First Donation!

Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!

First donation!
$100! Whoooo! Keep it up, people :-D

Thanks so much. It's very appreciated by all.

In the Spirit of Christmas: Help End Childhood Obesity

Don't end up like this tired puppy! Get moving!

As you know, I'm all signed up to run my first marathon in a little more than a month. And I've been thinking about it; while I'm not specifically signed up to run it for a charity, I'd like to. And I have a cause that's close to my heart.

On the right you'll find a link to my fundraising page. As a high school teacher in the Bronx, I see first hand the effects of being overweight. My students lack energy, ambition, motivation, but more importantly confidence. Plus, major health issues that keep them out of school. And it's not always just their health issues. Sometimes it's their parents, their brothers, their sisters... And they don't have to look unhealthy to be unhealthy. In NYC, tomato paste is a vegetable. Most of my students don't even EAT lunch. They skip it entirely because the food offered is so lousy. So they're tired, irritable, and malnourished. Last year, I would share my vegetables with students at lunch, and many times my high school students would ask me what the vegetable was, because they had never seen it before. Something as simple as a bell pepper.

Help fix this. I've chosen Dean Karnazes' foundation, Karno's Kids, because I know they money will go directly to the cause. One dollar can buy you a cheeseburger, or it can help get a kid moving. Thanks!

Find out more: http://www.facebook.com/karnokids

Dark Chocolate Almond Milk & the 8 Mile Eminem Could Only Dream About

Before the Giants game, a very exhausted Bradford and I settled in for our 5 mile run. But the weather was nice. Really nice. And we felt good. Pretty good. And we had missed our 8 mile run this weekend... so we figured, hey, even though we just ran 2 miles uphill, let's see how far we can go. So we ran. To the seminary. Then to Toys R Us. Then to Sarah Lawrence. Then down Kimball to Yonkers Ave. Then across Yonkers Ave to home. All in all, about 8.14 miles. Sweet! Didn't even break a sweat. Came home and had a delicious salmon burger with cheese and onion, ketchup and olive oil-mayo with that delectable chickpea tomato soup I had made the other night. So good.

But, what I'm really digging these days is dark chocolate almond milk. Silk Pure Dark Chocolate Almond Milk to be more specific. Rich and thick, it drinks well alone (tastes almost exactly like chocolate milk) and really good in coffee in the morning. With more calcium than milk, it's better for you without the dairy. Plus, it's fortified with all sorts of good stuff. And no cholesterol or saturated fat. Only 120 calories per serving. Drink, ON!

(Picture from: http://www.foodservicedirect.com/product.cfm/p/1935317/All-Natural-Dark-Chocolate-Pure-Almond-Milk.htm)

Healthy Soups: Tomato Chickpea Pesto and Lentil and Black Bean

Since the weather is supposed to eventually get chilly (maybe), I'm sharing two soup recipes I found in Runner's World magazine that are absolutely fantastic, hearty, and a perfect light meal that seems heavier than it is. In other words, perfect for the holiday season when you don't want to pack on the Christmas ten.

First, the tomato chickpea pesto soup. (Doesn't the name just warm your heart?)

In a pot saute 1/2 a diced onion in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until soft. Then add one minced garlic clove and cook for 30 seconds. Very aromatic. Proceed to add 1/3 cup water and one 28 ounce can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes. (I used diced, and it was still awesome... make sure you actually find fire roasted. It makes all the difference for this soup.) Bring to a boil and then ad 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste. You can puree the soup here, I didn't because I don't own a blender. Again, still awesome. I actually like texture in my soup anyway. Then add one 15 ounce drained can of chickpeas. Cover and simmer 10 minutes and then serve with a dollop of your favorite basil pesto.

Buono appetito!

Ok, for the second soup, again very simple. Lentil and Black Bean.

Start the same way: chop 1/2 an onion and saute in a pot on medium heat until soft. Then add the garlic clove. But this time, add 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon paprika and let it saute for one minute.

Now add 2 cups of vegetable broth (I used chicken broth, still terrific) and 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. Bring this all to a boil and add 1/2 cup of red lentils. Cook approximately 25 minutes (when the lentils get nice and tender) and then mash 1 cup of trained black beans and add to soup with 1/4 teaspoon salt, juice of one lime, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Garnish with cilantro. I served it with reduced fat cheddar and a dollop of fat free sour cream. Awesome.

LaGrangeville, NY: 25K Turkey Trot

Bradford and I awoke at 6am this morning so we could drive an hour and twenty minutes north and endure a 15.53 MILE race in temperatures peaking at 28 degrees Fahrenheit at starting time (8:30 am). Armed with my hydration belt, race number, and my new long-sleeved awesome technical shirt locked securely in the car, we trudged to the back of Arlington H.S. to meet our fate.

And along the way, we overheard conversations of mid-40 year old women discussing their upcoming ultra (after completing 2 marathons in 7 weeks), we saw an approximately 11 year old kid toe the line, we read tons of "marathon" shirts, and most insanely, we saw a guy who intended to run the entire 15.53 miles BAREFOOT.

Right. I had sneaked a peak at the race results from last year, and everyone who ran had SICK times. My one goal was simply not to be last. I didn't want to be the person causing some volunteers to miss family time on Thanksgiving because of my slow-poke straggler ways.

We began. And quickly found ourselves at the very back. People took off. Crazy.

And then, the HILLS.

This "race" was almost entirely uphill. With sick, twisted, mountains at mile 6 and 8. Then, right after mile 12, came the steepest, most grueling, epic mountain road ever. It was the only time we walked. We were not alone. Everyone, except this one guy who looked about 70, walked. The 70 year old cruised straight on up. Kudos, man, kudos.

I ended up naming other participants along the way. We had Becky, Jess, and Bob. It kept me going. We ended up passing a bunch of people, but there were way more people ahead of us. Old man and old lady crushed us for sure, because we saw them pass us, and then kept them in the horizon. "Jess" annihilated us, we barely beat "Becky" and "Bob" was behind us, then ahead of us, and then finished about two minutes behind us in the end.

The last few miles were a blur of, hey, we've never run more than 13.1 before. High five. And then eventually, finally, we crossed the finish line, holding hands raised above our heads (Brad's idea) and smiling like we just cured cystic fibrosis.

They handed us a zip lock bag with a banana and two cookies, and a Poland spring. Then, without pomp and circumstance, we headed home. The shower was glorious.

Oh, and the time? Considering all the hills, I was very happily surprised with 2 hours and 31 minutes and about 34 seconds. Which looks like: 2h31:34

I for one cannot wait to demolish the turkey, squash, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pie that awaits. And sit and watch football. Ah, that's what I'm thankful for. New picture! This picture was taken at the very end of the run. As you can see, I'm smiling. This is why they say looks can be deceiving. ;)

Thanksgiving

Things I am thankful for:

*My horse



Just Kidding. In no particular order:

*Vacations

*My family

*My friends

*My puppy

*Having a job

*Being able to run/my health. Lagrangeville, NY 25K tomorrow morning! (15.53 miles!)



What are you thankful for?

Eating Out-Gaining a Yard, Quite Literally: The Yard House!

In New York, the law requires restaurants to put the caloric count on the menu next to the food item.

With that stated, tonight, Brad and I went to the Yard House, the very first one (and brand spankin' new) in NY, which is touted as a sports bar with over 100 beers ON TAP (over 200 at some older locations).

But wowee. It's amazing when you actually SEE the calories listed at restaurants. Restaurants who don't think twice about adding extra oil, or butter, or fat. Pretty much everything on the menu was over 1,000 calories per serving. Combine that with two beers, an appetizer, dessert, and you realize that ONE NIGHT, ONE MEAL of eating out provides you with ALL the calories (if not MORE) that you need in ONE DAY. Ahhhh! That's scary. Crazy America. And I also recently learned that one 8 oz filet mignon will also prove you with approximately 1,300 calories. Plain. Sigh.

Thank goodness for the side of broccoli!

But my seared ahi tuna was delicious and perfectly cooked, and I had a side of plain broccoli instead of the French fries, because Brad and I split the truffle shoe string fries as an appetizer. Quite good. The tuna was cooked with vidalia onions, and placed on Rye bread with spinach, swiss cheese, a delicious sauce and tomatoes. I despise rye bread, so I took that off, but it was still incredibly tasty. Brad's turkey burger was quite flavorful as well. We both washed it down with a half yard (2 beers) of Sea Dog Blue Paw Wild Blueberry beer. Yum!