…get out of the kitchen! That’s what Josh usually says to me when I complain about overheating while cooking in the kitchen. Of course, that doesn’t mean that he helps with cooking.

We flew to Orlando on Friday morning to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday, a big birthday, a surprise party! Being in Florida over a weekend also meant I would be attempting a long run in warmer weather than up north, but we’ll get to that later.

I love brunch foods. I love Turning Point‘s food. I didn’t use to love brunch foods; my parents have a picture of me making a face when I was four or five when we went to breakfast at McDonald’s on a vacation to Disney. Every weekend that we are in town (Hoboken, that is), we are either eating at Turning Point or ordering take out from there. My favorite dish is the basic skillet with poached eggs, mushrooms, spinach, and sliced turkey breast with wheat toast and butter. You’re probably wondering where this is going…

So after landing in Orlando, we went to First Watch for brunch. Josh and I were talking about brunch on the plane and we were both craving our Turning Point favorites. I have to say, I was disappointed. After having heard about First Watch a number of times, I was so excited to try it. I ordered a similar skillet to what I would have gotten at Turning Point, but it was much smaller in size (for the same price), the yolks were not runny in the poached eggs, and the toast was way too crispy for my taste. I was also disappointed that the potatoes were under cooked and even though I asked for onions, they were still included in my skillet.

I think we did nothing but eat on our trip but I love food, so how can I complain? Of course with eating and marathon training, also includes a run. Josh mapped me a route for a 10-mile run before we left for the trip and after our meal at First Watch, we drove the route to make sure I would be familiar with it and that it would be okay to run on. I really have the best in-laws; Josh has no choice to put up with my crazy running, but not everyone else to! The route seemed good, a mix of local roads and lakes to run around. We even came up with other ways for me to increase my mileage in case I was short. 10-miles was a little shorter than probably what I needed to do for the weekend but I had this feeling with the heat in Florida and the guilt of spending too much time running while being with family, that it would be the max I wanted to attempt. It turned out that was a good idea. While I was excited for the warmer temperatures and the ability to wear shorts and a t-shirt (I even wore my Miami Marathon shirt to show off my Florida pride), my legs just never started moving. If I had my heart rate monitor with me (I left it at home for ease of packing), it probably would have told me I was exerting myself as much as I was on a speed workout. I ran the 10-miles at a pace that is a minute slower per mile than I likely would have if I ran it at home and at a pace slower than what I did in both of my marathons. This run reminded me of how I felt during the Miami Marathon and petrified me about what to expect for the New Jersey Marathon in May and NYC training this summer. I really don’t know how I did it this past summer; I really hope it’s just my body needing to get used to the warmer temperatures.

I am such a lucky daughter-in-law! I came back from my run tired, exhausted, and dehydrated but everyone was in the kitchen preparing my favorite meal. During the time I was running, trips were made to the supermarket to pick up all of the necessary ingredients to make us our skillets! Amazing – I clearly spend too much time running, but amazing the thought and consideration! There were even little cups of fruit similar to what is included with our meals at Turning Point and First Watch. I am happy to report that this skillet was million times better than the one we had at First Watch and it reminded me so much of home! I loved it! Now, we will need to try this ourselves too. I will need to take a picture of my Turning Point skillet the next time we’re at the restaurant (oh wait, that will likely be this weekend!).

I am also happy to report that on Sunday my teammate, Amanda ran the St. Louis Marathon with Coach Brian. She did amazing – 3:25 and qualified for Boston! Watching (or in this weekend’s case, tracking her virtually) her run really inspires me to keep going and continue to work on improving my times. Way to go girl!

Back to food — what is your favorite meal?

But I do love breakfast and brunch foods!

In college, I was always awake and alert no matter how little sleep I had the night before. At the time, I thought I would always be invincible. I mean I was a Varsity athlete, taking a full course load, and also involved in a boat load of other activities including a sorority, service fraternity, Resident Assistant, and more. Who needed sleep?

After college graduation, I pulled some late nights at work for weeks at a time and would barely get more than a couple of hours of sleep before going back to work the next day. Or during some of the training programs, I’d be out with other colleagues until the wee hours. Somehow I always managed. However, as I started aging and running more regularly, I am starting to realize that I am really not a morning person.

Don’t get me wrong, I can get up for work in the morning and somehow manage to wake up at the crack of dawn for races or long runs, but I am really not motivated to wake up earlier on a weekday to workout. Every time I tried to get up earlier for a run in the morning or attend a class, I generally fail; I’d say 9 out of 10 times, I would turn off my alarm and go back to sleep. This week, I was hoping to break that trend. With dinner plans and a couple of after-work activities, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stick to my normal training unless I woke up earlier.

On Sunday night, I laid out my running clothes. I wanted to be sure I was ready to go in the morning. My plan wasn’t really that aggressive; I was just planning on waking up 45 minutes earlier than I usually do and only 5 minutes earlier than Josh. However, my alarm goes off on Monday morning and I turned it off and went back to sleep. Feeling that pang of guilt during the day, I asked my friend if we can meet 15 minutes later for dinner so that way I would be able to squeeze in a run right after work.

On Monday night, I was determined that I would be able to attend a barre class on Tuesday. I knew it had to be the first class of the day since I had a meeting at the Alzheimer’s Association after work. After much debate, I signed up for the 6:45AM class and set my alarm for 6:15AM. Again, I laid out my clothes ready to go. In the morning, my alarm goes off, I turn it off and pick up my phone. I had every intention of cancelling the class through the app on the phone. I get as far as confirming the cancellation but a message popped up saying that I would be subject to a late cancellation fee. The guilt hit me, I couldn’t cancel and lose the cost of the class, so I forced myself out of bed. The class wasn’t too bad; I think yawned the whole 60 minutes, but then felt great the rest of the day knowing my workout was done. However, Tuesday night rolls around and I am absolutely exhausted even after picking up an extra cup of coffee on my way to the meeting. I end up spending most of the night as a big blob on the couch, which I guess is not abnormal but I was a lot more tired than usual. And so I finally decided, I am not a morning person. I am okay with the occasional race or long run, the adrenaline is usually enough to keep me moving, but I should not have to get up any earlier than I need to on a weekday.

With my love for my guacamole, you can’t even see the fish, potatoes, or other vegetables in my bowl!

Last night was also the end of Passover, which for me meant I could eat bread, rice, crackers, waffles, and all that goodness again. A year ago this was a non-issue. I was careful with my carb intake and limiting it was no big deal, but I don’t know how I managed to survive over a week this year. I turned down bread at dinner on Monday night, I couldn’t eat Mexican, Thai, or Japanese foods, I couldn’t make pasta at home, I turned down a brownie for a co-worker’s birthday, I couldn’t eat cereal at night, a waffle before my long runs, and couldn’t even snack on an occasional piece of chocolate. Man, I have really turned into a ravenous runner. However, this week I did make one of my favorite meals and instead of rice, I used potatoes – fish taco salad with guacamole, salsa, and a ton of veggies.

Are you morning a person? And are there any foods you can’t live without?