For years, I’ve been a pre-run peanut butter on toast or English muffin type of girl, but I think that I’m on to something with these pancakes. They’ve propelled me through both my nine and ten mile long runs (even when I messed up the recipe and doubled the amount of flour). But as much as I’ve enjoyed pancakes before a long run, how well will they do before a race?

I’m about to find out. I registered for the Charles Harris 10K which is this coming Saturday.

I’ve done this race for the past two years. It starts about a mile from my house, which is nice and convenient. It’s not the most scenic race course (you basically run down a 4-lane road the entire time) but it’s well organized and it’s a net downhill. I always manage to convince myself that the entire race is downhill, which it isn’t. But a good part of the 5th mile is and that’s a major plus toward the end.

Last year I did this race in 59:32. I think I can beat that this year. I’m hoping for 58 something. Are pancakes the answer? Will pancakes give me a PR? Or perhaps a better question is will I be up for making pancakes at 6:30 am?

What do you eat before races?

But did you know that Golden Retrievers are all over the blog world? It’s true. Take a look at these Goldens and Golden mixes, all owned by bloggers!

Golden: Grady
Blog: Alicia from Poise in Parma

Golden: Sam
Blog: Tracy from Kitchen Ambition

Golden: Sullie
Blog: Jen from Peanut Butter Runner

Golden: Harper
Blog: Heather from Girly Ever After

Goldens: Lance and Jackson
Blog: Lauren from Oatmeal After Spinning

Goldens: Samantha and Tobey
Blog: Jen from WhyCLE

Goldens: Fenway (who sadly passed away last fall) and Bruin
Blog: Stephanie from Dairy Free Omnivore

(See that book behind Bruin? Oddly enough, the job that I got laid off from in November was with the publisher of it.)

Golden: Rex
Blog: Matt from The Athlete’s Plate

Is this the cutest blog post you’ve ever seen in your life? Admit it; it is. Any other blog Goldens out there? If so, let me know and I’ll add them to the post.

Last weekend, pancakes proved to be a great pre-race fuel so I decided to have them again. Like last week, I used Janetha’s Whole Wheat Pancake recipe. Only this time the batter seemed really, really thick. And the pancakes were really, really chewy. I couldn’t figure out why until I looked at the recipe again and realized that instead of doubling the flour (I made two batches, one for me and one for Jason), I quadrupled it but doubled the rest of the ingredients. Fail! Don’t do math before having coffee, I guess. They did keep me full though.

So, the 10 mile run: I scrapped my planned loop and decided to do something different. I got to the end of my street and turned right and ran 2.5 miles down the road and 2.5 miles back. I told myself that I was just running five miles and it felt easy. I ran back home and had a little bit of coconut water and a Gu.

It was nice not to have to hold a water bottle during my run and to have a little break. I played on the computer for a couple of minutes before taking off. This time, I ran 2.5 miles in the other direction and then back. Again, I tried to pretend that I was just running a 5-mile run instead of a ten. It worked until about Mile 8 when my legs started to get tired. Even so, when I made it back home, it felt like I’d been running a shorter distance than if I done a 10 mile loop.

I must have run off my heavy pancakes because for the last mile of the run, all I could think about was what I was going to eat. And what I ate should come as no surprise…

I have a pita/tortilla/naan pizza problem. I’m off to foam roll my legs and take Murphy for a walk. He does not seem to care that I just ran ten miles.

I bet you didn’t know that they make yogurt in an office park in Norcross, Georgia, did you? I didn’t either until I was having a conversation with a co-worker about Chobani and she mentioned it. Literally two days later, an email went out saying that Atlanta Fresh had invited us for a tour and for some samples.

The facility is small. Much smaller that you might imagine so we had to go in shifts. I went with four co-workers. First they gave us some samples of every flavor. I tried them all except for the new Maple Bacon. That one didn’t go over too well with the people that did try it, however all the other flavors were really good.

This yogurt is made from local cows that are not treated with any sort of antibiotics or hormones. They make it three times a week. It’s currently sold in mostly Whole Foods in the Atlanta area, but they said that they are starting to sell it out of state too. Atlanta Fresh is the only yogurt maker in the Southeast. The yogurt comes in non-fat, low-fat and whole milk varieties, however, they are phasing out the whole milk ones, except for the plain. Most of the flavors are available both in non-fat and low-fat and honestly, the two versions tasted the same to me.

Only 6 people produce the yogurt, which I was surprised to learn. Two people make it and four people put the label on it. There is also another person who is in charge of everything and comes up with the flavors. So that’s what I learned about yogurt today. What I also learned is that if you buy the yogurt in the company store, it’s much cheaper. This yogurt is expensive. At Whole Foods, it’s something like $2.50 each (and at Kroger – they sell it in ITP Kroger – it’s more expensive. ITP is an Atlanta term, don’t worry about it if you don’t live here.) and at the store, they’re $2 each. But if you buy a box of 12, you get $4 off. Sold! It’s worth full price though, it’s really good.

Our work fridges were full of these boxes today. I guess we’re a yogurt loving bunch!

I actually only sampled the white chocolate one and had a few random Hershey Kisses. I kept inventing excuses to walk past the kitchen (umm, I need to fill up my water, I need some tea, etc) and thought about taking another pop, but I didn’t.

I decided that dinner needed some veggies. I’m still working my way through the 25 Quick Vegetarian Recipes from Eating Well and this was one of the better ones: The Portobello “Philly Cheesesteak” Sandwich.

I used mozzarella cheese instead of provolone but other than that, followed the recipe. This was absolutely delicious. Definitely a keeper recipe for sure.

I’m keeping this post short and sweet. I’m tired and after researching trends in social media all day, I’m ready to get off my computer.

Nakato is both a hibachi and sushi restaurant but they’re two different parts of the restaurant. While you can get sushi if you sit at the hibachi grills, you can’t do it the other way around. Actually, you probably can, but you miss the whole show and everyone knows that the best part of going to a hibachi restaurant is the show that the chef puts on.

Our gift card (which was for $25) said that we had to order $50 worth of food. That’s actually harder than it sounds when I wanted the cheapest thing on the menu, the tofu. I ended up getting it with a side of scallops so we would spend enough money.

Our meals started out with soup. Yes, I’m aware that this is probably chicken broth. Ignorance is bliss, my friends.

There was also a small salad, but I didn’t get a picture of it. I did, however, get a picture of the best part of the meal – the onion volcano. A pretty cool picture too, I have to admit.

My meal was good, but with the addition of the scallops, it was A LOT of food. And hibachi food uses a ton of oil. Oh well, it was Valentine’s Day, right?

Some people stuff themselves with chocolate, I stuff myself with oil laden Asian food. Happy Valentine’s Day.

I also feel a sense of accomplishment when I have a productive weekend and I think this weekend counted as one. Aside from the 9 miles, I also:

• hung out with my friends Emily and Brian
• did the dishes twice
• did 4 loads of laundry
• went grocery shopping
• walked Murphy twice
• made a good dinner

And what did I make for dinner? Well this cold weather sort of mandated something warm: soup!

I decided to make Nicole’s Rockin’ Red Curry Shrimp Soup. I always have a can or two of both coconut milk and vegetable broth on hand and had some curry paste too, so all I really needed were the sweet potatoes, bok choy and shrimp. Well, my grocery store didn’t have bok choy (or lemongrass for that matter), so I used kale. This was a thick and filling soup and it was good except for one thing, which was totally my fault: the shrimp. I used frozen raw shrimp from Kroger. I defrosted it first, but it just didn’t taste right. It was too shrimpy. I never learn. Every time I buy frozen seafood or fish from Kroger, I end up not liking it! I found myself picking around the shrimp, but otherwise, the soup was very good.

Blah Sunday night. All in all, a good weekend though.

Umm, we may have a problem! I’ve been spoiled by the mild winter, I realize that. Hell, I was wearing a t-shirt last weekend while I ran, but there is a major difference between running in normal Atlanta winter (temps in the 40s) and running with a strong wind making it feel like it’s in the teens.

So instead of skipping my run or dealing with the cold, I did what any psycho would do: I did it on a treadmill. Yup, that’s right, I ran 9 miles on a treadmill! I’m kind of surprised to say this, but it actually wasn’t as terrible as it sounds.

First off, I made sure that I had some good music. That was crucial. I put a lot of old songs that I hadn’t listened to in a while back on my ipod. New songs are good, but there’s definitely something to be said about running to songs that you know every word (but aren’t sick of). I also gave myself permission to run slower than normal. Normally on the treadmill, I run anywhere from 5.7mph – 6.5mph, just depending on how I’m feeling and what I’m doing, but today I allowed myself to run at 5.5mph.

I divided the runs into two parts. The first was 5 miles. In addition to allowing myself to run slowly, I also took a walk break every ten minutes. That way, the run was broken up into ten minute sections making it seem more manageable. After 5 miles, I got of the treadmill, took a bathroom break, ate a Gu and hopped back on.

When I got on the treadmill the second time, I pretended that I had just gotten to the gym and had to run 4 miles, something I often do on the treadmill. This time, instead of taking walk breaks, I just sort of plowed through. I’m not sure if it was because I was running slower, or Janetha’s Whole Wheat Yogurt Pancakes (although mine were Whole Wheat Applesauce Pancakes because I didn’t have any yogurt) were the perfect pre-run fuel or what, but the run really went fine! I still sort of can’t believe that I ran that far on the treadmill!

Someone did not seem to care that it felt like the sub-arctic outside and begged for a walk. That jacket just isn’t going to be warm enough, Murphy.

After my run, there was the problem of dinner. I wasn’t kidding when I said my fridge was pretty barren.

The obvious thing to do would be to go to the grocery store, but with the cold weather and me being hungry and tired from my run, I scrounged around and found something to eat.

Yes, again. There is not a single vegetable in my house. I have to go to the grocery store. If I only it wasn’t so cold out!

Last night, I was supposed to run 5 miles. I’ve been going to the gym near my office because it’s way less crowded that the one by my house. However, I had a bit of a stomach ache last night (I think from Trader Joe’s stevia – I can only seem to tolerate Stevia in the Raw and NuNaturals; I wonder if TJ’s brand is really Truvia.) and decided to go home first. I’m sure you can see where this is going.

I actually, after much internal debate, made myself get ready and drove to the gym around 9. And you know what? It was still crowded! There was still a line to get a treadmill at 9 pm! I got a treadmill and right as I started running, my foot started hurting.

I have a lot of calluses on the bottoms of my feet. I’ll spare you a picture! It’s somewhat from running and somewhat hereditary. They are unsightly but don’t usually hurt. But yesterday, my left foot hurt right under a callus that I have on the side. Between my stomach ache, the crowded gym and my foot hurting, I was just wasn’t feeling it at all, so I went home. Usually getting out of the house to the is the hardest part, but yesterday, the actual run was.

Today during lunch, I went to buy a pair of new shoes. I was wearing Brooks and for some reason, they’ve felt too wide recently. I’m constantly trying to tighten them when I run. I don’t know if running shoes stretch out or my foot got smaller or what, but it had been about six months since I purchased them so I decided it was time for a new pair – a different brand. I ended up getting some New Balances.

My New Balances and I went to the gym (the one by my office) and did yesterday’s 5-miler tonight. My feet felt sort of sore during the first two miles, but then they felt fine. I don’t know what’s up with my feet problems lately. It wasn’t a wonderful run, but it wasn’t a horrible one either and bottom line is that it’s done!

Only problem with doing a 5-mile run after work is that by the time I get home, it’s almost 8pm and I’m starving. Our fridge was looking extremely barren so I came up with the best thing I could, a flat-out pizza. I used pesto sauce because we didn’t have tomato and canned mushrooms were the only veggie I could find. Classy, right?

I was still hungry after the pizza, so I had some popcorn. It’s slim pickins around here for sure. Don’t ask why my popcorn popper is a Georgia voter.

I’m off to relax.

I had some chocolate chips in the house this weekend. Yesterday, Jason asked me where they went. They went in the trash because I could not get my hand out of the bag. Same thing happens with other foods – cereal, ice cream and flavored peanut butter come to mind (regular peanut butter is okay).

Sometimes I wonder why it has to be so extreme for me. Why I have to either gorge myself on a food or throw it away. Why I can’t just have a normal serving. While I know that this practice isn’t exactly healthy, if the alternative is eating the food (and I’m talking about large amounts of it, like a half box of cereal or half jar of pb at a time) or throwing it away, aren’t I better off tossing it?

I’d love to hear your opinions on the matter. Okay, fine, I’ll throw in a cute dog picture in exchange!

Murphy is awesome at Trivial Pursuit.