star{fish} crossed lovers

{photo credit}

you might run the fastest, but that doesn't mean you'll win

as you may or may not have heard, the woman who ran the fastest time in sunday's nike women's marathon in san fran didn't actually win. whaa?! but how could that be, you might be wondering? a technicality. some dumb rule the race organizers won't let go of.

arien o'connell {a twenty-four year old fifth grade teacher from new york city} ran the 26.2 miles in 2:55:11 {a PR of about twelve minutes!}, beating the official race "winner's" time by 11 minutes. eleven minutes?!

so why didn't she win? she wasn't registered as an elite!

{true story. the same thing happened to another guy who came in 4th place at the chicago marathon.}

so I'm thinking the USATF should rethink this little rule of theirs. they say the rule is in place so the elites know who they are racing against, since, you know, they're so nice and give them a head start and all {in the nike women's marathon they gave these ladies a twenty minute head start, which I think is ridiculous! the men's field is not that deep to necessitate such a huge gap in start times} but I say if they really are elite they'll prove it out on the course. no matter what. guts + glory to the finish line.

it's sad, though, because nike could have really done something with this story. built a really awesome marketing campaign around it.

normal, average girl wins marathon. beats the elite pack.

instead they just pooed in her face. "we've already declared our winner" and even though you ran the fastest, you're not it. booh.

{read the full story HERE}

proof positive: the tetris is true.

for all those who think my husband plays tetris all day at work, you may just be right. here is a little convo we had today via the internet:

me: yo

Peter: yo

me: there's like a billion kids for this fall break camp and I don't know if I want to deal with it

Peter: woah

a billion? that's like the entire country of china!

me: I know!

Peter: do you have enough counselors?

me: yeah, I guess technically we do...

so I really shouldn't be stressin'

Peter: so aspen digital doesn't have to take kids?

me: didn't I set up that field trip with you?

all one billion will be coming to your office to learn about the science behind the digitalizing

Peter: woah, i don't think we have that many nintendos

totally crinked

so earlier today I was taking a big swig from my water bottle, as I am often want to do, and I suddenly felt a very severe pain running through the left side of my neck. I thought to myself, wow, that was weird. I tried drinking again, the same pain.

it all seems so silly. it was such a benign movement. but now I have limited range of motion when turning my head to BOTH sides! sucks to pinched nerves.

the update: so far, so good.

day one of the plan? check!

day two? double check!

not only did I go running this morning, but I pulled through with the meal plan tonight too. in fact, I improved upon it to make it even better. peter couldn't stop raving about the rotkohl (aka red cabbage) and the potato slices (sans cheese; I decided to go in another direction). and I can't stop raving about fresh corn cut off the cob in salads. seriously, such a tasty flavor.

if you're following along at home, please try these two recipes.

red cabbage {I didn't have any allspice or cloves, so I just added nutmeg}

crispy garlic potatoes {the thinner you slice them the crispier they are}

planned eating

I feel like I've really let myself go. no, not in the I'm fat sort of way. {though I have let my running fall by the wayside} but my life has just gotten in the way of the things I used to be so good about. but I can't blame my life. I just need to step it up. basically I want to get two parts of me back on track. yes, one of those is my running life (which also happens to include swimming + spinning). and the other is my cooking life. more specifically meal planning.

it's always nice to have a plan. so below is what I've come up with for the week. of course, all meals are subject to change. especially since I'll be getting my very last csa goods for the season tomorrow. so here it is, enjoy!

m: delicata squash soup + crusty bread

t: fresh garden variety salads + cheesy potato slices

w: pasta w/ a zucchini and tomato sauce

h: spaghetti squash medley

f: spicy sweet potato wedges + chicken something? {that means I can't forget to defrost the chicken!}

s: dinner a la pete

so what's on your plate?
{for inspiration visit: this week for dinner.}