Charles De Gaulle Airport on Delta. The entertainment was crappy and they played all the movies we’ve already seen on a tiny screen dangling over my head, but thanks to the free unlimited chardonnay I managed the flight just fine.

Most of our time we stayed in Paris at Le Méridien Etoile, which was an excellent choice. The metro station was a block away. The area was filled with Brasseries and cafes yet quiet so we could rest well after long days of sightseeing. The room was American size (read: Super size), clean, with modern decor. It also helped that we got upgraded to an executive room after I complained politely pointed out to the front desk about the “funny” smell that our pre-assigned standard room had.  It was not as awesome, upgrade-wise, as we received when vacationing in Rome when the door handle literally fell off the door, but I like the pattern where if you are nice about it, you can easily get a better room at no extra charge.

On the first night, after a long post-travel nap, we enjoyed a midnight stroll to the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel tower.

The streets were mostly empty and dimly lit with the Brasseries signs and street lamps. The sky was filled with stars and a few puffy clouds. The golden glow of the Eiffel Tower lured us from the distance, and as soon as we got near we saw it twinkling like a holiday decoration. Little did we know that it was just a tease and two minutes later it went completely dark. Who would have thought that Eiffel tower lights get turned off?! Have not these folks been to Vegas? Eric and I still hung out for awhile (ok, I admit, we were totally making out on a bench across the Eiffel tower. They don’t call it a city of love for nothing ).

The next day we got woken up but a housekeeping call even though we left the Do-Not-Disturb sign up. I was mad to receive a call from the front desk at 9:30 on Saturday morning. Oh wait, Eric looked at his watch upside-down. It’s 1:30 in the afternoon. Oops! We rushed to get some sightseeing done.

Since there was not enough time to hit the museums, we headed to Bon Marche to check out the latest French fashions, which pretty much turned out to be the well-known top designers– but with euro instead of dollar tags. Boring! The only difference from Nordy’s is the pretty ceilings and fancy china. It was pretty cool to see the tea set my grandma used to have. I wonder if she got it from France.

We stopped at a great grocery store nearby – La Grande Epicure Paris, which reminded me of Whole Foods, as if it was run by French people. It was packed, overpriced, and tres chic.

After picking up a baguette, fresh goat cheese (which later would become our staple afternoon snack) we headed to Jardin du Luxembourg for a small picnic. Paris has lots of gardens and parks with beautiful sculptures, fountains and landscaping. Even on a cloudy day, the kids were having a blast sailing little toy boats in the grand fountain.

For day three, we requested an official wake up call and headed to Versailles, expecting warmer and sunnier weather based on the forecast. As we were riding the train, we watched the sun remain in Paris, while heavy grey clouds began to appear slowly in the distance. (Why does rain follow me around?) Luckily it did not rain in Versailles, but it being Easter Sunday, the place was packed with tourists. That’s the one downside to going to Paris — one of the top tourist cities in the world. Many interesting spots have a minimum wait of an hour or two, which tends to kill the romance of the place.

We slowly strolled to Marie Antoinette’s estate, marveling at the beautifully shaped gardens, until we realized that the walk would be a few kilometers. We picked up the pace to a brisk walk to keep warm.

Marie was one girly-queen. Her entire palace was pink – the outside was made of pink marble and hot pink silk decorated the walls and the furniture.

On the way back we watched “the fountain opera.” If you’ve seen Bellagio fountain show, you would not be very impressed. I am still bitter about the 8 euros they charge for garden access (supposedly to pay for the show), but Eric was quite fond of it. I am guessing because we got to cuddle on a grass lawn.

Then we headed back to the main courtyard to brave a two-hour line to the main Versailles palace. Once inside, it took us less than an hour to get through all the rooms, as crowds of tourists pushed us from behind. This place was busier than the Sistine Chapel!

Thankfully, our visit to the Louvre was much better — after we skipped the line by purchasing tickets ahead of time at the hotel’s concierge.

Did you know that besides the fabulous sculptures and paintings, the Louvre has a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower? You just have to find a tiny window in one of the art rooms, and voila!

The Mona Lisa was incredibly disappointing. It was hung in a giant room with giant paintings all around it, so it looked tiny and bleak in comparison. It was covered with thick, UV shielded glass, and you could only get within 20 feet of it if you had pointy elbows and weren’t afraid to use them.

I was much more impressed with the double-sided David and Goliath and Eric was delighted to find a full wall of his favorite Italian painter – Giovanni Pannini. We have a replica of one of his works hanging in our living room.

Now, Venus de Milo took me by surprise – I didn’t realize it was life-size. The Louvre has an amazing collection of Roman sculptures.

We  studied the treasures of art for a couple of hours  and goofed around just for a bit.

After the Louvre we walked over to the Eiffel Tower taking gazillions of pictures along the way.

The next morning, we left the hotel early and headed to one of the local food markets, but more on that in my next post. Afterwards, we walked over to the Notre Dame.  I was particular excited to see the Notre Dame as I’ve read the story of Hunchback of Notre-Dame when I was little (and let me tell you it does not end well, despite what Disney would have you believe.)

Its Gothic architecture reminded me a bit of Sagrada Familia which we visited in Barcelona. Inside, it’s gorgeous with lots of stained-glass mosaics.

The best part is up the Notre Dame bell tower.

The view was worth the 2 hour wait in the rain.

My gargoyle Eric waiting for his lady to come rescue him.

In awe of Notre Dame, we decided to check out another famous monastery on top of Montmartre hill.

Montmartre is an old arts district which was filled with poets and painters centuries ago. Now it’s transformed into souvenir shops and weird graffiti. (On the topic of unexpected wall art, how is it that Portland has a poster in the Parisian metro and Seattle does not?)

Lots of famous people are buried in Paris, so I really wanted to stop by Jim Morrison’s grave in the Pere Lachaise cemetery. It was not what I expected it to be – closely surrounded by other graves, a bit run down, with barely any identification but the name plate and flowers from hardcore fans.

Edith Piaf’s grave was just as humble, shared with her husband and daughter. In case you are wondering about my facial expressions, my mom always said it’s not good to smile at cemeteries, so here is me not smiling.

We wrapped up our sightseeing with Pompidou Center. It’s a modern art museum with a super cool fountain. On the way to the airport, I saw a sign for a Matisse exhibit at Pompidou, but we just missed it

TO BE CONTINUED…

Seahawks 12K

I took two full weeks off from running, but I failed to adjust my calorie consumption, so I kept eating like I had 4000 thousand extra calories a week in the fuel tank. It’s amazing how quickly those extra calories pile up. Good thing I have a half marathon coming up in May, so I am back on the streets and treadmills. To help motivate myself, I signed up for a local 12K Seahawk run.

Over 3000 runners gathered at Renton Landing to loop around the Seahawks’ Training Center. That’s more than the Napa Marathon! A couple of fellows from work joined me in my running mission.

We were chatting away the first two miles until I slowed down to take off my jacket.

Seeing that it was pouring rain the day before, and the weather forecast was promising further showers, I wanted to keep warm and dry during the race. Instead it was all sunshine, and I ended up tying the jacket around my waist. I was able to re-pin my bib while keeping a sub-9 pace.

I found it a bit strange that the mile markers were off by 0.1-0.2 miles all through the course. I planned on sprinting to the finish after passing the 7 mile marker. I figured even with the measurements being off, I’d have about 0.2-0.3 miles to cover. I ended up running 7.65 miles (12.3K). I know folks around here are not accustomed to metric, but come on!

Official results:

NO

FN

LN

AGE

SEX

DIVISION

CITY

STATE

OVERALL

DIVPL

SEXP

TIME

PACE

954

Jane

Lawrence

29

F

F2529

Redmond

WA

273

18/165

66

1:04:38

8:40

I came 18^th in my division, and 66^th out of all females. Not my fastest personal time, but not too shabby!

I am thinking of doing a 10K downtown Bellevue race next: http://www.bellevuerun.com/. There is a 5K option as well. Anyone want to join me?

I Run For Wine

When you run a marathon in Napa (and obnoxiously showcase your medal to everyone you meet), you’d be amazed at how much free wine you can sample.

The first winery that we headed to was Rustridge Ranch. Pretty much every winery I’ve ever been to in Napa has either a pet named after the wine, or a wine named after the pet. Pinot from the Rustridge Ranch was particularly friendly with me during our visit. Rustridge was one of the handful of wineries represented at the pre-race Expo, where Eric and I fell in love with their Zinfandel 2009 Reserve. It was love from first (second and third) sip, so we ended up buying a whole case. I was able to bargain half off the price which sealed the deal.

Casa Nuestra was recommended to us at the Brannan Cottage, but their wines made no impression on me. We ended up buying a bottle just get the tasting fees waived. Once again, marathon medal came in handy as I got to try both the regular and the reserve flights.

We headed back to Calistoga for dinner at the All Seasons Bistro. This place is a local gem – fresh continental style cooking with an award winning chef and reasonable prices ($20-$25 per plate). We got to the restaurant way early, so we passed the time at a wine store across the street with some other marathoners (who had done way more wine tasting, judging by their loud laughter, happy faces and slurring words).

Under normal circumstances, I would have no problems handling 3 wine tastings, but since I spent most of my morning in the sun, running and sweating, I had to get my dinner (roasted duck on a bed of lentils with oranges and turnips) to go. I was too full of wine to finish it–  a very rare occurrence for a girl who can polish off half a box of Frosted Mini-Wheats for dessert).

Please excuse the blurry photos. In the midst of my drinking I forgot to turn off the macro mode on the camera.

Calistoga is so small, it took us 5 minutes to walk back to our hotel where I happily passed out. You can only imagine how marvelous I felt the next morning? Sore, thirsty and starving. Good thing there was a delightful breakfast waiting for me in the main area of the Brannan Cottage.

The cold duck made for a nice snack an hour later. Afterwards, I treated myself to a long whirlpool session and a massage at a nearby Spa. I lucked in with the message therapist who specialized in sports conditioning and injury prevention. I wish I could say he made me feel as good as before the race. He did a marvelous job, but anyone who has run a marathon knows it takes at least two weeks to stop walking down the stairs backwards.

For lunch, we headed to Gott’s Roadside Tray Gourmet, which is considered to be the best drive-in ever and was featured on the food network a couple of times. No matter the time of day, there are at least a dozen people lined up at the cashier’s window.

I enjoyed my Ahi burger with sweet potato fries in a nice picnic area behind the drive-in.

After lunch, it was time to check out some more wineries. One of our favorites was Vincent Arroyo. We got a private tour from the owner himself and sampled wines directly from the barrels with a nifty device called the thief.

Their wines are so popular that you you can only purchase them 6 months in advance. We were lucky that they had some of their red blend bottles available, named after their cat – Nameless.

There was just one more winery for us to stop by – Bella. The entire winery is set up in a large cave. Since our suitcase was already filled with wine, we did not end up buying any at Bella, but the experience of drinking wine in a candlelit cave next to large oak barrels was super cool.

We spent the last vacation night at Sonoma Hilton hotel thanks to the groupon and my impeccable deal-hunting skills. All this wine tasting left me pretty hungry. Right in time for the Happy Hour: calamari, sweet potato fries (can never have enough of those), turkey sliders, pita with hummus, and a few spicy wings.

Some people come to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

I come for the golden crispy pastry tubes filled with sweet ricotta cream and a perfect amount of chocolate chips. There was no way I was leaving San Francisco without my favorite cannoli from Caffe Greco in Little Italy.

Get in my belly!

I must really love my husband as I willingly offered to share one of these treasures with him.

After a great few days of sunshine and deliciousness, it was time to head back home for a nice long recovery.

Sub-4

If you ever desire to challenge yourself at competitive sports (or want to consider a new venture in a growing market), running is definitely the thing to turn to. Racing has become a multi-million dollar industry with millions of Americans competing each year.

 

Here is a snapshot reported by http://www.runningusa.org/statistics, but there’s got to be double counting as I can’t imagine over 12 million of Americans raced in 2010. I bet the stats are for each registered runner and many runners compete in numerous races each year.

Even still, the numbers just keep going up:

Median Times for U.S. Marathon Finishers	1980	1995	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Males	3:32:17	3:54:00	4:20:29	4:19:31	4:20:04	4:20:04	4:13:54	4:16:14
Females	4:03:39	4:15:00	4:51:19	4:49:57	4:49:48	4:43:31	4:41:29	4:42:10

 

With running being such a popular activity, there is wide range of races to please every runner out there. From rocking to live bands, to being cheered by Marines and Navy SEALs, to diva dashes with free chocolate and champagne at the finish line, you can find an event that makes your run even more memorable and fun.

For me the choice was easy. Once I heard about the “largest small race on the West Coast” through Napa Valley with dozens of wineries along the course, I was in. The 2012 race was the 34^th year for the Napa Marathon and each year the race gets filled up very quickly (amazingly, lots of runners share my passion for good Californian wines). The towns around the start and finish are quite small and can’t handle more than 2500 runners (and their cheering family and friends). So there is no half marathon option as they can’t scale to accommodate both.

Eric and I landed at SFO on the morning of Saturday March 3^rd, picked up our rental car, and headed straight to the Expo event. The expo was held at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Napa, and was quite small. Expos tend to match the size of the race. The more runners, the more sponsors and booths with free goodies. Two things impressed me right off the bat. First, they gave out free ASICS long-sleeve girl tech shirts (I am actually going to keep this one. The rest of my race shirts go straight to Goodwill). Second, they had a wine tasting at the expo, sponsored by a couple of Silverado trail wineries. Although I had vowed not to drink until after the race, there was little hesitation on my part as I reached for some free wine (again and again).

The winner of the marathon gets a large bottle of wine with their name and accomplishment etched in the bottle, and their weight in wine. That’s motivating!

After the expo, we drove to Calistoga, the town at the start of the race. With warm weather (~70F) and sunny patios to stretch out on, I threw all caution to the wind and ordered another glass of wine for lunch at the Calistoga Inn.

The Brannan Cottage Inn would be our home for the next two days.

Doug and Judy were most welcoming and accommodating, and took great care of the runners and their support crews. All the Inns in Calistoga organized a complimentary home made pasta bar at the community center the night before the race. I had all intentions of taking photos of the dinner, but only remembered to pull out my camera after the second serving of creamy cheese mushroom linguine was happily nestled in my belly. Oh well. You’ll just have to take my word that dinner was delicious and there were more local wineries giving out more tastings. As tasty as that evening was, it was not the best pre-race option, but I figured I might as well enjoy the moment and the hospitality as it’s all part of the marathon experience. At the pasta bar, Dick Beardsley, the course record holder for the Napa marathon at 2:16:20, was our guest speaker. Dick did about a thirty minute motivational speech while propped on crutches due to foot injury and a recent knee surgery. He described how he took out a little kid who was playing in the middle of the course when he got his marathon PR of 2:09. Despite his good public speaking skills and laid back personality, I found Dick’s injuries, story and fundraising cause (for adults with chemical dependencies) to be disheartening. Good thing I won’t ever have to worry about those problems, as I won’t be running marathons at 4 min/mile pace any time soon ever.

On Race Day, it was early wake up time at the Brannan Cottage with a special 6am runner’s breakfast. Even though the forecast for the day was high of 74F, at 7am my phone and my internal running temperature gauge were reading 38 degrees.

After a big hug and a good luck kiss from my number one fan, I was off.

Good things about small races:

• You actually start on time
• No corrals to worry about
• Plenty of room to pass and spread out for the runners and the spectators
• Your support crew can actually get a bunch of good photos of you at the start line
• You can easily spot folks in fun costumes

While flipping through the pages of the runner’s packet before the race, a wave of cold sweat hit me. “No MP3 players, Cell Phones, Cameras are permitted during the marathon run. Runners who are spotted with these electronic devices will be disqualified from the race.” I’ve heard of this rule at smaller races like 5Ks, but never for a full marathon. I panicked! I’ve never run a race without my music. I’ve used the  same songlist since college, with all my favorite fast beat songs that are almost my good luck charm. How the heck was I going to run for 4 hours with no music and no friends to talk to? Just me, the open road and 2499 other runners. Yeek! I could not help but ask Dick at the pasta bar for advice on running with no music. His answer was a little too high road for me “I’ve always run without music. It’s just me, the lord and the sounds of birds chippering and winds blowing. I don’t need anything else.”

Ok, I guess when you are zooming at 4 min/miles that might be the case, as for the rest of us mortals, one fellow runner gave me a much better perspective. He said he used to run with his music all the time, but once he stopped he noticed that he is able to run faster by listening to his breathing and adjusting his pace. I figured I’d try it.  Not like there were any other alternatives although I saw some folks trying to cheat by having one earpiece in or a cellphone strapped on with a speaker on. Once I started on my journey watching the sun rising behind the Napa hills lighting up the empty but pretty grape wines, I forgot all about my music.  

I just ran! Eric and I arranged to meet at miles 7, 12, 18 and 23. The course was a straight stretch on Silvarado trail from Calistoga to Napa, so while I was running on the paved trail, Eric drove to our planned mile markers via Highway-29. If we have a do-over, we’ll rent a bike and he can bike along rather than stressfully looking for parking and hiking to the course.

At mile 7, I handed Eric my jacket as I was pretty warm by then, grabbed a pair of sunglasses and continued on.

I was going so fast the camera (or the cameraman, at least) could not keep up.

Seriously though, I was going fast! I did not check my Garmin and just ran listening to my breath, and Eric almost missed our next meet at 12 miles as I was beating my estimated time of 1:30.

At mile 13, the heat was starting to get to me. My training weather is 45 degrees, overcast with light showers, not 65, blazing sun and no shade anywhere. I was glad to take a short water break at mile 18 when I spotted Eric again.

Mile 19-20 was a nice rolling hill, which allowed for me to catch a bit of a breeze on the way down. There were a few rolling hills through the race which I surprisingly liked as they got my legs fired up and led to a nice momentum on the way down. The part that sucked is that the course was uneven so you end up running with your feet, knees, hips out of alignment most of the time. Lots of runners were zigzagging from one side of the trail to another seeking shadier, more balanced ground. I just tried to flex my abs and suck in my belly as much as I could in hopes of relieving some pressure from my lower back and hips. At mile 23, fatigue was settling in, and I did not let Eric take any close up pictures. Nothing pretty to see.

Many people think that when running a marathon you should start slow to pace yourself. That advice does not work. In a marathon, you are going to slow down in the last ten-twelve miles either because you started out fast and it’s getting harder to keep the speed as you get fatigued, or you started out slow and you already clocked a bunch of time and your body is fatigued. Either way, you will get to a point where you will get tired because you’ve been running for hours. I hit that point in Portland last year, and my strategy this time was to start at a fast strong pace I could sustain for at least halfway, roughly 8min/mile. Then I slowed down to sub 9s, and eventually to sub 10s in my last 6 miles. The last 6 miles were still killer. The ground feels like it’s covered with glue and you have to use every bit of force to peel your feet off the pavement. Your legs are heavy like they are filled with lead. Your body aches, and your mind plays tricks of shooting pain to various parts. There is a little voice of doubt in your head. “You won’t make it. You are not strong enough. Why are you doing this? You already did this once. You made your point. Just quit!” I had mixed feelings when I saw Eric waiting at mile 23. I was happy to see him and there were only 3 miles left, but then I wanted him gone so I would not try to follow him to the car. My non-time goal was to run the full race, including the last 6 miles, something I choked on in Portland. I told myself, it does not matter how fast, just keep running. The toughest part is finding internal determination not to give up, especially when folks around you are taking walking, stretching, sitting-under-a-tree, talking-on-cell-phone breaks.

At mile 25, I felt better. 1 mile to go (more like 1.5, but at that point rounding errors were permitted). I heard a guy from the crowd cheering “Just three short turns to the finish line after you hit the Stop sign.” After turn 1 and 2, I started to ramp it up. I am almost there. Turn 3 came and went, then turn 4. Where is that Finish line? Dude, that was not cool! Learn to count your turns! Finally, I spotted a small arc with black FINISH letters on it a quarter of a mile out. With the visual in front, I started to sprint– yelling at the male runner ahead who attempted to cut me off at a small turn. I so wanted to be done! I heard my name and time being called out as I bounced on the timing plate.

I came in at 6:50min/mile and had to walk it off for a bit before grabbing my well-deserved medal. I stretched on my tip-toes looking for Eric. The marathon finished at the Napa County High school yard. I spotted a pile of bananas at one of the booths. As my shaking hand was reaching to snap one, the gal at the booth said “Those are for RoadRunner members only!” With my eyes filling with tears and lower lip quivering, “I just finished a marathon” I replied. Where are all the refueling stands? In Portland they guided me through streets of food, babying me with pealed bananas and ready-to-eat yogurts, sandwiches, bagels, etc. All of a sudden a volunteer lady ran up to me and asked “Have you been to the cafeteria where there are snacks for runners?” The snack station failed terribly in comparison to Portland, but I was able to find a banana, a couple of orange slices, a yogurt, and a teenager willing to lend me his cell to call my hubby who was frustratingly still looking for parking.

I killed the time in PT room until Eric picked me up and we headed back to Calistoga to shower, refuel and show off that gorgeous medal.

Besides shaving off 27 minutes of my previous time, I know I am a better runner as I was able to avoid blistering and chafing. These feet look like they just rolled out of bed; you’d never guess that they already pounded 26.5 miles of pavement.

Onto the wineries next…

Carbspiracy

I am having a Seinfeld moment.

Remember the episode about the 8 hot dogs and 12 buns? I refuse to believe that some folks have not seen every episode of Seinfeld at least three times. It’s one of the most memorable, quotable shows in television history. My little heart just might not be able to handle the truth of either me being old, not funny or having bad taste in sitcoms. But in case you don’t recall the particular episode, here is the dialogue I am referring to:

[at a supermarket]
George: I’ll tell you what I’m doing. I want to buy eight hot dogs and eight hot dog buns to go with them. But no one sells eight hot dog buns. They only sell twelve hot dog buns. So I end up paying for four buns I don’t need. So I am removing the superfluous buns. Yeah. And you want to know why? Because some big-shot over at the wiener company got together with some big-shot over at the bun company and decided to rip off the American public. Because they think the American public is a bunch of trusting nit-wits who will pay for everything they don’t need rather than make a stink. Well they’re not ripping of this nitwit anymore because I’m not paying for one more thing I don’t need. George Banks is saying NO!
Stock Boy: Who’s George Banks?
George: ME!

I am just as annoyed with the food packaging conspiracies when it comes to pasta and tomato sauce.

Most pre-packaged pastas are 1lb in weight which is somewhere between 7-8 servings, but most sauce jars are 1lb 10 ounces which is 5-6 servings.

Those big shots at the sauce company just could not spare a few extra ounces of sauce to make bigger jars. So now I find myself in a similar dilemma like George with 2 servings of unused pasta.

Of course, my smart readers would think of a few options to easily solve this problem:

1. Use up all pasta. Carbs are good for runners. You are correct that carbs are good, but I am finicky about my pasta, and the ratio of sauce to noodles has to be just right so it’s not too runny or too dry.

2. Save up 2oz and after 3 packages you’ll have enough for the right ratio. Yes, but I so seldom eat pasta that I worry those will go stale faster than I can use the remainders.

3. Buy pasta at the bulk section of Whole Foods, so you can measure exactly 12 oz of dry pasta to go with the 6 servings of sauce. That would work, assuming Whole Foods carries the one I like.

4. Stop being a cheapo and just toss the remainder out. I hate wasting food.

5. Add extra sauce. Ah, but then you are stuck with an open jar of Marinara in your fridge that apparently turns moldy in less than two weeks. At my pasta consumption rate, I’d have to throw it out.

6. Write nasty letters to pasta and sauce manufacturers until they fix this. With my blog postings being as sparse as they are nowadays this would just take away time from writing for you, my dear readers.

7. Continue to kvetch about life’s little annoyances. This should prepare me well for my unavoidable Jewish Bubby conversion.

 

After pulling myself together from all the pasta-sauce drama, I proceeded with dinner preparation.

Sautee a bunch of random veggies and extra lean ground turkey

Add some sauce and cooked noodles

Top off with Parmesan cheese, and you’ve got the perfect runner’s dinner.

Pasta can be one of the easiest and most balanced meals (if made right). It was the first thing I learned to cook, thanks to my roommates back in College who used to make a similar meal on a regular basis. Since then, I have upgraded to whole wheat noodles, organic veggies, and natural turkey, but the principle remains the same.

[Jane Asks]: Do you believe in food industry conspiracies?

Rest of my life

With less than two weeks until the big race day, it’s time to start tapering. In the context of sports, tapering refers to the practice of reducing exercise in the days just before an important competition (as defined by Wikipedia). However, in the context of Jane’s addictions, tapering is so much more.

 

First and foremost I will decrease my mileage over the next two weeks to less than 20 miles per week.

 

 

I will consume wholesome foods to fuel my body (rather than to please my mind, which I have a strong tendency to do). That means I will be eating lots of fruits, veggies, lean protein, and low-fat dairy. For complex carbs I prefer brown rice, oats, sweet potato and whole wheat pasta (but in moderation as it tends to make me feel bloated).

 

There will be no alcohol until after the race (I made an announcement to whole world, so now I have to keep it). Over the weekend, Eric and I finished the last bottle of red wine in the house (to make room for new & delicious zinfandels from our trip to Napa/Sonoma). Until then, my wine rack will remain bare to avoid any temptations even on a relaxing weekend night.

 

I will practice yoga and try to incorporate more classes over the next two weeks. My muscles can benefit from extra stretching and foam-rolling sessions.

 

 

I will rest. This is a hard one for me, as I am usually in the “go-go” mode, but this is where I need to listen to my body and provide it with well-deserved rest so it can recover.

 

 

To follow my own preaching, instead of joining my running buddies for our usual Saturday morning group run, I called in sick and spent the entire day in PJs on the coach recuperating. With 16 training weeks under my shoe and the February blues in full swing (the one sunny week was just a big tease), I was feeling completely drained. It’s been so long since Eric and I had a lazy day together. We started off with a late breakfast of blueberry pancakes, eggs and fresh fruit.

Between the two of us, we had no problem polishing off the entire pile of 9 blueberry Kodiak pancakes.

We then proceeded to the couch where we spent the next few many hours snuggled under blankets flipping between movies and the backlog of TV shoes in the Netflix queue. We took occasional stretch breaks and emerged from piles of blankets, pillows, furry paws and whiskers to replenish our snack supplies.

It was a fabulous rest day and exactly what I needed.

The next morning, I was itching to break a sweat and get my legs moving again. I ended up covering 11.6 miles on my own. Eric and I met for lunch at Gyro World where I had one of my favorites – chicken souvlaki plate. They were out of feta…

I can’t leave the place without a slice of Baklava. I figured from all the tempting desserts out there, this is probably the healthiest option (at least that’s what I keep telling myself with every delicious bite). Baklava is mostly made of nuts and honey, with a bit of pastry to hold it together.

Sometimes the best thing to do is do nothing, and I totally reaped the benefits of my rest day at my next yoga class. My hamstrings were not as tight in spite of the long run the day before. My hips were not aching for the first in a few weeks, and my mind was completely relaxed, eagerly awaiting each posture.

[Jane Asks]: When was the last time you had a rest day?

Turning Two

Marriage is like a good bottle of wine. It’s full bodied and aromatic filled with sweetness and spice. Every sip you take awakens different senses and it never tastes the same. At times you might find it to a bit acidic, but you leave it alone, let it breathe for a while and gradually it will warm up. Your taste buds learn to compensate and focus on pleasant sensations while ignoring others. It can be enjoyed in isolation or in good company, but best when shared between two people. If you wait too long to open it up, it might spoil or it might get better with time.

The best part of marriage is the intimacy you share with your partner as time goes on. (No more waking up in horror after an accidental gas incident in your sleep ). The way I see it, weddings are big parties for family and friends to celebrate the couple and the community coming together. What matters most is what happens afterwards and how you grow and nourish your union.

Eric and I are fortunate that we have not one but two anniversaries to commemorate our special union. See I never told you about our wedding. We got married in a beautiful island – Abaco, Bahamas. It was a very small and intimate ceremony with about 30 of our closest family and friends and it was one of our most favorite moments in life. We all got to hang out together for a week in oceanfront condos. It was our own private paradise. Since I am Canadian (known as a legal alien by the United States Government), to avoid even a slight chance that the Bahamian-issued marriage certification might not be considered legit in the eyes of the US Immigration we decided to play it safe. Two weeks before heading to Bahamas, we along with two friends went down to the city hall and got married by a Washington state judge (so there would be no question of our true commitment).

Now we celebrate – marriage day and wedding day. All that really means is we get to go out for two fancy dinners and reminisce about each event separately.

The marriage anniversary is on January 27th. We think of it as a rehearsal anniversary dinner. For our second marriage anniversary we headed to Seastar. Thanks to a very generous gift from Eric’s brother and sister-in-law, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner.

I started with Spicy Shrimp Thai soup.

I had swordfish in lemon, wine, and butter sauce with capers, mushrooms and grilled asparagus for my main course.

Stuffed, happy and still very much in love, we headed home for chocolate and wine dessert.

For our “real” (Wedding) anniversary on February 10 (purposely near but not on Valentine’s day), we went all out at Canlis, a restaurant on a north side of Lake Union near Queen Anne. I had actually never heard of this place until May 2011. I participated in my first and only 5K race. It was a very cold weekend and there was another competing race going on at the same time in Greenlake so participation was low. Somehow I magically ended up winning the 2nd female place (that’s the main reason I have not run any more 5ks. Not much room left at the top to raise the bar )

I would have been perfectly happy with the little winged running show trophy, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a $200 gift card to Canlis inside the purple prize bag. You’d think we could stretch $200 to two dinners, but not at a place like Canlis. Apparently it’s a top notch family-owned restaurant that’s been around for over 60 years.

We split the crab cake appetizer… Amazing!

I ordered filet mignon that came with a blended carrot-shallot sauce that looked and tasted out of this world.

We completed the meal by sharing chocolate fondant for dessert

Happy two to us! Many happy returns of the day

I love places that give you freebie dessert (in case you cheap out and don’t get a full one)

The peanut butter and jelly truffles were divine. The strawberry meringue cookies were ok. Eric bailed on his, so there was more for me to enjoy.

Happy Love Day to you all! Enjoy lots of special moments with your loved ones.

Beery 20 miles

Two weeks ago, when Seattle was covered with 8 inches of snow, I would have never guessed that I’d be doing my 20 mile long run in a tank top, worrying that I hadn’t put on sunblock. I secretly hoped that the weather would be good enough to run outside (the 18 miles on the treadmill that I did two weeks earlier were torturous), but I was not expecting clear skies, bright sunlight, a warm breeze, and 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the first week of February.

This was my first 20 miler. During my last training season, I had to cut the 20 miles short to 18 due to the heat (there seems to be a correlation between long runs and the sun). The plan was to run 3 miles to the gym (my usual route) where I met up with one of my running buddies and we did an 11 mile loop together, returning back to the gym at exactly 11am. There we picked up another friend who was looking for a shorter run of 6 miles at 9-9:30 min/mile. We headed back to the Sammamish River trail but this time in the opposite direction towards Woodinville. We ended 20 miles, sprinting the last 0.25 mile at 6:50 min/mile, right to the door step of  the Redhook Brewery. Coincidence or careful route mapping? I’ll let you ponder

20 miles in 3 hours. Not too shabby! If I play my cards right, I might just break a sub 4 in Napa.

Eric, my knight in shining dirty armor Corolla, was waiting in the parking lot to join us for lunch. Sweaty and thirsty we rolled into the brewery (good thing we had a booth all to ourselves away from the crowd )

One of the best recovery meals -  turkey burger on whole wheat bun, avocado, a side salad and a glass of Redhook’s Blonde Ale.

In case you ever doubt the runner’s high, here is a glowing picture of me to prove it

During lunch we shared stories of our past races and travel experiences for awhile, until hunger was contained and hot showers become the next priority. We piled into Eric’s car and headed back to the gym to drop off Eduard and Wendy. We had such a great time that we are doing it all over again but a bit shorter distance of 15-17 miles. Turns out while bragging about what an experienced runner I’ve become and how I no longer need to carefully plan my training schedule, I somehow missed a whole week of runs. My plan jumped straight from Jan-15 to Jan-29th. Now I have a week of improvising with a few distances before I begin to taper down.

On Sunday, I was surprised how good I felt. I was not starving (which is usually what happens the day after a long run). A larger recovery meal is definitely the way to go. After a quick breakfast of banana wrapped in a tortilla smeared with PB, I headed to the gym for an easy cross training session on the elliptical machine and straight to yoga for a long stretch.

With the workout out of the way, it was time to prepare for the big game. We were expecting a few friends over, so I prepped easy and as nutritious snacks as you can get away with on Super Bowl Sunday: corn cheese puffs, pistachios, honey pretzels, pita chips, veggie platter, and hummus.

Since the Super Bowl starts at3:30pm PST, we usually order sandwiches for a late lunch. This time we tried a sandwich platter from the Local Market which conveniently included free delivery.

The bread was a bit too dense for my liking, but I was impressed with the condiments platter – spicy Dijon mustard, dill pickles, and caramelized onions.

 

We are not big football fans. The Super Bowl is the one game we watch a year and that is mainly because of the funny commercials. The winner of this year’s funniest commercial goes to Dannon:

A couple of other good ones you might have missed if you were too focused on the game

[Jane asks]: What was your favorite commercial?

When you make it, fake it

Healthy eating in a nutshell is pretty simple – eat minimally processed natural clean foods, just like our ancestors used to do.

But there is only so much oatmeal, salad, chicken, steamed veggies and brown rice a girl can take. Once in a while Most of the time, I crave comfort foods – burger and fries, pizza, cheesecake, etc.

Instead of driving down to the nearest greasy joint to calm the “must have fatty food now” shakes, I say – make it yourself (with a healthy spin) to stay within your eating goals while satisfying the urge. I searched long and hard Thanks to Amazon reviews and recommendations, I found three cookbooks that got rave reviews for turning American classics into nutritious and sensible menu options.

Given that I’ve been on the Biggest Loser kick lately, it’s not surprise that the first book I purchased was the Biggest Loser Cookbook.

Amazon delivery is super-fast and in a day I had my cookbook waiting on the doorstep. I decided to start out with something easy and fun – BBQ chicken pizza.

Ingredients:

• 1 large whole wheat tortilla (my favorite is La Factory low carb tortilla. Only 80 calories, all natural and high in fiber and protein)
  
• 1-2 TBS BBQ sauce (The trick with BBQ sauce is that many brands overload it with sugar, but if you check the nutrition info you can find one that is less than 7g of sugar per serving.)

• 3oz Cooked chicken breast (I buy pre-packed grilled chicken breast strips from Trader Joe’s for my salads. They have no added preservatives and are low in sodium)
• ¼ of red onion sliced
• ¼ cup of shredded light Mozzarella cheese (Trader Joe’s has a great selection of low fat cheeses that are still full in flavor).

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• Place the tortilla on a baking sheet
• Spread BBQ sauce on the wheat tortilla
• Top off with chicken, red onion and ¼ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• Bake for 8-10 minutes until the cheese is melted

Cut up in 4 slices and serve with a side salad. Delicious and nutritious. The whole meal is under 350 calories!

The other book that I got was by Hungry Girl.

I’ve checked out thehungrygirl.com numerous times, and the crustless pumpkin pie I made in the fall was her idea. I have my eye set on the Cannoli Cones, so stay tuned how those turn out.

The last book I selected but have yet to purchase is by Rocco, a celebrity chef who made a couple of appearances on the Biggest Loser. He used to be overweight as I expect any chef with passion for delicious food should be (if you see a skinny chef, they’ve got to be fake or their food sucks). At some point Rocco had a revelation that he wanted to lose weight, so he revamped his cooking style to cut calories and fat but apparently not the taste.

[Jane Asks]: What are your favorite cookbooks?