Best Laid Plans April 22, 2009

 

I set my alarm on Sunday for a 10-miler and when it went off at 8 AM sharp, I promptly shut it off and went back to sleep.  I’m wondering if signing up for a half will drag my butt out of bed, or if I would just end up sleeping through my training and race.

Nevertheless, I feel like I’m getting a lot of my mojo back.  I did two speedwork sessions last week – a 6 mile tempo run at around 8:15 on Wednesday, and then a couple of intervals on Friday at a 7:15-7:30 pace.  Even when it feels like I’m running a few slow, recovery miles, my Garmin tells me I’m doing an 8:45 mile.  I know that as soon as I get my long runs back up (any day now…still waiting…), I’ll be in prime shape to race.

Speaking of racing, my first race since the marathon is this weekend.  I’m driving down to Louisville with a few friends to do the Kentucky Derby Marathon Relay.  It was up for contention whether I would run the 15K leg or the 5K leg – I decided to go with the 5K mostly due to the fact that my bathroom habits become wildly unpredictable soon after mile 6 and I didn’t want to cost the team any time waiting for a port-a-potty.  Damn those persistent runner’s trots!

Our team name is Blue Steel, and we got T-shirts that say “Have you ever wondered if there was more than life other than being really really ridiculously good looking?”  We’re hoping to place, but the past results are vastly inconsistent so it’ll all depend on the running field this year.  I’m hoping to beat my previous 5K PR (24:58) but seeing as how I haven’t been training for speed or any particular race, I’ll settle for a weekend of Louisville restaurant-hopping if that doesn’t happen.  Look for a race report next week!

*   *   *

 

Bottomless Bowl of Pho

 

Pastries From La Patisserie P

 

Beef Satay at Amarit Thai

 

The Reward for 3 Hard Days of Running...

Hey, Are You Going to Eat That? April 6, 2009

I’m sitting here eating ice cream from Coldstone Creamery – coconut ice cream with coconut shavings and crumbled graham cracker pie crust.  I’ve gained 3 or 4 pounds since marathon training has come to an end.  NOTE TO SELF:  YOU CANNOT EAT THE SAME AMOUNT OF FOOD WHILE RUNNING HALF THE MILEAGE.

This problem is compounded by the fact that instead of being in the downtown business district, my new office is now further up north, in a cute, boutique, more residential area of Chicago.  Instead of being surrounded by Taco Bells, McDonald’s, and other greasy staples of corporate food courts, I’m now surrounded by Italian bread cafes, NY-style delis, and hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurants.  Every block around me holds a lunchtime trap.  Dangerous, indeed.

I got a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline 8’s, but the new version is made slightly smaller.  Five miles into my run on Saturday, I started to blister the tiniest bit so it looks like I’ll have to exchange them for a half-size bigger.  Will these shoe trials ever end???

*   *   *

Fiance and I went to see the musical Rent downtown yesterday (my fourth time – I may or may not be obsessed), and then went to Catch 35 for dinner.  We’ve both had a long, exhausting week so we decided to splurge and treat ourselves with the surf and turf.  I never get to eat lobster, mostly because I’m not a billionaire heiress nor do I live in Maine, so this was a particularly nice treat.

Seared Scallops w/ Szechuan Glaze & Chive Potsticker

The Surf Half

Caramelized Banana Bread Pudding

Wait, You Mean Running Isn’t My Real Job? March 29, 2009

For the past year, working in a temporary, non-career position, I’ve had time to run and run and run.  I didn’t earn much money at all and I can’t say it was a fulfilling position in any way, but I had the luxury of leaving work at a relatively early hour.  As it turns out, this was the perfect formula for marathon training and high mileage weeks.  I had hours and hours to do 8, 9, 10-mile runs on weekdays, and very little stress.  I didn’t always have the money to pay rent on time (thanks Fiance!), but that’s a whole other story.

As it turns out, having a career means having to make sacrifices.  Who knew?  As it stands, some current deterrents to my running are:

1.)  Working 13-hour days between 2 jobs (one full-time, one part-time)
2.)  A total commute time of 3 hours a day
3.)  Starting the process of finding and buying property with Fiance
4.)  Getting married in (probably) late summer

But these are also the reasons why running has taken on more of an importance in my life than ever.  Before, it was important for me to get those 10, 15, 20-milers in for a large race, or do hit my 7:40 interval pace, or do those ab-crunchers and stretching sessions.  My runs were explained in numbers – seconds, minutes, miles; I was TRAINING.  Now, without the time to really train for the larger races I enjoy, running has become the one hour (or so) in my day when I don’t have to think, or work, or answer to anyone.  Although I miss having a close companionship with my Garmin, I also enjoy having no expectations on the 4-6 miles I run, no formulas or deadlines, no set time I have to hit.

I run after work as part of my commute, or during lunch.  Last week, I asked my boss if it was ok for me to leave and get my runs in during lunch – we’ve all been in those environments where technically, you get an hour for lunch but it’s frowned upon if you’re not working during your lunch break.  “Professionally, I could care less,” he replied.  “But personally, I think you’re really weird.”  So I run at lunch, I run along the lakefront in Chicago, and past the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is free.  Sometimes I use the bathrooms in the petting zoo, and I stop to pet the ponies and coo over the bunnies in the rabbit hatch before continuing on my route.  My mileage is much, much lower now, but lacing up and hitting the pavements is, ironically, more important than ever.

*   *   *

Because I’ve been neglecting this blog and everyone who reads it for such a long time, here’s a plethora of food photos for a visual feast!

Dinner at Carnivale - Peppers and Beef

Caramel Flan w/ a Coconut Cookie

Churros w/ Chocolate and Caramel Dips

Recently, the Meatloaf Bakery opened up in the neighborhood I work in.  The concept is gourmet meatloaf shaped in the form of cupcakes, with the various meats as the “cake”, and mashed potatoes (or other various sides) as the “icing.”  I walked by it the other day on my way to dinner with a friend, and decided to stop for some samplings, since meatloaf is one of Fiance’s favorite foods.  I picked up their basic meatloaf cupcake – The Mother Loaf, which is beef, pork, and veal ground up with onions and ketchup, “iced” with a giant mound of mashed potatoes.  I also picked up some “loafies,” which are hors d’oeuvres-sized versions of their cupcakes.  Delicious and very cute, but definitely overpriced.

Meatloaf Cupcake

Bite-sized Loafies

After our meeting with the real estate agent yesterday, Fiance and I headed to Pizzeria via Stato for their extremely crispy, thin-crust Roman style pizzas.  I was hungering after the meat-and-potatoes pizza I had heard about – fingerling potatoes, pancetta, mozzarella – and it didn’t disappoint.  The pizzas there are AMAZING.  I love the soft, paper thing pieces with the burnt, swollen crusts.  It might not be Chicago-deep-dish-acceptable, but I don’t care.

Potato and Pancetta Pizza

Sausage Pizza

Potatoes and Pancetta - Yum!

Hitting the Ground Running February 23, 2009

I am happy to report that I have an awesome new job that I’m eager to start tomorrow!  I’m excited because it’s a real next-step in my career, not just a job to keep me busy and pay my rent.  Like almost everyone else, I’ve had highs and lows in my relatively short professional life; I’ve made mistakes and learned so much, and I’m really looking forward to proving myself and succeeding in this position.  This is starting to sound like I’m writing a cover letter, but I really am excited and I feel so lucky to have been offered something in this kind of economy.

My new hours will be a little bit longer and my commute is further, so I’ve decided to incorporate running into my commute.  This way, running will be incorporated into my day, not something I’ll have to do AFTER a longer day and a longer commute.  It’s about a 4.5 mile run to my train, but I’ll probably extend that to 6 or 7 on a couple of days.  Fiance and I have been talking about biting the bullet and buying a place downtown (we’re further south in the suburbs right now), but until we do, I may just have to stick with shorter-to-middle distances given my schedule now (I should also mention I have a prospective, second part-time job I can do from home).  I’ve been looking at some good running backpacks so I can haul my stuff back and forth – if anyone has suggestions, holler at me!

*   *   *

This weekend brought in the second year of Restaurant Week in Chicago.  Huzzah!  For those who don’t aren’t familiar with this, a lot of local restaurants offer a promotional prix fixe lunch and dinner menus for $22 and $32, respectively, during the week.  It’s a great chance to try a 3-course meal at the fancy-schmancy restaurants I can’t normally afford.  Fiance and I went to Aigre Doux last night, and their prix fixe dinner included an amazingly comforting roasted cauliflower soup and a luxurious maple flan for dessert.  Today, I had a late lunch with some friends at Cafe Spiaggia.

 

Tagliatelle Bolognese

Tiramisu at Cafe Spiaggia

We realized that the recently opened More Cupcakes was just a few blocks away from Cafe Spiaggia.  So a bunch of us cupcake connoiseurs trotted off in search of cupcake perfection.

 

Shelves of Cupcakes

Forever More Cupcakes!

More Cupcakes is famous for offering savory cupcakes.  They had a BLT cupcake, a tomato-ranch cupcake, and a cupcake take on mac & cheese.  I stuck with the sweets this time – lemon, chocolate champagne, mocha, and red velvet.  The cupcakes have an airy, slightly tangy cream cheese frosting that provides a great pairing to the moist richness of the cake.  I tend to prefer cream cheese frosting, since buttercream can be too much for me – like eating straight out of those tubs of frosting in the grocery store.  The search for exceptional cupcakes continues…

 

Foursome in a Box

Infidelity February 10, 2009

In lieu of Valentine’s Day, I’d like to make a confession.

I have not been faithful to my current love.  Long-term relationships are hard, and there are always rocky patches.  We’ve broken up, we’ve gotten back together, we’ve tried to keep it casual, and last year we became more serious than ever.  There have been so many instances where I think I’ve fallen out of love and tried to find that spark and passion in another, only to realize that I was deluding myself.  I’ve had so many indiscretions over the past years – I was lured in by Pilates with its promises of a strong core and flat belly.  I ran to the Elliptical after a particularly ugly fight over enduring shin splints.  During those crazy college years where standards are lowered and everything else looks more appealing, I even gave Bellydancing a try.  It seemed so fun and exotic, but in the end had little substance to offer.

And then there was the string of one-night stands while I was out of town.  Snowboarding, Rock-Climbing, Surfing.  Admittedly, it was quite exciting, but they never would’ve lasted.  After all, what did Surfing and I have in common, me living near the cold, smooth waters of Lake Michigan?  And Snowboarding…well, that was a little too rough for me.  Despite all the disagreements, all the grief this relationship has given me, the fact is that I could never commit to another like I am committed to Running.  Nothing else gives me that high, nothing else makes me feel quite as satisfied as I am after a great run, nothing else makes me want to stick around for life.  Running is my soulmate.

*   *   *

My friend Nic and I went to a sushi buffet last Tuesday night.  That’s right, sushi buffet.  And not a ghetto buffet where poorly assembled California rolls with mealy rice have been sitting out for hours.  It was all-you-can-eat-sushi from an enormously comprehensive menu, the catch being that you had to eat every last thing you ordered, or you would have to pay a la carte for whatever rolls you had left on the plate.

 

"All You Can Eat" - My Favorite Words

 

The First Plate

The second plate looked pretty much the same.  We calculated that all in all, between the two of us, we probably consumed around 50 pieces of sushi, as well as various side dishes like dumplings and chicken yakitori.  Thank god I was wearing stretch jeans.

Fiance brought home a surprise gift for me from his coworker’s wife, who is the nicest and cheeriest woman ever – home-made toffee packaged with sticker hearts.  I think she reads this blog occasionally, so a big shout-out and thank you to the lovely Miss Greta (who is a painter, go check out her site).  The toffee was delicious!  (And yes, my parents taught me manners – I’ve already repaid her with cupcakes.)

 

For Moi???

 

I Love Toffee!

And last but not least, photos of Fiance’s and my dinner at Antico Posto (the food is amazing):

 

Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Cavatelli alla Vodka

 

Porcini Mushroom Ravioli

I Hear Spike Lee’s Shooting Down the Street February 3, 2009

I came back from New York City to a postcard from a restaurant empire.  ”Thank you for your application,” it read, but unfortunately we have no positions that match your skillset.  I don’t even remember applying for any positions with this corporation.  How depressing is it that I am now being rejected for positions I haven’t even applied for?  Hear that hissing noise?  That’s the sound of air leaving my self-esteem balloon.  Hissssssss…

But enough!  I have a phone interview tomorrow, and I had a great time in NYC.  I’ve always been a bit intimidated to live in New York, but I’m in love with the compact culture of it all.  I love the farmers markets that don’t fold up in the cold and sell hot apple cider downtown.  I love the street vendors with hot dogs and pitas and falafels, which are so noticeably absent in Chicago.  (To be fair, we DO have Puppet Bike.)  People complain that New Yorkers are cold, but I love how independent and unabashedly opinionated they are.  Dear New York:  I have a crush on you.  Love, Kai.

Here is a list of hospitality establishments I enjoyed in NYC:
East Village Thai Restaurant
The Sunburnt Cow (unlimited mimosas!)
Crumbs
Royal Bangladesh
Katra
Crocodile Lounge (skeeball, shooting games, and free pizza with every drink order!)
16 Handles
Artichoke
Veselka’s

After all the eating, I feel like I need a week to detox.  Except that I’m headed out for a sushi buffet tomorrow night, and restaurant week in Chicago is quickly coming upon us.  You know what that means – time to start training for an ultra-marathon.

Pad Kee Mao at East Village Thai

Top-Ranked Rafiqi's Street Cart

 

Rafiqi's Chicken Over Rice

 

Cupcake Display at Crumbs

 

Coconut Cupcake

Festive Lights at Royal Bangladesh

 

Wine and Samosas

Poached Egg w/ Crabcakes at Sunburnt Cow

 

Artichoke - NYC's Newest Pizza Hot Spot

 

A Slice to Die For

A Sexy Cake for the Sexy Ladies

 

Cleansing My Palate at 16 Handles

Brownie points if you can name what musical my post title comes from.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m getting back on the treadmill and I’m not getting off until I’ve burned the caloric equivalent of 6 full meals in NYC, which would be a feat to rival Dean Karnazes’ crazy stunts.  Happy running and eating, guys! 

 

NOM NOM CUPCAKE

Year of the Ox January 27, 2009

By way of Sam, there are 50 things you should say before you die, one of which is “There’s nothing I’d rather be doing.”

My running problem is not an endurance problem or even a motivation problem.  It’s an inertia problem.  I love to run, but I also love to sit and when I’m sitting, it is very tough to transition into running.  But as much as it can be like pulling teeth to get my shoes on, a mile or so into a run I always think, “There is absolutely nothing else I’d rather be doing*.”  And inertia works both ways; once I start running, I want to run forever, I don’t ever want to stop.

(*That’s not 100% true – there are a few things I would rather be doing.  Top two includes eating pizza and “crosstraining” with the Fiance, nudge nudge wink wink giggle.)

I booked a last minute trip to New York City for this weekend.  One of my best friends just got out of her first relationship and is a little down to say the least, so I’m flying out to forcefeed her cupcakes until the sugar rush kicks in and she feels a little better.  The only advice I could think to give her was “Go running” because running is a panacea for us all.  Personally, I’m psyched for a change in scenery and excited to go running in Central Park.  I plan on refueling with snacks from all the hot dog and falafel carts around the city.  If anyone has suggestions for places to stuff my face, holla!

*   *   *

It’s Chinese New Year, so Fiance and I made dumplings last night to celebrate.  I’ve been folding dumplings my entire life, but I’ve never actually made it from soup to nuts, so I was hesitant about how the filling would turn out but it came out very flavorful.  You can either roll out your own dough with flour and water, or to save time, you can buy wrappers at your local grocery store.  American stores will sell wonton wrappers near the tofu section, but if you have an Asian market or live near Chinatown, you can buy thicker dumpling wrappers “Shanghai-style” which are more authentic. (Wonton wrappers are MUCH thinner and they’re supposed to be served in soup.)

Ingredients:
1/2 pound Napa cabbage, finely minced
1/2 pound ground pork
scallions, finely minced  (I used 3, but you can use more if you like a more powerful onion flavor)
minced ginger (I used about a tablespoon)
1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
pinch of salt

Directions:
MIX EVERYTHING!  It’s a lot of fun squishing the pork around with your bare hands.
Put a small ball of filling in the middle of a wrapper, wet the edges and then fold to close.  Make sure it’s tightly sealed, so it doesn’t burst during the boiling.  Boil for about 5 minutes, and make sure not to overload the pot because they can stick together.  You can enjoy with a variety of dipping sauces, including soy sauce, oyster sauce, etc. but I like mine traditionally Chinese – dark vinegar with a splash of chili oil and red pepper flakes.  Yum!

Pork and Cabbage Filling

The Finished Product

Always Have Dessert: The Lemon Bar Edition

Treadmill, Dreadmill January 19, 2009

Woe is me, I have been confined to the treadmill.  With temperatures in the negative double digits (that’s not factoring in the windchill) and intermittent blizzards, I have zero desire to step outside and break an ankle and/or lose half my face to frostbite.  I have a treadmill in the apartment, so all I have to do is strip down and jump on.  (Dirty, I know.)  My mid-week runs have been great; I’ve been running good mileage (6-8 miles) and putting in consistently hard runs with simulated hills, speedwork, and turning my easy runs into progression runs.

My long run has gone the way of the warm weather.  I’m having trouble reaching down and summoning enough strength to stay on the treadmill for 2 hours. Just thinking about it makes me slightly nauseous.  I just can’t.  The racer in me has also kind of taken a backseat; I love to run, but right now, I have little desire to train for a sub-4 marathon, or even a 5K PR.  Right now, I’m finding I’m content to run without expectations or any sort of regiment. I hope this doesn’t mean my Runner card will be revoked.  Especially since I’m still planning on a running tattoo…

*   *   *

 

Banana Bread

(Note:  The above is not my picture, but I thought y’all should have visuals to hold your interest.)

 

As a runner, I always ALWAYS have a giant bunch of bananas on hand.  Sometimes, they get overly ripe before I get a chance to polish them all off and I learned the very handy trick from my mother to freeze them for loaves of banana bread.  Saturday night found me with an impossible sweet tooth, loads of ripe, frozen bananas…and no eggs. NO EGGS.  What self-respecting runner and cook doesn’t keep her fridge stocked with eggs?  This one, right here.

I found an eggless banana bread recipe here, and it came out extremely sweet and moist and satisfying.  Depending on the size of your bananas (more perversity!), you may need to add a little more milk and butter to thin out the batter a little.  It was easy, quick, and chock full of potassium goodness.  I think I’ll go cut myself another slice…

SHOUT OUT!  Fiance and I checked out this adorably intimate restaurant out in the burbs called Praga.  Very cozy and inviting, and they have really fabulous contemporary food.  Fiance’s two requirements for thumbs-up service is 1) be generous with the bread, and 2) keep his glass filled, and they fulfilled both requirements.  5 stars!

 

Herbed Olive Oil

Lobster in Phyllo

 

Banana Rum Crepes

The Prodigal Slacker Returns January 8, 2009

I’m sorry I’ve been AWOL, guys.  Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/whatever, and I hope everyone had a good New Years as well!  I got caught up in the holiday laziness and over-indulgence, I’ve been job-hunting and interviewing, and my running mojo has still be a little bit off these past few weeks so my mileage has been quite embarrassing.  I’m confident this is the week that I’ll finally get it together, especially after an 8-miler yesterday with the last mile at an 8:19 pace.  Good way to lock the wheels back onto the track.

It’s also been hard just because I’m not training for anything specific or big at the moment.  I’ve mentioned that I’ve tentatively planned out some short-to-mid-distance races for the spring and summer season, but I see those more as progress indicators than something I’m specifically gearing all my efforts toward.  So as I get back into a blogging regularity again and get myself back into the long-distance mindset, enjoy these food photos!

 

Urban Belly Noodles

 

Pork & Cilantro Dumplings

Cream Puff from Bleeding Heart Bakery

 

Pumpkin Spice, Sweet Potato, Chocolate Vanilla Cupcakes

 

Cream Puff, I Will Devour Thee!

Burgers and Cupcakes December 14, 2008

I would like to give a big shout-out to Sam for sending me not only a pair of Brooks running shorts, but including a load of satisfying goodies in there as well.  The Brooks shorts are great.  If only I didn’t have to wait the 8 months it will take Chicago to thaw out from this single-digit temperature to use them.  My running has still been kind of inconsistent, but I’m very very VERY slowly starting to get back on track.  I plan on running the same Frosty 5K I ran last year, the very same one that jump-started my racing career, and I’m looking at a few half-marathons early in the spring.

Also, for those of you who asked for the chai cupcake recipe in my last post, here it is.  I topped it with a basic cream cheese frosting that I dyed blue.  I wouldn’t say I’m a good cook – I just like to play around in the kitchen and I’m pretty good at accurately following recipes.  I don’t spend my free time inventing recipes with figs and ricotta and bourbon pears.  If you put me on Top Chef, I’d probably serve beef stew.

But the real reason I posted was to show off the epic eating adventure I went on today.  I went to Kuma’s Corner with a few girlfriends to sample one of the best burger joints in Chicago.  Kuma’s is a bar that blasts death metal over the speakers, features paintings of women in bondage on the walls, and has “DIE EMO DIE” scrawled on the giant menu chalkboard, so you can imagine how hardcore their burgers are.  And how out of place 3 little Asian girls looked.  We started off with a calamari appetizer, with peppers and lemon aioli.

 

Kuma's Calamari

The peppers weren’t spicy, but gave a nice subtle tang to the calamari, which was breaded light – just right.  And everyone knows how much I absolutely adore aioli of any kind; I was practically lapping it out of the plastic cup.

I got a Kuma Burger – the menu reads that this is a 10 oz. burger topped with bacon and a fried egg, all loaded on a pretzel roll.  I could barely fit my mouth around this thing.

 

Kuma Burger

Here’s a burger autopsy shot.  Check out that thick slab of patty meat!

 

Burger Autopsy

I’m very proud of my eating crew.  While everyone else around else was loading half their burger into a takeout container, we polished off everything on our plates, except the rings of onion and a few scraps of waffle fries.  Mind over matter, break through that wall!

 

They Call Me the Human Garbage Disposal

I seriously needed a nap after that thing, or at least some elastic waist pants.  And naturally, after a burger feast, the first thing that comes to mind is “CUPCAKES!”  So we all drove over to Molly’s Cupcakes in Lincoln Park and each walked out with a box.

 

Cupcakes Inside!

I got four to split with Fiance – tiramisu cupcake, pumpkin spice, cookies and cream, and the Ron Bennington (chocolate cake filled with peanut-butter/butterscotch, chocolate ganache, topped with crushed butterscotch).

 

Ron Bennington and Cookies and Cream

Pumpkin Spice and Tiramisu

 

Tiramisu Autopsy - Filled With Mascarpone!

Inside the Ron Bennington

My schedule for the next upcoming days includes a dim sum brunch with coworkers today, dinner with Fiance and his friend on Monday night, and dinner with a coworker and her boyfriend Tuesday night.  If all this gluttony doesn’t get my butt out on the roads, nothing will.  I have also decided that I should host a show about eating and running.  I would run races in different cities (maybe scantily clad to attract the 18-36 male demographic) and then stuff my face with delicious local food.  Food Network or Travel Channel really needs to make me an offer.