Killed it.

Well, kinda 😉 I ran a 5-mile race this morning and really had no expectations. I hadn’t run a race since my high school cross country days and figured anything under a 10-min mile pace would be something to celebrate. I averaged an 8:10 pace! Heck yes!

Pre-race breakfast at 7:30:

Perfect combo of fiber-packed carbs, sugar, and fat. Plus a couple of giant glasses of water and a small cuppa Joe on the side. I usually eschew coffee until after my morning runs but with a start time of 10:30 I knew it would be headache city if I waited until afterward. I also nibbled on a dried date about 15 mins before the gun/the man counting down from 10 over a megaphone.

See the man with the megaphone? Yeah, I couldn’t either. And, holy cow, was it windy!

All week I had been telling myself to just treat this like any other weekend run. Once I got there, though, I decided that I had to push myself – it’s not every weekend that I get to run with over 1,000 other people! And it totally paid off. Woohoo! My left foot has been sore while walking and I worried it would seize up on me but it felt like all it needed was to run! I didn’t have any pain at all during the race. I paced myself off this woman I found who was about my size and totally booking it (my Forerunner also helped keep my pace in check). It also helped that I spent most of the race behind this guy with the most chiseled calves imaginable…that’s not weird, right?

There were all kinds of goodies at the finish line, including a mango protein shake, bananas, chips and hummus, and watttaaaa. When I got home I was famished and immediately got to work on this:

I put about 1/2 of the protein shake into a smoothie with a sliced kiwi, a cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and some ice cubes. I also whipped up a bowl of oats with 1/3 cup rolled oats, 3/4 cup water, 1 egg, big spoonful of cottage cheese, about 1/3 cup pumpkin, and all of the necessary spices. I always crave lots of carbs after a hard run but I know I need protein to help my muscles heal. Filled me up and quenched my thirst!

Now I just need to sign up for my next race…

Pumpkin Oats!

Morning! I looked out the window this morning and got myself all excited thinking it looked so WARM. One of my roomies and I have always joked about this – how exactly can it look warm? Well, duh, it’s sunny. Not exactly the whole formula, though ;).  I brought myself back to reality when we were watching the weather and freaked when the map read “16”. I relaxed when I realized it was the wind speed only to have my hopes dashed again when the temp map said 17. Oh, right, it’s March. The biggest tease of the year. I think it will be quite a while until I’m here again…

Nauset Light Beach, Cape Cod

And like I’ll be spending a little more time feeling like this…

It was a close friend’s surprise 24th birthday party last night and the cupcakes I made (although unbelievably delicious…post to come) left me feeling a bit washed out today. I’m super sensitive to sugar and also often fall victim to its addictive qualities. Once you start, you just can’t stop, right? When I woke up I was starving (sugar leaves that empty feeling after a few hours) but the thought of banana oats was totally unappealing; my palette couldn’t handle more sweet even in the form of fruit.

Enter: Pumpkin Oats!

Today’s Bowl

In the pot:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened original
• big sprinkle cinnamon
• smaller sprinkle of ginger
• teense sprinkles of nutmeg and ground cloves
• dash on vanilla (pour counting to 1)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin, stirred in at the end
• 1/3 cup Lactaid cottage cheese, stirred in at the end

On top:

• big teaspoon of TJ’s sunflower butter
• sprinkle Nature’s Path Hemp Plus granola
• couple of raisins

I whipped the oats even though there were no bananas in the mixture – the combo of bananas and pumpkin tastes overly-sweet and chemically to me but I know a lot of people disagree and think it’s great! This bowl was AWESOME(sauce) (ha, we watched Parks and Rec last night and I learned this fantastic new word). I can’t eat too much dairy or else I end up with days of stomachaches so I am very thankful for Almond Breeze and Lactaid products (even too much Lactaid can get me, though). If you’re going with regular milk and cottage cheese, I’d suggest 1/2 c. milk and 1/2 c. water in your oats, just to keep the calories and dairy amounts in check.

This bowl was creamy, still with some texture from the oats, and very reminiscent of pumpkin pie (but not sweet, thank goodness!). Pumpkin holds a special place in my heart. One of my roommates accused me (quite accurately, I should point out) of trying to stretch pumpkin season out as long as possible. Pumpkin pie has no business being on anyone’s table outside of October-December. However, pumpkin is a vegetable (er, fruit?) and I’m just bettering my health by including that vitamin-A and fiber-packed punch in my oats…right?

Happy Sunday!