I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Considering that I speak about mindfulness all the time when it comes to sports and eating, this holiday was no exception that I was able to practice what I preach. Because of our exhausting weekend last weekend, we opted out of a Turkey Trot today. Also, with a lot of fabulous food yesterday, it was a wonderful opportunity to savour our food and to not finish the meal stuffed. Just the perfect amount of the dinner + dessert to nourish our body and fuel for our ride this morning. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday and felt thankful for good health, friends, family, food and love.
My relatives are in town at my parents (north of Clearwater/Tampa) so after we made our 3.5 hour drive on Wed morning, we headed to Clearwater Beach to hang out with the family. Karel and I use to live just outside Clearwater before we moved to Jacksonville in 2008 so it was nice to see familiar sights and to reflect on great memories when we were dating. Karel moved to Clearwater Beach after he moved to the U.S. in 2000 so he had a lot of memories in that area.
Loving my new Oakley Women Clothing! Thank you Oakley for helping me style my active lifestyle.
After a long day of traveling, Campy was pooped. Luckily, he had two friends to nap with before bedtime.
On Thursday morning, Karel and I had a run on our schedule. I had lots of athletes (coaching and nutrition) trotting before their Thanksgiving feasts and everyone had a great time! From 5Ks to 10 milers - it is wonderful to see so many active individuals showing how thankful they are to be able to use their body.
As for us, we slept in and around 8am, Karel and I headed out for a fartlek run. Karel designed a great interval set for us and 9 miles later, our legs were ready for a windy "recovery" 1 hour bike ride.
The fartlek set was specific to pacing:
Main set 3x's:
4 min @ half marathon pace (6:40 min/mile for me) w/ 2 min walk2 min @ 10K pace (6:20 min/mile for me) w/ 1 min walk
1 min @ 5K pace (6 min/mile for me) w/ 30 sec walk
30 sec sprint (well - my body doesn't know how to sprint so I was excited to see 5:30-5:40 min/mile for 30 seconds on my garmin 910Xt).
4 min EZ walk/jog recovery, then repeat
The main set was 45 minutes and eventually we will work our way up to an hour of intervals, with modifications as to the recovery and as we get closer to the IM, we will include longer intervals at a pace more specific to the long distance running. As for now, I am working super hard on my speed for the run so that when it is time to focus on tempo, my body will love the slower pace (thus a more efficient and stronger body).
After french toast and eggs for breakfast, it was time to prepare my lentil loaf and broccoli slaw for my two contributions to our Thanksgiving dinner.
1/2 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
2 cups boca veggie meat
3 eggs (1 whole, 2 whites)
1 bag frozen onion, bell pepper mix
Marinara sauce
Panko bread crumbs
Shredded cheese - cabot sharp
Spices - oregano, onion, rosemary, tumeric
1. In crockpot, cook beans, bean mix, lentils, veggie meat and onion mix, covered with water. Cook for 6-8 hours on low heat.
2. Drain water and store in Tupperware container until ready for baking (I did this a day ahead of time for easy prep on Thanksgiving).
3. In casserole dish, press bean and lentil mix until 3/4ths full (you will likely have leftovers). Spoon marinara on top.
4. Scramble eggs and pour on top of marinara. Gently fold marinara and eggs into the mean mix.
5. Sprinkle a light layer of bread crumbs and season.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, covered.
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle w/ shredded cheese.
My mom's sweet potatoes (not canned) w/ roasted marshmallows
My broccoli slaw w/ garlic, lemon tahini dressing (I will share recipe in my next LAVA Plate not pills article) with slivered onions, sliced mango and canned apricots (without the juice).
Marni-friendly stuffing (prepared outside the bird)
My 19th Thanksgiving day meal as a vegetarian. It gets better and better every year - yummo!
The homemade cranberries (prepared by my uncle) were made w/ sugar, fresh cranberries and orange juice.We had a few other items on the table but none of them were vegetarian friendly so that means more for everyone else :) Thankfully, everyone enjoyed my slaw and lentil loaf.
Waiting patiently for "accident" floor-droppings of turkey leftovers.
What a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoyed your day as well. I'm so lucky that we were able to share this day with my family as it has been a long time since we were all together.
Campy passed out early after enjoying his Thanksgiving feast.....perhaps this was a valuable lesson that we should all enjoy our "occasional" treats a few times during the year for they are best enjoyed when we "treat" ourselves for having good daily habits that keep us healthy and well, all year long.
As for today (Friday).......
