FRIDAY RANDOMNESS

• By loramarie03
• 21 September, 2012
• 17 Comments

This week has been crazy in many different ways. You are probably like OK, when is she going to start talking about running again? Yes, this is a running blog. But I haven’t run at all this week! Sad face. I did manage to go to the doctor and found out that I have strep so I figure getting rest and letting my body recover before Ragnar next weekend is probably better than filling in the week some miles.

Tomorrow I am running a race — the Fifth Avenue Mile. I have not done a mile sprint since like high school? So I’m interested to see what my time is AND if I’m able to push myself. I feel like since becoming a marathoner, my mentality towards workouts has become “slow and steady wins the race”… so HIIT exercises and sprints are a little tougher because I want to tell myself to keep it steady. Tomorrow will be a great way to push that!

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Favorite Five
(this has become one of my favorite posts of the week… if you see anything awesome in the blogsphere that deserves a shout-out, let me know! Would love to include it!)

• Interested in eating clean? Sarah at My (Mostly) Healthy Life has the giveaway for you! Seriously, it’s quite amazing so you just need to go check it out yourself (and enter while you’re at it!).
• Tamara at All For Gain is running Tough Mudder tomorrow… and freaking out about it a bit. I’m sure she would love to hear your thoughts on how much she is going to rock it out.
• Alysia at Slim Sanity has an easy and healthy idea for a snack! Perfect to enjoy while lounging and enjoying football games on Sundays
• Lisa at Yo Momma Runs is also hosting a Core Power giveaway! Enter mine and then hop on over to her blog and enter again… lightening can strike the same spot twice so who knows, you might be lucky — twice!
• Jessica at Pace of Me is running Boston in 2013 which is kind of a big deal. Definitely go tell her congrats and wish her luck! (Sorry, I feel awfully bossy this morning!)

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Tomorrow I have an amazing opportunity to meet Kara Goucher.

YEP. (What a great way to end a rough week, I must say!)

Anyways, I get to do an interview with her to post on the blog and on Examiner. So, what burning questions do you have for Ms. Goucher? Let me know and I’ll try to ask them!

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Can you believe that three weeks from today, I’ll be in Jamaica? Just to remind you, I’ll be staring at this:

OK, three weeks away probably doesn’t sound as incredulous as it does to me. But holy smokes, it is sneaking up fast! I found out yesterday that I will be traveling for work next Monday-Wednesday, which slightly freaks me out because I still have some things left on the to do list… and then I leave on Thursday for Ragnar until Sunday. That means I have ONE more weekend to get everything done! I mean, good thing I packed that suitcase up otherwise I think I would be more stressed. I think this weekend, it would be great if I could just pack everything else up… oh wait, and finish up those last-minute DIY projects.

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Last night I had a work thing and you know how they love to promote group bonding… so they scheduled us to do a cooking class together, which was pretty interesting. I have never taken a cooking class before and it was fun to use really expensive knives and also hear straight from chefs some tips. Here are the favorite things I learned:

• You shouldn’t chop an onion. That’s why it makes you cry (maybe because you are brutalizing it?). You need to cut it smoothly by sliding the knife from back to front. It’s hard to explain but try it sometime. Nobody cutting onions was crying.
• I’ve always known that you can make your own stock, but didn’t realize it’s so easy. For vegetable stock, simply take the vegetable scraps — your carrot peels, leftover onion rinds, etc. — and throw them in a pot of water. Let it simmer for 45 minutes… and freeze! Wah-lah, you have vegetable stock that you can cook your pasta in or even your veggies for future dinners.
• Oh, and chicken stock?! Skip the stuff in the store. This has tons of added (and unnecessary) ingredients — such as gluten!). Do the same as above, only add a few chicken bones and simmer for 1-1/2 hours. Yum!
• So you know those little baby carrots? Yeah, turns out they aren’t so good for you. Obviously you are paying for convenience (and for their cuteness, let’s be honest), but apparently they are just big carrots that are chopped into the smaller, sweeter pieces and in order to preserve their freshness… they are boiled in chlorine! Good to know.

What’s on your mind today? Any random thoughts?