Such a gorgeous Memorial Day

It was a gorgeous day today here in Boston. The sun was shining, it wasn't humid, and the temperature was around 78 degrees. In my eyes, that is a perfect day for a run!

I went to bed last night with a stomach ache and couldn't fall asleep, so when I tried getting up at 7 this morning for an 8.1 mile run, it didn't happen. I let myself sleep until 9:30 and felt much better.

For breakfast I had 2 Kashi Go Lean Waffles with PB , a banana and 2% Chobani. Jenna was right--the 2% tastes so much better!



I couldn't finish all of the banana...I probably ate half. This breakfast was perfect for my 8.1 mile run, although I had to let it digest for 2 hours before I ran. But I'm OK with that since I knew I'd be out for a while. It held me over perfectly. Talk about the breakfast of champions.

I wish I could have brought my camera on my run. It was so gorgeous--running along the Charles River is beautiful anyway but when the weather is like it was today it's even better.


Source

Since it was so sunny out, I put 30 SPF on my face, arms, neck and whatever was exposed on my chest to ensure no sunburn, and I used Dennis' Oakleys, which saved my eyes!! He recently bought a new pair so I will definitely be putting these bad boys to good use this summer.

I decided to use a different approach to today's run. I spent the 8.1 miles running at a medium to slow pace. I started out at a slow jog to warm myself up and then I felt good enough to pick up the pace. I didn't want to overdo it, so I slowed myself down after about 3-4 minutes of running at a "Medium Pace" (for all you Adam Sandler fans out there--I just cracked myself up)

I guess it was my attempt at using the Galloway method without walking, and also without staring at my watch the whole time. I felt awesome the entire run. I never once felt tired and nothing hurt me (well until the last minute or so of sprinting when my knee started to feel like it was going to pop out of socket--nothing too serious--it's happened before)

I actually never really thought about how long I had been running or how many miles I should have left. I looked at my watch and noticed I had been running for just under and hour and thought, "Wow...I've got this....I've so got this...this run has been awesome..."
I actually almost ran right past my turn around point ... when I saw the Anderson Foot Bridge I thought, "Oh, ha! There's the bridge!"

The only problem I had was that since I felt so good and strong, I really thought I had ran at a faster pace than my last attempt at this distance, when in fact, I ran it about 20 seconds SLOWER!?!? Something isn't right! How could I have possibly ran this slower when last time I ran this route I struggled!! I honestly didn't think my time was right. But the clock doesn't lie I guess, so it is what it is. And I enjoyed myself and didn't hurt myself in the process, and I honestly appreciated being out there.

So my stats:

8.1 miles
80 minutes, 51 seconds
9:58 pace

I'm assuming I burned about 800 calories.

I wasn't hungry for a while after my run. I ate an apple after I stretched only because I felt like I should eat something but it made me feel extra full, almost like I was still full from my power breakfast.

About an hour after I got home and showered, I decided to eat my dinner early (at around 4)
I beefed up my leftovers from last night by adding some tofu and goat cheese for the extra protein.



This bad boy contains

• 1 cup angel hair pasta
• about 3.5 ounces of baked tofu
• 1 ounce goat cheese

I love the texture and the taste of goat cheese. It adds so much to a meal.

And I'm still eating up my fabulous truffle ... there's a lot left in there but I don't want to throw it away!

At around 8:15 I started to get the craving for oatmeal for "dinner."

• 1/2 cup Red Mill extra thick rolled oats (YUM!)
• 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp flax
• 1 tbsp slivered almonds
  
• blackberries
  
• cinnamon
• 1 tsp honey
  

I didn't use bananas this time and I was able to actually taste the oats. I usually cook the banana in with the oats so it changes the texture and flavor a little bit. This was exactly what I needed. Yum.

Tomorrow I start my contract job with my neighbor's company at Harvard University. I'm not sure what my schedule is going to be like; if I will be able to carry around food with me or if I'll have to buy lunch every day. (Yikes!) Since I'll be bouncing around from place to place and I won't be driving, I'm not sure I'll have a place to store my "stuff" so I might have to carry around items that won't perish in my purse. This will be an experience I'm sure. And you'll hear ALL about it...