It’s Pumpkin Season!

Pumpkin is all the rage right now.  It’s everywhere in the fall.  I personally look forward to that first Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte every year.  (Dunkin ain’t got nothin’ on Starbucks!)  I also love a good Shipyard Pumpkinhead—with cinnamon on the rim, of course.

 

While a Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte is 380 calories, 13g of fat and 49g of sugars (from starbucks.com), pumpkin as a vegetable is very nutritious and beneficial to your diet.

·      Pumpkin is high in fiber and low in calories.  An excellent combo to keep you feeling full longer.

 

·      High in Vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for vision.  It also aides in the functioning of your heart, lungs, and kidneys.

 

·      High in Vitamin C, which helps to keep the immune system in check and promotes cardiovascular health.

 

·      Contains Vitamin E which actually helps to protect the skin from sun damage.  (You still need to wear sunscreen!)

 

·      High in Potassium, an essential nutrient to maintain electrolyte balance in the body.

 

·      A great natural source of iron.  Iron is needed for the red blood cells to transport oxygen.  Iron deficiency causes fatigue and weakness.  I dealt with this in high school.  Not good for runners!

 

·      Contains the antioxidant beta-carotene, which has been said to play a role in preventing cancers.

 

·      Pumpkin seeds contain an antioxidant that aids in lowering LDLs aka the bad cholesterol.

 

 

My favorite recipe using pumpkin is still Hungry Girl’s Yum Yum Brownie Muffins.  They are super easy to make—just 2 ingredients—and a chocolate treat that’s high in fiber.

 

Ingredients

18.25 oz box devil’s food cake mix

15 oz can pure pumpkin

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

Pour cake mix into large bowl and whisk to remove any lumps.  Add pumpkin and stir until completely smooth and uniform.

 

Don’t add any other ingredients that may be mentioned on the cake mix box, like eggs, oil, or water.  The mixture will be very thick, so you might be tempted to add in other things to make the batter thinner.  Do not do this!

 

Evenly distribute batter into a 12-cup muffin pan lined with foil baking cups and/or sprayed with nonstick spray.  Place pan in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

 

Allow to cool slightly then serve!

 

Makes 12 servings.  We like to make them in mini muffin pans so they are easy to pop right in your mouth!

 

What is your favorite pumpkin recipe?

 

Future Training Partner

It’s a big weekend for me.  I got a puppy!

Bringing Disney home in 1990ish?

I have been waiting almost my whole life for this weekend!  

I had a great dog when I was young in New York.  He was a furry little Keeshond named Disney.  My evil mother (just kidding… I understand…kinda) gave him away my first day of first grade.  I went to school with a dog and I came home to an empty house.  Not saying goodbye to Disney has scarred me for life!

A dog was part of my motivation for moving out and buying a house.  That and the fact that I’m 28 years old and it was time to move out.  Meeting the right people at the right place and at right time worked out in my favor and little Georgie, an almost 14-week old German Shepherd, came home with me on Friday, October 3rd.  She started training at 8 weeks and is already comfortable in a crate, started learning her manners and basic commands.  The best part is she sleeps from 10pm-7am without any bathroom breaks!  I consider myself lucky.  She has her moments and wants to bite anything and everything but she is a ball of love.  It’ll be a huge learning experience for both of us but I couldn’t be more excited.

I can't wait until she's old enough to start running with me!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 1 Year to Run Jen Run!

Tufts 10k Training Weeks 4-6

Training has been going well except silly Jen realized this week that I miscalculated and I actually have 3 more weeks until the race!  Week 6 was my highest mileage week—but now I’ll have to alter my training and redo my toughest week to make it a 9-week training program.

Week 4 started off at the Tuesday night run club at Marathon Sports Mashpee.  My work schedule changed a bit and I finally can go.  I ran 3 miles with Chris and then grabbed something to eat with some new friends Allison, Stacey and Dave next door at the Lanes.  Friday my parents and I spent the day on the Vineyard with Barb & John and Saturday I was lucky to have my mom and BFF Barbie accompany me on my long run.  It was a rough one.  99% humidity with a dew point of 75 is not ideal long run conditions!

Week 5 was an off week.  Allergies, stress, and fatigue took over my body and put me out of commission for a few days.  Tiff and I met at my house before the Marathon Sports Pub Run for a 3.1 mile loop around my hood and then ran 3.1 at the Pub Run.  That’s 6.2 for the team!  (The Cape Cod Rehab Flyers are hoping to return to the Cape Cod Marathon Relay with a goal of breaking 3 hours.)  I helped celebrate Craig's birthday on Saturday night ended up skipping my long run for a couch and football day on a rare Sunday off.  Oops!

Week 6 was fun.  I tried a Triple Play workout at the gym, won a $25 gift certificate at Marathon Sports run club one year anniversary party (followed by fro-yo with new run club friends), tested my speed on Wednesday with a tempo run (last mile was sub-7) and a 10 mile long run with Lindi Lou on the bike.  It was also #kkandalex wedding weekend and had so much fun catching up with old friends and dancing all night!  Sidenote: Kristen looked gorgeous!

Week 4 Recap

Monday – Day off!

Tuesday – Spin class, 3 miles at run club

Wednesday – 5 miles

Thursday – Spin class, 4 miles

Friday – Day off!
Saturday – 8 miles

Sunday – Spin class, 4 miles

Week 4 Totals: 24 miles

Week 5 Recap

Monday – 4 miles

Tuesday – Spin class, 3 miles at run club

Wednesday – Day off!

Thursday – Day off!

Friday – 3 miles with Tiff, 3 miles at the pub run
Saturday – 3 miles

Sunday – Skipped by 6 mile long run…

Week 5 Totals: 16 miles

Week 6 Recap

Monday – 3 miles, 2/3 Triple Play, 1 mile

Tuesday – Spin class, 3 miles at run club

Wednesday – 5 miles

Thursday – Spin class

Friday – Day off!
Saturday – Spin class, 10 miles

Sunday – Spin class, 3 miles with Lizzie

Week 6 Totals: 25 miles

[Related Posts: Tufts 10k Training Week 1: Hey, are you guys with Meb? & Tufts 10k Training Week 2 & 3]

Run Jen Run Loves Smoothies

I love smoothies!  I also love making my own creations. 

Here’s this morning’s post-run smoothie...

1 banana

Handful of frozen strawberries

Handful of frozen peaches

2 scoops Arbonne vanilla protein powder

1 scoop flaxseed

1 scoop peanut butter

Splash of tart cherry juice

Water as needed