Yesterday morning I woke up with one important thing on my agenda: a 16 mile run.
I actually thought I was supposed to run 20 miles today, but a quick glance at my marathon training plan told me I was wrong (more on this later).
During the summer, I would scarf down some PB + banana toast and head out early to miss the heat. Now that it is fall and the weather is much cooler, I run later in the morning and have a real breakfast when I wake up. This morning I was dying to try something I made up in my head a few days ago: Pumpkin Gingerbread Oatmeal.
I brought water and almond milk to a boil with the oats and vanilla extract.
I
Once it had cooked for a few minutes, I added this banana which was on it’s very last leg. I love almost-brown bananas for oats. The mushier the butter.
While the oats continued to cook, I made coffee in the French press.
Next, I stirred in the pumpkin and added all the spices.
I was excited to try cashew butter, which I bought at Whole Foods last week. I cracked it open and added it to my oats, plus pumpkin butter and some ground flax seed.
Pumpkin Gingerbread Oatmeal (serves 2)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup almond milk
1 cup water
1 banana, sliced
2/3 cup pumpkin
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
sprinkle of salt
It’s so amazing that a few spices can make plain ol’ pumpkin oats so much better. This was incredibly good and even got Brad’s seal of approval. This coming from the man who told me he doesn’t really like oatmeal several months ago.
We ate breakfast while watching Harmony a movie made by Prince Charles that aired the night before. I’m not sure if it will air again or will be available in its entirety on NBC’s website at some point, but if you are interested in environmental protection, you should definitely see this.
Before Brad and I headed out the door for our run, he went down to the front desk because we had a package.
My new Brooks running shoes!
These are the exact same shoes I already own (the Ghost 3), just in a different color. I like the blue and green so much more than the orange. Pretty snazzy!
I decided to keep my orange Brooks on for my 16 miles. I’m going to try to get a few more miles out of them (probably?) before switching to my new shoes.
***
Brad and I headed south to the trail where I like to run my long runs. The plan was for me to run seven miles while Brad worked in the car, then he would join me for the last nine miles.
I felt good but really slow the whole seven miles. I was trying to run 10 minute miles to pace myself. Usually I have to keep checking my Garmin and making myself slow down because I typically find a nine minute mile pace to be my natural stride. This day, however, 10 minute miles felt comfortable, which worried me a little. Did I not have the energy to make it all 16 miles?
I did everything right, right?. I slept eight hours and fueled properly. I got around eight hours of sleep every night this past week.
On my way back to meet Brad I decided that I had to find a restroom. There is one restroom on the trail, but unfortunately, I didn’t run far enough to get to that point. The only other option at the trail was a port-a-john, and frankly, I would rather go in the woods. When I met back up with Brad, he told me he would take me to a fast food restaurant, so we got in the car and made a pit-stop at McDonalds. I felt so much better.
The rest of the run was okay. I felt slow and somewhere along the way my left knee started to hurt. I had already eaten an apple pie nugget around mile six. Once we reached the half-way point of my second leg (mile 11.5) we took a very short walking break to eat another one. My legs were really hurting once we turned around to head back in the direction of the parking lot. I finally told Brad around mile 12.5 to go on without me, I needed another short walking break. I took another one at mile 14.3. All of them were under a tenth of a mile, but they really affected my time.
I finished all 16 miles in 2:48. Two hours, four minutes would have been my time if I was able to maintain 10 minute miles consistently. I felt really give out after my run but I was just happy to be done.
So why was this 16 miles not as good as it could have been? It goes back to the same reason I wasn’t quite sure how many miles I was supposed to run this weekend: I haven’t been following my training plan. I’ve been lazy, pure and simple. I haven’t skipped a single long run, but during the week I have skipped and shortened numerous training runs.
It’s time for me to get re-focused on this marathon so I can be successful in finishing it. I’m recommitting myself to my training and training right. I’m going to be more vocal about my running plans for the week and blog more about whether I’m completing these plans or not. I’m going to use the blog to be more accountable.
Not completing a marathon because of my health or some unforseen circumstance is perfectly okay. Not completing a marathon because of lack of preparation is not okay.
I’ve got to find a way to stay motivated during the week, which might mean asking friends to run with me or just sucking it up and doing it because I know I need to.
Post run, I made Brad a childhood favorite and tried to health-i-fy it as much as possible.
We had TJ’s soy corn dogs and Annie’s sharp cheddar mac and cheese with broccoli and peas.
I loved the corn dog. As much of a foodie as I am, I really do appreciate a good corn dog. There one of the few non-sweet junk foods that I just love, period. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Annie’s mac and cheese. It wasn’t cheesy enough. Not that this will keep me from finishing off the leftovers. But I’ll probably try another brand next time.
An almost-perfect post long-run meal. 🙂
How do you stay motivated when you’re training for a race? I need all the helpful advice I can get! 😉