Homemade PB + Other Yummy Eats

Friday + Saturday Morning Eats (at least those worth mentioning):

Lunch was another wrap, this time with leftover grilled zucchini, avocado, tomato, feta and hummus that I then put in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt the cheese. I also had some leftover roasted veggies with some hot sauce.

After work I headed to the track to do a short workout. Usually I start out by warming up with three miles, but yesterday I thought I would try and sprint a mile and then go from there. I ran the first mile in 7:41, took a breather and then decided to do some sprints. I managed 2 x 100m, then 1 x 200m (attempted a second one, but whimped out), and then 3 x 100m. I then did 150 sit ups and some plank and boat stomach moves. I basically was like, hey! It's Friday! I'm going home! So yeah, not a great workout but I was DONZO.

Then when I came home and showered, I finally made some home made peanut butter!! It was super simple, I just put one can of unsalted dry roasted peanuts in my food processor and kept grinding it until it formed a smooth paste. I had to keep stopping it and kind of stirring it around with a butter knife. I also added about 3 T of cinnamon, a few dashes of vanilla extract, and...about 2 T of dark brown sugar! I shouldn't have added that, but I wanted it a little sweet!

The nuts before I grinded them:
The early stages of processing:

It worked!

Final product:

YUM! While I was waiting for the peanuts to grind up, I enjoyed a glass of Merlot from my wine glass that Matt's sister gave me for Christmas :) (And yes, that is my Runner's World calendar in the background!)


After sampling this deliciousness (it was Matt approved!) we headed out to dinner at Yo Burrito downtown where I got the Veggie Platos, which was basically a plate of grilled veggies, some marinated tomatoes, cheese, Mexican rice, black beans and two tortillas. I ate probably 3/4 of the plate. We also had queso dip, chips and salsa. Yum!

After rolling ourselves out of there, we both agreed we should probably not order chips and dip before the meal. Then we also agreed that we would probably never be able to not order chips :)

This morning I got up and did Yoga for Runners from YogaDownload.com. It was a little easier this time, but still kind of confusing! I also downloaded the Core Yoga workout as well, to try out this week.

I then made myself a big bowl of oats and wheat bran. It contained: oats, wheat bran (from the WF bins), 1 spoonful of home made cinnamon PB, 1/2 banana, strawberries, 1/2 scoop vanilla soy protein powder, water, pumpkin spice, honey and ground flax seeds.


Well now we're off to the farmer's market to get some local veggies! I am not running today, but will be running 13 tomorrow so I will update you then on how that goes.

***
How is everyone enjoying March Madness??? I know my bracket is definitely taking a beating! Matt and I are competing against each other and so far he has 9 losses and I have 11! Still pretty close! My TAR HEELS play this afternoon, so you better believe I will be glued to the screen later on!

How far are you guys running this weekend? Anybody have any races?

Hope everyone has a fabulous Saturday! <3

Redemption!

Yesterday all day I was preoccupied with how my long run didn't go on Sunday. I even woke up in the middle of the night Sunday night and couldn't go back to sleep because I was thinking about it! I usually am off on Mondays, but I decided I had to try to do something yesterday afternoon to make up for the craptasticness of Sunday. Thank you all for your sweet and encouraging comments yesterday, you were all right! Bad runs definitely make the good ones all that much better :)

So after work I set out to do 12 miles at around 6 PM, perfect because of daylight savings time! And...the run went great!! I actually ending up cutting a few corners so it only came out to be 11.38, but that was fine by me because as it was, I was finishing up my run (through the not so nice areas) in the dark. Plus I really didn't want to push myself as I was pretty sore from the weekend.

I felt fab the entire run, and only started to get tired around mile 10. While I was running, I was thinking and realized that this was the longest run I have completed (without walking) since before I went to the wedding! No wonder I was having trouble with 17 miles.

Here are my totals and split times:

Time:	01:59:48
Distance:	11.38 mi
Elevation Gain:	1,760 ft
Total Calories:	1,293 C

Avg Pace: 10:31 min/mi

Best Pace: 07:34 min/mi

Split	secondsTotal Time	milesTotal Distance	feetElevation Gain	feetElevation Loss	minutes per mileAverage Speed	minutes per mileMax Speed
Summary	01:59:48	11.38	1,760	1,703	10:31	07:34
1	00:09:56	1.00	110	60	09:56	08:23
2	00:10:00	1.00	84	68	10:00	08:41
3	00:10:08	1.00	235	248	10:08	08:19
4	00:10:19	1.00	137	196	10:19	07:34
5	00:10:36	1.00	177	55	10:36	09:52
6	00:10:29	1.00	148	49	10:29	09:24
7	00:10:32	1.00	101	166	10:32	09:40
8	00:11:09	1.00	166	126	11:09	09:34
9	00:10:56	1.00	32	151	10:56	09:53
10	00:11:05	1.00	150	151	11:05	09:25
11	00:10:50	1.00	344	364	10:50	08:03
12	00:03:42	0.38	77	69	09:50	08:17

So my goals for this week (and most every week until taper time) are simple: to increase my mileage on my weekday runs. I just don't think I have been logging enough miles during the week to sustain my weekend long runs. I haven't figured out my schedule yet for this week, but I will let you know as soon as I do!

OH, I forgot to mention that I tried Yoga for Runners from YogaDownload.com on Sunday. Loved it! It was also nice because I did it around sunset out on our balcony, and I already told you how nice of a day it was on Sunday. I definitely think that helped me out yesterday, as well as drinking a TON of water throughout the day (about 64+ ounces). I will try to do it again tonight to stretch out, possibly download a new one too.

Monday's Dinner:

I didn't eat too much yesterday and was starving while I was out on my run. But when I got home--yeah, not so much. But I knew I needed to eat something to refuel me. I made Matt some Salmon baked in aluminum foil with onions and peppers, a baked potato, and some Steamfresh Southwestern Rice.

For me, I steamed up some Salmon with dill and garlic, nuked a Sweet Potato and added some Smart Balance Light butter, and had a small bowl of grapes. I finished it all but it took me a while! I absolutely love steamed fish. If you haven't tried it yet, you should!



I didn't get a picture of the sweet potato, but you all know what those look like. :) By the time that was ready, I was so dog tired all I could do was sit on the couch and spoon it into my mouth...but I actually haven't had a sweet potato baked like that, ever, so it was a pretty good treat. Usually I make baked fries out of them. This was much easier! (I actually used to hate sweet potatoes as a kid, one of the only foods I wouldn't eat! Never ate the casseroles at holidays...now I love them!)

This morning I am STUFFED from my oatmeal!


This time I added: About 1/3 cup oats, about 1/4 cup Vanilla Soy Milk Light, a dash of water, 1/2 scoop Soy Vanilla Protein Powder, 1 spoonful of Publix Chunky Natural PB, 1/2 banana (I ate the rest..), some pumpkin spice, Greek Honey, and some blueberries. Delish. I have some plums I want to start adding, but they're not quite ripe enough yet.

Today I think I will not be running. Instead I am going to do some yoga, ice my knees & shins, and study a bit. I am also going to make some Acorn Squash Risotto! I don't really have a recipe so hopefully it will turn out okay.

Wise Words From My Nana...
I was gchatting with my Nana this morning (yep, she's that hip) and I was telling her how worried I was about the race, and I will leave you with her sage advice:

The best way to predict your future is to create it!

Beautiful Weather and Hooray Spring 6 Miler!

I could not be more thrilled that today is Friday. I woke up early, had time to make a nice breakfast and pack a good lunch, and even got to catch up on my reading! All before work. I am also excited because today was finally warm enough for me to wear a new dress I had been saving...PLUS, it looks like it may be warm enough this weekend for some beach time! Best time of year. :)

I started out this morning with some Apple Cinnamon Oats, only because after I started to make it I realized the only fruit in the house was one lonely apple.

Here's what I put in there:

• 1/3 cup quick cooking oats (do you guys all make steel cut oats? I am lazy and use the quick kind)
• 1/2 scoop Vanilla Soy Protein Powder
• NF milk
• Water
  
• almost 1 apple diced (munched on the rest of it)
• 1 packet of Splenda
• Some cinnamon
• 1 spoonful of Publix Natural Chunky PB
• 1 spoonful Dannon Lite and Fit Vanilla Yogurt

Yum! Next time I think I will add the PB and apple while cooking, it was kind of cold by the time I got around to eating it.

All mixed up:


I also started my day off with something other than coffee, which is kind of a shocker to me, a double dose of green tea!


Hooray for Spring 6 Miler!
RunningLaur over at When I get a little, run run run has been kind enough to arrange a virtual 6 miler on the first day of spring. Since I am new to the online running community, I haven't been able to take part in any of these so far! So I am pretty pumped about this one. Here's what she says about the race:

Here are the details, and keep in mind that I'm very relaxed on the 'rules':

• Date: Friday, March 20 - the first day of spring! Saturday, March 21 is the historic date of the equinox however, the tilt of the earth has changed, so the 21st is generally known as the traditional date. And well, Saturday is a lot easier to run on. I will also accept a race time from anytime during the first week of Spring (until Friday March 27) so that the celebration can last all week.
  
• Distance: 6 miles or 6 km. Like most real races, there are multiple distance corrals! Non-Americans, or those preferring lower mileage for any reason, may opt for the 6 km option. Let me know which one you did with your results. Note that this may be part of a longer training run if you like too. I'm easy.
  
• Purpose: To celebrate and enjoy Spring! Also, racers will compete for prizes (of a sort...), yay!
  
• Prizes: No real life prizes, sorry - I don't have cool sponsors like some bloggers, but I do have Microsoft Paint and the love of all things tacky and ugly. Winners, in various categories (not necessarily speed based), will be awarded wonderfully silly award logos that can be placed on your blog. Now who doesn't love pimping out their blog?!?!? All participants will receive a virtual bib, when printed, becomes a real bib.
  
• Registration: FREE!!! Comment with your name and planned distance. If you want to throw in a goal time too, go for it - this way you can race against yourself. My submission: RunningLaur, 6 miles, 66 minutes.

I have 'registered' for the 6 mile race, and I will probably do it sometime during the week since I will most likely be doing a long run on that weekend.

Running schedule for this weekend:
I asked for some opinions yesterday as to what I should run today (obviously I didn't get up and run this morning, so will be done after work) and joyRuN suggested I cross train, which honestly I hadn't even thought of. Since I don't have a gym membership yet, I haven't been able to get into too much cross training recently.

But I DO have a road bike that has basically been gathering dust since last February, and since it is such nice weather....I think I might take it out tonight.

I have my 5k tomorrow morning, and my long run on Sunday so I am trying to be as healthy as I can today and throughout this weekend. Especially since I ate Mexican last night.* I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend! Wish me luck on my race!



* I may or may not have eaten bean dip, chips and salsa, and a spinach quesadilla with guacamole and sour cream. If I DID eat all that, my experience may have been ruined due to the four screaming snot nosed kids whose baby-talking parents were letting them run throughout the entire restaurant. Note to self: stick to restaurants downtown near the college, where it is almost guaranteed you won't run into these situations.