The Runner's High That Came and Went

I have always felt like I lose my running stamina much more quickly than others. I think that's why it's always felt impossible for me to form a running habit. Before the holiday business of November and December I was running pretty consistently. In addition to zumba and personal training, I'd make sure to get in 2-3 runs a week ranging between 3 and 7 miles. I was feeling great, increasing distance was getting easier and easier, and I had found my runner's high.

I always thought the runner's high was a myth -- something runners just said to answer questions like "how can you possibly run for 2 straight hours??" It took me a while to finally experience this fricken awesome phenomenon. It was on one of my first longer runs around the Charles River. I has probably been running for about 35 minutes when I started to notice the beauty of the river and sunset around me. I became completely lost in my thoughts and suddenly realized that I had no idea what the last 2 songs played on my ipod were. I was so consumed in my thoughts that I literally couldn't even hear the music. Maybe other people's runner's highs are different, but that's mine -- when I become so entranced in my thoughts that I don't even notice I'm running. What an AMAZING thing. As I became more comfortable running, the length of my highs grew with the length of my runs. I became one of those people who looks forward to running and the peace that comes with getting lost in your own head.

Like most people, during the holiday season my workouts slowed down a bit. I was still working out 3-5 times a week but was sticking to group fitness classes and personal training. It became frigidly cold in Boston and I just couldn't work up the motivation to keep up with my running. I knew that I was planning on training for a half marathon so I wasn't too worried -- I'd get back into running pretty soon. While I was home for Christmas, we had a couple of beautiful days in New York. I decided to take advantage and went for my first run in a few weeks. And boy did I struggle. I ran a 3.5 mile loop around my old neighborhood and hated every second of it. The next day, same thing. I was so miserable that I couldn't even make it the 3.5 miles and ended up walking/jogging a good chunk of it. I couldn't believe that it took me months to build up my running to where it had been and in just a few short weeks I was almost back to where I started. Luckily I wasn't completely crushed. I decided to start my half marathon training a week early and kicked my running back into gear. I am quickly rebuilding my stamina and even felt my runner's high return briefly last night!

It was too cold outside to run (and I was too lazy to run in the morning when the sun was up) so I headed to my gym's indoor track to crank out my 3.5 mile run. I hate running on the track, and had a feeling it was going to be a tough run. But alas, my runner's high returned! About 20 minutes in I suddenly realized I once again couldn't recall the song that was just playing. Unfortunately, as soon as I recognized that the high had returned, it disappeared just as quickly as it came. But I'm hopeful! Knowing that I can improve more quickly is making me super excited to continue training for this half marathon. Jeez, who am I?? Did I just say excited?!

On another note, I'd really like to start incorporating my daily food more onto this blog, but since my photo uploader is slow as hell I can't really promise anything. Also, my roommates are gone so I have the opportunity to take pictures of my food without them looking at me like I'm a psycho. I wish I had taken pictures of last night's dinner...it was SO delicious! I made homemade baked french fries based off this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/oven-crispy-fries-recipe/index.html

Basically I cut up 1 potato into fry like slices, mixed "Emeril's Essence" minus the onion powder with 1 egg white, coated the fries, stuck them in the oven at 425 on a tray coated with cooking spray and cooked them about 25 minutes (flipping half way through). These fries are UNBELIEVABLE. I'm not kidding, they taste better than any fast food restaurant fries. If you're a fry lover like me, TRY THEM! I also cooked up 1/2 of a turkey, feta and spinach burger I got from Whole Foods and served it bunless and topped with spinach, pickles and ketchup. Yummm!

Tonight's dinner was seriously delish. After my cross-training workout I was craving some spaghetti and meatballs. I love whole wheat pasta but for some reason when I have meatballs I always want white pasta. Who knows. Anyway, I cooked up 2 oz. of spaghetti and made mini meatballs with:
1/4 pound of ground white meat turkey
2 tsp Parmesan cheese
1 tsp minced garlic
pinches of salt, pepper, dried thyme and oregano

I mixed up the meat in a bowl then rolled it into little balls and pan fried them in some olive oil.
Next I poured some jarred tomato and basil marinara sauce I bought from Whole Foods into the pan and let the meatballs finish cooking. Because they were so small they cooked up pretty quick!

And the final product:


Served with a side salad of mixed greens, tomato, marinated mushrooms and dressed in balsamic vinaigrette.

This meal was delish, healthy, EASY, and filling! Hopefully I'll be able to keep up on adding more food to the blog :) 50 minutes until a new Top Chef All Stars woowoooo!!