How to: Bake a Pie and War Stories from the NYC Subway

Today’s Workout: 6 Mile Pace Run

Health Check: I felt pretty wiped at the end of my run today – my quads and knees were definitely tired. Going to make sure to do an easy cross-train workout tomorrow to recover.

I wanted to take it easy this week, since I feel like I’ve been eating and drinking out a lot recently. I picked a good time to do it, since there are so many great Olympic sports stored on my DVR.

I saw a recipe on Shape.com that caught my eye for (relatively) healthy pies. I had nothing to do on Tuesday night, so why not bake a pie?

I edited the recipe a bit, because there was no way I was going to use an “almond” dough for my pie crusts. So if you want the original (and healthier) version, click here. Otherwise, here’s what I did:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Pillsbury crusts (found in the refrigerated section)
• 4 cups (4 large/6 medium) sliced peaches, thawed if frozen, peeled if desired
• 2 cups (2 large/3 medium) unpeeled, sliced plums
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons sugar (for top crust)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 350°. In a bowl, toss peaches and plums with granulated sugar, juice, cinnamon and salt; add to pie pan with first crust; dot with butter. Cut second crust into 3/4-inch-wide strips. Carefully weave strips over filling, forming a lattice. Trim overhanging dough to 1 inch; roll overhang back on itself, pinching at 1/2-inch intervals, to form a crimped edge. Sprinkle extra sugar over pie. Bake until fruit bubbles and crust is golden, 65 minutes. Eat up.

My masterpiece!
It remained whole for about 5 minutes.

The Shape.com version says that it’s only 359 calories per slice – so if you add on my Pillsbury crusts, my heavy hand with the sugar added to the top crust, and my affinity for cutting large pieces of pie, it is probably nothing close to that number.

Either way, it was a fun thing to do on a Tuesday night, and I had something to eat while I watched the skinny and buff Olympians do their thing.

mmm.

It has been a strange week of commuting. The L train has been delayed almost every single day, and I’ve seen major rage fests happening all around me. There are two sets of stairs on my transfer from the G to the L train, and when both G trains arrive at the same time, there is always congestion to get to the stairs. Depending on my mood, I will either wait in line, or cut a little bit in front of people (if you've never done that, you're a saint. And you probably don't get to places very fast). But on Tuesday morning, there was a particularly crowded line, so I waited my turn. A girl cut in front of the guy right before me, and he gave her the super aggressive double-middle-finger to the back of her head.

It wasn’t even 8:30AM yet, and this guy was already raging. Actually, my first thought was, how many people have given me the double-middle-finger because of my sometimes aggressive commuting tactics? Probably more than one.

I get where that guy is coming from - while I have never done that myself, I've mentally done it many, many times. Commuting during rush hour on the NYC subways is war - and when somebody accidentally bumps into you or cuts you off, it has grounds to make you irate.

For some reason this week, I didn't feel angry. All the delayed trains and crowded cars didn't bug me for once, and I just tuned into my iPod or magazine and tuned everyone else out.  Perhaps in the world of karma I was rewarded for not cutting anyone off, since I somehow got a free drink at Starbucks today. How awesome is that?

This has been a good week for running – I’ve been getting every run in, and added a mile to two of them to make up for skipping some runs the last few weeks. I’ve been cautiously wondering whether I lost some of my speed that I had during half-marathon training, since most of my runs have been in the 9:00-10:00 mile range. But this morning’s run changed all that.

I set out to do a run at Marathon Goal Pace, which for me is about 9:00. I ran over to the Wburg Bridge, and I was amazed I could run that behemoth and actually split under 9:00. I did a mini fist pump when I saw those paces.

I am crazy excited abou this weekend's long run. Do you know why? IT’S SUMMER STREETS!!!!!

If you’re not familiar, it’s one of the best events that NYC puts on to encourage healthy lifestyles. They close down Park Avenue for a 7-mile stretch, so you can run, bike, or roller blade your way through the streets that are normally buzzing with cabs. The word on the street is they also have workout classes and rock climbing walls.

I will have an awesome running buddy to enjoy it with.

Keith and me! Sweaty in VT.

On that note, Happy Thursday to everyone!

Run as One 4M Race Recap

Let’s start with the important stuff.

I made Keith cupcakes as a study buddy for his law school finals that start this week (I always found that infinite amounts of Chex Mix and Cherry Coke helped get me through finals in college. Sugar helps you concentrate, it’s been proven). After helping Erin make them last week, I was dying to give them a whirl.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Butter

Sugar

Oreos

Oreo crumbs

Cream cheese frosting (also with butter, sugar, and Oreos)

Oreo half to garnish

Let me know if you need any further instruction on this recipe.

I hit the road early this morning for some mileage before the Run as One 4M Race in Central Park (is this starting to sound familiar?). My alarm went off at 6:35AM, and I shuffled around my apartment until the last possible second. I wasn’t excited for this race, since my favorite running buddies weren’t in attendance, and I knew I’d be doing 10ish miles before brunch was even being served in Brooklyn.

So I begrudgingly did the same route I did last week, childishly groaning during the first mile.

Are you tired of me complaining about my self-imposed early morning miles? I am too!

The run ended up being great. I left my iPod off until the race, and I realized I'm becoming more and more familiar with the route's little quirks (the unforgiving smell by Columbus Circle… the bum who hangs out at 60^th and 3^rd Ave with beverages from Au Bon Pain… where was he today??).

Look at all the cute dogs!!

I got to the race at a little under a 9:00 pace, with just enough time to hit the porta potties and get to the start. I tried to take a picture of myself in the corral, albeit unsuccessfully. I’ll spare you the weird angle and the other runners who are creeping in it, and trust that you can create a mental image yourself.

While I was stomping around my apartment this morning, I was not eager to run the same exact course as last weekend’s Run for the Parks. But after my 6-miles runners’ high, I realized I could use it to my advantage. For the first time ever, I made a race plan. I was most tired during the hills in miles 1 and 3 of last week’s race, so I decided to warm-up a bit during mile 1, pick up the pace during the flat course in mile 2, conserve energy in mile 3, and step on the gas in mile 4.

I surprised myself by the amount of energy for the race. I didn’t need the emergency granola bar I packed in my amphipod, and I was mentally ready to take on the course. So I followed my plan:

Mile 1 was the most tiring – I spent most of my time bobbing and weaving, trying to get into a groove and set my sites on people I could try and race past. I picked up the pace at mile 2 as planned, feeling really good. I dialed it back slightly at mile 3, and booked it during the last mile.

Mile 1: 8:07

Mile 2: 7:27

Mile 3: 7:50

Mile 4: 7:17

Total: 30:41

Avg Pace: 7:41

32 second PR!

I came home, showered, and celebrated by making an egg, cheese and bacon sandwich.

I was dreading the race this morning, and I surprised myself by having a really great run. The 6ish miles I did before the race went by crazy fast, and without an audio book or playlist to distract me. I was totally aware of every muscle ache and incline, and I didn’t feel like keeling over at the finish line. In fact, I felt like I could have kept on going.

These all feel like great omens going into the Broad Street Run next weekend. I'll leave my complaints at home, and enjoy every step of the 10 miles of early morning Philadelphia pavement.