I'm baaack!

Well hello blog! I know it's been 6 months since I've written anything here; a lot has been going on!

I went back through and read my last blog about how I went vegan. Well 6 months later I'm still vegan (yipee!) and I'm still loving it (woohoo!) and I feel like I've got a lot of my protein concerns covered (yay!).

But, as in normal fashion for me blogging: I have some big news! I've registered and starting training for my first full marathon--the LA Marathon! I'm really excited about this because my father-in-law and I have committed to running it together. He will be sixty six the day we run it--which by the way is March 15, 2015. How freaking cool is that? He is such an inspiration to me--when everything hurts or I feel like I don't want to go out or work out, he's sending me some article or sending me an e-crumb about how he going out for run. So, we are running 26.2 together and I couldn't be happier.


So, I finished up my first week of training. I'm using Runner's World Run Faster program for intermediate runners. My week in review:

Monday: Rest Day. I could really get into that! I didn't do anything except walk the dogs.
Tuesday: 2 Miles Goal Pace, 2 Miles Tempo, 2 Miles Goal Pace. I am training at a 9:30 per mile goal pace, even though that might be faster than what my father-in-law and I run at...so I ran 9:30 for the first two miles, 10:00 for 1/2 a mile, 9:30 for 1/2 a mile, 9:00 for 1/2 a mile and 8:30 for 1/2 a mile, then dropped back to 9:30 for the last two miles. My hubby ran with me and we both felt great after the run!
Wednesday: 3 Miles with 1x400 Sprints at the end. I had to do this on the treadmill as it was too hot outside to run. I ran the 3 miles at a little faster than goal pace and then did the sprints and then stretched. I felt good.
Thursday: (THANKSGIVING) 1 hour run with 4-5 minutes of total uphill time. I live in Redlands, CA. We have a lot of hills, so running 4-5 minutes up hill at a semi-vigorous/vigorous pace was not hard to do!  The hill was good, and I pushed myself but not too hard to tire too fast. I ran past a lot of runners trying to burn some calories before their feasts as well as ran right into the Turkey Trot race--I'm sure some people thought I was cheating when I peeled off the course! The run felt good and the weather was beautiful.
Friday: REST! Although I did some walking around as I went shopping later in the afternoon and played with the dogs.
Saturday: (supposed to run 4 miles). Ran 8 miles so I could do the long run with my husband. We chose a challenging course and it felt great and I feel good today (the day after!)
Sunday (supposed to run 8 miles). Using this as an extra day of rest. But I did walk about 3 miles total and took some opportunity to stretch out my back and legs a bit.
Total Mileage for Week 1: 23 miles. 

I feel good after my first week. The second week is almost an exact replica of week 1 with the exception of the long run...it's increased to 10 miles.

So all in all, I'm doing really good and feel great!

So until next time--

Here is a recipe to share (I just made this tonight and thought it's definitely worth sharing). I got this from This Vegan Girl and it was AWESOME! Don't get turned off by the pureed veggies. It was OUTSTANDING!


Vegan Mac and Cheez
Serves 4

1 Package of Pasta (I use Trader Joe's Brown Rice Penne)
3 small sweet potatoes (diced)
1 handful of baby carrots (diced)
1/2 an onion (diced)
1 cup of cashews (soaked overnight OR if you have a heavy duty food processor or mill blade)
1/4 cup + 1 TBS nutritional yeast
1/2 cup + 2 TBS coconut oil
2/3 cup milk (recipe calls for coconut--I used almond)
Salt, Pepper, Paprika (and sriracha if you like spicy)
Broccoli

Dice sweet potatoes, onion, and carrots and pay fry them in oil of your choice (I used EVOO).
Boil pasta a little more than al dente
Make cashew sauce by milling cashews into powder or blending them after soaking overnight. Add in coconut oil, milk, nutritional yeast, and spices. Blend into a cream. Add in the sauteed veggies and blend all together until creamy. Taste and add seasonings as you like.
Combine with noodles and add broccoli and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
*I have leftovers so I am going to add breadcrumbs to the top of this tomorrow* 

:) maggie

A Run Through Redlands... A Run Through Hills

Sunday, April 27 marked the date of my 5th half marathon. A Run Through Redlands, in my hometown was a great setting for a race. We are able to walk to start line, I know the area (which is beautiful) and I don't have to drive a long way home to shower.

Now, I've ran this race in the 10K distance twice and that distance is tough. The course is fairly hilly. When I decided I was doing the half, I thought "great, I'll just train on the course and all will be well!" HA. ha.


Below is a map of the course elevation. The graph makes me a little annoyed because it definitely doesn't do it justice. This course is NO. JOKE. when it comes to the hills. The course quickly starts the uphill that last what seemed to be like the entire race! Literally the first 7.5 miles are uphill. Then when the graph looks like it starts downhill, it does, but then quickly flattens out and then again you are summoned up another hill. This kept on for the rest of the race. It. Was. Brutal. By mile 11 I had enough of the silly hills. If it weren't for a few women who ran past me encouraging me, I probably would have stopped!

Actually I really enjoyed this race, to be honest. Not only did I get a PR on the hardest course I've ever ran, I ran with some awesome people. Around mile 4, I met up with a man who classified himself as an "older" runner that was using Galloway's run/walk method. He ran for .9 miles and walked .1 miles. He ran the course in 2:02. We talked for roughly 3 miles on and off and he really encouraged me to keep going. Around mile 6 I met up with a girl who was running a similar pace and style I was. She looked exhausted heading up a hill, and I encouraged her; she repaid the favor to me when we hit another hill. This was great because had she not been there, I may have walked. Thanks girl. :) Then the last 4 miles, the entire town of Redlands got into the race. People were everywhere yelling for you to keep going.. "you're almost there", "you look great", "3 more turns". Anyone who has ever ran knows how important this is. Especially for someone like me who doesn't run with music. I rely on these people so thank you! One of the coolest things was that my family was waiting for me towards the finish line. They ran the 10k and 5k so they finished quite a bit earlier and there they were yelling and cheering me on. That was pretty emotional to be honest. Having your husband recognize the hard work you've put in for 12+ weeks coupled with running the hardest race of your life; you're exhausted and don't think you can keep going and then they're there. It's pretty great. Then as I cornered the last turn, I could see the finish line and the timer. The announcer called my name and actually said "Maggie Woodul... cheer her on folks, she just ran 13.1 miles" and the spectators did just that. What an amazing feeling it is. I'm not an elite runner by any means, and I'm not a graceful or majestic runner, but those people took the time out of their day to cheer me on. I finished with a time of 2:09:04. I was aiming for 2:05 but with the course and the hills, I'll take that time ANY DAY. It's still a PR and with all the beauty of the course and the gracious people along the course, 2:09 is a time I'd run any day with a smile on my face.

I used Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Plan for intermediate runners. I followed it basically to a tee. I really think it helped me. I did do yoga 1-2 days a week and spin class 1-2 days a week as well and I felt myself getting stronger in my training runs. I really liked this plan as well. I just added it to my cell phone calendar and it'd remind me what I needed to do that day. Simple.

After the race, I felt amazing! I felt like I could go run 2 days later, which in past half marathons I felt like I had to take an entire week off. So I attribute that to my training.

I can't wait until next year, I'm going to strive to get into 2:05 or faster!

What is your favorite half-marathon and why? What was your hardest race?

I've Gone Vegan...What?!

I need to be better about blogging on a regular basis. Not because I want a million followers, but because it's therapeutic. I never really kept a journal as a child or teenager so this is new to me, but I really enjoy writing and sharing. So even if one person reads this and it helps, inspires, or makes them think, I've accomplished something.

Since I've last blogged a lot has been going on. I read my last blog and it was about the half marathons I wanted to do. I have done all of those minus Mission Inn and am gearing up for my next half on Sunday (Run Through Redlands). I've been working out a ton and have started incorporating cycle and yoga in my routine and have really become a lot stronger and faster. Highly recommend it!

But, as the title suggests, I'm here to talk about a huge change in my life: I've recently (7 weeks ago) gone vegan. I've been vegetarian since my sophomore year in high school (if you're doing the math that's about 12 years) so this was a pretty logical step. One of my friends, Jen, inspired me to try it after she went vegan after being vegetarian for 7+ years. I won't go into the specifics of why I went vegan--I'm not here to preach--but I'm loving it and feel great.

One of my concerns was protein levels and working out. I'm still working through that and anticipate I will for awhile. It hasn't been difficult perse in the way of missing dairy, but it has been difficult when I eat out while I travel--I'm sure I will get used to that.

So, for this blog I thought I'd share a recipe that I tried last night. I got this from Love My Vegan Life blog. She has a lot of really great recipes!

Anyone who knows me knows I love Mexican food. I especially love quesadillas. The yummy melty cheese and grease is just scrumptious! However, when you take the cheese out, you're left with just the dilla which isn't as scrumptious! So, when I found this recipe I was all over it. My non-vegan husband even loved it!

Vegan Quesadilla

Trader Joes Wheat and Corn Tortillas (you'll need two per quesadilla)
Trader Joes Spicy Hummus + cayenne pepper, paprika, and chili powder.
Full Circle Organic Black Beans, drained and rinsed
Tomatoes and Onions (or whatever other veggies you want in there--corn, scallions, cilantro, mushrooms...)
Vegan Butter for the outsides




Butter the outsides of the tortillas.
On the inside of the tortillas spread the hummus (this acts like the cheese and helps keep the veggies in)
Place the buttered side down in the skillet (hummus side up), and add black beans and veggies.
Place the other tortilla on top (hummus side down/buttered side up) and grill like a normal quesadilla.

Disclaimer: mine were very messy!