Some succeed because they are destined to; most succeed because they are determined to.
Anatole French
Running well is a matter of having the patience to persevere when we are tired and not expecting instant results.
Robert De Castella
What distinguishes those of us at the starting line from those of us on the couch is that we learn through running to take what the days gives us, what our body will allow us, and what our will can tolerate.
John Bingham, running writer and speaker (via livemylove)
The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.
John Bingham, running speaker and writer (via livemylove)
Foil Baked Salmon
Figured it was about time I did a “What I’m Eating” post. Today’s lunch, foil baked Alaskan salmon. Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Cut a square of aluminum foil a little more than twice the size of the salmon fillet, you’ll be using the edges to seal it into an envelope. Lay the foil shiny side up, spray with Pam or other light cooking spray. Form one of the halves of the foil into a slight bowl, lay down some of the garlic, a few splashes of soy sauce and a squirt of lemon juice before laying the fillet over it. From there, rub the rest of the garlic over the top, drizzle remaining soy sauce and top with a few more squirts of lemon juice. Grind pepper over it to taste. Fold other half of foil over it, rolling up the sides tightly to form a seal, place in baking pan and bake in oven for 17 minutes or so. I err on the side of rare, 16-17 minutes seems to be about the medium rare point for that size of fillet. This one came out perfect, infused with the lemon, soy, garlic and pepper flavors, and remained tender, flaky and moist. Would go ideally with steamed or grilled asparagus or over a bed of greens, maybe a small side of couscous.
I’ve gone ahead and added a link to my race PR’s to my sidebar. List is meager at the moment, as I skipped from 5K’s to Half Marathons. I plan on fleshing that list out in the near future.
Self-conquest is the greatest of victories.
Plato
Half Marathon Cherry
Well, it’s official, I’m a half marathoner now. I have the finisher medal and sore calves to prove it.
Today I ran the St. Jude’s Heroes Half Marathon, around Seattle’s Lake Union. I ran it with my certified badass mom, and we came in at just a hair under 2 hours 22 minutes. Started out at a 10:30 pace, kept it just above 11 for the middle miles and then felt a huge surge for the last mile and a half, getting the pace up to 9:45 and then a full on, unload everything sprint for the last quarter mile.
Crossed the finish line and once my body stopped moving, I immediately felt like I was going to hurl. Managed to keep it together, though, so I count that as doing it right.
Probably the highlight, aside from finishing, was at about 7.75 miles, crossing the University Bridge and being told by the lady monitoring the bridge for runners that I had a cute butt and being slapped on the ass as I passed by. A special blend of “what the hell?” and motivation.
No official race photos have been posted yet, but here’s a shot off my iPhone of mom and myself just past the finish line:
Now I’m trying to find a half marathon in between now and Seattle Rock and Roll so that I can qualify to get into Half Fanatics.
A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame and money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well.
G. K. Chesterton
EliGEAR.com: Half the man (he) used to be
My friend Eli over at Eli Gear posted up my guest blog piece today, I suggest you all go read it and check out his blog. He’s the one who convinced me to blog about my new lifestyle in the first place.
Today’s guest post is by my friend Brian, who’s lost almost a hundred pounds in the last year. He didn’t do it by sitting on his butt, and he didn’t do it with low-tech toys like your mom’s pedometer. Aside from a metric shitload of determination and first-rate personal training, here’s…
