Who knew 18 could feel so good

I slept 10 hours and 45 minutes last night!  That is unheard of for me.  It’s almost like my body knew what it was facing this morning so it went into hibernation to conserve as much energy as possible.

I had my classic pre-long run breakfast: toast with PB and banana.

I received this Nature’s Pride oatmeal bread as a part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s program.  Basically, companies approach Foodbuzz (my blog’s sponsor) to offer their products to Foodbuzz featured publishers and we can opt to receive them or not to try out on our own.  I usually opt in because who doesn’t like free stuff.  However, I promise that free stuff does not make me obligated to give a glowing review.

This oatmeal bread tastes good, but it is not whole wheat, which is my preference.  The first four ingredients are: water, wheat flour, whole wheat flour, and sugar.  This tells me wheat flour = white flour and the reason it tastes good is because it has sugar in it.  Who needs sugar in sandwich bread?  I surely do not.  We will probably continue to eat the bread because I hate waste and because I already have white hamburger buns and white rolls in the freezer from the same source.  I am excited to try their whole wheat bread which I also received.

After breakfast, I got to right to work on some running fuel.

Apple Pie Nuggets
(Serves 8)
Ingredients
1 cup prunes
1 cup dried apple rings
1/2 cup unsalted cashews
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
Directions

In a food processor, combine the ingredients.

Really mash the prunes and the apples in the measuring cup because they won't fit well otherwise. Process until everything works itself into a ball.

 

 

 

Remove, and form into 1 inch size balls, which are the perfect two-bite size to eat while running.

I packed these two bags (the mixture makes way more), left one in the car and carried one in my hand.

I met Brittney and Michelle for my longest run yet: 18 miles.  Michelle had already ran 8 and joined us for 12 miles.  Once 12 miles were over, I grabbed some water from my car, shared some of my apple pie nuggets, bid adieu to my running mates, and headed out for the last 6 miles on my own.

This is the face of someone who just completed a successful 18 miles! I owe my success to these four things:

1. Properly carbo-loading the night before
2. Getting a lot of sleep
3. Eating my fuel because I needed it, not because I was hungry. I ate four of the apple pie nuggets: 1 at 8 miles, 2 at 12 miles, and 1 at 15 miles.
4. Running with friends. It is so much easier to mentally stick to a long run when I have people to talk to.  The first 12 miles flew by because I had some awesome running companions. 🙂

After running, I headed to the new/old house to snap some photos.  Our house in on the National Registry of Historic Homes so we are hoping to get some tax credits to help pay for some of the renovations.  The application process is extensive and requires a lot of photos to show what the house looked like prior to the renovations.

I don’t like to eat until I actually feel hungry, so I was fine for about an hour.  Then I started to get the shakes.  I had only one thing on my mind….

Yoforia!  I was a little heavy handed with the yogurt pump, but I think I deserved it.  They were out of dark chocolate (oh, the horror) but I consoled myself with peanut butter.  I also had a bit of the cookies and cream, the tarro (arrowroot flavor), and the ferro roche (chocolate + hazelnut).  Toppings were coconut (of course), chocolate chips, a dab of granola and ground graham crackers, and strawberries.  Soooo good.

Brad was in heavy concentration mode while eating his fro yo.  Everyone makes out like fro-yo is a girl thing, but I have never seen a guy turn it down.  Not one.  Fro-yo is for everyone!

After our trip to Yoforio, I headed home to put my feet up and take a shower.  I stunk.