Guest Blogger - the Beautiful Miss Lauren

August 3rd - 28 days to go

Friday Friday Friday! Yippee, the weekend has finally arrived. I am physically exhausted, four days of pretty intense/different workouts has been brutal on my body. Now that I am not just running I notice there are a whole bunch of muscles I haven't been using... weird! Along with trying new workouts I have also decided I am not going to drink alcoholic beverages on "school nights". And not that I need it, but I'm 26, it's the summer and a nice cool vodka drink after work is pretty lovely. My reasoning for giving it up is that I really want to focus on my training; getting enough rest, feeling up to my early morning workouts and cutting out unneeded calories. It's not the hardest thing I've ever done, but I won't lie, it's not the easiest either. 

Today's workout: 6am boot camp class, we did a circuit work today, a bunch of things that I don't know the name of, but I am sore. Did a few stair sprints after work and a short walk. 

This weekend I don't have any workouts planned. It's Seafair here in Seattle, which means less land more water. Maybe I'll get some swimming in? 

~~~

PS from Kim - Did a 3.36 mile figure 8 loop run this morning. My time is good, my strength is pretty good, and the dogs ran away from the sonic dog repeller. WooHoo! A trip to the farmers market afterward gave us a big basket of wonderful things to play with in the kitchen later. I'm really super-concentrating on the right fuel these last few weeks, and I have to tell Rick to just not buy those "crack chips" anymore... You know the ones - organic sea salt and black pepper potato chips. I have no control over myself around those things. But here's some good news. I got on the scale this morning, and for the first time in my driving life, my driver's license says I weigh more than I actually do. Now that feels good.

Daily Check-in from Guest Blogger - Lauren Miles

August 2nd - 29 days to go

I've been a little more stressed about life than usual this week, so focusing on my workouts has been a real big help. Not only does it give me something to do, but it makes me push a little bit harder. Today I had planned to go to hot yoga with a friend, but as we all know life happens and we didn't make it. Now I know, I KNOW, I could have gone alone, but I didn't... I've never done it before and I wanted someone to hold my hand... sue me. BUT prior to finding out we wouldn't make yoga I had already decided I should do a short run, so I did.

2.2 miles - 21 minutes, my muscles were burning from the boot camp class, my legs felt like cement and my abs were on fire. At the end of my work out I was complimented on my outfit, all that pain... totally worth it. 

Tomorrow, another 6:00am boot camp... YIKES! 

~~~

PS from Kim - I ordered a sonic dog repeller gadget yesterday, hoping I can scare off the mean dogs without hurting them. Also ordered pepper spray as a backup. I don't want to use it, but I want a dog bite even less. And - Go Lauren Go! I'm really proud of you!!!

Those Beautiful Spring Rolls

Last weekend I went to a friend's open studio, and thought I'd take along a little treat for the food table. I made these lovely spring rolls, which were devoured in no time. Fortunately I thought to take a picture of them before we left the house. I posted it on my Facebook page, and people are going crazy for it over there. Lots of new fans. Very cool.

I'm getting a lot of requests for the recipe, and while I want to oblige, I can only give you part of it. I don't mean to be all weird and mysterious, but I kind of have to. I learned this really wonderful technique for making the spring rolls from Mark Reinfeld of Vegan Fusion. He specifically asked that we not share the technique online, and I have to respect that. But assuming that many of you already have your own way of making spring rolls, I can tell you what's inside of these. If you don't know how to roll up a spring roll, there are lots of YouTube videos on how to do it. I've watched a lot of them, and I really do know a better way, which I hope I'll get permission to share with you at some point. For now, here's all you get!

Spring Roll Filling

(in order of placement - all vegetables are raw)

white sesame seeds - down the center of the wrap

chopped lettuce - over the sesame seeds

grated carrots - over the lettuce

zucchini "noodles" - made on a Spiralizer - everything from here is placed for easy rolling

Buddha Belly Sauce - just a little over the zucchini

red bell pepper

asparagus

avocado

Roll it up, slice in half at a slight diagonal, and garnish with black sesame seeds and asparagus. Serve with extra sauce for dipping if it won't be to messy.

Enjoy, and see you on Facebook!

Guest Blogger - the Beautiful Miss Lauren

As I've said, I'm running the Disneyland Half Marathon with my daughter Lauren. We were blogging together for a while, but she got busy and we haven't heard from her in a while. I'm happy to have her back!  ~Kim~

August 1st - 30 days to go

Okay people I am back! Between training, life and generally being super cool I didn't have enough time to write. But now, as the half marathon nears I think it's a good idea once again to write about my training. I am motivated and driven to get all I can out of these next few weeks. Between my positive attitude, drive to succeed and support from friends and family I am getting so excited for this event to finally be here!
So here's what I did...
6:00am - Boot Camp Workout: I have never done a class like this before. It was a good work out, working parts of my body that I have been neglecting. I liked it.
5:00pm - 2.6 mile run: Short run, didn't push too hard, really had no intention of a double workout day, but it was pretty outside and I felt like my muscles needed a little run.

Vegan Running Update

Another Thursday, another Long Run. Only a month till the race, which for those of you who are new here is the half marathon at Disneyland on Labor Day Weekend. I know, it sounds kind of wimpy to all the "real runners" out there, but considering it's my first race ever, and I was never any kind of runner or athlete of any kind before, and the little fact that I'm 55 years old... well, I think Disneyland is just the right choice. And the best part is, I'm running with my daughter. That's the cherry on top of the Coconut Bliss sundae.

I headed out just before 6:00 this morning, all decked out in the new shirt I had made for race day. It has my blog address on the back. I thought I might as well be my own billboard, rather than somebody else's.

The hummingbirds were already buzzing my head as I stepped out the door, and the big full moon was still in the sky. It was the perfect Taos morning, nice and cool, and just right for running.

I tried a new version of the neighborhood loop I've been working with, and it went pretty well. There's no getting around the fact that there are way more hills around here than I need for this particular event. Sometime it feels more like I'm training for an ultra rather than a little old urban half marathon. But I'm hoping that because this is so darn hard sometimes, it's making me tougher than I'll actually need to be on race day.

A few hills aside, it's not all moonlight and hummingbirds though. Loose dogs are still a big issue. At mile 10, two snarly, mean ones ambushed me from under a fence, and scared the hell out of me. Fortunately they didn't bite me, but my stomach did a flip-flop, my insides turned to jelly, and after I was done yelling at the dogs, the owner (who was nowhere in sight, or probably earshot), and the neighborhood barbarians in general, I slumped into a walk and just cried for 5 minutes. Terror on top of exhaustion just don't mix well. I hate to do it, but I'm getting some kind of doggy deterrent spray. Enough of this.

After my little tantrum, I got back to my running pace of 2 minutes running to 30 seconds walking - the hardest pace I've attempted so far, and probably as hard as I'll go. I made it back home after 11.27 miles, and sat down and cried again. Yeah, I cried like a girl, and I'm OK with that. Sometimes we all need a little bath from the inside out.

Nobody said this was going to be easy. Nobody even said I was going to be able to do it. But after all the drama, I really believe I can do it, and I'm sure not going to give up at this point. I'm spending the rest of today drinking lots of water and coconut water, eating my beloved grains, greens, and beans, and perfecting the Power Cookies I plan to take along as fuel for the race. I'll have that recipe for you soon, along with some others I've been meaning to get to. Soon. Really soon. I promise.

Excuses, excuses...

I ran 11.25 miles this morning. Unbelievable, especially to me. I created a new loopy figure-eight route in my neighborhood, which worked out perfectly. It takes me up more hills than down (for reasons I really want to figure out), on slippy gravel, potholed dirt, and smooth pavement, past mean dogs that force me to carry a handful of gravel to scare them off with (less dangerous than bear spray, and works well so far), and under the tree that the local peacock roosts in at night, and drops tail feathers from this time of year. I listen to Vivaldi, watch the sun come up, wave to passing motorists on their way to work, and ponder just how I got to this place in life.

About 3 years ago I was ready to surrender to old age and a growing waistline. It's what happens... or at least that's what we're told. I bought bigger clothes, avoided mirrors, and enjoyed fatty foods like there was no tomorrow, because I really thought I had no choice. If someone had suggested that at age 55 I'd be a whole-hearted vegan, about to run a half marathon, I would have laughed so hard I'd pee my pants. But here I am.

It's easy to make excuses about why we can't do something. When the idea of this race first came up, my excuses were something like: I'm too old. I hate running. I don't know how to run. I've never been a runner. I'm too fat. I live at 7,000 feet. It's bad for my knees. People will think I'm crazy. I don't have anything to wear...

Really? Was that the best I could do? Too old? Never. We can always make changes in our lives. I hate running? The next two excuses kind of cancel that one out. How could I hate something I'd never done and didn't now how to do? Too fat? Well what better way to deal with a fat ass than to get off it and move? High elevation? Sure, it makes for some interesting training, but imagine how much easier it will be to run at sea level on race day. Bad for my knees? Only if I do it wrong, so learning to do it right was important, and totally possible. Crazy? I'm used to people thinking that, and I even kind of like it. And as for nothing to wear, sweats and a t-shirt are fine to start with, and now I have an excuse to buy cute new running clothes. Problem solved. All problems solved, just by taking the first step.

So next time I find myself making excuses for not doing something that would benefit me,, or that I really want to do, I'm going to sit right down and make a list of all the excuses, and then set about tearing them apart. We all make excuses, and we can all call ourselves on it. Right now.

Who Wants to Cook?

I'm almost ready to start offering some fun vegan cooking classes, and I need to know who's interested! I'll start in Taos, and of course I'd encourage you to travel here to spend some time in my kitchen, and in our beautiful town. But I also want to travel to your kitchen, if you live in a fun place to visit. Wouldn't it be great to gather up a little group of your best pals for a day or evening of good vegan cooking and eating? This isn't just for people who want to "go vegan." It's for anyone who wants to make some healthy changes in their diet, is curious about all the vegan buzz out there, or has a vegan in their life who needs to be fed something more than a bowl of lettuce.

I'm gearing my first class toward vegan beginners who might be a little confused by some of the weird vegan ingredients. The plan is to explore these delights, and to mix and match ingredients in different recipes that are easy to improvise and modify, giving you a good base to start from, and the ability to feed yourself or someone else for days without having to completely restock your refrigerator. It's easier than you think.

If you're at all interested in cooking with me, please sign up for my mailing list. That way I'll know you're out there, and I can let you know when classes are ready to roll. You can also feel free to drop me an email (kimmiles@gmail.com), letting me know where you'd like to have me teach, and what sorts of dishes you'd be interested in learning.

I'm here for you! I just need to know where you are.