the treadmill diaries

I’m the type of person who once she gets a food stuck in her head ..can’t let it go until I’ve had my fill of it.

Obviously, there’s a potential for dangerous behavior here. But, I do what I can to satisfy my cravings while keeping my eating in check. My latest obsession was Polenta.

What’s really funny about this is that I’ve probably eaten the stuff a total of 4 or 5 times in my life. But, I just HAD to HAVE it.

And, so I did. Not once, but in TWO ways.

First, I decided to take my Pulled Pork recipe, swap out the pork with chicken breast, cook it the same exact way, and serve it up on top of grilled polenta cakes. Del-ic-ious-ly simple.

Then, I transformed my usual egg whites and spinach omelet breakfast into a pan-fried polenta cake topped with sautéed spinach and a sunny side egg. It was rich, creamy, and just plain wonderful.

Now that I’ve taken care of this fix, I can move beyond the Polenta to the next craving on the list. J

Do you ever get obsessive about your eats?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

I have my DVR set to record every episode of David Rocco’s Dolce Vita on the Cooking Channel. We all know that I love to cook and eat yummy foods. No big surprise there. And, sure I watch Dolce Vita to get access to new ingredients and recipes.

But, what I’m really doing is staying in touch with the Italian heritage I love so much.

I get to practice my Italian. I overhear the banter & jokes in the background that never get translated. And, I’m fondly reminded of the sights, smells, and tastes of Italy that I hold so dear. It’s a great relationship that I have with the show. I highly recommend it.

The last episode that I caught featured a super simple pizza disguised as a sammy that I just had to try.

I followed David Rocco’s recipe for a Grilled Foccacia Sandwich pretty much to a T but just cut down the extra virgin olive oil to 2 tsp from 3 Tbsp. I can assure you that it didn’t taste like it was missing a thing.

This baby can be served up open-faced like a pizza. Or you can have a little fun with it and fold it in half as David Rocco intended. Either way, it’s going to taste heavenly. The prosciutto (I used prosciutto di Parma) will melt like butter over your warm dough and it’s nicely contrasted by the tangy taste of the arugula cut in lemon and olive oil.

Absolutely delicious. Great eye appeal. Another reason to use your grill. And a good recipe to break the monotony in your dinner routine.

Tip: since most of us will be using a gas grill, consider cutting down the dough’s cooking time to 2 minutes per side. If it overcooks, it’ll get hard and snap when you try to fold it into your sandwich.

Thank you David Rocco – for sharing this sandwich genius with us and for lovingly highlighting Italy and its culinary wonders. Simplicity never tasted so good.

Do you have favorite cooking shows?

My hair is the longest it’s been in a very long time – like 10+ years.

And though I’ve been known to keep it short and care-free, I’ve been thinking about doing something a little different with it this time around. A few weeks ago, someone on facebook mentioned donating hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

I learned that Beautiful Lengths has a minimum hair requirement of 8 inches which is a lot less than what others require. And, what’s even better, is that Pantene in partnership with the American Cancer Society creates wigs for women who are battling cancer at no charge to them. But, they create only as many wigs as they can based on the donations they receive.

So, I’m going to do what I can to keep this hair of mine growing and in good condition.

To avoid grabbing scissors to snip it off at the next opportunity, I’ll probably have to keep it up in a ponytail. I’m not a fan of it dangling in or touching my face. But, I think that’s a small price to pay in return for doing good. And, the ponytail look is very pro running midday and not looking crazy afterwards at work. J

Plus, I like the idea that a small choice I make can potentially have such a positive impact on someone else’s life.

If you’re interested in learning more about the program and how you can participate, feel free to check out the donation requirements.

Have you ever participated in this program or something similar that benefits others?

I’m happy to report that things settled down after my Unwanted Saturday Drama and that the rest of the day turned out to be quite pleasant.

First, my doggies came back from their salon appointment looking cuter than cute. See for yourself.

From Right Before….

             From immediately after…

Then, I turned my attention to cooking us some grub – beer marinated beef tips, mashed potatoes, bruschetta on toasted focaccia bread, grilled corn on the cob, and a huge salad (which isn’t pictured). It was all absolutely fabulous if I do say so myself (and so did my husband).

We ended the night with a short bonfire and some TV watching. Very relaxing.   End Saturday.

Enter Sunday.

When I first got up, I wasn’t feeling my usual run so I first ate some breakfast (cinnamon raisin French toast) and then got my grocery shopping done. With those things behind me, I decided I could trek out to get some miles.

Now, I’m not really sure what came over me but my interest in a short outing turned into MUCH MUCH more. It may have been that it dawned on me that today’s routine marks 50 DAYS of daily workouts. Not too shabby, right?

And, I surprised myself by feeling that in honor of these 50 days I could run 5 miles today even after yesterday’s 7.  But, that’s not the weirdest part.

I got the big bright idea to shoot a VLOG / video while running.  So, I did.

Video Disclaimer:

• No one was harmed in the making of this video including me (to Jon – aka my husband)
• I’m not the most eloquent of speakers while in motion and forced to improve. Yes, words get used more than once. Wrong words are used in places. But you’ll get the drift of what I’m trying to say (hopefully).
• Since I am exercising while filming, please forgive the sweating, the lack of make-up (again) and my stylin outfit.

And now thetreadmilldiaries presents…what Di said on her 5 miler. LOL J

5Miler VLOG

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Here are my stats for the run:

Who out there actually thinks they look or sound good in videos??

I started off this day wanting to accomplish two basic things.

#1 – My doggies are in serious need of pampering. So first thing this morning, they were whisked off to the groomers where they’re getting pedis and new summer doos. Considering they’re this cute to begin with, they’re bound to be simply irresistible after their day at the salon.

#2 –I wanted to try LSD today. No, not the drug. Drugs are for losers. I’m talking about a Long Slow Distance run. And, I set my sights on 7 miles. The good news – I made it happen, felt really good during the run, and had respectable stats:

Enter the Unwanted Saturday Drama.

While on my run (at about mile 5), I decided to turn off onto a pretty quiet road to take shelter from the hot sun and to cover some flat distance.

To set the scene, imagine a road lined with woods on one side and a restaurant and a real estate office on the other. On Saturday mornings, you don’t expect to see anyone at the back of this lane.

When I was making my way through this isolated area, low and behold I spotted a guy hiding in the brush behind some trees just watching me. He looked like he was dressed in his bedtime outfit of a wife beater tank and large baggy running shorts. What was even more odd is that he seemed to be intentionally trying to keep himself hidden at the point where I was expected to exit.

I was completely freaked out. And immediately went into paranoid mode (thanks Mom & Dad for raising me to be cautious!)

I sent my husband a text letting him know about the ‘creepy guy alert’ along with my location. I then turned around and made a b-line for the restaurant parking lot where there would be people (which is in the opposite direction from the guy).

After doing a bit of off-roading, I cut behind the real estate agency, through the restaurant parking lot, and hit a highly traveled road. I’m expecting my pace at this point was pretty decent – fueled by adrenaline.

I was then surprised (and happy to see) that my husband had made it to my location where he signaled to me and then took off to check out the area where creepy guy had been hanging out.

I felt comfortable enough proceeding with the 7 miles at this point. Plus, I was safely escorted and checked on the rest of the way by my strong, protective man.

Perhaps, creepy guy was really just weirdo guy who had no plans of doing anything other than hanging out where he was – and it coincidentally happened to be where I was running. But, you can bet that I wasn’t taking any chances and I’m glad that I played it exactly like I did.

Thanks to my husband as well for being my hero, as always.

Have you ever been freaked out by something or someone while outdoors working out?