The Santa Monica Grand Tasting featuring Chef Susan Feniger is June 13-14th!
Evian, BADOIT, and The St. Regis Monarch Beach present The Santa Monica Grand Tasting! 
Chef Susan Feniger of Border Grill heads the festivities as a featured chef, along with 100 of LA’s top chefs participating in the kitchen presented by the Santa Monica Whole Foods Market. Participating Chefs include: Raj Dixit of Michael Mina’s Stonehill Tavern, Tacoteca (Adam Fleischman), Bouchon (David Hands), 9021pho (Kimmy Tang), Fattoria del Vicario (Matt Dhillon), Scratch Bar (Phillip Frankland Lee) , Fiamme Pizza Napoletana (Luke Smith), Q-Catering (Vazgen Ghahremanians), LA Sweet Tooth Confections (Paula Solis/Leslie Z), Chef DJ Seal (DJ Seals), Sugar & Spyked (Tamara Anderson), Chocolatier (Eve Stephens), Ace Culinary Academy School (Cecilia De Castro), My Sweet Beginnings (Tene Harris), Chef Bryan Hill, Hotel Erwin (Adam Steudle), My World On Plate (Keven Lee). 
Other Participating Brands: Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Kerry Gold Cheese & Butter, Choctal, GG’s Toffee, Cutco, Fresh Brothers, Nature’s Bakery, Gourmet Blends, and many more. The event will take place on the Iconic Santa Monica Pier to sample the ultimate in pairing menus, where numerous well-known chefs and restaurants will be featured. This is the first time an event of this caliber will be held on the pier. 
Guests can enjoy the iconic pier from 7-10 pm as they take a tour through an endless array of scents and tastes that highlight and celebrate the diverse culinary offerings LA has to offer. Free rides offered by Uber.com to event participants and after parties at the Hotel Erwin. For more information on the event, visit their website: http://santamonicagrandtasting.com What: Santa Monica Grand Tasting Why: Supporting the Chill Foundation When: June 13-14 Time: 7PM-10PM Location: Santa Monica Pier
First Annual Ladies Gluten Free Cookie Exchange Catered by Whole Foods Market Roseville
On December 20th, 2014, I invited a group of ladies over to our home for a holiday gathering and gluten free cookie exchange. I didn’t want to serve only cookies, but rather have a small dinner spread for my guests. Since I wanted to focus on my guests and arranging a few games during the party, I definitely did not want to worry about making/preparing the food. I spoke to some of my Northern California contacts at Whole Foods Market and Whole Foods Market in Roseville gladly agreed to provide the food for the event. (You can see the full spread above).
The planning was simple. All I had to do was go online (I had a budget of $150 to feed 8-10 people) and choose the items I wanted and figure out how much for the number of guests I would have. I was also able to keep the menu gluten free, which was super important to me since it was a gluten free cookie exchange and considering the theme of this website. 🙂 To view some catering options available at the Roseville, California store, you can click here. After I decided on the items I wanted to order, I wrote them down and brought in my order to the catering department. (I recommend doing this at least a week before your party if the number of guests is similar to mine—8 to 10.)
For the Ladies Gluten Free Cookie Exchange of 2014, here’s what Whole Foods Market Roseville put together for me:
Main course, a sous vide pork loin. All I had to do was unwrap it and throw in in the oven for 15-20 minutes while I was waiting for my guests to arrive.
I also ordered a tray of chicken satay. Because people love food on a stick. Fun! 😉
Because the nickname of my holiday gathering was “the wine party disguised as a cookie exchange” I ordered a fruit tray AND a cheese tray, because nothing goes with wine more than fruit and cheese! Especially cheese 🙂
The cheese platter had cheddar, provolone, smoked mozzarella, swiss, and brie cheeses (I asked that they leave off the baguette slices it typically comes with) and was garnished with fresh fruit.
The last item on the spread was this impressive antipasto platter featuring nitrate/nitrite-free prosciutto, salami, fresh mozzarella, marinated olives, marinated artichokes, roasted red pepper, marinated mushrooms and roasted tomatoes.
Scribner Bend Vineyards and Domaine Chandon kicked in some super food friendly wine. Scribner Bend sent me a bottle of their 2011 Cabernet Franc and a bottle of their 2010 Black Hat Tempranillo. The Black Hat Tempranillo has been a long time favorite of mine, and it was also a big hit at the party. The Cabernet Franc also didn’t last very long. A guest of mine brought an amazing dairy free lamb moussaka that serendipitously paired up with the Cabernet Franc. Thanks so much, Scribner Bend and thank you Wendy for the moussaka. 🙂
Domaine Chandon also sent a bottle of their Limited Edition Blanc de Noirs to kick off the party in style. You can visit their online store here. Many cheers and happy 2015 to Domaine Chandon. 🙂
Challenge Butter and Bob’s Red Mill were also major sponsors and I will be writing about their contributions in separate blog posts (with recipes!!) to follow this one.
You can find Whole Foods Roseville on Facebook here and follow Whole Foods Market Northern California on twitter here. Thanks again to them for their sponsorship of the 2014 Gluten Free Cookie Exchange.
If you would like to sponsor the 2015 Ladies Holiday Party and Gluten Free Cookie Exchange, you can contact me here. I am looking for wine sponsors, gluten free cookie ingredients, catered items for guests, and goodie bag items for attendees.
Nike Women’s Half Marathon Entry Winner #2: Congrats to Karla!
Last month, Whole Foods Market, Nike and I gave away 2 entries to the sold out Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco.
I wanted you to meet the entry winners, so you might perhaps comment below and cheer them on for the upcoming race on October 19th! Maybe you’ll even look them up in the race results following the race.
The second entry winner is Karla Euler from Jackson, GA. I asked Karla to share a little bit about herself, her daily diet, and how she is preparing for the race:
I am a 52 year old US Army Vet, mother of 3 grown daughters and grandmother to two beautiful grandchildren, both age 5. I grew up in Southern California and now live in Jackson, GA. I work as a Deputy Court Clerk so I spend most days inside a building which drives me to spend my off days outside as much as possible! I enjoy yard work, hiking, swimming, biking, pretty much anything that will keep me outside and spending time with my family 🙂
I have always tried to maintain a healthy life style and I did up until my 2 grandchildren were born. I found myself making many excuses not to eat right or exercise just so I could spend all my spare time with my grand kids. The Nike Women’s Half Marathon will be my first and has given me the motivation and determination to get myself back into a healthy life style. I have ran numerous 5k and 10k’s in the past, but I am super excited about the SF Half!! I have been diligently training for this and have loved getting back into exercise and healthy eating. I have more energy overall and feel better physically and mentally both.
The following is a typical day of eating for me:
A Cup of Black Coffee and then out for a run; I find that I do better when I don’t eat before a long run as I tend to eat dinner pretty late at night.
Breakfast:
Bowl of Oatmeal and a Banana, Black Coffee
Lunch:
Deli sandwich on wheat bread, cottage cheese with fruit
Dinner:
Baked Fish, yellow rice, garden salad, glass of milk
Additionally, I do take a multi-vitamin, fish oil, calcium supplement, and glucosamine tablet daily as well as drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated.
Thanks to Karla for submitting her story to cavegrrl.com. I am hoping to meet her on the day of the run and wish her luck in person! 🙂 Thanks to Nike and Whole Foods for allowing me to give two other women the chance to run in the race.
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here.
You can find the Run Nike Women’s Series and more information on the race on Facebook here.
Salmon with Hazelnut Shallot Butter and a Cauliflower Sweet Potato Mash
I love September and October in Sacramento. There are so many fun events to celebrate Farm-to-Fork and harvest time. There’s an intoxicating energy all around. The wineries are busy harvesting their grapes and there gets to be a little chill in the air in the mornings and when the sun goes down.
Though the Farm-to-Fork celebration has officially come to a close, it’s certainly not over. So many local restaurants and grocery stores have adopted this theme, and it’s exciting to see the concept take off locally just in the past two years. (Even though Alice Waters was practicing Farm-to-Table 40 years ago!! and Sacramento is not doing anything new.) 😉
I know that ever since I went Paleo (3 ½ years ago), I have made it a point to eat non-processed, local and organic foods when at all possible. I was extremely blessed to meet a partner who had adopted the same healthy eating habits as me and we have continued to be Paleo/Primal in the three years since.
We have made some incredible Paleo meals together with the best ingredients from two of my sponsors: Nugget Market and Whole Foods. We have also used other purveyors: Taylor’s Market and Sunh Fish for our meats and fish.
This Salmon dish is only an example of the kinds of things we prepare on a weekly basis. There is almost always something this special, so many times, it is more tempting to stay in than to eat in a restaurant. Don’t even get me started on all the eclectic wine that we have to pair up with whatever we make. 😉
The recipe was adapted from the Salmon Hazelnut Recipe from the book It Starts with Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. The cauliflower and sweet potato mash was done on a whim and is all my own.
I hope you continue to practice Farm-to-Fork/Farm-to-Table at your house and when dining out beyond this month and celebrate this incredible agricultural paradise we are lucky enough to call home. 🙂
The star of this recipe is the compound butter that tops the salmon after it has been baked. You can use all or some of it, but we had a lot left over (even after using 1/2 of it on 20 ounces of salmon).
Make the compound butter ahead of time (recipe below) and use the freezer to re-solidify it if you happen to be short on time.
For the salmon
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp melted butter
salt and pepper to season
20 ounces wild-salmon (it was easier for us to portion after cooking)
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 400. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper and brush with melted butter, then sprinkle with salt. Place salmon in the middle, skin side down. Brush salmon with melted butter and season again.
Place salmon in oven and roast it about 10 min. Be careful not to overcook. To serve, portion your filets and top each with slices of hazelnut butter and additional toasted hazelnuts.
Hazelnut compound butter
Ingredients:
1/2 stick of butter
4 Tbsp hazelnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup butter
1 small shallot and 1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme, finely minced
Procedure:
Toast hazelnuts over medium heat until golden, then set aside to cool.
Sauté shallot and garlic in 1 Tbs of melted butter until shallot is translucent. Remove from heat.
Then add shallot mixture to the toasted hazelnuts, along with the remaining butter, thyme, and some salt and pepper.
Place mixture into the freezer for about 10-20 minutes.
Then place a large piece of plastic wrap on flat surface and transfer the butter mixture (after it has set up a little in the freezer) to the center of plastic. Form a log shape like above. Wrap tightly in the plastic and chill until solid. This will take 2 hours in the refrigerator, or about 45 minutes in the freezer.
Spinach salad with red and yellow bell peppers, avocado, mushrooms, and salami from Taylor’s Market.
For the Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Mash
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower (cut into small pieces)
1 large white sweet potato (cubed)
1 shallot
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs chopped garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
Salt to taste
Procedure:
Cook cauliflower and sweet potato in boiling water until fork tender. Drain water and set aside.
Chop shallot into thin slices and sauté in melted butter in a small pan. Add the garlic. Cook until shallot is translucent.
Place cooked cauliflower and potato into a food processor with the shallot mixture.
Add the garlic powder and chicken stock and pulse until completely smooth. Season to taste.
Last but certainly not least was the wine pairing. A 2010 reserve Pinot Noir from one of our favorite (and super local) wineries, BellaGrace Vineyards. The grapes are sourced from Sangiacomo Vineyards in Carneros. It is a fairly ripe Pinot Noir, but with the distinctive strawberry flavors unique to the region. The wine is fairly acidic, which perfectly compliments the fatty characteristics of Pacific salmon.
You can find BellaGrace Vineyards on Facebook here or visit them in person at the winery (complete with a cave cellar) at 22715 Upton Rd in Plymouth from 11:00am to 4:00pm, Fri-Sun. They also have a tasting room in Sutter Creek (73 Main St, Sutter Creek) open from 11am-5pm daily.
Cheers! 🙂
Nike Women’s Half Marathon Entry Winner #1: Congrats to Cathy!
You might recall a few weeks ago that Whole Foods Market, Nike and I gave away 2 entries to the sold out Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco.
I wanted you to meet the entry winners (I’ll be featuring one today and one next week), so you might perhaps comment below and cheer them on for the upcoming race on October 19th! Maybe you’ll even look them up in the race results following the race.
The first entry winner is Cathy Wiggs-Hong from the Los Angeles, California area. I asked Cathy to share a little bit about herself, her daily diet, and how she is preparing for the race:
Hi my name is Cathy. I am a 34 year old mother of 3 girls ages 9, 4 and 1.5. I am a stay at home mom with the girls now, but I previously worked as a pediatric physical therapist. I love to be active, and enjoy all outdoor activities. As a family, we love to go to the beach, the pool, and Disneyland.
The Nike Women’s half marathon will be my second half. I’ve completed many shorter distance races, but have actually come to enjoy the training and actual race of the 13,1 miles. I try to eat pretty healthy in general, as I am still nursing my youngest child, but I often find it difficult to keep it as healthy as I’d like because of how busy I am.
I find that when I food prep I eat much healthier, that is something I am striving to get more consistent with. I’ve also noticed that when I “eat clean” I feel so much better both physically and mentally, that is real motivation for me to try and keep it up.
The following food journal is what I ate today and is pretty typical of what I normally eat.
Breakfast: Yogurt with strawberries and blueberries
Snack: Baked mini flat pretzels and dill havarti cheese, honey crisp apple (shared with the littlest)
Lunch: Grilled chicken breast with side salad
Dinner: BBQ’d hamburger with lettuce and avocado, baked sweet potato fries
Water throughout the day, as well as a multivitamin, glucosamine supplement, calcium, and a broad spectrum antioxidant supplement.
On days that I run, I also have a protein bar or shake following my runs.
Thanks to Cathy for submitting her story to cavegrrl.com. I am hoping to meet her on the day of the run and wish her luck in person! 🙂 Thanks to Nike and Whole Foods for allowing me to give two other women the chance to run in the race.
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here.
You can find the Run Nike Women’s Series and more information on the race on Facebook here.
Enter to Win a Race Entry to the San Francisco Nike Women’s Half Marathon on October 19th, 2014!
Once again this year, I am partnering with Whole Foods Market Northern California, and I will be running for them in the San Francisco Nike Women’s Half Marathon. I am really excited to have been asked again (by Whole Foods), and I am even more excited that I WILL BE GIVING AWAY TWO ENTRIES to this SOLD OUT race right here on this website (SCROLL DOWN FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO ENTER)!
You might be familiar with this race because of it’s scenic course through San Francisco and the only half marathon series to give it’s finishers a Tiffany necklace instead of a finisher’s medal!! Not only that, but the necklace is given to you by a firefighter dressed in a tuxedo! 🙂
Here I am following last year’s race wearing my finisher’s necklace (and shirt from the race!):
I’ll be sharing some recipes with food provided to me by Whole Foods Market, and providing my training reports from now leading up to October 19th.
It’s been a while since I have run a half marathon (last November), so I will be putting in some hard work from now until race day. Here’s a favorite post of mine sponsored by Whole Foods from last year’s training.
Here’s this year’s course map:
This giveaway is for a race entry only. Once you win, you will be responsible for the $180 entry fee.–The entry does not include transportation, hotel, or parking the day of the race. Keep in mind there is NO race packet pick up the day of the race, so you will need to make arrangements to attend the expo on Thursday, October 16, 12:00PM – 8:00PM, Friday, October 17, 10:00AM – 8:00PM, or Saturday, October 18, 8:00AM – 6:00PM to collect your bib number.
TO ENTER TO WIN A RACE ENTRY FOR THE NIKE WOMEN’S HALF MARATHON ON OCTOBER 19th, 2014 at 6:30am, PLEASE DO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:
1. Like cavegrrl.com on Facebook here.
2. Leave a comment in the comment section below and tell me why you want to run the race!
3. Like Whole Foods Sacramento on Facebook here or Whole Foods Roseville here.
4. Follow Whole Foods Northern California on twitter here.
4. Share this post on Facebook.
I will be choosing TWO winners on September 1st!
Good luck! 🙂
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here.
You can find the Run Nike Women’s Series and more information on the race on Facebook here.
Wellshire Farms Holiday Ham: Herbed Orange Ham Recipe
Having a ham on the table during a holiday gathering is pretty much a tradition in my family. Especially on Christmas Eve. They are great on their own, with a side of mustard, or my favorite is leftover ham chopped into cubes and reheated in a saute with onion and kale or chard and some dried cranberries. In this blog however, I developed a recipe to make the ham the star of the show. It’s got all the wonderful herbs present in a holiday meal, with orange and zest that compliment the ham’s saltiness.
A big thanks to Whole Foods Market for allowing me to try one of their delicious holiday products, a ham from Wellshire Farms. I ended up with a (half) traditional boneless ham. I liked this ham because I was able to create my own recipe to heat the ham, as well as carve to my liking. (I liked. A LOT). 😉
Here’s how I prepared the ham, as well as the side dishes I made to complete last weekend’s Sunday dinner.
Preheat oven to 325°. To reheat your ham, I recommend using a roasting pan with a rack, one with a bottom that you can pour some water in to help the ham retail moisture while it reheats. A meat thermometer is a pretty good thing to have as well. (Tip: A 4-pound boneless ham will serve about 12 people, and this marinade will be enough for that size).
Marinade ingredients:
4 Tbs fresh rosemary
2 Tbs fresh sage
2 Tbs toasted fennel seed
2 Tbs chopped garlic
2 Tbs orange zest
1 Tbs black pepper
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup olive oil
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until completely blended (mixture will be a pretty bright green). Paint the ham with the mixture using a BBQ brush. (You can also pour it over or use your hands, but a brush will coat the ham nicely. Set aside while you prepare your side dishes.
Cover the ham with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Bake until the internal temperature reaches 140° (Allow 7-8 minutes per pound). Remove the foil and place the oven on broil. Leave in for 2 minutes. This will give the top of the ham a nice finish.
Here is a link with videos to Wellshire Farms entire line of hams.
Wellshire Ham Details (traditional boneless ham)
Wood smoked
60% less fat
No preservatives and no antibiotics
Free of nitrates, no artificial ingredients or preservatives!
The natural wood smoke and rich tasting ham make a savory combination.
You can get creative with your own unique glaze.
Ham lays flat for ease of cooking and carving.
(This ham is wrapped in clear packaging, other varieties of Wellshire Hams are wrapped in red, gold, and silver foil).
For other great ideas and information on ham, you can check out the Whole Foods Market recipe ideas here. You can find Wellshire Farms on Facebook here.
To save yourself time, you can order your ham online by heading to Whole Foods Market’s online shopping cart here.
The other dishes in the photo above will be forthcoming over the next week (hopefully): Pommes Anna and a wilted spinach & kale, chestnut, & cherry salad with roasted shallots. Happy holidays!
Persimmon, Hazelnut and Arugula Salad with Honey Citrus Dressing
OK, sometimes I trick people into eating Primal/Paleo. Such is the case when I am invited to or Andy and I throw potluck-type parties. And this was the case last Saturday. Being Paleo/Primal at a party can be as scary as Halloween itself! 🙂
So here’s the great salad (I have named the FALL-iday/Holiday Salad!) brought that served both as a conversation piece, and the main part of dinner for Andy and myself. 🙂 You can use the ingredients below in pretty much any ratio you want––I’ll just give you the framework of what I used. And don’t miss out on the dressing. It really makes the dish!
Salad:
16 oz container of Organic Girl Arugula (you can also use a little spinach or spring mix if you’d like, but I think arugula tastes the best in this particular salad).
4 medium-sized fuyu persimmons, cubed
Arils of 1 pomegranate
4-6 slices of bacon (thick-cut, Applewood smoked)
1 cup toasted. skinned, and chopped hazelnuts
2-3 ozs. parmesan cheese–shaved…not the POWDERED kind for crying out loud 😉
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, or in my case, a catering pan if you are taking the salad to a large party. 🙂
Dressing:
1 part lemon juice
2 parts grapefruit juice
3 parts extra virgin olive oil
2 parts honey
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
pinch salt
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until well incorporated. Dress the salad and serve. If you are transporting the salad to an event like I did, wait until you arrive at the event to dress the salad.
Thanks to Whole Foods Market for sponsoring the food used in this recipe!! 🙂 You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here.
Post-Race Wrap Up: Nike Women’s Half Marathon Series
It’s been exactly one week since I crossed the finish line in San Francisco at the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. I was so honored to have run with the Whole Foods Market team and promote their stores. It makes me so happy to have a fitness/healthy living themed website and that I can inspire others to take care of themselves just a little bit better/more.
This website keeps me motivated, too. It keeps me in such a good place mentally with food and exercise. I would never expect someone else to live a lifestyle that I had not already adopted for myself. It makes me happy to be nearly 100% gluten free and about 90% sugar free. I feel so grateful that Whole Foods Market reached out to me and offered a place for me in a sold out race, paid for my race entry, and funded nearly all groceries I brought home in the last two months. It was such an advantage to have the best food available to me (local, organic, grass-fed, you name it) to nourish my body and help train for the race.
So here are some photos I took and some reflections I had on the race:
I was unable to pick up my bib prior to the Expo, so I attended on Saturday. Props to the staff at the Expo for being so efficient. I walked right up to an open computer kiosk and was helped immediately. I also received my pace bracelet so I knew where to line up for the start of the race the next day.
Then I met with some of the staff at the Whole Foods booth inside the Expo. I was given my team shirt that I was supposed to wear during the race (if I wanted to wear it) and I was all set! Let the nerves kick in…
But first, it was dinner at a great restaurant (walking distance from the hotel in which I stayed) called Le Charm. I posted this picture because I was wearing the Nike Women’s Finisher’s necklace from last year that my friend Maria gave me. By the way, if you are ever in San Francisco check out Le Charm (SOMA district). They have a great $35 pre fixe dinner and a very sensible wine list.
A little bit about the race. It’s crowded. Like, really crowded. This race had a record 30,000 participants. And the pace bracelets we were given didn’t mean much because somehow despite being corralled in the second wave of runners, there was a huge bottleneck from people who were walkers/joggers and must have taken off during the first start time. It was bob and weave for nearly the entire race. But, it was the biggest race I have ever run in, so there was really no way around it. And the course was challenging. If you have ever run the Flying Pig Half Marathon in Cincinnati, it was similar to that, only a little higher in total elevation gain.
So, those were the little caveats of the race. And here’s me running in it! 🙂
The positives? Quite a lot. The weather was perfect. It was pretty chilly before the start of the race, but I stayed about a half mile from the starting line, so I jogged to it as a warm up.
The same course I described earlier as challenging, is also quite amazing and scenic. You get to see a lot of touristy San Francisco, as well park areas and some very nice residential areas. I loved running past the Argonaut Hotel, Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, and the Buena Vista Café (Fisherman’s Wharf). And one good thing about the hills that start just after that, if you must run uphill, you then get to run back down! Thanks to a few long runs in Incline Village, I am more able to handle/control my downhill running, so I was able to take advantage of the downhills to make up some of the time I lost to the crowds earlier in the race. And I know I was smiling in the photo below because I was feeling strong and there was a great song channeling into my ears. The air felt so good on my head and in my lungs.
The spectators were pretty thick along the course and it makes me happy to think that some of them are just locals who got out of bed and wanted to watch all the runners go by.
My official chip time was 1:55:14, which was an 8:48 min/mile pace. Not a PR, but I am happy with my time considering the circumstances. I finished 139th out of 3065 people. And yes, the part about receiving a Tiffany necklace from a San Francisco firefighter when you finish the race is true!! So, I get to wear my “medal” for this half marathon every single day.
When I got home from San Francisco that afternoon, I ran 3.1 more miles because I knew I would be pretty trashed the next day anyway. I also thought about all the women who had just run the full marathon. And my total for the day 16.7-ish still didn’t even come close to the majestic 26.2. That day got my mileage for the next week off to a great start, and by yesterday I had put in 55.7 miles… which is the most I have ever run in a week. Am I considering a marathon? You bet I am. But I still don’t feel like I am ready. I would like to run at least 3 or for more 1/2 marathons and a 20 mile race before I attempt to run a full marathon. The reason why is because I would like to run the entire marathon as opposed to walking any of it. To me, that’s the point of a race of any distance. To run it as fast as you can on that given day–although nine times out of ten the race will not be perfect, so you suck it up and just try and do your best.
I took this shot of me wearing my finisher’s shirt and my 2013 finisher’s necklace. You can tell I was tired, but felt so satisfied. Thank you SO MUCH Whole Foods Northern California for asking me to partner with you for this event and I hope we can do it again next year!! 🙂
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here. The Nike Women’s Series is on Facebook here.
Fueled by Whole Foods! (Nike Women’s Half Marathon Series)
So, I finally had time to get out to Whole Foods and start using the gift card they gave me to feed myself during my half marathon training (the Women’s Nike Half Marathon in San Francisco on October 20th). For about $65 dollars, here’s what I bought:
- 1/2 Gallon So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk
(will use in smoothies, sometimes morning coffee) - 1 pound bag frozen raspberries
(will use in protein shakes with protein powder, ice and coconut milk) - 1 package Diestel sliced herbed turkey breast
(love their products, a healthy splurge indeed!) - 1 head of organic cauliflower
- 1 small block of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
(.25 pounds or so, my biggest splurge on the list!) - 3 pound bag frozen triple berry blend
(will use in protein shakes with protein powder, ice and coconut milk) - 2.87 pounds of broccoli crowns
- 1.17 pounds of organic bananas
(will use in protein shakes with protein powder, ice and coconut milk) - 1.82 pounds of Grenache grapes
- 1 pound of Organic Girl Super Greens
- 1.5 pounds of parsnips
- .75 pounds of coconut flour
(will use in occasional treats after long runs) - ,75 pounds of almond meal
(will use sparingly to make gluten free bread or occasional treats) - 1 orange flesh honeydew melon (my favorite fruit!!)
This was my awesome dinner tonight, almost all of it made from the ingredients on my shopping list today from Whole Foods. It was a Diestel Turkey salad (2 1/2 slices), on a bed of Organic Girl Super Greens (dandelion, arugula, spinach mix), 2 hard boiled eggs, 1-2 Tbs grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, eggplant “croutons” and studded with about 1/2 cup of organic Grenache grapes. I don’t typically use dressing because the egg and cheese make everything so flavorful I don’t need it. 🙂
As far as the running goes, I have an app called Runkeeper to log my daily mileage. Here’s a look at my run this past Sunday. I wanted to put in a long run on the roads because I had not done one in a while. I was even wondering if I could make it past 10 miles! Followed by the map are my mile splits:
1 mi: 9:05
+12 ft elevation climb
2 mi: 9:07 +1 ft elevation climb
3 mi: 9:01 -10 ft elevation loss
4 mi: 9:18 -3 ft elevation loss
5 mi: 8:44 -18 ft elevation loss
(water stop at 5.25 miles)
6 mi: 8:59 +23 ft elevation climb
(ran kinda through the mall and through the tunnel into Old Sac… AWESOME)
7 mi: 8:09 +15 ft elevation climb
8 mi: 8:20 -5ft elevation loss
9 mi: 8:35: +4ft elevation climb
(water stop around 9 miles)
10 mi: 8:36 -3ft elevation loss
11 mi: 8:47 +4ft elevation climb
12 mi: (last .24 of my run in front of the Sacramento Zoo) 9:38 -8ft elevation loss
=========
I am planning on running a short race the first weekend of October, but otherwise will mostly be concentrating on building my road tolerance and endurance.
If you would like to check out my profile and my running on Runkeeper, click here.
Look for another post using my groceries from Whole Foods, coming this week and more on my training as well!
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here. The Nike Women’s Series is on Facebook here. Now get out there and go running! 🙂
The Nike Women’s Half Marathon San Francisco: I’m Running with Whole Foods!
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! 😛
I’ll never forget how I felt after my first half marathon. Or how I felt right before it. I was so intimidated. I had never run a race longer than 9.3 miles (In November 2011, The Hot Chocolate 15K in Chicago), and I distinctly recall not wanting to run another step after that event. But, in May 2012, I ran the Border Energy Cincinnati Flying Pig Half Marathon in just under 2 hours (1:58:49).
You can tell from the picture just how elated I was to even finish the race! Under 2 hours part was only icing on the cake. 🙂
So now, after running three half marathons, I’m very excited to announce that my fourth half marathon will be the Nike Women’s Half Marathon on October 20th in San Francisco, and I will be running on behalf of Whole Foods!!
Annually, 30,000+ people come to San Francisco to run the Nike Women’s Marathon (benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). This year, the race will celebrate its 10-year anniversary and Whole Foods Market will be the official grocery sponsor.
I am particularly excited to run in a marathon that happens to be the world’s largest women’s foot race (though men participate too). I also heard a rumor that there will be a Tiffany & Co. finisher’s necklace for every runner at the finish line. And that firefighters (IN TUXEDOS!) will be handing them out. Oh. My. You know I’m only in this for the jewelry, right? 😉
Over the next 6 weeks until the race, I will be working with Whole Foods and keeping track of my food and training right here on my website. During that time, I will be sharing recipes and some of my workouts. I most likely will post in a weekly format to give a breakdown of what I ate and the miles I ran. I feel so honored to be journaling this race and the time leading up to it. A big thanks to Whole Foods, as they are funding my groceries until the race as well!
Here’s a map of the course (highlighting the full and the half).
It means even more to me that I was given an entry into the race because I am not an elite runner, but more of a “bridge” runner that can connect people doing this the first time to people of an intermediate skill level. Remember, I didn’t do anything more than walking until I was in my late 20’s, and I didn’t start racing competitively until 2 years ago. And now, I’m on a team, too–The River City Rebels. So, if I can do this, so can you!
Is anyone else running the Nike Women’s Half Marathon or the Marathon? I am really looking forward to it. I have my hotel picked out and am already getting butterflies!! Let’s do this!
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here. The Nike Women’s Series is on Facebook here.
cavegrrl.com 