Sunday, November 22, 2009

Turkey Breast Recipe

FFP killed a turkey the other day when he took Hollywood out for his first Turkey hunt. Hollywood was a little gun shy about pulling the trigger on the .20 gauge so his Papa went ahead and pulled it for him. They came home and cleaned the turkey and breasted it out. A couple days later I thought I had better cook that. I pulled out the dutch oven and cooked this mean and out amazing.
What you need:
Turkey Breast 3-5lbs
Olive oil (2Tbs)
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 large Potatoes (I used russet)
1/2 yellow onion diced
6 cloves of garlic whole
1/2 of a small bag of organic baby carrots
1 granny smith apple cut into large pieces skin on
Italian seasoning to taste

I warmed up the dutch oven on the stove (turned to medium/high) then put the olive oil in. When the oil was warm I put the onions and garlic in the bottom until the onions were translucent and the garlic was soft. I crushed the garlic with my wooden spoon. I salt and peppered then added the turkey Breasts into the pan and let them cook for a couple minutes while I got the veggies together and the apples. I cut the potatoes into pretty large chunks and the apple into smaller chunks. I turned the Turkey and let it brown on that side for 2-3 minutes too. When that was done I added 2-3 cups of chicken broth then added the potatoes, carrots and apples. I let it simmer on medium with the lid on for 1hour 10 minutes. The house smelled amazing and everything was cooked to perfection when I was done (Thermometer on the turkey read 165 on the dot). It was a little Thanksgiving early for us.
The Turkey was tender and flavorful. No gamey wild turkey taste that I was afraid of. The potatoes were a little mushy but that's how I like them. Carrots where good and the kiddos actually ate them. The apples had completely disintegrated into the sauce. It gave the whole dish a sweet and savory taste I don't think would have been nearly as yummy without. So a little one pot wonder that the whole family enjoyed. I hope you do too.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Week 15

Today was our last long run of the 17 week training session before the marathon in 15 days. It was a great day and we did much better staying on pace than I did on Tuesday.

Tuesday: I drop the boys at my parents in the next town half an hour away. As I'm heading down the hill back to where we're running rain drops start hitting the windshield. By the time I got to the park it was POURING. The workout was supposed to be 1 easy, 6 at race pace (for me 9:15 miles) then one easy. I don't think I ever got any faster than 9:42. I felt like I was running faster, I was soaked to the bone. I was tired and done. When that last lap showed I did 9:58 even thought I should have been thoroughly warmed up at called it a night. I only got in at total of 6.5 miles in. I went home shed my soaking wet clothes in the laundry room then still walked dripping to my room to dry off and change so I could go back and get the boys. This was not my best speed work. But I figure we are so close to taper that its not the end of the world. By the time I got back into the truck 15 minutes after leaving the park, running home and changing the rain had stopped. Go figure. The test would be how I did on my long run Saturday.

Today: Saturday
We ran easy (9:45 or so) out to Durham park and Race pace (9:15) back. That was the theory anyway. You know that is my favorite run. Through the orchards to the park, its so darn beautiful and lots to talk about with TTD today about life and parenthood and family dynamics. We did our full 8miles then turned around and put our race pace faces on. We caught up to Susan, Patty, Ross and Liz about 5 miles back then took Vicki with us to the end. That last mile split was a 7:50pace. Wow. No wonder I was feeling wiped. We came in strong with an overall pace back of 9:03/mile. Crazy. Crazy enough to feel confident when the race comes up.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

I See the Light

I know I had a few weeks there where I wondered what in the heck I was doing this for. I'm over it. I had a few wonderful runs and some confidence back in the bank. That helps, a lot. Yesterday we ran the same 20 mile route we did two weeks ago. This time TTD and I added 2 more miles after dropping Kosmo at the car. 22 miles is the farthest I've been since the CIM last year.
We were suppose to run easy until mile 7 then Mpace to 10, easy to mile 17 then Mpace to 20 then finish up 2 if we felt we needed to get over the mental hurdle. Alan would say its good for the head. And it was. The miles flew by. We took turns talking and time to tune out. We actually did 3.5 miles at race pace since we started after we dropped our stuff after the first loop then finished strong at mile 11. There were some rolling hills on this course and I'm glad we're practicing with them since CIM is full of them. On the way back from our last little jaunt up into upper park I felt a bit of back to the barn syndrome and the need to test my speed. I was 17 miles in and ready to push it a little to finish strong. The first mile or so Kosmo was on my heels and although I left my watch at home I knew we were in the mid 8 range which is 45 seconds or so faster than Rpace for me. I dropped back a little after having hitting my max and followed Kosmo and waited for TTD to come in. Kosmo high 5'ed me and said happily we had gotten into the low 8's for that last bit. OMG! Really... that's like me mile pace. No kidding. I have 1 speed for a mile or a marathon. well not that bad but there isn't much of a difference anyway. TTD caught up and we finished the last 2.56 miles at an EASY low 10's pace for us. We stretched real good and some of us (not me) got in the creek. Since I had the house to myself this find Saturday I chose to stop by the store, get a panini and a bag of ice and torture myself all by my lonesome. I said goodbye to my running peeps and headed that way. What a great run.
Insights on Saturday:
  • I felt strong
  • I didn't have to chase away the negative thoughts
  • I recovered well because I ate right away, I did an ice bath and I rolled and stretched that night
  • I enjoyed talking to my friends and the chance to pull inward to listen to my own thoughts
  • I didn't miss my watch as much as I thought I would. If I run like I feel I think I do better than if I'm constantly worried if I'm going fast or slow enough
  • I loved my music but need some variety. It did keep me pumped up.
  • I think I may be faster than I thought. We'll see about 11:00 on December 6th.

Today I feel so good its kind of scary. I do think I'm still having a hard time hitting my calorie needs but I'm good on hydration and I've been holding this ear infection at bay. I'm ready for my last long 3 hour run next weekend and 20 days to the CIM! Its just two weeks away for my BIL Brian who is running the satalite marathon for the Seattle Marathon from Iraq. I'm so excited for him!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Down Hill Slope

We did our second 18 mile run on Saturday. It started out at Alan and Susan's house and finished there too with bagels and coffee because they rock. Last weekends 20 got stretched out a little so we ended up doing nearly 21 but many of those miles were close to race pace. I felt good all the way through. This week was supposed to be broken up into 3 segments. 4easy 2 race pace x 3 =18total. Well I started out with Susan, Liz, Patty and Ross and when it was race pace time I tried to catch up to Kosmo and Tracey. It took me 4 miles to get there though. So instead of 6 at race pace I did 8. Those last two miles were actually faster then race pace going under 9 minutes and close to 8:30's. I felt strong. I feel strong now. Tomorrow night is more hills in CalPark. Those hills and I have a love/hate relationship going.
I see the end now. I can feel it. I have one more 20 mile run and a 3 hour run for my long run then 10 the week before the Marathon. Its so close I can almost taste it! For those of you running CIM we will be eating at Lucca that night at 5:30. Hope to see you there!