This afternoon the girls went off with Zak’s mom while Zak and I went on a little double date with my mom and step dad!

We hit the Rochester Museum and Science Center to visit the new Titanic exhibit that arrived last month.

Real artifacts uncovered from the Titanic are currently on display at the museum. As soon as we heard about this exhibit I knew we had to go.

As we waited to enter the exhibit hall we were given boarding passes with the name of a real passenger who was on board.

At the end of the exhibit you were able to check the list to see if your passenger survived or not. Oh the suspense!

I was Mr. Edward Beane. Age 32. A newly wed! But a man and a second class passenger? Yeah, I’m pretty sure I was doomed.

The exhibit was great – it was so eerie to see things that had been uncovered from 12,500 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic. We couldn’t take photographs in the exhibit – but it really was fantastic. There was so much to read and see, relevant facts about the ship and passengers that were so ironic in relation to the sinking. I loved the movie and having watched it more times than I care to admit, this was a great way to spend a child-free afternoon.

We spent about an hour walking through the exhibit and and then toured the museum for another half hour or so before declaring ourselves officially hungry.

It was a beautiful fall evening and was made even better knowing it was time to go eat!

My mom picked the restaurant ahead of time – Sinbad’s, this a great little Mediterranean place on Park Ave. near the Rochester Museum and Science Center.

I had calorie counting in mind tonight, but also decided I was still going to enjoy myself and not worry about it too much.

Let’s get this party started! A glass of Heron Hill Riesling, a local New York State wine pour moi.

And a couple of appetizers for everyone to share. Falafel and something called Maza which was baked pita crisps stuffed with feta, scallions, olive oil and spices.

There was plenty to go around but my goal tonight was to not leave the restaurant feeling absolutely stuffed but also not feeling like I deprived myself either. I had one of each and loved every bite.

My entree was the Ali Baba Pitza – with a name like Ali I don’t think there was any other choice for me really.

A pizza on thin, crispy pita bread with garlic sauce as a base, topped with feta, eggplant, tomatoes, olives and parsley.

It was huge! And SO, SO good. I had two pieces (about half), gave one piece to Zak and we brought the last piece home.

I also enjoyed a bite of Zak’s artichoke salad.

Everyone loved their food and totally enjoyed the atmosphere at Sinbad’s! It makes me even more excited to move into the city and be closer to all of the fun, funky restaurants like this.

From a calorie counting perspective, I’m totally pleased with how dinner went tonight – I didn’t need to be rolled out the restaurant but enjoyed myself without too much concern over how many calories I was consuming. Sinbad’s isn’t a chain and their menu items aren’t in The Daily Plate database, but I did the best I could picking similar sounding items and think I got some pretty good estimates to get a ball park idea of where I ended up today.

A fun day with fabulous company and fabulous food!

When we picked up the girls we discovered they’d been quite busy today with Hanna! All sorts of baking and cooking and digging in garden and chasing chickens. Child bliss.

I played hide and seek with child-made peanut butter cookie. Psst! It’s hiding in my belly! No one has been able to find it yet!

Counting calories and knowing that I probably still had a calorie deficit today (thanks to my long run – shew!) is totally saving me from diving into that little zip lock bag of cookies that’s now in my kitchen cupboard. It’s the strangest thing. I think if I didn’t know approximately where I stood with calories today I would be feeling very “oh well – I blew it, might as well have two more!” But I’m not. This is a very good thing.

And oh yes, my passenger and his new wife both survived. Crisis averted. Sort of.

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Yesterday during a grocery store excursion I was very excited to see young coconuts in produce! I haven’t seen them in ages and when I spotted three of them all in a row, I very happily played Eeny Meeny Miny Moe Get in the Cart and Let’s Go.

My-Mother-Says-You-Are-The-Very-Best-One.

With my sweet little young coconut in hand, I got to thinking that coconut water is really good after a hard work out. What a great reason to get out there and bust my ass first thing this morning, wouldn’t you agree?

Last night I decided I would run 7 miles this morning but then this morning decided to kick it up a notch and run a FAST 7.

I enjoyed my coconut oil laced turd on a plate MamaBar and got my sneakers on.

Knowing I planned to pick up the pace, I decided to give the old episodes of Jillian a rest and listen to some tunes so I could zone out and focus. I contemplated leaving the iPod behind all together, like I do for short fast runs, but decided today for 7 miles I wanted some music for the long haul.

I hit the mile 1 at 7:40 and felt comfortable at that pace knowing I had 6 more miles to go.

At mile 2 (I wear an old fashioned digital watch but happen to know some of the mile marker land marks because I do this route so often) at 15:26 – making my pace for Mile 2 about 7:46. My goal was to keep my average pace under 8 minutes – so far so good.

I cruised along and at mile 5 my watch said 39:11, which I knew was still under 8 min/miles. Thanks to my favorite pace calculator I can see now that made my average pace about 7:50 per mile at that point.

I was really starting to feel tired at 5 miles. I took my gloves off and turned up the music a little bit, knowing that a little bit of volume can bump your adrenaline and reduce your perception of pain.

At mile 6 I think my watch said 46:something. My goal for this run was to come in under 56 minutes, and I knew I would now.

As I rounded the corner into our neighborhood I cranked the music and picked up the pace hard for the last 3/10 of a mile, to hit the driveway at 54:41 – 7 miles at an average pace of 7:48.

PHEW! Now where the hell is that rubber mallet?

This young coconut contained approximately 20 oz of coconut water, which according to my new favorite toy clocked in at about 115 calories. I drank every last ounce.

After Zak took my picture he took a sip of the coconut water and then proceeded to make a sound similar to that of cat trying to expel a wet, matted ball of a fur from its throat.

What? I think it tastes good!

And that totally reminded me of something! In Thrive (you knew this was coming, right?) Brendan says that during or after a workout, the your tastes are different than when you are inactive. Something that tastes a little bitter or slightly sour is more palatable after a work out because our taste buds are temporarily altered during or after physical exertion, and “a slight tartness is perceived as refreshing”.

Brendan is so smart.

So, remember this for Christmas when it’s time to eat a big bite of grandma’s fruit cake. Tell her you’ll have some after you get back from your run.

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