Good evening friends!
Well, today I did something that I’ve never done in my life and, honestly, was not sure I was capable of
I put the longest run of my training plan behind me, 7.2 miles in 71 minutes!!! I can honestly tell you that I never thought this distance would be something I could or would accomplish. I read so many blogs about runners who do this fairly regularly but I always believed it just wasn’t something I could do. I actually woke up today feeling pretty sick; my stomach issues were flaring up and I thought I was going to skip the entire thing. Instead, I gave myself some time, spent the morning relaxing, and waited until around 11 (late for me to workout) when I felt ready to hit the road. My run began with one of my neighbors, who often goes to the same class at the gym with me, cheering out her window at me saying, “go girl!!!” For some reason this was just the encouragement I needed to hit the pavement and go strong. I kept reminding myself to stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself. Rather than focusing on the idea of running for 70-80 minutes (my plan is in time not miles) I just let myself get caught up in the music and lost in thought. I tracked my run using the MapMyRun app on my iphone; by the third mile I felt strong that I could really finish it. The app kept me on top of my time and my mileage, I knew I was running right around sub 10-minute mile pace and felt good that I could hold it. I encountered both a motorcycle ride and a crowd of sign holders for the city’s mayoral race; both put a smile on my face and helped me to keep going. I arrived home to my parents and a family friend in the front yard and was excited to have a little fan fare 🙂
Immediately when I got home I knew what I had to do. Since it was a pretty warm day (I think around 68) I went straight for water
I had about three of these before I had a little date with my new best friend
My foam roller is seriously a life saver these days. I felt a twinge of pain in my left hip flexer and some pain in my right knee. I am definitely not ignoring these and am planning on getting a physical therapy consult in the next week to see what they’re all about. After some rollin’ around I needed to hit the showers
I skipped the standard post-run ice bath but started off with some icy cold water to ease the pain in my legs. It didn’t last very long because, really, who wants to take a cold shower?? And plus all I could think about was refueling…
Oatmeal Protein Pancake
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup egg whites
1 tsp baking powder
1 packet Truvia (or some version of Stevia)
1/2 banana, mashed
Cinnamon to taste
Directions: Combine all ingredient in a bowl and stir to combine. Pour into a lightly sprayed non-stick pan, cook over medium heat until it lifts from the pan. Flip and finish cooking on the other side. Top with the rest of the sliced banana and topping of choice.
I ate this with a mix of unsweetened applesauce and maple syrup…so good and just what I needed after a long run 🙂 After my recovery brunch, my mom and I went to visit my Gram at her assisted living community for Grandparent’s Day
My Gram is really too cute; 93 years old and so physically healthy. In the last year she has begun to develop dementia and it’s advancing pretty rapidly. She is such a joyful person, despite her forgetfulness, and inspires me to live a happy and healthy life.
After our visit my mom and I got groceries and had a dinner plan in mind, grill pizza! When we got home my aunt and uncle were over so it ended up becoming a bit of a pizza party. My pizza was made on Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free dough and topped with roasted eggplant, portobello, and zucchini plus some crushed tomato sauce and some fat-free Kraft mozzarella cheese (lactose free)!
No crumb or crust was left behind. We also had a little vino, pinot noir to be exact. Dessert was in the form of a delicious cupcake that I needed to do quality control on…pictures tomorrow 🙂
Tell me: what have you done that you never thought you could do? And what’s your favorite way to refuel after a workout?
Have a great night everyone!
lots of love,
Em
Mindfully Emily 