Back in business!

I cannot lie, I have been slacking on  my running as well as my blogging, but never fear I am back!  Adjusting to the amount of hours that I put into my career during the winter and transitioning into the summer was hard!  I've tried to make myself get out of bed in the mornings but I couldn't convince myself that it was a great idea!  I have had two and a half day's off of work, which is pretty abnormal, and each day I have tried to run.  Tried!  On Sunday I started to run but it was way too hot to continue (5:00pm).  On Monday, I was supposed to have a full day off of work but was forced to go in due to the negligence of one of my subordinates!  Ahhhhh Tuesday, today was the day that I was going to wake up and run!

I woke up, crawled out of bed, laid on the family room floor and started doing crunches.  I then preceded to do pushups, followed by a healthy breakfast!  I let my food settle and donned my running gear!  I felt good!  I ran an intermittent 7 miles today and walked another mile in the mix.  It was hard to run in the humidity and heat that we have had here in the past month or so!  I felt really good about getting out today!  With my schedule at work I can't get together with my running friends anymore.  Every time I try something comes up and it is quite irritating.  I realized today as I was running that I have to start training now because October 2, Corning Wine Glass Full Marathon is approaching rapidly!  I am not ready to take on that sort of feat yet but I will be soon! 

To my close friends that I love to run with, I hope that we can connect again soon!  I miss our creepy, hysterical, fun-filled runs that motivated me to become a better runner then I had ever imagined I would be.  I hope that your training is going well and that you kick ass in the next full or half that you run.

I look forward to running more and writing about it!  My next challenge is the Warrior Dash in NY and then the Wine Glass Full Marathon!

Week of solid running = Pain in my knee

Memorial week was a great week!  I am into the busy season at work, which consists of working 90 hours a week, and I will no longer have the time to write in my blog more than once a week.

Since I ran the 5k this week I have been motivated to run more and more miles.  The problem is that I can't run more miles with the pain in my knee!  I spoke with a professional runner this week and he had told me that I need to go to the gym and lift more weight so that my legs stay strong.  I will give this a whirl but my feelings about this are if my knee locks up and stays in pain when I lay down or run uphill, why wouldn't it lock up when I am lifting?  I don't understand.  I will try this out by beginning at the gym and we will see what the results are. 

This weeks running ended up being a total of 26 miles, which is a great week.  I am not disappointed at all.  I am looking forward to my full but I am having difficulties deciding on which full I am going to run.  I could run the wineglass in Corning or I can run the empire state in Syracuse.  I am not sure, but I will make a decision soon.  My next race that I plan on running is the 4th of July Irondequoit 10k.  I am looking forward to that race.  Let's see what the knee feels like this week with the gym and with the occasional running.

Dash for Dad Prostate Awareness 5k!

Today I had the day off and I decided to run a race early in the morning.  I ran today with my buddy Oliver and his friend from work, Jessica.  It was a pretty awesome day!  We all set PR's today.  Jessica has never run a race before in her running career which began today.  Jessica, for her first race, ran the race in 36:44 which works out to be 11:51 pace, she ran a great race.  Oliver ran the race in 21:50 which works out to about 7:03 min/mile pace and was 2nd place in his age group.  I personally set a record of 24:06 which works out to a 7:46 min/mile and placed 2nd in my age group!  That is f'n awesome!  The only downfall to this day was that I could have run a faster race if I wouldn't have gone to the front of the line.  I took off with all of the big dogs and found myself falling very short.  Aside from all of that BS, I am super excited for all of us, we came, we saw and we conquered! 

Normally we would have recipe of the week day but today we had a cook out at the house.  All I can say is "La Caja China"  this is the most magical cooker!  Joe and I put 5 baby back ribs, 3 chickens and 1 leg of lamb in to cook for 2 hours.  Along with all of the meat were some great sides that we all put together.  Mac Salad, Irish potato salad, and even greek salad.  The end result was great food and Good Times with great friends! 

 Stay Hungry my Friends!  Enjoy!

The weather couldn't have been better!

Today I didn't have to be at work until 2:30pm which is always a treat!  I got to run by myself and really think about what is going on in my life.  Lately, I have had the feeling as if there was something missing in my life.  I am not sure why because I think that I have everything that anybody could want.  I have an awesome family, a great career, great friends, and the will to do anything I put my mind to.  What am I missing?  What could possibly be bothering me?  By the end of my run I still haven't figured it out.  Oh well I guess it will pass!  (Just like #9)

Today's run was 6.16 miles in 54:31 which works out to an 8:51 min/mile pace.  Mid run my knee started bothering me again, but I pulled through the discomfort!  I know I should rest my knee but first I want to try out a knee brace and see if that will help.  I love to run and I want to set PR's every race I run.  I don't want a knee injury to stop me from training.  I feel that this is a huge calling in my life and I don't want this to hold me back. 

Anyways, my journey towards my first full marathon is a ways away.  I am going to give my knee a rest so that I can continue to run for a long time!  I will not let this defeat me! 

Recipe of the Week; Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna

If you haven't run with us yet, you should!  We are pretty F'n awesome!  Today we had great weather and a great run.  In addition to Sheila, Eric and myself we finally got Oliver, Chris and Joe together to run yes even Joe.  This is very rare to have this group together at one time, the only missing link was Jen.  I hope your dinner was good tonight Jen because ours was awesome.  Tonight's run was 5.55 miles and we finished in 47:55 which works out to a 8:38 min/mile pace.  We were holding a steady 9:15 pace for the first part of our run but towards the end we all started to pick it up.  At the last mile Chris and I picked up the pace to about a 8:15 pace, that is slow for Chris but a decent speed for me.  Chris is running the Sehgahunda Marathon in Letchworth State Park this weekend so this was a good taper run for him.  Good Luck buddy!  Not only do we run but we definitely know how to eat too!

Recipe of the Week;  Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna

This recipe was inspired by my Mother!  If anyone has inspired me to cook it was definitely her.  My mother cooked most of my childhood and she had to cook a lot.  I grew up the second last child of five, I have three brothers, one sister and we were a very hungry group.  Today I cooked like my Mother had to and it made me appreciate her just a little more than I already do.  Thank you Mom!

Appetizer for fun, Baguette with Fresh Mozzarella and Pesto;

First you must prepare the Sauce, then you must prepare the Eggplant.
Breading;
1.5 cups of breadcrumbs
2 Tblsp. of Pecorino Romano
1 Tsp. Kosher/Sea Salt
1 Tsp. Coarse Black Pepper
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
Egg mix;
4 Eggs
1 Tblsp. Lemon Juice

Slice eggplant about 1/4 inch thick and wash with egg mix, immediately move eggplant over to the bread crumbs and coat until you can no longer see the eggplant.  Place in to a medium heat pan with oil of choice and cook until golden brown.  Place on a plate with paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Ricotta Mix;
1 lbs. of Ricotta
1 egg
Crushed Red Pepper, Basil, Salt & Pepper to taste

Place a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish and place a single layer of eggplant on top.  Spread thin layer of ricotta mix over top of the eggplant add sauce and then a thin layer of mozzarella.  Repeat until the casserole dish is filled.  Finish with mozzarella and bake at 425 for 30 - 45 minutes. 

Then for dessert we had Irish Coffee, I know an Italian meal along with an Irish coffee?  It was tasty! 

Let me know what you think!

Buon Appetito!

Great weather and good times!

This Saturday Jen, Eric and myself went running around the Irondequoit area!  I am glad that Jen is feeling much better and that she was able to run with us!  We ran 4.66 miles at 42:46 which works out to 9:10 min/mile.  When Jen and I run together we tend to run faster than the pace that we set out to run.  In fact Eric yelled at us about our pace a few times.  I guess once I start running I can't help myself I just want to run faster and faster.  My next race plan is the Irondequoit 4th of July 10k.  If another race comes up before that I may run it if I have the time.

Overall it was a great run and I had good times with my friends.  I am looking forward to my training especially now that Jen is going to run another Marathon!  For local races check out Rochester Races.

Vacation, Drinking, Driving Back and then Running

I had a great time in New York City this weekend.  It is always good to see my brother (Mike) and sister in-law (Margaret).  I have decided that I will never drive there again unless I have company with me!  That ride sucks!  On my ride back I was asked if I would like to run when I got home.  I thought about not doing it because of the fatigue that is caused by driving and vacations, but then I thought I haven't run in a week and I really need to!

I am glad I decided to, although I couldn't keep running with Eric, I still felt like a million dollars afterward.  I ran 3.48 miles in 29:59 which works out to 8:36 min/mile.  This was a great run and on top of that my knee felt really good, no pain at all.  Then Sheila made dinner which was absolutely amazing and Alyson made the salad which was really delicious too.  We had Buffalo Style Tofu Burgers and then for dessert a homemade Strawberry Short Cake.  Even after the girls ran 4 miles, they put a wonderful dinner and dessert together.  Shme and Alyson you're the best!