2011 Race Schedule & Tilapia with Thin Potato Crust

Since December (most of the time) I’ve been going to bed dreading the next day’s run. The majority of the miles logged since the beginning of the year have been done on the treadmill. When you run with aches and pains, it’s not fun which might be part of the “dreaded run” problem OR it could just be getting up to face the DREADMILL, which we all so fondly call it.

The other day I mentioned how my leg was 98% better and I should be able to tackle the outside elements and obstacles without fear of doing further damage. Thursday morning I did just that and felt great! It wasn’t a fast run by any means. In fact, I pretty much slogged along, running over a 10 minute mile.  My legitimate excuses are…

1. Shane was with me for all 6.35 miles and we made 2 “dog stops” and a few more “doggy slow downs “ (sniffing is allowed on our runs because, well…what other things does a dog look forward to in life if not sniffing, playing and eating?!). I didn’t stop the Garmin for any of that.

2. The streets had not been cleared very well at 4:30 am. I ran slogged in about 2” of snow.

3. 50% of the sidewalks along the Parkway were totally unclear. That poses a danger for sprained ankles and such.

What did make it such a good run was that I was in the mood to run for how ever long I wanted to run. Scheduled was a 40 minute easy run but I just kept going. It was a nice “slog” of a run but it was OUTSIDE and that felt great.

Since I’m feeling so accomplished, here is my race schedule for 2011 so far:

1/1/11: Completed Hangover Run, 10K @8:23 per mile

2/5/11: Didn’t Run. Injured Beer and Chili Run, 10K (last year 55:36, pace 8:56)

2/19/11: Dasani Half Marathon, Myrtle Beach, SC  – Results: 1:49:22 chip, 1:51:00 gun tim. First year running it. Great event.

3/5/11: Heart Run: 18 mile course (last year, pace 9:21 for 10 miles– stopped for photos and had fun).  THIS year (2011), 9:38 ave. for 30K with injury. Not so fun, but I did it.

4/2/11: Fort2Fort, 10K (last year, 50:37) PR’d! 2011, 1st in Age Group. 47:14, pace was 7:37

4/9/11: Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon (last year, 1:54:50, pace 8:46) Too close to Boston. Chose not to go.

4/18/11: AH! The BIG ONE! Boston Marathon.  Training plan can be found here: Boston Training and..drum roll please, my first marathon can be found HERE. 3:46:51, pace 8:39 BOSTON RESULTS: 3:47:14, Pace: 8:40

5/22/11: The Hall of Fame Half Marathon and a NEW PR: 1:46:51

7/10/11: Boilermaker 15K (last year, 1:14:07, pace 7:57) THIS YEAR, 2011: 1:13:01, 7:50 pace. a NEW PR!

7/30/11: Roman Runners Honor America Days 5K: 1st year running for a NEW 5K PR! 22.56.

8/19/11: Turning Stone 5K Run *A new race this year – cycled 32 miles and ran the 5K with Ted. Slow 27 min. But it was fun.

8/21/11: Turning Stone Half Marathon *A new race this year. Wasn’t feeling it. 1:50:47. Pace. 8:28.  16 out of 235 females. 5th out of 67 in my age group (40 – 49).

9/10/11: ARC Half Marathon Thought I would get my goal of 1:44 instead I ran 1:47:57, 8:14 pace.  Pushed through a very tough race. Course was flat but I struggled with cramping.

11/20/11: Philadelphia Marathon . It wasn’t a PR but it WAS a 2013 BQ:  3:51:35 NET time, 8:50 pace.  Tough. Lost my enthusiasm for this race.

You know those motivational quotes we all love so much? Here’s a good one (a bit wordy and over done, but thought provoking none the less) by George S. Patton. Yes, General Patton of the US Army AND a 1912 Olympian.

“Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired… You’ve always got to make the mind take over and keep going”.

Like we keep saying…Running is as much mental as it is physical.

Tilapia – The Easy to Eat Fish

There were a couple of small to medium sized yellow taters just hanging around on our counter.  You know how bad a potato smells once it starts to rot?!  I didn’t want THAT to happen and they were still pretty firm, still in very usable condition so I grabbed one and decided to incorporate it into our dinner.  Not being a big fan of white potatoes, I sliced Mr. Potato very thin to create just a light crust on our fish.  If you try this recipe, you’ll be AMAZED at the delicious sweet taste these few ingredients create in this very healthy dinner.

Tilapia with Thin Potato Crust – Serves  4

· 2 TBS olive oil + more to drizzle

· ½ onion, chopped small

· 4 fresh  tilapia fillets (*the fresher, the sweeter the taste)

· 1 medium yellow potato – washed, dried, sliced thin (you don’t have to peel it)

· 2 tsp dried rosemary

· 1/2  to 1 tsp salt + more to taste

· ½ to 1 tsp fresh ground pepper + more to taste

· ½ to 1 tsp paprika

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a large oven proof pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the onion.

Sauté for 2 minutes. Meanwhile…. lay the fish flat and sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper.

Top with the potato slices – sprinkle potato slices with a bit of paprika

and place the fish, with the potatoes facing down (into the oil) in the pan on the stove top. Drizzle with additional oil, salt and pepper and immediately remove the pan to the preheated oven and continue cooking for 15 minutes.

DELISH!

Fish Facts (Pan cooked tilapia –does not include potato crust):   Calories 120  Total Fat 3 g  Saturated 1 g  Polyunsaturated 0 g  Monounsaturated 1 g Sodium 80 mg  Total Carbs  6 g Dietary Fiber  0 g Protein 26 g Cholesterol 110 mg