friends, tires, & panera

Wow, another long, interesting day.

When Tiffany’s sister, Laura, showed up, we made lunch and got ready to go shopping. I used some of the leftover sautéed veggies from last night’s dinner to make my sandwich, plus one of my favorite nut butters that went on the road with me.

1/2 sandwich (multigrain bread, Laughing Cow Light wedge, spinach, sautéed veggies); carrot; fuji apple with 1 heaping tbsp sun butter

Perfect lunch. My body was craving the raw fruits & veggies (plus the sautéed ones, let’s be honest).

We set out shopping and it was a long, productive 3 hours. I got a lot of really good basics (new belt, skirts, cardigan) but am still on the prowl for NON-hoochie, affordable jean shorts and some cute summer tops. All the shorts were either “boyfriend” style (relaxed, rolled up, and artistically torn) or WAY too short. The search continues.

On the way home, we experienced some unpleasantness with another flat tire. Awesome. They are doing construction in the neighborhood and the crews let too many nails in the road. The neighborhood association will reimburse for the costs, but 2 this week and 1 a couple weeks ago is a little ridiculousness. This time, no Johnny to rescue us AAA did!

When we finally got home, I was a little starving and a little tired. Tiffany, too. She took a nap upstairs and I vegged on the couch to catch up on blogs. I also munched on my new grocery store find!

100 cal pack of Cocoa Roast almonds!

A box (containing 7 packs) was about $3, and totally worth it. The dark chocolate flavor really came out, but wasn’t overpowering. Also the nutrition stats weren’t bad at all, especially for a snack, and these packed protein and was a decent serving size (~20 almonds). If you see these, I recommend them! There were more flavors, too.

When Tiffany woke up, we dug into our Easter baskets. Whoops. My mom sent some stuff for me with my grandma, but it had some Reeses Pieces that were a LITTLE too appealing this evening. No picture, but I ate a few more than necessary.

When we were all indecisive about dinner plans, my friend Megan wanted to know if I’d go to Panera (aka “Panizzle”… I’m a word thief from Tyler) and it seemed perfect. Side note: my cell phone charger is in Va Beach and my cell phone is with me. Conundrum. I’ve been switching my phone off for 45 minute chunks and turning it back on to make sure I haven’t missed anything vital. Thankfully I got to the Panera text in time!

1/2 Fuji Apple Chicken salad (sans chicken, obviously) and sub reduced fat balsamic; bowl of Low Fat Black Bean soup; hunk of whole grain baguette

I wanted a salad since I’ve had so many sandwiches lately, but also to repent for my Reeses Pieces sin. This salad is so amazing, I didn’t even miss the chicken! And the soup was as delicious as ever.

Now I’m back for my last evening with Tiffany! Tomorrow I’m meeting a friend on my old campus for breakfast then taking Harris out to lunch (belated birthday present) and hanging around until the Passover Seder. Then a late-night drive back to the beach. I’m definitely not looking forward to that.

reflections on my race

I slept a sound 10 hours last night! It felt so nice and I was so tired.

When we woke up this morning, Johnny, Tiffany, and I headed out on a morning walk to stretch my sore legs and explore their new subdivision a bit. We ended up walking to the pond, around the pond, and back which was 2.94 miles (yes, I took my Garmin…) and it took us just over an hour.

When we got back we had been thinking about a big breakfast/brunch, but forgot we had told Tiffany’s sister to come over for lunch. I was starved so I ate something to hold me over until Laura gets here for lunch in a bit.

2 Organic Weetabix biscuits with 1 container strawberry Oikos

I love Greek yogurt, and Oikos is one of the better brands I’ve found. I want to find more flavors, my local grocer only has vanilla, strawberry, and blueberry

So as I drifted off to sleep last night I thought about my race and wanted to reflect on the experience and the preparation. I think the biggest keys to my success were:
1. Operation Hydration (making a conscious effort to be more hydrated all week & during training)
2. Adrenaline. Nuff said.
3. Increasing my mileage slowly and resting my foot between runs
4. Support from the blog world, friends & family
5. Being a vegetarian and knowing how to fuel my body more ethically (thank you, No Meat Athlete)
6. Having confidence in myself and knowing that I truly was capable of finishing
7. The crowds cheering me on at the 10k

Also, I finally uploaded the data from my Garmin and noticed that I negative split the entire race. I wish I hadn’t been so reserved the first 2 miles, I probably could have gone a bit faster (but, would I have died out earlier?). Mile 5-6 was sub 10 minutes. I’ve NEVER run a sub 10 minute mile, and I did it in the end of a race! And there was a hill on mile 5 (small, but slowly increasing steepness). Pretty incredible, if I do say so myself.

Okay enough of that. I have BIG race plans that I’m planning, so look for a HUGE announcement in the next few weeks! Off to shower, eat lunch, and shop!