Life, and Stuff

I am alive but have just been busy the last couple weeks with:

• Running - consistent early (5:45AM) morning runs with running buddy Shawna two or three times a week. We've got a good flow and schedule between 3-5-7 mile runs, on hills, some days faster, some days slower, couple of tempo-ish. Did have a brief hiatus (see: Health, below) last week/end though.
• Racing - my first race since last fall is coming up this weekend, yay!! The Super Bowl 5K is on Sunday and while I'm running it, I am not real sure how hard I'll actually be racing it. I have a long run up (10-12 miles) tomorrow morning, so it really depends how I'm feeling Sunday (see also Health, below), as to how hard I "race" it. More of a social activity to kick of the 2010 HRCA race season. Here's to hoping they have stepped it up on the t-shirt design front this year.
• Work - just friggin busy the whole month of January, culminating in a speaking engagement this week, which was complicated by voice-loss (see Health, below). But February (the month of love! and chocolate!) looks much more promising for a lighter workload. No doubt that will change.
• Life - just friggin busy with kidstuff the whole month of January, such as swimming parties, sleepovers, playdates, soccer registration, basketball season prep, and such.
• Health - spent most of last week with a bout of tuberculosis/pleurisy/bubonic plague which involved very sore throat, very sore sinuses, very awful cough, fever, and loss of voice (hubby celebrating that symptom).

Look forward to a mildly exciting race report in the near future; Go Saints!

Found: Perfect Pre-Morning-Run Food

So, after my awful, exhausted early-morning-run last week, I decided that perhaps I should re-think my pre-early-morning-run food choices. Perhaps a banana is no longer good enough (i'm sorry Banana, please don't be upset; I do still love you and will continue to scarf you frequently at other times of the day)?

Since I've been running more often in the early morning, I've noticed the not-entirely-unpleasant-yet-kind-of-annoying-and-completely-unexpected side effect of apparently losing some weight (yes, I know, many people kill to lose a few pounds while I have done so by doing nothing more than altering the time of day that I run, while still maintaining my daily Starbucks addiction and penchant for all things chocolate and way more pizza indulgences that I should be allowed; I know it's completely unfair and I ought to just be thankful) which is actually, slightly annoying. Annoying because it was unintentional and now many of my work clothes are a bit saggy--not a good look for a suit. But I digress...so I decided that perhaps I am now lower on body fat than before, thus not having as much to burn on an early morning run, a measly (but delicious all the same) banana simply isn't going to cut it to keep me going for more than a 2 mile run. And if my a$$ is waking up at 5:15 to run, I'm damn sure going more than 2 miles.

So, last weekend at the grocery store, I spotted some cinnamon raisin bread....hmm, I like bread...I like cinnamon...I like raisins...I'll give it a whirl. At 100 calories a slice, it isn't decadent, but 2 slices is enough to give me energy without making me feel too full that early in the morning. I am happy to say that my runs all week (yes, there have been multiple 5:30am runs this week; it is just SO nice then without the sun and heat, and with all the birds chirping) have been 3,000 times better. (perhaps even 3,001 times better) I even had a strong 7 miles yesterday morning without being completely pooped out by the end. Still had energy left and rocked out a grueling day of work.

Cinnamon-raisin bread, you have earned yourself a permanent spot on my grocery list. Well done, very well done humble bread.