Good morning. I hope you had a nice weekend! I took a little blogging hiatus on Sunday.
After my last post on Saturday, I visited my neighbor/old boss who is having a baby very very soon, ran some errands, and then Hubby and I went to see Avatar late in the evening. I really enjoyed Avatar. We went to the IMax theater on the West side and I was shocked by how huge it was and that this movie is still selling out. The 3D glasses were a little goofy, but all in all it was a great experience. And it didn’t feel like a 2 1/2 hour movie. It flew by. I think parts of the movie had a bit of the cheese-factor going on, but the action sequences totally drew me in and I forgot about any corny parts. But the movie started at 10 p.m., so we didn’t get home until 1:30 a.m.!
Have you seen Avatar? Did you like it?
As I mentioned, unfortunately I did not get a long run in on Saturday. I theoretically could have run in the afternoon, but once my mind was set on not running the night before (thanks to the darn weathermen), I was not motivated to go. Plus, I was not hydrated at all.
I decided that I would do my long run on Sunday morning. I woke up a little late – around 9:30 a.m. on Sunday and had my pre-run breakfast of a honey-wheat double fiber English muffin with peanut butter and a banana on top, along with some water.
But then I glanced at the temperature gauge and saw that it read 21 degrees outside. BRR! I putzed around and wasted time until finally I had to either go running outside or go to the gym. I left our apartment around 12:45 p.m. for my 11 mile run in 30 degree weather. I was sufficiently bundled, but my nose would not stop running (no pun intended). I headed to Central Park and did two 5-mile loops, plus a mile warm-up there and cool-down back — so a total of 12 miles. Here are my stats:
Mile 1 – 10:23
Mile 2 – 8:13
Mile 3 – 8:31
Mile 4 – 8:17
Mile 5 – 8:38
Mile 6 – 8:34
Mile 7 – 8:29
Mile 8 – 8:57
Mile 9 – 8:43
Mile 10 – 8:45
Mile 11 – 8:49
Mile 12 – 9:36
Total Mileage 12.40 miles in 1:49:10.
I was somewhat consistent and ran faster than I expected. I had so many layers on, along with gloves, that I didn’t check my Garmin once while I was running. I just went at whatever pace felt right and good.
After my run I wanted a snack, so I made a breakfast cookie with oatmeal, egg whites, protein powder, raisins, Truvia, baking powder and cinnamon. It was a great after-run snack.
The afternoon flew by after I finally finished stretching, showering, ate and warmed back up and before I knew it, it was 5:00 p.m. and I wanted a light snack before dinner. I had an apple with cheddar cheese.
Before my snack, I set to work on cooking up some Beef and Barley Soup (made with venison) from a recipe on cookinglight.com to have while we watched the Super Bowl. This recipe took 2 hours to make!
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 1 pound of cubed venison meat
- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrot
- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced celery
- 2/3 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup of fresh cremini mushrooms
- 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 2/3 cup uncooked pearl barley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Preparation
Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove beef from pan. Add carrot, celery, onion, and mushrooms to pan; cook 6 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add beef; fat-free, less-sodium beef broth; and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in pearl barley; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until pearl barley is tender. Stir in salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf.
It was yummy, but next time I would start making it much sooner. Hubby and I watched the Superbowl and I was very happy The Saints won.
After it was over, I read for a bit and headed to bed – my long cold run made me exhausted. I definitely think running and marathon training in the winter/spring is harder than in the summer. I feel like I’m exerting more effort during my long runs this time around.
What about you – have you trained in the winter/spring, and if so, do you think it’s harder than the summer/fall?
I really hope that this training pays off in the end. I’ve been trying to stick to my training plan, but this time around feels a lot tougher (I think because of the weather). How do you motivate yourself to get out there and run?! I could use any advice anyone has to offer at this point.
Have a good Monday everyone!
Eat, Read, Run 