Race Pushers and a Solid Weekend of Running

How is it Sunday night already?

This weekend went by surprisingly quickly. I went into it with some amorphous plans to maybe get drinks after a friend got out of a work thing today, some plans to run twice and then I was going to see what else ended up happening.

Then my mom and I chatted and I realized I hadn’t been home in awhile–and really, what else did I have going on?

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I was supposed to do my long run of 13 miles yesterday and then do 6 miles today, but when my alarm went off at 5:45 yesterday morning, I looked it and said HELL NO, rolled over and woke back up at 8:45. I still thought I’d get my long run in and get it over with, but then I realized that leaving around 10 probably wouldn’t be the smartest thing I’d ever done, so I ran up Summer Streets and back for a total of 6 miles. It was a nice change of scenery, but the run itself was nothing to write home about.

My mom came and kidnapped Bailey and me and off we all went to NJ, and then down to my mom’s cousin’s 50th anniversary party.

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Aren’t they cute?

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I’d have to say the best part of the party was meeting the lovely lady in the middle–my mom’s cousin Karen. We’ve been Facebook friends for awhile but never met until last night. She’s a spin instructor/triathlete and is a Grade A Race Pusher. Last week, she posted four different races on my Facebook wall, and asked if I was interested in any of them. Last night, she finally talked me into Tunnel to Towers.

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The food was good, too–especially the massive meatballs.

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AND CAKE.

After a few glasses of wine, I was exhausted but rallied to go to the movies with my friend Eileen to see Campaign. I love Will Ferrell, so I was hoping to love this as much as Anchorman, but it was a little *too* over the top–although the general premise of American politics being a circus was pretty on point. (Have I mentioned I don’t miss living in D.C.?)

This morning, I had no choice but to get my long run over with, solo. I much prefer to do my long runs with friends, but I think it’s good to do at least one long run solo.

So, i watched the end of the men’s marathon this morning (Go Meb!) and then went out for my own run. I had 13 miles on the docket, and I used my 18-miler from last summer as a base for my route–and then ended up missing at least 3 turns and completely improvising it.

I still didn’t leave until 9:30am, and so it was hot, humid and sunny when I started. Awesome.

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I also got in plenty of hills.

The only parts of this run that didn’t feel impossible were the downhills, but I talked myself through every cliche out there:

“This will make you so much stronger for October.”

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

“One foot in front of the other.”

But I have a big goal that I’d like to meet and surpass, so I powered through to finish 13 miles and get home to eat some eggs. My pace ended up being an average of 10:04–not the best, but right where my training plan says I’m supposed to be.

So as much as I love sleep, I definitely love getting up and running early to beat the heat better.

How was your weekend? Who’s a race pusher in your life? (P.S. Do not ever gchat Emily if you are ever trying to talk yourself out of a race.)

Keep Calm and Drink Almond Milk

The contents of my grocery basket change every time, depending on my mood or what’s on sale, but there’s a few constants.

Bananas.

Wine.

Almond milk.

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I’m not entirely lactose intolerant, but my stomach doesn’t enjoy much dairy, and since exploring dairy alternatives, I’ve fallen in love with both almond and soy milk.

I almost always have a container of Almond Breeze in my refrigerator, and I use it basically the same way I’d use cow’s milk: in cereal, in smoothies, in oatmeal and even baking. As Anne said, it has less protein than cow’s milk, but otherwise it’s very healthy and is a good source of calcium and Vitamins D, E and A.

I don’t quite know how they can make the almond milk taste sweet without adding sweetener, but it’s pretty damn good.

Speaking of sweet, they’re running a pretty sweet sweepstakes on their Facebook page right now.

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I think we can all use some kind words in our lives, right?

Well, one lucky winner on their Facebook page will win a year’s supply of Almond Breeze and a $1000 home store gift card to “spruce up your kitchen!”

You just have to like their page and then leave a nice message for someone else to “get their good going.”

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I chose my mom because she rocks, and I don’t know what I’d do without her.

I get my good going by running:

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…and eating bananas.

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If you’ve never tried almond milk, I have a giveaway for you!

The kind Almond Breeze folks have offered me 10 coupons–2 each for 5 winners!

To enter:

1. Tell me about the last thing that got your good going–something good that happened to you or something nice you did for someone else.

2. Tell me what makes you happy and gets your good going.

3. Tell me your favorite flavor of almond milk.

4. Tweet a link to this post and tweet at me @tblanchfield, and then come back and comment you did.

(If you are entering multiple times, please have each be a separate comment.)

This giveaway will close at 11:59 PDT on Monday, August 13.

This post was sponsored by Almond Breeze, and the coupons were provided by Almond Breeze for the giveaway. All cheesy photos and opinions are my own.