September 17, 2013

A gross running story

Oh, man, the grossest thing happened to me while I was running yesterday. (If you're eating right now, you may want to skip down a few paragraphs). I had seven miles at an easy pace on the schedule, and when I was about a half-mile from home, I noticed a HUGE bird to my left. I was staring at it as I ran, because I'd never seen a bird like that. And while staring, I wasn't watching where I was going...

I stepped on something that felt kind of like a sponge, and I almost slipped. At that moment, there was a car going by, so I was focused on not getting hit by the car, and I didn't stop running. However, I couldn't help but think of what I'd stepped on, and I had a sneaking suspicion it was some sort of roadkill. When I got that image in my head, I was passing by the dead deer that I wrote about recently, and I started gagging from the smell combined with the image in my head of what I'd stepped on.

When I got home, I smelled the bottom of my shoe, and it was horrid. It bothered me all day, so I finally went to go look at what I'd stepped on. Turns out, it was just as bad as I thought--not to get too gruesome, but when the deer had been hit by a car, a small piece of it had landed several yards away from the rest. I was always careful to avoid stepping on it, because it was in the center of the bike path. It was literally about the size of my shoe, and my shoe just so happened to find it when I was staring at the bird. Yuck! I'm not sure how to clean my shoe without ruining it.

Today, I had 3 x 2 miles @ 8:48/mi pace with 800 jogs on the schedule. Basically, that means I would run 2 miles at an 8:48/mi pace, then jog for 1/2 mile to recover; and repeat two more times, for a total of 7.5 miles. This is one of the Hansons' strength runs.

When I took the kids to the bus stop, it was 43 degrees outside, so I wore my ColdGear running tights and a long sleeved shirt, but it turned out to be too warm to run in that. I wished I'd worn a tank, but it wasn't bad enough to go back home and change. I started out way too fast, but about a quarter mile in, I settled into an 8:30-ish pace. I was a little surprised by mile two at how tough that pace felt. It wasn't awful, but considering I ran a half-marathon at an 8:34 pace, you would think running two miles at that pace wouldn't be bad at all. I decided to run the next interval slower, as close to the 8:48 pace as I could.

I have to say, I really liked this run today. The pace wasn't super hard like it is with 400's or 800's, so I didn't feel like my lungs would explode. And because they are long intervals, I only had to do three of them. The whole run went by really fast! (I cut the cool down a little short, because I'd arrived home).


I've been a little obsessed with grits lately. I never really understood the difference between grits and polenta (today, I finally googled it and saw that it's just two different types of corn). I've made polenta quite a few times (Bob's Red Mill brand), but I have such a hard time getting past the smell of it. While it's cooking, it reminds me of a farm. You know that awful smell that hits you when you step out of your car at a farm? I imagine it's because animals eat corn, and therefore, their poop smells like that.

I recently bought Quaker's quick-cooking grits (not the instant stuff, but the 5-minute stuff). To me, it tasted just like polenta but without the awful smell. I cooked them in reduced sodium chicken broth, and then added shredded queso quesadilla cheese. Ohmygoodness, it was heavenly! So I've been making it for lunch, and topping it with an egg.


The cheese grits kind of remind me of the homemade cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese.

For Taste Test Tuesday, I bought some Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thins. I've tried the other flavors, and wasn't super crazy about them, so I didn't really have high hopes for these. But I was craving a cinnamon raisin bagel really badly! The regular cinnamon raisin bagels were 6-8 PointsPlus each; that wouldn't be TOO bad, if I didn't add peanut butter to it, which is my favorite way to eat bagels.


So anyway, I bought the Bagel Thins, and hoped for the best. I read a tip somewhere to toast them while they're still intact, so that's what I did. That works really well, because then the outside is toasted, but the inside is still soft. When toasted after being separated, they get a little too crunchy for my liking.

I topped them with one of my favorite peanut butters--the Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon Raisin peanut butter. It ended up being really yummy! The last flavor of Bagel Thins I tried (Pumpkin Spice) turned me off because of the texture--it had that really fiber-y cardboard-like texture. These Cinnamon Raisin ones didn't have that texture, and I really liked them!



15 comments:

  1. To clean your shoes use a tooth brush and cotton swabs and use a product from the dollar store called AWESOME! - seriously the stuff works fantastic and is environmentally friendly. If the smell is still a problem, try putting the shoe in a container with a lid and a cup of white vinegar. The white vinegar helps absorb smells - a car detailer told me to do it when we had milk spill in my car and it worked.

    Good luck!

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  2. I love cinnamon raisin bagel thins and English muffins - it feels like such a treat to have something cinnamon/raisiny! I saw that Thomas' English muffins has a pumpkin spice flavor for Fall.

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  3. EW! But still I had to laugh at the thought of you smelling your trainer and then heading back out just to see what it was you had trod in lol. I can just imagine the gagging when you realsied lol. Poor deer though :)
    We get quite a few deer and Fox roadkill here and the odd Badger - for some reason the Carrion Crows and Gulls etc will clean up most roadkill but I've never seen them touch a Fox - even a dead one!
    Have to say avoiding the car was definitely more important than avoiding the roadkill - you made the right choice there Katie. As for cleaning the shoe, I can't really help because I commit the ultimate sin with mine and put them in the washing machine - not something I would recommend!

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  4. EEEK about the shoe!!! I would get a toothbrush and bleach after it. YIKES!

    I LOVE LOVE LOVE grits... and I love to eat them with an egg. That's how I did it growing up in Louisiana.

    Have a great day!

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  5. I love grits and eggs, specifically fried eggs and grits. I like my grits cooked soft but dry, not creamy, with tons of butter. It's a comfort food for me as that, plus bacon and biscuits, is what my grandmother would fix for breakfast when we would visit. Sometimes I make grits with skim milk instead of butter, cook some shrimp and add garlic to make my own version of shrimp and grits.
    Thanks for sharing the toasting suggestion for the bagel thins. We eat them at our home and they get hard and brittle when you toast them open, so I'm going to give your suggestion a try.

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  6. I'm super addicted to anything bagels right now, just toasted with butter...heavenly!

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  7. " I'm not sure how to clean my shoe without ruining it." Simple... Just throw those puppies out.

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  8. I love bagel thins! You can toast them together but inside out too. I pull them apart and put the outsides together and then put them in the toaster. The outside stays soft and the inside gets toasty!

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  9. Mmm, come down south, you can eat buttery cheesey grits with your eggs anytime. :)

    I just got a loaf of the Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice bread. 2 points a slice, but soooo worth it. :)

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  10. Ewwww. LOL It was probably a vulture. They eat roadkill since they are scavengers. I stepped on a dead smooshed squirrel once. blech

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  11. I love grits too! I eat them a lot. :)

    Also, so sorry about your shoe! I try to always pay attention where my foot falls hit but sometimes you do get side tracked. I stepped on a dead snake once. Thank GOD it was dead!

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  12. Eww yucky! Maybe you can spray something on the bottom (if it didn't get to the mesh part too).

    I've never ate grits before.

    The smell at a farm is usually the silage not so much the manure. (rotting corn/hay products mostly)

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  13. Eeeeeeeeeeeeew about the shoes! I would probably be tempted to throw them away rather than clean them. I don't know if I could get past the thought of what I'd stepped in to clean them. However, depending on how much you paid for your shoes it might just be worth it to tough it out. Good luck!

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  14. How gross about your shoes! You might want to contact your county DOT about the dead deer and they will come out to remove it. It's becoming a health hazard.

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  15. AnonymousJune 19, 2016

    I was reading your blog to find out how to clean my 8 yr old son's shoe! We ran in a 5K yesterday (his 1st race) and he accidentally stepped right on a very squished possum. I hoped that since it was early on in the race he'd run it off...but I noticed his room smelled rancid and realized it was coming from the shoe!! Ugh! I'm not going to throw them out, so I'm going to try bleach I suppose. Then the white vinegar if that's still needed.

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