Half-Marathon Training Begins

I’m finally back to the grind after my lovely mini vacation to NYC. 🙂 Here are all my recaps, just for you!

Part 1 Summer in the City – Day 1: Pancakes, Wine & Cupcakes
Part 2 Summer in the City – Day 1: Drinks at Macondo and the Spinto Band
Part 3 Summer in the City – Day 2: Kiss-In, Lush & Whole Foods Lunch
Part 4 Summer in the City – Day 2: Zen Palate and American Idiot
Part 5 Summer in the City – Day 3: Scones and Barbecue

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Back to reality, it is! And back to healthy eating. I’m really pushing myself to keep my eating clean and healthy for the next 8 weeks (well, forever, but I need to be serious about it right now). Why? Because this week I start training for my first half-marathon. I specifically set my training plan to begin after my trip, so I could get all of my drinking and unhealthy eating out of the way, before I need to get serious about it.

Some of you may be wondering why on earth would I ever want to run 13.1 miles. It’s simple, really. I’ve already ran a 15K, so a half-marathon is just the next step. I want to push myself. I want to achieve something I never thought I’d be able to do. I want to see what my body is capable of doing. I want to feel the sense of pride and accomplishment I get after finishing a race. I’m addicted to that feeling! I also want this for my car:

That being said, I want to make sure I eat as clean and healthy as possible for the next eight weeks. This means:

• Eat out less
• Limit sweets and other indulgences
• No alcohol (yes, even wine! This is going to be the ultimate challenge, considering I have four unopened bottles at home)
• Stick to training schedule (I’m only going to modify it as needed)
• Eat healthy, whole foods with great nutritional value (I do this most of the time, anyway)
• Stay hydrated (I struggle with remembering to drink enough water during the day–I really have to buckle down on this)

Fitness Goals

• Cross-train at least once a week! (Biking, anyone?)
• Incorporate strength training into workouts (doing a couple of circuits of No More Trouble Zones a few times a week)
• Stretch (I really need to work on stretching more before & after running, especially now because of my hip)
• Practice Yoga (I feel I will go insane if I don’t do yoga at least one-two times a week)

So, come 10-10-10, I will run the best half-marathon possible! I want to feel great during this race, and I don’t want to get burnt out. I don’t even have a time goal, I just want to finish without doing much walking.

Onto the eats! I started out my lovely Tuesday morning with some Van’s Mini Waffles! These were cute baby waffles. And only 140 Calories for 8 minis. Gotta love frozen waffles!

I topped them with home made blueberry sauce and fresh strawberries. Delish.

Before lunch I wanted to get in another quick run for the week. I finished 2 miles in 19:30. Pretty quick. And it was hot out! I also did 2 miles yesterday morning on the treadmill, bringing my total so far this week to 4 miles.

My lunch was actually motivating my run this time…I got back to my office and had a salad waiting for me that I threw together this morning. Rebecca and Courtney have inspired me with their strawberry feta salads, so it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon. And boy I’m glad I did. It was so good, light and crisp and very flavorful. The strawberries, pecans and fat free raspberry balsamic really make it.

Strawberry, pecan & feta salad with raspberry balsamic

Ingredients

• 2 Large handfuls of Mediterranean salad mix
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into small pieces (local broccoli from my co-worker’s farm!)
• 4 sliced strawberries
• 1 tbsp of chopped pecans
• 1 tbsp of feta cheese
• 2 tbsp of Annie’s fat free raspberry balsamic vinaigrette

Toss ingredients together with dressing and there you have it. A really tasty summer salad. Sensing a strawberry theme in my in my meals today? 😉

Dinner was pretty quick and easy too. I threw together a spinach and ricotta flatbread pizza.  

I left the pizza in the oven for a bit too long, the edges of the crust got a little burnt, but it still tasted great! There’s something about these flat-out wraps that make great flatbread pizzas.

Toppings

• Part skim mozzarella cheese
• Baby spinach leaves
• Fat free ricotta cheese
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder

Dinner was followed by light ice cream! Edy’s 1/2 the fat Mud Pie. It was like coffee flavored cookies & cream ice cream! 120 calories for 1 serving is fine by me.