A Whole lot of Nothing

This weekend has been pretty relaxing.  I've had a pretty calm and uneventful weekend.  I was going to do my long run on Saturday but it was supposed to rain so I pushed it back to today.  Unfortunately, I slept horribly last night (literally woke up every hour) so I decided to push back again.  Tomorrow is the Boston Marathon and my brother and I planned on running tomorrow anyway (we always run on the marathon route before the race starts each year), so now I will just do my long run tomorrow.  16-18 miles on the agenda.  
Backtrack to the week in workouts: Tuesday I had a great speed workout.  Wednesday I did the Big Step and Thursday I tried to go for a nice leisurely run.  I had pain in my heel on my right side and just overall wasn't in the mood.  Ran 4 miles.  For the rest of the day, I kept getting muscle cramps on my left achilles.  I started getting real nervous.  Went into Physical Therapy Friday night and my Physical Therapist didn't think there was anything too serious.  He told me to wait until Sunday to run.  Last night I couldn't sleep because I think I'm really nervous about this marathon.  My two 20 milers were really really hard.  I'm scared I'm going to finish in like 5 and a half hours.  I know I need to not worry about my time, but track was a huge part of my life and its hard for me to just forget about my pace/time.  The plan for the marathon is to go out and run the first 6 miles with Dave then run 15-17 with Mike and have Dave help me get through the end.  The course isn't closed off and is on a lot of main roads so Mike and Dave will switch off riding there bike and my mom will follow me in the car.  I am really excited to just say I've run a marathon and I'm looking forward to that!

Alright moving on to more exciting things... like food!  Last night I made this recipe I found while checking out the Trader Joe's Website: Spinach Quinoa Quiche.

 Ingredients:
2 Cups Quinoa, cooked (1/2 cup uncooked white, 1/2 cup uncooked red)
3 TBSP Basil Pesto (I made my own 2 cups basil/argula, 1/2 cup pine nuts, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup parm, EVOO)
1 C Gruyere, grated
1/2 Cup Trader Joe's Spinach Dip
4 Eggs, beaten
1/2 Cup milk
1/4 Cup Roasted Red Peppers
Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions:
In a small bowl add the 2 cups of cooked Quinoa, 1/2 cup of Gruyere, grated and 3 TBSP of Basil Pesto. Mix well and press into the bottom and along the sides of a 9" pie plate to form a "crust". 

Place in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes to set the crust. Remove and set aside. In a small bowl add the 4 beaten eggs, 1/2 cup of milk , 1/2 cup of Spinach Dip, 1/4 Cup of the Fire Roasted Red Peppers, drained, and Salt and Pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients well and pour into the prepared crust. 

Place the Quiche into the 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, then add the remaining 1/2 Cup of grated Cave Aged Gruyere Cheese to top of Quiche and return to oven for another 20 minutes. Place a a knife into center of Quiche, then remove it . If the knife is clean the Quiche is done ! Let it sit for 10 minutes before cutting it into slices.

I thought this was a really interesting new twist on a quiche.  Who needs the fatty pie crust or puff pastry when you can use quinoa!! My favorite grain of all time!!! I served two pieces of the pie with roasted brocolli and an arugula salad.  Perfect dinner!

We are getting ready to leave for my birthday dinner at my mothers (my birthday is Tuesday).  My mom made my favorite dishes- Leek Soup and Stuffed Sole!  Plus Dave searched around and got me a Cookie Cake!  I've had a cookie cake pretty much every year for my birthday for as long as I can remember.  Can't wait!  Sleeping at my brothers tonight, long-run first thing in the AM, then watching Marathon Monday! Good Luck runners!