Day 4 without a camera: Mike's Day

This is a random picture I found on Google Images - it's not of my particular running group - but it IS of my CARA running group and was taken in the same park that I ran by this morning!

This morning was a 10-miler. I have to say, last night I was super excited to run today - I think because last week's 9-miler was awesome! I went to bed super early... around 10..... but was so giddy about the run that I didn't fall asleep until almost 1am! This did not bode well for waking up at 5:15, but oh well!

It was a decent run, overall! I hate to complain - it wasn't super hot and I wasn't really sore at all, but it was super humid and, being a heavy-sweater (unfortunately for my running buddies), I was pretty uncomfortable during most of the run. I hate nothing worse than the feeling of being coated in what feels like an inch of sweat! Luckily it wasn't literally that bad :) but it felt like it. Either way, it was great to complete the run, and it will be nice to have a "cut back" week next week when our long run is only 7 miles!

Two minor but annoying issues that I had with today's run:

1) After running, my hair gets SERIOUSLY TANGLED. We are talking it took me well over 30 minutes of pre- and during-shower combing and conditioning to get the knots out, and even then I lost an enormous amount of hair. Does this happen to anyone else, and if so, what do you do about it??? It's only bad during super long runs when I sweat a ton. I plan to cut my hair this week so maybe that will help slightly....

2) Backtrack to my first 1/2 marathon back in 2006 - around mile 10 I got stung by a bee! Poor me! Or not.... turns out what I thought felt (and looke like) a bit sting was actually just CHAFING that only showed up on one leg and not the other. Damn my thighs... you are a pain in the ass on a daily basis, but while running you elevate your annoyance factor to a whole new level!

Today I had the same thing!! Same right thigh, same rash-type thing (sorry for the TMI, guys!) Now this is much more aggravating than the tangles since this is something that truly starts to be quite sore, and I would love to stop this from occurring during the marathon. Aside from losing inches in my thighs (easier said than done!) and using Body Glide (a stick of vaseline type stuff that is in a deodorant style stick) - do you have any other advice for this PRESSING issue? no pun intended... ;)

For breakfast I enjoyed a Green Monster -- Don't worry, I didn't eat your mascot, Red Sox fans! Mine was of the smoothie variety and was packed full of iron, protein, and loads of nutrients.... yum!

I should also mention that I snacked on some dates during and after my run. I used to love Jelly Belly sports beans when I trained for marathons in the past, but I really don't want to be eating that raw sugar, HFCS crap if I can avoid it. I'm hoping to go to Whole Foods this week to see if they have any more natural alternatives - any ideas, runners?

Today was "Mike's Day"!! Let me explain. When I was in grad school getting my Masters in Social Work, while learning about family/couples therapy, I heard about how some therapists will recommend "wife day" and "husband day" to get the couple to focus more on the needs of their spouse.

I think that this idea is not just good for couples "in crisis" but is also simply a good thing to do on occasion - well, just to have fun! So I ran the idea by Mike, and he liked it. I let him have his day first - aren't I just the sweetest ;) - so while I had my Green Monster, I made him some whole wheat waffles.

Then we walked to the neighborhood park to play some whiffleball!For lunch I made an avocado salad. I was SO excited that my avocados were finally ripe!! (Putting them in a brown paper bag with a couple apples definitely works, but it takes about 2 days). Since I am camera-less until Monday, here is another Google Images pic. Because it was "Mike Day", much of the afternoon looked like this....
.... and this was me

Just kidding!!! :)

We basically had a lazy day that involved drinking - at Mike's request - which would have been better if it was my choice (wine), but we drank beer, per Mike's Day. I am proud to say that I had THREE..... which is about two more than I have had in a row before lol. One was a Bud Light lime, the others I am not embarrassed to admit that I added a lime.... and stevia to! Hey, it helped! ;)

I later made a small batch of almond paste-type cookies, which are similar to a Greek cookie that we often eat, but are vegan, and raw! We ate the dough raw - we could, since it didn't contain any dairy products. Oddly enough this filled me up for almost the entire day (or was that a result of the beer?)

Mike's "Day" was pretty low-key, cuz he wanted it that way.... "Val's Day" next week will be a bit more exciting, if I say so myself :) The most thrilling part of today was when I baked up a batch of chocolate peanut butter cookies with choc-PB filling... they looked slightly like these, but were chocPB inside instead of straight PB!All I wanted for dinner was a 1/2 avocado, which was fab. I suppose it's possible I will keep muching later on though since it's only a bit past 9pm now and I feel like I haven't eaten enough calories today to make up for burning about 1000 during my run earlier.... We are finishing up Mike's Day by watching Harold and Kumar go to Guantanamo Bay... haha, can you tell it was his choice of movie? ;)
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Last night I forgot to mention that my dessert was comprised of an entire Newman's Own Organics dark chocolate bar, which was great! I would have preferred a higher concentration of cocoa (this was only 56%) but I definitely enjoyed it nonetheless!

Good stuff:

Check out Whit's Getting Fit's first giveaway, an amalgam of awesome stuff you will for sure want to win!

Travel Eat Love is also having a giveaway - this blog girl is giving away a sweet cookbook!

Last but not least, An Apple a Day is having a giveaway for anti-oxidant rich jam

Phew!! Ok I'm done for today. I'm pretty psyched to have the camera back Monday, I know you guys are sick of my Google Images pix.... I am kinda having fun with it though :) Please don't forget to check out my Holey Donuts Giveaway, which will be running through Wednesday! Happy Saturday night everyone!