Time to taper

Really? Really? I'm tapering already?

Crap.

I have not, in the two months that I've been training for this thing, felt this unenthusiastic about running. In the morning it's cold and I am not yet equipped to handle running in the cold (with my birthday coming up, I'm hoping that will change...haha), and in the afternoons I just. don't. want. to.

The absence of my lovely friend has taken its toll, people. I am supremely unmotivated. Awesome.

Not.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

Also, boyfriend and I have discovered this nifty little bar and grill down the road from us. Aptly named "Boondocks" as we are, in fact, in the boonies, it boasts a surly barman and a chirpy, fifty-something waitress/barwoman with short, bleach blonde hair styled with gel, giant diamond earrings and a craggy smile. And more importantly, the Giants game on a flatscreen TV. And decently priced drinks and appetizers.

Boyfriend spent the whole game there on Saturday (I joined him at the top of the 7th), and we both went for innings 2 through 7 yesterday. Quite fun.

In other news:

 Sorry for the image quality, cell phone again. It's just so handy!

Corn Cheese Casserole

3 eggs

3 Tbsp Flour

1/2 cup cream (or milk)

1 cup milk

1 Tbsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

 dash pepper

1 tsp dill

2 Tbsp parsley (I don't usually use...)

2 cups corn

2 Tbsp butter

2 c diced onion

1 large carrot grated

1 small red pepper

1 c grated cheddar

1 block tofu (optional)

Salsa for garnish

Combine eggs and flour in blender. Add cream, milk, honey, salt, pepper, dill, parsley, and half the corn. Blend. Preheat oven to 350. Saute onions in butter until transluscent. Add carrot and peppers, saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining corn, blended ingredients, and cheese.

Pour in to buttered 9 x 13 inch pan  and bake uncovered about 35 minutes until golden and knife through center comes out clean. Serve with salsa.

 

Boyfriend was dubious about this dish, but I find it yummy in the extreme. He liked it once he tried it, but he was pretty incredulous when I added the tofu. For the record, I blend half the block of (firm) tofu in the blender and then add the rest of it chopped to the saute pan.

I also added a little broccoli that we'd cooked the night before. It was pretty tasty. Bon appetit!

Ciao,

kc

P.S. My race is on SUNDAY! That's six days away!

YESTERDAY: 6 miles

Black bean, sweet potato goodness

We've had quite the adventure so far, living in our little cabin in the woods. Yesterday, we got a barbecue for $20. My caveman was quite thrilled to be able to grill meat and play with fire. He's off on a bike ride right now, getting his wiggles out and leaving me in peace to do some work and talk to you!

I have some job interviews next week, one at a coffee shop and one at a graphic design studio. I'm kind of hoping for both to work out. We'll see. Professional face on and chin up and away we go.

Other than that, not much to talk about, I just wanted to leave y'all with this awesome recipe. My sister loves it and apparently makes it quite often. It's one I found when I was first learning to cook and have handed around, but often forget about myself. I made it the other night and boyfriend was impressed — though disappointed at the lack of meat.

"I'm a man. Men need meat."

"Yes, dear."

The following night, we added some ground beef to the leftovers and it was still quite tasty. I prefer the vegetarian version, but know that a pound of lean ground beef can be cooked up and thrown in with quite tasty results.

Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I usually use yams...the orange ones that everyone seems to think are sweet potatoes but actually aren't)
1 tablespoon chili powder*
1 jar (16 oz) mild salsa (about 1 3/4 cups)*
2 cans (15 to 19 oz each) black beans

In 4-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in sweet potatoes, chili powder, salsa, and 1 cup water; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Add beans with their liquid and cook 3 minutes to blend flavors. Serve with sour cream, cheese, and cilantro.

*To kick it up a notch, use medium salsa and add a bit more garlic and chili powder.


Just a note, this recipe makes a lot of food, so don’t double unless you’re serving more than say…five people. It goes great with corn bread.

And I don't mean the fake kind.

Buy a box of cornmeal, which is like, $2, and read the recipe on the back of the box for cornbread. It's actually easier than cornbread out of a box. And tastier. For a little extra moisture in the bread, add a generous handful of corn (thawed if frozen).

Running is going well, it's almost time to taper! Our race in less than two weeks!

Ciao,
kc

YESTERDAY: 4 miles
TUESDAY: 60 minute Fartlek, 6.4 miles total

There goes Peter Cottontail

Okay, so I realize that I grew up in the "wilderness" and so I really shouldn't be so...amused? Surprised? Thrilled? to see all the wildlife around here. I mean, lovely friend and I saw like six bunny rabbits when we went running at Patrick's Point a couple weeks ago.

Nevertheless, I was just captivated by a bunny sitting outside my kitchen window for the last fifteen minutes. Cute little bunny who's brown fur is speckled with white for the upcoming winter.

And do you want to know what that little bunny did?

Nothing.

He sat there.

And sat there.

And sat there.

After hopping there, of course. But then he sat.

And I sounded like some never-seen-a-bunny-in-my-life tourist calling to boyfriend to come look. *Hand to face* What have I become?

But it was cute...

Dangerous Encounters?

Okay, so not so much. But the wildlife here is not only ridiculous, but they're not scared at all.

Exhibit A:

Vicious? See that? That panther is not scared of me at all!

So I'm not serious in this instance at least. Kitty (name still unknown) is a brave little bugger who thought to invite himself (herself?) into my house the other day, without so much as a "don't mind if I do." Silly kitty.

However, exhibit B is a little cooler and I'm being much more serious.

Exhibit B:

That's a coyote.

A live one.

A live wild coyote. Or so it would have us think.

The cute butt on the bike is boyfriend.  Please don't check it out, only I'm allowed to do that.

As for the coyote, he trotted along the bike path we were on for a while on the other side of the barbed wire fence. I thought maybe he just felt safe in the fact that he was probably the "bigger" predator and as we were in a no-hunt zone, which reads "teeming with people all the time," he probably felt secure in the fact that he's the most dangerous thing in his territory. Top of the food chain as it were.

And you know, the barbed wire fence was between us and him.

Then he hopped the fence. And began to chase butterflies on and around the path.

Wild.

Yeah. Right.

I'm sure he is legitimately wild, but he's not scared of people. Nosiree. Mom though rabid, but he made no move towards us and other than the being three feet from us big scary people on bicycles (quite literally), he was engaged in fairly normal coyote behavior.

Speaking of wild animals...

Boyfriend has settled into his man-cave and I may or may not see him this winter. He's asked for a spare key to my car so he doesn't have to hunt down my keys to move my car out of the garage so that he can set up his skateboard rail and skate in the garage. All that's missing from his lawn-chair decor is a mini-fridge full of beer. And that's what snow's for, right? He's out there right now listening to the S.F. Giants game on the radio. I haven't seen him in hours.

Oh well. So long as he's happy. At least I don't have to listen to the game.

Ciao,
kc

We're not in Kansas anymore

I'm salty. But that's what happens when you run.

Twelve miles.

Owwww. The altitude and all of the stress/exhaustion of moving finally caught up with me yesterday, and other than the 5 mile run which was managed only with much bitching (in my head, don't worry, not out loud as I was by myself) and at 7:30 a.m. because that's when my lovely friend could run, I did absolutely nothing.

Nothing nothing nothing.

Well, that's not true. I made pillows.

And I roasted a pumpkin.

And I finished a hat I was supposed to have done by last Christmas and started on my second (of three that were promised last Christmas). Maybe they'll be done in time for this holiday season? One can hope. I still have a sweater I have to finish from three years ago. That's what happens when the initial thrill of "I can do this!" wears off and the craft projects that you used to whiz through take forever.

Though it's kind of fun sitting in my little cabin watching TV and knitting.

Oh, and I did laundry.

So yesterday, I stayed exhausted, did nearly nothing and was in bed and asleep by 9:45 p.m. and I even "slept in" this morning. Seeing as 6:30 a.m. has been my go-time all this week, and 7:45 a.m. this morning was when I finally pulled myself out of bed — that's sleeping in.

Today was all productivity. After making my coffee, and letting myself snuggle with my cereal and my coffee on the couch for one episode of "How I Met Your Mother" (my current staple, lent to us by a friend of boyfriend's family who lives in Bend), I was up and at 'em.

I folded the laundry I did yesterday. And no, in case you were wondering, I don't consider folding part of doing laundry. Mostly because I hate to fold laundry. Can you say, "Honey Do List"? I'd rather stack the cord of wood that's outside. But it was raining this morning, so I folded laundry instead.

Then I whipped up some pumpkin muffins from the pumpkin I roasted yesterday.

Unfortunately, the pumpkin wasn't particularly flavorful, so they're kind of wimpy muffins. And I needed to add more flour, because the pumpkin was a bit watery, so they're kind of flat. But nothing says "neighborly" like a plateful of fresh muffins, and nothing says "quick and easy breakfast" or "best girlfriend ever" like fresh muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins for your Tasting Pleasure
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup oil
4 beaten eggs
1 lb canned pumpkin (3 1/2 cups cooked pumpkin)
3 1/2 cups flour (1 cup whole wheat, 2 1/2 cups all-purpose,
unbleached flour)
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, beaten eggs, and pumpkin. In a second bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Alternate adding flour and water to the brown sugar, oil, beaten eggs, and pumpkin. Stir until just mixed. Place muffin batter in tins 2/3 full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Once I'd popped the first dozen in the oven, I busted out the vacuum to give our floor — which was rather dirty from all the moving — a good once over. My boyfriend has the best vacuum ever. It's got this head that goes in all directions (gets into tight corners easily!) and it's lightweight and easy to manhandle, and you don't have to use a bajillion different attachments for hardwood, carpet, etc. Just one. And it does it all!

I'd marry that man for his vacuum alone.

His mother thinks I'm kidding and thinks that statement is hilarious.

I'm not.

Though he does have many other wonderful attributes, so I'd marry him anyways. Regardless of his vacuum. It's just a perk. And don't tell him I talked to you about marriage.

Then I cleaned the bathroom, put another round of muffins in the oven, made up the bed in the guest room, and put the various odds and ends that don't have a home and can be stored in our attic storage. This is no small task for me as I am short (ish) and the ladder is really high up hard to reach. So I can get the attic door open, but I can't get the ladder down from the floor.

Not even when I stand on tip-toe.

Luckily, boyfriend has this cute little stool that he made when he was a cub scout that I've been toting around the house with me. Comes in handy when I'm trying to neatly put things on shelves, above cabinets, or get into the attic. It's so cute.

I finished up my muffin making, took some muffins over to my neighbors Linda and Lane (Lane built the house), and then had some lunch.

Then, lovely friend and I motivated to run our 12 miles for today.

It felt like I was at a higher altitude and that I took my rest day on Thursday and ran five miles on Friday instead. Oh wait, I am and I did.

It was hard.

It hurt. A lot.

But I found this nifty little 5.25 mile loop in Sunriver (we're just Southwest of Sunriver, which is the resort town south of Bend, between Bend and Mt. Bachelor). It's 1.75 miles from my house to the beginning of the loop, so I had to do an extra 3.25 miles in there, but it goes along the Deschutes River a ways on the prohibited-hunting side...oh, didn't I tell you? Yeah, it's hunting season...don't want to go more than 2 miles into the forest without a bright orange reflective vest or the hunters might think you're a deer. And shoot you.

So we don't do that.

Anyways.

It goes along the river and then it cuts over to the resort stables and past the little resort airport. Few to no houses out there, and it's this really pretty valley with lots of horses in the pastures dotted with fir trees and blue spruce. Then it travels back into the resort and loops around the lodge and through some confusing trails until I finally found the place where I turned around at 2.5 miles yesterday.

Really beautiful.

It'll be nice in the winter. I can drive to the starting point and just run around the resort, so that I'm off the road and within shouting distance of people in case something happens. Because it's just smart to be prepared.

So I did the loop, and then started the loop again to get my extra mileage, because I knew that if I had to run past my turnoff it wasn't going to happen. So I had just turned around (I went out and back 1.65 miles), when a group of four deer trotted across the path.

"Cute," I thought and kept running.

The deer paused to check me out, rather unperturbed by my presence and kept moving along the path ahead of me. It was two young ones just grown out of their spots, a doe and a buck. They disappeared around a corner and I thought nothing of it until I rounded the corner and practically ran into them.

The buck, in typical man-style, was answering the call of nature right next to the path and taking his time about it. The doe and little ones took off down the path at the sight of me, but the buck kept on doing his thing.

I nervously ran past him, coming within ten feet of him, and then kept on when he just looked at me. I ran on for a little bit, with maybe twenty or thirty feet between me and the doe and co. when I heard tap-tapping behind me, and I glanced back. There was the buck, trotting behind me.

Like, right behind me.

I wish I had had my camera. I had my phone, but it didn't occur to me at the time and I think he was as surprised as I was that we were so close. I sped up and he sped up. I slowed down, he slowed down. Finally, I stopped because he was making me nervous and I didn't know what else to do. At that point, to my relief, he took himself off into the underbrush to catch up with his family who had wandered off the path at that point.

Adventures with wildlife, I tell you what.

Between the deer and the chipmunk who really wanted to get in the house today (I looked up at one point and he had climbed halfway up our screen door and was chattering away), I'm a bit on wildlife overload.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Ciao,
kc

TODAY: 12 miles
YESTERDAY: 5 miles

I played you love songs, you'd say we're playing house, now you still say we are

First of all, there's something really great about naturally waking up around 6:30 a.m. It means that it's quarter to eight and I've already had my coffee, done some work, unpacked a bag, and watched Glee. And of course, decided to blog.

I wanted to write last night after my four mile run, but I got caught up in unpacking just one more bag, and then another, and then another — you understand.

It's my intention to go take better pictures (i.e. not with a cellphone) today, but here's a teaser.

This is a two minute walk from my house. It's the headwaters for Spring Creek or something, and it flows into the Deschutes. All you can see is this tiny trickle that comes from underground to fill this whole pond that then gushes into the creek (where I'm standing) with a torrent of water that is unbelievably beautiful and seemingly impossible.

Half a mile from my new house, literally down the road (the road turns into the trail), is the Deschutes National Forest that runs along the river. I ran my run yesterday down that trail and I could see the water through the trees.

Gorgeous.

You'd think with me being from the redwoods and all that I would be unimpressed by stumpy evergreens and high desert scenery, but I'm not. It's a different kind of beauty, and in some ways, it's all the more beautiful to me because I didn't grow up surrounded by it.

I will admit that to some extent, I take the redwoods for granted. I can't help it. They've surrounded me my whole life, and they're just trees. Really really really really big trees, but just trees. Here, it's different.

Less damp, certainly.

I don't know. The redwoods are beautiful, but somehow, the area here is more beautiful. Maybe because this place is a place I've chosen to be. I choose to be here. I'm not forced here by a job, or by birth, or anything. I'm here simply because I want to be.

Well, that and boyfriend's here. But it was my idea.

We just let him think it was his idea.

Ciao,
kc

P.S. Apparently, I suck at making fires in our wood stove. At 38 degrees this morning, I decided it was necessary. Less than an hour later the damned thing is out without ever really getting hot. Good thing I'm dating a boyscout...and we have electric heat.

YESTERDAY: 4 miles, 37 minutes

Our New Home

Oh my goodness, I'm here. I'm here and I'm mostly unpacked. And I have internet. And the house is finally quiet. The new house isn't quite big enough for four people to navigate around each other (and a myriad of boxes in varied states of unpacked) without tension running a little high. Especially considering the emotional state rendered by the stress of moving.

I had my first meltdown yesterday. Hopefully the first and last, as boyfriend and co. drove home today. Boyfriend is off to pick up his truck and his parents (co.) are headed back home and then off to the east coast.

The meltdown was incited by a phone call with our internet provider. A very nice, young-sounding man named Rob had informed me that our internet had not, in fact, been activated on Friday as it was supposed to be and no one was exactly sure why. I need internet by this afternoon for my telecommuting and was in a mild panic because of it.

I'm talking full-on squalling meltdown.

Luckily, his parents were out and about and only boyfriend was there to witness the mess. We've been together long enough that he's a veteran and a pro at handling such situations. He's good at soothing noises.

Surprisingly, the meltdown was not incited on Sunday when we got lost. Or when the truck ran out of gas on the side of the road after not seeing hide nor hair of a gas station for 200 miles. Or when it took us 9 hours instead of 6.5 to get here. Or when we realized that there was only one air mattress and his parents were using it and our mattresses were buried in the very back of the truck and we had to heave-to to unload the entire truck before darkness fell (it gets pretty black out here) in order to have something other than beautiful (hard) wood floors to sleep on.

The meltdown was also not incited on Monday when I woke up to a house full of boxes and no coffee. Or when we ran around and around and around town (20 minute drive away) picking up things, trying to find things, inevitably getting lost and most assuredly bickering.

Just the last straw. Oh well.

Did I mention the truck ran out of gas on the side of the road? Couldn't be helped. We didn't know that we wouldn't be seeing a gas station for that long, or we would have gotten gas in Grants Pass. Thankfully, we were caravan-ing and my boyfriend had the forethought to put a gas canister in the back of the truck, so I was able to take the canister to the nearest gas station (seven miles away) and return with enough gas to get us to the gas station to fill up.

In other news, ready for a tour of my new house? I thought so. Please excuse the mess.

This is my living room and my "office" alcove.

My office. I have a beautiful view of spruce trees and a bird feeder that already has little birdies visiting!

Our "reading corner" and breakfast bar.

Dining room and backdoor.

Kitchen

Fireplace is in the center of the main living area. The kitchen is to the left and the hallway at the right goes to the bedrooms and bathroom. Straight across from it is my office.

Another kitchen view. Carpet was $7 at a garage sale.

View out my front door. The building on the right is our detached garage.

More front yard.

The wall on the right is the outside corner of my office. The tree is right out my main office window.

Path to the garage and the garage.

Front of the house.

Another living area photo.

View of living room from "dining room"

Also, I've done my first cooking in the house. We had a family friend over for dinner last night and I whipped up a quick batch of pesto.

Fresh pesto!

Pesto is easy to make and delicious on anything.

To Make Pesto:
Using a blender or a food processor (I prefer the processor), put in a generous handful of fresh basil leaves, a tablespoon of pine nuts or walnuts (I use pine nuts), a couple cloves of garlic, salt and pepper to taste and olive oil. Run the blender or processor until pesto is fully processed.

It made the store-bought ravioli (nothing wrong with that) a little more interesting than simple marinara would have. Be careful though, if you use too much garlic it has a pretty good kick. I added too much garlic. It is however, really yummy that way.

Keeps the bugs away too.

In addition, if you have any extra, you can freeze it for later use. I usually use an ice tray and freeze it in cubes for easy use. One "cube" is perfect if you're cooking only a little bit for one, two to four "cubes" if you're serving more people.

I had my first Oregon run yesterday. I called my lovely friend before I left (it's our plan to run "together") and then again when I got back. Boyfriend accompanied me with his bike and a beer (classy at it's finest...sigh) and I ran up the road towards the mountain. We're on the road that goes up to Mt. Bachelor...it's actually a quicker drive to get to the mountain for us than it is for us to get to Bend itself.

I'm used to running at sea level, so I was slower than usual thanks to less oxygen, but I still managed to do the whole Fartlek workout. Go me!

All righty, that's enough for now. Further updates on my life coming soon, as well as those promised pumpkin recipes!

Ciao,
kc

YESTERDAY: 60 minute Fartlek
SATURDAY (10/2): 8.25 miles on trails