Aberham Lincoln

While eating lunch after Lulu's school: Mom, we learned about Aberham Lincoln today (she calls Abram Aber as well).

Me: Tell me about Abraham Lincoln.

Lulu: OK, but this is scary mom (she pauses for effect), he got shocked.

Me: He was shot?

Lulu: He got (eyes widen) shocked!

Me: Oh. Who shocked him?

Lulu: I don't know, who?

Me: John Wilkes Booth.

Lulu: (looks off into space contemplating murder by electrocution)

Lulu: This next part is dirty mom.

Me: OK.

Lulu: His floor was (pauses for drama) made of dirt! And he peed outside!



Oh, the breathtaking results of Challenger.

Week Whatever

My days are essentially spent: lifting, chasing, racing, serving, and amusing. I like who I am from 5:30 a.m. until around 5 p.m. It is around this time that I start to loose my grip. I'm always pushing the restart button during my nightly prayers asking for a little more something to get me through.

I've always felt that the Mormon culture's approach to the word of wisdom is a tad bit ironic (this is a generalization, I know there are members who take it very seriously), in fact, at every temple recommend interview when asked if I live the word of wisdom I always shrug my shoulders in a "pretty much" fashion because I know that I really don't live the code of health that was intended.

I mean, we do eat pretty healthy in comparison with the rest of the United States. Yeah, I know, that's not hard to do.

We pretty much cut out red meat years ago, we don't drink soda or caffeine, and we don't eat that much sugar, but the sugar is really what separates the boys from the men right (I know there is nothing in the word of wisdom about sugar but it is a code of health, and by eating more than a tiny bit of refined sugar my health is compromised).




So in my praying (and marathon training) I've started to feel the urgency of really committing to live a word of wisdom diet. I've been trying to ignore the promptings but...I do want more. Seriously, I don't want to.

I started Monday. I ate whole wheat toast with peanut butter, a breakfast salad with spinach, apples, oranges and vinaigrette, and orange juice (I do need to keep calories, just not the empty ones)for breakfast. I snacked on raw almonds and dried apricots. I had a salad for lunch and Mezedakia for dinner and Tuesday was similar.

I did have more energy for my long run this morning, but I am hating not having some sort of fix now and then. I hear it gets better, right? Right?

Mezedakia:




When Brad and I were first married we lived downtown on B street, than in Hollady. We frequently ate at a dive called The Other Place. They have a delicious Mezedakia platter. Mine is better:)

Cut an English cucumber into thin pieces, cut tomatoes into fourths or eighths, crumble feta into chunks, grill a pork tenderloin and cut into disks (you can use whatever meat you prefer), place kalamata olives in the middle, drizzle the whole thing with olive oil, champagne vinegar, balsamic vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper. Place lemon slices on the side and if you are not too concerned about a few simple carbs toast pita bread drizzled with olive oil and salt in the oven and cut into fourths. Pretty delicious and really not that bad for you.



Maybe someday soon I'll be able to hold Rosemary all day long and not be weary, and listen to whining all day long and not faint.

Wearing a Hat is Hard

Running is good again. I ran hills on Thursday and felt great. We ran 10 miles in the fog and rain on Saturday and it felt pretty good. Lone Peak's track is still covered with snow (we discovered that this morning as we searched in the dark for anything dark amid the white), so we tried to do some speed work on the side of the dark bumpy road from Lone Peak to the Timpanogous Temple. We ended up running 4 miles in 31 minutes. Things are picking up. And I get my stitches out tomorrow. Yea for me!

I've only cooked two noteworthy ricipes: Emeril's chicken stir fry was fast, easy, and a good way to add broccoli and red peppers to my meal.
But this warm lentil salad with roasted beets and goat cheese was delicious. It is the second time I've made it and I can't get enough. Yum.

Week Two

Abram is a glass half-empty kind of guy right now (please let it only be temporary). I reason that it must be difficult being jammed quite closely between three girls, two being incredibly over-the-top dominant and one being a needy baby. Any task that needs doing on his part is just too difficult because of "the beetle biting his leg" or the "roley poley" caught in his ear, or how going potty makes his eye hurt, and how putting his shoes on makes his tummy hurt. Unfortunately, his mother nagging him about completely these tasks makes him hit, kick and push his younger sister, which in turn makes her cling to me.



It's kind of like I have a goiter slung around my neck, except this goiter laments in operatic baby babble, the terrors of being Abram's younger sister.





I don't lament my goiter too much.


So, I ran 10 miles Saturday, did a tempo run Monday, and ran 3 miles this morning. And I felt pretty miserable during all of them. I'm not sure what is up. Maybe it was the race combined with not running for a week because of the surgery and maybe I am running different because I am favoring the leg. I can't figure it out, but I'll give it some time.

I had an allergic reaction to the bandages that I've been covering my stitches with, and now my leg is swollen with bleeding hives and it is nasty, and I can't wear bandages. I'll spare you the photo.

What I've eaten:

Thursday I made Bobby Flay's Chinese chicken salad and it was pretty good. I've probably made a dozen different Chinese chicken salad recipes and I still think I like Tyler Florence's the best.

I made chicken Kiev Friday. It's an America's test kitchen recipe, so no link, but it's filled with butter so you may not want it.



I was snapping a photo of my bowl full of butter and herbs and this just happened to be taking place in the background. Sweet Lu.

One of Brad's clients owns an extra large smoker and enters his smoked meats in contests around the states. He often emails Brad and asks if he would like something smoked for him. Last week he said he had room for a smoked pork butt. We bit and now I'm making all kind of really healthy pork meals. Right now I'm reading Born to Run and the author covers the diets of some of the best runners in the world. Christopher Mcdougall seems to have left out the part about how pork butt makes you run really fast...