Not born to run

Because my Halloween costume consists of a sort of unitard thing, I really wanted to concentrate on my gams during my past few workouts. On Friday I ran 4 miles in 40 minutes on an incline machine with varied levels of resistance. Last night I did 3.5 miles in 20 minutes. I made it a point to increase the incline and resistance last night for a more challenging workout.

I often feel confined to machines like this because of my knee issues. After running just a few minutes outside or on a treadmill, I have awful pain in my knees that lingers for a few days. My feet also end up hurting. I really wish I could run outside since I love the outdoors so much. It's silly, but I kind of feel soulless when I'm running on a machine.

I wonder if getting better shoes would help me out--a shoe that would disperse impact to different parts of my body, perhaps. You know, crazy sciencey things.

The thing I really want to write about today is how difficult it is for me to set clear fitness goals. I'm pretty happy with my current weight, and while I often work to give my body better tone and definition, that's such a vague and subjective thing to work for. Perhaps I just need to let myself work out because it makes me feel healthy and confident. Maybe that's enough. But I always feel the need to have some kind of goal, especially when I see my friends setting such great goals for themselves.

Last Friday after the gym I threw together some delicious orzo with ingredients I had in the house. Steal this recipe if you like. It will serve two people, like a Taco Bell Big Box Meal. Very romantic. And there's beer in it.

Veggie Orzo

3 tbsp butter
1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 cup diced white or crimini mushrooms (or some combination)
1/4 cup diced bell peppers
1/4 cup artichoke hearts
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup Great Divide Samurai rice ale (substitute a saison, lightly-hopped ale, or white wine)
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1-2 tsp oregano
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Boil water for orzo and cook according to package directions. While it cooks, toss butter in a large skillet and sautee mushrooms, peppers, artichokes, onion, and garlic. Add parsley and salt and pepper. Gradually add beer or wine until it's absorbed by the vegetables. Drain the pasta and toss it into the skillet with the vegetable stock and continue to simmer until the flavors and liquids are absorbed into the pasta. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving bowl, then add the Romano cheese and stir it into the pasta so it is evenly dispersed.