pre-run breakfast

On running mornings, I eat two breakfasts. I start with coffee (lately I’ve been using 1 tbsp creamer and 2 tbsp coconut milk–yay for just as sweet with fewer calories!) and either a banana or toast with peanut butter.

This morning is a morning I’ve been waiting for for a LONG time. Well, since my birthday, to be exact.

Justin’s nut butter!!!! Susy gave this to me for my birthday and my mouth has been watering ever since! It’s a huge splurge (like $10 at the grocery store!), so it’s not the kind of thing you just go and grab willy-nilly.

And it’s maple. I LOVE maple-anything. I caved a week or so ago and bought Bobby Flay’s recommended Deep Mountain Maple Syrups on OpenSky and received them last night. It was $25 for three bottles of the best, straight-from-the-tree-maple syrup (which came to more like $35 with tax and shipping–yikes!), but when I saw that the set included Regular (Grade A Medium), Grade B (which is uber dark and strong and hard to find in the grocery store) and GINGER Maple, I had to. I tried to find it online, but alas, as all the very best local/small farms go, there are only two places in the country you can get it: Union Square Greenmarket in NYC and a little shop in West Glover, VT. Since I wasn’t heading to either of these places anytime soon and I just HAD to gave the ginger variety, I succumbed. (Andrew wasn’t thrilled when he heard about it, but when he saw them last night he changed his tune! He’s super excited about them as well. At least he can sometimes appreciate good food.)

If anyone wants to know what OpenSky is, use the link above or ask me and I’ll let you know!

Anyway, back to breakfast.

I had to get dog food yesterday, which requires a trip to Hamburg, a village a lot like East Aurora, about 15-20 minutes away. It has both a Tractor Supply and a Clyde’s Feed (apparently it’s more rural here than I thought!), which are the cheapest places to get Taste of the Wild. The best part? There is a Great Harvest in Hamburg. Dog food trip = Great Harvest trip.

So, I popped in and treated myself to a mini-loaf of their whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread, which was actually a mix of raisins, craisins, flax and groats yesterday. That’s the neat thing about Great Harvest and other small bakeries; they can mix up something new and hand-write a sign if they want to.

So, I’m currently enjoying super fresh, made-by-hand bread with Justin’s Maple Almond Butter. YUM.

After my run I’ll mix up a fruit smoothie with some yogurt and flaxseed meal and then I have a phone date with Emily!

a (half) marathon kind of morning

Whew! It’s not even noon and I’ve already done so much…

I decided to go for 13 miles this morning; it’s been quite a while since I’d run a half-marathon (last September, perhaps?) and the weather outside was perfect: mid-70s and overcast.

I’m not sure what came first; my eyes popping open at 6:18 a.m. or me hearing Hadrian’s collar clinking as he awoke. After taking him out and caffeinating myself, I powered up with this:

Kath would be so proud! It was 1/4 C oats, thinned with my new find So Delicious Coconut Milk, 1/2 banana, 1/2 C sliced strawberries, 4 oz. strawberry yogurt, 2 tbsp Wegmans granola and some flax seeds. It was awesome! I was a bit worried it would be a little heavy in my tummy for my run, but I had to fuel up somehow.

I devised a plan that would allow me to not carry anything on my run. I hate holding stuff, like a water bottle, while running. I would do 4-5 miles outside, then 3-4 miles inside on the treadmill while eating and drinking, then finish up the remaining miles outside again. I set my towel, water bottle and snack out by the door and headed outside. I did my 5-mile residential route near the hotel in 40:30 and quickly let myself back into the hotel.

I grabbed this, along with my water bottle and towel:

Susy found these awhile back and we ended up splitting a box of them that she ordered online. I only have two left! Instead of a goo or a gel, these are nickel-sized gummies you can chew while running. I’m not sure which I prefer (sport beans, goo or chews), but these certainly take a little while to eat. Goos are often thick and a little chalky, so I have to have water immediately after, but the upside of goo is that it’s super quick to take. I’ll have to do some recon around here to see where I can find an assortment of refueling options and pick up a couple soon. I used to think I didn’t need a gel or anything unless I was running a full marathon, but in reality, anytime I run ten or more miles, I make sure to take something around mile 4 or 5 to help keep me going.

Anyway… I hopped on the treadmill and set it for 7.7. I’m not sure what that equates to (this machine didn’t tell me what my pace per mile was), but I ended up doing 5 miles in 39 minutes–FAST! Thankfully, I got to talking to the guy next to me, who just relocated temporarily from Florida, so that helped kill the time.

I quickly dropped my towel and water bottle back off in the room and headed out for the remaining 3 miles. My legs were tired after such a fast pace on the treadmill, but I smiled to myself as I left the parking lot for the second time this morning, because I felt so good and strong and healthy. Despite my fatigue (ten-plus miles will do that to you no matter how well you refuel), I was definitely on a runner’s high.

I slowed a bit to about a 9-minute mile for my remaining three, but still felt good. It’s not often I run 13 miles. On a whim. By myself.

I was soaked, obviously, so I stretched and changed my clothes once back in the room, then headed BACK out to take Hadrian on a slow jaunt around the hotel. I downed a cup of the coconut milk and took this to go:

I was craving something chocolate-y and decadent after that run and knew I needed to start eating soon. I LOVE Luna bars. They taste great, and with only about 180 calories each, they are great snacks without being too much.

I figured out my time for this morning, and it is my fastest yet! My last actual half-marathons have all been almost exactly 2 hours, to the minute. My first one at that time was great, but later on I’d been training faster yet always crashed mid-race. Needless to say, my last couple half-marathons have been very disappointing. My time today: 1:46! As in ONE HOUR AND FORTY-SIX MINUTES! Holy cow! How did that happen? Well, losing 18 pounds doesn’t hurt, and I think I’ve come up with the reason I was always crashing. I always went out fast with Susy, and I just couldn’t maintain her speed. I’ve gotten faster, but I have to keep my pace strong and even to have energy left to finish the distance. For me, that’s about 8-minute miles, max.

After the walk, I whipped up some smoothies for Andrew (who got up just as I returned from my run) and myself:

I used the remaining half of my banana, 1/2 cups each of pineapple and frozen peaches and mango chunks, 1/4 C plain yogurt, 1/2 C coconut milk and flaxseed meal. YUM. Andrew got a strawberry-banana one with oats and flaxseed meal.

I’ve still to shower; between shake-making, dish-doing and now blogging, I feel kinda lazy right now! Well, I suppose “lazy” might not be the right word to describe me…

We’re having a low-key day today 🙂 Andrew has already fallen asleep on the couch in front of a gangster movie, and after a late lunch we’re going to head into EA to visit Abigail at work and borrow a cooler from his parents. Some friends of Andrew’s from work have invited us on a “beach” trip tomorrow, so I’m going to try to find a bathing suit today–all of mine are a bit big! Wish me luck…

sweatbands and their ability to see into our souls…

Who knew a simple piece of fabric could cause me to reflect so deeply on running?

While surfing the internet the other day, I saw a sweatband that was emblazoned with the phrase “I love running, I hate running” over and over again.

I immediately identified with it. All those years in college of huffing behind my best friend and boyfriend (who had both run cross country in high school) told me I wasn’t a ‘real’ runner. I found no enjoyment in running back then. I hurriedly put the headband (I’ve been looking for sweatbands for awhile now) in my online shopping cart and selected my fabric color.

Moments later, I thought back to my previous actions. Did I really still have a love/hate relationship with running?

I thought about it. I thought some more. And then it hit me.

No, I didn’t. I really only love it. Truly. Are there mornings I don’t really want to work out? Sure. Are there good runs and bad runs? Of course. But the nagging feeling of dread that used to haunt me before leaving for a run is gone. Long gone. I’m not sure when it left, but it’s nothing more than a distant memory.

I clicked back into my shopping cart and hit ‘remove’ on that particular headband and selected a purple “Will Run for Ice Cream” headband instead. Because if THAT doesn’t describe me to a “T,” I don’t know what does. If only it had come in teal…