Recipe: Grapefruit Sangria! (Paleo-ish)

I have not solved the mysterious failure-to-run bug. In fact, I spent the last two days laying on my couch with some sort of head cold. Which obviously doesn't help the situation at all. 

Ah well, let's focus on fun stuff. Monday night was girls' night. We hopped on match.com, updated a friend's profile, and sent lots of winks on her behalf. Yes, we are wild.  The food for the evening? Well, as host, I can tell you it wasn't wild, but it was delicious! We enjoyed my Paleo Sausage Mushroom balls (recipe here), a yummy tomato, mozzarella, basil, red onion and balsamic salad (am I the only person who can NEVER spell mozzarella properly??), and, my new creation, Grapefruit Sangria! (promptly pronounced delicious and blogable by my friends).

I call it Paleo-ish because of course, alcohol goes in the grey area. And it contains vodka, which is grey as well... but! you can find vodka that is not grain-distilled, AND, you have to enjoy life, right?? What is good about this... NO simple syrup, NO sugar. So whatevs... leave out the vodka. I don't care if  you miss out. 

Grapefruit Sangria

Ingredients

• 3 Cups grapefruit juice 
• 1 Cup vodka
• 1 bottle Riesling (use one that isn't super-sweet)
• 1/2 Grapefruit
• 1 orange
• 1 peach

Mix liquid ingredients together. Chop fruits to desired size and add to pitcher. Let rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours so the flavors blend together. Enjoy!

Running On Empty...

"Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels

I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels...

Running on - running on empty

Running on - running blind

Running on - running into the sun

But I'm running behind...

You know I don't even know what I'm hoping to find

Running into the sun but I'm running behind"

Running on empty. In life. On the road. 3 weeks until Lansing. Yikes.

Road running. I don't know what is wrong lately. I'm tired, I'm slow, I don't want to go run. I feel dissatisfied with my New Balance Minimus Zero shoes, but nothing else tops them. Some things straight up fail miserably. A little over a week ago, I knocked out a 9 miler. It was slowed, and I was spent, but it got done. Since then, every run has been torture. In fact, I've quit. I've cut every one short.

Is it the heat? The new pair of shoes, bought the day after the 9 miler? I'm not sure. I hope it's the shoes. I'll be trying my Zeroes again and hopefully can complete my next training run.

As for the shoes I tried... I don't like to bash equipment. I believe that every product is the ideal product for someone. After experiencing my old friend, pain in the balls of my feet, I thought maybe I need a bit more cushioning. I visited a local sports store (which I will not visit again) and purchased a pair of Altra Intuition 1.5s. By the way, if anyone wants them, I'd be happy to sell them. The pros to Altras: they are true zero drop, the toe box is awesome...  SO much room! It's big and boxy without feeling like a saucer (how I felt when I tried Brooks Pure Grit). Your toes can spread naturally with no problems. The cons: way too much shoe for me. After several runs, I haven't adjusted. The cushion is too much, the outer portion is too much, the tongue is too much. My feet were roasty hot and my toes kept going numb. I believe the shoes altered my form as well..  after an aborted 4 mile run, I was SORE the next day. I haven't been that sore after a run in ages... even my hilly half marathon. After today's aborted 6 miles... I ran 4 miles and walked 2.. I was in pain. I hurt from the hips down.

I hope it's the shoes, the heat, and maybe a need for more healthy fats in my diet (my husband's answer), but I am grumpy, discouraged, worried about my next half marathon. The fun is draining out of running, and that scares me. I need the escape.

My life is running on empty. I look back sometimes and wonder how the heck I got to 29 like this. I feel like I was supposed to accomplish so much more. Be established and advancing. Not laid off. Again. Job hunting. Again. Feeling like I'm unqualified. Again.

I know I sell myself short. I know the scattered resume isn't my fault. I was laid off, knew my husband had orders to move, got sent to a state with a depressed economy, got laid off again. Despite what anyone says, this recession is NOT over. I know this. But living the results of it still hurts.

I started this latest job hunt feeling positive. Knowing that God has a plan for me, and His plan is good, so I shouldn't worry. But worry and doubt is creeping in. I'm starting to glance around at the storm, down at the waves, instead of trusting God and keeping my eyes on him. I know that I have plenty to offer the right company. I know I will be highly successful in the right role. I just need to find that role. I just have to trust that the job is out there and keep trying to find it.

A Facebook friend posted this verse today:  "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That's why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  -2 Corinthians 12:9-10

So perhaps it isn't bad to tell you that I'm running on empty. To admit that I am weak. To know that my strength comes from God. My strength to run. To find a job. To stay positive. To focus on Him in the storm. I am weak Lord, but your grace is enough.

So today, I will do what I can. Clean my house. Host a couple friends. Hopefully develop an awesome grapefruit sangria recipe to share with you. Job hunt. And tomorrow, I will try to find what works on the road. Because I can do all of this. Because if I am running on empty, I know two things. His grace is sufficient; He loves me regardless. And if I am empty, if I am weak, there is room for his perfect power to work in me.

I Have a Problem...

I have a motivation problem.

There, I said it. If admitting a problem is the first step toward the solution, it should get all better now, right?

I doubt it.

I'm 5 weeks from my next half marathon, and I feel like I have to force myself into every run, every workout. Once I get going, some are decent, but most leave me with no runner's high, cajoling myself into every step, falling short fairly often.

I think (I hope) every runner has funks, but this has lasted at least 3 weeks already.

I'd love to point to external causes...   like, oh, guess what? I got laid off. Again. Yup.   Oh, and 6 days after becoming unemployed, we found out my father-in-law, who I love and who is my husband's hero, has Parkinson's. Yeah. F*ck you, Parkinson's.

But these things occurred after I started feeling so unmotivated and fatigued. The layoff may have overlapped a bit, but when I first got that news, I felt remarkably positive about it. For at least a week, I wasn't worried, fully trusting that God had a plan for me, and I'm just not supposed to be at that job.

I still believe that. My life is in God's hands, and he has promised us both suffering and wonderful things. It's rough though. When my most recent boss hired me, he gave me the honest assessment of my resume that, at first glance, he would question my loyalty. (Sorry. I really DID want to get laid off and then move to Detroit. I planned it, I swear.)  And now, he was forced to lay me off after 6 months. THAT should make my resume look very appealing. I just hope people will understand, given the economy and job market.

But I digress. Fatigue. No motivation. Struggling through 4 milers. Going to lift weights and feeling that I am simply... not strong. No strength.  I can see how the stress in my life could make this worse, but how did it start?  How do I fix it in time for my next Half?  Seems like I don't have enough time off to just take a break. Which doesn't seem smart anyway. How do I de-funk?

I'm going to try baking Paleo Blueberry Muffins from Elena's Pantry (recipe). And then I'm going to slather them in grassfed butter.

But, I have to run 5 miles today, and I don't wanna.

I have a problem...

I Need yurbuds...

How do you run? What keeps you moving? Music? Audio books? Nothing but the sound of nature and your own feet on the trail or pavement?

I am 100% dependent on music and not ashamed to admit it. I've had my iPod die during a difficult run, and while I didn't quit, I wanted to. I do not need to hear myself gasping for air, but more importantly, I like the beat. If you ever watched me run, you would absolutely see moments where I'm pawing frantically at my iPod's controls, trying to find a song with a better beat or one I haven't heard recently. And it's not abnormal to catch me dancing along to a song during a particularly good run.

So, if you have a well-loaded iPod, and you remembered to charge it, what could go wrong? Yup. Headphones. Slipping. Falling out. Needing constant readjustment. Every runner has experienced slippery earbuds. You're constantly fidgeting, and your groove is lost somewhere in the constant effort to catch a fallen earbud and get it back in your ear.

As I prepped for my first half marathon, I made one of many stops in my local New Balance store. I saw a package of headphones hanging on the wall. I admit it, I was drawn in because they were pink. I asked what the staff thought. One person had hated them. One swore they were great. I have tiny ears. Really tiny ears. Which often presents a challenge. And these come with two sizes of enhancers... So I took a chance. 

Good move Stacey, good move. 

Yurbuds. Inspire for women. 

It took about two runs before I truly figured out how to get these earbuds properly in place. They have instructions, I just didn't take the time to read them. You actually twist these into your ear, and then give a tug to ensure they are secure. And then you go. Go, go, go. Because your yurbuds aren't going anywhere. 

My first pink pair took me through some brutal winter runs. I mean 5 degree days, windy days, freak snow squalls. They didn't budge.  They came with me through the spring runs.. the days when 45 degrees felt warm, the rainy days, the very, very windy days. 

They took me through two half marathons. In the Indy Mini Marathon, I wore one earbud, and tucked the other into my sports bra. This allowed me to chat with my friend and maintain awareness without sacrificing my music. Even with the imbalance of having a single earbud in, it did not budge. 

I finally sacrificed my pink pair to the Ann Arbor Half Marathon. Somewhere along the way I learned that where the earbuds don't budge, if you tuck one into your sports bra, the enhancer just might budge. 

The enhancer is the colorful portion that actually goes into your ear. This is clearly the genius of yurbuds. Not only is this the innovation that keeps these babies in your ear, the design allows for some awesome sound, even while putting the earbuds through the ringer.  I got caught in a torrential downpour. I mean Torrential with a capital T. The earbuds did NOT slide, and the sound was NOT compromised.   

The material is germ resistant as well, so you don't feel gross using them. There are earbuds that definitely can not say this. I received a pair of Klipsch sport earbuds from a contest. I couldn't keep them in my ear, and I started feeling grossed out trying to stick them into my ear over and over. Klipsch... good sound, miserable fit, no groove. The day I tried Klipsch, I cut my run short because I was CONSTANTLY adjusting the earbuds. 

It's clear I love yurbuds, but there is a small, pink enhancer somewhere in Ann Arbor. I contacted yurbuds to inquire about replacements. I received a prompt answer letting me know that I could easily get replacement enhancers. But... after pondering for a little bit, I decided to just get a new pair!   Let's face it, I am a girl, and I enjoy pretty, colorful things. (check here for options: yurbuds)  I won't be getting rid of my old pair. Most likely, I will at some point put the green enhancers on the pink cord.

In with the old, in with the new.

Ready to roll.

I hope I've convinced you.. and if not... here's a video!  Yes, a video... big step for me. Apologies for the meowing, but I guess my cat likes yurbuds too!

There you go... enjoy your run!!

Running in the New Balance Minimus Hi-Rez...

You are what you consistently do, right? So I seem to be a runner...  maybe I should start blogging more about that instead of just the occasional, not-very-consistent recipe post.

In some ways, I feel a little lost, a bit adrift right now. My next race isn't until September, when I will do the Capital City River Run Half Marathon in Lansing, MI. I'm looking forward to it. It's supposed to be a nice flat course, but I won't be PR-ing because I will be running alongside my friend as she attempts her first ever half marathon. Her current pace is about a minute per mile slower than mine, so I'll be out there encouraging her.

Having no race planned for a while, I feel a bit in limbo. Although, let's be honest, I'm not sure I want to be racing in the heat of the summer. WOW. Give me the 5 degree days of winter back instead of the 90 degree, humid days. I've been trying to get out the door by 6 a.m. for my runs to beat the heat, but my body isn't quite used to going that early yet.

In the meantime, I've been trying to work on my speed and my strength without losing my endurance. My current plan is to repeat a two-week schedule until it's time to ramp back up to double-digit runs.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1 mile max speed, strength	Run 4 miles	8 sprint intervals, strength	Run 4 miles	Rest/stretch	Run 6 miles	Rest
1 mile max speed, strength	Run 4 miles	8 sprint intervals, strength	Run 5 miles	Rest	Run 8 miles	Rest

As for gear... first, I owe New Balance an apology. After ranting and raving about the seam on the Minimus Zero, I worked with them and they decided my shoes must've been defective. They took them back, even with a ton of miles and sent me store credit. In the interim, I tried other shoes. I went to New Balance and tried on other models, but found nothing else in a zero drop that fit quite as well. If I went outside of a zero drop, I felt it, and it was immediately odd. Yes, even a 4mm drop felt strange. 

I tried a pair of Brooks from the Pure Project line. The first time I went out, they felt awesome. Every time after that... I could feel the padding, and I felt like I had a dinner plate strapped to my feet. If you're looking to get into minimal shoes, but want some padding still, they are a great shoe, and I would recommend them. They definitely weren't the shoe for me though. 

So with one pair on it's way back to NB, and one pair making me crazy with every step...  Problem. I had another Half rapidly approaching, and had no shoes. So... I went back to the Minimus Zero. Ahhhh.... like sliding into your favorite pair of jeans. I ran the Ann Arbor Half Marathon in a new pair of Minimus Zero, plus compression socks instead of sleeves. I got an EPIC blister from slamming into the front of the toe box as I went down Ann Arbor's lovely hills (can you feel the sarcasm?), but did not have problems with the seam. It is still there, so I may need some padding on my socks for long runs, but they are definitely the shoe for me. 

Now I owned a new pair of Minimus Zero AND had store credit to New Balance. After reading a few reviews, I decided to try the Minimus Hi-Rez. I wore them for my sprint workout yesterday and figured I'd give you all some feedback. 

New Balance Minimus Hi-Rez.

First, look at these. Weird, right? This is NOT the shoe to get if you are just transitioning to minimal shoes. I moved to these from the Minimus Zero. I wouldn't even recommend moving to these from the "minimal" Brooks shoes. These are next to barefoot. Putting them on feels like putting on a sock with laces. 

Bet you can't do this with your running shoe.

These shoes are extremely flexible. The soles look funny, but work to give you much, much more connection with the ground and what your foot is doing. Each individual piece truly lets your foot move freely.   As I said, I used these for my sprint workout. I jogged to the park at the end of our block (roughly two-tenths of a mile) and then did 8 intervals of 30 second sprints with a minute and a half of walking recovery, and jogged back home. 

The Minimus Zero is my go-to.. you know what's going on, you're connected, you're minimal. But wow.. when I jogged off in these... I could feel running. If you've ever questioned your footstrike, you will know it in these. I've gone for runs, sworn up and down that I have a midfoot strike, had the husband video me and yup, heelstriking like a champ. Ok, not that strongly, but you know what I'm saying..   in the Hi-Rez, I could feel every footstrike and adjust on the fly. 

Sprinting in these shoes was a blast! I was up on the balls of my feet and could feel it. It was actually... fun. Even the walking recovery was fun, feeling each foot land and truly feeling connected.  I did run entirely on sidewalk, which was still damp from rain. I stepped on a wet leaf at one point while sprinting, and felt slippage, but was gone too fast for it to effect me. Taking these out on a long run, I'm not sure how they would react to terrain, but I'll test that eventually. 

The one drawback I noticed was that I came home with a blister on the top of my pinky toe, and a teeny blister atop my foot where my big toe connects. It was my first time out though, and I did not wear a sock. It could be materials that need to break in a little, could be that I need a very thin sock. It did not feel like a sizing issue, so I'll play with that a bit. 

Overall, if you're a barefoot runner who wants just a little protection, or a Minimus Zero devotee that wants to try the next step closer to barefoot, try the Hi-Rez. I won't promise they'll replace your every day shoe, but you will feel the fun in running again. 

Note: This post was in no way sponsored or compensated. I purchased this shoe and wanted to share with you my thoughts on the gear I use. 

Recipe: Paleo Sautéed Shrimp with Roasted Butterball Potatoes

Cravings. We've all been there. Yup.

Today, I wanted shrimp. I had NO idea what to do with it. So I bought shrimp, brought it home, realized I had some good ingredients hanging around, including the dill plant I'm growing.

Before you panic, rant, scream, or throw something at the computer, I know, I know "potatoes aren't paleo!!!" "And neither are those green beans on your plate!!!" I get it. They are 'grey area' foods. If you don't like them... make the shrimp and skip the potatoes. Even better, cook this and eat it. Period. Yum.

Ingredients

- 1 lb. shrimp

-1 Tbsp. fresh dill

-4 Tbsp. butter (Kerrygold is awesome)

-dash garlic powder

-1/2 lb. green beans

-1/2 lb. German butterball potatoes, diced into bite size pieces

-1/4 yellow onion, chopped into bite-size pieces

-3 cloves garlic, peeled and just barely crushed

-rosemary to taste

-olive oil to coat

-salt and pepper to season

-1 squeeze lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450. Add potatoes, onions, garlic and desired amount of rosemary. Toss to coat. Spread in a single layer on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Roast for 30 minutes. 

Cook green beans as desired. 

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add dill, a dash of garlic powder and a dash of salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add shrimp and cook through. Once cooked, squeeze lemon over shrimp. 

Enjoy!

Recipe: Paleo Maple Balsamic Steak Salad

Hey! Summer finally arrived! I guess it's not fair to say "finally". Technically, it arrived right on time, on the first day of summer. Nice mild start... June 21, bam! high 80s!

The warm temps lent themselves to a couple things...  First, that first time you go run in the 80-degree weather? Yuck!! I planned for 5 miles. Then I planned for 4 miles. Then I got out there, wanted to pass out after 1.5 miles, finished up 2 miles and started walking. But I did not wimp out. Go me! Since I was still 2 miles from home, I finished my route by doing 8 rounds of 30 second sprints with a minute and a half of walking. Yes, I was smoked.

The other perk of the newly-found heat? Don't make me turn on my oven!!!  Don't trap me inside! Seriously, summer comes around, and it just feels... right to grill.

But what could I grill? I had thawed a grass-fed London Broil for a different recipe, and we had just received our Door-to-Door Organics delivery... Grilled steak salad!

Ingredients

Dressing                                                              Marinade
-1/4 C. balsamic vinegar                                      -1/2 C. balsamic vinegar
-1/2 C. maple syrup                                             -1/2 C. maple syrup
-1 Tbsp. dijon mustard                                         -1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
-1 tsp. garlic powder                                            -1/2 tsp. garlic powder
-dash salt/pepper                                                  -dash salt/pepper
-1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
-2/3 C. olive oil

Salad
-1/2 (or more) red onion, sliced
-2 (or more) pears, peeled, cored and sliced
-1 pound London Broil
-1/2 C. walnut pieces
-2-3 C. desired lettuce (we had a mix of kale, green leaf, and arugula)

First, mix the marinade ingredients. Place steak in a large bag or container, pour marinade over. Let sit in fridge for at least 2 hours (mine sat 5 hours).

Add all the dressing ingredients and mix until well blended. Let cool in the fridge until the salad is done.

Toast your walnut pieces at 375 for 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Heat up your grill!  I found some grill toppers designed for veggies, and highly recommend using them so your pears and onions don't fall through the grill. Once the grill is hot, add your steak. At the same time, put on your onion slices. Cook the steak to your desire level of doneness. I cooked 5 minutes on one side and 8 on the other.

Add the pears approximately 5 minutes after the steak and onions. 'Stir' the pears and onions at least once.  Be sure to let the steak stand at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Slice the steak, add all your ingredients together, top with dressing. Enjoy!