Marathon Monday! (and Monday Brain Exchange)

Hi I’m back from the land of work! I had the day off today because I work approximately 5 minutes from the finish line and the professional world of Boston effectively shuts down on this day every year (I’ve still had a few stressful work moments today, though!).

I met up with some lovely lululemon ladies at the top of Heartbreak Hill this morning to watch it all go down and take some photos. It was a little chilly for us spectators, but it was practically PERFECT marathon weather! Such a fantastic morning. The wheelchair portion was especially interesting to watch. The first five went by with a breeze, but you could see the effort with some other racers. There was one man that seemed to be using every last ounce of strength to make it up the final hill. He was in a reclining wheelchair, using a handcrank. The crowd exploded as he passed, trying to pass some energy through the air to keep him going.

Appropriately enough, today’s MBE is all about the Boston Marathon, so this post is a twofer! It’s going to get pretty image-heavy, so I’m putting most of the pictures behind a cut line. If you’re reading this from the homepage or as an RSS, be sure to click through for full Marathony goodness.

I’ll kick it off with the winners of the 114th Boston Marathon:

Wheelchair Division: Ernst Van Dyk (1:26:53)

Men’s Division: Robert Cheruiyot (2:05:52)

Women’s Division: Teyba Erkesso (2:26:11)

And now for the rest of the photos…

I’m Famous! (not really)

I’ve been busy.

(via the Boston Globe)

They got a weird angle of my face.

We had a camera crew and reporters from WBZ there, too.

What this means for my running updates: well… there are none. I have not run this week aside from my long run. The awesomeness of today’s event totally makes up for that. Hopefully I’ll be able to pull a double tomorrow and do strength in the morning and a tempo at night.

Dinner Stuff

Despite the busy schedule, I managed to make an awesome dinner tonight: Cajun halibut with dill sauce.

Fish Ingredients:
halibut filets (however much you want)
olive oil
Cajun seasoning (I used Tony Cachere’s)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the filets in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with seasoning. Flip the filets and repeat. Bake for 10-15 minutes until easily flaked with a fork.

Sauce Ingredients:
2 tbsp light mayo
2 tbsp fresh dill
1 tsp lemon juice

This sauce really should have sour cream too. But I didn’t care. So it’s all unhealthy mayo (made with canola oil… does that make up for anything? No? Okay fine). Mix everything in a small bowl. Yep, you’re done.

Serve the tilapia with a little dollop of sauce on the side. The spicy cajun seasoning goes beautifully with the cool dill sauce.

I would show you a photo… but my dad and I ate it all pretty much once it came out of the oven. We’re little oinkers.

And now for something completely different

I have a life outside of running. WOAH. Someone mentioned in the comments a while back that I describe what I do at work. Sure thing!

My official title is Marketing and Accounts Coordinator. I recently got my awesome new business cards:

So what do I do here? A lot. One of the reasons why I’ve disappeared from my blog a bit more is because between the commute and my fairly busy days, not much time is left. And when I’m left with the choice between cooking a meal and blogging… well, you see what happens.

The marketing side of my job involves a lot of media work and event planning. I’m active on our company’s Twitter account and Facebook page, and I manage our internal and client newsletters. We have a public lounge space on Newbury St where I’m planning on holding lots of tech and art-related events. The accounts side is more administrative; handling our scheduling calendar, booking tech appointments, acting as project coordinator for some larger projects, etc. I wear many hats.

I’m incredibly fortunate to have this job, especially since I got it almost right out of college (just shy of 3 months after I graduated). I work for a wonderful company, and its already provided me with so many learning opportunities.

Here’s a little video I’m appearing in this week promoting one of our events (I come in at the 7:00 mark).

Running Stuff Here

My cold still rampages on. However, I was determined to do my long run this weekend. Here’s the stats:

Distance: 10 miles (!!! my first double-digit run!)
Time: 1:46:28
Splits: 10:34, 10:48, 11:39 (This mile was on a narrow, icy street where an old lady almost hit me with her car. Awesome.), 10:57, 10:36, 10:22, 10:11, 10:28, 10:33, 10:13

Aside from crazystreet where I almost got hit, I really loved my route. I felt pretty good for most of it, too- only two walk breaks for about 10-15 seconds each. The rest of the day was spent replenishing those burnt calories.

It wasn’t until about a half hour after my run that I was like “Woah, I just hit the double digits!” You’d think I would have thought of that during my run, but no. I found myself more sluggish when I thought of how much further I had to go, and was much more motivated when I thought of eating once done with my run. Hey, whatever works.

Happy Monday, everyone! And if winter is finally kicking your butt and you’re feeling under the weather, get better soon :)

Thirteen Things Thursday

Yep, Thirteen Things instead of Three Things. More on that in #3.

1. I love food. A lot.

You probably know that by now. But it’s not always easy to prepare balanced meals on a tight schedule. Here are my struggles:

• My commute is an hour both ways. Depending on when I get out of work (and if I have to fit my training in at night) I’m sometimes simply too tired to fix a meal.
• Also due to said time constraint, most of my lunches have dwindled down to haphazardly-packed leftovers. This makes me sad since I really look forward to lunch.
• My mom is a picky eater. When I cook, I cook for the family. I don’t want to buy things that only benefit me (unless it’s a snack- we each buy our own snacks), so I try to make meals we can all enjoy. This is somewhat limited based on my mom’s tastes. Every now and then I’ll prepare a meal she’s not fond of, but I hate doing that too often.
• If I don’t cook for the whole family, our food costs go up a bunch. So I need ways to prepare simple, low-ingredient meals that are healthy.

Such a simple criteria, right? I did really well when I first got my job, but as my ideas ran thin so did my lunchbox. I’m always so impressed with the meals Yasmin puts together, and I’m jealous of her creativity ;) Maybe it’s just a matter of thinking outside the box in terms of meal planning? Whatever it is, I need to get my bum back in gear. One meal on the list of “things I really need to try:” Mini Greek Pizza Muffins. The recipe was in my gym’s January newsletter and I was like NEED.

2. I’m going to start taking group classes at my gym again.

Taking group classes (and getting to know the people in the class!) this past summer made it much harder to skip. I felt more accountable when I knew people. It also forces me to not give in to my sleepy morning stupor.

3. I’ve been tagged!

J at Morning Runner tagged me to list 10 things (see that’s why it’s Thirteen Things Thursday!) that make me happy, then tag 10 others.

10. Small animals: I can’t help it. I love them. I become 5 years old when I see baby animals.

9. Candlelight: it’s my one of my favorite ways to unwind.

8. Apple picking: I’m a New England girl, so this is a must every autumn. Pardon my dorky face. The apple had a tumor.

7. Traveling: there are few things more exciting than getting to experience another place’s culture. I’ve only been within the States, US Territories, and Canada… I hope to travel internationally at some point.

6. Sunny days: no explanation needed ;)

5. Cooking: love it.

4. Farmers markets: when May rolls around, my favorite market comes to life. It’s two blocks from my office. Hello, joy.

3. Crossing my very first finish line.

2. Friends!

Look at Brian’s awesome penguin hat!

1. And of course, family.

I’m tagging:
1. Yasmin – Pretty Little Steps
2. Brian – Big B on the Road
3. Amanda – Run To The Finish
4. Velma – Running With Boys
5. Mel – Tall Mom on the Run
6. Lacey – Common Objects and Everyday Events
7. Marlene – Mission to a(nother) Marathon
8. Tricia – Endurance Isn’t Only Physical
9. Erin – Eri-thon
10. TAGmyStyle

Quick edit: I’d like to add Michelle to the list, but with 10 things that make her angry (like Sarah Palin). I find your rants so wonderful and amusing.

Cookie Time!

Oh people. I can’t even tell you how happy I am with this year’s baked goods. I made a bunch of gift packages for friends, family, and coworkers. My coworkers gobbled up almost all of them in one day. Yay.

Here’s the rundown of cookies (and links to the recipes):
Cornmeal, Black Pepper & Rosemary Butter Cookies
Lemon, Lime & Clove Sugar Cookies (my favorite in the bunch- it takes summery flavors and gives them a wintry twist)
Peppermint Shortbread
Molasses Spice Cookies (no link because it’s mostly my recipe, listed below)

They’re risky recipes- very different from the standard Christmas cookie. But because they’re so different they’re usually very well-received (unless you only like chocolate chip then whatever). There are tons of other recipes on that site that I want need to try. Hazelnut Honey Toffee Tart? Um yes please.

Okay here are your gratuitous photos: