PhillyBoy makes the most interesting salads. Growing up we had iceberg salads every night dressed simply with lemon juice, olive oil and salt. I followed that tradition, adding the occasional baby spinach or tomato….

…until I met PB.

He would visit and take every vegetable out of my fridge to make a curiously fabulous salad. I learned to do the same, but he is still the master. He recently made a salad with watercress, radishes and fennel that was out of this world. Here is his recipe!

Watercress, radish, & fennel salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 bunch watercress
6 radishes
1 fennel bulb
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs olive oil
kosher salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Wash the watercress and cut off the stems. Wash the fennel and thinly slice. (video tutorial here). Wash the radishes and thinly slice. Place all of the vegetable in a salad bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together the mustard, lemon juice, and olive oil. Whisk in a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the vegetables and toss together. Enjoy!

Did you see my latest Babycenter post? I shared some of my favorite snacks.

P.S. PB is currently trussing a chicken. I can’t wait for dinner!

Phantom injuries? Check.
Paranoia? Check.
Fear of not finishing and that I’m not ready? Check.
Bad dreams?!?!! Check.

Yes – I’ve completed the tapering process. With the marathon less than two days away, I’ve gone through and suffered through tapering. After reading many articles about the importance of tapering, I actually decided to listen to the experts. But it is SO hard to go from running 30-40 miles per week consistently for months to just going for a few light jogs. But rather than focus on the tribulations of tapering, with just two days left, here are the things I am most looking forward to for Sunday:

1.     Fellow first time marathoners: It’s always comforting being surrounded by other people running their first marathon and hearing them talk about how nervous they are – reminds me that I’m not alone!

2.     Traveling through Philly: The marathon course is actually a very good representation of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods. It doesn’t cover everything of course – but it does mix up the city with the scenic. The best part about marathons is that for that morning, the streets are closed off to cars and we own the streets (and I don’t have to get honked at for crossing streets when I don’t have the right of way).

3.     Cowbells: Don’t ask me why, but I really like the sound of people in the crowd banging on cowbells during a race. Reminds me of college I think.

4.     My music: I am not one to set a list of certain songs to play. I like the surprise of what song is going to come next – it distracts me mentally from the run. I’m a shuffler – so one song that I like one day may be automatically skipped the next day. So a pre-set list just isn’t for me. I like categories of music…and I love listening to music. So I like to think of this as a 4 hour music listening sessions during which my feet will be moving.

5.     Gu Gels: There’s nothing I love more than ripping open that metallic wrapper and squeezing that fake flavored slime into my throat. I am not looking forward to this (although some things are necessary).

6.     The mile markers: I have never run a full marathon, but in the half marathons and 10 milers I have done, I love running past the mile markers. Each one gives its own sense of accomplishment and the best part is when they start to go by more quickly…you are at mile 5, and before you know it, it’s mile 12.

7.     Seeing my RhodeyGirl: I know RhodeyGirl is going to be coming to see me on the course – and I can’t wait to see her. She always has a smile on her face and has been BEYOND supportive for the 4-5 months that I have been training.

8.     The finish line: I am not even going to try and pretend that I know what this feels like – but I am excited for it.

9.     Ice bath: Everyone thinks I’m crazy, but I really like ice baths. It gives you a chance to recover, reflect on the race, and STOP MOVING! The fact that it always leads to rejuvenated legs and a good post-run party….

10. Post Run Party: THIS is the best part – food, drinks, relaxing and spending time with friends. I don’t want to focus too much on this part now – because I haven’t earned it yet.

But I’m feeling rested, excited and ready to run the marathon. And hungry…I’m always hungry!

Note from RhodeyGirl: I will be at the 17 & 23 mile marker with a hot pink sign- if you see my say hello!!!!!

Other related posts:

• 11.2010 Philadelphia Marathon Pre-Race Dinner
• 11.2009 Philadelphia Half Marathon After Party
• PB: Nutrition During Marathon Training
• PB: Marathon Training

Rewind back to March 2009….
My watch says I’m on mile 3…that’s weird…why am I sweating? I’m not particularly out of breath and I just ran 7 miles the other day no problem….oh well, it’s probably in my head. Just 5 more miles to go and my 8 miler will be done.
Mile  3.8…..ok something’s wrong….I can barely keep a light jog….this is a cold sweat – different from anything I have ever experienced before. I better turn around.
Mile  4.1 – I’m going to be sick. I need to finish this 8 miler. I’m going to run .75 miles and then walk .25 miles. I’ll do that for the rest of the time and then at least I can say I’ve finished the 8 miler with a halfway decent time.
Mile 4.3 – Legs, why have you betrayed me? I can only run half a mile at a time – and even that takes all of my energy. I need some water. There’s one up there.
Mile 4.4 – Of course, TODAY the water fountain would not be working.
Mile 4.7 – I hope I get home ok.
Mile 4.77 – I wonder if that truck can hit me and put me out of my misery.
At home: Ugh. I hate you, body.

The Post Run Nap

That pretty much sums up my first and only BONK. If any of you have ever experienced a bonk, the above scenario is an all too familiar sequence of events. You haven’t fueled properly. You either haven’t hydrated properly before or during your run or you haven’t eaten enough food to give your body something to use for our run.

As we grow up playing soccer and engaging in all of the typical childhood sports, we are constantly told to drink water, drink water, drink water. But as a runner, once you start to consistently run past the 8 or 9 mile mark and beyond if training for a half or full marathon, the importance of eating and drinking properly becomes not only something that will help you train, perform and recover better, but it’s the difference between a healthy training process and any number of dangerous conditions.

Now I’m not a dietician – nor do I think this is the place to write a dissertation on the background on all of the biological reasons to fuel properly before, during or after a run. I would like to share some my own little habits that I have developed that have made my training for this marathon enjoyable and incredibly easy on my body. These are habits that I have kept for the last three months and have found relatively easy to incorporate into my personal and professional life.

I cannot stress enough how strongly I believe that everyone’s body is different and reacts differently to training.  I’m almost freakishly paranoid of discussing things because I don’t want to come off as preachy (I’m a novice runner who hasn’t even completed his first marathon yet). I do, however, enjoy talking about all of this and have learned some of my best habits (and shed some of my worst) by sharing and I think we can all learn a lot from each other!

•    Nutrition:
Pretty simple, right? You would think so – but people ignore this. Your body may not necessarily be hungry after a long run. I ran 14 miles last Saturday and I really didn’t develop an appetite until Sunday! But let’s use some simple logic here – you just ran 14 miles. This might be one of those situations where you don’t necessarily listen to your body – you do the math. Lots of calories going out mean that some need to go back in. When I run, I don’t wait until I am thirsty to drink a sip of water. Same logic for the post run recovery – I don’t wait until I am crawling on my knees to the refrigerator until I eat…you don’t want to be so hungry that the fake plastic sandwich refrigerator magnet actually looks appetizing! Be smart and be logical – slowly replenish calories periodically after a long run as your stomach permits you to. I usually start with a protein shake (thanks for the advice Gina) that I sip down during my ice bath. Maybe half an hour later, I eat a small plate of some leftovers – whatever’s in the refrigerator that happens to look good and nutritious…(of course, I am drinking water during all of this)….and then a few hours later, I eat a balanced meal – making sure to have a carb, a protein, and something fun and fatty (I’m a cheese freak – so anything that I can pick up and have cheese hanging off of it usually does the trick).

Do you leave for a long trip with 1/8 of a tank of gas? Okay – maybe I do this. I live in Philadelphia and my long trips usually involve going through NJ on my way to visit RG’s family in Rhode Island. And in NJ, gas is cheaper and the stations are only full serve. But that’s besides the point – DON’T do this on your runs. No one’s body is built to run long distances without fuel. I am not some sort of biological evolutionary phenomenon and I hate to break the news – neither are you. Start preparing and fueling two days in advance. I’ll leave it to the smart running guru’s to set forth the exact rules of carbs/protein/blah blah – but here’s my general rule. I always eat a least three good size meals a day two days before the run. Let’s say the run is on a Saturday – starting Thursday I’ll make sure to get three average to above average meals in me. Friday, I concentrate on the “carbs.” I eat whatever breakfast I happen to eat, and then I make my lunch and dinner high in carbs (pasta, spaghetti). If any of you are fans of the Office, this always makes me think of Michael Scott scarfing down fettucini alfredo 10 minutes before the 5k for Rabies Awareness. But I’m much simpler than that – and obviously not right before the race.  I usually like a pasta with little to no sauce with some sort of fun addition (my latest favorite has been RG’s pasta with tuna, capers and parmesan cheese sprinkled on top).

•   Fueling DURING a race: I recently read that your body can store enough carbohydrates for 20 miles worth of running. After that, your body burns fat as a source of energy – which is terribly inefficient (hence – BONKING). During my first 15 mile run, I only brought water with me and I thought that would be enough….it was NOT and the post run “recovery” was not pretty. I went online and read about hyponatremia (essentially, your body has been overhydrated). Google hyponatremia (if you haven’t already done so after reading the last sentence) and you’ll never go on a long run with just water again!

So I had to plan early on for how I was going to fuel myself for the marathon. Now keep in mind – the body can store enough for 20 miles MAX – as in best case scenario. So even if you are running less than 20 miles, chances are the prudent thing would be to bring along some extra fuel anyway. A statistic I have read and stuck with and roughly abided by was to replenish 30 grams of carbs every 45 mins to an hour. I do sometimes run with Gatorade mixed with my water – but 1) that’s just not enough in terms of carbs and 2) sometimes I just want to drink plain water. So I needed another plan. I like the Gu gels – and when I say “like” – let’s be clear – I’m not stocking my house with Gu gels for whenever I happen to be hungry. But, they are easy to digest, go down easily and if you find the right flavor that agrees with your taste buds – you’re all set. I know I’m weird but I would actually like it if there was a Gu gel that had no flavor (since the texture doesn’t really bother me and I just don’t have any sweet tooth). Has anyone seen anything like this?
These are just some of my thoughts and habits. I’d love to hear from all of you. My general approach is to listen to my body – but I also try to approach this like a scientist and to read about what others have experienced and how others deal with their body’s reaction to training. Going from being a casual 10 mile a week runner and building up to running 35-40 miles of running per week, no matter how gradually you do it, required me to do a bit of research and planning if I wanted it all to go well. I’ve had good luck with all of the changes I have made and I’m curious to hear about some of your tricks!

And yes – in a separate post – I will discuss CHIA SEEDS!

You can find the rest of PhillyBoy’s posts here.

PhillyBoy has food on the mind a lot these days. But running is on his mind more. He has been training for a marathon for three months now, and his appetite and diet are healthier than ever! We have received a lot of questions about his training, and he is ready to share his thoughts. Here is his first official post as an official member of RhodeyGirl Tests! Here goes nothing...

Training for a marathon has been an amazing and fun experience so far, and I hope some of the information I share here can be helpful to anyone who is considering running a marathon. If I have missed any topics – please let me know and I’ll be sure to address them!

By no means do I consider myself an expert or authority on this at all!! I am simply training for my first marathon and have been running consistently for about 10 years now. I have learned so much from reading, trying things and especially from talking to other runners – so I look forward to sharing some of my experiences!

Philadelphia Half Marathon 2009

Why am I running the marathon?

My 2010 New Year’s resolution was to run a marathon. Last year, RG and I ran two half marathons (Philly HM in November 2009 & Disney HM in January 2010)  and I have done a handful of 10 mile races. So as a person who continuously likes to challenge himself, running a full marathon was the next logical step. As RG has mentioned in other posts, I’m an attorney. So I approached the marathon a lot like I approached the bar exam. I knew that I would have a LOT to learn, that I would not be able to “cram”, that preparation was key and that doing this was my choice. No one was forcing me to do this – so I better have fun with it or just stop.

I went online and found a training schedule. We have used Hal Higdon’s training schedule for our previous half marathons – so I decided to stick with Hal and use his Novice Marathon Training Plan. Poor RG has had to listen to me recite each week what mileage I have to do. But reading the schedule and the explanations of each week has become a fun little ritual for me. I am now in Week 14 of 18 and am approaching the dreaded Week 15… known in our house as “5, 10, 5, 20 Week.”

I’m a busy guy – and I’m sure all of you have crazy schedules and commitments as well. You are probably thinking, “I don’t exactly have or want to carve out an extra hour or 2 each day to train for a marathon.” Well if you want to, I’m telling you that you CAN. I look forward to telling you a bit about how I have done it. A little preview:

1. As Forrest Gump said, you can learn a lot from a person by their shoes: How I decided which shoes to buy, my thoughts on footwear for running, and how I made sure that my shoes were broken in but not worn down before race day! And NO, I am NOT a barefoot runner (but I did read the book!)
2. Nutrition: When you get past the 10 milers, your diet becomes crucial to the overall success and enjoyment of the marathon training program. I learned that it’s not just about water. I will discuss eating before, during, and after runs…yes, I said during! I’ve had my share of bad runs due to malnutrition – during other training programs and once during this training program on my 15 miler. There are easy preventative ways to avoid this.
3. Stretching/Injury Prevention: I have had my share of small annoying injuries all over my legs – front, back, bottom, top, and even those pains that traveled all over. I’ve had foot pain on my arches, heels, and underneath. I would never dare say that I have “had it all” but I have had enough injuries to know truly that an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure.
4. How I have trained for this marathon – and still had fun: Like I said earlier, doing a marathon is a choice. Unless you are some sort of masochist, you are doing this to have fun. So far, I’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of fun during my training. I’ve been learning a lot about myself, my limitations, and more importantly – what I can do when I push myself. But the most important lesson I have learned is how to make it fun and enjoyable.
5. (Added by RhodeyGirl) PB’s Addiction to Chia Seeds: Every morning PB eats chia seed gel- straight up. It has gotten to the point where I can expect a few chia seeds on his chin before he goes out for a training run. He must share more about this new obsession.

Any questions for me? Have any of you done a marathon? Any 1st timer tips?

This just in!

Remember this guy?

It’s PhillyBoy, and he is officially joining RhodeyGirl in the kitchen!

RhodeyGirl & PhillyBoy at NYC's Eataly

This has been coming for almost a year now, but after a few recent stellar surprises in the kitchen, he has to share it with all of you! Once a month PhillyBoy will pop in to share a latest meal, story, or thoughts on the latest restaurant we try! I am so excited for this new change, as is PB.

In case you didn’t know, PhillyBoy loves good food and appreciates all the meals I cook for him. He also loves to cook! He is the official meatball maker in the house. He knows how to transform a bunch of random pantry and leftover items and turn them into a fabulous and unique meal. His salads are never just lettuce and olive oil. He can eat almost a pound of pasta in one sitting and wake up starving for breakfast. When I met him he used to eat “hoagies” for lunch every day. Now he eats a home cooked lunch five days a week. He loves feta. He gets as excited about new restaurants and foodie fun as I do. When we visit a new city, instead of coming home with a t-shirt, we both come home with a new foodie treat.

I love PhillyBoy so much, and I hope you will too.

But we need your help! What do you want to know about? His latest meals? How we share space in the kitchen? What he eats and drinks before, during, and after a long run (he is training for the Philadelphia Marathon). His stellar meatball recipe? Share in the comments!

If you have any other questions for us, feel free to ask here as well.

What’s your addiction?

I have never been much of a coffee drinker myself, aside from the fun iced coffees I drink in the summer. I love hot tea, but I would switch it with its lighter cousin, hot water, any day. PhillyBoy and my cousin Raz, however, have serious addictions to coffee. When my cousin and I lived together, she stocked the house with fresh coffee beans. She did not leave the house any day without a coffee in hand, and often left our office to pick up one or two more throughout the day. And PB? Ever since I met him he has loved coffee. He has a big mugful in the morning and would often have 2,3,4 cups later in the day. When we would be out doing errands, he would often ask to stop for “just a bit of coffee.” Recently, that ended for both PB and Raz. They coincidentally both gave up coffee on the same day for different reasons. Here are their thoughts on their coffee addictions and how they feel being coffee-free.
(source)

PhillyBoy:
I have had a long complicated love/hate relationship with coffee. I don’t remember coffee being much of a factor in my life during college – a cup here or there. But in law school, for some reason, the relationship intensified. I don’t recall if I actually dove right into drinking coffee or if it was something that gradually caught on. But I do know that the “need” evolved from a lack of sleep due to (let’s be honest) procrastination on work. Plus I had a full time job during my entire time in law school – so that didn’t help. Sure once in a while I would try and substitute Mountain Dew for coffee – but the caffeine jolt just was never quite the same (ugh, just thinking back to the crap I would shovel down between work and classes makes me angry at myself!)…ok so back to coffee….

(source)

It was bad during law school. I had a job where coffee was readily available for free from a machine in the office. So instead of moderation, I would just give in to the urge every time I wanted a jolt. Some days, I wouldn’t be surprised if I had as much as 10 cups in one day (including the nighttime). Of course, I needed some energy for my nighttime run…this was my mentality – and if I could rewind time I would do things so differently. In about 2005 I started working full time at the firm and I probably cut down to about 4-5 cups/day. Yes, cut down to 4-5 cups/day.

To make a long story short and to avoid going on and on, during the last few years, I have evened out at anywhere from 2-3 cups/day. Most dinners out, I have finished with a cup of coffee. I often prefaced nights out with a cup of coffee and of course, began each morning with a hot cup of coffee. I saw myself generally tense overall and no matter how many hours of sleep I got, I woke up feeling unrefreshed and craving coffee. I became overly stressed over minor things and I didn’t feel right. As healthy as my diet had become and as much exercise as I had fit into a week, still things often felt a little off in terms of energy…

So last week, something snapped. I have always encouraged family/friends who smoke to quit and have generally been against the idea of being overly dependent on anything. I tend to think of these things as a choice so ignoring the horror stories of coffee withdrawal, headaches, moodiness – I quit. I decided enough was enough, and it was time to allow my body to just naturally have energy…so rather than getting energy from caffeine, I would go back to basics after all of these years – energy from adequate rest, a healthy diet, and exercise. The first few days were a little tough but surprisingly I didn’t have too many headaches. If anything, a few days I crashed very early and sleep for 10-12 hours with no problem. The first few days, I used tea to ease the transition. Today I drank water all day and forgot that I had not had any tea or coffee…

It’s now been 10 days and I feel GREAT. I immediately lost a few pounds of water weight for some reason. I feel energized naturally and clear headed. I can focus much more easily on tasks at work and overall my mental state is much calmer and more consistent. I’m sleeping well and am waking up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day.

I know this was a little long winded and slightly dramatic. But everyone has their vice….for some it’s food, alcohol or cigarettes. For me, I’ve been drinking entirely too much coffee for way too long. It’s nice to have stopped and not feel any desire to go back. I’m not saying everyone needs to stop drinking coffee – but I know I had gotten to a point where I was depending on coffee for my energy and that was not a good place to be. I’m feeling great now and hopefully the improvements will only continue.

Raz:

Caffeine has been a part of my life since college.  I remember pulling a number of all nighters studying and coffee was always there keeping me company.  In fact, I hated the way I felt without my morning cup.  I have realized over the years that coffee may be contributing to headaches and sleeplessness but it had become a welcomed habit that I did not want to quit.  To give you window into my addiction, for the last few years I have been buying coffee beans whole, grinding them myself, and using a French press.

Recently, I caught a cold; one that kept me in bed for a few days resting to recuperate.   It wasn’t a conscious decision but I had realized that I had been without coffee for 5 days! That is the longest I have been without coffee that I could remember.  I then realized that I made it through the worst of the withdrawal period if I were to quit. So figured I would give it a shot to test if the headaches and sleeplessness I have been experiencing will be affected.   

I can tell you I have been foggy and felt a bit unfocused the first few days back to work and yes still having headaches.  But the overall benefits have been amazing.  I have been sleeping better and dreaming a lot more.  I also noticed my skin has been looking better and I have more energy.

One thing that concerned me was that I have been craving something sweet in the afternoons.  This was around the time that I would usually have my second cup.  To avoid substituting one bad habit for another, I have been keeping water, gum and healthy snacks available in case of such cravings.

I have been doing great up to today, day 10. Today I did have a cup of coffee with a friend.  Sure enough I felt sluggish in the afternoon followed by a headache.  I can’t deny the effects caffeine has on me.  So I am going to continue on caffeine free.

*************

If PB and Raz could do it, you can too! If you have a vice and have quit, share how you did it in the comments. If you have a vice and want to share just how bad it is, do that in the comments too! I will be posting all of your success stories and vices in a post later today.

P.S. My husband lost his pet as a kid and was devastated. He wrote about it in his diary in the cutest but also saddest entry ever. I bet many of you can relate to this entry- you can see it here.

Another post by PhillyBoy! Tonight we both were cooks! I made some food for the week since it is going to be a busy one but needs to be a HEALTHY one, and PB made himself a nice dinner for himself (with leftovers for tomorrow!) It is going to be so fun when we finally live in the same town and don’t just have to look at pictures of each other’s meals ha!

Here’s his dinner….

PB tells us about it:

Chicken: The chicken was cut into nice thin slices, and then covered in flour. I added some salt, pepper, and a LOT of basil. I then covered the chicken in yogurt (good combo with the basil). I then added some more basil, and rolled the chicken in bread crumbs. I let it sit for about an hour. I fried it in vegetable oil – I know I know – not healthy. But it turned out very light (not very greasy or heavy) and very crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. Yogurt is just SO much better than egg.

French fries: I covered the potatoes in salt, pepper, garlic powder and deep fried them. They were VERY blah. I didn’t really enjoy them and I need a good french fry recipe!

Cole slaw: Ordinarily, I am not a huge fan of cole slaw. But the cabbage at the market looked great when we went shopping so I had to give it a try. Well I have come to the conclusion that home made coleslaw is the way to go!! It was so refreshing and I just didn’t add too much of the “dressing” so it wasn’t soggy in the least! It had a good taste, a little sweet, light, and extremely crunchy. So here’s the recipe: (I’m taking out some amounts because I didn’t really pay attention to them and went with my own taste preferences). Put the cabbage and carrots in a bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients in a bowl until it has a liquid consistency and pour over the cabbage/carrots. Very light if you take it easy on the mayo.

• Shredded cabbage
• Carrot, shredded
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
• Lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

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RhodeyGirl back… I feel like I should mention that PB has a great cooking method. He preps all his foods up until the point of cooking (or dressing, in salad’s case). Then he goes and exercises, comes back and all he has to do is cook his dinner! I never do that, but think I should! anyway….. Can anyone help out my potato-helpless fiance with a french fry recipe? Preferably a BAKED one???!?!?!