Author Archives: Jennifer FIsher

What Goes Up Must Come Down, What Goes In Must Come Out

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Also known as “The Trails and Entrails of the 2012 Hood to Coast Relay”

Some of you may have heard that I just got back from running the famous Hood to Coast Relay on a team sponsored by Nuun Hydration. Whoo-hoo!  It was truly the realization of a 16-year dream to take part in this almost 200 mile journey from the snow-capped Mount Hood all the way down to the sandy (and quite chilly) beach of Seaside, Oregon.  And, to represent for an awesome company whose product I firmly believe in and actually do drink made the experience all the more exceptional, as did hanging out with the 35 other like-minded runner-blogger-foodie-fashionistas. Holla!

Amanda, Marjorie, Jennifer, Katie, Elizabeth . . . and Erin is running!

I’m not a very savvy race recapper; I’ve forgotten my race leg times, my mind and my photos are fuzzy, and I’m just staring at the big bag of swag donated by generous sponsors (thank you) that I will eventually need to dig through and provide thoughtful reviews. However, I do clearly recall important details about the trip such as the food and drink. It’s all perspective and priorities, people – and this is The Fit Fork after all!

When I finally rolled into Seattle (Nuun HQ), the pre-running party had been going on for at least a day. Since I missed out on the female bonding at the Seattle Mariners game, the morning run-swim and the insider tour of Oiselle, I hoped that my attempt to sweeten up these girls with Jamba Juice smoothies would bear some fruit. Thanks to the yummy, slushy goodness of flavors like Razzamatazz™, Strawberry Whirl™ and Aloha Pineapple®, I felt as welcomed as the new girl at school whose mom sent in cupcakes to mark the occasion — only healthier!

What Blogger-Runners Do - Tweet About Everything!

Soon, we’d meet up at Nuun HQ for a variety of activities including a taste-testing of not-yet-for-sale secret flavors whipped up by the company president, Mason Reay.

Nuun Hydration Tablet - Top Secret Flavors Coming to you Soon!

The frenzied scavenger hunt across the city of Seattle sent me into a few moments of tourist distress. Alas, we only had time to stop, snap pictures and tweet our location at a number of foodie locations including Pike’s Market, a famous Donut Shop, the Original Starbuck’s Coffee.  I’m definitely will need to revisit these places at my leisure on a future trip!

The pre-race dinner, catered by Bucco de Beppo, was a smorgasbord of healthy Italian dishes to suit the rainbow of food restrictions in the group. I am not at all being snarky here when I point out that Team Afternuun Delight covered quite a slice of the nutritional spectrum from dairy-free, soy-free and gluten-free to plant-based and low-carb. Kosher? Raw only? If I missed some, post in the comments. I always like to hear about a new diet lifestyle. I felt tempted to throw in my personal preference which is the Paleo Diet (fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, with the exclusion of grains, legumes, refined sugar, and processed oils). But, then I remembered I follow the “100-percent Paleo, 80-percent of the time” mindset; meaning vacations, even a running vacation, almost always fall under the other 20-percent of the time. This would be my mistake.

Race day we were up at the crack of dawn, but didn’t have to take off until later in the morning. This meant a quick trip to Specialtys Bakery near the ballpark where the-nicest-ever-employee Colin hooked me up with a Southwestern Egg Sandwich on bread. Yes, bread!  After loading into our respective vans (six ladies to each and some darn nice ones riding with me), we headed out of town and only made it as far as the Panera Bread in Tacoma. Here the whole gang noshed on our favorite menu items (me, Barbeque Chicken Salad) while local lunchers looked on with a combination of bewilderment and, I’m just guessing, awe and admiration at our sparkly skirts and rainbow striped arm-warmers.

Most of our remaining day and a half would be spent inside the 12-passenger van, except when it was time to run our respective legs, visit one of the 529 port-a-lets (they called ‘em “Honey Buckets” and I came to know ‘em well), or hang out for some down time at an exchange. This meant we relied on rations piled up in the back of the van except when our intrepid and highly entertaining driver Tyler, a Nuun employee, would pull over to grab us a snack.

Tyler, Elizabeth and Jennifer cutting loose at a exchange point.

Rations consumed in the van:

  • Nuun Hydration tablets (favorite flavors were Kona Kola and Strawberry Lemonade)
  • 12 Chiboni Yogurts  (the official yogurt of the USA Olympic Team and Team Afternuun Delight)
  • Lots of Kind Snacks – Granola and Bars
  • 14 bananas
  • 8 bagels
  • Peanut butter
  • Homemade brownies (I never got one!)
  • GNC caffeine chewies
  • Saltines
  • Graham Crackers
  • Trail Mix
  • Gummy Bears
  • String Cheese
  • Assorted beers
  • Muscle Milk
  • Assorted energy drinks (consumed by driver and, err, me)
  • Coffee
  • Random ham sandwich and hamburger stops

You know you’re committed to eating right when you bring food along with you on a trip. Wish I had that much stick-to-it-iveness; maybe I wouldn’t have had so many stomach issues. The crazy lady (love ya) in the back seat delighted us with an endless array of healthy options on the go, some actually good!  Kale chips, sprouted raw pumpkin seeds, tuna fish in a can (she courteously went outside to eat that), beans, rice milk, berries, kombucha and more.

After we finished our first round of legs, we had arrived in Portland. Since it was after midnight, we parked the van and walked over to the closest place open and serving food, the Bunk Bar. At this time of night, you can’t be picky. Another Egg Sandwich for me (top bun off but loaded down with bacon ) and split a local brew on tap with a teammate. Was hoping that beer would help me go to sleep during our 2 hour layover in the parking lot. But, alas, it was the indigestion and adrenaline that so wanted me to stay awake.

Hydrating at bunk bark with beer and Nuun.

My second leg at 8am was fueled in quality style with a Monster Absolute Zero followed by a banana and yogurt for recovery. The remainder of down time until my third leg at 5pm included no sleep, a long traffic jam through the countryside of Oregon, overindulging in trail mix until I couldn’t even look at the bag anymore, and a stomach ache that refused to be resolved.  Several days of magnesium, caffeine and fiber supplementation were failing me, there seemed to be no solution to my hormonal-travel-naughty-eating induced problem.  The whole van was pitching in to help, amazing how close you can become with people when “living” in such close quarters.  Rumors from another team van were flying; apparently the Aspaeris Pivot Compression Shorts, a gift in our goodie bag, were literally squeezing the #@$& out of some of the girls. It was worth a try, but I was foiled from the get go. My pair was missing.

Apparently, all types of digestive problems are common during the 28+hour relay, as evidenced by the van for the team Great Bowels of Fire. 

Third leg was run around 5pm after a late afternoon filled with heartbreaking drama including a nasty, sprained ankle by a sweet teammate and picking up lost runners who had run miles out of their way out on the course. It was really touching, and a great lesson for me, to see everyone rallying together to emotionally boost up the injured and upset. It wasn’t about winning the race or how fast or cool a single person was; it was about finishing together regardless of the circumstances.  And we did!

To celebrate, we partied down at the beach as guests of Nike. Local hefeweizen, pulled pork, smoked turkey, salad and such.  It was good, it was all good.

Entrance to the 2012 Hood to Coast Relay Nike Party

After a midnight van ride and another sleepless night in Seattle, I started working my way back to Austin. A Kind Bar and Starbuck’s Chai Latte held me for breakfast and a spinach salad with feta and craisins was a not-too-bad airport layover lunch. And, when I got home at 7pm, everyone was waiting for dinner! Hurray! Fajitas on the fly.  Oh yeah, and I unpacked. Everything. All problems solved.

Thank you Nuun Hydration for such a wonderful experience and all the support from your employees. It was both harder and easier than I thought, does that make any sense?  Loved it!

 

Mom-Approved Chocolate Protein Pudding Pops Recipe (Good for Grownups, Too)

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Whew, it’s crazy time! Just got back from a beach vacation with just enough turn-around time to accomplish 7 loads of laundry, take the kids to the dentist and restock my pantry for the hungry boys I’m leaving behind. Oh, where am I going?  To the Pacific Northwest, where I will run on a Nuun Hydration sponsored team in the Hood to Coast Relay; you might have heard me mention that before! If you didn’t it’s just a little 198 mile jaunt from Mt. Hood to Seaside, Oregon that I split up with 11 other teammates No biggie!

Needless to say, I’m so pooped I could pop . . . literally!  I’m leaving behind some homemade Chocolate Protein Pudding Pops for the kiddos as my way of saying “remember your dear old mother as she’s hauling butt down a mountain.” If you’re as old as me, you probably remember similar frozen confections hawked by that famous Huxtable in the 1980s. Back in the day, my brother and I convinced my mom (aka “the sugar sheriff) to hook us up with these tasty treats because they “contained wholesome milk and all the goodness of pudding frozen on a stick.”  In my version, I’ve added whey protein powder to round them out nutritionally, an “ah-ha” discovery from the recent extraction of oldest son’s wisdom teeth. Enjoy!

Chocolate Protein Pudding Pops Recipe

  • 1 box (4-serving size) instant pudding, chocolate
  • 2 cups fat free milk or milk alternative
  • 1 scoop whey protein powder, chocolate
  • 1 cup fat free non-dairy whipped topping

In medium bowl, whisk together pudding mix and protein powder until combined. Whisk in milk until smooth. Pour approximately ¼ of mixture into another bowl; fold in whipped topping until combined with pudding mixture.  Fill frozen pop molds about 2/3s full of pudding and top off remaining space with the pudding-whipped topping mixture. Add stick tops to the molds and set in freezer overnight.  Makes about 6 pops, depending on mold size.

Note: You can use any type of molds you like, even empty yogurt cups with wooden sticks. However, I double love this fun star-shaped set by Tovolo:

 

Also, don’t forget to stock up on your Nuun Hydration tablets, summer is still going strong and you need to drink lots!  In the promo box, type in “bloggerslovenuun” for a 15% discount off your total order.

Will Yasso’s 800s Help Lasso Goal Marathon Time?

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Valerie Hunt, Bart Yasso and Jennifer Fisher (me)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a marathon coming up at the beginning of December, the Dallas Marathon.  I’ve run plenty of these races and trained using a variety of different plans. From high mileage to low mileage, heavy cross-training to just winging it, it seems that each philosophy has its own merits and misgivings. Plus, when you look at all the other things that go into marathon training, it can easily make your head spin. VO2 max, lactate threshold, nutrition issues and more, I need a nap just thinking about it.

However you plan to train, there’s a simple way to gauge your improvements and see if you’re on target to nail that special goal time. The method is called “Yasso’s 800s,” a workout popularized by Bart Yasso, aka the ‘Mayor of Running” or ‘Chief Running Officer’ of Runner’s World.  The idea is to run a progression of ½ mile intervals once a week, tacking on an extra interval each and every week until a total of ten 800s in one workout session is reached. Of course, you’ll still need to put in all the other hard work required for a marathon, including that beloved weekly long run. I’m going to give the Yasso 800s a try and see how close they predict my actual time, you should try it too!  Here’s the rundown on how to get it done;

  • About two months away from the marathon, head out to the track and run four 800s with a rest in between each that is equal to the last 800 run. Work as hard as you can, but remember that the goal is to keep each interval at an even pace. Don’t blast through the first and slow down in the last.
  •  Assuming the intervals were run evenly (within a few seconds at most), the average 800 meter time will convert into your predicted marathon time. For example, if you run 3:05 minutes for an 800, then your predicted time will be 3:05 hours for the marathon.
  •   Each week, add one additional repetition to the workout until you reach a total of ten 800s.  The first few repeats will feel relatively easy; the later ones will get harder and harder to complete.  If you can finish them all at the same pace, the theory is that you’ll be strong enough to rock the marathon at the converted time.  As the marathon approaches, give yourself a 10 day to 2 week break from this workout to rest and recover.

If you’ve tried this before, drop me a note in the comments and let me know how it worked for you. What was your 800 meter time and what was your marathon time?

Best Beef Cut? Try Asian Flair Flat Iron Steak Recipe

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Move over tenderloin, my new favorite cut of beef is the ‘Flat Iron,’ also known as the ‘Top Blade.’ Thanks to the Texas Beef Council for making the suggestion! Cut from the shoulder of a cow, this juicy, well-marbled steak is rectangular in shape and uniformly thick, making it an ideal hunk of beef to toss on the grill. Sometimes, you’ll get one that looks as if it has almost been sliced and separated down the center. This is because a tough piece of connective tissue that runs through the middle is removed by the butcher before it is packaged up. A pesky but a small flaw I can certainly overlook, especially considering the flatiron is one of the tenderest cuts of beef around (second to only tenderloin), meets governmental standards for “lean protein” and is relatively economical compared to some of the premium grilling steaks found at the meat counter.

Every week the family has been enjoying this steak in some easy-to-prepare form or fashion. While you can serve with brown rice and veggies, we enjoyed the sliced steak served with “pajeon,” a delicious scallion pancake that my neighbor brought over.  The recipe on this traditional Korean side dish is coming soon! Paleo Diet friends, just toss sliced some of this meat sliced finely on a bed of greens and you’ll be more than satisfied.

 Asian Flair Flat Iron Steak Recipe

  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1.5lb (approximate) flat iron steak
  • Garnish: toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions.

Whisk the ingredients in a bowl. Place steak and marinade in a zip-top bag and refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours. Grill flatiron steak on high heat for 4 minutes on each side for medium rare steaks. Medium-rare will read 125 F degrees on the meat thermometer and feature a pink center. If you like your steak a bit more done, aim for medium at 130 F degrees. Allow steaks to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds and green onion slivers on top to garnish.

Flat Iron Nutritional Information

 

McD’s in the Athlete’s Village? Try No-Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars Recipe for Olympic-Sized Snacking

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Over the last couple months, I’ve developed an Olympic-sized appetite which I am attributing to my twice-a-day workout schedule. Run in the morning; CrossFit in the late afternoon.  Today, mindlessly influenced by the fact that there is a McDonald’s in the Athlete’s Village at the London Olympics, I headed on over to my local golden arches for lunch. No, I didn’t woof down a gut-busting Big Mac, fry and milkshake meal and I hope our USA athletes aren’t either! I responsibly ate the Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken which is actually quite good with a roasted corn, tomato and black bean salsa and sprinkling of cheese and tortilla chips. However, with only 290 calories (yet supplying a decent 27 gram serving of protein), I was fiercely famished a few hours later.

Today, to address the needs of my rumbling stomach, I whipped up a batch of No-Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars. Ready in no time, my afternoon treat was ready just in time to kick back on the couch and enjoy seeing the women’s marathon. Sadly, I realized that my favorite event isn’t until Sunday, August 5th.   Oh well, table tennis and badminton will have to do today!

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars Recipe

  • 2 cups minute oatmeal
  • 4 scoops vanilla whey protein powder (my 4 scoops measured 1 ½ cups)
  • 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
  • 1 tablespoon stevia sugar substitute
  • ½ cup natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup chocolate chips

Line loaf pan with plastic wrap. In large bowl, add oatmeal, protein powder, flaxseed and stevia; mix these dry ingredients together until well-combined. Next, add peanut butter and water; knead with clean hands until incorporated (you can try to use a spoon, but my wooden one busted right in half). Sprinkle in chocolate chips, knead a bit more. Press mixture into prepared loaf pan and firm up in freezer for 20 minutes. Pull mixture out of pan by plastic wrap; slice into 12 equal sized pieces. Store in the refrigerator.  Serves 12.

Nutritional info (per serving): calories 221, total fat 10g, sodium 99mg, potassium 94 mg, total carb 22g, dietary fiber 3g, sugars 10g,  protein 11.g