…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?