Running update + Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goood morning my lovelies. After a full week of beautiful weather, it's a gross, rainy day - typical.

Sunday I promised a quick running/soreness/fatigue update! For those of you who don't know, I'm on week 5, zero running. I cannot believe it's been that long already, probably because I've been keeping active in other ways!

Last week, I test-ran my usual 3-mile loop, and although I felt much better, I still wasn't 100%. Maybe like 75% (considering I was -0.0004859348% a month ago, that's pretty awesome!!). My breathing was still a little heavy, my legs felt too heavy, my pace was sloooooowww, and mentally I was just not in it. I'm not ready to run 30+ minutes nonstop yet, but I will be eventually.

Instead, I've been taking reaaaallyy long walks, which are just as satisfying as a run if you ask me. I'd say 3-4 miles a day. I've also been adding in strength (mainly abs/arms so I don't overwork my legs), and yoga!!! I forgot how much I love yoga, and I've been feeling the burn in my shoulders for the past couple of days.

When the weather is too cold/rainy, which is pretty much all GA winter weather is, I do inside circuit workouts for cardio/strength boosts. I used to hate them for some odd reason, but now I'm obsessed!! I especially love Julie's! I just set up a little station in my basement or living room, turn up my Pandora station, and knock them out. :)

And the best part: I feel great!! My energy levels are soooo much higher, I'm so much more motivated to just move around in general, and I've been feeling super productive. I feel like mental rest contributed to this just as much as physical rest! Stress = no bueno.

I thought I add that I did email my N, and we have a plan for when running will be added back in. I also have permission to do all of these exercises for the time being.

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Now that that's out of the way: on to the good stuff! Thanksgiving is just around the corner, guys!!!!

I mean really, what gets a foodie more excited than the holidays?! Thinking about pumpkin, apple spice, gingerbread, peppermint, Chai spices.......ahhhh.

Obviously my sweet tooth is raging right now, and guess what I get to be in charge of for Thanksgiving.....? Desserts - what else? I'm really excited because I'm making two. One is healthy, vegan (yup, vegan), refined sugar-free, and the other a Thanksgiving classic. Both 100% delicious.

Dessert #1: Vegan Apple Spice Cake

from Sugar and Cinnamon

Dessert #2: Classic Pumpkin Pie

I mean don't even try to tell me that that cake doesn't look good, and don't even try to invite me over for Thanksgiving if you're not serving pumpkin pie for dessert. It's just essential.

But as Robyn stated, the holidays are not purely about the food - it's just one part of it! And I think I'm most excited about the family time we're going to have. We're always so busy that it's rare when we actually spend time together.

Last "family picture" since July - and Dad's not even in it!!!!

My grandparents are coming up from Albany. I haven't seen Papa since my meet in Albany, and I haven't seen Grammy since our New York trip last June!

 

Also, my Uncle Scott, Aunt Marnie, and cousin Seth are coming over. Makenzie (other cousin) is in Texas with one of her friends for the week, so she won't be joining us. :(

 

 

I can't wait for the family time - I know we're going on a hike if the weather permits. Excitement!

 

 

Have a terrrrific Tuesday!

 



I woke up to

Hai guyz.

Look what I woke up to this morning:

Vegan overnight banana oats. Just use 1/2 cup almond milk (or any milk) for 1/2 cup oats, and omit the yogurt. Add stir-ins and toppings of choice, with a side of coffee of course.

I also woke up to a gorgeous day awaiting me - I can't wait to get out there for a looonnnggg walk.

I woke up to a crazy messy house - I'm not even going to try to hide it in my pics. And what's crazy is ALL the crap around the house came from my little brother's room. How did it even fit all this stuff?!

It's literally everywhere.

I woke up to my kitties meowing (loudly) for their breakfast. Actually, their meowing is what woke me up in the first place!!

After reading about the heartbreaking losses of Caitlin and Kathy, I've been making sure to spend extra cuddle time with my kitties! I totally relate to Kathy in that our bonds are much more than just pet and owner - it's a spiritual bond. It's like we're parts of each other - and why I have no problem whatsoever getting teased that I'm a crazy cat lady. :)

After eating breakfast, playing on my computer for an hour and a half, I went back to bed and woke up at 12:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This almost never happens. I would say "never," but yeah, it just did.

I woke up (again) to a sunny, clear day, Mom and Dad working on J's room/bathroom, and inhaled lunch. Girl's gotta eat, ya know. Now I'm determined to make this a *somewhat* productive day!

(Tomorrow I've got a fitness/running update for ya!)

I hope ya'll have a safe, relaxed, happy Sunday!

WIAW - Better Late than Never

Oh, hullo loves. Better to join the WIAW better late than never, am I right? I'll keep the words to a minimum because I've got a load of homework!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Breakfasts:

Single serving baked pumpkin oatmeal, 1/2 banana, spoonful of PB

Plain Greek yogurt, banana, piece of crumbled pumpkin bread (!!), and peanut buttuuuhh.

Lunches - okay, only one

Turkey+hummus+veggie wrap, baby carrots, salsa for dipping, Honeycrisp apple

Dinners

Couscous, roasted veggies, parmesan cheese, seasoned w/ garlic and basil. 

Homemade bean soup veggified w/ carrots and bell peppers, dollop of Greek yogurt, side of homemade cornbread

Snacks

Homemade pumpkin bread, white chocolate peanut butter (!!!!!!), banana slices

Banana + peanut butter

Methinks that banana and nut butter was the theme of the week! And for good reason - muy delisioso!

See ya later, loves. :) <3

MIMM #3

Buenas lunes, mis amigas! (o amigos..)

How's your Monday going?! I'm actually happy it's Monday. It was a looonnnggg weekend let me tell you. And I am deprived of many pictures (except my breakfasts and cats, go figure). BUT marvelous things happen every day. :)

Marvelous is............

..........hot oatmeal on a freezing morning!

...........my kitties! I haven't mentioned them on the blog in a while, so I thought I'd give you an update on their cuteness.

......Imagine Dragons. I'm officially obsessed with all of their songs!

.......Lauren, aka The Oatmeal Artist. I spent like 2 hours browsing through her blog, no joke. I'm obsessed and want to make every single recipe - her gorgeous pics make me drool. Maybe her blog should be The Oatmeal Genius?

Salted Maple Apple and Pecan Oatmeal

Coconut, Honey, and Fig Oatmeal

.......bonfires. My cross country team had a bonfire party on Friday, which was so much fun! It was fun getting together, eating s'mores, and making fun of/laughing at looking at photos of the races. I got really nostalgic and sad and happy at the same time. (But really, running pics aren't attractive). 

Uhm, case in point. And other runners, don't judge, I know my form is less than stellar. I look like I'm power walking..?!

.....seasonal bar flavors!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This may or may not be only half of my stash. Or only a quarter.

.....Disney World! It's official, we're venturing to the happiest place on earth next September! EXCITEMENT.

......annual family pics. We did them a little earlier this year, because the weather was soooo gorgeous. Here's a few sneak peeks:

Have a great Monday!!

Change of plan!

"It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday..."

Just quoting some Rebecca Black. ;)

Sorry for getting the post up so late - normally I have them written in advance so I can post them before school! 

I actually already had a post ready to go, but I decided to go ahead and write a totally new one. You may know that I've been dealing with some medical issues, as I've mentioned in this post and a few more back. I had planned on touching on what my game plan, but it got really long, almost like I was venting to myself. Which honestly, I probably needed that. Believe me, I've had my fill of pity-parties in the last couple of weeks. 

Over the last week or so, I've gotten myself in a better mental state about my decision: it's time to take a running hiatus. 

There's a lot of factors that have led me to this decision - but the main point is is that my body needs a break, and needs to get to its peak health again. 

Near the end of the season, my legs had really been starting to hurt - like more than normal! After running a mile, my legs would be sore for days, and I got super out of breath. I was also tired and pretty much hated running. I'm pretty sure I was suffering from the beginning stages of over-training, which means I stopped running immediately. I didn't even run my last race, something I kept from you guys just because it didn't seem that important at the time. 

This was incredibly frustrating to me, because I told myself something like that wouldn't happen. But slowly (reallyreallyslowly), through prayer, and talking it out with my friends/teammates, I came to accept that my body burned out, and I have to accept that. 

I'm on my 3rd week of rest and 2nd week of complete rest (I was tapering 3 weeks ago). I thought I would only need a week to recover, but yeah....1 weeks, 6 weeks. Eh.

Anyways, I've also got the *insert lady problem* to deal with. I've got an appointment with an adolescent gynecologist next week (who knew people could even specialize in that...) just to make sure there's no hormonal/thyroid issues going on. Yes, I'm a little bit nervous. 

Lastly, I have to gain 10-15 lbs, per my nutritionist's (and most likely the gynecologist's) orders. I know for a fact that this, with rest, will be really good for my health and running. I still plan on the Winter Training Program within the next few months (I'm going to talk to my N about it), summer running, and cross country - but however long my body needs to recover, I'm going to honor that. 

My fears: I already know it's not going to be easy all the time. There are moments where eating what I want when I want is the best idea ever, and some where I get stressed. I'm feel like I'm going to lose all my endurance and muscle. Body image will be a little hard to swallow sometimes. Resting a lot can be freaking hard. 

But I know it's what best for me right now, I'm ready to push through, and I know that the benefits will far outweigh my fears. I feel really at peace that running is still going to be in my life, and I'm not going to have to give it up. Despite my anxieties, I know that I'm not going to balloon up. 

Right now? I'm just taking it really easy, mainly walks. I'll probably throw in some yoga and maybe some strength, but that's it for now. Oh yeah, and eating. A lot. Luckily, I'm actually enjoying the really low-intensity workouts - I guess my body knows it doesn't need high-intensity right now, because I have absolutely no desire to. All in all, I'm trying to be thankful for this time of rest that I need, and not stress.

So there you have it - my change of plan! After my doctor and N appointment, I'll probably have to give a quick update based on results/opinions. 

For now, the couch is where it's at. 

Have a good night, loves!

WIAW: Lately - Breakfast and Snacks

Well, shoot. You can just call me Susie Slacker, because yet again I didn't get around to writing my weekend update post. Whoops.

It seems like even though cross country is over, I just don't have enough time in the day! I mean, we're nearly halfway through November, people! 

Which means I'm halfway through junior year. Which means I'm halfway to duel enrollment. Which means I'm halfway to being halfway in college. 

Mind blown.

Despite my best efforts to put together a recap post, I always have an abundance of food pictures. Mostly (okay like all) breakfasts and snacks, mainly because a) that's the only time I ever take the effort/photograph what I'm eating, b) they're my most "creative," and c) they're my favorites to eat!

And because I just need to clear my camera of pictures of breakfasts pass. 

Breakfasts

Pumpkin and banana overnight oats - topped with frozen/thawed pomegranate arils (an awesome find!!), and a blob of almond butter. 

More overnight oats: bananas, greek yogurt, oats, almond malk milk, cinnamon, all poured into the last of my Justin's Almond Butter container. Zee best. 

Plain greek yogurt topped with the good stuff: KIND Cinnamon Oat Clusters (my favorite granola ever!), a chopped Honeycrisp apple, and a spoonful of peanut butter. One of my favorites!

I actually got a hankering for French toast one morning! It does happen sometimes. This was French toast with organic whole wheat bread, a supremely overripe pear, and almond butter. Perfecto.

Snacks

Best flavor everrr.

Fruit and nut butters have been my jam lately! Especially roasted pears with cinnamon and almond butter. Mmmm.....

Trader Joe's Apple Pie Granola and apple spice Chobani - a match made in heaven!

Well, that's all I've got for ya this week. Have a happy hump day!