Kate's Queen City Notes

I have made signification progress toward my vacation goals. I have finally vanquished my nemesis, ravioli, on my fifth attempt. I have learned the first third of “The Carol of the Bells”. I finished Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut.

So that you might not fall in the the pasta pitfalls that I did, I will share what I learned. The texture of the dough will determine if you’re contentedly filling your pasta pockets or cursing like my father wrangling the Christmas lights. This recipe is among my failed attempts. This dough turned out extremely stiff, dry and brittle. Now, if you want a quarter of a teaspoon of filling in your pasta this type of dough might work fine for you. I attempted to make this abomination work at my peril.

After concluding that that dough just wasn’t going to work, I did more research about pasta dough. I found a youtube clip of what appears to be an Italian chef making ravioli dough. This man gave me the key to success. He mentioned that egg whites should be omitted if you want a soft, pliable dough. From that moment forward I only browsed recipes with yolks only. This recipe looked like the recipe my youtube pasta mentor provided only in a quantity for appropriate for me. This dough turned out great.

Here’s lesson number two about ravioli. If you want to freeze them for future  convenient meals, you must be careful to freeze them fully on cookie sheets prior to putting them in a bag or container together. I did not do this. I let them sit out and dry, to what I deemed, a sufficient amount of time. I deemed wrong, very wrong. When I got my baggie of pasta out they has managed to mate in the freezer bag. I basically had one giant ball of dough/filling.

My successful attempt was really fantastic. I had a dinner party with friends. I made the pumpkin ravioli with hazelnut cream sauce. The recipe didn’t disappoint; it just as delicious as I imagined.

The guitar playing is going ok. I am really, really out of practice. I have only played for a couple of days, but I think I already have a blister on my middle finger. I don’t remember that happening so fast when I was younger. The arrangement for “The Carol of the Bells” is appropriate to my current playing abilities, so that’s nice. I will easily have this song in the bag by Christmas. I might need to find another song to work on.

Slaughterhouse 5 was just ok. I hate science fiction. As soon as the aliens entered the plot, I was really done. At least I read it quick and can move on to something that I might like. I’ve attempted to read The Fountainhead at least three times. Maybe vacation will work it’s magic with that?

I am in a professional slump. I am not happy where I am working or what I am working on. Yet I am about a year away from finishing my master’s degree. Since my current employer is paying for that I am stuck. So, I am exceptionally excited to have three weeks off. I have several goals for this vacation. First, I want to try out new recipes. Second, I want to learn a couple songs on my guitar. Third, I want to finish a couple of books.

With my first day off yesterday, I got off to a good start. I made this: http://davidwarda.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/pear-upside-down-molasses-spice-cake/#comment-567 This recipe gave me my first experience with parchment paper. My only regret is not using it sooner. I will never again struggle to coat the inside of a pan evenly with butter and then shake flour around in it. My god that stuff is magic. The cake came out of the pan looking like the last word on gorgeous cakes for all time. I haven’t sampled it yet. I’m taking it to a party, so here’s to hoping it’s done all the way through. I always experience a little anxiety when taking a new creation out for public consumption. 

Now, I need to find some sheet music for the songs that I want to play on guitar. I would like a nice arrangement of Carol of the Bells. Hopefully, I can locate this today and start playing.  

I’ve been trying to distill my thoughts and feelings in to a blog for weeks now. I thought time to digest them would bring clarity to them, but I have given up on that happening. The marathon was a month ago, and a clear summary isn’t in sight.

I hate running. I thought I could train for this marathon, and I would beat my nemesis, running, once and for all. I finished the marathon. I finished in 4.75 hours. The average finish time for women is 5 hours. I am pleased that I finished, and yet I don’t feel the amount of satisfaction I was expecting. I naively thought this process would enlighten me. The truth is that I get more enjoyment and insight from reading a good book without extreme physical discomfort.

I had to quit the training plan 6 weeks prior to the marathon due to extreme hip pain. While I hate running, I love skiing, tennis, softball, swimming, biking, hiking, and volleyball. I deciding risking an injury for a sport that I hate wasn’t worth risking my future participation in the sports I love. I took a week off, and then ran 6 miles three days a week until the marathon. I had no problem doing the marathon. I didn’t hit the “runner’s wall”. I guess I felt frustrated that I suffered through all those weeks of training, when it seems that they were unnecessary. That was 120 hours of my life that I could have been reading good books. That’s so many Sundays spent running 15 plus miles instead of having brunch with my friends.

I suppose that’s really my conclusion. I did learn perseverance. I did learn that I can compel my body forward on just the strength of my mind. But I had to sacrifice a lot for those lessons. I had to sacrifice 8 hours a week to it. I had to sacrifice my well being since I experienced muscle soreness every day while training. In hind sight, I am glad I did the marathon, but I don’t think I will be doing anymore.

I ran outside again today. I wore the running shoes I bought a couple of weeks ago. My feet are adjusting to those shoes nicely. I did 11 miles. I ran up Gilbert and on to Norwood. I stopped at the UDF on the corner of Dana and Montgomery to get a Gatoraid.GI can’t lie Gilbert was rough, but I made it to the top at around 5mph the whole way.

I started feeling pretty rough in the last two miles. I managed to keep running, but only by sheer will and determination. My longest run prior to this one was 9 miles; I started feeling rough at the 7th mile of that run. So, I can tell that I’m gaining endurance. Further, today’s run is the longest distance I have ever run. I did a 15K last spring, and now I have finally out done my own distance record. That feels good. It also feels good that I wasn’t nearly as beat at the end of this run as I was at the end of that 15k.

Total Miles logged: 91.82

Days until the pig: 90

Miles run today: 11

Average pace: 5.3 mph

I got outside for my six mile run today. It’s a high of 39 degrees and sunny. This some of the best weather I have had since I started my training. It’s difficult to run more than 4 miles downtown, and I don’t know how well I will perform on nasty hills. So, I ran from downtown to the University of Cincinnati. I giant hill separates Clifton from downtown. I figured that I could see how West Clifton Avenue goes. I know I can barely bike up that nasty hill from my experiences biking to class. I also know that West Clifton is steeper than Gilbert from biking home from the office when I lived in Norwood.

I did way better on that hill than I expected. I managed to keep up a 5mph pace the whole way to the top. It felt really great to be able to run to Clifton and back with ease. I couldn’t even run a mile in high school, and here I am at 34 running my ass up enormous hills. The run back down was unexpectedly difficult. I didn’t realize how much I pound my heels running down steep hills until I was doing so in the FiveFingers. It’s really uncomfortable to strike with my heels in the FiveFingers, so I found myself fighting against gravity the whole way down the hill. I can’t believe I’m about to write this, but I was relieved when I was done going down that hill.

One other minor discovery, salt and broken glass look remarkably similar. If I was in my running shoes I wouldn’t have even thought about it. But broken glass on the sidewalk is sort of a hallmark of Over the Rhine and Clifton.  

I had a revelation yesterday. I have been persistently sore since I started the training four weeks ago. It’s not joint soreness; it’s muscle soreness. It dawned on me yesterday that I’m probably not getting enough protein. I eat meat, but Jenn my partner doesn’t so all my home cooking is meat free. I only eat meat when we go out. According to varying sources, I should be eating 110 to 150 grams of protein per day. I know for a fact that I’m not getting any were near that much. I don’t think I’m even getting half that amount. Sorry about that body. I’m looking in to protein powders so I can make smoothies for breakfast. More on that to come.

Total Miles logged: 86.8

Days until the pig: 91

Miles run today: 6

Average pace: 5.3 mph

Today’s six mile run felt pretty good. I felt really strong until mile four, and then I started to run out of steam. I took a couple short breaks in the last two miles, but still finished with a pretty good pace. I feel sore today, but I can’t tell if it’s from my weight training yesterday or my running. It looks like the weather will coorporate with me running outside on Saturday this weekend. I don’t know about Sunday.

My next area of research will be to investigate how best to rehydrate on ten+ mile runs. I would guess that some sort of sports drink might be necessary after more than sixty minutes of running. I was thinking about that this morning when I ran out of steam after mile four. It felt like my body ran out of fuel or something. More to come on this topic.

Total Miles logged: 77.8

Days until the pig: 94

Miles run today: 6

Average pace: 5.5 mph

Although I neglected my blog, I did run on Sunday. That six miles was a struggle to finish. I’m starting to notice that my bad runs have less to do with how my body feels and more to do with how well I can focus my mind.

I ran three miles today, outside. It was really nice. All the sub-zero temperatures this winter have made forty degrees feel like spring. It’s all relative. My three mile run felt pretty great. I used my FiveFingers. I think I run a little faster in those. I’m not sure why. It might have something to do with my shorter but quicker strides? The data I have kept thus far all suggests that I am faster in them. I’ll continue to track this.

Oh, I got some winter running gear. I have some Nike Under Armor tights and a few Nike Pro Dry Fit shirts. They performed nicely on my outdoor run today. They are a little too warm for treadmill runs. I sweat like a beast in them on the treadmill on Sunday. The only thing I’m not terribly fond of is the fact that the tights tend to ride down over my first mile. After I pull them back up at a mile they seem to stay put. I’m going to keep this problem in mind when I have to get some warm weather gear.

Total Miles logged: 71.8

Days until the pig: 95

Miles run today: 3

Average pace: 5.3 mph

I ran two consecutive miles in less than ten minutes each. This is a personal victory for me. I’m not a fast runner. I never have been fast. I like savoring the small victories. My run felt great aside from the emergency bathroom break that I had to take at 2.5 miles of the 5 that I did today.

I am getting actual running gear at the store today, so tomorrow, I should have updates on how those are working out for me. Oh, and although I forgot to blog, I did run on Thursday. I did three miles at a 5.5 mph pace.

Total Miles logged: 68.8

Days until the pig: 100

Miles run today: 5

Average pace: 5.8 mph

I worked on building speed on my run today. I did intervals of 6.2 mph and 4.7 mph for a minute and a half each. It felt pretty great. On my next interval run, I will go for 6.3 and 4.8. I can’t tell if my endurance is building or my perception of suffering is getting pushed to further and further extremes. It’s probably a blend of both. But I feel like running 3 miles is a warm up now.

I feel hungry all the time, but I’m too lazy to prepare more food for myself. This combination has resulted in me taking off my five pounds of water retention from last week and three more pounds for good measure. If I lose another five pounds, I will have to start eating bricks of cheese wrapped in bacon. The saddest part about that is some people would consider that a treat, but I find it totally unappealing. So, no cheese brick bacon sandwiches for me. I will try and stock up on fruits and veggies that I can just grab and eat on my next grocery trip.

Total Miles logged: 60.8

Days until the pig: 102

Miles run today: 3

Average pace: 5.5 mph

I tried out my new running Saucony shoes and the body glide. The shoes performed pretty great. They feel really plush in comparison to my old shoes; I’m sure I waited way to long to buy new shoes. The body glide was effective, but I would caution any other people using it to use restraint when applying it. It doesn’t like to come off in the shower. Of course, it makes sense that it’s not water soluble; otherwise I would just sweat it off. I just didn’t think this much about it when I was generously applying it. Maybe I can take my bra off without taking off my shirt for the next few days.

I also ran outside today. I discovered that it is difficult to run five miles in downtown without heading into Clifton or Mt Adams. I did a lot of doubling back on myself to make my distance. The run felt a little rough; I don’t know if that’s due to my asthma or all the stopping and starting for traffic lights. I’ll have to try that run again without the asthma and see if it’s still difficult.

Total Miles logged: 57.8

Days until the pig: 103

Miles run today: 5.1

Average pace: 5 mph