New Running Buddy

It's a dog! Well, she's a puppy at the moment, and also, not a runner (yet). My husband and I adopted Sadie, a little pit mix, just a few weeks ago. But it didn't take long for me to realize that I want this "puppy stage" to end as quickly as possible and just have a normal, functioning dog that doesn't act a fool when she sees a rock on the ground.

I know it will be a while before this can happen, much less, before she can run for more than 30 seconds before discovering another rock. But I decided to take her down to the community track last week and begin some conditioning exercises anyway.

Just a little running by my side on the straightaways is all I had in mind.

But apparently, Sadie had other motives. Either that or the worst ADD I have ever seen. In short, she would run when she thought she was chasing someone. Those were full-on sprints. There was a lot of, "Come on, Sadie...just run a little more until we get to the finish line!" and I would proceed to nearly drag her against her barely-moving little paws for the final 5 meters to the end of the straightaway. I think we did 3 laps total (mostly walking), then headed home.

I don't know if this counted as a "workout" for either of us (maybe more so the dog than me, just because it tired her out for a good long nap later on), but at some point in the future there will be human/dog workouts going on.

Doggie-selfie fail

All tuckered out from too much shoe-chewing

I don't want to set myself up for total failure though. If by some stroke of fate Sadie does not want to be my running buddy (highly unlikely), I guess I cannot force her. But I do know that she loves the outdoors, and along with me, my husband, and my husband's sister Jenny, Sadie completed a long day of hiking in LA last weekend.

No running buddy? No problem. My hiking buddy you shall be! 

Oh no!

Ladies and gents, this is not the end of an era.

Yes, that is my beloved pizza stone broken in 2 pieces.

Also, I believe it is the result of improper heating. I know, I know. For every single recipe I post I say, "put the pizza stone into a cold oven and then turn it on." I sorta broke my own rule.

Trying to be a multi-tasker, I thought I could make my Friday night pizza and start prepping some cookies for Super Bowl Sunday at the same time. The cookies needed to cook at 350, the pizza at 500. So I thought, "what's the harm in making my cookies, and then putting the stone in a 350 oven, and then turning it to 500?" Well, if you didn't notice the picture above, that is the harm.

I could blame this mishap on overuse of the stone. Or maybe I cleaned it improperly once or twice. Or maybe it was a piece of junk all along. Regardless, this has been a devastating loss for my pizza creations. This pizza stone has retired to my local trash can and it is time to hunt for a new one!

On a happy note, I did manage to completely cook a delightful pizza on the stone before tossing it out. While the oven was somewhere between 350 and 500 I heard a low "pop" from the oven and wondered, "What the heck is going on in there?" only to find two pieces of stone where there once was one. With no other alternative to cook the awaiting pizza, I simply slid the two broken pieces together and forced it to work for just one last za. And praise Jesus it worked because it was just all too delicious a pizza to have missed out on. That pizza's story will be told in the near future as well!

Running Lately + Yoga

Do you ever feel like you just ran like the wind, finished up like a total champ, but then come to find out that you really didn't go much faster than your normal pace? I had one of those runs. Felt like the world played a dirty trick on me!

Here on my latest long run I completed a healthy 4.87 miles in just over 41 minutes. I made an extra effort to get up the hills and took advantage of the flat and downhill sections. I could have sworn that my pace was closer to an 8:15 mile.

Nope. 8:27 was it. Lately my pace has been right there around an 8:30 mile for most runs, so I wasn't far off from the usual. Now I'm not a regular racer, but I do want to work on getting faster. And although I have a strong, fit body I really have to work at it if I want to be fast. And that work is hard.

From what I remember from my cross country and track days, the way to get faster is to practice running fast. Seems simple enough, but that's definitely an "easier said than done" concept. Then I remember back to the 1-mile fast-as-you-can-go repeats with only about a minute of rest in between, and the 400-meter sprints where another repeat would start every 2 minutes, and the ladder workouts. Those workouts hurt a lot, but they worked. More on speed work later. 

On a different note, yoga and flexibility. I've been slacking off in the stretching department lately and I can really feel the effects of it. Having tight muscles, a sore back, and rickety-feeling hips is no fun. My plan is to start doing more yoga on a somewhat regular schedule so I can increase my flexibility, and also, it's good for the soul, ya know. 

But there's one small problem. Along with spiders, car accidents, and breaking a tooth, yoga is one of my greatest fears in life. I have a hard time approaching it as exercise because it is so different from my usual cardio workouts. To me, exercise means high-intesnity, high-energy, sweat-inducing challenges combined with loud music. Yes, yoga can be those things (but the music is quieter), and I always appreciate the opportunity to go barefoot. But the thought of incorporating balance, flexibility, and mental focus all into one workout session is so highly daunting to me that I usually just go for a run so I don't have to think about it. 

Well the other day I had some time to spare and hopped onto DoYogaWithMe to finally face a yoga class. I found a 45 minute class called "Power Yoga with Twists" and completed the first 20 minutes of it. I've completed full yoga classes before, but perhaps I've been out of practice for too long now, thus explaining my completion of less than half of this recent session.

Then after perusing the Women's Health website for mere minutes this morning, I stumbled across this yoga article which I think addressed my yoga issues perfectly right now: Yoga for Everyday Athletes. 

The article addresses how regular exercisers can do themselves harm through the sports or workouts in which they participate:

Whether you're a new runner, total gym rat, or summer-only tennis fanatic, a yoga instructor can tell. That's because workouts that emphasize running, lifting, and swinging movements leave the telltale signs of tight hamstrings, quads, and shoulders—the trifecta of treacherous spots in fit females.

Hence, the WH yoga workout suggested sequences 6 different moves that help stretch, loosen, and balance the muscles which can lead to stronger workouts in the future.

I think the universe directed me to this article intentionally.  

And although I prefer a traditional yoga class or a video to follow instead of pictures that I should observe and follow, I think I can incorporate these six moves into my fitness routine. Not to mention, I'm already familiar with half of them. 

Downward-Facing Dog

High Lunge

Twisted Lunge

Dolphin

Pigeon

Legs up the Wall

Click over the the full article for full instructions. Each move is explained along with the benefits it provides...as if you didn't already know that yoga can be beneficial. Now go have a happy time running and stretching!

Deluxe BBQ Chicken Pizza

When I made a barbecue chicken and pineapple pizza with sharp cheddar, I thought I really had something there. And at the time, I did. But then the world of Pinterest presented to me an even better version of something I thought couldn't be topped. And here it is…

It's still a BBQ chicken pizza with pineapple chunks, but so much more…red onions, bacon, and jalapeños.  I am still recovering from this delight and can't possibly fathom improving upon this pizza any further.

Also, I did a twice-baked crust to make it a bit crispier. Lately my crusts have had a little "mush" layer just beneath the toppings, and although it does not ruin the meal it certainly causes a distraction. To eliminate the mush layer, simply bake your crust for 3 to 4 minutes before putting the toppings on, then remove it from the oven, top it with all the good stuff, and bake it again until it's done. Just that one extra step is completely worth the work.

Toppings you'll need:

• About 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup barbecue sauce, more or less depending on your preference
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 red onion, sliced and cooked
• 2-3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled into bits
• 1/2 can (about 1/2 cup) pineapple chunks
• Handful of jalapeños, to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

If you don't have your chicken and onions all ready to go, cooking these is very simple.

• All I did for mine was slice the onion and chicken breast very thin, place the onions onto an oiled baking sheet, and place the chicken on top of the onions. That goes into the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. The only thing I would have done differently is use more red onions. I only used half of a medium red onion, but using the whole thing would have satisfied me even more. But that's purely a matter of taste - use the amount of onion that makes you happy.

• When the chicken is cooked, remove the baking sheet from the oven and chop everything that was on it into bite-sized pieces. Set it aside while you prepare the rest, or put it in the fridge if it's going to be more than a few minutes before you start the rest of the za making.

Let us now start with the real business we came here for: to make an epic pizza.

• Preheat the oven to 500, making sure your pizza stone is inside.
• Gather everything you plan to put on the pizza (cooked chicken and onions, crumbled bacon, drained pineapple chunks, sauces, and shredded cheeses). Once you have your dough ready, you need to work with the swiftness. 

• If you want to do the crispy crust thing like I did, make sure your dough is ready to go (prepped and cut just smaller then the pizza stone). When the oven reached 500, take the pizza stone out and put just the dough for the crust on it - no toppings just yet. (Or if you're really crafty, slide the dough right onto the stone without removing it from the oven at all. 
• Now you're going to have to keep an eye on it so it doesn't cook too much, but generally it should take no more than 4 minutes to crisp it up a little bit. 
• Remove the stone with the dough on top from the oven and get ready to place your toppings on it next. 

It may be a little bit lumpy or bubbly looking if you're doing this step, but don't worry, it will all be just fine. Generally, kneading and rolling out your dough gets rid of the air bubbles within it, but obviously I don't have that art down to perfection just yet. If your crust begins to look like this, simply press down the bubbly parts with a spatula (not your hand 'cause it's freakin' hot!), or pop them with a knife to deflate them a bit. 

• Working with your pizza stone on a stable surface, evenly spread your pizza sauce onto the crust.
• Spread (or squeeze from a bottle) about half of your barbecue sauce onto the crust next. If you like your barbecue sauce more than pizza sauce, you can adjust the ratios of those. But don't worry - you will be adding more barbecue sauce in the last step. 
• Sprinkle on all the rest of the toppings (onions, chicken, pineapples, jalapeños, and bacon). Make sure they are evenly distributed around the pizza. You may prefer more or less jalapeños depending on your tolerance of hot and spicy things. 
• Sprinkle on the cheeses last (you can mix them or just sprinkle on one after the other) and carefully place the whole thing back into the oven.
• Now if you did the pre-bake on your crust, you won't need it in the oven very long before it's done. Perhaps 5 or 6 minutes should do it. If you didn't pre-bake, then this will take about 10 minutes until it is complete. My best advice is to keep an eye on it and take it out when it's as done as you like it. (Golden edges on the crust and melted cheese on top can usually indicate a done pizza.)

Golden and melty and DONE!

• Remove the pizza from the oven and spread or squeeze the remainder of your barbecue sauce on top. Let it cool for a few minutes (the pineapple pieces get hot in a 500-degree oven and they stay hot the longest). 

Mmm. Get into ma belly.

So, so, so good. Typically I do add-ons to my slices…nothing unusual - maybe just some red pepper flakes or a side of sauce for dipping. But I can say with confidence that this pizza needed nothing! It was a stand-alone winner and a Friday night delight.