Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm hopeless. Yes, that's right, hopeless. I'm my own worst enemy, yet I still can't get out of my own way. I was originally going to do a five minute post on yesterday's dinner followed by my hipi-Irish princess....but I had a mishap I want to share between putting up corned beef for 16 and icing my left knee (READ: NOT HIP). So what do you think I am going to post about??? You guessed it, my lunacy.

On Tuesday morning, my friend Heather and I went for an amazing run. I don't know if I have mentioned Heather before, but she is my close friend of 15 1/2 years, a remarkable athlete, beautiful woman & does everything with style. I remember when I was a 26 year old new-mother in my old house, with the linolium floor (before we renovated the old house) and I made a pot of coffee with the boy child in a carseat in the kitchen (he was six weeks old, tops, and never slept and cried constantly), and Heather walked in with her son Matt in a carseat draped over her arm. She looke absolutely fabulous, a new mom at her pre-baby weight, with perfectly highlighted hair (NO ROOTS!) and a beautiful smile. I wondered then how she did it, and now over fifteen years later, I still don't have any idea! We shared coffee, as well as the trials and tribulations of new motherhood. I remember those days as some of the most frustrating in our history, and was so happy to have found a kindred spirit who shared my exasperation, as well as her hopes. She is a gem and we will forever be friends. She is also a triathlete, who effortlessly completes every physical challenge that she undertakes, and makes it look easy.

Okay, enough history. Let's fast forward fifteen years to the place where I was with her Tuesday morning. I went out at my usual (READ: FAST) pace, and she said "SLOOOWWW DOWN!". So we decided to take a slow, even and chatty run, completely uncharacteristic for me. We ran up my mega-hill and she slowed me down even more. I ended the 3.1 mile course without even breaking a sweat, but with a smile on my face. I felt awesome, and my hip even better. Yesterday, I did the same course at an 8:10 pace, still relaxed for me, but faster than on Tuesday. Then today. I felt I needed a workout so I decided to do the four mile course, at a medium pace. I set out fine, and felt like I was doing an 8:20 pace, relaxed and happy, listening to my new workout mix...featuring Rhianna's S&M which played as I ran down White Oak Ridge Road. I made the turn on to Parsonage Hill and still held myself back. I did the VEERRRYYY steep hill at a normal, yet brisk pace, when I spotted another runner maker her way up the hill. That's when it happened. I am a bad runner. Bad. BAAAAD. I am extremely competitive with MYSELF, and it took hold of me and I thought to myself (as Flo-Rida's LOW played in my ears) "I MUST WIN". OMG, I am ashamed to admit it, but if I post this maybe, just maybe I can change my behavior with the love and support of my friends, readers and HEATHER! It was like shooting fish in a barrel, since I can take that hill at a 7 minute pace, and I effortlessly floated up the hill, feeling strong & waving as I passed that nice (but slow) runner. Well, the joke was on me, because about a mile later, long after the hill was a memory, I stopped to chat with Regina (another bestie) who pulled over in her red Volvo, for two or three minutes. When I started up again, I felt it. My left knee (the one that recovered from a torn meniscus, and the one connected to my bad hip and tendonitis-laden connective tissue) hurt. The posterior medial area ached, but thankfully no pop. I slowed my pace to chatty pace (where you could talk to someone if I wasn't alone) and listened to Money Talks (AC/DC) on my ipod, holding myself back. I made it home (3 miles) without substantial pain, but I almost lost it when I walked in the house. I am a freakin' idiot, and I know it....yet somehow I can't say if I had the chance to do it again, I would have changed what I did. I think my personality is unchangabble at this point. Ugh.

I climbed up the stairs (Finger 11's Paralyzer now on the ipod) and I thought of my high school friend & facebook friend, Susanne, who has this philosophy of Smilepacing....doing your workouts with the happiness factor as the emphasis. Okay, I love this idea. But I can't do it. At least I haven't been able to do it. I am reaching out to my readers and friends....what can I do to smilepace more than outpace? My hip, as I type, feels fine, and I think it's actually less knee, more adductor tendons that attach at the tibia. However, I don't know. I took a handful of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and some Nexium for the reflux/gastritis and iced. I promise to learn from this, if I can get out of this without any damage, and I am gonng email Susanne to find out how to smile more, race less. Ideas??? Unless someone's advice involves genetic manipulation, I am not sure I will be able to see it through.

Anyway, now to get to my usuall stuff, cooking, weight management and kids. Here's my Irish Princess, the girl child, as she gets ready to get to school today:

The recipe was the most challenging and detailed slow cooker recipe I have ever seen. Seriously, in retrospect, not worth the time. I used this for crushing my spices:

I mean, really. I also crushed these:

I would give the chicken a B, so really I don't think I will revisit this.

Before getting back to my corned beef and baking some St Patty's cupcakes, I will

Yesterday's dinner: a selection from The Gourmet Slow Cooker cookbook, given to me by my bestie, Tracy...from Williams Sonoma. Before signing off, I will share a kick ass recipe. I made this on Sunday, doubling recipe because I had SO many aged bananas. This met with RAVE reviews. If you do small loaves, half the time!! Even the boy child likes it, which says a lot.

Banana Bread Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Yield: Makes one loaf.

recipe from: Simply Recipes.com

 

Happy St. Patty's day to everyone. xoxo

Comments

[Scott]

Hard to change ones nature late in life

I have a hard time seeing how racing someone who isn't racing you is actually a competition. But I can see how someone who has had to moderate their activity for so long would want to demonstrate their health and vigor (even to themselves).

Perhaps you are just competing in the wrong event. Instead of fastest, perhaps least injured is the race you are really running.

[Barbie]

Only a runner would understand competing when the other person isn't racing you. It's a personal athletic competition, within yourself...it has almost nothing to do w/ the other person. But I do agree w/ you in the end, the least injured winds, which is actually what I was trying to say!

[heather]

Dear Barbie,

I am honored to be mentioned in your BLOG. Fellow bloggers, I am a NEWBIE here...I admit to being a first-time, techno-phobic BLOGGER. Will you welcome me with open yawns to your club? I am sure it's tedious to answer stupid questions...I will try not to ask too many...but I NEED TO GET WITH THE PROGRAM and join the conversation.

So...Barbie,slow and steady is not your style. Your bursts of energy are what make you exciting and a force of nature. GO GIRL-just skip the busy Parsonage Hill, that deadly hill; stick to short and flat for now, and you will be fine. You can build up the distance later. You are NOT an ex-runner! Au contraire.

Your friend in running and all other things,
Heather (trying to figure out her own blog!)

[Nevaeh Amateur]

Не begins to die that quits his desires.