Pumpkin Jack

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Coco

Jack-O-Lantern Lore

Do you know why we carve pumpkins and call them Jack O’Lanterns?

Apparently, the tradition stems from Irish folklore, and the story of Stingy Jack.

Stingy Jack was a mean drunkard who liked to play tricks on everyone, including the Devil. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree, and then placed crosses around its trunk to trap the Devil up in the tree. The Devil struck a deal with Jack–if he would remove the crosses, the Devil would not take his soul when he died. This sounded like a good deal to Jack, so he removed the crosses and let the Devil go.

When Jack died, he stood before Saint Peter at the pearly gates of Heaven, but was refused entry. Saint Peter told him that he had been too mean and would not be permitted in heaven.

So Jack went down to Hell and met the Devil. But the Devil kept his promise and would not let Jack into Hell. Having been refused entry into Heaven and Hell, Jack was going to have to spend eternity wandering in the darkness.

Jack asked the Devil for help getting out of hell, and the Devil gave him a burning ember to light the way. Jack hollowed out a turnip he had in his pocket, and put the ember in that.
From that day forward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth and became known as “Jack O’Lantern.”

On all Hallow’s eve, the Irish made their own “lanterns” and put them by their front doors to keep evil spirits–and Stingy Jack–away. Originally, they used hollowed out turnips and other vegetables common in Ireland, but when they emigrated to America, pumpkins became the “lantern” of choice because they are bigger and easier to carve. Have you heard the story of Stingy Jack?

Do you carve pumpkins for Halloween?

Posted in Life | Tagged | 4 Comments

Favorite Fitbloggin’ Food Finds

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Coco

I loved trying new workouts at Fitbloggin’ but I also enjoyed being able to try new food products.

My favorite “new” find is Soyjoy–especially the new cranberry flavor.

The ingredient list is short, but sugar is listed first (12 g) and maltodextrin is listed as a “natural source of fiber,” so some people may not be impressed. I like that it has 140 calories (so many bars are closer to 200 calories or more), 4 g protein, and 2 g fiber (from that maltodextrin, I guess).  Most of all, I like how it tastes–sort of like a soft (stale?) biscotti.

I also really like the ZonePerfect® Perfectly Simple™ bars.

(Yes, I happened to get the cranberry flavor of this one too!)

As the label says, it has 10 ingredients and 10 g protein:

Soy Protein Isolate, Apple Juice Concentrate, Sweetened Dried Cranberries (Sugar, Dried Cranberries, Sunflower Oil), Date Paste, Roasted Almonds (Almonds, High Oleic Sunflower Oil), Dried Pomegranate Seeds, and Cinnamon Powder.

This is a higher calorie bar (170 calories), and has 2 g fiber and 19 g sugar, although here the sugar is coming from the apple juice concentrate and dried fruit. It is very satisfying, with large chunks of fruit and nuts held together by the date paste.

Attune Foods® even gave us boxes of cereal to try.

It’s a “flake” style cereal, but it has a nice crunch and a hint of a nutty flavor. The ingredient list is pretty short:

Organic Whole Buckwheat Groats, Organic Brown Rice, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Hemp Seed, Organic Maple Syrup, Sea Salt.

But, with 220 calories (and 5 g fiber, 5 g sugar, and 5 g protein) in a 1 cup serving, this is not a cereal that I am likely to keep in the house. I just like cereal too much and tend to want to eat 2 bowls at a time!

What new foods have you tried lately?

Posted in Food, Product Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Wordless Wednesday (The Doodle Edition)

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Coco


Do you doodle?

(You can follow me on Instagram — Got2Run4Me)

Posted in Work | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Packing My Suitcase–First Things First

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Coco

I didn’t have much time to bask in the glory of my Army Ten Miler results before I had to head to New York City for a conference. I knew my schedule on Sunday would be tight, so I did most of my packing on Saturday.

I hate packing because I hate having to decide what to wear in advance. Will it be hot? Will the meeting room be freezing? How casual is “business casual” at this event? Will those pants make me feel fat or fabulous?

I always know that I will want workout clothes, so those go in my suitcase first.

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I take the same approach when I plan out my days. I usually exercise first thing in the morning, so it’s the first thing I pack into my day. On days when that’s not possible, I try to figure out another place in my schedule where I can fit my exercise time.

For this trip, I hit the hotel gym at o’dark-thirty on Monday.

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(Is that random pot of bamboo stalks supposed to add some zen
to that cluttered corner of the gym?)

On the other hand, I made Tuesday a rest day–with a 5:45 am departure for an 8:00 am flight, a 6 pm conference call, and a full day of work in between, my schedule was bulging beyond capacity. While I couldn’t squeeze a workout into that oversized bag, I know that once I am home, my exercise routine will be the first thing that I unpack.

What is the first that you put in your suitcase?  

How far in advance do you start packing for a trip?

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , | 2 Comments

I Ran My Own Race (2012 Army Ten Miler)

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Coco

It is hard to write an awesome blog post about a race that bans cameras–and phones. I could have shown you how dark it was when I lined up at 6:15. I could have shown you the line of cute Army guys who made sure we stayed in our assigned corrals. I could have shown you how the sunrise gave way to a beautiful blue sky. I could have shown you the guy dressed as Captain America. But you’ll just have to imagine all that.

Here’s what I do have.

My husband left me this note before he left town to go camping with the guys.

I set my alarm for 4:45 so I would have time to walk the dog and
get to the race area plenty early to find parking.

I realized that I did not have to eat breakfast at 5:30 at home,
but could fix something to eat in the car.

(There’s a generous drizzle of maple syrup under those bananas!)

I was out the door by 5:45 and parked near the Pentagon by 6:00. I sat in the car until I was ready to go to the bathroom, made my way through the security checkpoint, and headed to the porta-pottys. You know you are too early when there are 30,000 runners and no lines!

I was in my corral almost 2 hours early, but the time passed quickly, even though I was alone and phone-less. (My friend had cancelled on Saturday, making this the 4th race I signed up to run with her, but ran alone!) At first I enjoyed the quiet of the morning. Then I enjoyed the building race chatter and energy. By the time the wounded warriors started at 7:55, it was a glorious morning–blue skies with temperatures in the 50s. I wasn’t able to do any sort of running warm-up–those cute Army guys wouldn’t let us run in the gap between corrals–but I did lots of stretching and some in-place exercises.

I was in the second wave, and our gun went off pretty close to our scheduled 8:05 start time.
I was near the front of my wave, so I was passed by a lot of people when we started, but I did my best to hold on to my own pace. I was pleased when I saw my first split time, and tried to hold on to that pace. I used my Garmin to keep my pace in the sub 8:45 range, and really tried to enjoy the day–the blue skies, the crisp fall air, the fun t-shirt slogans, the more somber “in memory of” tributes.

The course was familiar, although a bit different from previous years. The 14th street bridge came sooner than it has in past years, but it still sucked. It’s long (over a mile). It’s hot in the blazing sun with no shade. It’s paved with unforgiving concrete. While my legs might have been fresher when they started the bridge, they were not happy with having a full mile to go after they made it down the exit ramp. I knew the finish line was after one more overpass, but I didn’t know where it was, and it certainly didn’t come soon enough! I did my best to smile as I crossed the finish line–hopefully the photographers got a good picture. I was happy with my Garmin time: 1:26:05!

As usual, I found the crowds at the finish overwhelming. I really just wanted to get my finisher’s medal and get home. I found the shuttle bus back to the start area, and was at the Starbucks near my house by 10:00 am!

I had planned ahead for my ice bath, and had two 16 lbs. bags of ice ready in my freezer.

After my ice bath and a hot shower, I had to get ready for my next business trip.

I decided to wear my ATM shirt to the airport.

When I finally checked the mile splits on my Garmin, I was surprised at how even they were:

8:37, 8:36, 8:37, 8:24, 8:36, 8:35, 8:40, 8:19, 8:28, 8:29

My chip time was 1:26:02 — about 1 min 50 sec faster than last year!

Did you race this weekend?

Do any other races ban cameras/phones?

Posted in Fitness, Race Recaps | Tagged , , , , | 20 Comments