Half Marathon, Here I Come!

When I first started running almost two years ago, my goals were small. Actually, I only had goal: to run a 5k and not die in the process. If you had told me that I would fall in love with running and would someday train for anything longer than a 5k, I would have laughed.

But here I am. I officially start training for the Diva Half Marathon today. My first (of hopefully many) half marathon.

I've been gearing up for this over the last six weeks. I knew I needed to have a higher base of weekly miles. I have written out a training plan and it stays in the kitchen where I will see it often. I have planned at least one longer race (an 8k, and possibly a 10k) between now and May to give myself additional experience before the big day. Now it's time to begin!

My workout schedule will be similar to what I've been doing, with built in step-back weeks and emphasis on building endurance. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday will be running days. Saturday will be for long runs, Wednesday a tempo run, and Monday a speed workout. Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday will be for cross training. Tuesday and Thursday, I have a cardio/strength training class, and Friday will be my mix-it-up day for whatever kind of workout I feel that I need. (Lately I've been doing yoga and I love it!)

My goals for my first half marathon are to finish upright, and hopefully do that in three hours or less. Unless my pace dramatically picks up, I think that is a realistic goal. 

My husband thinks I'm crazy and sometimes I agree. I'll make my final decision on May 20th. I plan to blog about my weekly training as I go along. I hope you'll join me in this journey!

Chickpea Burgers

I have been wanting to try more vegetarian recipes lately. However, my husband loves meat. So I have to tread lightly and not go overboard with an entirely meatless menu plan. I came across a recipe for Chickpea Burgers a while back, and finally had the chance to try it. They were a hit!

I made quite a few changes to the original recipe to suit our family's tastes. You can certainly change the spices up. We love onion and garlic, but cumin would make a nice addition too.

I was hoping that this would be both meat-loving husband approved as well as picky preschooler approved. The preschooler said she liked it but only ate two bites. So one out of two isn't bad.

Chickpea Burgers

2 cups soaked, cooked, and drained chickpeas
1 medium carrot
1/2 large onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup bread or cracker crumbs
1/2-1 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 tsp black pepper
a dash of crushed red pepper flakes
a splash of lemon juice
1 egg

Combine all ingredients except egg in a large food processor. (Mine isn't big enough, so I did the vegetables first, then the chickpeas, crackers, and seasonings.) Empty into a large bowl. Add egg, and mix until well combined.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp olive oil. Make small, flat patties of the chickpea mixture, and cook patties until golden brown on each side. (about 3-5 minutes)

Serve as you would a regular burger.

Makes 10 patties
Serving size: 2 patties

Giving Up (for Lent)

I had this post all crafted in my head telling y'all about what I'm giving up for Lent. Until I went to Ash Wednesday service this morning. The sermon was on Matthew 6:1-4:

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

² “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

This made me stop and re-evaluate what I was planning to write.  I don't have as much time to share here as I would like, and I want what I write to meaningful, not just to me, but to others as well. But I had to ask myself WHY I wanted to share what my Lenten discipline would be. To receive pats on the back, and a few "you go, girl" comments? 


If what I give up for Lent is for my own personal spiritual discipline, then why do I want to share it? Granted, it is health and weight loss related. And it might give someone else inspiration. 


But my goal for my Lenten discipline is to draw on God's power to accomplish something that I can rarely do on my own. I need His strength to see it through.


And that is exactly what a Lenten discipline should be. We shouldn't "give something up" for Lent just because we always have, or because others do it, or to lose weight. Giving something up for Lent should center on deepening our relationship with God. 

And that's what this needs to be for me. He alone is my audience, and I need to focus on receiving His praise and His praise alone. Not that anything I do could be worthy, but only through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ can I hope to achieve His approval.


So I decided that I would not share here what I'll be giving up for Lent. If you are insanely curious, you can tell me in the comments and I might e-mail you to share (or I might not). 

Seen On My Run

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Overcoming Emotional Eating

I had a huge victory this week. One of the biggest struggles in making healthy lifestyle changes has been taming the emotional eater within. I have made a lot of progress in two years. But there are times when the beast raises its ugly head.

On Thursday, I made my first attempt at passing the personal trainer certification exam. I didn't pass. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I know that it is an extremely difficult exam to pass the first time. But I studied hard and was really hoping it would pay off.

When I walked out of the testing center with results in hand, my first thought was of my old comfort. Food. Especially sweet food. Cookie dough, ice cream, cookies. I managed to stop those thoughts by reminding myself how sick I would feel. An overabundance of sugar would not only give me a stomach ache, but would leave me feeling lethargic and potentially trigger a migraine.

I looked at the clock. 10:00am. I could still get a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. I somehow reigned in that thought too. I knew I had bagel thins at home, so I finally decided to just go home. I knew the idea of eating wouldn't leave me until I had a snack. I made one of my favorite healthy sandwiches. A farm fresh egg and spinach on a whole wheat bagel thin with a little bit of real butter (because we use real food in our house). It was delicious and satisfying, both physically and emotionally.

This was a huge accomplishment after a disappointing morning. A huge victory for this recovering emo eater.

I have had lots of victories in the past two years of choosing a healthier lifestyle. This is definitely one I want to savor.