Friday, September 9, 2011

New Shoes, New Recipe

I don’t want to admit how scared I was this morning. Nervous. Anticipatory.

You see, I was taking my first run in eight days. In an effort to avoid Dumb As Shit Athlete (DASA) status, I decided to give myself a rest because I was having some pain in my left glute. This is the type of pain that proceeded my stress fracture, so it is not to be messed with. Well, IMHO, no pain is to be messed with when it comes to running.

That sad reality is, the only way to get rid of pain and get over/avoid injury is to NOT RUN. You can ice, roll, stretch, massage and compress the hell out of yourself, but until you take time off, it just ain’t going to get better.

So – I headed out. Me and my new shoes were ready to roll:

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This is my best effort to imitate a flamingo

Mornings like this morning were made for running. 50 degrees. Crisp. Bright. First mile I concentrated on keeping my turnover light, smooth and quick. Fast turnover means less impact overall. Think about it: would you rather hit your thumb with a hammer once VERY hard or tap your thumb lightly with a hammer repeatedly?

I was very body-focused. Does my hip hurt? Nope. Any glute pain? Slightest ache, hardly anything. How do my new shoes feel? Light, comfy. All good signs.

On this run I was thinking, “Oh, the things I could do if injury were not a possibility.” I know we all think this. I still haven’t figure out how to run further and faster without getting hurt. Once I do, look the f&ck out.

I did five glorious miles. When you can run again, all is right with the world. Topped it off with a few shots of chocolate milk.

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Now it’s time to eat. Fall is the time for BAKING! Well, anytime is the time for baking in my world, but I love all things molasses, pumpkin and cinnamon, so fall is especially good.

I whipped up a new recipe late last night – Pumpkin Wheat Honey Muffins. I was hoping using all whole wheat flour would not give the muffins a grainy texture or heaviness. Not at all. They turned out wonderfully. The recipe calls for walnuts and raisins, but we are more about CHOCOLATE around here, so I added some chips.

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{From HERE}:

Pumpkin Wheat Honey Muffins
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup raisins (I used choc. chips instead)
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (I used the whole can 15 oz can)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil (you could do half applesauce)
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan, or line with paper liners. Place the raisins in a cup, and add enough hot water to cover. Let stand for a few minutes to plump.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center, and put in eggs, pumpkin, oil and honey. Mix just until the dry ingredients are absorbed. Drain excess water from raisins, and stir in along with the walnuts. Spoon into muffin cups so they are about 2/3 full.
  3. Bake for 18 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan before removing from cups.

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 263 | Total Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 35mg

Did I mention I like my muffin to be moist? (a la Betty White Saturday Night Live).

Now go stuff your face. Happy weekend!!

SUAR

31 comments:

  1. Can we insert Betty White muffin jokes?

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  2. I would rather NOT hit my thumb with a hammer!!!! :)

    Good job on the run. Makes me think back to when I hurt myself and how paranoid I was about any pain I got when I started back up.

    Fall is definitely time to bake! I'm the baker of goodies at my house! I will have to try out your Pumpkin Wheat Honey Muffins. They sound yummy!

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  3. That feeling when you get to run again…it's unparalleled. Glad you nipped it in the butt…I mean bud.

    Those muffins are seriously making my breakfast of a handful of almonds, a handful of cashews and a sprinkling of raisins look really awful. Well, my breakie doesn't even need a yummy comparison to look bad…it can do it all by itself :(

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  4. Muffins look yummy...gonna try them. Glad you had a good run! Love the colour of the new shoes.

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  5. Oh yeah Alecia, I might have to add that in.

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  6. I just bought these shoes in red - LOVE THEM. I used my traithlon training (Olympic distance) to "count" for my first 3 months of marathon (my first) training, and only have 4 weeks to build up to teh 26.2 - lots of pool running. But I digress - these shoes are amazing - they feel like they are magic, and I trust they will see me through this challenge. :D

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  7. LOVE these shoes! I bought them to psych myself up for my first marathon and they feel like they are magic! :D

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  8. what are sleeves are you wearing, and what would happen if we use egg whites instead of the whole egg?

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  9. uthmama: Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11. Got them at Zappos. No clue about the egg whites vs. whole eggs...I would use egg beaters or do 3-4 egg whites instead of 2 whole eggs.

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  10. Yea for a five mile pain free run. Fall is my favorite!! Squash soup, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices in my oats!! Yum!!!

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  11. Sweet run! I hope your a** keeps quiet for you...the a** muscle. You are free to make as much noise as you want with the rest of that area. ;-)

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  12. Yay for 5 pain free iles! Woohoo!!!

    Yum...those muffins look awesome!

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  13. Your muffin pic looks way better than the websites pic. Now off to find someone to make them for me! Thanks for sharing!

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  14. Congrats on your run!!!! I know that must feel good! I haven't ran since Monday and even though I'm working-out it's just not the same.

    Thank you, thank you for sharing the muffin recipe! They look FABULOUS!

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  15. I'll take the chocolate milk WITH those freaking awesome looking muffins!!

    The shoes look pretty cool!

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  16. Awesome, so glad to hear the run went well!! can't wait til we can run together...give me about a year to catch up to your speed again!

    The muffins look heavenly!

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  17. YAY it's pumpkin season!!!! I mean, I know I can buy a can of pumpkin any time of year but it just doesn't feel right until those cool mornings anx evenings arrive. Thanks for sharing the recipe - need to pick up some pumpkin!!

    AWESOME on the joyous run. So lad your resat paid off!

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  18. Thanks for the recipe! It sounds great!

    BTW, my almost 3 year old son just asked who you were and said that you look like me. Not sure if that is as much as a compliment for you as it was for me. I'm not quite as thin as you.

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  19. Alright, I am baking these tomorrow.

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  20. YUM YUM YUM YUM to the muffins!!

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  21. I'm baking those muffins the first chance I get. They sound so yummy.

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  22. SO SO SO glad to hear your run went well! DASA is a club I don't want membership in!

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  23. So, not that I'm trying to copy you or anything... but I literally just bought the same shoes as you(only in my size, cause that would be extra creepy). http://heatherpanadventures.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-am-so-excited-why-you-ask-ill-tell.html
    I have high hopes that they will make me as speedy as you are! :)

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  24. I hear you on the nervousness. I'm fractured up at the moment. Week 6 of obsessive swim/biking. As my 3rd Sfx I know the nerves go away. Hang in there! and ps you are in amazing shape! I was afraid to lose my "runner body" and start to look to "tri" but you clearly broke that myth. Keep rockin' it girl!

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  25. Glad to hear your run went well.

    From that first photo I'll bet your really good at tree pose in yoga.

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  26. These look fabulous! I know what the kids are making me for breakfast.

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  27. Keith: hilarious!! Yes, tree pose is my favorite.

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  28. I agree - any time is a good time for baking and it's not really baking unless there's chocolate in it.

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  29. Love the arm warmers! Where did you get those? I have trouble finding them small enough for small arms. These look perfect! PS - Thanks for including the recipe!!

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