Category: Running

Vacation Detox

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My favorite vacations center around big bodies of water.   I love the beach. It’s my happiest place. I say that because I find happiness in lots of places. But the beach is a different level. 

In the days before I left for vacation, people made comments about me glowing with excitement. Hands down, one of the best compliments. 

Glowing. 

I was buzzing in my skin. Because I could wake up to this for seven days.  And my best friend got to go with me.  See, my happiest place. 

And it was full of donuts, seafood, crab-stuffed this and bernaise covered that. So much good food. 

And only one barefoot run in the sand before dawn, which was totally awesome and exactly what my soul craves.   So by the time I got home yesterday, I knew I had to detox my body from the richness of vacation. 

And so it began with breakfast.   A beach-inspired breakfast bowl. All you need is one sliced up banana, two or three heaping spoonfuls of plain Greek yogurt, handful of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.

I’ll admit the plain yogurt is a tough one to go with, but there is enough natural sweetness in the fruit to balance it nicely. Plus you nix the added sugar in the flavored yogurts. Win. 

Lunch was on the go today. So I ordered a chicken sandwich from the place downstairs from my office. The potatoes chips didn’t help the detox, but I made up for it at supper.   Behold, the ultimate detox salad. 

  • Romaine lettuce
  • Red bell pepper
  • Yellow cherry tomatoes
  • Cucumber 
  • Half an avocado
  • Two boiled eggs
  • Your favorite dressing

Simple and delicious. 

And it’s just an added bonus that it will cleanse my system from vacation food. I only wish I could have kept the beach a little longer. 

The Sunrise Run Club

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I’m a lucky lady. 

I live in a runner-friendly city with lots of paved and unpaved trails at my disposal. I have lots of awesome friends who share their love of running and life with me. 

I’ve had the opportunity to introduce people to running and to mentor them through a 5K training program, and that has changed my life. 

Case in point: my friend Sarah is not a morning person. Much like me. 

But she loves to run. I was her mentor for a time, and she has decided to run a marathon this fall. 

This insane heat has lead her to join the crazy train of running before the sun comes up. Since I was running at dawn this morning, I sent Sarah a text to encourage her to wake up and greet the sun. 

  
She lives in Northwest Arkansas now so she couldn’t actually run with us, but she was there in spirit. 

And what a beautiful morning it was.

  
If only my run could have been less terrible. I couldn’t get my mind right. I felt physically tired, and my legs felt slow and lead-like. The sweat was aggressive due to the crazy humidity. 

Thankfully, I had to Denise right next to me, encouraging me. I had Sarah in spirit. And I knew that I could run three miles and not die because I’d finished longer runs in much worse conditions. 

The mind is so powerful. It amazes me. How one negative thought, just a blip at first, can ruin your mental game. 

Somehow, despite my mental funk, Denise and I managed a quicker pace than Monday.  

 
It just tells me that my body can do amazing things, whether my mind is with it or not. And that’s enlightening.

Plus, I found out other people are getting up early to chase the sun, too. I’m calling it the Sunrise Run Club. 

Running at Dawn

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I use to work at a local running store, and I didn’t have to be at work most days until 9:45 a.m. But the thought of getting up around 7 a.m. to go for a run never crossed my mind.

See, I’m not a morning person. Although, I’m more morning than some other people. 

I’ll wake up early for two things: race day and the beach.

But I’ve recently started a new job, which allows me to run after work. It’s just been so scorching hot that I flat won’t go. 

I’ll make excuse after excuse. It’s too hot. I’m too tired. Work was stressful. Tomorrow. But we all know how that goes. The pattern of bad behavior wins again. 

I have this awesome running friend, who when I have crazy ideas or requests she just says yes. 

So we’ve started running at dawn a couple times a week. And let me tell you. I feel liberated. 

  
I’ve seen many a sunset in my day because running at dusk use to be my thing. But the older I get I find it hard to go to sleep after exercising late in the day. 

  
But this morning’s sunrise was absolutely perfect. 

And it felt so good to get in a 3 mile run before 6:15 a.m. 

  
Here are my stats for this morning’s run. Started out slow, but the pace got progressively faster. The humidity was killer, and the fact that it was 80 degrees at 5:30 a.m. was disheartening. 

But I survived.