Dev on Running

I’ve neglected this blog every so often for the past few years, mostly out of laziness, but this time it was for a very good reason: I’m pregnant! Aaron and I are expecting a little Baby Pass in late April 2016!

We are so incredibly thrilled!!!

There was no way I could write about working out and/or eating healthy for the last few months, as nothing has been even close to normal on either front. But now that the secret’s out, I plan to resume blogging and share this whole crazy experience with you.

I’ve always loved reading other bloggers’ posts about pregnancy, even years before I was ready to become pregnant myself. Recently, it was especially helpful to go back and reread some of my favorite bloggers’ posts from their early weeks of pregnancy to know that what I was experiencing in my early weeks was completely normal.

So, consider this fair warning to jump ship now if you’re not into pregnancy talk! This blog has always been about sharing my efforts to live a healthy life. Sometimes that has meant writing about training for a marathon; sometimes it has meant writing about losing the extra pounds I gained while traveling. In this stage of my life, it means sharing my efforts to have a healthy, happy pregnancy and, ultimately, a healthy, happy baby.

Ready? Let’s get into it!

I’m going to do this Q&A style, even though no one has asked… well… anything yet. It’s not lame if I admit it, right? Shhh, it’s fine. Just allow the gratuitous oversharing to happen.

When am I due / how far along am I?
I am due April 26, 2016, and I am currently 13 weeks pregnant. Almost out of the first trimester!

Do we know if it’s a boy or girl?
Not yet, but we’ll find out at our 20-week anatomy ultrasound in December. We just had a 13-week ultrasound to check for early signs of chromosomal abnormalities (everything looks normal on that front), and the ultrasound technician showed us a view between the baby’s legs but wouldn’t comment on it either way. We had no idea what we were looking at. The suspense continues!

Do we have names picked out?
Yes! Aaron and I have a boy name and a girl name that we both like. I’d say the girl name is 100% solid and the boy name is 95%. If we find out the baby is a boy, I’d do a bit more exploration to make sure something else doesn’t strike me, but so far I haven’t found anything I like better. (I say “I” here because Aaron is currently 100% on this boy name; I just need to catch up!) Either way, we plan to keep the name to ourselves until the baby is born.

Were we trying to get pregnant? Did it take long?
Yes, we were trying, and no, it didn’t take long. I know that many couples struggle to conceive and part of me was terrified that we would, too. You just never know until you try. For some reason, I figured we would either get pregnant the first month or it would take several months — or years — of trying. We feel so lucky that our case was the former; we don’t take it for granted for a second. I can’t pretend I know what it’s like to struggle to conceive, but I know the feeling of wanting a baby so badly, and my heart aches for those who struggle. 

I have a few friends who got pregnant right away, so I made sure we waited until we’d be truly ready if it did happen. For me, that meant the end of this summer, after I was able to enjoy several fun trips (Napa, Las Vegas, Michigan/Chicago) with my body as my own — meaning I could drink, not be nauseous, not deal with food aversions, etc. It worked out perfectly!

Part of the timing was luck, of course, but a lot of it was due to tracking my periods using an app called Ovia Fertility. After I stopped taking birth control pills in February, I started tracking my periods out of curiosity to see if they’d naturally get on a regular schedule again. Miraculously, they were super-regular almost right away. The app is great because it analyzes the length of your cycle (everyone is different, y’know) and predicts the “fertile window” that is ideal for baby-making. I’m sure it’s not perfect, and it’s probably much harder to identify your fertile window if your periods aren’t regular, but all I can say is that we followed the app’s guidance once we were ready and it clearly worked!

How did we find out?
I first had an inkling I might be pregnant near the end of our trip to Chicago in August. I went to the restroom at breakfast one morning and thought I had gotten my period, which was so odd because I wasn’t due for it for about four more days. Like I said, I was used to getting my period either on the exact day predicted by the app or the day after — never early.

I bought tampons just in case it was my period, but wound up not using them because there was no more blood after that one instance. That’s when I realized it could be implantation bleeding — a bit of blood that indicates a fertilized egg has implanted into the uterus. I stopped drinking alcohol after that day, just in case!

Sure enough, when we got back home, I missed my period on the day that I was supposed to get it, and took a pregnancy test first thing the next morning. It was very clearly positive! I have a whole other post written about that experience that I’ll post next. It’s kind of mushy, since that was the most exciting, life-changing moment of our lives so far. 🙂

How have I been feeling?
For the past month or so, I have been feeling much better! Almost too good, to the point where I was worried that something was wrong until we had our first ultrasound and heard the heartbeat at 9 weeks, and then again until we had our second ultrasound at 13 weeks. Other than feeling tired (and sometimes completely exhausted) most days, I seem to be done with significant nausea and food aversions (of which I had plenty, from weeks 6-8). And I haven’t puked yet. Knock on wood.

I’ve been taking (really brief) notes on how I’ve been feeling since week 5, and Aaron has taken a photo of me each week since week 9, so I’ll do a quick first-trimester recap with more info/photos and post it next week, once I’m officially done with it!

And for more updates/weirdness/whatever in between official blog posts, you can check out my Instagram @devonpass. 

Thank you for reading and coming along on this adventure with us!

I’m sorry for the delay in writing this post! I started my new job on Tuesday and I’ve been busy doing lots of new-hire paperwork and studying for my role. I’m working in the fashion industry now, writing about clothes all day — so rough, but someone has to do it! I have a lot to learn about brands, trends, garment styles, and all the details that go into clothes (necklines, silhouettes, pockets, cuffs, etc.). It’s kinda nuts, but it’s also awesome. I feel very lucky!

Back to last week: I got (mostly) back on track. It was an unusual week in that I had my last day at my previous job, attended my mom’s wedding, and suffered my first trail-running injury (although it was not one I ever anticipated). Read on!

MONDAY
Slept in. Plus wine and The Bachelorette in the evening, of course.

TUESDAY
Slept in. Wahhh.

WEDNESDAY
Ran 4.6 miles at 9:04 average pace. It’s amazing how much better my whole day feels when I wake up early and exercise. I feel more energized, have more time to make a legit breakfast (because if I don’t wake up to work out, I just sleep as late as possible), and can go to work feeling like I already accomplished something.

THURSDAY
Lifted weights for 30 minutes. 

This was my last day working at Redfin, where I was a copywriter for nearly three years! If Redfin is in your area, you really should work with a Redfin Agent to buy or sell your home; you’ll get great service and save a ton of money. We sold Aaron’s condo with a Redfin Agent and had a fantastic experience! (They don’t pay me to say that anymore, so you know it’s true.)

FRIDAY
Rest day. My mom got married to her love of 11 years, Don! They had a very sweet, simple courthouse with just my brother, Aaron, and me in attendance, and then we all went out to eat. It was perfect!

I don’t have any wedding photos to share yet, but here’s a pic of the little bouquet I made for my mom with white roses from Safeway. It turned out really well and she loved it!

SATURDAY
Ran 5.2 trail miles at 13:07 average pace. Ugh, this was a slog. I’m terrible at pacing myself while trail running, so I end up walking a bunch. I still enjoy myself, but I long for those fit days when I felt like a strong runner. I’m working on it!

SUNDAY
Ran 3 trail miles at 12:39 average pace. I was planning to run 5 miles, but I got stung by something (hornet or wasp) TWICE at mile 2. It stung me in the back, and then it must have gotten into my tank top because it stung me again on the stomach as I was whipping off my top to try to get rid of it. 

I was really shocked because I hadn’t heard anything buzzing around me; it just came out of nowhere. The worst part was that I couldn’t see the sting on my back, so I had no idea how bad it was. (I actually didn’t realize I’d been stung on my stomach until I got home because it was significantly less painful than the first sting.) When I ran into a guy walking his dog on the trail, he looked at my back and said it was definitely some type of sting, but I’d live. This was actually helpful information, since my crazy, worst-case-scenario brain was all like, “What if it was a black widow bite and I’m about to die??”

Anyway. It was not the most fun experience — both stings still itch four days later — but it won’t keep me away from trails. Now I know to be more wary of stinging insects than bears!

I thought Aaron’s two-week absence would make me a more productive person. I’d wake up early every day, exercise, make delicious dinners from scratch, and catch up on reading.

Instead, I never caught up on sleep post-Vegas because friends and family wanted to hang out every night to catch up and celebrate my new job by eating and drinking. As a result, I slept in every morning, was too lazy/busy to work out every night, and was generally full of excuses.

Wow, what a fun update! It gets better toward the end. 🙂

MONDAY
Slept in. 

I also went to my friend Amy’s big, beautiful new house to marvel over her legit adulthood, eat fajitas made by her husband, drink wine, and watch The Bachelorette.

TUESDAY
Slept in. 

I also went out to happy hour with Karen, who still meets me for monthly food and booze sessions nearly two years after we first crossed paths at Green Lake. Yay!

WEDNESDAY
Slept in. But, I did a one-hour Baptiste yoga class at work. We had a health fair all week, and part of it was free yoga, so obviously I was all over it. It was a very beginner class, but I appreciated the very detailed descriptions of basic poses since I definitely don’t have perfect form.

I also had dinner with my dad at a most excellent restaurant that appears to be a dive bar, but actually has delicious Mexican food: El 42 Cantina. I had ahi poke tacos that reminded me of the divine Da Poke Shack in Kona, plus a seriously lethal watermelon margarita. I had to add several pours of water to make it remotely drinkable. I’m not sure how I feel about this.

THURSDAY
Slept in. 

I also donated blood as part of the health fair. I hadn’t donated blood since high school, but if I figured if I wasn’t really getting my blood pumping this week, I might as well pump it out for someone else.

Plus, I went to Aaron’s dad and stepmom’s house for dinner. They made spaghetti, which I hadn’t eaten in the longest time. It was sooooo good.

FRIDAY
I had the day off work, but I was feeling a bit… wait for it… drained from donating blood, so I was super lazy and watched a bunch of old episodes of The Bachelor (Jason Mesnick’s season, which I never watched back when it aired). I am the coolest.

My Jawbone fitness tracker says I slept for 10 hours and 24 minutes and walked 378 steps. Wowwwwwwwwww.

SATURDAY
Ran 4 miles at 9:24 average pace — my first run in two weeks. I felt really out of shape, which is exactly what happens when you don’t run for two weeks.

Also, Aaron came back!!! And he brought all the chocolate from Switzerland. 

I knew I married him for a reason.

SUNDAY
8-mile hike (roundtrip) to the top of Mount Si with Aaron’s mom, Greta. 

This is the much longer and more difficult hiking option on the same mountain as the Little Si hike I did with my dad on Father’s Day. I though the 3,150-foot climb was pretty intense, but then again, I don’t have a ton of hiking experience.

Greta was nervous about tackling it, but we completed the four-mile hike to the top in 1:54 with no breaks. We spent about 30 minutes at the top snacking and enjoying the view, and then Greta wanted to RUN back down… so we did. Sheesh! My MIL is a beast. We didn’t run the whole way since the trail gets pretty rocky in spots, but we made it down in 1:08.

A few years ago, Aaron and his ultra-trail-running friend Patrick ran up Mount Si in less than an hour. WTF. I wouldn’t be able to run for 30 seconds up that trail. Aaron could barely walk for four days after (I assume from the downhill portion).

My legs felt fine after, but Greta and I didn’t run nearly as hard. It was more like controlled falling through the woods. Wheeee!

I’m not even sure I can call this post Last Week’s Workouts. How about Last Week’s Workout?

My schedule is all out of whack with Aaron being gone. I’ve been staying up later, sleeping in more since I’m tired from staying up late, and skipping workouts.

I also felt really stressed and anxious last week because I accepted an offer for a new job (!!!) and gave notice at my current job. I don’t know why I was so anxious because everything worked out well, but I lay awake at night worrying about the whole process of negotiating the offer, telling my boss I’m leaving, and thinking about how life will change in a few weeks. It was especially weird to not have Aaron around to talk through everything (although we texted a lot using WhatsApp!).

I’m walking away from a lot of perks at my current job, but ultimately my new role will be a better fit for where I want to go in my career, with a lot more opportunities for advancement. Change is always tough, but nothing worth doing is ever easy.

Finally, I spent the three-day Fourth of July weekend in Las Vegas for my friend Gillian’s bachelorette party, so you know there was no working out there! It was a ton of fun. More on that below.

MONDAY
I slept in and skipped yoga. I fully intended to do it after work, but I got the job offer during the day and spent the evening on the phone with multiple people talking about it. And then it was time for The Bachelorette! And wine. Lots of wine.

TUESDAY
30 minutes of weights — this routine at the gym. This was my one workout of the week!

WEDNESDAY
I skipped my run, sadly. I was looking forward to it to help relieve some of my anxiety, but sleep won. Then I planned to run in the evening, but it was just too hot and I was too lazy. Theme of the week.

THURSDAY
I could not fall asleep for the life of me on Wednesday night because I was anxious about telling my boss that I’m leaving, so Thursday was another sleep-in day.

I felt sooo relieved after talking with her on Thursday, and was finally able to feel excited about what’s ahead. I spent Thursday evening running a few errands for Vegas and packing!

FRIDAY
I woke up at 3 a.m. to get ready and go to the airport. I didn’t feel that tired at the time because I was excited for the trip, but a few nights of bad sleep really hit me on the plane and I think I took a little nap. Then it was all sun and fun for the rest of the day!

I’ve known Gillian since kindergarten, and we’ve been good friends since 8th grade. She was one of my bridesmaids, and she even caught the bouquet at our wedding! Obviously I take full responsibility for her engagement. 🙂

We stayed at Planet Hollywood, and we spent lots of time at the pool. I believe the high temp was 110 degrees, which is CRAZY, but luckily there were plenty of icy beverages to keep us cool.

We had fun outfit themes for the weekend, starting with the bride-to-be in white and the rest of us in black for our first night out on the town.

BFFs since 8th grade! I wore the Gym Short Romper from Rent the Runway (here’s the lowdown on Rent the Runway). Gotta love anything that has “gym short” in the name, right?

The whole group at The Venetian. We went to dinner at some Mexican restaurant there, and then hit a few clubs, including Foundation Room at the top of Mandalay Bay, which has an awesome view of the strip! And we had free champagne, which is always nice.

Gillian and her lovely sisters!

SATURDAY
What’s more patriotic on the Fourth of July than walking around Las Vegas decked out in red, white, and blue? We even had matching American flag sunglasses!

We slept in, had breakfast, and then moseyed around for a few hours seeing the sights. We also saw Mike Tyson! At first I thought it had to be a Mike Tyson impersonator because he was walking around alone with no entourage, but shortly afterward we saw a big sign at a sports memorabilia store that said “MEET MIKE TYSON TODAY!” So, there’s that.

After more pool time, we got dressed up in our patriotic eveningwear.

I wore the Deep Blue Dress from Rent the Runway. Vegas screams for sequins.

The bachelorette wore the Sweet Almond Martini Dress for her first RTR rental. It was gorgeous on her!

We had an incredible seafood dinner at Aquaknox in The Venetian; probably the best seafood I’ve ever had. We started with crab ceviche, and I had perfectly cooked salmon with forbidden rice for my entree. Our waiter even gave us complimentary prosecco, dessert, and dessert drinks! The meal was on the expensive side, but very, very worth it. I’ll certainly go back if I’m ever in Vegas again.

After dinner, we went outside to watch fireworks, but we didn’t watch for very long because… well… if you’ve seen fireworks once, you’ve seen them all. And surprisingly, the fireworks were not very impressive. You’d think Vegas would have an over-the-top show, but not so much.

As we walked to our next destination, we saw that people had taken over the strip and were just walking in the middle of the street! We took advantage and got a fun picture.

The last time I was on the strip, I was running my first marathon! My legs were just as tired after two nights of partying this time as they were after that race. 🙂

We wound up at XS at Encore, which is what I had imagined a quintessential Vegas club to be. The majority of the club was outside, surrounding the huge pool.

It was super fun, but a LATE night. We were out until 3 a.m., I think? Thank goodness I wore flat sandals! I learned my lesson the night before.

SUNDAY
We flew home on Sunday, and generally tried to recover from the events of the weekend. I don’t know how I used to function in real life with all the partying I did in college, but I certainly can’t do that anymore! Ahhh, to be young(er) again. (Actually, no. I’m good.)

Time to get back on a good schedule this week. My top priority is to catch up on sleep. I’ve discovered that whether I exercise or not depends hugely on the quality and quantity of sleep I had the night before. And exercising in the morning helps me fall asleep faster at night, so it’s a positive cycle.

All aboard the zzzzzz train!

I’m following a non-training plan to keep myself moving when I’m not training for a race. Here’s what I did last week:

MONDAY
50 minutes of yoga — this Tara Stiles video. Again, this was so calming for the beginning of the week. Yoga (in addition to The Bachelorette) has me actually looking forward to Mondays!

TUESDAY
30 minutes of weights — this routine at the gym.

WEDNESDAY
5.25-mile road run in 46:55 — 8:56 average pace. The weather was perfect this morning. We’re having a heatwave in Seattle (80s and 90s every day), but this run was so pleasant and cool. It totally made the 5:00 wakeup worth it!

THURSDAY
30 minutes of weights and half of The Dozen.

FRIDAY
Rest, unless you count jumping up and down with joy about the Supreme Court ruling as exercise!

My granddad passed away in September 2011 at the age of 92, but I wish he had lived to see this day. He told me in one of our last conversations that he was so hopeful about the future of gay rights in this country. I’m not sure I ever mentioned it here, but my granddad was with his partner Michael for more than 40 years. It was something of a family secret that became clear to me as I got older and realized that Michael was more than a “roommate.” 

I made sure to let my granddad know before he died that learning he was gay never changed the way I felt about him; if anything, it just made me hurt for him, knowing all the hardship he dealt with in his life, struggling to live as the person he truly was rather than the person the world wanted him to be.

I’m so happy that, with this ruling, gay men and women are more free to publicly love who they love, with validation from the highest court that their love is just as recognized and protected as anyone else’s. #LoveWins

Whew. End emotional interlude.

SATURDAY
5-mile trail run in 1:00:50 — 12:10 average pace. My trail pace is much slower than my road pace, so I don’t bother looking at my watch while running. I’m just out there for the fun of it and to increase my endurance anyway!

Aaron left on Saturday for an epic two-week mountain biking trip through Iceland, Switzerland, and France. In the summer of 2012, he had to cancel a mountain biking trip to Iceland because he tore every ligament in his shoulder in — what else? — a bike accident, so this is his redemption trip! But rather than spending the entire time in Iceland, he’s only there for a few days as a stopover on his way to Switzerland, where he’ll be part of an organized mountain biking tour. He’ll be riding in the Alps, so follow him on Instagram for some incredible photos! He’s already posted a few from Iceland. And I already miss him. 😦

SUNDAY
7.2-mile hike (roundtrip) to Poo Poo Point. This is by far the most popular hike in my town, and now I’ve finally done it!

The reward at the summit is this spectacular view of Issaquah, Lake Sammamish, and Bellevue. Also, it’s a popular launching point for paragliders. I always see them circling up there from down below, but unfortunately there were no paragliders this morning. Maybe next time!

As beautiful as the summit view is, I enjoyed the forest views along the way just as much. I started hiking at 7:30 a.m., so the trail was super quiet and peaceful.

This hike is rated moderately difficult, and I definitely found it to be so. There were stretches of steep inclines that had me breathing hard and going, “Really?!?” as I climbed them. I guess I thought the hike would be easier based on how popular it is, but I underestimated it. But I felt like I got a great workout! The whole thing took me three hours, including 30 minutes of relaxing and snacking (and Instagramming) at the top.

That’s a wrap for this past week. I did a much better job going to bed earlier (like 9:15) so I felt energized when I woke up. Here’s to continuing that this week!

I stayed on track with all of my workouts this week and am now looking forward to a rest day tomorrow! I’m so ready to sleep in; it was really tough to get up this morning.

Once I dragged myself out of bed and went to the gym, I did a mix of my usual free-weight exercises and half of The Dozen core routine.

I either don’t understand how to do reps of a push-up side plank or am just not strong enough. Am I supposed to be doing one-armed push-ups while holding a side plank?? Or maybe I’m supposed to be going from a regular plank to a side plank. That’s probably it. (I wish this workout had accompanying video of the moves, or more detailed explanations.)

Anyway, I did the bicycle abs, back bridge, ab scissors, prone plank, fire hydrant, and donkey extension. Next time, I’ll try to do the whole routine all the way through.

I’ve never made a concerted effort to strengthen my core, and simply wishing for rock-hard abs to appear on my body hasn’t worked so far. I guess I actually have to try. 🙂

An empty gym means it’s time for an awkward gym selfie!

It also means I got to blast Taylor Swift from my phone. Is anyone else going to see her on the 1989 World Tour?? I am!!! (Thank you, husband, best gift ever!)

My hair is now too short to fit into a ponytail, so I just French braid the front parts back and pin them to stay out of my face. It works really well, even for running.  It’s kind of fun to feel what little hair I have flowing behind me as I run!

I last cut my hair in January and then left it alone for several months, thinking I might grow it long, but I’m so glad I cut it again a few weeks ago. Short hair is so easy for summer.

It also makes me feel more spunky!

To round out this random post, I’ll tell you about our new obsession with basil now that we’ve planted an herb box. We’ve been grabbing fresh basil every morning for our eggs, and I hope our plants will be big enough at some point to make pesto!

We also have cilantro, although Aaron used most of it last night to make this avocado cilantro lime rice, which was awesome, so it was totally worth the sacrifice. Maybe it will grow back? If not, we’ll just plant more basil in its place. 🙂

Any more ideas for delicious ways enjoy basil?

I’m following a non-training plan to keep myself moving when I’m not training for a race. Here’s what I did last week:

MONDAY
50 minutes of yoga — this Tara Stiles video. Tara Stiles founded Strala, which is the yoga studio I fell in love with while trying ClassPass. (I decided to stop using ClassPass for now, since I feel like I need to take tons of classes to make the most of it, and I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on myself.)

TUESDAY
30 minutes of weights — this routine at the gym.

WEDNESDAY
4-mile run around my neighborhood.

THURSDAY
20 minutes of weights — this video. I overslept a bit and didn’t have time to go to the gym, so I tried a random video at home and it was OK. I still didn’t have time to finish even that!

FRIDAY
Glorious rest.

SATURDAY
6.75-mile trail run. I wore my new Hoka One One Challenger ATR trail shoes for the first time and loved them! They are so cushy and absorb all the rocks and roots so I don’t even feel them. Also, this is the longest trail run I’ve done so far!

I randomly bought these shoes after doing no more than 30 minutes of online research and finding nothing but good things about them. Competitor named the Challenger ATR the 2015 trail shoe of the year! What’s more, my local REI had one pair of the pink/green color I wanted left in stock, and it was my size!! Fate, I tell you.

SUNDAY
3.5-ish mile hike. We hiked Little Si with my dad and brother for Father’s Day, but Aaron and I had to turn back before we reached the top so we could meet Aaron’s dad and stepmom for dinner. I don’t know for sure how much of the 4.7-mile (round-trip) trail we hiked, but we were on the trail for a solid two hours! It was beautiful, and not too difficult.

Overall, I feel good about my activity level last week. I think I did a good variety of workouts so I didn’t feel burned out on doing any one thing. 

I loooved starting Monday with yoga to stretch my muscles after a weekend of running and to center myself before the start of a new week. By Wednesday, I was really excited to run, and by the weekend, I was really excited to run again. I can see this being a sustainable workout plan.

The one thing I struggled with last week was waking up at 5:00 a.m. each morning to exercise. I didn’t adjust my bedtime to correspond to earlier wake-ups, so I got less than seven hours of sleep each night (which is very little for me) and I really felt the effects by Thursday (hence oversleeping). By Friday, I was more than ready to sleep in until 6:00 — OK, more like 6:30!

I love waking up early to exercise before work so I have my evenings free, but I need to be more diligent about getting to bed earlier so I get enough sleep.

One trick that I think will help is to read a few pages of my book instead of looking at my phone right before bed. I’ve been reading The Goldfinch for what feels like forever, and I really need to finish the freakin’ thing! Reading always makes me sleepy at night, so I’ll kill two birds with one stone. 🙂

I took a surprise grass-fed beef cooking class on Thursday night! 

Aaron registered for the class months ago, but he’s been sick for the last two weeks and is still coughing like crazy. He decided it was best to skip it, but there was no way to get a refund or change his registration to a different class. Since the registration fee was a hefty $55 (it’s $50 if you’re a PCC member), I decided to take his spot so the money wouldn’t go waste.

And because I knew there would be delicious food to eat. Yum.

I probably needed this class more than Aaron, since he cooks all the meat in our house (BBQ, slow-cooker, oven, doesn’t matter — he cooks it) and I’m afraid I’d ruin it if I tried. We still have some of our grass-fed cow in the freezer, so now I actually know how to make perfectly edible and delicious burgers and steaks!

The class was held at PCC Natural Market, a natural food co-op local to the Puget Sound region, and taught by chef Darin Gagner, who was very knowledgeable and funny.

It was billed as a hands-on class, but rather than each of us manning our own food stations, Darin had all of the food up front and invited two people at a time to assist him with various parts of the food prep and cooking. I was up first, kneading a few pounds of ground beef and forming patties for burgers. (Grass-fed beef is much leaner than conventional beef, so kneading it helps evenly distribute what fat there is.) Then I was done and simply got to watch and take notes! I liked the format because it was a little less stressful than trying to keep up with every step for two-and-a-half hours.

First, we made grass-fed burgers with Beecher’s cheddar (my fave!), balsamic red onions, spicy aioli, and pickles.

Even though the burgers were well-done, they were so juicy and flavorful! The only seasoning to the beef itself was a generous sprinkling of salt and a little pepper on both sides of the patties. I could have easily eaten a whole burger, especially since the toppings were perfect complements and the potato bun was incredible! Luckily I have the recipe to make at home.

Next, we made sesame, soy, and ale-marinated sirloin skewers with ginger and plum vinaigrette and baby lettuce salad. I ate this one before I remembered to take a photo, so just imagine a little skewer with alternating chunks of sirloin, shitake mushrooms, and green onion on a bed of greens. Very delicious!

The thing I found most interesting about this dish was that Darin insisted we should always use cheap, light-colored beer — Budweiser, Coors, Corona, etc. — for marinades rather than craft beer. The flavors in craft beer are too complex and can overpower the other flavors in the marinade and, ultimately, the meat. I would have thought tastier beers make tastier marinades, so this is good to know!

The final dish was dry-rubbed grass-fed rib-eye steak with cilantro-lime butter and grilled vegetables. 

That cilantro-lime butter!!! Get it in your life ASAP:

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves
• Zest of 1 lime, plus 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce

Beat butter in a mixer on medium-high until while and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Turn power off, add remaining ingredients, then mix on low for 1 minute. Keep at room temperature until ready to use. Leftovers can be refrigerated and brought back to room temperature before use.

Again, since grass-fed beef is lean, Darin recommends adding a bit of fat to it just before serving — a drizzle of good olive oil or a dollop of butter. Bonus points if it’s herb butter!

Here are some other tips on cooking grass-fed beef that I found really helpful (and that apply to conventional beef, too!):

• Temper all steaks and roasts before cooking — let sit out for at least 30 minutes to come to room temperature. This will result in a more evenly cooked piece of meat.

• Pat meat dry before cooking on a pan or grill so it doesn’t stick.

• Sear meat on high for flavor, then finish cooking on a wire rack on top of a pan in a cooler oven (250 degrees or lower) or a cooler part of the grill.

• Turn steak with tongs, not a fork.

• Your most important kitchen utensil when cooking meat is an instant digital thermometer. Grass-fed beef can go from perfect to dry in one minute, so monitoring the temperature is key. Darin recommends ThermoWorks brand thermometers. The worst thing you can do to a steak is cut into it to check its doneness!

• FDA guidelines recommend that steaks and roasts should be cooked to 145 degrees F for optional safety, but Darin recommends:

• Rare: Remove from heat at 120 degrees and let rest for a final temp of 125 degrees
• Medium-rare: Remove at 125 degrees for a final temp of 130 degrees
• Medium: Remove at 135 degrees for a final temp of 140 degrees
• Medium-well: Remove at 145 degrees for a final temp of 150 degrees
• Well: Remove at 155 degrees for a final temp of 160 degrees

• Let cooked meat rest for 5 to 8 minutes before cutting or serving. This allows all the juices and flavor to settle into the meat.

• To easily clean a pan, add warm water and a few teaspoons of baking soda to the pan. Simmer on the stove with a lid on for a few minutes, then clean.

TMI? I found it all really interesting! But maybe just because I was there, ha.

I probably won’t do another PCC class because they are pretty pricey and I had hoped to eat more food than we did (I was still hungry when I got home), but maybe I’m just spoiled by my past experiences with cooking classes — namely this all-day, multi-course experience in Thailand. That was as close to heaven as I’ve even been!

Have you ever taken a cooking class?

It’s been nearly a year since the 2014 Eugene Marathon, so I should probably recap it now, huh?

The Eugene Marathon is usually in April, but last year it was on July 27. It moved back to April this year, so the race organizers probably realized late July is a fairly shitty time to run 26.2 miles.

I can’t blame my bad race entirely on the heat, though. At the time, I felt like I trained well for the race, but looking back I realize I made a few mistakes:

• I wasn’t 100% laser-focused on the training or the race. When I registered for the race in fall 2013, I figured I’d have plenty of time to train for the marathon and then shift my attention to planning my October 3 wedding. In reality, training in the spring and summer heat became a drag after a while, and my mentality turned into: “I can’t wait until this marathon is over so I can just focus on the wedding.” My attention was divided between two huge endeavors, making me feel physically and mentally worn out. I tend to race best when I make marathon training my #1 focus, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I flopped at Eugene.
• I did all my training runs, but gave up easily when things felt tough. I remember several long runs during which I got a side stitch or just felt tired and allowed myself frequent and generous breaks. Not even just walking breaks, but sitting-on-the-fence-on-the-side-of-the-trail breaks. That translated into me giving up easily during the race itself.
• I did most of my runs on a soft surface. We moved to a new town in May 2014, and I stuck to the same running route — the East Lake Sammamish Trail — for pretty much the entire training cycle. The trail is super flat, and the majority of it consists of loose gravel over dirt (although segments of it are in the process of being paved, and eventually the whole thing will be paved). I didn’t realize how much this would matter until my body started hurting like crazy partway into running Eugene’s roads, sidewalks, and paved trails. Maybe I should have trained on the same surface I was going to be running on? DUH.

So, here’s how the race went down.

Aaron and I drove to Eugene the day before the race, and stayed at an adorable Airbnb about ¾ of a mile away from the start line. We walked over a mile to the expo and back (maybe not a great idea in hindsight?), and I posed excitedly in front of Hayward Field with my bib.

If you look closely, you can see a group of incredibly fit ladies taking pictures behind me. Eugene was hosting the IAAF World Junior Championships, so the little town was crawling with really, really ridiculously muscular and good-looking young people from around the world. I felt like an atrophied blob next to them. Good times.

We ate dinner at Laughing Planet, which was ridiculously yummy, but probably a little too healthy and not hearty or salty enough. I think I had a rice bowl with some kind of meat and plantains and veggies. My best marathons have been after eating an obscenely greasy hamburger and fries (Chicago) and a super-salty/greasy breakfast (Big Sur). Live and learn.

Our Airbnb hosts had friends in town who were running the marathon, so they said I was welcome to prepare my breakfast (scrambled eggs) in the main house since the other ladies would be doing so anyway. They even insisted I use their eggs! So nice. Again, though, I should have had a heartier breakfast. For out-of-town races, I’ve been really successful with buying eggs, bacon, and potatoes from a restaurant the day before, and then either microwaving the meal or eating it cold. Don’t forget the salt!

So, let’s see, I was on my feet a little too much the day before and wasn’t properly fueled. Combined with my training mistakes, let’s see how this all played out in the race!

I slowly ran the ¾ mile to the start line as Aaron biked alongside me. He was planning to go for a ride and then meet up with me at various points along the course.

For the first time in a marathon, I chose NOT to wear my fuel belt — probably another mistake! I always drink Nuun during training, and the course had water and some other sports drink instead. But since it was going to be a hot day, I wanted to be prepared to ditch my shirt if necessary, and wearing my fuel belt on bare skin would have resulted in wicked chafing. I stuffed Gus into my shorts pockets and planned to rely on aid stations for liquids instead.

I started the race feeling fairly strong, like it was going to be a good day. I ran the first 5K in 28:42 with a 9:14 average pace, and crossed the 10K mark in 57:01 with a 9:11 average pace. 

I saw a guy riding his bike off to the side of the course, clearly keeping his significant other company. I thought, “Aww, that’s sweet. It must be her first marathon since he’s riding alongside her.” (Now knowing what happened to me later… HA.)

I think things started feeling tough during mile six or seven — wayyyyy too early to start struggling in a marathon! I was so baffled as to why running felt like slogging at that point. I figured maybe the feeling would pass, but it only got worse. 

Knowing that I still had at least three hours of running ahead of me, and the already-warm day was only going to get hotter, I seriously thought about turning off at the half-marathon split… but I knew I would be so disappointed in myself if I did. I paid for a marathon, I trained for a marathon, and I came here to run a marathon. I decided to continue the slog.

Clearly I still smile for cameras even if I’m not feeling good! Ha.

I crossed the 13.1-mile mark in 2:02:12 with a 9:20 average pace — not bad at all, really, but definitely starting to slow down from my earlier pace.

Aaron met me on the course shortly after the halfway mark and I was extremely frustrated and upset. Frankly, I had a bad attitude and had resigned myself to thinking that the rest of the race was going to suck. (I wonder what it would have been like if I was able to maintain a positive attitude? If I hadn’t allowed myself to mentally give up?) 

I gave him my tank top and was immediately relieved to feel cooler. I wasn’t even self-conscious because I was too busy being a cranky pants.

Not. Happy.

At some point, I started taking walk breaks. Not even fast walk breaks. My Garmin was set to pause if I stopped moving (or moved too slowly to register a pace), so my mile splits are not at all accurate because they only show my moving time, not all the time I spent walking slowly, sitting on the curb crying and feeling sorry for myself, flopping down in the grass, dry-heaving on all fours behind a tree, etc. All of those things happened, although I think the majority of them were after mile 20. I’m not proud of them. Now do you see why it took me almost a year to write this dang recap??

I do have accurate splits from the timing mats, though. I crossed the 20-mile mark in 3:15:10 with a 9:46 average pace.

I had anticipated seeing Aaron at the 20-mile mark, so I just focused on getting myself there. Then he wasn’t there! I forget when I found him, but it was a fairly short distance after 20, which felt like forever. And then I was a big baby (walking, flopping on the grass, etc.). He totally had to cut me off from my walk breaks and urge me to keep running, and he stayed by my side as my personal cheerleader for the rest of the race.

I still smiled for the cameras, though! Pictures can be so deceiving.

Remember that girl who I thought needed a bike escort because it was her first marathon? Turns out I needed one for my fourth marathon.

There’s not much else to say about the rest of the miles except that they absolutely sucked and were the hardest miles of my life. It’s quite telling that my Garmin time — which, remember, only represents my moving time — was 16 minutes faster than my chip time. That means I was not moving or moving extremely slowly for a cumulative 16 MINUTES during this race. So sad.

The best photo of the whole race, of course, was taken in the home stretch, just before Aaron was pulled off the course before entering Hayward field. I didn’t even see this camera because I was concentrating so hard on finishing strong, but he totally seized his opportunity.

Finishing the marathon on the track at Hayward Field was still really cool, and I was so emotional because I truly believe I wouldn’t have finished this race without Aaron’s support. He rode beside me for almost six miles at a super-slow pace, so well over an hour. He dealt with my bitching and complaining. He gave me Nuun from his water bottle. He carried my shirt the whole time. 

It was an amazing demonstration of love that we both referenced in our wedding vows.

But I had to finish this race alone. And this is a REAL smile!

My official time was 4:33:27 with a 10:26 average pace, which is 18 minutes slower than my previous slowest marathon (my very first one). But I never thought I’d see this finish line, so I’m proud! Plus, I had no idea what my time was during the race since my Garmin wasn’t accurate, so I thought I’d easily be in the five-hour range. I’m very, very happy with 4:33, all things considered.

I learned a lot from this race, but my biggest takeaway is that I shouldn’t sign up for a marathon unless I can fully commit to the training and go into it with a strong mentality. Without that, it’s too easy to give up when things get tough.

I’m not sure I’ll ever have as close to a perfect marathon as I did at Chicago, but I always learn something from every marathon. Eugene taught me a lot, and Big Sur was significantly better as a result. 

Maybe now that I’ve written all this down, I won’t make these mistakes for the next one — whenever that may be. 🙂