Running All The Miles + Paleo Sloppy Joes YUM!

Running
Day 1...Loopty Loop
So it's the start of a new week and my legs are still sore from sharing 200 wall balls on Saturday from my workout.  And wall balls are one of my favorites (complete sarcasm).  But it's time to stop wishing I was magically a better runner and actually work for it after not running for two weeks.  It was a hot day Monday but it was more humid than anything.  With the weather suppose to reach almost 90 degrees that day I had a feeling I was going to regret running that afternoon, and almost decided to forego it.  But I knew it needed to be done and would also help with leg recovery. Yes I could run later in the evening when it wasn't so warm outside but running an out and back near my apartment ha gotten old and I can't stand all the traffic and once I leave work and head home I'm not coming back in the same direction, wastes gas.
The worst thing you can do when you're sore is just rest until you feel better.  So running was my answer to solve that problem.  I headed to the gym after work and changed my clothes and decided to repeat an old route I had taken with Fidget before. I want to make him proud for some reason but more make myself proud for sticking with it even though most days I don't want to run.  Running around post is peaceful, there's not too many cars around and the beauty of idea behind that place when you think about it was amazing.  I'm surround my men and women and their families who protect our country.  I don't know if anything could be more peaceful than that thought.  So off I went for a good mile and a half of semi flat surfaces besides jumping on and off sidewalks and then heading through a small neighborhood to make one last turn before hitting two long gradual hills and finish off right by the track. 
My legs started out aching but I can't remember when that feeling just left from my mind, maybe when I started wondering how long it was going to be until my first left turn because I knew exactly where I was at in my run at that point.  But once that feeling escaped my mind my run felt good.  I felt like I was holding a decent pace even though I wasn't sure exactly what it was.  I didn't want to use my run app, partially because I'm almost out of data for the month, and also because I didn't want to be disappointed at my pace not being where it use to be.  The focus was my current run and getting better, not the runner I use to be.
After my 2.5mi run I went back into the gym to redo the push presses that I thought I had messed up that morning. 
Push press (5x5 @ 75%)  my max currently is 52kg/115# giving me a 75% of 38kg.  Well for some reason after doing them I thought that it was suppose to be 75% of my 1RM split jerk (64kg) so I did them again giving me a 75% of 48kg/105#.  My was able to get the first two sets unbroken and then had to back up the last three; 4/1-4/1-3/2.  I knew my arms were pretty worn out from that morning so I couldn't be to upset with it and the fact that I was doing the wrong thing when I had done it correctly that morning.  I'm not sure what my mind was thinking after I finished up this morning.  But the fact that I went back into the gym to correct something I thought I had messed up even though I wanted to go home was an accomplishment in itself!
As of right now the debate is whether to run Thursday morning and lift in the afternoon or vice versa?  Decisions Decisions....

Day 2....Pike Field Trail

A view from the top.  Yes that small dirt road
is still my trail, more hills!

So I was dreading day two all week!  It was a trail run and I had packed everything I needed the night before constantly telling myself I was going to go.  At first I was concerned it was going to be too hot to run.   Then I was worried about it raining, but if it rained at least it would cool off a little bit.  Part of me was wishing it would rain when I left work so that I could postpone my run.  I had thought about just going ahead and postponing until Friday but after strength work that morning my body needed an active rest day and then a nap afterwork on Friday.  So after school I headed to the gym to change, taking my sweet time to get out of my car because I was still debating heading home and saying screw it all.  I was not looking forward to running it by myself especially after the first run.  It was horrible only for the simple fact that it was my first time running 4 miles in I don't know how long and running on a trail!  I wasn't looking forward to heading out and up that hill, especially solo.  But it turns out the run didn't feel that bad. I actually felt faster.  Along the way, before I hit the longest hill ever, some guys were out there in their truck having some fun slinging mud and dirt around.  Last time I wrote a blog after running that trail I said that I would take a picture looking like Rocky at the top once I did it again solo.  I wanted to make Fidget proud that I accomplished this the 2nd time without him!  

Well I didn't exactly do that but I was super proud of myself for making it to the top of this hill at what felt like a faster pace than my first attempt after trudging through soft sand I never stopped running either.  I always tell myself no matter how much it hurts or how tired your legs are it doesn't matter how fast you go, you could be feeling like you're moving like a grandma, just keep running.  I don't care if someone could walk the same pace as you're running because it's that slow.  Don't stop that running pace with your feet.  It only gets better from there.  After posing for a selfie accomplishment at the top of the hill I started back down.  Ahh down hill, passing the guys in their truck again.  Only this time they were trying to dig themselves out of a hole haha
As soon as I hit the water bridge I knew I was almost back to where I started and I couldn't wait.  Even though I was dreading this run today I was super excited I made myself go do it and that I did it solo.  It feels great pushing though those mental barriers.  I can't tell you how hard it was this week to make myself go run after work this week instead of going straight home!





Paleo Sloppy Joes
I've thought about making these several times over the past couple month and I'm honestly not sure why I hadn't tried to make them before.  I remember sloppy joes as a kid and at first when I was younger I didn't like them just off the fact that they didn't look good.  Yes, I was weird like that but I still have my weird things when I comes to food.  It's a nice quick meal to make, maybe taking only about 30min to cook the meat and other ingredients together.  Use what you like for the bun but every since I tried large portobello mushroom caps for a bun in replace of bread I've never looked back.

Sloppy Joe Mix
Cook time: 30min
Ingredients
1-2tbsp olive oil (I just poured some in my pan)
1lb ground turkey (use what you like but I stick with white meats)
1 small red pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
2tsp garlic powder
1tsp chili powder
1tbsp yellow mustard
1 can tomato paste (6oz)
5-6tbsp apple cider vinegar
pepper to taste


Directions
1.  Chop/dice red pepper and onion.  Place in pan and sautee until slightly translucent
2.  Add in meat and cook thoroughly (completely browned), breaking up large chunks of the meat.
3.  Add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined then let simmer for 5-10min until sauce is thick (mine already was thick after adding all ingredients) but this also allows the flavors to really come together.

For the Bun:
1. preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. 2 large portobello mushroom caps
3. flip stem up and remove (I cut mine out with a knife)
4. over baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray
5. place portobello mushrooms stem side down
6. Cook for 15min

The recipe I used as a guideline also calls for 1/2c beef stock, 1/2tsp liquid smoke.  I forgot about the beef stock (I would have bought chicken though), and didn't want to buy liquid smoke for just one recipe.  That is way see 5-6tbsp of apple cider vinegar.
Let me tell you, reliving this childhood classic was delicious and fun!  This is just a fun dinner to eat because we all know the meat won't stay in the sandwich.   Kind of like tacos, how the meat slides out of the shell and you get more on your plate to eat after and can make another taco haha.  I'm actually very happy about how these turned out if you can't tell.  The meat didn't turn out took thick or too runny, just right.  
With the mushroom caps, make sure to bring plenty of napkins/paper towels because mushrooms hold a lot of water so you will have juice running town your arms.  Mine actually wasn't as bad as when I use them for burgers.  But a great alternative to an actual hamburger bun.



~Side Note
So one of the good parts about living in a military town is when you're friends come back from deployments.  It's always great to see them return especially when they didn't tell you they were leaving.  I had one friend show up last week that I hadn't seen in months.  It was still warm last year (I think) when I saw him last.  I have one more person I'm hoping is deployed to come back and that he didn't PCS without tell me.  I hate when people I am close to don't tell me they are getting deployed or when training starts and I don't know if I can contact them or not.  It worries me when I can't get ahold of them or don't know they're leaving.
So here's to hoping one returns soon and then other is in training and can't be reached.  Either way I hope they are both safe.

My body is still completely exhausted by mid week with changing up my training schedule days.  Since I've had to switch my active rest day to Fridays I'm using the afternoon for naps.  This is the first week I've gotten one.  And let me tell you my body needed it.  I slept for 2 hours!  If only I had more time to take naps during the week.  Why couldn't we like naps as children.

~God Bless

"Training strength and endurance mentally, physically, and spiritually."

A Lot and Nothing All at Once + Cupcake Experimenting

So the weather has finally gotten warmer and I decided to take my blog writing outside this afternoon.  I want to say it's in the 80's as far as the heat goes while I'm home visiting my mom for Mother's Day weekend.  There has been very little but at the same time a lot going on in the past 2 weeks and I'll try to sum it up as best as I can without writing a horribly long blog for you all.  

Secret Church + Strawberry Pickin

Last week I had a quick not even a full day trip back to Charlotte.  My mom had gotten yourself and me tickets to an event called Secret Church with David Platt.  We didn't get there until around 730pm when the event started at 630pm.  So we only missed an hour of everything.  We were given a guide book with fill in the blanks to kind of follow along.  But man does David talk fast.  The booklet was filled with Bible verses that related to the discussion.  We we talking about praying for India and the Muslims in the country.  How some of them are persecuted for being Christians.  Mom and I left around 9pm.  He talks really fast and to think this thing lasted until 1230am.  And part of me wanted to leave because it just wasn't what I thought it was going to be.

So there is a place around Bragg called Gillis Hills Farms and every year they have strawberry picking and later n the year they will have a pumpkin patch. But ever since the strawberries have been ready to pick I've wanted to go pick some.  It's just simple fun to go out and find beautifully red strawberries and pick them off the plant instead of buying them in the store.  So the whole family headed out the strawberry picking farm in the Concord area, new nephew included.  He was 6 days old at that point.  The weather was disappointed as it was cold and a little drizzly.  But we picked 3 gallon containers full of strawberries.  Why I need that many straw berries is beyond me considering I don't even eat the things.  But my whole point of wanting to pick them, besides the fact that it is just fun to do, was I have been wanting to make flavored cupcakes.  Now I don't know why I wanted to make these but had been in that kind of mood since making the apple pie recovery shake the other week.  And I wanted it to be real fresh fruits.  

I headed back to Bragg later that afternoon because I was suppose to go to the food truck rodeo with Fidget on Sunday before he took off back to WA.  Yep, he was leaving me.  The joys of living in a military town!  It was something that I wanted to do as a treat for him that I figured would be fun for the both of us just to enjoy each others company and have some laughs.  But plans fell through and we didn't go and he ended up leaving a day earlier than what was originally planned.

So I hit the gym on Sunday afternoon since I didn't go Saturday because of strawberry picking with my family.  And the weather was nice again.  It called for rain at some point I believe but I was able to get plenty done and even though I was excited about experimenting with the cupcakes I just wasn't in the mood that day.   So I spent most of the day getting my food ready for the week.  

New Training Schedule Abound

So it's the start of a new week and I decided that it was time to try something different with my training.  Not to mention it would be my last time I would get to see Fidget before he took off on his trip only to not know when or if I'd ever see him again even though it has been mentioned about me visiting.  I was super upset with myself and will probably always kick myself for this because I completely overslept that Monday morning.  My alarm is set for 330am so I can be at the gym by 0500 and get and hour and a half workout in.  Well, what do you know?  I overslept until 6am.  So not only did I not get to see him one last time I had actually picked out a dress to wear that day specifically for that reason.  O the joys of being a girl sometimes haha.  But within all that going on I decided it was time to switch up my training a bit. 

So I have try to keep my training pretty much scheduled out in my head at least.  M/T/Th/F/S I go to the gym in the mornings and do all my lifting and on Wednesday mornings I typically used as an active recovery day and would swim.  We the Catalyst Athletic lifting programs I follow call for Mon-Thur lifting, Friday and Sunday rest day and another lifting day on Saturday.  So with how I was doing it I wouldn't get a rest day before the day I was suppose to do my heavy singles.  And trust my lifts probably felt heavier than they should have!  

So this week I decided, which should have been a long time ago, to actually follow the training cycle with rest days on the proper days as written.  It was weird not walking into the pool on Wednesday morning and hitting it on Friday morning instead.  And not to mention I was completely exhausted by the time Friday afternoon rolled around for another trip to Charlotte.  But it all paid off this morning when I finally C&J 140# (squat clean).  O and not to mention I did that twice!  It felt so easy standing up out of 140# this morning I couldn't believe it.  It's been a struggle for me for squat cleans, and it has mentally broke me down more than any other lift I have ever done.  To the point where I've almost started realize that that lift isn't going up anytime soon with out some corrections to my form that I have no idea what needs to be done without a coach.  

But hitting that this morning felt great!

So...about that running. 
I am sad to report that I haven't ran in 2 weeks!  I'm disappointed in myself but also for some reason don't want Fidget to be disappointed in me either.  We used to run together once a week and that actually helped make me go running.  He would make me run further than I would if I was every by myself and it was always good company.  I think it helps motivate me when I have someone that expects something out of me, but I'm not sure he does so I guess I better start expecting more out of myself when it comes to this whole running thing.  It is definitely going to be hard breaking my routine of going home straight from work and start getting ready for the next day but you have to put in the effort if you want some things in your life and training to improve.  Nothing magically improves overnight because you wish it will, you have to work at it.  No one said it would be easy but that's the best part about when you accomplish what you said out to do.  You know how much hard work has gone into what you just accomplished.  So my goal for tomorrow is 2.5 miles an old route that takes me almost passed my place of work.

Cupcake Experiments

So as I mentioned earlier I have been wanting to experiment making natural flavored cupcakes by actually using real fruit for the past 2 weeks.  The first thing I needed to do was try and find a recipe for paleo cupcakes.  Which isn't too hard to do with the internet these days.  I always use theses as a guide for cooking and then tweak the recipe as I need it.  So Thursday night I finally broke down and made my cupcakes, and also the fact that I didn't want my more than I needed strawberries to start getting mushy.  So my flavors that I had been wanting to try: strawberry (obviously), strawberry banana, banana, banana peanut butter, lemon raspberry, and chocolate peanut butter.  I didn't end up making the chocolate peanut butter because I honestly at around 945pm became a lazy cook and left it as vanilla.  So I pureed some strawberries and raspberries, and diced some strawberries as well in order to sprinkle some strawberry pieces into the strawberry cupcakes.   I made two of each flavor except I only made one banana and one vanilla.  My mistake:  putting the banana and banana peanut butter next to each other so I couldn't remember which was which.  But I made them to take to school for some of the teachers that I always work with.  

I couldn't resist trying it before I took a picture of it.  Paleo Vanilla
Cupcake with non paleo vanilla bean ice cream and carmel.

With the strawberry banana I wanted the banana to be the main focus of the cupcake and then have swirls of strawberry in them.  So I mixed that batter with banana and then placed some strawberry puree on top and used a toothpick to swirl it in.  The strawberry was easy, just add the puree to the batter and the same went for the banana.  The banana peanut butter I had to make sure the peanut butter wasn't clumped together and which I might try something a little different with those next time.  Maybe just banana batter with a dollop of peanut butter in the middle.  It was fun experimenting with the different flavors though.

I spent the weekend in Charlotte for Mother's Day.  And that afternoon I helped my mom plant some fruits and veggies in her garden (strawberries, zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage, squash).  I actually enjoyed doing it which was the least thing I expected to do.  We were going to try and head down to the food truck neighborhood rally in Steele Creek but by the time we would have gotten there it would have been too late.  So we went to a Greek restaurant in
Concord instead.  It was good, but I guess I got something that I could just normally fix at home so it wasn't anything special.  It will definitely be worth another trip and to try something different. 

Sunday I spent some time at the lake with the family and we took a boat ride.  It was nice to be out on the lake again and can't wait to go back more this summer! Another thing to look forward to!

~God Bless

"Training strength and endurance mentally, physically, and spiritually."