Feeling Burned

July 28, 2014 by Erin

Nanakorobi yaoki – Japanese proverb. (Translation: “7 times down, 8 times up”)

We had a 12-mile run scheduled yesterday. We covered the distance. I am sun-burned and sore and wishing I had worn adequate sun coverage. Seriously, I need to get a Monday to Friday* visor.

Here’s how the run — which we were supposed to do at a 11:20-11:40 pace, and ended up doing closer to a 13:00 pace — went:

Miles 1-4: Hey, this isn’t so bad. Sort of boring running through corn and soy fields. And the deer and horse flies are annoying. But the butterflies are nice. Josh to me, “Do you think you’ll ever do a full marathon?” Me, “I dunno, maybe.” Josh, “I bet you will in the next couple of years.”

Miles 5-6: The headwind after turning (South? East? It’s all the same out in Flatland) and all the traffic on this road is terrible. Thank goodness we had to stop for a freight train so I could get a rest.

Miles 6-8: Hey, doesn’t your friend live on this road? Maybe we should go say hi. We did stop and he gave us more water and let us be in his air conditioned house, which was AWESOME.

Miles 8-10: Did it get about 15 degrees hotter while we were in his house…and sunnier?

Miles 10-12: You know, I am totally okay with our walking these last two miles because I think I might pass out. By this point I was wishing for some UV coverage.

And upon completing our 12th mile in 2 hours and 34 minutes, not counting the break, we called my in-laws to pick us up about a 1/2 mile from their house. Father-in-law rolls up in his truck quipping, “Ha, couldn’t make it up heartbreak hill, huh?” No, no we couldn’t. But you know what — our time even with the walking was not that much slower than my first 5K a couple of years ago. So, maybe I do have a marathon in me in the next couple of years.

* “Monday to Friday” is a euphemism. Because we keep a clean blog here, right?

More Foodie-ism

July 25, 2014 by Erin

Updates for Fermentation Friday. First, we’re going to try to brew a Porter this weekend in addition to going to a wedding back in Josh’s hometown. Not sure it’s going to happen, but I’ll let you know how it works out.

Second, we tried a new (to us) bottle shop in the area, Crafted Drafts, which was (my favorite hipster phrase) “well curated.”

The owner seemed a little more knowledgeable than his second-in-command, who described two beers to me as sours that were not, in fact, sour beers. Overall, not a regular stop since it’s out of the way for us, but a nice addition to the Columbus beer scene. They were doing a brisk business when we went last Saturday.

From: http://www.crafteddrafts.com/

Saw this in my blog feed and had to share:

From: Eater (Token vegetarian dish — probably a pasta. Ding ding ding.)

Also, skipped weigh-in Wednesday, so…181.9 lbs this morning. Assuming I don’t gain 3 lbs of water weight this weekend (and that’s a big assumption) this may be the start of a downward trend.

Cold Brew Coffee

July 9, 2014 by Erin

I made cashew milk for the first time last night. It’s tasty, but having the patience to let the cashews soak overnight beforehand was tough for me. Funny that something so easy tests my patience because I have to let it sit.

America’s Test Kitchen had a cold brew coffee recipe I might try. A twist at the end: adding kosher salt!

Yes, that’s salt he’s adding.

Weigh-In: 185.8 this morning. I was 183.5 two days ago. Looking at the trend lines from my scale, over the past month and a half I’ve crept up from “around 184” to “around 185” with about 2 pounds of water weight related variance in either direction. I’ve stopped tracking my food over the summer and I’ve upped my intake of beer. Both of these things are mistakes, I think. Time to get back on the bandwagon.

Non-Scale Victory: On the other hand, I’ve run 20 miles in the past 5 days — two 5-milers and one 10-miler — so despite what the scale says, I still consider my overall health to be good.

We’re Getting Canned: In a Good Way

July 2, 2014 by Erin

Josh got tickets to have our beer canned by Buckeye Canning at the Grandview Summer Session festival in August. Not sure yet what we’ll brew or whether we’ll bring our dog, but this should be a fun event.

I wonder if we get to design art for the outside, or if they’ll just be plain aluminum cans. Probably the latter, but maybe there’s a way to add some cool labels afterward?