Surprises and Stir-Frys

It’s funny how quickly our moods or feelings can change– I really surprised myself yesterday. I just posted about how last week was pretty terrible running and energy-wise. Thank you for all your comments and well wishes! I got the test on Tuesday evening and survived despite my extreme phobia of all things blood/needles. I am hoping to get the results back tomorrow but we may have to wait and see.

I have been feeling a bit better lately, so I attempted a tempo run last night after work. I wanted to run off feel instead of working off a certain pace goal, so I picked a new route I’ve been meaning to try so there would be no basis of comparison to a prior workout if it was going sub-par. I decided to run one entire counter-clockwise loop of Central Park. I thought this was 6.2 miles but it ended up being closer to 6 on my Garmin so I added in a tad more than 1 loop to make it a 10K distance.

SURPRISE: I felt awesome and strong, physically and especially mentally.

Downsides: it was windy, and about 38 degrees– I did not anticipate it being so cold and wish I had gloves as my fingers get numb easily. Is it possible for the wind to always be head on no matter the direction? I swear I never felt it at my back to push me along. Nonetheless, here’s the splits:

Mile 2 contained Cat Hill, and Mile 4 contained Harlem Hill (oof), hence a bit slower. I am most proud of mile 5, that annoying stretch of rolling uphills on the west side after you come down Harlem Hill counter-clockwise; I kept the pace pretty consistent and mentally worked through that mile. The last mile had some fair downhill so the 6:17 is a bit ‘misleading’ than if it was hillier or even flat but I’ll take it.

Just makes me wonder, how can I have low iron when I can bang out workouts like this? During my last bought, I could barely hold a 8:00 pace. Last night was a really strong, solo effort for me. It really boosted my confidence going into the NYC Half-Marathon, like my workout 2 weeks ago did. Maybe last week was just a bout of overtraining coupled with poor recovery? I am happy I took 2 rest days last Friday and Saturday, and took it easy with a 4-miler on Sunday.

I guess we’ll just have to wait for the results of the bloodwork. Maybe nothing is wrong with me. I guess that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world now, would it? 🙂 Just wish there was a reason why I haven’t been 100%.

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I am going to Chicago for a quick work trip on Sunday and Monday, so I’m trying to use up any food left in my fridge before it goes bad. I had mushrooms that weren’t looking so hot, so I threw them into a “use what you have” stir-fry with quinoa for dinner tonight.

What’s in the mix? First, I sauteed the following in a pan with red wine:

• Chicken breast
• Mushrooms
• Chopped Carrots
• Frozen broccoli
• Frozen spinach
• Garlic
• Onions

Then, I tossed it together with some cooked quinoa! When I make ‘stir-fry’ dishes like this I tend not to measure much, I just kinda toss what veggies I have (mostly frozen) with some flavor (garlic, onions), add in a protein (chicken, steak, tofu, potstickers, etc.),  simmer in a sauce (usually teriyaki, actually), and serve it over rice or grains. Today I mixed it up with a bit of red wine to add flavor, admittedly from a super-old, already opened bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. Using what I have!

The thing I love most about stirfry-type dinners like this is how quick they are to make, and how easy it is to amp up the veggies in your meal. I would probably not eat this amount of veggies on the side for dinner so incorporating everything into a main dish is key for me to get the good stuff in.

But no dinner is complete without one a few of these!

White Chocolate Dipped Oreo

How did you surprise yourself this week? What are your “go-to” ingredients in a stirfry-type dinner? I am always looking for more variety!