Running Plan: Monday, March 26 - Sunday, April 1

A little late because I wasn't around much this weekend, but here's an update.

This Week:

Monday        Ran 10.5 km to make up for yesterday - I'm pleased with my time of 72 minutes

Tuesday        35-45 minute run

Wednesday  45 minute run from yesterday (6.5km)

Thursday      35-45 minute run

Friday           5.88 km run (yesterday's)

Saturday      4.2 km run - Bonus 

Sunday         9.7 km run - Bad estimation or a bad memory of the route I wanted to do - 8km run

Leek and Apple Soup

For some reason I have a big bag of apples that I haven't been eating very fast and was looking around for something to cook them into. I landed on and adapted this recipe for leek and apple soup (listed as Apfel-Porree-Suppe) on the Küchenlatein blog since it seemed like the perfect fit (although I'd have to make it again if I want to cook all my apples...). This blog not only has a huge variety within the over 1000 recipes in German, but there are almost 400 recipes in English as well.

There are a few 'firsts' to this post, the first of which being that I bought my first leek, ever. So, here's how I figured you'd prepare a leek to cook. It must have been close enough. However, for cooking into a soup next time I'd use smaller pieces (thinner or sliced lengthwise).

I do already use leek to make broth, but only when I buy those soup veggie packs that it's in. I'd never bought a leek on it's own before!

Running Plan: Monday, March 19 - Sunday, March 25

This Week:

Monday        4 km recovery run

Tuesday       35-45 minute run - Ran 7 km in 50 minutes

Wednesday  20 minute run (3.5 km)

Thursday     35-45 minute run - Ran 7 km in 50 minutes

Saturday     3.5 km run with Johannes

Sunday        9.7 km run (I'll probably round up to 10, but we'll see) - moved to Monday

*As always, I've left room for more!

Try going the other way

I mean it. This could mean doing something normal in a way you're not used to or just getting somewhere by literally going the other way. You'll see things differently. Maybe you'll notice something wonderful and if not, at least it'll help you appreciate or understand the old way more.

Here's what I saw when I ran the other way yesterday:

Please try not to focus on the big gangly tree that got in the way
and forgive my photography - I took this while running!

Here's what I wasn't prepared for

Walking up the staircase, I knew why I was there. I'd been there before and I'm not new at this either, but this was the first time it had worked out this way.

As I got closer, I was still alone and was starting to grow concerned. I didn't expect many people I knew but certainly wasn't thinking it would be this empty. I checked the time - I wasn't late. 

Knowing it had to be in one of two rooms, I heading for the closest first. Trying the handle - it rattles - locked! Not what I expected, but no problem, the next one's only a little further down the hall. This is the right day, isn't it? I check my phone again and confirm it.

So, still alone, I approach the next alternative. This time it creaks open and there I am catching the attention of all 6 people in the room. Oops, it looks like that's not what I was supposed to do. 

Today's run in the sunshine: A mini photo run-along

I brought my camera along thinking that with the amount of sunshine today, it might be okay to head into the forest but after seeing how muddy the ground was along the side of the road I changed my mind. After seeing a few of the first flowers along the way, I thought I might still get a few spring time pictures (I'm hauling my camera around anyways) but I wasn't willing to stop running for them. Slowing down was okay, but not stopping! So here's a (very) brief tour of the landscape. At least you don't have to worry about keeping pace with me...

Just over 20 minutes from home and in the middle of nowhere.

 See

 the house up ahead? That's the turnaround point.

Have you ever had Couscous Poppers?

I hadn't either but now I'm a huge fan. What a great idea! Plus, they were simple and pretty quick to make.

Although you can see that they're gooey and cheesy when fresh and still warm, we also found them to be an awesome snack for a road trip and great with or without dip. When I first made them, I took them to a friend's place, reheated them a bit and served them with some creamy avacado sauce as a dip. They were a hit!

Running Plan: Monday, March 12 - Sunday, March 18

This week:

Monday          Gym Workout: 15 min. Stationary Bike + Weight Machines
Tuesday          40 minute run on the treadmill - but I made it 6.6 km
Wednesday     Bonus: 5 km recovery run (37 min.)
Thursday        Ran 50 min./ just over 7 km

Friday             Bonus: 3.6 km
Saturday        Bonus: 3.36 km - Just a little one on the way to the bakery!
Sunday           8km run - In the forest!

I'm leaving some space for some extra runs - I really enjoyed having those 4km runs thrown in in between last week and since the others still went well, why not?

A Weekend in Berlin

So, I'm a little late getting this put together but I have been wanting to share a few things with you about my trip to Berlin with Mohammad the weekend before last.

First of all, for those who remember the movie Snakes on a Plane, here's an even wilder alternate:

    Snakes on a Plane                       Snacks on a Train

 (*Snakes on a Plane still source: http://weekinrewind.blogspot.com/2007/09/snakes-on-plane-movie-dvd-review-2006.html)

 The 2 pictures evoke the same level of scary, don't they? I mean it looks like the "Snakes..." guy wants to eat the snake, and the "Snacks..." guy is probably overwhelmed by all the snacks he has to eat!

Running Plan: Monday, March 5 - Sunday, March 11

A little late, but I thought I'd start posting the basics of my running plan at the beginning of each week.  I think of my running week as being Monday to Sunday though, since I plan to do my longer runs on Sundays and that's how I'll describe it here too.

This week: 

Monday             No run planned, but I ran my 4km route in just over 25 minutes

Tuesday            35 minutes run (done and I ran over 5km)
Wednesday  I threw in an extra 4km run (26min)
Thursday          35 minutes run: 5.8km on the treadmill (faster than my last treadmill run!)

Sunday              8km (this will be my longest run so far this year!) - ran it with Johannes in about 50 minutes!

I quite like going out for short runs like the 4km I did on Monday and might try doing more of those on my 'days off.' Alternatively, I might head to the gym to try working on my muscles on those days.

What a deal I got

Today I paid only 30€ for what appears to be a case of calcium. I'm used to buying those little boxes of Calcium tablets from the drugstore and all of a sudden I'm getting this bulky pack of fizzy/effervescent tablets (Brausetabletten) - I mean, there are actually only 100 of them but these things are so much bigger and are heavy enough that it felt like I was really committing myself to this way of taking calcium. So, I hope I like the taste more than I did with the Potassium ones they had me taking while in the hospital...

Why do I need so much calcium?

Reasons for Everything

1. Why I have a running schedule:

I may be motivated enough to go out running, but not every time! In this case, I probably wouldn't have done anything active yesterday if it weren't for a look at my schedule, quickly noticing that if I didn't make it out for a run, there'd be a 2 day gap. I couldn't let that happen!

The point of my running plan is not only to let me have daily, short-term goals to achieve - and therefore have the reward of coloring in that day (I remember seeing Mom do this with hers too), but to make sure that I'm on track to achieve some longer-term goal. For now that goal is the 10km run at the end of April.