Three Things Thursday: Frozen Favorites (Healthy Frozen Drinks)

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Coco

I’m not a “food blogger” and my food photos may not whet your appetite, but I do have some favorite frozen recipes that I think are worth sharing. I promise they are all simple, nutritious and delicious. Just in time for summer here are three healthy frozen drinks!

“Frozen” Yogurt
2/3 cup frozen blueberries
6 oz. container non-fat yogurt (plain, or mild flavor like vanilla)
1 package Equal (if you use plain yogurt)
Blend all in mini-blender and spoon into bowl to serve.

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Watermelon Slushie
2 cups cubed watermelon (seedless or remove seeds)
8 oz (3/4 can) lemon-lime soda (sugar-free or regular) or sparkling water
1 Tbsp lime juice
crushed ice to taste

Puree in blender and pour into tall glasses to serve.  This is my favorite way to use up less-than-great watermelon.

 Clean-Out-The-Refridgerator Smoothie
6 oz. container of yogurt (any flavor) or 1 scoop vanilla protein powder + 1/2 cup water
3/4 cup diced fruit (usually strawberries slightly past their prime)
1 sliced banana (usually one day-short of being destined for banana bread)
1/2 cup milk
1-2 packages of Equal (2 if my son is watching–he likes it sweet)
Puree in blender and pour into tall glasses to serve.  This is not a unique recipe, but it is a family favorite!

We have been enjoying lots of smoothies since I got this single serving blender for Mother’s Day. (It’s OK, I asked for it!)

My son is making smoothies almost every day for an after-dinner snack–a great way for him to fill up on fruit and yogurt.

What are your favorite frozen recipes?

Posted in Food | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

God Is In The Aftermath (?)

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Coco

In the days since the devastating tornado tore through Joplin, Missourri, the news has gone from bad to worse. “Tragedy” just doesn’t do justice to what happenned. Seeing neighborhoods flattened and listening to people who lost their loved ones in an instant is heart-breaking to say the least.

I’ve heard people ask, “Where was God in all this?”

I’ve head some answer, “God is in the people coming together to help out.”

Hmmm.  So, God is in the aftermath?

I do believe that God works through people. I can see God’s love shining through when “complete strangers” pitch in to help others–sorting through the rubble, donating goods, volunteering for rebuilding projects, and giving financial support to relief agencies are different ways to “love thy neighbor” in a time of crisis.  It is heart-warming to see how many people will be so generous to help others in need–even those who have very little themselves give very much. Some people would say that these acts of kindness stem from good human nature, not God, but I’m not sure that the two are separable. So, yes, I agree that God is present in the love and caring that we show each other after a tragedy.

But where was God before and during the storm?

People who experienced a near miss may credit God for saving them. I would give thanks to God too, if my life were spared. But where does that leave the people whose homes were destroyed or whose loved ones were killed? Do they get to blame God?

I have said that my faith is not shaken by my own personal tragedies, because I know that people suffer every day, and their sufferring doesn’t weaken my faith. My faith would be selfish if I only doubted God if something bad happenned to me. But my faith has not been tested by the loss or devesation that some have endured. Maybe I would feel differently if my neighborhood was flattened or my family was torn apart.

I know these are timeless questions that have been asked throughout the ages. Some people say that all tragedy stems from “original sin.” Even if the victims are innocent, man’s sinful nature brought it on somehow. Others say that “the problem of pain” simply cannot be answered to human comprehension–only God can know and understand.

Personally, I can’t reconcile my belief in a loving, omniscient and omnipotent God with the tragedies that happen every day. When I try, I usually decide that I’d rather have God not be all-powerful (He couldn’t stop it) or all-knowing (He didn’t see it coming) than have God fall short on the love side of the equation (He doesn’t mind the anguish). Or, maybe the pain we see serves a higher purpose that we can’t (like a painful but necessary surgery a parent might put a child through–I’m pretty sure Rev. Rees drew that analogy in a sermon a while ago). But no “solution” I can come up with is really satisfactory. What I do know is that I don’t want a God that only shows up for the aftermath.

Have you figured out “why bad things happen to good people”?

Do tragedies shake your faith in God?

Posted in My Faith | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

The Final Stretch Before The Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Coco

I made it through 6 weeks of training for the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon–now all I have to do is make it through taper week.

I started the week with a watchless run. It was a bit harder and a bit farther than I intended, but I don’t think it was too much. I am planning another outdoor run on Wednesday to get more exposure to the heat and humidity, but it will only be 4.5 miles. Tomorrow I will do yoga and/or a light elliptical workout, and will probably do the same on Thursday. Friday I will take a walk. Saturday I will at most do yoga. How does that sound?

Here is a list of things I still need to figure out before Sunday (before Saturday, really!):

~ Stay at a hotel the night before ($300+) or leave the house at 5:00 am the morning of? 
I am leaning towards the latter, and probably will cancel my hotel reservation today.  Not just because of the money, but it’s a big factor.  The race start is at 7:00, they want people lining up at 6:30, and its about an hour away. I could get up at 4:30, leave at 5:00, and get there in plenty of time for a potty break. I get up at 5:00 on weekdays anyway . . . .

~ Use my Camelbak backpack pouch or just a 20 oz. water bottle in my hydration belt?
I am really on the fence with this one. The Camelbak can be annoying, but it’s not as bad as being thirsty or dehydrated. On the other hand . . .

~ Bring any mid-race fuel? If so, what?
I didn’t need anything when I did my 12 mile training run. If I have Gatorade in my water bottle that should be enough, but I don’t think I’d put Gatorade in the Camelbak. I think I have some Gu Chews somewhere that I could bring just in case.

~ Playlist
I need a new/updated playlist since none of my current ones are long enough. Thanks to Katy’s guest post on Heather’s blog I now know about a cool website with song lists keyed to a target pace (based on BPM) (http://jog.fm).

~ What to have for pre-race breakfast?
This is not a big deal if I leave from home and can decide at the last minute, but I should have a basic plan since I won’t have much time to spare.  Maybe a protein shake and a PB/J sandwich or granola bar for the road? Maybe a banana just in case? And coffee, most definitely.

~ Clothing?
I pretty much know what I’m wearing, and will remember a hat, sunscreen and Bodyglide. I also need to bring a change of clothes for the ride home.

~Anything else?

Update:

Zooma just posted this course overview. Why did I think it was an easy route?

We cross this bridge twice! At miles 4-5 and 10-11.

I will not be intimidated by another bridge . . . .

 

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Watchless Monday

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Coco

David from RunningBecauseICan (Twitter: @RunningBecause) has been promoting “watchless Monday” runs for a while now. I’ve had two reasons for not jumping on the bandwagon. First, I don’t run on Mondays. 🙂 Second, I’ve been training for the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon but only running three days a week. I didn’t feel like I could give up one of my training runs for a watchless run.

When I realized that the Memorial Day holiday would fall during my taper week, I promised that I would do a watchless run on Memorial Day. I kept my promise, even though I had rearranged my weekend schedule (for a scrumptious reason!) so that my Memorial Day run was my last “long” run before the Zooma Half.

I had second thoughts as I was walking out the door without my Garmin, but I decided that I had more to lose than win by monitoring my pace. Under the best of circumstances, a nice pace would boost my confidence as I head into race weekend. But there was so much that could go wrong. I was tired. It was humid (95% humidity). It was warm (71°F at 6:00 am). A slow pace would be disappointing, even if I had at least these reasons to explain it. So I left my Garmin behind and headed out.

But, I did have my iPod. And I did use the stopwatch feature just to monitor my total time. I wanted to run for about 75 minutes. I had decided on a route that I knew was more than 7 miles but less than 8 miles–I haven’t it run it often enough to know the exact distance. 

I felt pretty good during my run. My pace was solid but not too hard. My breathing was at a 3/2 rate. The heat wasn’t too bad, it just made the run feel like work. The last long hill was hard, but I felt like I recovered quickly for the last flat mile back to my neighborhood. When I was close to home, I checked the time on the stopwatch (1:05) and decided to take the long way back so I could run for a total time of 1:15. The very last short hill nearly killed me, and I stopped running a few driveways before my usual stopping point.

It felt so nice to walk into my air conditioned house! After I stretched and showered, I got a bag of ice for my feet–at one point during my run some plantar fascitis-type pain flared up in my left foot. I hope it was just a fluke, but I’m not taking any chances. Not this close to my Half, and not with three races on my calendar for June!

I did the math on my running shoes, and figured that they probably have over 300 miles on them (if I averaged 20 miles a week since February). I succumbed to the sale ads at Road Runner Sports, and ordered a new pair of the same shoes: Mizuno Wave Nirvana 7.

Womens Mizuno Wave Inspire 7 Running Shoe 

I also ordered a handheld Nathan water bottle so I don’t have to wear my hydration belt on short runs this summer.

Nathan QuickDraw Plus 22 ounce Bottle Hydration

By mid-morning, my lower back was really achy and stiff. I started to wonder if I’d run too hard, even though it didn’t seem that fast at the time. I used runningmap.com to plot my course (7.85 miles). When I entered that and my time (1:11) on DailyMile.com, it calculated my average pace as 9:03. Yep, that’s a bit fast for this hilly route, especially given the weather conditions.

I can’t blame my watchless run for running too hard. I doubt I would have made myself slow down if I’d seen 9:00 minute mile split times this morning. It does remind me that I’m not very good at pacing myself, and reinforces my plan to use my Garmin to help my pacing during the race.

Have you done a watchless run? Did you enjoy it?

Do you carry water on your runs?

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Giving Back Via Social Media

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Coco

This week I was showered with Twitter/Blogger love!

First, I got a set of ZippEarz headphones to try out:

A full review is to come, but the sound quality is great.

Then, PopChips responded to my frustration (made worse by all the #Fitbloggin PopChips lovin’ posts) at not being able to find PopChips anywhere by delivering this sample basket to my office!

I shared the love with some friends at work, and instantly created new PopChips fans .

But social media isn’t a one-way street of companies giving samples and coupons to “fans” and bloggers. Sometime you have an opportunity to give back via social media, and not just by writing a totally honest, unbiased, rave review.

I am running the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon next weekend, and had “liked” their Facebook page after I signed up. It’s been fun to see their posts as the race day approaches–today they even shared the 10-day weather forecast (low 68F/high 78F).

On Friday, they used their Facebook page to ask for help:

ZOOMA Women’s Race Series
We’re looking for 10 volunteers to help the ZOOMA staff in our Falls Church office at 6pm on Friday (5/27). We’ll be stuffing ZOOMA Annapolis goodie bags and eating pizza and candy – woohoo! Comment below if you can make it and we’ll send details. Kids of helping age are welcome!

I didn’t have any family plans , so I decided to go help out. I managed to finish my work by 5:30, and got to Zooma not too long after 6:00. As I was looking for their office, I knew I had found the right place when I saw the stacks of Luna Bar cartons nearly blocking the entrance! (They had just received 500 lbs of Luna Bars for the bags!)

There were about five of us during the two hours I was there, and we stuffed many, many bags with goodies. I won’t reveal the contents, but here’s a sneak peak at the bag:

Between this and the hydration project, I am becoming quite skilled at volunteer bag-stuffing.

I enjoy this type of activity because it’s easy to talk to the other volunteers as you are working. While we probably won’t become friends, it’s nice to meet other people and learn a bit about them. There’s just something invigorating about working-side-by-side with others towards a common goal.

And, I will never pick up another race bag without remembering that someone volunteered their own time to assemble my goodies. 🙂

Have you ever volunteered for a race?

What’s the best thing you’ve every gotten in a race bag?

Posted in Fitness, Life | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments