It's raining, it's pouring, and this girl is running

Yesterday I was exhausted and didn't run my scheduled 6 miles.  I rested and drank lots of water in preparation for my run today.  I woke up early to make sure I had enough time to fuel up for the run.  In addition to my usual, I made a homemade juice with 1 beet, 5 small carrots, 1/2 large cucumber, and 2 small apples.

I knew it was going to be raining this morning, but I was not expecting what we actually had to run in.  It wasn't only raining.  It was very cold and windy.  I felt my thighs stinging from the very beginning, but the great company made the run tolerable.

We did run through a trail I had never run through before and it was beautiful.  I couldn't resist and stopped to take a picture.

 The trail led us to the water and I was able to get 2 pictures before heading back.

I didn't notice that on the way to the water we were going downhill, so obviously when we headed back to the main road we went up hill.  We made it though and once out of the trail we had roughly another 4.5 miles left.

We finished 12.25 miles in 2 hours and 9 minutes.  I had taken clothes to change into so I didn't have to drive home wet, but I just wanted to get in the shower.  I quickly got in my car and headed home.  As soon as I arrived home, I grabbed all my stuff and ran upstairs to get in the shower.  My clothes were soaked and a warm/hot shower was great.  At first my thighs were purple but as they warmed up they started lightening in color, resulting in a pink color.  Wind burn!  I couldn't find my thermal tights in the morning and just wore my capri tights.  Rest assured... next time, I will make sure I have my long tights.

My body was exhausted.  I could feel soreness everywhere, even my rib area.  I must have been so tense from the cold during that 2 hour run.  I made lunch:  a well deserved t-bone steak with rice, beans, and tomatoes, and have been resting since.  

Running in these conditions is tough, but after you just feel so accomplished and invincible.

I will most likely head out tomorrow for a run since I missed my run yesterday, so my week isn't yet over.

I wish you a great weekend.  I'll talk to y'all next week.

xoxo

Andi

Valentine & Rainbows

Today I was scheduled for 4 miles with speed training and was planning on doing that at the gym on a treadmill.  I'm so glad I changed those plans.  I wound up doing a mix of speed and hill work on my 4 mile route on Martin Way.  (That's the road with my favorite 3/4 mile hill)

Running in Washington is awesome because most of the time something I see memorizes me, even if it's just a few seconds on a one hour run.  Those few moments totally make my run worth it.

Today, as I started heading down Martin Way, I saw a rainbow.  God didn't forget Valentine's Day and gave me the gift of a rainbow to remind me of His love and promises in my life.

As I said, those moments are so awesome because it totally makes my run worth it.  It was my fastest run up that hill to date.  It was a tough one, but I did it...and I did faster than I ever had.

The pictures I take here never truly depict what the naked eye sees, but just so you can get an idea of what I saw today, here's a picture.

I wish you a Happy Valentine's Day and a year filled with love.

xoxo
Andi

What to eat?

Here I was, working away and next thing I know, it's 12:30pm.  With a workout and run coming up in a couple of hours, "I must eat now or else it'll be too close to my workout," I thought.

Note: Eating to close to a workout, unless it's a very light snack, is never a good thing...all sorts of things can go wrong.

I opened the fridge and tried to figure out what quick lunch I could make that was loaded with protein, nutrients, but moderate in carbs and low in fat.  I thought about a tuna sandwich, but I wasn't in the mood for that.  All of my chicken was frozen, so that was not an option.  I looked at the carton of eggs and it stared back at me...I would make an omelet.

I pulled out the eggs and the cheddar cheese.  Then took a look into my vegetable drawer.  I wanted color, so

Green = Broccoli

Yellow = Bell Pepper

Red = Bell Pepper

Orange = Tomato

White = Onion

I started by heating up the skillet while I chopped the veggies.  Once the skillet was hot, I added the vegetables.

Once the vegetables were almost cooked as I like them, I added the egg to the other side of the skillet.  

Note:  If you don't have a double burner skillet, you can just use two different skillets.

 Once the bottom side was cooked, I flipped the egg and added cheddar cheese.

Next came time to top the egg with the veggies.  Place the veggies only one half of the egg.

Fold the egg in half.  Let the egg heat up for 1 minute and then flip.

...and my omelet was done.  Quick and easy.

The picture above doesn't really show the veggie goodness inside, so here's a picture to show you the filling inside this delicious omlet.

DELISH!!!

P.S.  The reason I was looking for something low in carbs is because I had juiced an apple, orange, nectarine, and cucumber.  Obviously, I had the sugar from the juices to help fuel my workout.  The veggies also have complex carbs to help as well.  Carbs are not evil, as long as you have the right ones (complex carbs) and as far as refined or simple sugars go, everything in moderation.  If you are an active person (or not), you should NEVER cut out all the carbs from your diet.  You will run your body down and into exhaustion.

Today is my strength day + 3 miles, so I plan on doing my strength workout at home and then trying a new running route I found on mapmyrun.com. 
Tip for runners:  If you find you are getting bored with your runs, on your next run go on a run with out a route in mind (run aimlessly) or look up common running routes online.  I use mapmyrun.commapmyrun.com.

Hope everyone has a great week.  Thanks for stopping by.

Andi