New Shoes!!

I have been having some serious issues this year with shin splints. I used to get a little sore, but this year it’s been a sharp pain. I have researched them online and spoke to several people about them. I am not getting a consistent answer. The main issue that keeps coming up is that I probably need new shoes.

This past weekend we went to a shoe store geared towards runners that was referred to me by a friend. The name of the store is Road Runner Sports. It’s located north of I-270 near Worthington, Ohio. Inside this store you will find everything related to running from underwear and socks to shorts to sunglasses to heart rate monitors. The reason we wanted to give this one a try over going to a store like Footlocker, is because they do an analysis of your feet and your running gait.

The associate that helped us was Laura. She was very knowledgeable and helpful. We started off by standing on a mat that was hooked up to a computer. This showed where most of our pressure is being placed on our feet and where our center of gravity is. We then got on the treadmill and ran for 45 seconds while being recorded by a video recorder. I didn’t really want to see what I looked like while I run because I’m sure I look like an idiot, but it was from the back of the knee down. Laura ran our runs back to us in slow motion and paused it on each foot to show how our feet landed and how our ankles up to our calf were reacting during our run. Based on that analysis along with asking us some other questions (eg. How long do you run? What kind of surface are you running? etc), she narrowed down the type of shoe that we should be wearing. They also molded custom insoles to put in our shoes to use.

 

Both Julie and I tried on what seemed like 100 pair of running shoes in the ‘category’ that we were recommended and were allowed to run around the store. A lot of the shoes I could not tell a huge difference in, but going from a medium cushion shoe to a high cushion shoe seemed like a big difference to me.

We both purchased new running shoes and the custom insoles to go with them. I cannot tell you if my shin splints are better yet or not because we haven’t had a chance to run in them yet, but I do want to recommend that if you are interested in getting some good running shoes, to check out Road Runner Sports.  If you don't have the time to get to a store, there is also a neat online version of the "prefect fit shoe finder" to try!

 

Spinach and Feta Pasta

Ingredients


1 (8 ounce) package penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups spinach leaves, packed
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch red pepper flakes
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente; drain.

2.Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic, and cook until golden brown. Mix in tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook 2 minutes more, until tomatoes are heated through and spinach is wilted. Reduce heat to medium, stir in pasta and feta cheese, and cook until heated through.

Julie: This turned out AWESOME!  We added some extra shrimp for protein/extra yummy-ness.  I am already looking forward to making this again!
 
Chad:  I was skeptical about this recipe because of the feta cheese and the apparent lack of sauce.  However, I must say that this recipe really impressed me.  Not only did it taste great, but it was super easy to make.  The only change that I might recommend and try when we make it again, is to add chicken.

Getting Back on Track

Since we have so many loyal followers, I'm sure you're all about to start a riot since we haven't posted lately. You're probably asking yourself "Where have they gone? I need my daily dose of Chad and Julie's amazing insight."

Well, I'll tell you where we've gone - we fell off the wagon. In the last week, we've eaten a ton of junk food. We haven't gone running once. Heck, I think the most exercise we got in the past week was taking Teddy for a walk around the block.
Now we could sit here and list a bunch or reasons for why we haven't put forth much (if any) effort in the past week, but we'll spare you all that. Instead, we'll let you know that what happens is life. All you can do is brush it off and pick up where you left off.

Our plan is to get new running shoes to help curb some shin splints (hopefully), cut down on eating out and high-calorie beverages and get our butts in gear and keep running. In the next week or two, I hope to get registered for our race so that we have a goal, motivation, and something to work towards.
So, bear with us while we work on getting back on track. Just know that we have many new recipes to share, and a couple of product reviews/giveaways in the works.

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

Ingredients
2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips
garlic powder to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cube beef bouillon
1/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips (you could also get the precooked steak strips at the grocery store to skip this step). Transfer to a slow cooker.

Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.

Cover, and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Julie: We omitted the tomatoes - not by choice but because someone (me) forgot to pick them up at the store.  We served the meal over white rice.

Chad:  We would recommend leaving the peppers out until an hour or so before you are ready to eat if you like a little crunch to them.  We left the peppers in all day, as the recipe told us, and they were very mushy.  We also added ground ginger, red pepper flakes, and garlic(to taste).  We also thickened the sauce by adding some extra cornstarch about 30 minutes before eating.  Next time I think we might add some snow pees or broccoli or some other vegetable.

All in all, it was a very easy meal to prepare and pretty tasty.  I always judge our meals on whether or not I would make it again and I would probably make this one again.  It's not in my top 10, but it does the job, especially if you have a little extra beef in the freezer that you don't know what to do with.

Bondi Band Winner Announced

 We used random.org to choose one of our enterants to be the winner.  Congratulations to Jeremy.  He is the winner of the free Bondi Band (our first giveaway)!

Stay tuned for more reviews and giveaways.

How Far Was That?

When we first started running I though it would be very simple - get out the old Nikes and go for a run.  But of course, the further you get into running, the more you realize it's just not that simple.  Technology, gadgets, specialty clothing, specific shoes, etc all help to make running easier and more enjoyable (although some are not necessary).

One website that we have found very helpful is http://www.mapmyrun.com/.

Another plus to using this website is that you can also figure distance on more than just roads (like bike trials, for example).

You can choose to measure distance in miles or kilometers.  You can choose a "map" view or a satellite view.  We prefer the satellite view  so that you can identify makers for a "turnaround" point if you're running an "out and back" route.

Stop guessing how long you run or driving your car around to messure the route you run/walk/bike, and give this website a try.

From Couch to 5K

I always hated running. My old adage used to be "I don't run unless someone is chasing me... or there's free food". But last year, we decided to pick up running, anyway.


How did this happen? I can't even recall. But what I do know is that we just decided to go out for a run one day. After about 2 minutes I thought my lungs would catch on fire and my heart would explode. It was terrible. Why did people do this to themselves? And for fun, no less? So, I did what I also do when I have a question - I google it. By doing so, I came across a program called Couch to 5K. It's a 10 week program that uses interval training three days per week to take you from coach potato to running hero in 10 weeks. (Okay, maybe not a running hero, but at least someone that can run an entire 5K.)

Armed with this new training program loaded on my iPod, we signed up for our first 5K that was 11 weeks off. The first week is intervals of 60 seconds jogging, 90 seconds walking for 30 minutes total. I recall thinking "this is my kind of running" (aka - the kind that has more walking than running).

Over the course of those 10 weeks we slowly got in better shape and able to run not only farther, but faster, as well. When our first 5K race came around in June, I was very anxious. I'd always been so confused by those people that paid money to run. Didn't they know they could run for free anywhere? I didn't feel so bad about paying the entry fee, as the money was going to support our local "rails-to-trails" program (the same trail we run on many times each week!). I didn't anticipate the adrenaline from a race that I had no possibility of winning (or even placing in). But something about the early morning crowd, the people, the energy - it just gets the adrenaline pumping. Well, long story short, we ended up meeting our goal of running the entire 5K without walking. Did we break land speed records? Of course not; but we were both proud of ourselves for having stuck with the program and completed our goal.

Races have since become a guilty (or not so guilty) pleasure and give us something to "train" for to keep us hitting the pavement as often as we can. Our goal is always to improve over our last race time and I look forward to our first race of 2011 to see if we can accomplish that goal.