Bike America: FOOD

I am leaving for Bike America exactly three weeks from today and that terrifies and thrills me all at the same time. There seem like a million hurdles to jump at work to get me to June 13 but I know that it will come before I know it. This post is designed to be all about the food that I'll eat on my two month journey but, to be honest, I don't feel qualified to tell you much more than "I WILL EAT A LOT".

Here's what I do know:

• We are budgeting to spend the same amount of money on food that we spend in our ever day lives.
• We will buy most of our food in grocery stores, every 2-3 days, and haul it around in a cooler.
• We will cook most of our meals at camp sites so I'm expecting many of them to be hearty and not so gourmet.
• We will clean up well and put all leftovers away so that we aren't attacked by bears (my #1 fear). Also because we believe in LNT.

Here are some typical meals I'm envisioning:

• Breakfast: granola, yogurt, cheese and bread, fruit, peanut butter on everything.
• Lunch: Peanut butter and banana sandwiches, leftovers from dinner the night before, fruit, granola bars, gu, veggies, turkey sandwiches, gorp (aka. trail mix).
• Dinner: hot dogs, veggie burgers, canned beans, grilled corn, grilled veggies chili, hamburger and veggie hash, camper's pizza, grilled cheese.
• Dessert: S'mores (obvi), dough boys

And here are some resources for finding creative camping meals:

• Love the outdoors
• Scoutorama
• Rachael Ray
• All Recipes
• Kaboose
• Sunset
• Pinterest

Our access to a car will allow us to go to a grocery store every few days and re-stock our food. We have a plug-in beverage heater that will use the car battery to make coffee and hot water every morning. Other than that, though, it's all about the campfire. 

This post has inspired me to compile a little camping cookbook so that we have easy access to some of the best and easiest recipes in this collection. That should also help keep variety and health as priorities. I will try and share progress as I put the cookbook together but the best thing may be for me to re-tell my campfire cooking stories after the trip is over and I have some valuable experience to share.

And if you have any valuable campsite cooking experience to share, I'd love to hear about it!

Blocks From the Start Line

Last night, Josh and I had plans to go to the Orioles v. Rays game in Baltimore. Before we left, it occurred to me that we’d be only a few blocks from the start line of my upcoming half marathon. Why not take advantage of this and see the route for myself? I printed the course map, the street by street directions, and an elevation chart. On the way up, I told Josh my idea- to drive the course route and get an idea of what I’m in for. He didn’t really get it. He thought it would take a really long time and, just like Hemingway, said that I wouldn’t get a true sense of the hills (the contours of the country) while driving in a car. But he’d navigate the 13.1 miles for me after the game if I really wanted to do it. I did.

We watched the game and I proved to be a poor baseball fan, yet again. I wore Oriole’s colors to rep my state but still mostly wanted the rays to win because I know Josh cares a million times more than I do and because winning could actually get them into the playoffs. But I spent a lot of time texting with Nicole, whose friend saw me on TV! Even if I don’t pay the best attention, though, I really do enjoy spending a cool evening with Josh at a ballpark. It is relaxing and different from the every day. I whined about still not making an appearance on the kiss cam and ate some hearty ballpark food.

By the time we got to the car (after the Rays won 5-2), it was 10:20 PM. I had texted Nathan asking how long he thinks it would take to drive 13 miles through Baltimore and he said "A while depending on where you're going. It's like 2.3 miles from my apt to 95 and it takes like 10-15 minutes. But that is going straight through downtown”. I kept this a secret from Josh and hoped he was wrong. But after taking 8 minutes and several wrong turns to drive only as far as the yellow circle on the map below, I realized Josh and Nathan were right.

Half Marathon Course in Blue

We nixed the idea and decided to go give Nathan, who lived 2 miles uptown, a hug and then drive home. I called him and he was in Fairfax, VA with his [boyfriend] Josh. So never mind. All missions aborted and we were heading home.

I started to think about the pros and cons of driving the course. Would it make it easier to know in advance exactly what all the roads will look like? To be expecting all of the uphills and the downhills? Or would it make it more tedious during the race, always knowing exactly how far I have left to run or how long the next hill will be? I can’t really know for sure but the curiosity is now gnawing at me. Scouting out the course didn’t even occur to me with my first half so I’m not sure why it’s suddenly so important. Part of me just likes the idea of an excuse to visit Nathan in Baltimore and ride our bikes 13.1 miles together. If I get around to it, great. If not, I’ll get to be even more anxious and surprised on race day!

Cool kids on a Friday night

It's a holiday weekend! Time to go crazyyyy. Or time to go to bed so I can wake up and run eleven miles in the AM. I am going to bang it out early so I can then go crazy. I had a low key night (that is already over before 10 PM) but it was still fun. It started when Ingrid ran here from her apartment. We hopped onto lucy and charlie and rode 2.3 miles north to Potomac Video, one of the few remaining video rental stores in the city. We left, without a movie, and then rode to Marvelous Market. We left, with bread, and rode home.

Market Source

We came home and made a gigantic supper salad. It was delicious with kalamata and green olives, tomatoes, goat cheese, grilled asparagus, quinoa, chick peas, and garlic. 

I was a little concerned about the power of leafy greens alone to energize me through eleven miles so we ate almost an entire loaf of amazing, hearty bread. If that's not carbo-loading, I don't know what is.

All that remains.

And the best news of all: I recruited Ingrid for a portion of tomorrow's run. I am going to run to her apartment and then she'll join me for miles 2-8. And now it's off to bed on this wild Friday night!

Stay tuned for a Fit Folks post, featuring my Frisbee club, later this weekend.

Park Riding and Home Admiring

I love running, I really do. But I also love biking and i love lucy. And I have been neglecting her a bit recently. That has to change. So I've decided to work some bike rides into my half marathon training plan. Because let's face it, I'm just exercising to stay fit and have fun anyway. And I expect that if I'm fit, I'll be able to feel good at the end of 13.1 miles.

So tonight, I turned my cat-sitting errand into a fun workout. I rode lucy 5.0 miles through the streets, and park of DC. I love how far removed I feel from the city when riding through rock creek park. I gotta do this more often.

Lucy needs a bath.

 Coming out of the park means steepness, though. And the best leg-burn of the night.

A road this curvy means little visibility for cars, which could mean bad things for me. I stay far to the left in the lane so they'll see me as soon as possible.

I feel like maybe it could be next summer, and I could be riding up a mountain in the state of Washington. Maybe?

Until I reach 16th street and realize I'm in the city, especially as I feel a renewed sense of urgency. Have to make this light. Cannot wait. No patience.

I arrived at the house and played with some cats. I re-filled my water bottle, relieved my bladder, and then left for my 5.5 mile return journey.

And then I saw lots of cool houses on the way home. And, let me tell you, I have a bad case of house envy. Sometimes I go for walks with Joshua and spend hours looking at the beautiful homes in Cleveland Park, fantasizing about drinking coffee on their front porches or waking up in their master bedrooms. Does this make me creepy?

 I love pretty homes. So why not photograph some of them??

Not the best lighting...

Home to the urban wildlife.

This house is pink. Can you tell?

Cool red tin roof. Lovely in a rain storm, I'm sure.

I was just riding way too fast to get photos on time ;)

You know you're in DC when there's a giant donkey statue outside someone's house.

Some of my all-time favorites in the city.

Man on the porch must have thought I was a real creeper.

OBSESSED.

Obama? Is that you? When did you move to Mount Pleasant??

And then I arrived at the homiest home of all. My own.

With my home-mate out for the night, I made dinner for one. Sun-dried tomato and artichoke pasta with grilled asparagus. And a friendly serving of Sauvignon Blanc, of course.

A 10.5 mile bike ride was light but I felt my legs burn a lot. And it was fun, that's what it's all about right? Health, yes, but also FUN! I'm taking tomorrow off and then attempting to run 11 miles on Saturday! Can't wait to see how that goes!

Do you opt for a fun, stress-free workout every now and then? Do you ever fantasize about the awesome houses in your city that you wish you could live in?

Fall is in the air! (and some healthy indulging)

This morning I woke up At 6 am to run. I haven't done that in a while. And it was more apparent than ever that the seasons are changing. It was still dark when I left. Here is the blurry dawn ten minutes into my run.

It was also a cooler temperature than I've felt in a while.

So much so that Ingrid, my morning running mate, was wearing long sleeves when I met her in Dupont. She took them off about four minutes later, but still. Fall is in the air. And so is love. To embrace it, Josh and I went out to dinner and ate this fried green tomato pizza with fennel, tomatoes, ricotta, and summer squash. And OH EMMMMM GEEEEEEE is how I felt about that. SO GOOD!

Then we shared a zuchinni whoopie pie and cookie monster cupcake from a bakery across the street. One very amazing perk of running four and a half miles at 6am is that I feel no guilt at all for the rest of the day about the calories I consume.

Then we went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers nationwide showing of today's concert in Germany, in honor of their newly released album. It was pretty sweet, but I still need to see them live. Obvi.

3D glasses = coolest kids around

Though I do like how I feel all day after an early morning run, I have been preferring to "sleep in" until 7 recently, and do my exercising in the evenings. And with fall around the corner, running after work will just get more and more pleasant. I can't wait!


Do you tend to indulge after a good workout or do you still feel guilty for eating empty calories like in my cakes above? Are you excited for fall too???

9.7 miles of running, photographing, and blogging

All this talk about content and inspiration got me thinking about how much blogging inspires me. Not  is it my only inspiration, by any means, but on days when a long run or a hilly bike ride seems scary, daunting, or even impossible, the idea that finishing it will provide me with some solid content for a blog post helps nudge me along. Feeling that way yesterday morning, as I mentally prepared for my first ten mile training run, I decided to make the route, and the post about it, extra interesting. I mapped a course through a touristy DC, planning to take pictures of myself along the way, using each iconic landmark as a small bit of inspiration to get me through the next mile or two.

I started my run and .25 miles later, was at the National Zoo.

I ran through the zoo and was reminded of many runs there with Nikki and Hadley last winter.

Ran down 18th Street in Adam's Morgan,

And a block from Dupont Circle.

I passed the White House,

and the Treasury Building.

Got back to nature as I ran through grass for .2 miles,

and ran by the Washington Monument with it's 4 foot earthquake scar.

Then by the World War II Memorial,

and Lincoln.

Away from Lincoln,

by the Kennedy Center,

and the Watergate Hotel.

Up a steep, short hill to Georgetown Cupcake.

Then up a very long, equally steep one to the National Cathedral.

And after 9.7 miles (oops), I was home. Very ready for a good sandwich and smoothie.

I read all these running blogs where girls take pictures of themselves on or after their run and I wonder how they do it. Because... how can you focus on running if you're worried about photographing yourself and your surroundings throughout. And, as it turns out, I was right to be concerned. This run, which was supposed to be made easier with the landmarks and the photos, was actually much more challenging. For one, I held my phone in my left hand, instead of wearing it on my arm, so I could snap some many quick shots. I also, even though most of these photos were taken while running, stopped way more often than I normally do, failing to get in the groove that gets me through most of my longer runs- the groove, after about five miles, where my legs start to work like a machine.

So the lesson I've learned is to to take these things seriously. If a run or a ride is scary or daunting, it is so for a reason. And, though this blog is important to me, the blog needs to remain about the run or the bike ride, and not the other way around. As I train for the Baltimore Half Marathon, I will continue to tell you about my training runs but I don't think I'll show them to you. I am scheduled to run 11.0 next Saturday and I plan to do at least that. I'm sure I will be scared of it but I will take it seriously. And I will let i love lucy inspire, but not distract, me. I would love requests on exciting routes to run in DC!

In other news, I hope everyone (on the east coast) is surviving the hurricane. I got very little exercise today but I did a lot of cooking, cleaning, lounging, and laughing. I also ate a lot of junk. If anyone wants to come eat cake tomorrow, please do!