Dear Brooklyn Half Marathon, 2009,

You seemed like a good idea at the time.

Putting our differences aside, I would like to thank you for giving me 13.1 miles to be running walking right now. Otherwise, I may never have had the chance to traverse two laps of Prospect Park. (Oh wait, Prospect Park is two blocks from my apartment and I run ran it all the time. Hmmmmmm. Why couldn’t you involve a run over the Brooklyn Bridge instead? Was two laps around the same park really necessary?)

Training for you has awarded me many exciting opportunities.

In the beginning, I got to hang out on a treadmill with both of my parents:

I learned that I could accidentally run over 10 miles just because running felt good and fun, even though I thought the 50-yard-dash was a fate worse than death in second grade.

I learned how to turn running into a social activity with Kate at the Nike Running Club:

I also learned that I should never ever ever again choose a training run instead of strength training when I am short on time because then things like pulling my groin, glutes, and hamstrings in the same run are bound to happen. I learned that recovering from such pulls is near impossible when I am trying to train for a race, since the only way to recover fully is to stop running entirely.

I learned that going from running lots of miles per week to running zero miles per week is likely to result in significant weight gain (especially when cake is a staple in your diet) … and that I don’t care.

I learned that my stomach can handle over 2000 mg of ibuprofen per day, and that said dosage is necessary to reduce muscle swelling.

I learned that, despite useless limbs, I could still complete a 10k trail race and come in last … and that my friends would wait for me to cross the finish line:

[And thanks to Sarah Whiting (center) for being the first person to drag me outside for a run when I was 16 and then for convincing me that a trail race would be super super duper fun when I was 26.]

I learned that, even with the best intentions to stop running completely in order to heal in time for the race, factors such as fashion and firemen sometimes carry more weight than logic.

I learned that a 13.1 mile walk/run on a gorgeous day through Brooklyn’s most beautiful park does not sound like such a bad plan. After all, as my good friend Miley says:

Ain’t about how fast I get there.

Ain’t about what’s waitin’ on the other side. [Except for the free goodies which, let’s face it, are the main reason I’m still participating in this darn race.]

It’s the climb.

Thank you, Miley.

Also, thanks to the exhilarating experience of pretending to train for this race, I was able to participate in an awesome first-time half marathoners’ email support group with these dazzling running divas: Andrea, Rose, Heather, Allison, Andrea, and Aimee. Thanks for hanging in there with me, ladies, even though I’ve long since stopped training for real!

Thanks also to my real-life training partners-in-crime: Erin Gunn and Kate! Having a buddy for the long runs makes a huuuuuuge difference.

Yay for the Brooklyn Half Marathon, 2009! I cannot wait for you to be finished 😀

… that I’m ready for tomorrow!

Quick quick quick because I have to run back to getting ready for the half marathon TOMORROW. Lunch today was carrot sticks, mango-peppadew salsa, and more of Elisabeth‘s TJ’s rice and bean chips (sooooooo good!):

And for dessert, mom’s Indian pudding with a dollop of real vanilla ice cream that I found in the freezer:

I probably also finished off my plummy gummies (sorry I didn’t save you any, Allison!):

I did some tidying around the apartment this afternoon, and then it was time for a dinner I’ve been planning for ages but haven’t had a chance to make! You might turn your nose up at the concoction you’re about to see (I certainly would if I weren’t the one orchestrating it), but it was so so tasty. I had these sardines in tomato sauce from Cole’s:

Because they came in tomato sauce (and because their packaging is so pretty) and I don’t have any other tomato sauce hanging around, I’ve been thinking forever that they would be good for a pizza! I’ve always been kind of scared of sardines, but they looked just like regular fish when I opened the tin:

(They tasted like regular fish, too!)

I started by toasting a mini Boboli whole wheat crust in the oven for 15 minutes at 450:

I covered the toasted crust with the sardines and their sauce:

The rest of my sofrito sauce (had to get green in there somewhere!):

An olive oil-sauteed mix of the only veggies I could find: onions, shredded carrot, peppadew piquante, and frozen corn.

And feta!

It all went into the oven at 450 for about 20 minutes to get crispy and brown:

I ate half for dinner, yummmmmm!

Next, I ran off to Kate’s to pick up some running mixes for tomorrow that Olivia made for us and then ran back here to the apartment to prepare tomorrow’s breakfast cookie and my new favorite dessert: baked yam with cacao bliss, coconut, and nutmeg. (Followed by my second favorite dessert: 2 naproxen.)

Now I’m racing to get into bed by 10. I need my eight hours!

Tomorrow’s schedule:

1. 6:00-6:30: wake up, eat cookie, get dressed (+ sunblock, HRM, iPod)
2. 6:30-7:00: yoga for runners from yogadownloads.com
3. 7:00-7:10: Erin Gunn and Kate arrive at my apartment
4. 7:20-7:40 bag check
5. 8:00 until forever: run/walk the half!

Do you ever feel like all you do is blink your eyes and the day disappears?

Well, after last night’s post, I think Ecto and I might be friends. Jury’s still out, but I’ll keep updating you (whether you care or not).

This morning started with the rest of my Peppadew oatmeal. After heating it in the oven, I once again mashed in an Eggland’s Best hard-boiled egg (still working on the ones I collected at this event, if you’re wondering why eggs have been such a big part of my life lately). I layered the oats over a base of plain yogurt and then topped them with mango-peppadew salsa and homemade peanut butter. Yes, that’s right, I went ahead and made peanut butter last night after complaining that I didn’t have any for my oats. I happened to break my coffee bean grinder in the process. How many appliances must I destroy before I find one that can handle nut butter production?! Mr. Coffee got me through several good batches for only $15, so I guess I can’t complain. But why couldn’t he keep putting out?! I thought we had a good thing going …

Anyway, I smothered the oats in strawberries, unsweetened coconut, hulled hemp seeds, and nutmeg:

Unsmothered to reveal layering — left to right: peanut butter, mango-peppadew salsa, peppadew oatmeal, yogurt.

Deceptively beautiful and creamy (yet secretly lethal to kitchen appliances) peanut butter:

After breakfast, I set off with my grandma-cart in hunt of a new window shade for my bedroom (the old one has been ripped for two months — not pretty) and potting soil for the arugula and basil plants my mom sent home with me from MA.

Several hardware stores and hours and a very limp arm later, I returned. Window shade before and after:

Garden before:

Garden after:

We’ll see if these little sprouts survive the night! I hope so because I’ve been fantasizing about having a balcony overflowing with arugula. There’s probably not much that could make me happier.

What color is your thumb?

OK, I’m trying this Ecto again. Maybe I just need to get used to it before it starts to save me time. I do not love learning new things!

Before I left for my two errands this afternoon, I needed a little pick-me-up: another serving of mom’s Indian pudding, warm and toasty right out of the oven.

I followed the Indian pudding with two plummy gummy candies 😀

And then I was off! Four hours, six public transportation vehicles, 18 walked blocks, several grocery store food samples, and an umbrella-less rainstorm later, I am back home with my errands accomplished. (In other words, this was a day when I would not have minded living in a suburb with a car.) My computer has extra memory now (fingers crossed that the memory speeds things along, too), and I have my official Brooklyn Half Marathon 2009 t-shirt. That means I can prove I ran the Half without ever actually having to run it 😀 Muahahahahaha.

Anyway, since I’m cold and rainy and grumpy from the afternoon’s odyssey, I decided I needed oatmeal for dinner. I finished the Goldew Peppadew at lunch, and I had about a cup of Peppadew juice left in the jar. I dumped that into my saucepan with 1/2 cup whole oat groats and cooked until tender. When the groats were cooked enough, I added 1/4 cup oat bran, 1 tbsp ground flax, and a little extra water until everything came together. Half went into the fridge for later, and I mashed an EB hard-boiled egg into the other half which went into a bowl with 1/2 cup plain yogurt:

I topped the Peppadew oats with unsweetened coconut, strawberries, some mango-peppadew salsa, and a sprinkle of nutmeg. I really wanted peanut butter on there, too, but I’m all out!

Dessert #1 was a hunk of baked yam with cacao bliss in the middle and more unsweetened coconut:

(Amazing combo, in case you can’t tell!)

Dessert #2 was chopped strawberries, pineapple, and watermelon with a dollop of Indian pudding and yet another sprinkle of coconut:

On the side throughout all of this, I had several giant mugs of honeyed soymilked (the worst milk I could choose, apparently, which is sad because I love it!) yerba mate.

And another exciting tidbit — I got my final casework paper back in the mail today, and my professor wrote on it that I have “the gift.” This is reassuring to hear because I am investing a ridiculous amount of time and money and sanity into this social work thing!

P.S. Christina accepted the challenge and made s’mores french toast! Who’s next??

OK, I’m pressing publish again … eeeek, I’m nervous!