Last night, after a bedtime snack of cookies + milk, I hit the sheets. However, a pesky mosquito made its presence known and around 2am my sleep was interrupted. After fumbling for some Benadryl and closing my window, I was able to get back to bed. My alarm beeped at 7:30am and I woke up to have the usual coffee. For my pre-run breakfast I went with a banana, peanut butter, and a luna bar.
I only had about 1.5 hours to digest before starting to run, so I was a little nervous but my stomach ended up feeling fine. Alma and I hit the road for a warm-up (about 4 miles for me) and then it was time to line up at the start. Exciting news: Kara Goucher happened to be running in the park and stopped by the starting line to say hello. Love her!
Hmm, running fast is hard when you’re out of shape. I’m not going to lie – this felt really TOUGH. After a summer of only very easy running and cross-training, I was sucking wind by the end of my 4 fast miles. But, with any luck my hamstring/piriformis/IT band will keep cooperating and next time will be a little easier.
The breakdown:
4 mile warm-up with Alma and then Ani.
“Fitness Mind, Body, Spirit” 4 mile race in Central Park in 31:19 (7:49/pace).
1st mile: 8:00
2nd mile: 7:38
3rd mile: 8:16 (hills)
4th mile: 7:25
3 mile cooldown
Despite some twinges, my right leg felt good! Actually, my legs felt fresh and quick, but the rest of me wanted to die by the end of the race. I had that tight, heavy feeling in my chest for most of the run and then felt kind of woozy after I finished. Yikes. I started feeling better after some water and fruit juice (loved the big pieces of fruit in this!)
I was happy with this effort though, I feel like my road to recovery has been a long one (going on 9 months…) and I’m just SO excited to be running without pain. Wahoo! Also, 11 miles is the most I’ve run since April 
Alma and I ran home (~3 miles) and then I promptly collapsed on the floor. Haha, well not really, but I was tired!
Goodies from the race:
Post-run meal:
Leftover potato soup with olive oil and red pepper flakes, Ezekiel sprouted grain toast with laughing cow cheese and hummus, and some Kashi crackers with more hummus. Mmm, carbs.
After a few hours of room re-organizing (my Ikea desk is now put together correctly!), I was hungry again. Mmm, how about a delicious yogurt mess?
- 3/4 cup 2% greek yogurt
- chopped apple
- 2-3 Tbs peanut butter
- chocolate chips
- honey
Perfection.
Later on in the afternoon, I got the urge to bake. Stay tuned for the results of my herb pizza dough.
Around 8pm, I came home from a walk to the delicious smell of Alma’s peanut butter pasta. I filled my bowl with arugula and then topped it with the yummy pasta-veggie-tofu-peanut dish. It was so good that I had to go back for a second bowl. My appetite was on fire today!
Best part of my day: I met 3 blog readers at the race this morning. Hello to Laura, Ada, and Courtney! You were all so sweet, thanks for introducing yourselves
New York readers: Would you be interested in a meet-up at some point this fall? Maybe we could go for a run in the Park or get some yummy food. Leave a comment or shoot me an email if you’d be interested!
