Recipes for Health: Spinach, Tofu and Sesame Stir-Fry

I recently got adventurous and made tofu for the first time EVER. I usually pick it out of my chicken pad thai and I've never ordered it in a restaurant, but for some reason this Recipe for Health called to me -- it just seemed so delicious and nutritious. I gave it a try and it turns out that it IS delicious and nutritious! And it turns out I can cook tofu! It does take a little time -- though the recipe doesn't call for it, my roommate said when she's cooked tofu before she pressed all of the water out of it, otherwise it would turn to mush. The first time I made this dish I kinda pressed out some of the water and it turned out fine, but the second time I was more thorough and I think the tofu did remain firmer. Speaking of, one of my favorite blogs, Carrots 'n' Cake, just wrote a post about a tofu food press! Check it out!

This dish is a little spicy and really tasty. I used Martha's suggestion to use it as a pita filler for every serving I made. She also suggests serving it over grains or noodles. I doubled the recipe since one thing of tofu is one pound. I've reflected the doubled recipe below.

Spinach, Tofu and Sesame Stir-Fry

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound tofu, cut in small dice -- I used firm tofu
2 large garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons grated or minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
Soy sauce to taste
2 6-ounce bag baby spinach, rinsed
4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
2 teaspoons sesame oil

1. Heat the canola oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet or wok, and add the tofu. Stir-fry until the tofu is lightly colored, three to five minutes, and add the garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about one minute, and add soy sauce to taste. Add the spinach and stir-fry until the spinach wilts, about one minute. Stir in the sesame seeds, and add more soy sauce to taste. Remove from the heat.
2. Using tongs, transfer the spinach and tofu mixture to a serving bowl, leaving the liquid behind in the pan or wok. Drizzle with the sesame oil, and add more soy sauce as desired. Serve with rice or other grains, or noodles. You may also use it as a filling for whole wheat pita bread. 

I hope you enjoy!!!

Sooo yeah that "getting back thing"...

I'm here! I'm doing stuff! I've been running, racing, cooking, ellipticalling, AND I got a massage. All good things.

I ran the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k last weekend with my roommate B. It was my first run over 2 miles since the More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Half-Marathon in late April, so I went into it not expecting much. B and I had discussed running the race together since neither of us was planning on racing hard, and thank goodness B ran it with me! I felt sluggish and my legs felt like sandbags, and I have a feeling I didn't eat enough the night before. Having B with me definitely helped me through it, as did the usual mix of Lady Gaga, Miley and Girl Talk!

Just compare me finishing the More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Half-Marathon:

Happy! I'm even smiling (or is that a grimace? Haha)!

...to me finishing the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k:

Blehhh...tired looking...dragging...dead.

Oh well. Sometimes you have bad races. C'est la vie!

I still felt pretty good for the first few miles, and around mile 4 or 5 I was starting to feel a little...weird and not great. I was really glad to have B with me though!

My legs felt pretty good the next day. I've been going to physical therapy and working on strengthening and stretching my hip flexor. I still have this totally bizarre and unidentifiable pain in my right leg, but I think it's from overcompensating for the hip flexor pain on the left leg. I'm not sure how to fix that really, but the massage I got today definitely helped and hopefully more stretches and strengthening exercises will help too. I highly recommend the place I went to for my massage -- Eastside Massage Therapy. It's very no-frills, but it's far cheaper than any hour-long massage at a fancy spa. And it was the best massage I'd ever had!

I ran only once last week, a couple of miles where I ran a mile and walked on an 8% incline for half a mile or so. I felt pretty OK and physical therapy helped a lot too. I had the Brooklyn Half-Marathon yesterday and since I'm doing the 9+1 program for the 2011 NYC Marathon I figured I should at least show up and cross the start line to make sure it counts. My legs had been feeling OK (the hip flexor had been feeling great) so I decided to give it a try. The race involved two loops around Prospect Park (I'd never run there before!), a 5-mile straight shot along Ocean Parkway (SOOOOO boring...), and about a mile along the Coney Island boardwalk (I'd never been there before!).

I honestly felt SO great the first seven miles (aside from the uphill parts of course) -- that was a huge motivator for me. I was torn because part of me just wanted to be there and try my best, and part of me wanted to compete and do well! Once I left the park and had nothing to look at but highway signs though, I was lost. Totally bored. I had a few miles where I would just stare straight ahead and focus on a person in front of me -- unfortunately for part of the time I had a man in front of me with THE HAIRIEST BACK I had EVER seen. He had a bald head but an incredibly hairy back. THAT was motivating for me to run past him at least...

Once again, my Garmin lied to me and would beep at the mile before I reached the mile marker, so the time is off on this (which I guess means the splits are also off a bit). I think I need to call them or recalibrate it or something because in every recent race the miles have been off!

Pretty good! You can see where the hills were in Prospect Park... And at the end there was a ramp up to the boardwalk, which really is just so cruel at the end of a race!

I had a great time overall, but I just could not stand that 5-mile straightaway. I'm just glad that I finished it, that I survived, and that I improved!

More to come soon...I'll definitely be back! Especially since marathon training will be starting in late June!!! AAAHHH!

Getting back

I took a week (OK, 10 days) off from blogging, and I've taken a week off from running while I figure out what's going on with my legs. I've been to a physical therapist who was great but too expensive, so I'm starting over at a new physical therapy (PT) place on Friday. The first place I went to was very thorough in their evaluation and I definitely learned a lot -- I'm too mobile in some places and not flexible enough in others; I've built up certain quad muscles too much and haven't built up others enough; and my knee surgery from almost 10 years ago has affected the way that I run. I'm hoping to start a physical therapy program soon so I avoid any other injuries before the marathon in October.

I have a couple big races coming up in the next month (Brooklyn half-marathon on May 22, aaahhh!) and I haven't been running too much so I'm a little bit concerned with that...tomorrow I'm going to go for a run outdoors (I hope...it was so cold today and I may well have to dig up my winter running clothes!) and just hope for the best! My legs are definitely feeling better, and I've been doing the elliptical, erg and total body conditioning class to keep up my fitness. It's not running, but I'm hoping I can get it back soon enough. Maybe if I don't do well in Brooklyn I'll just have to do the Queens half-marathon again! :)

Here's a map of a run I did a little while ago:

I changed it up and ran along the East River -- it's a nice run as well, but I definitely prefer the West Side Highway.

I also made a delicious Recipe for Health last week, but forgot to take a picture of it...I'll post on it soon enough though. And I got a CamelBak for running during the summer -- pretty excited about it! I figured it would be rather necessary since I'll be running long distances in July, August and September in preparation for the marathon, and it would be pretty awful to be without water in those months...

Anyway, that's what's been happening in my world recently. I think I've been a little down about not really being able to run, but with Friday's PT appointment I hope I can get back to it and start strengthening my muscles to run injury-free!

Diagnosis

I went to the hip doctor yesterday. I told her what had been happening -- that I thought I had IT band syndrome in my right leg, took a week off, ran 10 miles and felt fine, then switched shoes and started to get a new pain in my left leg, ran 11 miles and had some serious pain and couldn't lift my leg, took a week off, ran the half-marathon and felt pain in my left leg again. I said I thought the newer injury might be a hip flexor something-or-other; she did a couple tests and said I was right: I have hip flexor tendinitis.

When I told her I ran the half-marathon the day before, I was a little afraid she'd scold me or say I was insane. Instead, she said, "Oh, the More Magazine/fitness Magazine Half-Marathon in the rain yesterday? How'd it go?" Loved it! She said I would probably benefit from a couple sessions of physical therapy to learn the strengthening exercises so I'm going to start that next week. She also said she didn't think new shoes would cause the injury, so it might have just been some overuse.

Of course, I asked if I could still run, and I can! She said she didn't see why not, but I might just want to do some lower impact stuff this week. So today I did the elliptical for a bit and made my triumphant return to total body conditioning.

All in all it was a great visit and I really liked her -- especially since she said I can still run! I'm going to keep an eye on it though and be careful. And I'm going to properly break in my new shoes!

27 seconds!

On a day when I'm slightly injured, it poured rain the whole morning, I didn't push myself as hard as I probably could, and (according to my Garmin) the course was 0.15 miles too long, I beat my last half-marathon time by 27 seconds. 27 seconds!!! Woo hoo!

The day started like most race days -- half a wheat bagel with peanut butter and half a banana, some water, and some coffee. B and I left the apartment at 7am to make it to the race course (which started near W. 63rd and Central Park West) by 8am. It. Was. Pouring. Pouring down rain. The NYRR 8k had nothing on this rain. I was soaked to the bone within the first mile. I have to say though, I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would. Aside from having to wring out my sleeves every once in a while, it wasn't that bad to run in the rain.

I definitely started the race wondering if I could make it through the whole thing (and thinking that I probably wouldn't), but I decided to push those thoughts aside and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other and making it as far as I could. Honestly, the race went by much faster than I'd expected. I thought with the terrible weather it would be miserable, but I felt good and strong the whole time. There were only a couple of steps I took where I had a bit of pain in my hip, but other than that I felt great! I had a Powerade gel at mile 6.5 that pushed me through, and when the Glee version of "Like A Prayer" came on shortly thereafter, I was PUMPED! Here's a look at my playlist for the race:

I copied this from Last.fm since I usually just make a playlist and put it on shuffle, so I'm not sure all my songs made it on there (for instance, I distinctly remember hearing "Like A Prayer", but Last.fm didn't scrobble it over to the site). Must give a shoutout to Girl Talk, Miley, Muse and Glee for pulling me through!

So now with the Garmin issue. I'm not sure what the deal was, but I started the Garmin right as I crossed the starting line, and for some reason it was beeping that a mile had passed before I passed the mile marker on the course. Nothing is more frustrating than hearing that beep come before you can even SEE the mile marker! I don't know if the course was off or my Garmin was off, but I stopped my Garmin when I hit 13.1 miles (2:04:51!), and then restarted it...it went another 0.15 miles (1 min 19 seconds!) before I reached the finish line. So here's the first 13.1 miles:

And here's the last 0.15 miles:

Who knows, seems like all my electronics were off today, so maybe it was my Garmin and not the course. But if you ran the course and had this happen too, let me know!

I crossed with an official time of 2:06:11. While I am very happy with this time -- who doesn't love a PR, even if it's just by a few seconds?! -- I know that I did not push myself as hard as I could have. I had sort of planned going into it that I wasn't going to push myself extremely hard since I didn't want to destroy my hip, and my goal was to go as far as I can. Now that I know that I can push myself even harder (I definitely had plenty of gas left in the tank after this race, and did NOT give it my all like I did at the first half-marathon in September), my goal for the Brooklyn half-marathon will be to break 2 hours. I knooow I can do it!

And...my roommate B...who ran her FIRST HALF-MARATHON came in at 1:54:56!!!!! She is a badass. That's what I have to say about that.

The half-marathon was followed by a soaking wet walk to the 68th Street subway station (my hands were beYOND numb...and my left hand was suspiciously swollen! I think from the Garmin...), an extremely hot shower (soooo necessary!!!), and a burger, fries, salad and beer from Danal. I think I'm going to make the burger, fries and beer a post-half-marathon tradition -- it was what I had at Cafe Luxembourg after the Queens half-marathon and it was amaaazing. You need salt after you sweat so much, and that meal just really hits the spot! Of course, after all the running and the eating, a nap was in order!

I'm going to go do some more stretching, icing and then going off to bed before tomorrow's big doctor's appointment. I'll let you know what she says!

Yay for PRs! Yay for half-marathons! Yay FINISHING a half-marathon in the rain with a minor injury! Woo hooooo!!!

Half-marathon tomorrow!

Well the time has come...my first half-marathon of 2010 is tomorrow!

Not gonna lie, I took the week off from blogging because I took the week off of running. After the 11 miles last week, my hip was angry at me so I thought I'd treat it well and do some RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), skip the gym (I walked home from work a couple times, but didn't hit the gym at all), and stretch it out (in front of the TV after work). I think it's helping. I'm excited about the race tomorrow, but I'm not an idiot -- if I am dying of pain at any point in the race, I will stop running, even if it's at 110th St. on the west side!

It's not my first half-marathon -- if it was, I might be a little more determined and might be more stupid and run through any pain. But I've come to the realization that it's not a big deal if I have to stop. I'd rather be able to run the marathon in October than make it all the way through this race and end up with a more serious injury. I'm going to the doctor Monday though to have my hips checked out so hopefully that will give me a better idea of what's going on and what I can/can't or should/shouldn't do.

So we'll see what happens. Who knows, maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and feel amazing! Either way, I'm going to try. As my dad said, "I think you'll regret it if you don't at least try." I agree. I'll try, I'll give it a shot, and if I can't make it all the way through, there's absolutely no shame in that!

I've got my race bib out, my Powerade gel ready, my playlist prepped and my outfit planned out (it's going to RAIN!!!). I've also decided that I'm going to switch back to my old shoes and properly break in the new ones after the race. I feel like part of the reason I'm injured is that I went too hard too fast in my new shoes and I need to ease into them better.

Time to get everything together now! Then off to bed! Woo hoo! Hopefully I'll be done in 12 hours!!! Wish me luck!

And then I got injured...again.

So this is cool...I just figured out how to embed my run from my Garmin activity site! Check it out!

I'll be back tomorrow with more, but this weekend was great -- Saturday was 60, sunny and breezy, which is perfect running weather. Not so perfect? My left hip (when I had IT band syndrome it was my RIGHT hip that hurt...so at least now it's changed sides)! I got back from the run around 2pm and spent the rest of the day (and a lot of Sunday) icing, stretching, and even having to lift my leg in order to get it to move higher than 6 inches off the ground. I'm better today, but I'm soooo glad it's a taper week so I can rest up before Sunday's half-marathon! I can't believe it's less than a week away!!! AAAHHH!