Hello, 2013!

2012 is over! Looking back, it has mostly been a good year for me, and it has been my most eventful year in the United States. I keep marveling at what a difference a year makes, and I can only hope that a year from now I will be as content, if not more, with what will happen this year as I am with the year past.

• I ran my first half marathon in 2012, and went on to run 3 more, as well as 8 other races. My MapMyRun account says I logged 679 miles last year, but there are at least 20 miles that I didn't log on. Running has become a big part of my life this past year, and I am happy with the 700 miles I've run.
• I finished my first semester of grad school! A year ago I was still studying for my GRE and filling out applications, and here I am now, ready to start my winter semester tomorrow morning. It has not been easy, and it has been emotional - I have been through interviews, I ended up not being accepted into the school I wanted, I started this program trying to convince myself that maybe this is what was supposed to happen, and finished the first semester with straight A's and knowing that this was, indeed, meant to be. I couldn't be happier with the program I am in and with my teachers, I absolutely love what I do, and my internship doing school based therapy couldn't be a better fit for me.
• I went on my first cruise! A few years ago I decided I'd try to visit a country a year, and last year it was Mexico and Cayman Islands. Even though we only made a one-day stop in each Cancun and Grand Cayman, I loved being outside of the United States and seeing new places.

I have also visited Key West

 Universal Studios (my first time!)

beautiful Charleston, SC

Virginia Beach, VA

and Bethlehem, PA

• I became a US citizen. My most meaningful Christmas present came a week early, when I took the pledge of allegiance in front of my girls. I had dreamed of this moment for a long time, and it felt so good to walk out of that federal building knowing that I am American citizen!
• I rediscovered my crafty side, thanks to Pinterest. I tried everything from new recipes to my glitter tumbler to my wall art 

and this awesome blanket that is still in the making

I ended the year they way I've lived it, almost running late, being reunited with my friends at exactly11:59, just in time to hug, kiss, laugh, share champagne, and take some more pictures!

Thank you, 2013, you've been pretty awesome!

As for 2013, I started it right, sleeping in, enjoying breakfast with friends, and going to the beach, which is something I like to do every January 1st, as a reminder of how lucky I am to live so close to the ocean.

I don't have any resolutions for 2013, I just hope it will be better than 2012, and I hope to accomplish a few things:

• I hope to run 1,000 miles this year. The only race I have planned for this year is the Rock'n'Roll Savannah Half Marathon in November. Unfortunately there are several factors that made me drop out of the WDW marathon this month, but I still want my 2013 marathon. As a matter of fact, my entire running experience has made me realize that half marathons are my favorite distance, so I want to eventually run one in every state. I don't have a certain number of half marathons I want to run each year, but I'll try to find a few new ones to run every few months.
• I hope I keep kicking school's butt and I hope I learn a lot of new things and that I get better at what I do.
• I hope I get to travel at least as much as last year. Since November is a slow month around here, I might try to get the girls to come to Savannah for a girls' getaway. I'm also planning a spring NYC trip, since spring is the only season I haven't seen Nueva York in. There are also a few other ideas, but they're kind of a secret for now.
• Zumba! I've had quite a few people tell me that I would be a great Zumba instructor, so I am trying to get certified this spring. I love dancing, and zumba is one of my favorite classes at the gym, so it would be really cool if I could combine the two and get paid for it!
• Since I mentioned the gym, I want to visit it more often, and give more love to my arms and core.
• Triathlon! This is my TRI year, I just know it! This means a lot of work in the swimming department, but I am so looking forward to it!
• Smile! I hope I continue to smile, be goofy, see the positive in every situation, and be excited about everything that life throws at me!

 

♥ Peace

End of year races

Needless to say I have not been updating the blog. I have been crazy busy with school, but also in a running funk and I've also experienced some knee and foot pain. I did, however, manage to run a few races during the month of December

The OCMD Winterfest of Lights Jingle Bell 5K 

This is a new race in our area and we ran it in the local park where they have the annual Christmas lights display. The race sounded like fun so I prepared accordingly.

 I made a Christmas tutu, which I wore and got so many compliments on. A lady even asked for my card, and said she wanted to buy one for an upcoming race. I ran a 9:59 pace and finished in 30:58:3. Any sub-10 minute/mile pace makes me happy!

If I have to ask a random person to take a picture of us it's guaranteed I'll end up with a blurry/out of focus one.

I really enjoyed running through all the light displays, and being surrounded by people who were there to have a good time. The volunteers were local high school kids and they were more than accommodating. At the end we got free hot chocolate and a free tram ride through all the light displays we'd just run through. All in all this was a fun experience and I'm looking forward to next year!

Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon

I wanted to run the Rehoboth half since before the Runner's World one, but waited until the very last moment to register. As in, after the registration closed I realized I hadn't registered, emailed the organizers, and was on a wait list until I got an email that made me really happy!

The Rehoboth Half fit right into my marathon training, so I treated it like any other training run. It made me think of what a difference a year makes - a year ago I had just started training for my first half, and here I was at the start of my forth one, feeling very good and comfortable about being alone. None of my friends were able to come and support me, so I had to go by myself, which I'd thought would be a drag. It turns out I love blasting Adele and driving to races early in the morning with or without my friends.

This was the first half I ran where we had the same start with the people running the full marathon, and I absolutely loved the energy at the start line. We ran in and around Rehoboth Beach and Cape Henlopen State Park, and I especially liked running through the quaint neighborhoods and by the salt marsh. I found my pace and was feeling great, so much so that I only took the above picture of the salt marsh and this one of the line of runners heading to the point where the half and the full course split:

I crossed the finish line in 2:10:53, a good 12 minutes faster than my previous best time. Sweet! I got my medal, cheered on the first marathon finishers (who covered twice the distance in the same amount of time I ran the half... hello, inspiration!) and enjoyed an awesome pancake breakfast before coming home to study for the finals. I truly enjoyed running this race, which turned out to be pretty awesome, even though I was there by myself and had no time to celebrate afterwards.

My new favorite medal!

Reindeer Run 5k

The last race of the year turned out to be the one I dislike the most (actually the only one I dislike). Not because of the time - I finished in 30:16:3, with a 9:46 pace, which makes it my best 5k time - but because of the experience I had. Two years ago my friend Nina and I ran this race and had fun, but didn't like the design of the shirts we got. Last year we decided to run it at the very last minute and as it was expected, we didn't get any shirts - only the shirts were so cool! So this year I decided to register early and get me that shirt! I registered the last day that would guarantee me a shirt, only to get to packet pick up the morning of the race and find out I had no shirt. I ran the race, which was ok - same one as the past two years - and got to the finish line where they only had water. No bagels, no fruit, nothing else except cookies you had to pay for (and I had no cash on me, given that I was running a race...). This was the first race the organizers didn't have any post-race snacks, which I found odd, but didn't really care. However, I went home and emailed the race organizer, and told her about my shirt situation. It took her almost a week to respond, and all I got was a lengthy message in which she told me she had preordered the shirts and it was my fault I hadn't registered sooner, and she also "assured" me that you have to register early for any race if you wanted a shirt. Now, I haven't been running for a long time, but I always got a shirt unless I registered the morning of the race, or if the organizers stated that only the first X entrants get a shirt. I'm not making a big deal out of this - I am not sending her another email telling her she is wrong - but the entire thing made me not want to run this race again. I guess I should have expected a disappointing race one day, I just didn't want it to be so close to home.

Note to self: you need to find a fun Christmas run next December!

Marathon Training and Some Faves from This Week

Today I finished week 9 of my marathon training. Which means I am exactly halfway through it. Which means I am running my first marathon in 9 weeks... which is incredibly scary!

It's scary because it will be hard (I know it will), and because it is unknown (and don't we all like to fear the unknown), but also because I feel like I haven't trained properly. I was so pumped for the RW half and I had so much fun running it, but after that there was... nothing... no love for running for the first time since I started. I took it easy the week following the race (two 3 mile runs the following Friday and Saturday), then I was stuck inside due to hurricane Sandy, found more excuses not to run and ended up running twice (2x 3 miles), and the following week I was on a cruise and managed to log a whooping 8 miles. At the beginning of this week I told myself I'd have to stick to my schedule, but it turned out it was easier said than done.

I ended up not doing my mid-week run - 6 miles that were supposed to happen on Wednesday but didn't. I switched my runs around and decided to have an all-out weekend - 5 miles+ cross training on Friday, 6 on Saturday, and 10 on Sunday (highly ambitious and stupid, my plan spelled "injury" and I am sort of happy I didn't follow through). I ran the 5 miles on Friday and followed with a kettlebell DVD which I love, and which kicked my butt after not working out in weeks. Yesterday I was sore and delayed my 6 mile run until it was dark, then went out and came back within 5 minutes because it was too cold and I wasn't feeling it. Since I was already dressed I worked out to another DVD out of pure guilt. This morning I was just as sore as yesterday, but decided to go out and suffer throughout my 10 miles. Which I totally did. And I blamed no one but myself for not sticking to the plan and making it harder on myself. But at the end I was so proud I did it!

Week 9 breakdown:
Days running: 3
Total miles: 18
Cross training: 2 (kettlebells+abs)

I guess this lack of motivation was bound to happen - I have been in love with running since I started about 2 years ago, and I have only missed training runs every once in a while. I blame a combination of factors for my not-so-soarin' enthusiasm: the weather (45F wouldn't be too bad if we didn't have the wind), my body (tired after a crazy summer, work, and grad school), and the post-half recovery week - hurricane week - vacation week trifecta.  And let's not forget the TV. Nothing in particular, just the TV, and me sitting on the couch enjoying the fact that I have time to watch it (while NOT actually watching TV).

But it hasn't all been bad. Here are a few things that made my week pretty awesome:

 My current Ben&Jerry's obsession. I'm pretty sure if I took a weekly picture of the content of my freezer I would be hired based on loyalty (our current stock also includes Banana&Peanut Butter Greek Frozen Yogurt and Creme Brulee).

Going grocery shopping and making a vegetable soup! Fall and winter are crock pot season, and since we didn't have one growing up in Romania (not sure they sell them there) I love trying different things (home made apple sauce is by far the best!). This soup wasn't too bad itself (meaning it was DELICIOSO). I chopped, diced, and peeled potatoes, a sweet potato, carrots, parsnip, celery root and stalks, broccoli, and onion, seasoned everything and added beef broth and cooked on low for 6 hours. I then pureed everything, froze two thirds, and enjoyed the rest at home, work and school, either hot or cold!

 This! My friend Sonia and I went to see Skyfall on Tuesday, and absolutely loved it! And while we recovered from Daniel Craig overload, we started talking about other Bond movies, and I said I'd love to have them all and to have a "Bond Week" during which to watch them. Surely enough I was at Target the next day and found this! A 50th anniversary case with every Bond movie ever made, with an empty slot for when Skyfall comes out on DVD. Pretty cool! However, I must say that although $124 is not too bad for 22 DVDs, I am not willing to spend that kind of money on DVDs in one day.

 Also at Target, this little gem! I was intrigued and convinced myself to buy it when I saw it has only 100 calories per bar. It's pretty satisfying and refreshing, but I decided I can make better, so the candy cane is in my baking cabinet, patiently waiting to be crushed while I find the perfect granola recipe.

 My veggie soup, enjoyed here with blue corn flaxseed tortilla chips on its fourth (and last)day.

 Mint pesto ricotta pizza. This is self explanatory: whole wheat tortilla, mint pesto (mint, parmezan, walnuts, olive oil, a drop of lemon juice, salt, pepper), ricotta cheese, oven (10 minutes @350F). Awesome!

 (Read this in the XX mysterious guy voice:) I didn't always run this past week, but when I did, this is what my view looked like.

 (Same voice:) And this.

 Baked apple and ricotta cheese! When we were growing up my parents and grandparents always made my sister and me baked apples. On Friday I needed something sweet but not too processed, so I turned on the oven and baked myself an apple. The combination of warm, sweet apple and ricotta is to die for!

 My little badger decided to try a new workout this week.

And here she is ending the week in style, doing a little stretching in between naps on the couch she isn't allowed.

I, on the other hand, am ending the week with the song that kept me going when I felt like I was dying during my run today. (PS: it's a high school fave!)

DIY Gltter Starbucks Tumbler

All that glitters may not be gold, but it makes this girl happy!

I didn't grow up loving glitter and the color pink, probably because you couldn't find a lot of it in communist (and then post-communist) Romania. And although I never liked pink too much, I recently realized that I have a lot of glitter around me (to the point where I may or may not have worn something glittery every day while I was on vacation).

And since fall/winter is craft season for me, and because this is the first time I have some time off in months, I decided today was a good day for my (pinterest inspired) first project:

I stopped at Michael's and Starbucks and got my supplies:

You will need:

• a double wall Starbucks tumbler (mine is 16 oz.)
• spray adhesive ($3.99)
• glitter ($1.29 for 0.42 oz. I bought 3 containers not knowing how much I'd use, but also because I wanted to mix the colors. If you can decide on one color, one container is enough.)
• a dog to photobomb your awesome picture (optional)

Here's a better look at the glitter I got:

I mixed the three colors in a small cup

Then I sprayed the inside of the outside cup with adhesive (you need to mentally picture it, since I had glue on my hands and didn't want to risk getting it all over my camera), and sprinkled the glitter all over it. I topped the tumbler with the cardboard circle that was attached to the top, and gave it a few good shakes. Here's the level of messiness and glitter on my coffee table:

And on my hands:

Not too bad at all!

I let the whole thing dry for about an hour

And screwed the cups back together. You can enjoy your new tumbler with your favorite ice tea, or with some vodka and pear juice. You decide!

Ciao!

Spaghetti Squashin' It

When I was little girl I used to spend hours looking at pictures in my grandfather's Zoological and Botanical Atlas. I don't know why, but the word Cucurbitaceae always fascinated me and it stuck with me throughout the years. Growing up I didn't really like most of the veggies that make up the Cucurbitaceae family (pumpkins and squashes, that is), but recently I've enjoyed a lot of these fall beauties. I've used them in soups, smoothies, ratatouille, and desserts. Spaghetti squash somehow eluded me until a few days ago, when I found it at my grocery store. I bought two and planned on researching some cool recipes, but I was so hungry yesterday and decided to just wing it.

There is a certain appreciation of garlic that comes with being born and raised in Transylvania. Which means that my first spaghetti squash would be very garlicky.

I started with one spaghetti squash

 Which I cut in half and then scooped out the seeds

Then baked at 375F for about an hour

Right before the squash was done I sauteed some garlic (about a handful, if not more) in butter. The aroma was so strong and delicious I completely forgot to take a picture, but you get the point. I also wanted to add some leeks, but apparently I ran out.

When the squash was done I scraped the flesh with a fork

and added it to my garlic madness. I topped it with some grated Swiss cheese and some sesame seeds, added salt and pepper, and cooked it for a few more minutes.

I was so excited to try the squash that I couldn't wait for it to cool down a bit, so I added a couple tablespoons of pasta sauce, and sprinkled a few more sesame seeds on top for extra crunchiness.

AMAZEBALLS!

The possibilities are endless!

Runner's World Half and Festival Race Recap

The inaugural Runner's World Half and Festival was a 3 day running event held in Runner World magazine’s back yard in Bethlehem, PA. I wanted to do this race since I first heard about it, so I’d been looking forward to it pretty much the entire summer. It was scheduled the first weekend I didn’t have to work in a long time, so it worked out perfectly.

Contrary to our initial plan,my friend Alex and I got to Bethlehem late on Friday night and didn’t have time for packet pick-up or to check out the expo (which knowing myself, may or may not have been a bad thing). Instead, we spent a good part of Friday night and very early Saturday morning eating Romanian style homemade pizza (that's English for pizza with ketchup) that our friend Ovi made, and tasting Romanian liquor. When my alarm went off at 5.30am on Saturday none of us was #winning.

I was pretty stressed out about finding a parking spot (although it had been prepaid, but you can’t beat pre-race jitters) and about early morning packet pick-up, which I had never done. We got to the Steel Stacks, the amazing spot which was where the start and finish line were a good hour before the first start. I got my bib numbers and was told I could get my t-shirts at the expo after the races. 

A few cold weather-and-running Romanian jokes later I was at the 5k starting line. Not knowing what to expect from a hilly course and 3 back-to-back races, I decided to take it easy. I started the 5k with the 11:00 min pace group.

 We went straight on for a couple minutes, then turned left and there it was-the first hill. My legs were hurting by the time I got to the top, and I started doubting myself. Fortunately I get pumped up pretty easily when I’m surrounded by runners, and that’s exactly what happened. We turned quite a few times before making our way back to the Steel Stacks. I finished in 32:24, which was not bad considering I thought I ran extra slow. I got my first medal

had half a bagel and half a banana and downed a bottle of water. Luckily I had an hour between the 5k and the 10k, which was plenty of time to digest everything.

I felt pretty good after the 5k, and decided to start with the 10:30 group. I like running from point to point as opposed to point and back. Not knowing what’s ahead is easier for me than obsessing over the places that have just become familiar and the distance I still have to run. That’s the reason I didn’t enjoy the first part of the 10k, which was basically the 5k course. As soon as we were done with that I was good! I had to stop and snap a few pictures along the way (Bethlehem is gorgeous!) and I was done before I knew it!

Not bad for back-to-back races!

We hung out at the post race party for a bit, then headed to the Bethlehem Brew Works where we had some wicked food

and the most flavorful beer I've ever tasted (which also has the coolest name ever - DEVIOUS IMPERIAL PUMPKIN!)

I had to take a few more pictures of my new medals 

than headed back to Ovi’s house to take a long nap before heading to a concert via a Russian store in Philadelphia.

When you live in a foreign country you start craving all the good food you grew up with, but you also crave the everyday stuff you never thought about while it was accessible to you. So when you go to a place that sells all that stuff, you feel like a little kid at Christmas. At least that’s how we acted when we saw all the Romanian goodies mixed in with other eastern European food. About $200 and a lot of smoked sausage later, we were ready for the concert!

Alanis Morissette! Alex and I have been in love with this lovely lady for a very long time, and  we couldn’t be happier to finally see her! The venue wasn’t too big, and we were close enough to the stage to fully enjoy this experience. I love the fact that Alanis played all the songs from her new album Havoc and Bright Lights, but also most of her hits. As good as you think she is, she is even better live! Here are a few more pictures, including one with her sparkly guitar!

I wish the concert were longer, but at the same time I couldn’t wait to get home and catch some zzz’s  before the big race on Sunday.

On Sunday we got to the Steel Stacks on time, but were sidetracked by the camera

and got to the starting area a mere 5 minutes before the race start, so I found myself (again) running to the race in order to run the race. I didn’t have time to use the porta-potties before the race, so I ran the first 3 miles needing to pee badly. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

I felt really good on Sunday morning, so I decided to try to match, if not beat, my previous half time. I started the race right behind the 10:30 pacer, but as the race progressed I realized I was having too much fun to obsess about my time. So instead of keeping an eye on the pacer I started checking out the area. Bethlehem is such a lovely town and I'm glad I got to explore it, despite the fact that I wasn't there for too long.

As I was getting closer to the mile 7 water stop I started seeing signs like these:

It turns out the Running Skirts were in charge of that water stop, and it was by far the most entertaining! They even gave out running skirts, but somehow I missed them :(

 I grabbed my gel instead (and let me just say peanut butter GU is proof that God wants us to run) and kept going.

Every time I read about the half course they said there would be no hills after mile 7, so imagine my surprise when right before mile 10 I found myself at the base of yet another hill.

THEY LIED!!!!

(Note to self: when the editors of a running magazine call a course "hilly", think "very difficult"!)
I was so happy to spot Ovi and Alex at the top of the hill that I completely forgot about how difficult the climb had been

They snapped a few pics of me crossing the finish line

 then we met right after I got my medal, mylar, and some much needed water and food

One more crazy-woman-wrapped-in-aluminum picture

 and I was done running!

We headed to downtown Bethlehem, where there was a Halloween doggie parade

then stopped at the oldest continually operated book store in the world

where I picked up a few favorites that I hadn't read in English yet

and we FINALLY decided to find a place to eat. We stopped at Tapas on Main, where I started with the amazing autumn mojito

and Alex sampled a few sangrias (Ovi was the DD - thank you!)

Alex got some tapas and Ovi had a burger, while I decided it was still breakfast time and ordered the Eggs Benedict.

DELICIOSO!

After that we headed back to Ovi's house, took another long nap and eventually drove back home.

I looked forward to this weekend since spring, and it was just as fun as I imagined, and then some. Running wise, the course was more difficult than I thought, mainly because of the hills. However, not knowing what to expect, I am very happy with my results. Here are my times:

5K                           32:24
10K                        1:05:52
Half marathoon        2:27:45 (My B-tag didn't work, so I just went with the gun time)

Bling wise, I couldn't be happier with the new addition to my collection:

And most importantly, friend wise, I couldn't be happier! I dragged these two out of bed at ungodly hours, only to have them wait for me for hours without complaining once. Now I just spend my days praying they don't find some extreme hobbies and make me a part of it (just kidding, guys!)

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS!!!!

♥ my life and the people in it!