chub rub – hope i helped you in some way with this, because boy is it troublesome!
singlelady – i am not one
pw’s chex mix – it was MY chex mix party. also, no one else is pw but my husband!
you potato bro – yes. how else would you start a comment that ends with ‘bro’?
trx hurts – no joke, doesnt get any better!
huge dogs – the opposite of ours, so no advice there
fried skittles – sounds like a DREAM. i hope they are sour!!
k & n oil woburn - again, no idea.
cold shoulder cat – dont all cats give the cold shoulder? not a cat fan!!!
yellow worst candy – you tell it, sister!
“couple of girls” – quite a few on my blog!
pizza with holes in bottom boston – this sounds like a tragedy.
how to be an ironman wife – i am a pro at this and hope i gave you some tips on the lifestyle!
انار میوه عشق – translation please.
dude in green speedo - this is one of the 4 speedo searches on my blog this month. Thanks paul!
your sneakers or your life - GAH. sounds like a nightmare.
im good at running, cooking. how do i make a living at these - got me, and no info on that here, thats for sure!
what to eat when your on tina - carrots’n'cake reference? napoleon dynamite??

I don’t know either people. But for all of them that searched these things, hope they stuck around awhile!

Okay, now onto last weeks workouts!!

Monday- OFF
Tuesday- 80 minutes outside, 2×20 in the middle
Wednesday- 35 minute recovery run
Thursday- OFF
Friday- 60 minutes with 4×1 mile at 7:00 min/mi pace in the middle (tough on a Friday!!!)
Saturday- 35 minutes in Zone 1
Sunday- 130 minute split run. 90 min am, 40 min pm!

One more big week (this week), then taper time!!!

I HAVE been getting in all my run miles though. Last week concluded with 1 hour and 52 minutes on the treadmill! That run is dedicated to the snowstorm we got on Saturday. And the Bruins. Because I watched a re-air of their Saturday game while at the gym and it kept me thoroughly entertained!

So to the numbers:
Monday: 70 minutes, 2×20 zone 2 in the middle
Tuesday: 1 hour zone 1 interval ride on trainer, 35 min recovery run
Wednesday: 75 minute 2×20 zone 2
Saturday: 60 minute run
Sunday: 112 minute run

Total run miles: 40

My two overload weeks begin today! This week involves a couple of serious workouts looking forward to doing mile repeats OUTSIDE tomorrow!

January: 135.33
February: 116.83
March: 102.32
April: 138.88
May: 80.41
June: 29.25
July: 91.85
August: 138.25
September: 34.91
October: 16.85
November: 47.55
December: 93.33

Total: 1025.76

What was it supposed to be? Probably about 200 higher. If you reflect on Sept/October totals, you can actually see me falling off the wagon. I took a little “timeout” those two months, and tried to come back before the end of the year. It is what it is though, and I will take a total of over a thousand any day!

Now, its a new year with new goals. Hyannis is coming quick (5 weeks, I believe), and I have just started to get my stuff together. I am going full force though, and have been running on the treadmill a lot. It sounds painful but its actually a blessing–running at the gym motivates me because its not cold (Im a wimp). It also motivates me to run hard! Ive had no issues getting in hard workouts and my pace is improving as prescribed.

Whats not improving? Body composition. Sigh. Salads and burritos galore. Yogurt everyday. It will happen, and I know patience is a virtue, but man…someone get me a loaf of bread!

So…what are my running goals for 2012? Hit 1500 miles for the year. PR in the half (okay, thats a given–Hyannis will be my first half!). NOT take an inordinate amount of time off after any race (no more than a week…unless I do a marathon). And most importantly: NOT GET BURNED OUT. That is the most important goal!!

I have been updating DailyMile pretty regularly. I will be doing weekly recaps on here again too. And just UPDATING!

I have brought forth my sister-in-laws salsa recipe. It is so easy (and so delicious) that I know for a fact I will never buy jarred salsa again. It just tastes SO much better!

But before that I need to show you my dinner from the other night. We went to a local, authentic, Mexican restaurant Acapaulco’s. I usually play it pretty safe, ordering a taco or quesadillas. This night though, I ordered my first Chimichanga! It was everything I dreamed of–fried to perfection. And of course I got a taco to go with it. And yes, I ate this entire plate (if you thought otherwise, you don’t know me that well!!!):

Im pretty sure Mexican food might be my favorite all-time food (even more than Italian!).

To continue with that theme, here is her salsa recipe (you will be a hit at any party with this).

Ingredients:

-1 can Ro-Tel
-1 can tomatoes (either whole or diced!)
-half an onion, chopped
-1/2 to 1 jalapeno, chopped (depending on how spicy you want this!)
-1 clove garlic
-cilantro (again, depending on taste)
-salt
-the juice of half a lime

Thats it! Throw it all in the food processor or blender:

And then, if youre like me, eat half the batch while updating your blog:

One more day of vacation means only one more day of running long and immediately napping on the couch–I shall miss that for sure, but am still looking forward to getting back in to the swing of things and away from all of these holiday treats!

PS Happy New Year everyone!!!

We went to my grandmothers house for Christmas Eve dinner–and my family does not mess around. Ive mentioned before that my uncle is an award winning chef. Between him and my grandma we had a top notch meal! Prime Rib, twice baked potatoes, popovers, and veggies:

(I am literally drooling looking at that picture. Not the best idea reliving that after 75 minutes of hill bounding!)

Amongst the awesome things I got for Christmas (a wireless printer/scanner/fax–can you believe we didnt have a printer?, slippers-which I was in desperate need of, Home Depot gift cards, a math shirt, gift cards to the Boynton, Brew City, Chipotle, and a panini press!), my in-laws got me a Kitchen Aid Mixer. Totally surprised me with it. Check out this baby:

Because I am six years old, I felt the need to open and use it right away. So yesterday I made pizza dough, breadsticks, and my infamous nutrient loaded pizza sauce (that take a food processor though, not a mixer!!)

The recipe for the dough was simple–a typical recipe. 1 package yeast (I used rapid rise) mixed with 1 cup of warm water and a teaspoon of sugar. In the mixer went 2.5 cups of flour, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, a sprinkle of garlic powder, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Added the yeast and then turned the mixer on!! Let that spin (with the dough hook–important!) for 8-10 minutes, then let the dough sit for 20 minutes. There you have it!

I put the dough on some cornmeal before baking to give it a little extra crisp–it was amazing (insert amazeballs, the bomb dot com, the bees knees, other blog cliches here).

And I made a different–more veggies–version of my Nutrient Loaded Pizza Sauce. This sauce had:

-1 bunch kale
-1 head broccoli
-1 bag baby carrots
-1 green bell pepper
-1 onion
-1 can beets
-4 cloves garlic

It made enough for 10 pizzas! Frozen into individual pizza servings now.

I am trying to do a LOT of running this week–luckily I still have 3 days of vacay to squeeze in the miles!
Monday-60 minutes
Wednesday-105 minutes with 2×15 intervals
Friday-120 minutes–75 min with 5xhill bounds (with Meg!) in the am, 35 min recovery PM
Saturday-70 minutes
Sunday-93 minutes with 30 min interval at the end, 30 minute recovery

Hoping for at least 55 miles, and some bike rides squeezed in!!

1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons corn syrup
And sprinkles to top!!

The best part of this frosting is that it dries solid so you can stack cookies!

These were EXCEPTIONAL!

I was assigned an appetizer for PW’s side of the family’s christmas party. I decided to make something I never have before (always a good strategy, amirite?)–spinach artichoke dip.

The ingredients were pretty straightforward:

1 package frozen spinach, drained and thawed
1 jar (10 oz) artichoke hearts
1/2 cup mayo
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup cream cheese
2 cloves garlic
2 cups parmesan cheese

Chop up the artichokes first

Mix artichoke hearts, thawed/drained chopped spinach, and parmesan cheese in a bowl:

Mix together wet ingrediants + garlic (chopped really fine):

Then mix them all together and put into a baking pan of some sort. The amount actually filled TWO of these pans!

20 minutes later at 375 and you have this pretty gourmet little snack!

I am off to my grandmothers and PW’s aunts with these treats now…hope you all have a wonderful 24th of December!

How awesome are they for replacing my yogurt (I was totally crying over spilled dairy product)? And the sweet note! Love that company.

Okay, now on to the party. Around 7pm we headed into the city for a Maggiano’s feast. I loooove this place–amazing, unending, family style food. We started off with a cocktail hour so everyone could catch up–its been months since I had seen some of these people! While mingling, we had stuffed mushrooms (which are so amazing, I can’t even describe), spinach artichoke dip, and calamari (not my style). I was trying to pace myself so Id be able to out eat my table at dinner but I didnt do so well.

We sat down to dinner, and at my table were Doug, Ethan, his girlfriend Jess, Charlie, his wife Jane, Brian, and some old school friends Dave, Kathy (both of whom did Ultraman in October–no joke!), and Jen.
Oh, and PW of course

First course–my favorite salad. Which I didnt get a picture of, but just know it had pancetta. Then the main courses. I tried it all but the tilapia was my favorite–thats why there isnt much left on my plate!

Oh, and there was dessert too. Poundcake AND tiramisu!

Dinner was delicious, but the best part of the night was the company–let me tell you, we are a FUN bunch! It was awesome too see how the company has grown. For example, here are the people that were at the first QT2 Holiday dinner ever, 5 years ago:

And here is a shot from the party this year (there were 85 people there!!!!!!):

Exponential, right?!

A post on running tomorrow, I promise. But now–off to dinner with Meg and Justin!!

1.  So, Mary, you are triathlon famous.  Youve been in the biz even longer than me, you even have a picture of Luc Van Lierde winning Ironman Hawaii with you in the background!  And named your first born after that record setting stud.  How did you get into the sport?  And when exactly was it??

I got into this sport believe it or not after having some difficulties with an eating disorder at age 20, after a ten year stint with Bulimia. I came home, got better and was allowed to begin swimming again. At that point I was a burned out post collegiate swimmer with no direction. I saw the Hawaii Ironman on TV (this was in 1994). To me it represented health which I didn’t have at the time. It offered me the opportunity to build my health from square one again. In 1995….. I did my first triathlon!

2.  Who is your favorite pro triathlete (we know the QT2 peeps–Tim and Cait Snow, Ethan, Logan, Jessie, Pedro, and Doug are up there) so actually…whose your NEXT favorite??

My favorite professional triathlete is Jessica Jacobs. If you know her story you understand her work ethic and you understand her combined love for her family, her country and her sport. She is honest yet not narcissistic. She’s passionate yet not demeaning.

3.  You were a pediatric emergency nurse, you are now a coach, a yoga instructor, race director/announcer, and work tirelessly for the causes close to you (Teens Living with Cancer, your sons education!).
What motivates you to give so much of your time to others?

When I look at that list I think…. Who fits THAT in????? Then I realize…. Oh my! I take every single day in small chunks because when I look at the big picture I faint.

When I came home sick to my parents I was at rock bottom at too early an age. My father steered me into situations that I was caring for others and working with people. Nothing helps pull you up like trying to make someone else’s life better.

My son is “on the spectrum” yet he’s so high functioning that he’s fallen through many cracks. I have learned the hard way that kids with special needs need an advocate because they are at risk for so many things. I walk a fine line between fighting for his opportunities (like meeting Hunter Kemper!!!) and teaching him that he has to work harder than his peers. He didn’t ride two wheels until age 9 and you’d better believe he cherishes every second of being able to do that. Our job as his parents is to raise a good man who is 100% independent. That right there is the biggest driving force of my life.

(Being a race announcer below!)

4. Please tell me how you have so much energy.  You are like a 15 year old.  Do you nap?  Drink ‘Five Hour Energy’s?  Much caffeine (coke or coffee?), Do you just not sleep?

I drink two cups (VENTI) of coffee a day. I take a 20 minute nap at 2pm daily. I am in bed by 9.

At the risk of sounding like a Hallmark Card…….I think my energy comes from absolutely loving everything that I do.

(This is a pretty typical picture of Mary…always laughing!)

5.  Any advice for someone wanting to get into the triathlon biz?

Long ago triathlon became my family. I came into this sport a broken girl and the relationships that saved my life are the ones I still have today. This sport has grown tremendously over the past 15 years that I have been in it and we have amazing people here. My advice would be to get into this business because you love it. Be genuine, be realistic and do the right thing. If you can do that…… you will be successful!

You can find Mary’s blog here, and follow her on twitter here!

]]> http://thatrunnerchick.com/2011/12/19/an-interview-with-the-infamous-mary-eggers/feed/ 2 thatrunnerchick mary1 267969_10150235134483450_712693449_7507884_272617_n 39099_590297956476_47500055_34049703_2139854_n http://thatrunnerchick.com/2011/12/14/holy-guacamole-and-this-week-of-workouts/ http://thatrunnerchick.com/2011/12/14/holy-guacamole-and-this-week-of-workouts/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:35:21 +0000 thatrunnerchick http://thatrunnerchick.com/?p=2524 Continue reading →]]> I am loving life right now. Because this happened:

My first avocado interaction on my own.

Used the above ingredients to make this, Megan’s guacamole!

SO YUM! guacamole success thanks to my neighbor Meg!

So back to that running thing…

My long run on Sunday was 87 minutes, and my legs felt surprisingly awesome, but my lungs/nose not so much! Many a snotrocket happened (sorry!). Monday was a a recovery run of 30 minutes. Yesterday was my first Zone 2 workout of the season–two by 12.5 minute intervals, 60 minute run total. I was skeptical after my long run but it was pretty awesome! We have a bike path right near my work and it is perfect for that sort of thing. The beginning of Zone 2 also means that….HILL BOUNDING IS BACK! Starting Friday! Maybe I will have PW photograph my first hill bounding of the season, too. It should be uncoordinated and hilarious.

The QT2 Holiday/End of Season Party is this Saturday. I am very much looking forward to it. The food is amazing. Our friends are amazing! 50 of our friends/teammates in a room with delicious food? Ill take it! You can find the recap from last years party here. Every year, it is at Maggiano’s. The first year there were only 8 of us, now 50! To make things even better, I get to carpool into Boston with BFF Brian because PDubs will already be there for a meeting. I never get to see BPH so that is very cool.

And just when I thought things couldnt get any better?? Tomorrow marks the completion of my second grad class (only 8 more to go ) and the beginning of TWO WEEKS OFF! Woop woop! Now you can see why I am celebrating with guacamole!

Hoping that everyone else’s training is going well…its almost January which I find the hardest month to train in. Race season seems so far away! But…I always try to tell myself that the most progress is made in the winter.

QUESTION:

Are you a guacamole lover or hater??

]]> http://thatrunnerchick.com/2011/12/14/holy-guacamole-and-this-week-of-workouts/feed/ 0 thatrunnerchick SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC http://thatrunnerchick.com/2011/12/10/no-work-saturday/ http://thatrunnerchick.com/2011/12/10/no-work-saturday/#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:50:44 +0000 thatrunnerchick http://thatrunnerchick.com/?p=2517 Continue reading →]]> I have been taking a lot of work home lately, and trying to squeeze in grad school work on top of it.  I decided today would be no work Saturday (which means Ill have twice as much to do tomorrow but whatever–Im trying to not be obsessive about it! This edit shows its not working though.)  So I woke up and headed to our local weekly 5k with PW.  He ran the race while I jogged (soft j) for a total of 60 minutes.  Dont worry, it didnt take him the full 60 minutes, I was running before and after too!

Here he is starting the race:

You can check out his race report, and the video I took during the race, on his website here

We came home and I proceeded to do my Saturday morning cleaning routine, followed by 3 episodes of Law and Order SVU. Really, I was just killing time waiting for 4:30–Ironman World Championships 2011 was on NBC from 4:30-7. So I watched that on the couch, prepping dinner during commercials:

Here is a fluorescent Crowie picture in my view during those 1.5 hours:

Since it was a relaxing today I decided to do my favorite thing: cook. I made my best chicken parm yet. I have a few hints as to make the perfect chicken for it:

1) use a mix of panko and regular (seasoned) breadcrumbs
2) DOUBLE COAT in the breadcrumb mix.
3) Saute it in oil first, to get it the right color and amount of crispiness

Once you have this:

You throw it in the oven and cook it for another 20 minutes and you’re set! It was the perfect cold weather meal on a night before a long run!

This is our only “home weekend” this month so I am taking full advantage. Next weekend is the QT2 Team Holiday party (which is, every year, a huge amount of fun), and then the next is Christmas! I should probably start Christmas shopping soon!

]]> http://thatrunnerchick.com/2011/12/10/no-work-saturday/feed/ 0 thatrunnerchick 5k tv chicken dinner