Return of the Run

This morning, Ryan and I slept in. (Hey, it was bound to happen after I published a post about why I still work out at 5 a.m.)

We slept through the 5 a.m. alarm and got up at 7 a.m. After a quick breakfast, I headed into my home office to crank out some writing. By 11 a.m., I was more than ready for a break.

So was someone else.

Since my workout for the day and Sadie’s morning walk both had yet to occur, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone and exercise Sadie and get some exercise myself.

I grabbed my iPod and fired up my Garmin for the first time in more than two months!

After the Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon and the Women’s Half Marathon, I joked to Ryan that I “quit running.”

When I was done with those races, I was ready for a break from training and long runs and have really enjoyed incorporating more circuit-style workouts into my routine. I’m still running, but lately my running has been on the treadmill, often coupled with intense incline walking in the form of treadmill interval workouts.

Well, today it felt great to just run.

No treadmill. No crazy inclines.

Just me and the great outdoors!

And Sadie.

We covered five miles and I forgot how nice it can feel to just run and zone out while jamming to a rockin’ playlist. (I listened to the first third of my half marathon playlist from Savannah. What’s up Jagged Edge!?)

Lunch

After the run, I quickly showered and dug into leftovers from last night’s dinner.

Yesterday Ryan and I ate a delicious chopped salad alongside grilled steak and quinoa.

I made the salad by combining the following:

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1/2 cucumber, chopped
• 3/4 cup corn
• 1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

This salad was a pain in the tookus to make… probably because I find chopping vegetables to be one of the most mundane tasks in the world. At least the end result was worth it!

The leftovers were a delicious lunchtime “warm up.” I ate up nearly all of the remaining salad while making myself a roast beef sandwich.  

I topped two toasted slices of honey wheat bread with roast beef, spinach, tomatoes and equal parts spicy mustard and light Miracle Whip.

I wanted something sweet immediately after polishing off my sandwich and quickly made myself a mug of hot chocolate.

Fantastic.

Off to cram in a few more hours of work!

Happy Friday!