A Taste of Sparkle

I broke my cereal + raisins + soy milk rut today!

Oats! I tried “It’s Not Just Oatmeal” by Cait’s Kitchen. The mix included (all organic) rolled oats, goji berries, cranberries, flaxseed meal, raw wheat germ, shelled hemp seeds, and cinnamon. Yum! I added a scoop of White Chocolate Wonder PB and an Adora chocolate calcium disk. It wasn’t my favorite cereal, but it was really good! The PB added a little bit of needed sweetness, as did the chocolate. The dried fruits were a great addition, and the hemp, flax, and wheat germ added protein to an otherwise carb-y meal. I would buy this again!

It took me almost two hours to fall asleep last night; I was extremely tired, but my head was spinning from my cold (?). Luckily, I slept in a bit and I feel much better today, just in time to spend the day studying for my upcoming midterms.

On the agenda today is some yoga and a Half-Marathon Week 4 re-cap post

I took the day off from blogging and exercise yesterday because of an annoying head-cold-y feeling. I went to bed before 10! Luckily, this meant that I was up bright and early for my long run today. I was ready to tackle seven miles!

Last night, I puzzled over how to fuel before/during/after a long run (more than an hour or so). I stared at my collection of energy gels, bars, and chews comparing and researching. Eating should not be this complicated!

I made a plan and stuck with it, and it worked out really well! I felt great my entire run, so I thought I’d share.

I woke up around 6, got dressed, and poured myself a glass of water. I drank about 10 oz. while I browsed some blogs and went down to the kitchen at 6:30. For pre-run fuel, I had a slice of Ezekiel bread toasted with some PB and a banana. I headed out at about 7.

After a four mile loop, I stopped back at my house for about a minute for some water and energy. I had half a pack of Luna Sport Moons (100 calories, 24 g carb). For longer distances I probably will have the whole thing, but I figured with only 3 miles left to go, half was a good amount. Half, incidentally, was four moon-shaped watermelon flavored chews. They come in blueberry and pomegranate flavors too.

I wasn’t expected the best, but I was pleasantly surprised! They were a little chewy, but easy to get down, and they tasted good too! I chugged about a cup of water after and then finished the other three miles.

I don’t know if it was the water or the extra carbs, but I felt so good on the last half of my run. Compared to my 2 six mile runs, where I basically just dragged after mile 4, I was flying! I managed a 10:43 pace easily, and I think my pace for my last six miler I struggled to maintain a 12 minute pace! I’m going to try out a couple other mid-run fueling options before my half-marathon, but I definitely give the Luna Sport Moons two thumbs up! I know my water intake was also important. I think getting some water down before my run was very important.

When I got back, I changed into dry clothes to have breakfast before I jumped in the shower because I wanted to refuel within the short window after exercise that our muscles are most receptive. Research has shown that after a long run, a 4:1 carbs to protein ratio is advisable. Obviously this doesn’t have to be exact, so I just made sure that my breakfast contained a bit of protein and lots of carbs. I had the other half of the Luna Sport Moons and two servings of Flax Multibran with raisins and soy milk. This kept me full until lunch!

Long runs are so important because they are basically a practice run for the race; we get to experiment with what works so that we have a definite plan on race day that will help us do our best! I’m going to experiment more in the coming weeks, but if I had my race tomorrow, I think I’d do fine with today’s plan!

Run Stats:
Distance: 7 miles
Time: 1:15:06
Pace: 10:43

My dad, my brother and I tonight, with my bag of farmer’s market goodies!

For under $10, I got:

• 2 fresh baby cucumbers
• a huge bag of snow peas
• a quart of baby new potatoes
• a spring of chocolate mint

I can’t wait to try the chocolate mint in a smoothie! And going along with my Mix up your meals challenge, I got cucumbers (with some falafel combo in mind), snow peas to munch to mix up my usual side of carrots, and potatoes to incorporate into dinner!

Speaking of dinner, we went to a great trattoria and ate outside in the breeze. I brought this delicious crepe that I got at the market for an “appetizer“! I split it with my mom. It was topped with berries and a tiny bit of powdered sugar, and was absolutely delicious!

For dinner, I got the Insalata Mista with balsamic vinaigrette. I topped with with some of the crushed garlic from the olive oil dipping plate, and it was yum. I enjoyed it because I usually don’t take the time to make up a beautiful salad like this, so having it was a bit of a treat.

For the meal, my mom and I split a Margherita thin crust pizza. Now the pizza from this place is just delicious. The mozzarella is fresh, there’s just the right amount of basil, and the crust is paper thin and crunchy. I had two and a half slices, which was just right. Since the crust is so thin, they don’t fill you up as quickly as the doughy, bready crusted pizzas, and you get more of the good stuff!

After dinner, my brother wanted to look around in a sporting goods/bike store and so I browsed around in there too. I’m so glad I did, because I had some good finds! First up are these Brooks sneakers, which were 30% off. I got them for only $80, and they’re purple! They are a neutral cushioning shoe and are a little bit lighter than my current pair of Brooks, but more structured and cushioned than my current Mizunos. I’ve taken to wearing my Brooks on long runs for the cushioning and my Mizunos for shorter runs, or else I end up pretty sore afterwards.

Lastly, I got something I’ve been needing for a while. I brought my bike up to school in April, but I couldn’t find my helmet and I don’t feel safe riding without one. So my poor bike has sat in the bike rack alone for three months. But luckily this bike store had some rockin‘ helmets:

What do you think? That’s right, you know I look super cool!

Check back tomorrow for a new meal/recipe and more great stuff! I’m thinking about having a contest/giveaway soon, but I think I need to build the blog up a tiny bit more first. But it’s coming soon, and I already have the perfect idea!

Sleep tight,

I’m glad today was an easy day, because I was in no mood to run. It was the most humid it’s been all summer here and that combined with my lack of sleep/not drinking enough water made for a tough run! I managed a little over two miles, which is fine. I might do some yoga later to stretch out a bit.

When I got back from my run, I was in no mood for a hot meal! In fact, I was craving this combo:

Yum! Since this isn’t one of my typical meals, I’ll count it for my Mix-up your meals challenge, even though it’s not that creative. I’ll have to make up for it tomorrow!

Here it is, crunchy PB & strawberry preserves on a pita, with a carrot on the side with some almond butter, and 3 tiny squares of Green & Black’s for dessert.

After work, I snacked on half a Larabar and guzzled water to rehydrate myself.

I’m going to the Farmer’s Market today and I plan on picking up some fresh produce to create new meals with. I’m also going out to dinner tonight with my family at a place that has great salads and thin crust pizzas. I’ll update later with my Farmer’s Market goodies!

I am almost recovered from my night of no sleep! It was worth it though, I’m glad I went to the midnight showing.

This morning, I’ve been doing some research on the Alzheimer’s Association’s Run for the Memory campaign. It sounds like I will most likely be running my half-marathon as an individual effort for the cause. While I would love to run one of the ALZ’s sponsored races, I’m already signed up for my half in September and none of theirs really fit my schedule. Luckily, this program allows me to still make a difference by running my individual race!

I think I’ve gotten myself into a rut with meal variety. It’s great to have some go-to options for meals, but eating the same thing every day is already getting a little old. It’s time for a challenge!

Mix Up Your Meal Challenge!

Every day, I’m going to try a new meal for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I would love to try some oats at breakfast, cook up the tempeh I have sitting in my fridge, and try out some new recipes from my cookbooks. Anyone else?

Today I don’t have much time to spend on meal preparation, so I’m going to just do a simple switch-up. I’m planning on a quesadilla with one Joseph’s Flax wheat wrap, some soy cheese, and some kind of mix of veggies. I’ll let you know how it turns out this afternoon!

On the schedule today is an easy 3 mile run, because I took yesterday off due to lack of sleep. A nap was just far more tempting

See you this afternoon!