I Whip My Hair Back and Forth

It was a beautiful morning for a run here in Chicago, and a great day to try out my new shoes! 

Today was my long run, 5 miles! I haven't run 5 miles since last February and with my ankle and knee bothering me, I was pretty nervous. I went out thinking, walk or run, just finish those 5 miles! Well, not going to lie, the first 3 were pretty rough and I had a side cramp that would just not go away. However, I ended up finishing very strong and feeling like I could keep going! I guess I just need to get through that initial hump. 

However, at 4.5 miles my earphone kept falling out, my playlist ran out, and then the wind kept whipping my sweaty ponytail into my face! (Hence the blog title... still can't believe how young that girl is! I whip my hair back and forth, I whip my hair back and forth...). Anyone else have these frustrations?? 

Anyway, I finished the 5 miles in 45 minutes and 39 seconds, which put me at a 9:06 min/mile pace. I was pretty happy with that! When I got back and stretched and rolled out, and then it was time to eat! 

On the menu today was banana oats and a strawberry protein smoothie! The oats were made with 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water and 1/2 a banana! (ate the other half before my run). 

The smoothie had 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup almond milk and 1 scoop vanilla protein powder. Just like a strawberry milkshake! Although I must say, the smoothie without the banana in it was just not the same...

After getting some work done I decided to go to a Hot Yoga class. My shoulders were so sore from my workout with my trainer Friday and I knew it would also be great for my legs after my run this morning. When I got back it was time for lunch! 

I decided to make a giant salad with spinach, shredded carrots, cucumbers, chickpeas, mushrooms, sweet onion and some raspberry-infused balsamic vinegar! 

Hit the spot. Probably going to be making some Homemade Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt in a bit for dessert... Now it's time for the last of my reading, figuring out lunch for the week, and relaxing in this beautiful weather! I hope you all are enjoying your Sunday, and for anyone on the East coast, stay safe and dry! 

"Pink Flamingos in the Pool"

It's the weekend!!!! Well, for me at least. I don't have classes on Friday, so I'm officially not doing any work until tomorrow since tonight is my "Friday night"! And now I have the Katy Perry song, Last Friday Night, stuck in my head...

I had packed the same salad I've been having all week, but when I got off the bus near school I suddenly realized that I had left it in the fridge... Do you think that was my subconscious telling me to mix it up a little? Clearly not, because I went and got a Farmhouse salad from Potbelly (minus the bacon, cheese and hard boiled eggs). My stomach was really bothering me, so I wanted to keep it light and simple.

I also snacked on a GNU bar during my afternoon class. Have you tried these things?? They are delicious and have 12 grams of fiber in each bar! They are only 130-140 calories and come in a bunch of great flavors, trust me, I got their sampler pack and tried all of them! The one I ate today was cinnamon raisin!

When I got home, I knew I wanted to go to the grocery store in a bit, so I snacked on a plum and some almonds and made up my list. Then, I went on a run. A RUN!?!? This morning I had decided that my scheduled 3 mile run just wasn't in the cards for me, mostly because I technically did it yesterday. However, my bus home drove past the lakefront, and I was so jealous of everyone enjoying the beautiful sunshine! So I decided to go on a "fun run", which meant I would just head out there to enjoy it and see how far I go!

Old Picture. Imagine this, plus about 1,000 people. No Joke.

Guess what? I ran 4 miles! It was a slow, and somewhat painful, four miles, but I wanted to be out there! My legs felt like lead but I was enjoying the energy and the sunshine too much! I ended up finishing with a 9:40 min/mile pace, which isn't awesome, but pretty good for my fun run! Afterwards, I met Lauren, my sister-in-law, in the park where she was playing with Molly! Gotta love some Molly time.

I realized it was almost 7, so I hurried home, showered and headed to Trader Joes. When I got back I was starving! (snacked on some TJ Bran Flake Cereal on the walk back...) so I threw together a microwaved sweet potato with the last of my broccoli and black beans.

Afterwards, I tried out Katie's Voluminous Ice Cream. I had already made the mix of 1 cup almond milk, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and a packet of truvia. I had placed that mix into an ice tray in the freezer before my run. When I put it all in the blender it ended up really flaky... I added some milk but it just wasn't working out. Then I added 3 fresh strawberries, blended, and stuck it back in the freezer for as long as I could wait... aka 15 min. It was sweet and ice-cream-esque, but didn't have a creamy consistency. It was kinda soupy. I'll need to work on this recipe.

Just re-read the instructions when I copy and pasted the link to her recipe... Apparently I was supposed to thaw it for 30 sec in the microwave first. Not sure if that would have really helped, but I'll have to try it again! Now it's time to watch a bit of the Glee Project and perhaps read a little! (not school reading!).

Does anyone else watch the Glee Project? I feel like I'm the only one... but it's a guilty pleasure! Gotta watch something until Glee starts up again! What are your favorite guilty pleasure shows? 

Apple Pie Oatmeal and Q&A

So this morning has been rather thrilling and I can't wait to share it with you all! NOT. Haha, I woke up this morning and I knew I wanted to workout in the afternoon, so I thought, what should I do? Then I looked around my apartment... This is a cleaning morning! So in the midst of my scrubbing, organizing and laundry I decided to make myself a delicious bowl of oatmeal!

I had just bought some organic Pink Lady apples at Trader Joe's yesterday so I was dying to use them in my oatmeal! I love Pink Lady apples because they have a unique sweet taste!

To make my oatmeal I chopped up half an apple into cubes and added that to a half cup of oatmeal and sprinkled some cinnamon on top!

Then I added a half cup of almond milk and a quarter cup of water and microwaved the mix for 3 minutes. Then I added 2 spoonfuls of PB2 powder, which made it a bit thicker than I anticipated...

So I added a bit of almond milk and stuck it in the microwave for 30 seconds since the milk cooled it down a bit. Moved it to a bowl, and TADA! It was like having apple pie for breakfast! This will definitely be a go-to during the fall, I'll have to have a use for all those delicious farmers market apples!

soooo good!

Question Responses:

Dad - you're not exactly my target audience so you won't find this geared towards you...

I'm curious about this protein powder. I've only ever really seen body builders use it, and you're obviously not a huge muscly scary girl. Why do you use it?

My personal trainer suggested that I start using protein powder this past January. It's a great addition to my diet because I don't tend to get enough protein, especially with the amount of strength training that I do. I find it hard to cook meat for just one person, it's also expensive! So having a protein smoothie after a workout has been very helpful for me. Several other bloggers that I follow also use protein powder in their smoothies; I think it's become more and more common for women who do strength training or who are vegetarians and are looking to add more protein into their diets!

If anyone is thinking about using protein powder, I'd recommend going to a health food store and asking a sales associate about it and what kind you should buy. I talked with my trainer beforehand to make sure I got one that was very low in sugar and fat compared to the amount of calories. A lot of times are aimed towards men, who metabolize a lot faster, so you want to stay away from those!

Have you learned to run with both legs evenly?

Very funny. Thank you big brother for that question. To everyone else, I had been having a lot of knee problems while running and then in late April I pulled my IT band. I tried just resting for a while to see if I could get over the injury myself, but after a couple months of failed attempts I finally went to see a physical therapist to get a running evaluation. She took a video of me running from the front, right side and back and then also did a few strength and flexibility tests.

When I came back the next week she had a dvd of my running broken down for me and several exercises to get me back on the road! A week ago (last Tuesday) I was finally allowed to try running again! The physical therapist told me I have a slight curve in my spine, which was causing me to run with my right leg at an inward angle whenever I stepped down. I also had several other problems, such as swinging my arms back and forth across my body and landing my stride in front of me rather than underneath my body.

So to report, so far so good! I still have to ice my knees after running, but it's a sore kind of pain, not a sharp pain that I had been feeling before! I'm very excited to be running again and cannot wait for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in September!

Does anyone else have races coming up that they are excited for?