Bread, bikes, and blossoms

The weather in Philly has not been idea for running.  Yes, that's my lame excuse for a poor attempt at logging the miles lately.  Maybe one of these days Mother Nature will decide that she's punished the Northeast corridor enough and give us some sunshine and mild temperatures. 

Although sucky weather may deter me from hitting the pavement, I rarely let it dampen my spirit.  But sometimes, even the most diligent runners need a break from the norm.  Especially if it involves cherry blossoms.

This past weekend, some friends and I hurled ourselves into a rented mini-van and made our way to Washington D.C. to salivate at the renowned cherry blossoms.  In the process, several of us learned the following:  Cherry blossoms are not real cherries; museums in D.C. are FREE (what!); pub food in D.C. tastes the same as pub food in Philly.



Blossoms pre-monsoon-like rainstorm


While I mosied around D.C. thrusting my camera at every sight of a cherry blossom, I saw volunteers setting up for the famed Cherry Blossom Ten Miler.  I was insanely jealous and could feel the adrenaline rushing to my weary legs.  This race is on my list for 2012 (assuming I am chosen in the lottery).


Better-looking blossoms

 After an eventful trip to D.C., I mustered up the energy to bust-out my brand-new/slightly-used bike the next day for a 26 mile jaunt to outskirts of the city.  I realized quickly that I was not educated properly in the area of bicycle gears, which cost me the embarrassment of walking my bike up several steep hills.  Despite the feeling of knives stabbing my thighs on the ride back to the city, I couldn't help but conjure up a little evil laughter every time I passed a runner.  Suckerrrssss.

As soon as I nestled my bike in the garage, I ordered an air pump from Amazon.  I have a feeling that my bike and I are going to be best buddies this summer...



Banana bread awesomeness

 Totally unrelated to biking is banana bread, which I made tonight.  I don't particularly enjoy baking as much as I do cooking, but I also tend to buy bananas and then not eat them.  So I decided to act like my mom and make bread on a random weekday night. 

So although the blossoms and bread were awesome, the biking still has me feeling like I ran a marathon on Sunday instead of biking one.  If you know more about biking than I do (which is like, everyone), then I'd love to hear your tips.  Until then, my flower-printed youth helmet and I will continue to get acquainted with each other on the bike path each weekend.

"A" is for anemic

Anemia: A condition that develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. 

In other words, a lack of iron. 

I found this out the hard way, during my freshmen year of college when my weekly cross-country mileage superseded my iron consumption.  Of course, I was 100% at fault for declining to eat the mystery meat served up at the cafeteria.  But seriously, how could I argue with an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord stocked with cocoa crispies and pickles?! 

Although I'm not one to point fingers, I can guarantee you that growing up in the Midwest did nothing to teach my young self about proper eating habits.  I grew up in a household where we had a separate freezer for meat.  Like an entire cow's worth of meat.  And there it sat, wrapped up in matte white paper, ink- stamped with phrases like "T-bone steak" and "ground chuck." 

So that famous catch-phrase, "Beef: It's what's for dinner" was indeed my family's motto.  Almost nightly, my mother would whip up some part of that deep-frozen cow.  Beef and noodles with mashed potatoes?  Hell yes.  Spaghetti with meat sauce?  Bring it.  Minute steaks?  Yeah, I got a minute for one of those bad boys. Pass the A-1 sauce, please. Add in a tall glass of two percent milk and I swore my hands were somehow transforming into hooves. 

However, despite all of my meat consumption as a child, college brought on a new week night dinner special.  Ramen noodles.  They were easy, cheap and could be consumed in my hot-pot in the comfort of my tiny dorm room.  It was awesome.  Until one day, it wasn't. 

High mileage and little consumption of iron-rich foods had me feeling like Hester Prynne, only the "A" I bore wasn't noticeable to anyone but myself.  Iron supplements and some force-fed cafeteria "meat" finally cured me - or so I thought.

Since college, I have not once been tested again for anemia.  But, I'm quite certain that b*tch is back.  Don't get me wrong - I've tried to have blood work done.  Problem is, my veins are too small to extract any blood.  And the thought of going to the hospital to wait hours on end to be poked and prodded has not sounded appealing on any of my days off from work.  So instead, I've been trying to eat iron-rich foods.  And meat. 



Taco Salad Success!

 This poses a problem.  One, cooking with meat scares me.  I'm always unsure if it's "done."  Plus, if I cook meat, I'm stuck eating it for days.  And after all those days of eating meat, I'm sick of it.  So then I take some time off and anemia continues to invade my cells. 

With that being said, I'm really trying to make conscious choices when I eat.  For example, I do, on occasion cook meat.  And sometimes I even get super creative and make taco salad.  Actually, I've only done this one time, so I took a picture as proof.  Not only is the salad meaty, it's got lettuce (full of iron) and avocados, which I read somewhere are a "good source of fat."  I'm not sure where I read that, but I'm sure it was a credible source, like a T.V. commercial or something of the like. 

Yes, I need to get my iron levels checked, preferably before I start bustin' some ass training for Chicago.  Food recommendations would be awesome.  Making me food would be even more awesome.  Just sayin'.