Rungry

Since my half-marathon on Saturday (Yay, first one! Recap here), I've been "rungry." I figured I would be really hungry the day after the race, but I didn't think the constant hunger would last so long. Now that I'm planning to keep training and run a marathon, I can only imagine how much more hungry I'll become! Any advice for a first-time marathoner? Since I have a history of injury when I increase my mileage, I'm going to take it slow and try to cross-train a couple times a week. Oh, and try out some yoga and pilates.

I was able to stay home yesterday so I'm going to share yesterday's eats and some food prep for the week. One of the reasons I started this blog was to document my experiences as a new vegan cook. It's been so cool to see how far I've come in my cooking skills and how many new ingredients I've tried for the first time. And yesterday marked a big event...vegan cheese! I always hoped I'd become good enough at the vegan cooking basics so I could start branching out to things like dairy-free cheese and faux meat and yesterday it happened! Even if you aren't vegan, this cheese recipe from Vedged Out is amazing. I'm excited to see what Brett thinks when he get's home from his work trip and tries it out.

So without further ado...

Breakfast:

Overnight buckwheat groats, oats and chia seed parfait with strawberries

I soaked 1/4 cup buckwheat groats in water overnight

In a separate mason jar I soaked 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, 1/4 cup oats, 2/3 cup almond milk, 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and 1/2 smashed banana

In the morning I rinsed the groats in a strainer and mixed them in with the chia/oat mixture and layered it with strawberries.

Morning snack:

1/2 of a homemade lara bar

Lunch:

A whole wheat tortilla with a small sweet potato, black beans, sauteed bok choy and tomato

Afternoon Snacks and Meal Prep:

I made this Cheesy Vegan Spaghetti Squash and Broccoli Casserole and ate some for a snack

It was my first time using spaghetti squash and I'm hooked!

Vegan Cheese!

I made this recipe from Vedgedout and I will definitely be making it again

I had some of it with some pretzels

Dinner:

I ate some baby carrots before heading out to my work Christmas party.

I didn't take any pictures there, but I had salad and a vegan dish of puff pastry dough filled with rice and veggies. It was delicious!

And that's it! Check out some other eats and get new recipe ideas over at Jenn's website: PeasandCrayons. Have a great rest of your week!

Eat Consciously,

     Faith

Half Marathon Recap!!

Check and check. I've officially run a half-marathon! After two failed attempts due to injury, this past Saturday I was feeling healthy and strong and completed the 13.1 mile run at the OUC Half Marathon in Orlando, Florida. It felt so good to accomplish a goal I've been trying to accomplish since my junior year of college.

The morning of the race, Brett and I both woke up at 3:30 AM feeling pretty rested. I had originally set my alarm for 5, but I woke up excited and after lying in bed until 4 decided to just get up. I ate a breakfast of overnight oats with chia seeds, oatmeal, cocoa powder, banana and almond milk. While eating I started stretching out my sleepy legs and didn't stop stretching until I needed to get dressed and pack a few things before heading out the door. 

It was still pitch black outside when we left the house at 6. We played some pump up music and were at Lake Eola before we knew it. We found parking pretty easily and had about 40 minutes of free time before the race started. We headed straight to the port-o-potties because the lines were extremely long.  Brett brought my road bike so he could get around the coarse easier and cheer me on as much as he could during the race. I wanted to wait as long as possible to use the bathroom before the race, so I watch the bike while Brett got in line. After about 20 minutes I started getting worried that Brett would take too long and that I wouldn't be able to go before the start of the race. I decided to get in line with the bike and I'm so glad I did. Brett took the bike from me soon after and I continued to stretch while waiting in line. About ten minutes later I still hadn't made it to the front of the line and the national anthem began to play. I was getting really antsy by this time.

I finally became my turn and I went as fast as I could and rushed to join the crowd of racers. There were so many people that I only weaved my way up to the 10-minute mile pace marker before the starting canon went off. Even though I wasn't able to start at the 9-minute mile pace marker like I had planned, I'm happy in a way that I didn't have any time to wait around and get nervous. The craziness of waiting in the bathroom line and rushing to the start crowd of runners kept me from getting nervous about the race. In the end I even think it helped me meet my goal of a 8:30 minute-mile pace because I was motivated to catch up to the 9-minute mile pace runner.



The first mile went so quickly as I had to weave in and out of tons of people and try not to step on anyone's toes. By the second mile there was more space to run as each runner began to spread out and find their own pace. The weather was great and for the first five miles or we ran in shade because the sun was still waking up.

Brett was such an encouragement throughout the whole race. Because he had a bike, he was able to see me and cheer me on at so many different point during the race--almost every mile or two! He even recruited other people near by him to cheer for me. Hearing them yell always gave me an added boost of energy.



Around mile five I had the slighted feeling of nausea, but nothing too intense that it affected my pace. At mile eight, however, it got a little more intense. I have this odd problem with light when I'm running. If sun light is flickering because of trees or buildings and I'm constantly running in and out of sunlight, I get nauseous. Thankfully, I was still able to maintain a good pace. I just wasn't able to pick up my pace like I had hoped. It's so hard to know what causes nausea during races. Was it something I ate? Was it the strobe light affect from the sun? Was it just excitement? I so wish I could know so that I could prepare better for whatever race I run next.

I never once looked at my iPod during the race to check my pace. I had done the math before the race to figure out rough estimates of what my time should be at certain mile markers if I wanted to finish with a 8:30 minute mile pace. I was still close to my goal by mile 11 and just tried to maintain my pace despite the nausea. 

Over all my stomach was the only real problem I ran into. My hips started to get a little sore and my index toe on my left foot felt bruise, but they didn't hold me back.

The last mile was probably the hardest. My nausea was getting worse. I just kept telling myself that I was so close and I would be able to stop soon. With about a few tenths of a mile left, the most encouraging girl running behind me starting cheering me on and encouraging me to keep going. She may have been the reason I was able to keep up my pace.

I continued to run, trying to keep up with a girl in front of me. As soon as I rounded the last corner and saw the finish line I finally mustered up the will to increase my speed. I wanted to stop so bad and kept feeling like I might lose it, but soon enough I heard my name announced as I crossed the finish line. When I stopped I had a moment of dizziness, but felt pretty good. I got my medal and grabbed some water and orange slices. I looked for Brett as I walk off the nausea and was soon feeling pretty good.

After I found Brett was met up with another friend who had run the race and talked about our different experiences as we stretched. I kept saying, "I can't believe it's over." It amazes me how much time I spent training for this race and then, just like that, it's over! Of course, as soon as my nausea was gone I was talking about my next goal: a marathon!

The Results:
Place: 555
Age: 24
Div Place: 22
Gender Place: 147 out of 1763
Net Time: 1:51:14
Pace: 8:29.4

I just barely made my pace goal of 8:30! And I also got this souvenir:

I hope a marathon actually happens. As of right now I'm going to continue upping my mileage in hopes to run the Miami Marathon at the end of January. I'll also add in more cross training to decrease my chances of injury. The thought of running a half-marathon and more each weekend to continue training for a marathon is daunting, but I know I would be ecstatic to accomplish another goal so soon. I'll keep you posted!

Of course, Brett and his sweet self planned a restaurant for us to go to for brunch after the race. He found a vegan restaurant called Ethos Vegan Kitchen located in one of my favorite parts of Orlando: Winter Park. After getting our fill of vegan cinnamon french toast, sausage tofu burritos and chocolate soy milk, we walked over to the farmers market and picked up a bunch of fresh produce for the week. It was a great day to check another thing off my bucket list!

Any tips or advice for a first time marathon runner?

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

I was in Virginia this past week and, while it was cold, I was able to enjoy Fall! Crisp air, colorful leaves, and winter coats. Brett and I stayed with my brother and sister-in-law and we're busy all week with work-related stuff. On Saturday we had the day off. Brett went on a long hike while I stayed home to get in my 11-mile run. 

It was only 30 degrees when I woke up, so I ate breakfast and waited a couple of hours for the sun to come up before hitting the road. It was beautiful out and I felt great at first, but after only 4 miles or so I started getting pretty tired. For the remainder of the run my energy never seemed to pick up either. Other than a few short sections, my body seemed to be running on fumes and about half way through my joints started to hurt too. I felt like I was running an 11-minute mile. 

While it sounds like a horrible run, I still enjoyed it and felt accomplished at the end. Apparently I didn't run an 11-minute mile either but averaged about a 9-minute mile. I'm hoping to do more stretching and cross training this week to give my body a break.

I scarfed down this bowl of oats, cinnamon, banana and peanut butter as soon as I got back. Yum.

Now onto another delicious breakfast. Brett and I got back to Florida late last night and this morning I realized we didn't have much for breakfast. I found a recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip pancakes on-line, made some changes and "veganized" them and they turned out great! Brett left for work full and happy.

 Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

(Makes 2 servings)

 Ingredients:

· 1/2 whole wheat flour

· 1/4 cup oat flour

· 1/4 old-fashioned rolled oats

· 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

· 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

· 1/4 teaspoon salt

· 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

· 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

· 1 flax egg*

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· 3/4 cup almond milk

· 1 teaspoon lemon juice

· 2 tablespoons earth balance, melted

· 3 tablespoons semi-sweet ghirardelli chocolate chips

*To make a flax egg, whisk 1 tablespoon ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons water and let sit for about five minutes

Directions:

1. Start by making your flax egg and set it aside.

2. Next make the “buttermilk” by putting 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in a cup measure and then adding 3/4 cup almond milk. Let the mixture sit for about five minutes.

3. In a bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients from the whole wheat flour to the nutmeg.

4. In a smaller bowl, mix together the flax egg, vanilla, “buttermilk” and melted butter.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until well combined.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips.

7. Do your pancake-making thing and cook these pancakes on a greased skillet heated to medium heat.

8. This batter should make four hearty pancakes serving two!

Notes: Adapted from Dinners, Dishes and Desserts.

Eat Consciously,

     Faith

Mocha Chia Oatmeal

Brett and I finished up our work in College Station on Thursday morning and made the three hour drive to Dallas that afternoon. It was a great day full of delicious food and new friends. We even ate dinner at vegan restaurant. I had a barbecue sandwich with grilled seitan for dinner and followed it up with a warm cookie sundae, a.k.a. my first taste of ice-cream since I starting eating vegan in July! It was so satisfying and a great way to fuel up before my long training run in the morning. 

This picture was taken with my iPhone which doesn't do this deliciousness justice.

But Spiral Diner & Bakery's vegan cookie with ice cream and whipped cream sundae was fantastic.

I savored every bit. 

Speaking of my long training run, this morning's nine-miler went so smoothly. I might even venture to say it was the best run I've ever had due to a few factors: the weather was perfect, I wore exactly the right amount of clothes, I got to run around a beautiful lake and I felt great the entire time. It literally felt like I only ran for thirty minutes, when I actually ran for 75 minutes. And let me say, I am not a fast running. No matter how good I feel when I'm running, I always end up running just under a 9-minute mile average pace. Putzing as we call it. However, this morning I ran at an average pace of 8.22 miles/minute! It was so encouraging. 

Tonight Brett and I and four of his guy friends are heading to Oklahoma for two nights of camping. The forecast says that there is a 40% change of rain tomorrow. I, being a cold-wimp, hope that it stays dry. It's amazing how cold I've been during our week in Texas. I thought this big, dusty state stayed hot all year round. Apparently not. 

And this cold weather is really making me miss my morning oatmeal. So I figured I'd share one of my new favorite combinations with you: Mocha Chia Oatmeal. Enjoy!

Mocha Chia Oatmeal

(Makes 1 serving)

 Ingredients:

· 2/3 cups brewed coffee

· 1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I use unsweetened almond milk)

· 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

· 1/2 banana, thinly sliced

· 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional, but so worth it)

· 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

· Splash of Vanilla

· Pinch of sea salt

· Optional: chopped nuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips, more non-dairy milk

Directions:

1. Bring the coffee and milk to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the oats, sliced banana and chia seeds and whisk vigorously until there are no large banana chunks to be seen. Let cook for about 3 minutes.

2. Add in the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and sea salt and mix until well incorporated. Let cook about 2 more minutes or until it reaches your desired consistency.

3. Pour oats into a bowl and top with optional nuts and almond milk.

4. Enjoy your cup a joe and oats in one beautiful bowl!

Eat Consciously,

     Faith