Long Jog and Pickled Beets with Tagatose

This weekend was our anniversary.  13 years!  It hasn’t gone well. This and that and the other…you know.  Naturally falling in line with all other things upsetting, my running suffered.  My mind wasn’t in it so every step, every foot fall, felt like a bowling bowl dragging me back. 

Saturday:  A 90 minute run. Ran with Ted and the dogs then finished the last 40 minutes alone. My mind was heavy with bad thoughts and upsetting things.  I was just happy to finish.

In spite of everything, I looked forward to Sunday’s long run. 20 miles.  Taking it easy and alone with my thoughts.  It didn’t workout so well.  I mean…I was alone with my thoughts for a long time, longer than I really wanted to be but it wasn’t good. It was a 3 1/2 hour jog, half an hour too long.

Ted and I took Shane and Zoey for 4 miles then went off on our own.  I did pretty good pacing myself and staying with Ted for 6 miles. When I broke away, every intention was to pick up the pace and, since I had taken those first 10 miles easy, figured I’d have plenty in the tank to finish.  That wasn’t the case. 

I headed up into the golf course but couldn’t defeat the hill. I walked. 

Ran through the switchbacks, it was nice to get out of the sun and feel a little rain off the trees from the earlier shower, but the hills in the switchbacks got the better of me.  I drank all my water and desperately craved Coke or Pepsi. That’s odd because I don’t drink either one of them.

Picked up the pace heading out of the woods and running from the golf course but when I got to MVCC, my Garmin stopped (it showed 18.07 miles) and I didn’t notice it for a while.  I guess-timated about 20 miles to finish and the pace was a depressing 10:30 pace.  A jog.

The hamstring demanded ice.  Did that.  The stomach rebelled so I put some Zevia Ginger Root Beer in it.  That’s all it has been able to take so far.  I don’t like going for a long run and not being able to eat afterwards but nothing seems appealing to me right now.  Hope hunger kicks in soon.  I love to eat and hate it when my stomach says NO!

Over at My Kitchen My World, the group is cooking with Ukraine inspiration.  I couldn’t get away from thinking Borscht but didn’t want to do it, figuring many other bloggers would.  Still wanting to focus on beets, I made the following fresh pickled beet dish.  Not sure if they’d be using Tagatose in the Ukraine but I am sure they could use regular sugar.

Using NuNaturals Tagatose, this is fresh and zesty.

A very colorful healthy side dish.  Pickled beets.  Sweet and fresh.

• 1 bunch fresh beets
• 1 medium onion, sliced or chopped
• 1/4 cup NuNaturals PreSweet Tagatose  (or use sugar)
• dash of cloves
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Cut the stems from the beets, save the greens to sauté for another side dish. Wrap the beets individually in aluminum foil and put into a baking dish. Roast at 400 for 1 hour or until tender.  Allow to cool then peel and slice.  Mix with the onions in a serving boil.

In the meantime, in a sauce pan, bring the vinegar to a boil. Add the tagatose (or sugar), salt and cloves.  Once boiling, allow to boil for about 1 more minute and remove from heat.  Pour over the beets and onions.  Cool and serve.

This is such a rewarding side dish. Crisp, vibrant…a feel good treat.

When you think Ukraine, what foods come to mind?

Joanne