Hey there!

I have officially completed my hardest week of marathon training!  Yesterday was my 20 mile run, and…well… it was rough to say the least.  I started off running in 70-degree weather with 100% humidity.  I was feeling warm and strong, but Joe’s knees were acting up, so we decided to head back and I’d finish up on the treadmill.  Once on the treadmill, I realized I hadn’t been drinking enough.  Apparently trying to conserve water because it’s hot out isn’t a good idea?  I guess drinking water is necessary?  Ugh.  So the remaining 14 miles on the treadmill were painful, but I got through it!  I decided to go over 20 miles because of my start-and-stop (of moving indoors).  In total, I went about 21.34 miles.  Although it wasn’t my prettiest run, I was glad to have been able to finish it.  I feel slightly unprepared for the upcoming marathon because I don’t know how fast/slow I can run it, but I’m hoping come race day my body will know what to do.

Thankfully my body feels pretty good today.  I’m not too sore and considering I ran a little over 21 miles… I’ll consider that a success 🙂

After my run, I ate about a million things like always to re-fuel my body after a long run.  Immediately after my run, I had chocolate milk and a peanut butter Cliff Bar.  I’ve learned from other runners that it’s important to re-fuel quickly after a run.  They’ve said that chocolate milk is the “perfect” re-fueling choice.  Apparently, it has the best combination of protein and carbs.  Considering it has a bunch of both listed on the nutrition facts, and that my friends are pretty experienced, I’ll accept that.  I’ll also accept it because, well, it tastes so good 🙂

Later on, I ate a Subway Turkey Sandwich filled with veggies.  This was the best after having carbo-loaded the past few days and limiting my veggie intake.  I’m a veggie-aholic, so trying to cut down on fiber was hard.  I was so glad to finally get veggies in my life again (yes, “finally”, because 3 days really is that hard for me).

Usually after runs, I like to relax by watching some tv and laying out on the couch.  Of course I did that yesterday but I also wanted to do some baking.  I decided to make PB Finger’s Peanut Butter Energy Bites.  I made these a few weeks ago and loved them.  As did all of my friends, who keep asking me to bake them some more.  This time I decided to change the recipe slightly, and still received rave reviews.  Hopefully you enjoy them as well!

PB Energy Bites (adapted slightly from PB Finger’s recipe)
2 Cups Natural Peanut Butter
1 Cup Wheat Germ
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup Sugar
about 10 teaspoons mini chocolate chips (should have 1/4 tsp mini chocolate chips per cookie)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all of the ingredients together (dough will be thick and very different from traditional chocolate chip cookie dough).

Roll tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough and place mini chocolate chips on top.

Place onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until bottom is slightly golden/browned.  Made approximately 43 cookies.  Share and enjoy!

Note: the original recipe contained 1 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup wheat germ, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup sugar to make approx 15 cookies.  I doubled this recipe so that I could share it, but I cut down on some sugar to make it slightly healthier.  I also added the chocolate chips for some fun and extra flavor 🙂

After baking, I enjoyed a delicious salmon dinner.  I purchased the salmon from a nearby restaurant and baked my own sweet potato fries.  I enjoyed this with my tomato-mozz creation 🙂  Ignore the broccoli…I managed to burn it during the steaming process.  Stupid broccoli.

I ended the night with a double date with Joe, Antho, and Marta.  We saw The Avengers and it was great!  Such a fun night.  I also may have had some cereal, Goldfish, and another PB cookie before bed.  After the long run, I’m anything but sorry.  Food = fuel.

Questions for you:
– Do you ever do your runs half inside/half outside?
– How do you keep yourself motivated after having to pause a run?

My answers:
– Yes! Never really on purpose, but it happens.
– I keep myself motivated by thinking about everything I will eat after my run (which is everything).  I also like to distract myself by watching TV if I’m running inside.  Yesterday, I watched the Food Network for a bit and then Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Hope your next run goes well and has less starts-and-stops than mine!