10 Miles on the 10th!

11 May

Everyone has their own running preferences and as I’ve said previously, running first thing in the morning is one of mine. I just love the feeling I have the rest of the day post-a.m.-run, so I know that rolling out of bed at whatever hour is worth it for the great endorphin and energy filled feelings I have the rest of the day! Another preference of mine is doing my longest runs on Mondays. I consider Monday the start of my week and Sunday the end, and what better way to set the pace for my week than a long run! I generally try to get in my longest run on Mondays, so that I know I have already accomplished one great run for the week. I usually run lower miles throughout the weekdays and then get in at least one solid run on the weekends that comes close to Monday’s mileage. But hey, this is just works for me!

Since I am leaving for Australia TODAY and won’t get an opportunity (as far as I know) to run for TWO WHOLE WEEKS, I wanted to push it up until I left. So Monday, I decided to push myself to the 10 mile marker for the first time. And while it was pretty hard, I did it!! Wooo hooo!!! I ended up running pretty slow the last mile, but completed all 10 miles in 1 hr 28 minutes, so my time didn’t end up being too bad in the end because I was running a little faster during miles 6-8. My legs and knees were definitely sore this morning, but since it’s my last day to get in a good run, I was on the treadmill at 7 am to squeeze in 6 miles. I ended up feeling better than expected (probably since my last two runs were on the treadmill) and pushed it to about 7 miles in an hour. 17 miles in 2 days new record pour moi! Nothing like pushing it before vacation!

I refueled after my 10 mile run with an unexpected breakfast! I saw butter flavored Eggo’s in my freezer and knew I just HAD to have them! Hey, when a craving strikes, I listen. I toasted one Eggo -I cannot remember the last time I freaking ate an Eggo Waffle btw! – topped it with a ton of Justin’s Almond Butter with Honey, a sliced apple, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and some light maple syrup = can I say MMM, MMM, MMM?! I ended up broiling it for 3 minutes in the toaster oven after a couple bites because I wanted to bake the apples a little. The cinnamon became so gooey on top and the almond butter became even more melted. I scarfed this up pretty quickly, but it was so good, I know it will be making a re-appearance upon my return. I plan on buying whole wheat, natural waffles though for this breakfast in the future.

So post-coffee, boring last-minute errands again bla bla bla and then LUNCH! haha Needless to say, I was pretty hungry 🙂 As I was making this, I snacked on a plain Oikos greek yogurt – yea protein! I threw together a junk salad because I just had so many random item leftover in my fridge. Today’s mix consisted of arugula, baby spinach, tofu, carrots, red onions, blue cheese, a cut up apple, all topped with balsamic vinaigrette. I haven’t had blue cheese in forever, and I am suddenly reminded of how much I LOVE that strong, pungent taste. I’ll have to start using it more in my recipes.