Weekend Turkey Runs- Race Recaps

For the long 4-day weekend, I ran two "turkey" races; a 10K Turkey Chase (Thursday) and a 10 miler Turkey Burnoff (Saturday). They were both really fun and really cold. I had a great time!

For the Turkey Chase 10K, my entire family came out to support me. The first two miles were mostly downhill, and the next few miles had some big hills. I struggled a lot with keeping up my pace. I need to work on running negative splits. Oh well, I got almost a 4 minute PR with a time of 48:15. I kicked it into high gear for the last 0.2 and gave it my all. 

My splits

1- 7:10

2- 7:20

3- 7:32

4- 8:07

5- 7:43

6- 7:59

6.2- 6:50

Next up was the Turkey Burnoff on Saturday. This race was definitely fueled by all the turkey, stuffing, carbs, and cheesecake that I indulged in. My race plan was non-existant, and I just wanted to do it for fun. There was 5 and 10 mile options, and being the crazy person that I am, of course I would prefer to run the 10. My brother joined me and chose the 5 mile option. 

For the first 5 miles, I decided to stick with my bro and we averaged about an 8:35 pace. It was a conversational pace, nice and relaxed. The course had some rolling hills and went through the tree-lined roads of a local state park.

1- 9:04

2- 8:31

3- 8:42

4- 8:22

5- 8:29

The course was a 5 mile loop, so those opting to do the 10 miler just ran another loop. My brother veered off to the finish line and I picked up the pace for the last 5 miles. I pushed it comfortably hard.

6- 8:04

7- 8:19

8- 8:25

9- 7:58

10- 7:50

Woohoo, finally, some negative splits. 

My dad caught these pics of me running for the finish. Look at that form, and running the tangents and all that jazz!



The Turkey Burnoff was a low-key race put on by my running club. There was no medals or prizes; just pure running fun :) I really enjoy participating in these club races, and will probably run another one next Sunday.

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November Foodie Pen Pals Reveal

It's time for another Foodie Pen Pals Reveal! Don't know what Foodie Pen Pals is? Each month, you sign up and get paired with another foodie. You get to know them a little and what they like. Then you put together a little package filled with yummy treats for them! (Spending limit of $15). The best part is, you get a package full of goodies as well! At the end of the month, bloggers who received packages share what they got from their pal on the Reveal Day.

My Foodie Pen Pal for this month was Arlette from New Orleans.

Here's what I got:

In the front are homemade pumpkin cookies (SO GOOD, btw) and three Larabars (chocolate chip cookie dough is my absolute fave). In the back: Pretzel Crisps, Torani Pumpkin Pie syrup, Mama Chia seed snack, and a New Orleans postcard.



I've never seen Mama Chia products before, but this is a great idea! I enjoy chia seeds in puddings, smoothies, and kombucha, so I really enjoyed trying this out. It tastes pretty good (almost like a fruit roll up or something) and my only complaint is that it's a tiny portion.



And THIS. I can make pumpkin spice lattes with this. I used it in some chai milk tea and it was delicious.

If you want to participate in next month's Foodie Pen Pals, be sure to sign up before December 5th!

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Run Fast Eat Lots Thanksgiving Edition

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you are all having a wonderful day spending time with family and friends, eating delicious food, and perhaps running a turkey trot. I have a super busy day; got up early for the Turkey Chase 10K, came home to start the turkey in the oven, showered, and started cooking the rest of the food. I usually cook all the sides, and my mom does the turkey. This year, I wanted to try my hand at turkey roasting, so I'm making the entire meal. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll turn out okay!

My family all came out with me to the Turkey Chase to support me. It was pretty cold, but not as bad as I thought! Here I'm warming up with the YMCA dance. 

Dancers in stage leading the dance, with a turkey, naturally. 

My race went pretty well, though I was kind of over dressed. The course is hilly and I was struggling at mile 3-4. I kicked it for the final stretch, and came in at 48:15, over 4 minutes faster than when I ran this last year! 

I had a great time, and so did my family :) I'm so glad I decided to run this year. 

And now I'm waiting for the turkey to be done so I can finish cooking everything. I'm so hungry!

Now get off the internets and go enjoy the holiday!

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Spinach Alfredo Pasta

I was craving pasta last weekend, so I made some spinach alfredo sauce on Sunday. Making alfredo sauce from scratch isn't too difficult, and in my opinion, is better and healthier than store bought jarred sauce. You can use cream for a creamier, richer sauce, but I used low fat milk, instead. 

Spinach Alfredo Pasta

serves 5-8

3 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp flour

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups milk

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

3 large handfuls of spinach (frozen works fine)

1 lb pasta

Put a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta following the directions on the package. While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Add the flour, and stir continuously for about 2 minutes on medium heat. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more. Slowly add the milk, whisking it in well before adding more. Heat the sauce until it starts to bubble, then add in the cheese. Whisk well to combine. Add in the spinach and cook about 2 minutes more. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, to taste.

Drain the pasta well and add the sauce. Mix to combine, and enjoy!

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Weekend Eats and Thanksgiving Errands

Whew, I've been running errands all morning in preparation for the holidays. I had to go to a supermarket, Whole Foods, and a Penn Dutch market to pick up the turkey, produce, and other groceries, City Sports to pick up my race packet, and finally, Cheesecake Factory to pick up the dessert (pumpkin cheesecake!)

It was really hard work running around so many places and lifting bag after bag of groceries, so I decided to refuel with some red velvet cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory (never mind that I bought an entire cheesecake as well). I ate a good half of this. Let the gluttony begin.

Speaking of gluttony, on Sunday, I mooched off of a Groupon for Kraze Burger and indulged in a burger and parmesan rosemary fries. The fries came out hot and crispy, just the way I like 'em.

The burger came topped with a huge onion ring (and bacon, but I didn't want it). The patty was a tad dry and that cheese could have been more melted, but overall, it was decent and I was stuffed. It looked ridiculously tall.

Sunday night, I finally chopped up my fairy tale pumpkin and used some of it for Thai coconut curry. The fairy tale pumpkin is the one on the right; it's really sweet! 

I'll share a recipe for this, soon! It's seriously good and really easy to make.



I already started to prepare the turkey by dry-brining it. This is my first year cooking the turkey, so I'm a bit nervous on how it will turn out! If it turns out well, I'll share my dry brine recipe and cooking method. Wish me luck and hopefully I won't ruin it!

By the way, I love the shirt design for this year's Turkey Chase shirt. And neon green is my fave color!

Are you excited for Thanksgiving? Have you finished all your grocery shopping?

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Turkey Day Running

I have FINALLY decided to do the Turkey Chase 10K and signed up for it this morning. I ran this last year, my first 10K, with my brother. This year, he won't be joining me, but my family will come to spectate. It should be fun :)

I was hemming and hawing about this for months. I can be really indecisive, sometimes. I'm glad I decided to do it because this will be the second year in a row, and I will try to make it a streak for as long as possible. Keeping up a Thanksgiving race streak is great because that means that I will be able to celebrate the holiday at home. I'm not sure where I will be this time, next year, but hopefully I will be able to make it home to run this race and be with my family during the Thanksgiving holiday.

But because I am greedy, I want to do another holiday race with my running club. We have a Turkey Burnoff 5 or 10 miler on Saturday, and of course I want to run it as well. I'm not sure which distance I will be doing, and I will probably decide on race day, or even mid-race. The course is a loop around a local park, and the 10 miler is just two loops. It'll be fun to run with the club (since the last run I've done with them was way back in August) and I will probably take this one easy.

And of course, I gotta fuel all this running with some delicious food! I usually cook the entire meal on Thanksgiving for my family, so after the Turkey Chase, I'm going to head straight home, shower, and fire up the oven for the turkey. 

I'm off to plan the big feast and get a turkey! I'll also make sure to share some of my Thanksgiving recipes later this week. 

Are you running any Turkey Trots?

What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

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Nutella Granola

I made a batch of Nutella granola for my foodie pen pal, and was waiting until she received my package before sharing this recipe. Is there anything more delicious than Nutella? Seriously, I can eat the stuff by the spoonful, straight out of the jar. Adding it to granola makes it practically health food, right? Yes. I am a genius. You're welcome :)

Full disclosure: this is a recycled pic of my Cinnamon Hazelnut Granola. I finished the Nutella granola before I had a chance to take a photo. I am lazy. Just imagine this in a more chocolate-y shade ;)

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