Foodie Friday

It's Friday.  There's a holiday coming up, so I decided to just have a little fun today.  This is marginally running related as I am highlighting my favorite post-race foods.

First up:  Pizza.  Chicago style or New York?  Chicago for me.

Absolutely perfect to induce a nice post-race coma on the couch :-)

Next up:  Wings.  How do you like yours?  Hot, mild, bbq?  Mild for me with a side of bleu cheese dressing.

Not exactly coma inducing, but definitely hits the spot after a hard race.

Last, but not least:  Pancakes.  What's your favorite toppings?  Mine are bananas, pecans, walnuts, peanut butter, strawberry jam, blueberries, chocolate chips and/or real maple syrup.  Not all at once, but some combination of the above.

What's your favorite post-race refueling choice?  Feel free to share in the comments.

Virtual Fall Trail Tour - Final Stop

This week marks the final stop on the 2011 Virtual Fall Trail Tour.

For the final installment I ran on the White Pine Trail.  It's a rail trail that has been mostly paved.  In the summer people ride bikes, walk and run on the trail.  In the winter there are snowmobiles and cross country skiers.  The trail is 92 miles long and extends from Grand Rapids, MI at the south end to Cadillac, MI on the north end.

The trail itself is pretty flat and straight.  The railroad built it that way on purpose to make it easier for the locomotives.  I use it on days I want to log some miles, but keep the intensity down.  It's just a nice, relaxing run in the country.  Often I will see deer.  In the summer I see chipmunks, snakes, hawks, bats and owls.  Sometimes in the evening I can hear coyotes off in the distance.  That's pretty creepy and can turn an easy run into a tempo run in a hurry!

On Sunday I ran 12.5 miles.  The sky was mostly cloudy and the temp was about 32.  There was not much wind to speak of.  We'd received a light dusting of snow the night before.  By the time I went out Sunday afternoon it was getting a bit melty and slushy.

Lake Cadillac froze over Saturday night.  That ice is still mighty thin.

The trail goes ever on... (apologies to Mr. Tolkien)

Only 90 miles to go!

At the turnaround, headed back.  The other foot prints have disappeared this far away from town.  Just the one bicycle track I've been following all day.

I hope you enjoyed exploring some of the trails with me.  I certainly enjoyed doing the fieldwork.  Depending on the weather, this feature may reappear irregularly during the winter as the Winter Trail Tour.  Either way, this feature will be back next spring with some new destinations.  I'm already getting pretty excited about the 2012 Spring Trail Tour and where we'll go together.

Got Your Shopping Done?

Do you have your holiday shopping done yet?

I'm pretty close to done.  Just a couple of odds and ends to pick up.

What's on tap for everyone this weekend?

For me, 7-ish trail miles today and about 12 miles tomorrow.  No snow on the trails yet so it makes for some really nice running.  I want to take advantage of it while it lasts.  Soon enough we'll have several feet of snow on the ground and I'll be on snowshoes or the road.

Week of 11/28 - 12/4

This was a fairly busy week from an overall fitness perspective.  The week before I had a nice cutback week and this week I started building miles again.  The plan is to work my base up to 40 miles per week.  This week I also started working on dropping another 10 pounds or so.

Ended up at 35 miles for the week.  Overall it was a good running week.  Hammies have been a little tender, so I've been keeping the effort easy and sticking to flat routes as much as possible.  This coming week the planned miles should be 35-37.  I'll work on doing more stretching and rolling to loosen up the quads and hammies.

On the weight control front I started using My Fitness Pal to log my food.  I like the simple interface and their database is huge.  I guessed my starting weight last Monday was about 165.  Tuesday when I weighed myself I was 163.5, so I was close on my guess.  Friday I was 160.9.  Not bad.  I want to get to 150-ish and then really learn how to maintain in 2012.

What's up with all of you?  How are the holiday preparations coming along?  Are you busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest?