Catching up

Got a bit of catching up to do – with applications/work and with blogging…

Dinner last night was a deliciously juicy Turkey burger with feta and homemade guacamole with grilled veggies and a side salad. And I grabbed a few of the guys’ uneaten french fries Meals like this that are so satisfying and simple are my favorite. The grape tomatoes were from a farm in Connecticut and so sweet!

For dessert, I had a plan for the apples I bought…

Apple Crisp

• 4 large apples (or 5 medium) – I used 2 honey crisp and 2 cortland
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 c. oats
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. butter (1 stick), melted

1.)  Peel, core and slice the apples. (We just so happen to have this handy machine to do it for us!) Arrange slices in a 9 x 13 glass pan.

2.)  Mix together the white sugar, 1/2 T. flour, and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl. Distribute evenly on top of the apples.

3.)  In the same bowl you just used (no need to dirty two), combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and melted butter. Crumble on top of the apples.

4.)  Bake at 350 for 55 minutes, then broil for a bit to get the top to crisp (but do not leave it unattended and forget about it like I did! Luckily it was salvageable – the burntness could be mostly scraped off).

5.)  Serve with vanilla bean ice cream.

After the burntness was removed, it was exactly what apple crisp should be

***

I spent a long time in bed this morning – procrastinating my run and really enjoying just laying there. That’s what Sunday’s are for, right? I had a bagel with PB & J for breakfast.

Because I procrastinated for so long, my hunger was creeping back so I had a handful of this cereal before heading out the door on this beautiful day. (It reminds me of Grape Nuts – one of my favorites).

Half Marathon Training

T-minus 6 days until the race!

4 miles easy, 4.5 miles (instead of 6 miles) at goal half marathon pace = 7:23.

I felt good – a little slow/stiff at first, but once I warmed up it was a nice run. I’m really not sure if I hit the 7:23 pace or not. I suppose that could be looked at as a disadvantage of not having a Garmin, but I’ve done pretty well without one so far. Sometimes I think not having one is an advantage in that it takes away the pressure of hitting a certain number when your body just isn’t there that day. Some days, a “hard” or “fast” run may be super fast, and other days a much slower pace might feel fast. Some runners believe in doing workouts by subjective pacing (i.e. an effort of 8 on a scale of 1-10). I think I’m a mix – I believe in subjective pacing and listening to my body, but I also like to make sure I’m in the ball park of where I want to be time-wise.

What’s your philosophy on running or any other type of exercise? Do you go with how you feel or push yourself to achieve a specific pace/other outcome?

When I got home from my run I picked out what I could out of the green grapes.

(Totally random: I love looking at the different ways light comes into our apartment in the morning.)

After some quality stretching, it was time for Smoothie Take 2 with the NEW blender!!

Recovery Smoothie

• banana
• frozen blueberries
• milk
• greek yogurt
• flax
• almond butter
• protein powder

SO good. This blender crushed ice like a champ I can’t wait to try putting spinach in it to make smoothies with hidden greens!

Now I am doing some writing (for grad school apps), doing laundry and drinking coffee.

Enjoy your Sunday!