Cider Madness and first official long run

Apparently the hurricane punch I made for my housewarming was so good that no one wanted apple cider. So I had more than a gallon of cider I need to use up. Luckily I'd saved several recipes earlier this fall that all featured cider. Apple Cider Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Apple Slaw 1 Tbsp butter 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped 1 cup apple cider, divided 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar, divided 1/2 cup ketchup 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard 2 Tbsp brown sugar 1/2 tsp cajun seasoning 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1/3 cup Greek yogurt 1 Tbsp sugar salt 1 apple, cut into matchsticks 1 lb cabbage, finely shredded 4 hamburger or bulkie rolls Melt butter in a large saucepan; add onions and cook until translucent. Add 1/2 cup apple cider, 1/2 cup cider vinegar, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, cajun seasoning, and salt to taste, and bring to a boil over high heat. Add chicken breasts and enough apple cider to cover. Cover pan, reduce to a simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. While chicken is cooking, whisk together Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, sugar, and salt to taste. In a large bowl, combine apple matchsticks, shredded cabbage, and yogurt mix, and toss to coat. Set aside. When chicken is cooked through, remove from pan, shred with two forks, and return to sauce. Serve chicken on toasted rolls with a good-sized spoonful of slaw on top. Review: I didn't make the slaw portion, just the chicken. I used bone in breasts because they were on sale. After the chicken was done, the sauce was still pretty "soupy" so I took out the chicken and let the sauce reduce. HOLY GOODNESS. The chicken was tender and the sauce was tangy, sweet, and just a little spicy. CIDER-GLAZED ROOT VEGETABLES Serving: 8 Preparation time: 15 minutes; total time: 1 hour 2 cups apple cider 4 large carrots, peeled, cut into 1-by--inch sticks 3 large parsnips, peeled, cut into 1-by--inch sticks 2 medium onions, peeled, quartered, then cut each quarter in half across the center 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the cider in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes or until reduced by about half. Meanwhile, prepare all the vegetables and place them in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the oil and toss to coat. Drizzle cider over vegetables. Scatter butter pieces over the top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover tightly with foil and bake until vegetables are almost crisp-tender, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and stir vegetables to coat with the pan juices. Bake uncovered about 15 minutes or until vegetables brown and some of the juices evaporate. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl along with accumulated juices. Sprinkle with thyme leaves. Season to taste. Adapted from www.epicurious.com. Review: I used these great purple carrots we grew at my Mom's house, which gave the whole dish a fun purple tint. I also used squash, onions, and regular orange carrots. I didn't let the cider reduce quite enough, because the glaze was too runny. However, it still tasted good. Finally I made cranberry sauce, using port and cider as the liquid in which I cooked the cranberries. YUM-O. Then this morning, I did my first "official" long run. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the Rome Marathon next March, so last night I got out my Galloway training plan and started counting back from race day to see when I should start my training. 3 weeks ago, apparently! Oops! Luckily, I have been doing long runs of 10-13 miles once a month so I'm okay. Today called for 10.5 miles, which I thought would be a breeze since I did 12.5 3 weeks ago. But it was surprisingly hard. I think there were a few factors: my hamstrings were really sore from the 1 leg deadlifts we did at the gym yesterday, I used a ratio of 5 minutes running and 30 seconds walking (where as I usually use a 4-1), and finally whatever my ongoing dizziness issue is. I was more winded than usual and just felt like I was working a lot harder. I was actually really scared when I got home because when I looked down in the shower parts of my hands were purplish. Freaky.