Graduation Season

Congratulations to my brother Frank for graduating from high school and my sister Marissa for graduating from college! Wahoo!

Two of my siblings graduated last weekend...yes, on the same day. Frank's graduation was in Sacramento and Marissa's was in Moraga, and both of the ceremonies were in the morning. Unfortunately, because it's a one and a half hour drive between the two locations, I wasn't able to attend both. I ended up going to Marissa's graduation with my mom, Lauren, several aunts and uncles, and cousins.

The graduation ceremony was okay. I mean, it's a three hour presentation...how good can it be? I didn't even like my graduation ceremony. I will admit, the weather was really nice, so I can't complain that much.

Following the ceremony, we all went out to lunch at Lark Creek in Walnut Creek. Lauren and I looked at the menu beforehand, and reading that they would be "happy to accommodate your specific dietary requests", believed that we would have several entrees to choose from, or at least alter to make vegan. However, our waiter wasn't very happy to accommodate us when we mentioned we were vegan. They had a vegetarian burger on the menu that sounded really good, but the veggie patty contained cream. I was going to order some pasta and marinara with sauteed veggies, but the pasta is made with eggs. We were informed that most of the salads can be made vegan, but I had high hopes for this restaurant and I didn't want to settle for a salad. Our waiter admitted that the only other vegan option was the vegetable platter. How descriptive, I know. So Lauren and I both ordered that, but we didn't hesitate to add that we didn't like mushrooms or eggplant. I was pleasantly surprised to see my entree when it arrived. They whipped us up roasted potatoes with sauteed asparagus, green beans, and peas covered in a garlic-y olive oil sauce. Despite the initial frustration, it was seriously delicious.

After lunch, we all went to The Olde San Francisco Creamery next door. They had several sorbet flavors, but I settled on the orange-passion fruit. I got half way through my dessert when I realized that the waiter brought me mango-peach instead, but I was okay with that mistake. My mom ordered orange-passion fruit sorbet as well. I tasted hers and it was so tart. I was so happy that the waiter got my order wrong.

Lauren came up with an amazing idea for Marissa's graduation gift. We bought Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the Place You'll Go", and had all my family members and some friends write a message on random pages throughout the book. She also received a Punky Jane necklace to go along with the theme. Marissa said this was the best present she's ever got. Mission accomplished :)

What Did I Get Myself Into?

Last night I signed up for the Sacfit training program. *Insert applause and nervous laughter*

Ultimately, by December, I should be able to run the California International Marathon (CIM). Although I do plan on completing all of the training, I'm still unsure if I will participate in the actual marathon. I figure, if anything, I'll get more exercise in, and I'll be able to crush my half marathon time by October. Hopefully.

The past few weeks I've been running a lot more than I have in the past, thanks to Lauren and Leti, and the Nike+ app. Lauren and I ran together almost every evening or morning. Leti would join us on Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings. Running with other people really helps me stay on track and holds me accountable, which is one of the reasons I decided to sign up for Sacfit. I refuse to run without my phone attached to me. One of my favorite parts about running is analyzing and reviewing my completed runs with the Nike+ app. No joke. After every run I spend a good solid ten minutes just gazing at the route I ran; I become fixated on my split times. Then when I hit the "done" button, I like to watch my total miles increase. If I don't have access to this app, I seriously won't run. I don't want to run any distance and not have it be counted towards my total miles. Yes, I am that person.

Anyways...the Sacfit program starts on June 15th, and is held every Tuesday and Saturday until the CIM on December 8th. The best part about the group is that on the first day you determine which pace group you should be in, based on a one to three mile run. Eventually the majority of your training runs will be conducted with your pace group. I think this component is really going to help me reach my half marathon time goal. If I can keep up with my pace group, I think I'll pursue the CIM challenge. Maybe.

Lauren, Leti, and I have been talking about signing up for Sacfit for awhile, but now that I've actually signed up and paid, it's real. And now that I've blogged about it, it's even more real, if that's possible.

American River Parkway Half Marathon

This past Saturday, Lauren and I completed the American River Parkway Half Marathon. I still haven't gotten good about training, but I did run a few times during the week prior to the race. Baby steps.

The entire race was on the bike trail, which I really liked. I grew up near the bike trail and now I can recognize many of the landmarks, which really helped the 13 miles go by quicker. I was running at record pace (for me) up until mile 10, then the heat really got to me. I guess the heat was getting to everyone else too. I saw several ambulances and firetrucks taking runners away before they were able to finish the race. I didn't want to have another incident, so I thought it best to walk a little bit. I think I walked about .25 miles, which set me back a few minutes. But I'm okay with that. I rather finish the race a little slower than not finish at all.

I carried a PowerBar Gel and a Gu Energy Gel with me this time; both were mandarin/tangerine flavors. Before the race I had decided that I was going to consume both of them while I was running, even if I didn't feel like I needed them. I figured even if I didn't need them, they would only help me more. So, I planned on eating? drinking? one of them around mile 6, and the last one around mile 10. After reading the packages I discovered you're supposed to drink water with them, hence I had to wait for water stations. I ended up drinking the PowerBar Gel around mile 6.5 and the Gu Energy Gel around mile 10.5. Both times I split the gu's with Lauren. I preferred the PowerBar Gel because it wasn't as thick as the Gu Energy Gel. But Lauren liked the Gu Energy Gel better because it's thicker. It's a toss up.

We did end up beating our personal records, even though we did walk a bit. My final time was 2:44:29.21, which is ten minutes faster than my previous best. So I'm happy with that.

We're considering running the Davis Moo-nlight Half Marathon in July. We ran this race last summer, but I didn't care for the course too much. The race starts in the evening, so the majority of the race is run in the dark...on the trails. Personally, I didn't think the course was that safe. But now that our times have decreased by about 40 minutes, perhaps we wouldn't be running in the dark for so long. We did get a cool glow-in-the-dark medal though...so I'll consider it :) 

Happy Springtime

Capital City Classic

This past weekend, I ran the Capital City Classic 10 mile race with Lauren, my sister Marissa, and her friend Heather. Let me just say- 10 miles is SO much easier than 13. Fainting at the end of my last half marathon made me afraid to run this race. I was scared to feel the fatigue and lack of energy I experienced before, but I kept reminding myself that this race was over 3 miles shorter. And boy did those 3 miles make a difference.

I kept telling myself that I was going to start running and training again once my knee felt better after my fall. The pain did completely subside about two weeks later; I just never started running again. Oops. A week before this race though, I knew I needed to run a little bit so my knees wouldn’t be so achy after 10 miles. So the Monday before the race I ran a 5k, and I ran another one the following day. That Thursday I ran 4 miles, and stopped my training there. I should have started running again weeks ago, I know. My bad. 

At the Shamrock’n half, I noticed a lot of people going through energy gels throughout the race. I figured it couldn’t hurt to give them a try. So this time I bought two different brands: PowerBar Gel and Gu Energy Gel, and carried one of them in my iPhone armband throughout the entire race, just in case I needed a pick-me-up. I thought I would end up using one of the energy sources around mile 8 (where I started to feel like I wanted to quit last time). Race volunteers were also handing out Gels right before miles 5 and 7. I was tempted to grab another, just in case I felt like dying towards the end of the race. But as it goes, because I carried one in my armband (which caused chaffing), I didn’t end up needing it. I felt tired, but not nearly as horrible as I did during the Shamrock’n half. So I still have no idea what the Gels or Gu’s taste like.  

The four of us have completed several runs together before. Marissa and Heather always stick together, and I always run with Lauren. Lauren and I originally set a goal of under two hours for this race, and then later decided that 2 hours and 10 minutes is more realistic for us. Fortunately, we beat our final goal with a time of 2:09:43.72, and we ran the entire race (another goal accomplished!). Next up in the running world for me: the American River Parkway Half Marathon on May 4^th. I hope to be better about training for this race by following the last two weeks of the training program I had started for the Shamrock’n half. So far, so good!  

Chipotle: Vegan Style

Chipotle is one of my favorite places to eat at, especially when I'm dining with my carnivorous family. Seriously, my brothers love meat and a meal isn't complete without it. So if I'm planning on going out to eat with my family, Chipotle always ends up on my list of suggestions. There's plenty of meat for the others, and I have plenty of vegan options to work with.

I have a "usual" that I always order: a vegetarian burrito bowl with brown rice, extra black beans, grilled fajita veggies, mild salsa, corn salsa, and lettuce. But times have changed. A new era has begun.

Chipotle now offers sofritas at all of their Northern California locations. I've found that the shredded tofu braised with chipotle chiles, roasted poblanos, and other spieces is an excellent addition to my "usual". A few years ago Chipotle was testing out vegan/vegetarian chicken. I thought the chicken was alright and I would probably order it again every once in a while, but apparently other people didn't care for it since the item didn't stay on the menu. Luckily though, the sofritas are now a permanent addition and I'll most likely order it all the time. I've already been to Chipotle twice in the past week just for this item. The sofritas remind me a lot of ground beef; they're a little spicy, but still super tasty.

Easter 2013

Since I haven't written that many blog entries yet, it was really easy to locate last year's Easter post. I realized that my family and I like to stick to tradition. We had brunch at Arden Hills again, and took our obligatory picture with the Easter bunny. Being vegan, it's not always easy to find hearty food from an omnivore's menu. Luckily though, this buffet had more vegan-friendly selections than most places. I loaded up on pineapple, roasted potatoes, and salad with a balsamic vinaigrette. I also asked for sauteed spinach, onion, and bell peppers from the omelet station. I grabbed some plain pretzels and graham crackers from the chocolate fountain setup for dessert.

 Abby, you'll thank me for this one day. Maybe.

Because we are already dressed up for this occasion, my siblings and I always persuade our parents to take a family picture that will hopefully be our Christmas card picture at the end of the year. There should be at least one good picture to choose from, right?

After brunch, Lauren and I went to her mom's house for Easter dinner. We spent the afternoon watching DIY network and "helping" prepare dinner. I always love going over to Leti and Dan's house...they always make an effort to have delicious vegan food. For us vegans, we had Gardein stuffed turkey with gravy, scalloped potatoes, sauteed green beans with slivered almonds, steamed broccoli, and garlic bread. YUM! The potatoes were my favorite...of course!

Next it was time for our annual Easter egg hunt, wahoo! Each year Lauren and I fill eggs for each other, and we take turns hiding the eggs. This is probably my favorite part about Easter. Yes, I know I'm 22. Still. It's so fun to camouflage the eggs. (Put the green colored eggs in plants, put the white eggs behind the blinds, etc.) I'm pretty sure I found all of my eggs before Lauren...what are best friends for anyway? :)