I get it!

So after four months, I think I've finally mastered the "long slow run" concept. For the last two weeks, my long runs (7 and 8 miles, respectively) have been relaxed and totally fun. Once I stopped trying so hard, I think I was able to just naturally back off on my pace. The next step is to try to remember to look at my watch to verify that my pace is consistent. (I feel like it is, but I never remember to check mid-run.) I've also gotten back to working in faster segments on shorter runs and finally got my 10-minute mile back consistently. (I had temporarily misplaced it in the move/achilles annoyance/school starting again chaos.) I found my running groove again, and it feels great. :)

There's a 5k walk/fun run through Greenfield Village for Henry Ford staff after work on Tuesday, and I'm going to do it since I don't have class on Tuesdays. It sounds like fun, and I'm hoping to meet some other runners who can give me tips on good routes around here.

In culinary news, I pulled off a couple of stellar Cooking Light gems last week. They were both pretty time-consuming, but worth the effort.

• Curried chicken penne with fresh mango chutney--I was so happy this one turned out because I had to buy a couple of obscure ingredients and I despise dealing with mangoes. (I like the way they taste, but I very rarely find the effort worth it.) This one will definitely make it into regular rotation.
• Pear crumble with dried cherries and almond streusel--My brother was in town last weekend, so I made this when I took my grandma to my parents' house for dinner because pears are great this time of year and my mom and I have a thing for dried cherries. Everyone liked it, and I actually ended up cutting it into 15 pieces instead of 10 (and they were still plenty big).

I also devised a recipe for whole-grain pumpkin cranberry bars that I've been eating in place of store-bought granola bars. There's a booth at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market that sells these amazing fresh, stone-ground whole-grain flours (the one I have is a wheat, spelt, and buckwheat blend), so I came up with this:

• 1 1/2 c. canned pumpkin
• 1 1/2 c. whole-grain flour
• 1/3 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. egg beaters
  
• 1/2 c. ground flaxseed
• 2 T molasses
• 3 T brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 c. craisins
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• You just beat all the moist ingredients (add the flax here) and fold in the dry ones until they're just moistened/mixed in, and bake it at 350 until it passes the toothpick test. It made 12 bars and according to the online calculator I used, they worked out to be 120 cal/2 g fat/4 g fiber.
  

Sorry, no photo documentation. My camera, memory card, or computer (or possibly all three) is still being a brat.

Gobble, gobble!

That's the noise turkeys make, right?

I've found a suitable baby step on my way to half-marthonhood. A running store in Ann Arbor is sponsoring a Turkey Trot race in Dexter in November, and one of the events is the Iron Turkey Classic--it's a 5k followed by a 10k. Since I'm already able to do 7 miles at a time, I can reasonably build up to 10 miles by adding a mile every other week until the event. I think it will be good.

This week's cook-ahead meal is black bean and quinoa chili. No picture this time because for some reason, I can't get the camera to cough it up. Grrr. Anyway, because I can't seem to leave recipes as they're written, I ended up using three cans of beans--one kidney, one black, and one pinto--adding lime juice, and adding a little cayenne pepper. This is another keeper, but I'm not going to need to make it again for a long time because it made a *ton.*

Pain in the butt. ;-)

Today was the first day of my new spinning class and because it's been six weeks since I've done it, I kind of forgot about the need for padded shorts. Owww.

The class rocked and I really like the instructor, though, so I'm happy about that. I knew it would be a keeper when "Fat Bottomed Girls" came up on the playlist.

Running in the rain and fun with legumes...

It was pouring outside when i wanted to run at 7:00 this morning, and I was not pleased. The Y doesn't reopen until tomorrow, so my options were as follows:

• Go to the gym on campus when it opens at 10. (I didn't want to wait that long, nor did I want to drive 20 minutes there and back.)
• Wait out the rain. (I did this until 8:30, but started to lose my motivation to go at all.)
• Bail entirely. (Not an option, since I took Saturday off entirely.)
• Get wet.

So I went in the rain. I put the ipod in its regular holder and then a ziplock bag, and then tucked it between my sports bra and the shelf in my tank top. (Yep, I'm classy!) I wore old shoes, bit the bullet, and headed out. I made it all the way through the seven miles I wanted to do, and it didn't actually become completely miserable until about the last mile and a half when my shoes were making "splorsh" noises with every step and it was raining off the brim of my hat.

In other fitness-related news, spinning starts on Tuesday. Yay!

My latest culinary adventures have involved meatless one-pan cooking. Meatless just for variety and one-pan for ease of cooking ahead and toting to work/school.

Last week's dish was homestyle lentils with barley. I modified a recipe from the WW Ultimate Flex and Core Cookbook. (I added mushrooms and used barley instead of the pasta it called for because I already had some cooked barley in the fridge). It was my first time trying my hand at lentils, and I was happy with it. I'll definitely make it again. Photo documentation:


This week, I'll be toting around chickpea curry with yogurt from a Cooking Light recipe. I had to take some liberties with the spices because I couldn't find cardamom seeds or cumin seeds. I used ground instead, but I think I used too much. This stuff has some serious kick. I liked the bite I tasted today, but it remains to be seen whether I can get through a whole serving. ;-) I added couscous and spinach, and used fat-free Greek yogurt (I just discovered this a couple of weeks ago, and it's gooood--super creamy!) instead of full-fat regular:



I've also discovered the world's perfect breakfast. I cook the following in a crockpot on Sunday, and reheat it in the microwave when I'm putting on my makeup in the morning:

--1 cup steel-cut oats
--2 eggs, beaten
--1/2 cup egg beaters
--4 cups skim milk
--1 tablespoon sugar-like substance (I used honey last week and maple syrup this week.)
--2 oz almonds
--1/4 cup dried fruit (Last week was golden raisins, this week is craisins.)
--cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg to taste

Funny story and funny link.

I keep forgetting to post about my little masters swimming adventure on Wednesday.

The pool at the Y opens at 5:30 during the week, but I had been rolling up at 6:30 because it's usually pretty crowded right when it opens. I had to be at work at 8:30 on Wednesday, so I got there right at 5:30. I was the first one there, so I hopped into the first lane and went about my business. (I should point out here that there's only one lane divider rope that just sort of divides the pool in half, and people just use the lines on the bottom to stay in their "lanes." Good thing I finally picked that skill up!) So anyway, I'm in the first lane and about 15 minutes into my swim, another woman (whose name I eventually found out was Sue) got in the "lane" next to me and asked if I wanted to swim circles or back and forth. I said I'd rather do back and forth because I wasn't used to doing circles with other people, and she said that was fine. Ten minutes after that, two guys got in (so now there are four of us in the space of three "lanes") and sort of insisted that we do circles because one of them wanted to do backstroke. I offered to just get in a lane on the other side of the lone rope, and Sue said "no, I've seen you here before--you'll be fine with us!" At this point, I had no idea what the hell was going on, but I ended up swimming with them. Anyway, long story a tiny bit shorter, they were a masters swimming group that meets there every morning. If I had known, I would have picked a different lane to begin with, but it ended up being okay. They definitely made me kick my butt into gear, though, and Sue said I should join them for real. (Apparently, she joined the group by randomly ending up in their lane one morning too.)

This morning, the same lifeguard who was there on Wednesday was on duty and asked me how I liked swimming with the masters. I told her that I felt kind of bad about crashing their lane, but I didn't realize they had a standing thing going on. She said "oh, don't worry about it--they said you should start joining them!" The pool's closed for the next two weeks (grrr!), but I might consider it if going only once or twice a week is allowed. (Heh, and I'm pretty sure they don't know that I only know one stroke. :-p)

On another note entirely, here's a link to a great blog I found the other day: www.crankyfitness.com. Hilarious.

Change in plans.

I'm 99.9% sure that I'm going to opt out of the half marathon, and here's why:

• The whole tendinitis thing is an overuse injury. I'd rather be able to run consistently and run well than force myself to do this and make it worse.
• I don't think it's reasonable to go from a 7-mile long run (and I haven't even done that since before I moved) to 13.1 in a month. I think it would have been doable without the three-week break in the middle.

Rest assured, though, that I have a new plan of action:

• I'm going to sign up for the Oakwood Red October Run 10k on October 4. I know I can cover that distance, and it will give me something to aim for since I've never run an official 10k before.
  
• I'm going to do six miles this Sunday and keep my Sunday runs to that length for awhile, and build my two weekday runs up (or back up) to five miles each. (Slowly--adding a mile per week will keep me in line with the 10% rule. Once I get there, I'll work on adding miles to the Sunday run and maybe adding an extra short run during the week.
  
• I'm going to check into seeing a trainer to get a strength training routine.
• I'm going to be diligent about stretching.
• After I've built up a good, strong base (see bullet #2), I'll start a half-marathon training plan at the end of next April for a race at the end of next August.
  

Impressive!

Was anyone else able to catch the Olympic triathlon TV coverage? I'm watching it right now, and I'm amazed at these gals' ability to swim a straight line in the open water. (And damn, are they fast!)

The commentator is talking 10-12 seconds for the swim/bike transition. Wow.

Watching distance running, however, is kind of a snore. I tried to watch the women's marathon last night and the men's 10k earlier today, and couldn't get through more than ten minutes of either.

Back in action!

I just got in from five miles outside on pavement--no pain, no stiffness, no creaking. (I bagged making up the rest on the elliptical because the thought of being in the gym on such a nice morning was more than I could handle.) I considered going all the way to my six-mile turnaround point because I could see it from where I turned around for five, but I decided to err on the side of caution.

If I add a mile per week to my Sunday run, I can build up to ten by the race. I'm considering adding two next week since I was doing seven before I cut back and haven't been cutting back my overall activity level.

Yes!

Another week down...

I ended up sticking to my training plan this week, and just making up any miles I couldn't for-real run on the elliptical (going straight onto the elliptical from the track so I was still "going" the whole time without a break)--3 and 3 for 6 on Thursday, and 3 and 5 for 8 yesterday. I think 8 miles is my threshold for needing something more than water or the essentially calorie-free Powerade electrolyte mix-ins I found. I still haven't found a non-disgusting flavor of Gatorade, so maybe I'll stop by the running store out here (I found one in Southgate--ten or so minutes away--but I haven't been yet.) and see if they have any suggestions.

Here's what this week looks like...

Monday--off!
Tuesday--3 miles (outside!), weights or core (probably core to save myself a trip to the gym)
Wednesday--swim
Thursday--3 miles running, 4 miles elliptical
Friday--bike, weights
Saturday--swim
Sunday--3 miles running, 6 miles elliptical

This week's cooking adventure consisted of hosting a barbecue for my family. The menu looked like this:

• grilled pork tenderloin with a store-bought cinnamon chipotle dry rub (Thanks to my dad, I also learned how to regulate the temperature of my grill. Mine's charcoal, not gas, so I thought the only settings were "lit" and "not lit." It turns out that you can make it less hot by closing the vents partway. Good to know.)
• buffalo-style green beans
• southwestern baked beans
• chocolate cheesecake (I used chocolate graham cracker crumbs because I couldn't find the pre-crushed Oreos and I was not about to scrape the filling out and crush my own. I also subbed Hershey's Special Dark cocoa for the regular cocoa.)

I was really pleased with how everything turned out, and everyone else seemed to like it too.

In totally unrelated news, I'm getting settled in here and and I'm slowly but surely learning my way around. (Heh, I no longer have to Mapquest or GPS my way to Meijer.) The Henry Ford called out of the blue the week I moved and said they had another part-time stack assistant position (which is what I interviewed for earlier in the summer) open up and they wanted to offer it to me! I, of course, accepted and I go to orientation on Thursday. I guess we get to tour the whole museum and Greenfield Village, which will be fun since I haven't been to either in years. I'm still looking for another part-time gig to supplement this one, though, which brings me to the next bit of unrelated news...

I went on an interview at the DIA (for a position in their research library) on Friday! I think it went well and I'm feeling pretty optimistic about it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Grilling adventures...

I totally forgot to post about my grilling fun over the last week. (I need to get it in before classes and work start again!)

The flank steak with cilantro almond pesto (click to see the recipe!) was stellar. I made the pesto earlier in the day and wasn't wild about it when I tasted it, but once it was actually on the steak, it was really good. I'd never had flank steak before, and I'll definitely be buying it again. I've already used the leftovers in a salad one day and in a wrap another. And yes, I still have three servings left in the freezer. Why can't stores sell steak in increments of less than a pound?

The beer can chicken was pretty much a disaster. I discovered that the lid wouldn't fit on the grill with the chicken standing upright, so I had to do some quick thinking and decided to just put a peach inside and grill it that way. I checked the temperature before I took it off the grill, and the thermometer read 180 like it should. I let the chicken sit for ten minutes while I grilled some veggies (asparagus and portabella mushrooms--yum!), and then cut it open. I discovered, however, when I went to portion out the leftovers that it was nowhere near cooked when I got past the first few slices. The pieces I had already eaten were cooked through, but I had to toss the whole rest of the bird because, ew. This was my third failed attempt at cooking a whole chicken (the other two were in the oven), so I think I'm done with that particular entree.

Boo, hiss.

So, the ankle. I thought it was all good after my first two-mile run last week. I did six on Thursday and it was a little rough, but not painful enough to make me stop or anything. On Friday, it was really stiff and sore again so I made an appointment at the student health clinic on campus. I had done some reading before I left (thank you, CADL) and was a little worried that it might be an achilles strain or tendinitis. I was supposed to do eight miles on Sunday, but I was nervous and only did four-ish. (I did, however, do the bike and elliptical to round out the whole 80ish minutes the eight miles should have taken me--I figured I should at least keep building up the cardio endurance.)

Long story longer, I was fine after the four on Sunday and fine after three this morning, but I went to my appointment anyway. The nurse practitioner I saw said that it's tendinitis, but that it was good that I'd taken the week before off and that I backed off after the six last Thursday. She said I don't have to back off from running entirely, but that I should keep it to three miles three times a week (and to try to avoid concrete) for the next two weeks and then to ease back up gradually after that. She also gave me instructions for icing it (which I had been doing anyway) and gave me some stretches to do. It turned out that she was a former runner and she's done the Crim and a few half marathons herself. She said that since I'm already at the point of doing seven miles, I should still be fine for Capital City even with the little break.

So. At least I can still run some, and at least nothing else is off limits. I think I'm going to do what I did on Sunday for the other days I have longer runs scheduled, and do alternative cardio to make up the rest of the time I'm supposed to be running. Everything I've read about long runs says that the point is endurance, and even though it won't be all running, I think it would still be beneficial to be working that whole time.

Long time, no blog.

So, um, it's been a busy couple of weeks. I managed to survive the move and my final (and got an A in the class!), and still get five workouts in. (You should have seen me studying on the elliptical--it was a good time.)

I ended up not running at all during moving week to give my ankle a break, but I did discover the wonder of the elliptical machine in the process. I've always been a little wary of them because I wasn't sure I'm coordinated enough (I am) and because it always looks like the machine is doing most of the work when I watch other people (it's not). I love it.

I joined the Y out here on Monday, and I think it'll work out great. It's less than ten minutes away, and their weight machines are hooked up to this program called Fitlinx. You enter a PIN when you start your workout, and there are computers on the machines that keep track of your sets, reps, and weight. They also tell you where to set the seats and where the top and bottom of your range of motion are. It is SO cool.

Here's how this week looked/is looking...

Monday--moving recovery!
Tuesday--2 mile run, 25 min elliptical
Wednesday--hour swim
Thursday--6 mile run (outside! yay!)
Friday--elliptical, weights
Saturday--hour swim
Sunday--8 mile run

I have a couple of grilling adventures planned for this weekend (beer can chicken and flank steak with almond cilantro pesto). I'll keep you posted on whether they turn out.

Aw, crap.

So I got up to run this morning, went outside and warmed up, realized I forgot to put on sunblock (yes, I wear it even when it's cloudy), came back inside and SPFed up, and found that it was raining when I went back outside. Grrr. Since wet feet didn't really appeal to me or my shoes and socks, I headed to the Y for a loooooong 7 miles on the treadmill. At least I know my pace was consistent, though. ;-) (And did you know that they automatically shut off after an hour? Because they do.)

This week is a cutback week for me, but I think I'm going to take even more of a break than the schedule sets (cross training instead of running). My ankle is still being fussy--it doesn't hurt when I'm running, but it hurts for awhile after and it's kind of stiff and creaky. (Plus, I don't think walking around Ann Arbor alllllll day on Friday helped. Duh--should've gone easier today.)

Monday--hour swim
Tuesday--schedule calls for 4 miles, but I'll do weights and stationary bike or do drop-in spinning (if I can find a suitably early class) instead
Wednesday--rest!
Thursday--I'll give the 4 miles a shot, but do something else instead if it seems like it's going to be rough
Friday--hour swim
Saturday--4 miles, maybe weights
Sunday--moving day. (Hauling boxes counts as cross training, right?)

In other news, I found this today:

http://www.krispykremechallenge.com

I'm simultaneously repulsed and fascinated. Apparently, you're not actually required to eat the dozen donuts to participate in the run--I would do the donut-free run just for the t-shirt and people-watching factor if it weren't, you know, all the way in North Carolina.

three random tidbits.

1. I did manage to slow my seven miles down yesterday, probably due to a combination of factors:

• slower music.
• gross humidity (it was only 70 degrees, but was it ever sticky).
• my ankle hurting toward the end.
• rain for the last third (I did see a rainbow, though!).

I wore my stubborn pants and finished the whole thing, though.

2. The prompt for the "homework" segment (listeners send in e-mail or voicemail stories on different topics) on All Things Considered tonight asked for stories about facing down a fear. I think I'm going to submit an e-mail about the whole bike-riding escapade.

3. Has anyone ever gone to the Playmakers sidewalk sale? I think I might go bright and early Thursday morning--is the shuttle bus really necessary?

I was poking around on runnersworld.com while I was covering the reception desk at my internship today, and read up on pacing. My schedule has paces listed and they're quite a bit slower than what I can do, but I didn't realize why until I started reading some of the training articles. I've been doing my long runs and some of the easy runs too fast (not necessarily on purpose--I just have trouble gauging), so tomorrow I'm going to really concentrate on slowing it down. I made another playlist with some slower but still steady/driving songs, and I'm going to try the one-breath-for-two-strides thing. If that doesn't work, I'll probably end up playing around with a treadmill to see if I can figure out what it's supposed to feel like that way.

This week's plan...

Wednesday: rest!
Thursday: 5 miles, weights
Friday: spinning with Linda, abs
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: hour swim
(I might have to swap Saturday and Sunday if it's raining when I wake up, but I'd really rather not. I'm hoping I get out early enough to beat it.)
Monday: spinning, weights
Tuesday: 2 miles, 40-45 min swim

Further Proof of My Geekiness, or Another Reason to Love NPR

I heard this story on All Things Considered tonight. It's about how Eugene, Oregon became Tracktown USA, and they talk to an archivist at the University of Oregon who put together an exhibit that's running in connection with the Olympic trials right now. It doesn't look like there's a transcript on the site, but it's worth a listen if you have a few minutes.

Wednesday: rest day
Thursday: 5 mile run (The schedule called for 2 miles at a 9:05 pace with half-mile recovery jogs after each. I did the other two miles at 10:00.), weights
Friday: bike ride (I haven't decided where, but I should probably figure that out before I go to sleep. :-p)
Saturday: hour swim
Sunday: 7 mile run
Monday: spinning, weights
Tuesday: 2 mile run, half-hour swim if it's not too crowded

This morning's run was challenging, but good. I didn't think I was going to need the full half-mile on the recovery jogs, but I did.

Last weekend's culinary adventure was tempeh, vegetable, and parmesan stuffed peppers. I don't like rice, so I subbed quinoa for the brown rice. I also subbed mushrooms for the chopped peppers in the filling. (Why stuff a pepper with more pepper?) I was really happy with how they turned out, but I think next time I'm going to do the baking part on the grill because it was hotter than hades in my apartment when I finished. This weekend, I'll be rocking a whole-grain blueberry cobbler to take to my parents' house and a buttermilk marinade recipe I picked up in one of my meetings this week.

Oooh, and I found a good time to swim at Parkwood--9 am on a Sunday. I had a lane to myself for the whole hour I was there, the lifeguard had the oldies radio station on loud enough for me to be able to hear it, and nobody yelled at me. Score! ;-)

I love people.

Linda and I swam at the Parkwood Y today, and I had the following encounter with an extremely cranky old woman who was water-walking in the lane next to me when I got in. (I want to emphasize that she was in the lane next to me--we weren't even sharing.)

Ms. Cranky: Are you going to be splashing a lot?
My inner monologue: Yes, my goggles, noseplug, swim cap, and I are here to raise some hell at 7:15 in the morning.
My outer dialogue: Um, not excessively or on purpose.
Ms. Cranky: Well, stay on the other side of the lane because I don't like to be splashed.
My inner monologue: Lady, it's a POOL! What's wrong with you?
My outer dialogue: Um...uh, okay.

I recounted the story for Linda when she got there, and apparently Ms. Cranky also had a problem with how Linda handled her towel in the locker room. And do you want to know what Ms. Cranky was doing as we were leaving? She was clipping her toenails in the locker room. Apparently that does qualify as proper pool etiquette.

Plans and Playlists

So here's my plan for the week. Runs are from the "official" plan, and I filled in other stuff where it fit.

Wednesday--off.
Thursday--5 mile run (I'll have to do treadmill because it lists specific paces); weights if I have time.
Friday--hour swim.
Saturday--7 mile run.
Sunday--half hour swim; stability ball DVD.
Monday--spinning and weights.
Tuesday--2 mile easy run; yoga or abs.

I also tweaked the playlist I made the other day, and I think this one will work out nicely:

Let the River Run- Carly Simon
The Way We Get By- Spoon
Brother Love's Travelin' Salvation Show- Neil Diamond (Shush, it's a guilty pleasure.)
Pump it Up- Elvis Costello
Reach for the Sky- Social Distortion
Shame on You- Indigo Girls
Runnin' Down a Dream- Tom Petty
Tipping Point- Langhorne Slim
The Distance- Cake
Scared Song- Brothers Creeggan
Radio Nowhere- Bruce Springsteen
Eight Easy Steps- Alanis Morissette
Up Around the Bend- Creedence Clearwater Revival
The Warrior's Code- Dropkick Murphys
Candyman- Christina Aguilera (Yep, another guilty pleasure.)
Firefly Ride- Ingram Hill
Great Escape- Guster
Beautiful Stranger- Madonna
Banditos- The Refreshments
Lala- Ashlee Simpson (...and one last guilty pleasure.)
Falling for the First Time- Barenaked Ladies
Going Home with You- The Alternate Routes
Next to the Last Romantic- Josh Ritter

Things I learned this weekend...

1. I need to remember to wear a hat and/or sunscreen when I run outside. I didn't do any serious damage, but my cheeks and arms are a little pink.
2. The playground at the elementary school in my neighborhood is a great place to stretch. The monkey bars are perfect when I need to hold on to something to keep my balance. Walking through the wet grass and mulch in my good shoes made me twitch a little, though. ;-)
3. I finally managed to get the hang of making my quads do the work when I'm riding Thor. I don't know when or how it finally clicked, but I was definitely doing it (and keeping my heels down most of the time!) when I rode on Saturday. :)
   

I did seven miles this morning accompanied by a brand new playlist, and it was fabulous. (Linda and Kathy--I'd be happy to make copies for you, but I should warn you that I was a little less careful about lyrics on this one. It's not too horrifying, but I wouldn't play it around kids or easily offended grownups.) My schedule calls for cross-training tomorrow (spinning class!) and two miles on Tuesday. It also calls for tempo runs and speedwork in the future, which I need to figure out. I can obviously do it on a treadmill (ick!), but I'm not sure how to change/gauge my pace on my own. I'm hoping to sneak in a little reading time tomorrow afternoon to see what I can learn.

Since it's difficult to take pictures of myself running, I now present some photo documentation of my culinary exploits today.

Date and flax muffins--I made these with some freshly-ground multigrain (buckwheat, spelt, and one other kind of grain that I can't remember right now) flour that I got from the Okemos farmers market on Saturday, and the only added fat is the ground flaxseed. (Other ingredients are egg beaters, lowfat buttermilk, molasses, and spices.) I got the recipe from the sports nutrition book I've been reading, and I was pretty pleased with them. I was nervous because they look a little like hockey pucks, but they taste good and were surprisingly moist. Next time, I'm going to use dried cherries or cranberries in place of the dates, though.















Peach-glazed barbecue pork chops--I made the glaze myself (thank you, Cooking Light). It has peaches, chardonnay, white wine vinegar, molasses, chili powder, paprika, and a couple of other ingredients). I had it with steamed asparagus and sweet potatoes that I wrapped in foil and "baked" on the grill (the potatoes were done by the time I put the pork chops on, though):

...and we're off!

I think it's only fitting that my first post should be one announcing that I've put my money where my mouth is and officially registered for the Capital City River Run. I start my formal training plan Monday.

It's so on!