Day 37: 8 Miles!!!

What a day it has been! However, I'm actually going to start with last night.

I know many of you have been getting pounded by snow. I am so, so, so, sorry! However, yesterday, we were pounded by rain! Because of that, traffic was a nightmare, and we arrived at the Revellers Gala about an hour and a half late. So we missed dinner. Which was ok, I was worried about finding something good to eat anyway. So I had a few glasses of wine and then switched to soda water and limes. Because we were so late, we couldn't really find seats, so we hung out by the bar. After the dinner and program portion of the event were over, the band came on. At that point, since I was single, I decided to head home because I had no one to dance with.

It was around 10:30 at that point. I knew I was going to run 8 miles the next morning, so I had to eat something, but didn't want to eat anything heavy because it was so late. So I stopped by Wendy's and got a Mandarin Chicken salad. It wasn't very filling (just chicken, lettuce and orange segments), so that was kind of a good choice.

However, when I set out on my run this morning, I had little to no energy. I was still a bit tired and stiff from standing in heels for 3 hours, and from not having a nutritions dinner. The first 3 miles were ok, the second three were extremely difficult. It felt like my theighs and butt weighed a million pounds. The last two miles were a blur. I took 30 second walk breaks at miles 5, 6, and 7. The walk breaks actually really helped, it slowed down my heart rate and gave my legs a short break. So, I'm really proud of myself for making it 8 miles, just wish the run had gone a little better! But still... 8 freaking miles! Holy cow, I did it! 9 next week???? Hmmm

After the run, I was not feeling well at all. My stomach was so tight and I felt so sick. I drank a huge cup of ice water, and then had breakfast. I was going to grab an apple, but JJ got the last one on his way to work. I'm not one to drink calories (cause I love to eat!), but we had no other fruit. Luckily, the POM Wonderful people sent me a box of juice bottles to enjoy. Oddly enough, I had just gotten a pomegranate Chobani to eat this week. It was a very antioxidant filled breakfast! I loved the pom seeds in the yogurt, it was a little crunch mixed in with the smooth and creamy yogurt. And of couse, the POM juice was perfectly tart and sweet. I like it mixed with soda water because it's a little too much for me to drink straight.

After breakfast, I went food shopping as always. I was very excited to find Oikos at Whole Foods on sale for $1 each! I love grocery shopping. Menu planning and grocery shopping are probably the highlight of my week!

After lunch, I cleaned the house and then made lunch. I had a pound of organic brussels sprouts in the produce drawer that I had planned to use during the week, so I mixed them with some tofu, mustard, maple syrup and garlic and roasted them at 500 for 25 minutes. The end result was a deliciously savory and sweet, caramelized plate of food! I had some grapes, carrots, and an iced coffee as well while I read my newest Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.

After lunch, I was doing the dishes when I looked out the kitchen window and saw this:

I'm not exactly sure what kind of bird that is...maybe a crane?... but he was pretty big!

In so many ways, I'm still so shocked when I see things like this... I have to remind myself that yes, I do live in Florida! I absolutely love having a pond in our yard. I get ducks, turtles, geese, frogs, fish (and ew, snakes)... and it never gets old!

I had the Pizza Bowl Championship to judge tonight at 5, so I ran over to the Town Center to get JJ's Valentine's Day present. I'm so happy, I found something awesome that I know he'll love - and it was on sale! He sometimes reads this blog (mostly looks at the pictures and skims the text for his name) so I can't say where I went or he'll know. But I'll get a photo of it next Sunday!

The Pizza Bowl was fun, I'm so happy that Brucci's asked me to be a part of it! I can't wait to go back and eat some pizza with the gift certificate they got me!

I was pretty much starving by the time I got home. I've had this recipe, Butternut Squash with Duxelles Casserole, on my "to-make" list since I got my latest issue of Vegetarian Times, and it was fantastic! I'll have it up on the food blog soon. While it was cooking, I made a clean out the fridge salad. I had a zucchini that needed to be used, so I sauteed it with some EVOO for 2 minutes, just to take the raw-ness out of it. I mixed in some olives and roasted red peppers, and put it on a bed of romaine. It was a great dinner, full of vegetables. However, I didn't get much protein or carbs today, so I might grab another Oikos with some granola for dessert instead of fruit.

Ok, I'm going to watch a movie in bed and wait for JJ to get home. I'm hoping to run my 4.3 mile course in the morning, do some ab work, then go to church and run some errands. We're doing a very low-key Superbowl party with Leah and Jay. JJ has to work late and might not even be home when it starts. The theme of the night is healthy appetizers!
Hope you all have a great Sunday :)