http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal.asp?id=KAPELAKIN KAPELAKIN's Blog on SparkPeople, home of free diet plans and a healthy living community http://assets2.sparkpeople.com/assets/nav/logo_spark.gif http://www.sparkpeople.com/ http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5354542 I'm a little behind on the garden this year, but am excited that I picked some lacinato kale, rainbow chard and lettuce this morning. Aside from a pinch of herbs here or there, this is the first real garden harvest of the year. We ate the lettuce along with some store-bought veggies for tonight's salad. Some of the chard went into a sausage, chard and green pepper frittata with home-raised fresh eggs that I'll be enjoying for breakfast the next few days. <BR> <img src="http://photos-ak.sp... Sun, 12 May 2013 23:29:53 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5345211 I am on the fence. I have my ticker set up to count down to the High Desert Half Marathon, which is May 25th, but I have not yet registered. Robie Creek was two weeks ago, so tomorrow ends my running scheduled moratorium, though my ankle might have the last word on that. Tomorrow I may try a short easy run and see what my foot/ankle say about it after the way I punished them on the Robie downhill. <BR> <BR> The problem is that I'll be in Reno working 12+-hour days all week prior to HDHM, ... Sat, 4 May 2013 10:23:20 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5330452 Let me first say that I suck at taking photos. I took exactly zero. <BR> <BR> I've been training for Robie Creek since the beginning of the year, and it's a huge deal in here in Boise, so there was lots of anticipation leading up to yesterday's race. It's also way bigger - with about 2,500 runners - than any race I've done before. Each year the race has a different theme, and this year, it was Elizabethan/Shakespeare, and they did a little Hamlet number at the beginning of the race - To ... Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:30:00 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5314116 I went straight to 10Ks when I started entering races last year, but have been working on my speed all winter with the goal of a sub-25:00 5K this spring, then lowered that goal to 23:30 at some point during the winter. Most of my speed workouts have been on the treadmill over the winter, so I wasn't sure if running 400m and 800m intervals was going to translate well to staying sub-8:00 pace in a 10K. This morning I headed out to the High Speed Pursuit that is held by local police and start... Sat, 6 Apr 2013 22:52:39 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5290007 So how are you doing? We eat lots of Swiss chard, collards sometimes, and arugula and mizuna occasionally. I'd like to figure out some better ways to prepare turnip and mustard greens since they've been a big FAIL when I've tried them in the past. <BR> <link>www.nomeatathlete.com/7-greens-infog<BR>raphic/ </link> <BR> <img src="http://photos-ak.sparkpeople.com/nw/1/1/l110821087.jpg"> Sun, 17 Mar 2013 15:41:05 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5279591 I haven't really blogged in a while. After pushing to get to 25,000 Spark Points by the end of 2012, I decided to back off a little bit, though I do still try to log in each day, log my workouts and read my friend feed to keep up with everyone. <BR> <BR> This year's been going pretty well so far. I started out in January with the Freezeout Hill Challenge 12K, that ended up literally being on the coldest day of the year. Next month I'm signed up for the High Speed Pursuit 5K, though I'm tr... Sat, 9 Mar 2013 00:00:35 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5262140 If you need any more motivation to shop the perimeter of the store and leave anything that is bagged, boxed or canned out of your cart, read this: <BR> <BR> <link>www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/<BR>the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food<BR>.html?pagewanted=all&_r=3& </link> <BR> <BR> The amount of added sugar and salt in something as seemingly harmless as some spaghetti sauce is staggering. I've learned that even packaged products that seem straight-forward can have all sorts of ad... Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:30:28 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5237462 As a gardener and general science geek, I've always been interested in where my food comes from, but honestly, until recently I've been kind of unwilling to spend the money to buy better quality foods. Right now I'm reading Folks, This Ain't Normal, buy Joel Salatin, who operates Polyface Farms. He has an amazing diverse and ecologically sensible farming operation where the animals and plants work together in a more natureal way. This book might be a bit long and dense for someone who's le... Mon, 4 Feb 2013 16:14:00 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5234960 I joined Boise Run/Walk's Robie Creek training group that started first thing in January, but this was the first week I've made it to the weekly run and workout. The last few weekends it's been too icy to risk driving all the way across town first thing on Saturday morning, but I have been following their training plan on my own. We met in the gymnasium of the community center at 8 am and the coaches discussed in-race nutrition, use of Gu, gels and so on, for this week's topic. Then we did... Sat, 2 Feb 2013 21:36:04 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5222047 This is winter's answer to the green smoothie: <BR> <link>www.splendidtable.org/recipes/basic-<BR>green-soup </link> <BR> <BR> The beauty is that you can use the greens you have on hand, and it's a great way to use up veggies that aren't quite at their freshest anymore. I made a big pot of it Sunday night using a bunch of kale, a bunch of chard (with stems) a few handfulls of spinach and a handful of parsley. It is SOOO good, I've had it at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Next time I will... Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:39:56 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5214759 <BR> <BR> This morning I almost turned off the alarm, rolled over and went back to sleep in my warm bed, knowing what was waiting for me Out There. But then I remembered my friend who's recently been told by her doctor that she will never be able to run again due to her knee, so I realized I needed to get my butt up and appreciate my ability to run. I was expecting it to be about 6F, but when I was getting ready for the race, my car was telling me it was -4F, some of the coldest weather ... Sat, 19 Jan 2013 20:49:42 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5180965 I thought the cold I came down with was on it's way out, but it turns out it was working on turning into more of a chest/throat thing, so I'm sidelined today and not getting much exercise above and beyond surfing the web. I've seen many recommendations to read Mark's Daily Apple, but having read the Primal Blueprint cookbook and not gotten much out of it, I hadn't bothered with the website until today. There's a lot of good information there, and I spent probably an hour this morning just r... Sun, 30 Dec 2012 14:11:01 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5180237 Like many other Sparkers seem to be this time of year, I'm sort of in a fog, getting through the holidays, taking some time to change or reassess goals after a fall racing season, and generally thinking "hmm, what's next?" This fall I was thinking of doing a marathon in 2013. Specifically, I had my sights on the Famous Potato marathon in May. However, I really want to run Robie Creek, which is a mostly uphill half marathon that is famous around here and held towards the end of April. Turn... Sat, 29 Dec 2012 21:13:36 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5172935 So I made a conscious decision on Wednesday to end my running streak. I managed to, at a minimum, walk one mile per day, and most days I walked or ran 2 or more miles for 48 consecutive days. I enjoyed this challenge, and I'm now more likely to head out the door in the dark after dinner to log a couple miles, which makes my dog very happy! However, it was time to quit. Even the 1-2 mile walks on what would have otherwise been my rest days were keeping my body from recovering fully, especi... Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:35:51 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5152030 I'm surprised at how quickly I'm getting faster. I've never run a 5K before, so I set a goal of running a 25-minute 5K in the spring, for basically 8 minute miles. I realized that I could probably go out and do that right now if my legs are fresh, so it's time to push the envelope. So, for my April 5K, my new goal is 23:15, or 7:30 pace. This might be too aggressive, but it's something to shoot for, and I think if I can work hard, I can be there in 4 months. <BR> <em>386</em> <em>182... Fri, 30 Nov 2012 20:54:57 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5151151 I am almost through the first month of my running streak, and proud to say I haven't missed a day! I did spend a week walking only, and one day I called it quits after a mile since it was dark and rainy, and I hadn't dressed for wet weather. But I have hit the road or the treadmill every day for 29 consecutive days! I've learned a few things from this experience, like: <BR> <BR> It is possible to go out and get a couple miles in at 8 pm even though it's pitch black; Headlamps are a good ... Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:28:44 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5139856 Those are my marks to hit by the end of this year. So far this year I've run and walked 871 miles, so if I average 3 miles a day for the rest of the year, I'll finish my first full year of running with 1,000 miles on the odometer. <BR> <BR> I have 23,604 Spark Points as of right now, so to get to the next level by December 31, I need to average 32.5 points per day, which should be totally doable, though I will need to ramp up a bit more from what I've been doing, and get back to tracking ... Sun, 18 Nov 2012 23:08:38 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5130150 So far the running streak is going well. I am 9 days in, and on two days I walked instead of running, but besides that, I haven't misssed any days, and I'm feeling good. I think this has been really beneficial to reinforcing the mentality of at least getting in a small workout if a full-on workout isn't in the cards on a given day. It's also working well with my goal of getting faster, with the hope of running a sub-25 minute 5K in the spring. I'm reading The Art of Running Faster right n... Sat, 10 Nov 2012 01:05:03 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5126625 The question comes up pretty much weekly on the Spark message boards... work is taking me out of town for a week, what do I do? I thought it might help someone if I posted what I'm eating on this week's business trip. First off, I was able to drive here to Salt Lake, so I shopped yesterday and brought a cooler with me. Good thing, because there's no fridge in the room like I expected. There are many portable, healthy foods available now. Many of these would survive a plane trip as well: ... Tue, 6 Nov 2012 21:01:00 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5119646 A month or two ago I read a blog entry on No Meat Athlete about a running streak. This got my imagination going, and I wanted to start right away, but with two half marathons in the works, I was hesitant to start a challenge that could derail what I'd trained for all summer. So I decided to bide my time, and now the half marathons are over. I've decided that tomorrow, November 1, will begin my running streak. <BR> <BR> The plan is to run for at least 2 miles every day from now until the... Wed, 31 Oct 2012 23:04:16 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5098399 My dad's been here visiting for a full week while I've been on vacation, and it's been great having him here, but tomorrow he'll be leaving, and it will be time to get back on track. He's been eating mostly vegan, and although he will eat whatever we are eating, I didn't want to overload him with the bean an protein diet I've been following, and honestly, it was kind of an excuse to not really watch my eating for several days. I should have planned better, but I assumed he was only going to... Sun, 14 Oct 2012 09:27:06 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5089504 This morning the air was crisp and brisk. The last few nights have brought the first fall freezes, and with them, great running weather. I'm supposed to be recovering from my 9/30 half marathon, but I was feeling pretty recovered, and headed out with the dog for what ended up being almost 9 miles. It was great being out in the cool air and watching the multi-colored leaves get blown from the trees, swirling and chattering along the roads. <BR> <BR> Even though I was running at this time l... Sat, 6 Oct 2012 23:22:45 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5078887 With my first half marathon in less than two days, I've started thinking about what comes next. Honestly, I'm a little tired of the HM training, even though I haven't been following a really set schedule. I'm ready to dial back on the endurance running for a few months and focus on something else for a bit. That brings me to the Slow Carb diet and HIIT workouts. I still want to lose another 7-10 pounds and get the flab off my rear and midsection, and I think that lots of HIIT and a couple... Fri, 28 Sep 2012 21:25:27 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5068402 I've seen the rhetorical question on Spark about how many times a person has regretted their decision to work out as a motivation for not skipping workouts. Well, this morning the alarm went off, and I'd planned to get up and do a 5K speed run but... I just wasn't feeling it. For some reason, the idea of running in the 6 am darkness seemed more ominous than usual, my legs were saying no, and I asked myself "Will this run pay off in a better half marathon next week?" The answer to that was ... Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:53:05 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5061386 This folksy saying popped into my head yesterday when I was about 10 miles into my 12 mile long run. A few blogs ago, I detailed my exact training plan from tapering for the Sept 2 Payette race, through the Ste Chapelle half marathon Sept 30. Literally the day after Payette, I came down with the worst cold I've had in about eight years. I felt awful and didn't do any exercise for six days, and the second week of the cold, managed a couple easy, shorter runs, but it took until last Friday b... Sun, 16 Sep 2012 10:22:33 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5059761 I went to TJ Maxx today to pick up a few new things for fall. I can still wear most of my large tops, but almost all of my XL tops are hanging on me like potato sacks, and they've got to go. I bought three tops today, all in size medium, and two pairs of skinny jeans in size 8. However, a couple of the 8's I bought this summer are actually getting a touch loose on me, so I decided to go ahead and try a few pairsof sixes. The grey slacks actually fit perfectly, but weren't quite long enoug... Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:39:36 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5049830 So, I'm 5'10" and was never slight of frame. I wear size 11 shoes and size 8 to 9 gloves. Ever since I got near my final height, I've heard that I'm "Amazonian" or "broad-shouldered," "big girl" or "athletic" as some sort of weird euphamism for being rangey and unfeminine. Until I was 15 or 16, I was gangly-thin, and my brother nicknamed me "Ichabod Crane" after the main character of Legend of Sleepy Hollow, or "Icky" for short. Thanks, bro. My mom gave me what I'm sure she thought was g... Sat, 8 Sep 2012 14:21:53 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5041857 I wrote up a long blog and it got eaten, so here is the quick version: <BR> <BR> McCall, Idaho is a gorgeous destination for a run. I ran the 8.6 half around Payette Lake, and am already planning to run the full 30K all the way around the lake in 2013. The top two 30K racers went flying by us right before our start, at their 10 mile mark - they'd finished 10 miles in about 55 minutes, and kept that pace the entire way. Mega-inspiring! <BR> <BR> My goal time was anything under 1:20, and I... Mon, 3 Sep 2012 00:32:56 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5030015 This spring I did my first two races: a 10K at the beginning of May, and another 10K in June. Now I'm getting very close to my target race, an 8.6 miler half way around Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho. I saw this race online last August when I first started running, and wanted to do it, but would have only been ready for the 5K option at that time, so I skipped it. Well, I'm ready now! The race is September 2, so next Sunday. The plan is to do a 6-mile tempo run tomorrow morning, and then ... Sat, 25 Aug 2012 00:06:59 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5019947 I've always been a veggie gardener. Even when I had no garden, I was a gardener. I remember going to the dollar store when I was about 11 or 12 and plunking down my allowance for a bag of soil, some little plastic pots, and various seed packets that were $10 for $1, and hauling it all home on the back of my bike. Never mind that it was scorching mid-July already, entirely inhospitable to fragile seedlings, and that our little rental house had no viable garden area. I put those seeds in th... Fri, 17 Aug 2012 20:44:01 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5017396 But not that kind! <BR> <BR> I've been paying for a gym membership as a backup plan. Mainly so I can use their elliptical if my knees start acting up from running, or if the weather turns to ice and hail and flying monkeys. About a month ago, I decided I may as well start going once a week and doing some strength training to break up the solitude of running and swinging kettlebells in my basement. I've been doing one intense hour per week, and really enjoying it. The workout is basicall... Wed, 15 Aug 2012 23:34:51 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5014038 So I downloaded 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss the other day after reading about it on the No Meat Athlete blog, and have not been able to put down my Kindle. He provides some plans that he says will provide some rapid and dramatic fat loss. Now I am the first to be skeptical of claims of crazy weight loss rates from supplements or plans being shown on infomercials. However, Timothy has basically be using himself as a lab rat for many years, and has some really interesting insights. His b... Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:37:41 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4999918 I am terrible about buying too much food. I go in without a list, or just a basic list, then proceed to buy anything that looks good. That doesn't mean that a lot of junk makes its way into my cart. In fact, aside from any requests for chips or icecream by DH, it's 95% healthy stuff. BUT, right now we have an embarrassment of riches between fresh eggs from our flock of hens, kale, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, chard, zucchini and the odd tomato out of the garden, plus whatever will come i... Fri, 3 Aug 2012 18:47:49 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4956515 I've been toying with the idea of a half marathon. The most logical local half for me to do would be the Ste. Chapelle Wine Run on September 30th, but I stay so busy between work, training my horse and gardening during the summer that adding 2-hour training runs to my schedule means something else would have to give. I'm not quite nutty enough to want to do one of the Frozen Feet or any other race in Idaho in mid-winter, but next spring seems TOO far off, given that I'm already prepared for... Thu, 5 Jul 2012 13:10:14 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4952743 I have to admit I'm getting a little frustrated, and ironically, it's because I've lost more weight than I ever thought I could. My high weight was somewhere in the low 220's (registered 225 at the Dr.'s office fully clothed), and started Spark February of 2011 at 216. First goal was just to get more fit, and get under 200. When I started to have some success, I decided to shoot for 180. Somewhere around 195, I was steadily losing a pound per week, and decided to shoot for 170. Once I go... Mon, 2 Jul 2012 22:39:17 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4871327 I guess the title says it all. This morning I weighed in at 171, putting my BMI at 24.6. Incidentally, this this is the exact weight that has been listed on my driver's license for years. I don't put a lot of stock in the BMI, but somehow it feels good to be back in the Healthy range and out of the Overweight range. Now I'm sort of feeling my way down to the weight I can maintain, which I'm thinking will be in the 160-165 range. I remember struggling to get from 162 to 160 when I was in ... Mon, 7 May 2012 21:45:05 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4739185 So this Sunday I did my second "long" run, which for now is 6.7 miles, and will bump up to 7+ in a few weeks. I'm regularly running my 5.4 mile route twice per week as well, so add in a walk and I'm getting 20+ miles under my sneakers each week. A couple weeks ago I bought the book Chi Running, and read the first chapter, that said "lean forward." I leaned forward and went for a run. I ran faster, and felt great. That first run was the high, and after that, the new muscles and tendons I ... Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:29:59 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4700196 So somehow in the last six months, I turned into a runner. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but yesterday I found myself cruising along through mile 4 of my 5.4 mile run feeling like I could go forever, and trying to work out a new, 7 mile route. And this was the day after a ski trip, when my legs weren't at their best. OK, so I didn't feel like I could keep going forever during Mile 5, but a Mile 6 would have been doable. <BR> <BR> Even as a skinny highschool student, I despised runni... Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:42:33 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4687416 So I was feeling pretty punky at work today, like I might be coming down with a cold, so I decided to leave an hour early. My office is across the street from Wal-Mart, and since I was "sick" and needed to buy some carpet cleaner anyway I rationalized picking up some hot chocolate fixings to warm my soul. And once I was in the store, I thought, why not indulge in some mini-marshmallows for that hot chocolate? Oh, and what is more comforting than warm cookies, so may as well pick up some co... Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:39:43 EST http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4648279 I've been planning a bit of a vegetarian "detox" period in January. This officially starts when I go back to work on Tuesday, January 3rd, and will at least go until I leave town on a business trip on the 28th. Today and tomorrow, I need to compile recipes and do my shopping and so on to make this work. I might as well kick-start this by swearing off the junk food, rather than using these last two days of winter break as an excuse to snack on chips and cookies. <BR> <BR> So, I guess I'd b... Sun, 1 Jan 2012 12:16:32 EST