Saturday, March 26, 2011

Tea and Crumpets (and a 12 miler)

Once again Trader Joe's has outdone itself. I stopped there on the way home last night to pick up some essentials, and came across these babies:


Cinnamon crumpets! I'm not sure if these are a new item or not, but I'd never seen them before and snatched them up. This morning I threw a crumpet in the stove for a few minutes and topped it with crunchy almond butter and banana slices. Yum! Great way to fuel for my run. I had a big mug of Irish Breakfast tea on the side to wake myself up a bit.


I set out for my 12 miler, expecting it to be in the mid-30s but it was only 24 degrees! The first few miles were a little chilly! I picked a new route to run - I've found that if I run the same route too many times I get bored and don't push myself as much.  

I usually wait to refuel until I feel like I need a boost, and at that point its too late and I start to lose momentum, so today I began a little earlier than usual - after 4 miles I started eating a Power Bar chew every 3 miles. I made an effort to kick it up to a faster past for the last 2 miles, and in the last 1/3 mile I ran as fast as I could. It hurt but it feels good afterward, and I believe that you won't improve unless you push yourself. 


I finished the 12 miles in 1:43:22 for an average pace of 8:35 minute miles. I'm happy with that!

When I got home I made myself a protein smoothie to drink while I stretched and foam rolled. Foam rolling really hurt this morning - everything was pretty tight. 


Smoothie included: 1 cup skim milk, 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup frozen berries and 1/2 cup frozen organic cherries. Cherries are said to boost recovery and reduce inflammation after a tough workout.

A little while later I had my first snack (of I'm sure many) today. More crumpets! I had a crumpet with butter and strawberry jam and some scrambled eggs (3 egg whites and 1 egg yolk) for protein.


Love these crumpets! Feel great after my run - just one more "long" run until the C-Ville Half Marathon (and that one will be shorter for tapering). 

Happy Saturday!

6 comments:

  1. mmmm looks delish. I LOVE your smoothie creations!

    Awesome 12 miler!

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  2. Way to run a lot! Thank you for inspiring me to improve my breakfasts... and think a little harder about running. Cheers!

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  3. wow super fast 12! Your training for a half right? When is it?

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  4. stumbled upon your blog and I'm so excited I did. You're quite inspirational, I love to run... but I don't run anywhere near as far as you run!
    xo,
    mini baker

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  5. Great blog! And wow those crumpets look amazing--I have never seen cinnamon ones before but now I'm on the lookout. Great pace on the 12-miler too!

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  6. Great pace for your 12-miler!!! You're going to rock your half marathon! :)

    I love trader joes and anything with nut butter and bananas, so your breakfast looks delish!

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