My Longest Run and Most Decadent Lunch

This morning I hit a new distance PR: 13.02 miles. Aw, my PR is a teenager! Adorable, yet petulant. This it the farthest I have ever run.

I’m trying to gradually increase distance, but also: I am running a half marathon next weekend. My first. So I wanted to feel what that distance was like before I raced it. (I stopped .08 miles short of a complete half marathon, but I think I have it in me to go the distance next week.)

This morning’s run posed a few challenges, not the least of which was that it was 14 degrees out. I wore my new balaclava, which was cheap, which is good, because I might get another. This one is nice and warm, but it’s made from material a little too thick to comfortably breathe through while running.

I wound up leaving it covering my nose and mouth for maybe half the run, and pulling it down leaving my nose and mouth exposed for the other half. I’d leave it up for a mile, then down for a mile, up for another, down for a couple, up for a few. Once it got too difficult to breathe in either condition, I’d switch it up.

There were a couple times when it got particularly hard to breathe without it, both of which involved going uphill. Luckily there wasn’t anyone else around to hear me make my sharp guttural noises that always remind me of Agnes Moorehead in The Twilight Zone episode “The Invaders.”

By the way, I am a Twilight Zone MANIAC. It’s an insanely good show. Watch it.

Anyway, here is what the balaclava looks like, and what I looked like when I got home after two hours, six minutes, and forty seconds of running:

Every time the mask covered my mouth, I could see little droplets forming on my eyelashes. I thought maybe by the time I got home I’d have a nice set of frosty diamond lashes, but it kinda just looked like all the hair on my face was sweating.

Maybe it’s not Maybelline

I sort of want to cut a hole in the mouth, or just get one made of lighter material so it doesn’t feel like I’m breathing through a down comforter.

The other challenge I faced was that I needed to blow my nose every few miles. I prepared for this, however, by stashing four tissues in my pockets (which this particular running hoodie has, thankfully). This was a good idea. I also ate four Clif Bloks throughout, which I think helped keep my energy up.

Amazingly, I felt stronger today than I did yesterday when I ran half the distance. I credit the 300+ calorie breakfast I ate beforehand AND the fact that I got seven hours of sleep – unheard of Monday through Friday. I think this is key, maybe even more than eating enough. SLEEP! It does a run good.

So I feel good about today! The cold wasn’t so bad because I was dressed for it, but my fingers were still too cold for my liking. My two pairs of gloves aren’t cutting it – I need some heavy duty gloves. I’ll see what Dick’s Sporting Goods has in stock later.

One more thing to mention: yesterday I got sucked into watching some food shows on the Travel Channel – the kind where people go to restaurants around the country to see what crazy, carb-heavy concoctions delight locals and tourists alike.

Things like fried chicken and pancakes topped with honey and crumbled bacon; giant birthday cake pretzels filled with cookie dough topped with chocolate frosting and sprinkles; cinnamon roll pancakes topped with maple syrup and chopped pecans; peanut butter sandwich french toast topped with bananas in a sugar cinnamon glaze topped with strawberries topped with chocolate topped with topped with topped with.

A lot of it looked so delicious – so decadent – it almost made me cry. I am not afraid to admit the peanut butter sandwich french toast alone made my eyes water to an extent I don’t believe is normal.

I don’t know if it’s because I tend to deprive myself of those things – especially when I’m on myfitnesspal, which I have been for the past… let me check… 284 days. Maybe I am a little deprived. I mean, I do eat. Hell, I have chocolate almost every day. But meals like that. I don’t.

Which is perhaps why, during this morning’s run, I couldn’t stop picturing exactly what I was going to make for lunch. This is all stuff I had in the freezer, except for the cheese, which I just bought yesterday:

• half an onion bagel
• black bean burger
• pile of homemade vegan chili (recipe to come!)
• shredded hot buffalo wing cheddar cheese

LOOK AT THIS THING OF BEAUTY!

That right there was 576 calories of pure heaven. And it was mine. ALL MINE!