What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

I survived!!  Thanks to Kelly Clarkson and some other good tunes :)

Here's the verdict on the CLIF energy shot:  It's comparable to eating three spoonfuls of straight jelly.  And I for one do not enjoy eating straight jelly.  With that being said, my run felt pretty great!  But I'm sure the sunshine-y weather helped!

I follow Bob Harper (Biggest Loser, anybody?) on Facebook.  The other day he had a post about a breakfast smoothie.  I've been using it as a post-run smoothie to refuel.  Recipe is as follows:

• 3/4 cups oats
• 1 1/2 cups berries
• 1 scoop protein powder
• 12 ounces milk or water
• Note: this makes 2 servings.

The fruit all ready to go!

Today instead of all berries I used half of a frozen banana and 1/4 cup blueberries.  I have vegetable protein powder but don't care for the taste that it gives.  I need to get a flavored powder if I choose to buy another can of it.  For now, I mixed one part of the protein powder with one part Ovaltine.  I also soak the oats overnight to make it nice and thick.  Let me tell you, my smoothie today was delicious!!!  

Yummy in a jar.

After long runs like today's, I don't do any "extras" (i.e. abs, weights, etc).  Today I just did some good stretching, my legs definitely needed it!  A nice hot shower always feels great on the muscles as well. :)

I must say, it can be very hard to get myself started when I know nine miles lies ahead of me.  But what I've learned throughout this training process, is that incorporating healthy eating and regular exercise has to be something that you want.  Other people can want it for you, but other people can't do it for you.  You really have to be self motivated, and for me, there are plenty of reasons to take care of myself!!  Slowly but surely it becomes habit.

Here's to a good week!

It's a beautiful morning!

It really is.  We've been having some chilly weather here in Wisconsin, but today looks like it actually might turn out nice.  Not the 70 degree weather I'm hoping for, but I'll take it!

I guess I haven't mentioned yet that I'm in the middle of training for a half marathon.  It's coming up in about four weeks.  David is also training for it, so that helps to keep me going.  Today will be my longest run yet, 9 miles!!  Ooh boy, my legs get tired just thinking about it.  But I just finished my pre-run breakfast of a mini bagel with some peanut butter, a small dish of applesauce with cinnamon and a small cup of coffee.  I don't always drink coffee before a run but I recently read that it might actually help with endurance.  I've never had a problem with it (stomach-wise) before running so I thought today would be a good day to enjoy some beforehand.

I've also been trying some of the "energy gels" to see which one I like best for the big day.  So far I've used Gatorade's Prime.  My biggest concern is how it affects my stomach, not necessarily how well it works because who knows, it might just be the placebo effect.  I didn't have any trouble with Prime, my only complaint is that it's such a big pouch, I felt like I was ingesting quite a bit right before my run.  With that being said, my 8 mile run went well and I felt good throughout.

Today I'm trying CLIF's version.  It's a much smaller portion so I'm excited about that.  They had two flavors (I'm sure more are available, but I just happened to see them at Wal-Mart and this is what they had), Mocha and Razz.  I went with the Razz.  Even though I like coffee, I didn't know if I'd like a mocha flavored gel shot.  For me, the fruity flavors are always a safe bet.

Now it's time to work on some math homework while breakfast digests.  I also need to get my run mapped out.  For you runners out there, if you haven't used MapMyRun, I highly recommend it.

Wish me luck on my NINE miles!!  Yikes!