To-Make List

Good morning!

Ok, I should warn everyone that I am a little slap-happy right now. I got talked into taking the overnight shift last night, and I was up until very early in the morning… so the lack of sleep, combined with the two cups of coffee I’ve had trying to keep my eyelids open, is making for some interesting conversations this morning. :-)


Java, java, java, java, java, java...

I realized last night that I haven’t updated recently on my running. Unfortunately, part of that reason is because I haven’t been training. <sigh> The heat got to me, and I couldn’t bring myself to go work out in the sauna that was Maryland for most of July. However, I did go out yesterday morning for a good 3 ½ miles, and let me tell you! After you take nearly two weeks off, your lungs don’t like you much when you start again! Wow. But surprisingly, I didn’t have any of the ankle or calf pain I had been having, so maybe some good did come of it after all.

I also decided to simplify my Garmin usage. I had been using the manual lap function, so I could track when I took walk breaks, when I ran, etc., but I decided to just let it record in 1-mile increments. MUCH simpler, and actually, a bit faster, too. Comparing data, I found that I walked less with it on autolap, most likely because with the manual mode, I was “rounding” times… you know - “ok, I’ll walk for two minutes” instead of just walking until my heart rate dropped back into zone. Plus, it allowed me to let my mind wander a bit more, too, which helped with the boredom. I’m curious to see how I do on a longer run…

In the little spare time I’ve had the past three or four days, I’ve tried to catch up on my Google Reader subscriptions. And the only thing I can say about that is I now have a TON of recipes on my “to make” list! Since I haven’t really cooked anything worth blogging about in a while, I figured I would share a few of the links (and their respective recipes) with you here. If anyone makes any of these, let me know, I’d be curious if they are as good as they sound.

J’s “To Make” List
Chelsey’s Marinara Sauce

Cherry Chocolate Almond Granola

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread
Crispy Honey Lime Tilapia
Honey Wheat Bread

Salt Water Taffy
Summer Sangria
Vegan Jumbalaya
Vegan No Bake Magic Eight Bars
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I think KNOW I need a bigger kitchen.  But until then… keep those knives up!

Change is inevitable

I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas of getting to my goals... Not giving up, just feeling frustrated.  Or maybe it's just exhaustion...

I have been keeping two blogs, off and on - this one, and another that was more of my "workout" blog.  But this one here, I think, can do both tasks... sure, this started as simply a culinary experiment, but maybe now it needs to morph into a healthy living experiment - "let's all watch as Jason rids his body of all the nasty crap he's been eating for the last decade!"  haha  Haven't decided if I'm going to move everything from the old blog over to this one, or if I'm just going to do a "from here on out" switch...

I've done a few comparisons of my new Garmin 310XT HR monitor along with my old Polar monitor... for the most part, everything seems about the same - a heart beat or two off here and there, and the calories burned is a bit off, but I think that's because I haven't set the Zones in for me yet.  I think I may stop wearing them both - it's a bit uncomfortable, and distracting, to have two bands, two watches, and two sets of data.  So what I think I may do is wear the GPS for anything outside - running, walking, biking, etc.  And then wear the old Polar inside - treadmill, exercise bike, etc.  We'll see how that develops, too.

I was supposed to cook all sorts of goodies this weekend, while I was on duty at the station, but every time I started to prep, we would get a call, or there would be a meeting starting, or something.  I never got around to it.  In fact, we didn't even eat dinner last night until almost 2100!  (that's 9pm for you non-military time folks...)  But dinner was fabulous.  Fresh corn on the cob, chicken breasts smothered in a doctored-up BBQ sauce, a rice concoction, and rolls left over from breakfast.  I didn't do all the cooking, and I didn't get any pics, but trust me - it was good.

Today also marks the first OFFICIAL day of my Marine Corps Marathon training plan - the first email came this morning.  20 minutes of Cross Training.  I have to work a Keys baseball game tonight, so not sure if I'll do it tonight, or tomorrow morning, but we will see.  Let the fun (and pain...) begin.

Weekend in the Battlefields

Friday was one of the most exciting days I’ve had in a long time!  First, my parents were in town (granted, they came Wednesday, but mom wouldn’t let me take vacation, so Friday signified “the weekend with them”).  Second, my Garmin 310XT arrived!!!

Now, disclaimer time.  Even though it arrived on Friday, I knew I wouldn’t get to use it until after the weekend.  It would take time to get set up, time to get used to it, and I knew I would want to spend every second with the ‘rents.  I was ok with that…

Last night, when I got back to my apartment (and got laundry started…) I sat down and opened the box.  Even without a monitor on, I could feel my heart rate increasing…



My new Garmin 310XT, sans the baggies...

First, why do companies have to package every single little piece in it’s own plastic baggie?  What happened to putting all the pieces in cutout cardboard, with little twist ties?  So much easier.

The monitor was, as expected, a dead battery.  So it charged overnight.  Can’t wait to use it, although because I am riding the medic unit tonight, I doubt I will get to use it until tomorrow.  I will definitely spend part of my medic shift setting it up, though.

Now, for workouts… I haven’t been logging all of my workouts.  When I started this blog, I figured it would be a “running” blog, but I have been doing a LOT of walking, and while I have kept track of it, I haven’t always logged it here.  I probably won’t start, either, but felt it was worth mentioning, since I haven’t done a ton of running, either.  But I did run this Saturday, so…

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Run through part of Gettysburg Battlefield

3.74 miles / 55 min.

My new Garmin 310XT

Friday was one of the most exciting days I’ve had in a long time!  First, my parents were in town (granted, they came Wednesday, but mom wouldn’t let me take vacation, so Friday signified “the weekend with them”).  Second, my Garmin 310XT arrived!!!

Now, disclaimer time.  Even though it arrived on Friday, I knew I wouldn’t get to use it until after the weekend.  It would take time to get set up, time to get used to it, and I knew I would want to spend every second with the ‘rents.  I was ok with that…

Last night, when I got back to my apartment (and got laundry started…) I sat down and opened the box.  Even without a monitor on, I could feel my heart rate increasing…

First, why do companies have to package every single little piece in it’s own plastic baggie?  What happened to putting all the pieces in cutout cardboard, with little twist ties?  So much easier.

My new Garmin 310XT, sans the baggies...

The monitor was, as expected, a dead battery.  So it charged overnight.  Can’t wait to use it, although because I am riding the medic unit tonight, I doubt I will get to use it until tomorrow.  I will definitely spend part of my medic shift setting it up, though.

More to come, I am sure…