Mac and Shews

As you might know, I've had an obsession with vegan mac 'n cheese.

I didn't document too many steps of making THIS "Mac 'N Shews" recipe, but here is some of the dish aftermath:

Food processor, strainer, straining cloth, big pots, small pots, and knives made this is a longer process than I had hoped.

But the result was pretty darn good.

I followed her recipe exactly, except that I replaced half of the pasta with a broccoli crown that I had.

This was my first time making cashew "cheeze," and although it still isn't quite the cheese that I know and love (not my stomach, though!), it does give food a creaminess that other vegan faux-cheese foods seem to lack.

This casserole-type dish made plenty of leftovers, and for some reason, a lot of leftover cashew cheese.  Stay tuned for how I ended up using this.

Rock n Roll Half-Marathon, Pasadena 2012

EVENT: Rock n Roll Pasadena Half-Marathon
DATE: Sunday, February 19, 2012
LOCATION: Pasadena, CA
RACE BEGAN: 07:30 am
FINISH TIME: 01:57:13


This race was a little bit of a last-minute decision, as my company was forming a fundraising team for the Cure Mito charity, which benefits research toward mitochondrial disease.   I have a small history of races in Pasadena, including my PR marathon.


After a week that I spent worrying because I had two presentations at work for a worldwide team, I was relieved for the weekend but felt dread because of my many races as of late.  While the presentations went well (whew!), I was still nervous for this last race in this cluster that I had scheduled.


On Saturday, "The Ukrainian" and I headed to the expo early.  We decided to take alternate transportation there to avoid parking, traffic, and hassle.

This expo was strangely quiet for a Rock n Roll event (see other RnR recaps), but perhaps we just went early.  Since I hadn't done an RnR event in a while, I guess I got sucked into registering for another.

Sorry about the weird picture rotation issue....

Since I was running with a team, I ended up having to bike back with a lot of swag on my back.  I am going to add here that my CEO did his first road race here and finished -- I'm a proud employee for sure!

Props to the staff for the cute official race shirt, which was NOT unisex!! <-- LA Marathon, take note

The night before, I literally bummed around at home and ate fish sticks for dinner.  Not a good strategy, in retrospect, but I enjoyed that this race was low-key enough for me to do that.  The next morning, I got to avoid all the traffic because of my charity team arrangement.  Sadly, my competitive self just wanted to lead the female times on our team, which roughly translated in my mind as sub-2.  Other than that, I didn't have it in me to pursue a PR today, slightly difficult course aside.

Time for the obligatory splits!

Mile 1 - 8:25 - Due to clouds, my Garmin was telling me I was running slowly, but I guess not.
Mile 2 - 8:33 - Hill
Mile 3 - 9:02 - Hillllllll... brushed with vomit-ville and had that "uterus falling out" feeling again.  Need to get it checked out???

Mile 4 - 8:37
Mile 5 - 8:38
Mile 6 - 8:40

Long, slow climbs made up the middle parts of this race.

Mile 7 - 8:53
Mile 8 - 8:54
Mile 9 - 9:27 - Short hill right after a water station, so I just walked and drank.  This was the beginning of my "phoning it in" cycle.

Mile 10 - 8:33

The course flattened out here, but we were running around the Rose Bowl, a place I have run so many times that I just was not motivated to keep going, so I walked during these next couple of miles, on and off.  While I felt guilty, my mind was just not in it, and I was already on track for my goal, anyway.  I even told myself, "Oh well, I'm phoning it in" even though another part of me was trying to bribe myself with the promise of no running for a while...

Mile 11 - 9:13
Mile 12 - 10:00
Mile 13 - 8:34
.23 mi - 7:28 (pace)

I did speed up toward the end, but that's because I knew the elevation would ease up.  It really wasn't an issue of physical energy or mechanical kinks rather than just my lack of mental focus.  And I was OK with this.

I walked through the finish chute quickly and got myself out of there ASAP.

This was an inaugural event, and I thought it went pretty well, although the course was more hilly than other Rock n Roll events tend to be.  I thought that everything went pretty smoothly, though I don't know how much it varies from other races in Pasadena.

Still, for the effort I put in, I'm pretty satisfied with my time and am looking forward to actually resting on the weekends instead of racing, at least for the next month or so.  I know I've tackled this string of races without the proper training, and even then, I have ended up with the usual minor knee issue now that I did not get from racing.

So is it better to be under-trained than injured for my marathon next month?  I think my work schedule (requiring some minor travel) has answered this question for me.  We'll see.

On a final note, love how RnR's medals are always so substantial!!!!!!!!!!!

(race pictures to be added soon!)

Honey Stinger

A while back (I'm way behind), a rep for Honey Stinger sent me an assortment of products to try.

I have seen this brand at the running store and wondered what it was all about.  Basically, the quick energy from honey is supposed to keep you going strong.

I tried the Ginsting gel first (pictured in the center), on one of my long runs.  The consistency is a quite thin compared to other gels and, as the name implies, tastes much like eating honey straight up.  This might be a treat for some, but since I don't ever take honey with my biscuits, I had to remind myself of the benefits of the gel (B vitamins, electrolytes, etc.) as I ingested it.

The second item I tried was the waffle.  It was kind of like a thin, bendy waffle and was a bit crumbly.  It was not as sweet as the gel and is probably better suited toward cyclists than runners.  I tried eating this during a long run and found it hard to eat because of the dryness.  However, this probably means it's good pre-run fuel.  I had a small bite before running once, and it did not bother me during the run.

Finally, the chews.  I've mostly been eating Clif Shot Bloks up until this point, so the softer texture was a little bothersome at first.  However, after starting a few races with these in my stomach, I can definitely!!! endorse these, as I felt they gave me some steady energy (for maybe the first 40 minutes or so).  My flavor preference is this Pink Lemonade over the lime one.  I think I'll be using these from now on.

If you're looking for some more natural forms of race/long run fuel, these are a good solution.  They are a bit higher in calories than others, but I don't think that's too much of a concern if you legitimately need to use these for an endurance feat. ;)  Also, even though I don't like to eat honey by itself, the only one that had a really strong honey flavor was the gel.

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FTC Disclaimer: I was sent samples of this product to review but was not compensated to provide any particular type of opinion.