Time on my hands

I'm currently on Day 4 of no running. FOUR. I'm slowly going crazy. As I walked home from Yoga this morning, I saw a girl running up the other side of the street, and guess what I felt? Jealousy. (I may have then jogged a couple quick steps, felt a jolt of pain in my heel, and resigned myself to the fact that I am not ready yet.)

So. I'm pushing for a couple more days off. I can make it a week, right? You have no idea how hard this is for me, especially when every time I turn around, I see this:


(New shoes. I ordered them Sunday. The day before I quit running. They arrived Tuesday. The day after I quit running. I have the worlds.worst.timing.)

I also have a heck of a lot more time on my hands now that I'm not running every day (and taking the extra shower) most of which has coincidentally been taken up by two impending work deadlines.

But, in the rare 20 minutes I found somewhere amidst the 3-ring circus that was yesterday, I made something delicious:


Have you guys tried this stuff? Salad dressing crack. It is amazing. Sweet, salty, surprisingly light. The hitch? It costs about $6 a bottle. SIX DOLLARS. For salad dressing?! You have got to be kidding me. (Thanks, Mom, for getting me hooked on the sauce.)

I admit - I shelled out for it a few times. And then I realized, the ingredient list was not terribly complex. And, I even had everything on it in my pantry.

So I got creative. The first experiment was, meh. Second time? Closer.

Yesterday? I made it. This is every bit as good as the original, and best of all, it was FREE.

Way-cheaper-than-Galeo's crack dressing:
1/2 c. Miso
1/4 c. Tahini
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 c. unsweetened rice wine vinegar
1/2 c. water
6 Splenda packets
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sesame oil

1. Put all ingredients except sesame oil in blender, and mix on high until nicely combined.
2. While blender is still running, open the small lid and sloooowly drizzle in oil. This way, your dressing will emulsify, and, if you keep it in the fridge (duh) it won't separate.
3. Pour on top of huge salad and enjoy!


Some notes:
1. I used Kyoto White Miso:


I can usually find this on sale at Whole Foods for about $3.50. This has tub lasted me 4 months.

2. Check your rice wine vinegar. A lot of them are sweetened. This is not a big deal, but if yours is sweetened, then you might want to cut back or omit the Splenda. We're making salad dressing here, not frosting.

3. This recipe made slightly more dressing than would fit in the bottle + dress my salad for lunch. No worries. It also makes an AWESOME dip for baby carrots :)

Yum.

Day One

I didn't run today. It feels really weird. But at least I didn't cry today either :)

This is the first rest day I've had in 16 months. Sadly, it wasn't really very "restful" at all, seeing as I had a 6AM conference call, visited 2 clients on the complete opposite side of LA, and didn't walk back in the door until quarter to 8 tonight.

At which point I cooked dinner (while still wearing my suit, and shoving baby carrots and hummus into my mouth as fast as I could chew). And then did the dishes.

Can I collapse onto the couch with my book yet?

Maybe I'll try "resting" tomorrow...with some Yoga. ;)

Fresh Start

It all started on our wedding day.

I got up, ate some breakfast, and headed out for a run. I parked at a random strip mall a couple miles from our hotel, grabbed my iPhone, took one last swig of water, and headed off.

7 miles later, my knee gave out. Up until that moment, it was the one of the best runs I'd had all year. Fast, sunny, hilly, perfect really.

And then I limped the last mile back to the car, and, truthfully, all the way down the aisle. I've been limping ever since.

Yup, that's right. I've been injured, in some capacity or the other, for basically the past 4 months. I'm at my wits end. I've eased off (running the bare minimum for days at at time.) I've tried physical therapy, weights, stretching, yoga, foam rolling, massage, icing, new shoes, barefoot shoes. Nothing is working. I am beyond frustrated.

Sure, the ITBS seems to be getting better. But now my feet are in agony. And my lower back hurts. As soon as one injury fades, a new one crops up to take it's place.

Enough.
After 487 days and 1394 miles, I'VE.HAD.ENOUGH.

Let me rephrase that. My BODY has decided it's had enough.

I do NOT want to stop running every day. But I have exhausted every other way I can think of to fix whatever it is that is wrong with me. (Which, you know, varies like the days of the week lately...)

This decision has literally brought me to tears 3 times already today, and I feel a 4th coming on.

I'm scared. I'm irrationally afraid I'll lose my stamina, or my speed, or my desire. Or all of the above. What will be my outlet? My me time? I don't love other sports the way I LOVE to run.

But I'm more afraid that if I don't stop now, sooner or later I'll have to stop forever. And that would be much, much worse.

(Technically, I guess I'm not 'stopping'. I'm 'pausing'. I'm still going to run. But right now, I just can't do it every day. And I can't go very far.)

I'm not sure how long it's going to be. And that uncertainty is frightening. But I don't want to set some arbitrary time frame either. Who knows - maybe, in 4 more months, I still won't be healed. Or maybe all my body really needs is a few short weeks with some rest days mixed in. I really don't know. And I have to be okay with that.

For now, I'm scared. And I'm going to miss my daily runs like crazy.

Save the peanut flour!!

OH NO.

Trader Joe's is doing it AGAIN - discontinuing a product that I looooooooove.


I'm (sadly) quite serious. I can't make it through a day without this stuff. I know there have been some mixed emotions - you either love the stuff or you just don't get it (add more salt/sweetener, keep trying, I promise you'll find the combination you love).

But for my sanity's sake, please PLEASE take 1 minute to email TJ's and complain.

I'll even make it easy for you: http://www.traderjoes.com/about/index.asp

There is the link. Bottom right corner: select "Customer Questions and Feedback" and use the drop down menu to select "General Question".

All you need to do is 1) give them your email address (maybe then they'll send you coupons...?) and 2) BEG them not to discontinue the Peanut Flour.

Please help. I don't know what I'll do without this stuff...