Blog Updates!

Howdy folks! I wanted to catch you guys up on some happenings in the world of Peace, Love and Bagels. I've been toying with the idea of switching from Blogger to Wordpress for a while now but have been terrified to actually make the switch. I don't know much about Wordpress but I'm hitting the walls with what blogger is capable of.

Now recently, my comments program hasn't been working and I've kind of had it with Blogger.

So here's the plan:

I'm going to take the next couple of days to sort out my blog situation. I'll check back in when I have made the switch to Wordpress and I will (hopefully) be using my own domain name!

Please bear with me while I try to make these changes happen with the least possible pain and loss of blogger stuff. I assume I'll be losing many of my great comments, which I'm pretty sad about. I also am not technically savvy enough to figure out how to make all my links work correctly and not route back to blogger. I'm also not sure how to get all my blogger posts to link to wordpress, but I'm going to do my best to work through all these issues and come back with a Peace, Love & Bagels that is bigger and better than ever!!

Wish me luck, I promise I'll be back soon!!!

A New Family Member!

PL&B readers....meet Buck ("short for Buckmister, long for Bu"...what movie??)

He's the newest member of the Kocher/DiLiberto clan.

Buck came home on Sunday and lived it up in the yard with Pele'. The two of them played in the mud all afternoon (anyone else have Lake Erie in they're backyard?)

Needless to say, they both got a bath that night. 

We only had a few incidents involving pee and carpets, but that's to be expected. He's not house broken yet!

Since he is a rescue dog, we have no idea what kind of dog he is. Any guesses on what mix of breeds this cute guy is???

Marathon Monday: Training Week #14

Training week 13 recap:

Monday - crosstrain. It was too rainy to get out and run so we had a challenging yoga practice instead. We followed one of the doyogawithme.com classes, Connection to Core. Like I said, it was a challenging practice and I am still a tiny bit sore from it. I really like the classes on that website though, they are more like going to a yoga class at a studio than watching a video. I've been using they're classes at lunch fairly often.

Tuesday - speedwork, total of 6 miles with 3 x 1 mile repeats at 8:39 and 1/2 mile jogs in between. I also had an easy yoga practice at lunch because I have been really tight, but this run was a challenge for Brandon and I. We rocked our speedwork a few weeks ago, but this time we knocked about 5 seconds per mile off the pace...and we could totally feel it! We also started the run doing the first mile in our VFFs. I am pretty sensitive to cold weather (even if it's only marginally cold) because I have terrible circulations to my fingers and toes! So my toes were SO COLD because the Vibrams keep them separate and they can't warm each other! I think they'll be better to use when the weather is a bit warmer outside!

Wednesday - rain. Haha, kidding. We were going to do our 4-miler today, but it was yucky out and Brandon was still at the recording studio, so I practice yoga instead. A class full of twists was just what I needed to wring out the toxic office goo that I accumulate throughout the day. I also threw in a few cards worth of Hit The Deck to warmup. For the record...I hate burpees. So I usually turn them into mountain climbers or something that doesn't make me wanna vomit at just the thought.

Thursday - 3 mi easy. Turned out to be a 3 miler completely in our Vibrams. We considered putting it off until Friday but that goodness we didn't because it was more rain all morning.

Friday - rest. Cav's game!

Saturday - 18 miles. This run kicked my ass. I wasn't in it mentally just about the entire time. I felt like I dressed too warm and had to shed some layers in the beginning only to put them on again halfway up MLK. There were several long stretches where I just had to walk because I simply couldn't get one foot in front of the next. I was mentally and physically in a bad place...my body was just breaking down. Low on self esteem, high on self doubt. I think the only way I got through this run was because Brandon was right there, encouraging me and sending positive vibes my way. This was the fourth week of long runs in a row and I think my body was showing that.

Check out the map of our run

and the elevation...no wonder I died towards the end!

Sunday - rest, rest and more rest.


Now we have only four more weeks to go! This week is a low mileage, no long run week! Phew. We have a wedding to go to on Saturday so we're only going to do 7 miles for our long run and I think our bodies are going to thank us for that. The schedule looks like this (the dates are incorrect, because I shuffled weeks around to accommodate the wedding this weekend):

I'm really looking forward to an easy week AND spending lots of time with our new puppy!!! (New pup post coming soon!)

Peace, Love & Bagels,

Nanaimo Bars

I am having a bit of writer's block lately and I have been too busy to upload my pictures of our homemade bagels (no worries, you'll get the recipe soon). Instead I am going to work on removing any links to my old blog and deleting it from the world completely. So, this *delicious* recipe is a repost from the old blog. 

Trust me, this recipe is golden. 

I found this recipe on a beautiful vegan food blog... madcap cupcake. As the name suggests, there are many many many dessert recipes. If I wasn't skipping out on desserts during Lent, I would be making these tonight. These things are dangerous to have around...just be careful if you're planning on making any. 

Oh and if you haven't seen it already, Angela came up with a few variations on these bars too. I haven't tried any of her recipes yet, but I'm sure they're to live for as well

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom layer

1/2 cup earth balance (or other vegan margarine)

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tbsp flax meal

3 tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups crushed graham crackers or crumbs

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Middle layer

1/4 cup earth balance (or other vegan margarine)

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tbsp vanilla custard powder * 

3 tbsp plain soy milk

* easy to find in Canada but sometimes difficult to find in the U.S. – instant vanilla pudding powder can be substituted.

Top layer

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1 tbsp earth balance (or other vegan margarine)

Assembly:

• To make bottom layer: Grease a 9-inch square cake pan. I lined the bottom with parchment that stuck out the top so I could lift everything out after – this makes cutting the bars easier (I didn’t want to scratch up my nice pan)
• In a small bowl, beat flax meal and water together until frothy, set aside.
• In a sauce pan over low heat, combine 1/2 cup earth balance, sugar, cocoa, and vanilla . Add flax mixture and stir constantly until mixture thickens.
• Add graham crackers crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts, stirring to combine.
• Press the mixture into the greased pan.

• To make middle layer: In a large bowl, beat together 1/4 cup earth balance, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla custard powder, and soy milk until creamy.
• Spread custard mixture over graham cracker base in pan. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

• To make top layer: Melt semi-sweet chocolate and 1 tbsp earth balance. Pour over chilled bars and spread over top. Return to refrigerator to chill until firm (at least 1 hour).

• I recommend checking in on the squares after maybe ten minutes of this final chilling phase – or as soon as the chocolate topping begins to set a bit enough to score. While it’s still soft, score just the top chocolate layer with the lines you will cut along later. This way you will be able to cut the squares cleanly afterward when the chocolate is fully set, without cracking the tops (like I did).
• Serves 9-16, depending on how you divide them.

Oh, one more thing...I have some big news!! Brandon and I will be welcoming a new puppy into our family this Sunday! Stay tuned for puppy posts!!!

Product Review: 2Toms BUTTShield

photo credit: 2toms.com

I thought it was a joke when the folks at 2Toms contacted me to see if I wanted to do a product review for them. 

ButtShield? REALLY? 

It seemed a little too perfect for my maturity level.

Ok, but on the for reals side, Butt Shield is exactly the kind of product you need if you plan on doing any sort of long distance running. Claims from their website include things like:

• eliminating friction that causes chafing
• lasts all day, even under extreme conditions
• doesn't stain, it isn't toxic and isn't greasy
• easy to apply, with a roll-on applicator...no need to deal with messy creams or powders
• it's waterproof!

I can think of a couple of other body parts that might need Butt Shield as well. But when 2Toms contacted me, I hadn't made it to that point in my training that necessitated a product like this (although, Brandon did). So, of course I said, "yes! I will absolutely try Butt Shield!!"

When I got the sample from them, our next long run was a 13-miler. It was still hovering around freezing and I was still wearing my spandex - which doesn't allow for a lot of skin-on-skin movement. When I was training for Akron, my trouble areas were between my thighs (thanks, short running shorts) and under my armpits, above the sports bra line. I wanted to wait to try out Butt Shield when I really had the chance to; when the cold weather eased up and I was finally able to put on shorts and a t-shirt!

Ha. 

Little did I know that 14 miles would do me in. Even though the day we ran our 14-miler, I donned the same spandex pants and Under Armor top that I always wear in cold weather...my butt cheeks apparently had other plans. Yep, didn't think I was going to need Butt Shield until I actually needed it. That's the thing about chafing. It's not a problem, until it's a problem. 

I wasn't about to make that mistake again - I obviously put Butt Shield on for our 16-miler last Saturday. 

My thoughts? Being starkly honest here, at the beginning of the run, it gave me a bit of  "wet" feeling wherever I had applied it...which was a bit uncomfortable. I'm not sure if it had rubbed itself off or in or what, but after a few miles, the uncomfortable feeling went away. I'll tell ya what though, after 16 miles my butt was happy as a clam! It definitely works for your longer distances. 

The downside is that one bottle of this stuff is going to run you $12.99 or so. While it is incredibly convenient, my prior attempt to avoid chafing was to rub deodorant on the area...which works just as well. I used deodorant during the last marathon that I ran. I will say though, with Butt Shield you are pretty much guaranteed not to chafe, while if you use deodorant, it's liable to rub off in the course of 26.2 miles, leaving you no better off than if you hadn't used it at all (just a disclaimer, since deodorant does not claim to be an anti-chafing agent).  

photo credit: 2tomsaustralia.com

That said, it's certainly worth the 13 bucks, if you want to avoid the pain after your long runs (getting in the shower is the WORST!) also, if you don't want to fork up the cash for diaper rash cream (a.k.a. zinc oxide) which, yes I do own due to some prior chafing experiences.

DISCLAIMER: I was given a sample of Butt Shield to try and, if I wanted to, review on PL&B. The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own.

What steps do you take to protect yourself from the dreaded long run (or ride...or pole vault...) chafe?

Peace, Love & Bagels,