Tuesday, February 26, 2008

2 runs and a yummy breakfast

As I write this blog I am eating a breakfast over which I have been mildly obsessed lately: half a cup of plain organic whole milk yogurt; 1 tablespoon whole flax seed; 2 tablespoons dried cranberries; 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts; a quarter cup of lowfat granola and a teaspoon of chopped crystallized ginger. Today's variation included half of a sliced banana. This brings the nutritional payload to 435 calories, 16 grams of fat (12 of which are the heart healthy mono- and polyunsaturated kind), 67 grams of carbs, 9 whopping grams of fiber (ever tried running with a full load in your intestines? Not fun, my friends, not fun at all. Best to be regular in all that you do), and 12 grams of protein. That makes the fat/carb/protein ration look like: 34/55/11. 

And it's really freaking delicious! When I was growing up, my mom would make this yogurt thing with plain yogurt, wheat bran, banana and brown sugar. There may have been flax in there, too, but I remember the wheat bran and brown sugar more. That stuff was good! I suspect it is when I also learned to love plain yogurt. It acts as a nice smooth canvas against which you can create a myriad of flavors with added ingredients AND plain yogurt does not have added the added sugar that flavored yogurts do. Considering that your average American consumes 150 pounds of the Nutritional White Devil each year, finding something tasty without sugar (in any of its forms) is exciting. To me anyways. 

Anywaaaaaay...On Sunday, due to promises of drastically inclement weather, I had Hubby drop me off at the local gym so I could run and cross train for my long distance this weekend. I decided on the cross training  for two reasons: a) I absolutely HATE running on a treadmill. It has got to be one of the most boring, frustrating experiences in a comfortable, modern existence. It gives me cause to feel like a freaking hamster on a caged wheel and b) I figured the cross training would still work my endurance without taxing my hip as much. In 30 minutes on the treadmill, I cranked out 3.5 miles and then I added roughly 7 more to my mileage on the ski machine thingie. Total for Sunday - 10.5 miles. Yesterday, I ran 4.3 mile in a little over 47 minutes. Then I came home, stretched and did some ab work, pushups and alternate leg lunges. So I'm working it. I'd like to drop at least a couple of pounds before Big Sur in April since every pound lost reduces pressures on your knee joints by...7 pounds I think it is. I figure that by losing the weight in time for Big Sur, I can keep it off for Edinburgh. Two pounds off would mean saving my legs from 14 pounds of pressure with every stride and when you're running 26.5 miles that's the equivalent of...well, tens of thousands of strides. You do the math. 

3 comments:

Jim said...

I find running on the treadmill to be fun when it's short distances and speed based. Things like doing interval training or trying to run a super fast mile. It's tough to feel bored when you are pushing yourself hard, and with interval training the experience changes every minute or so. But yah longer distances on the treadmill sure are boring. I wonder if I could do it on one of those treadmills that had a movie screen built in.

Miina said...

At the gym, they had "The Chronicles of Riddick" playing on the screen and that helped a little bit. However, doing intervals and stuff that push me really hard makes me look at how much time I have left even MORE often because I want the effort to be over already. What's frustrating to me mentally is the fact that I am expending so much energy and effectually going NOWHERE. Running outside gives me a greater sense of accomplishment and appreciation b/c I can see where I ran. I can turn around and look up to the top of the hill and say,"I was just up there. And now I'm here. I did good today."

Steve said...

"Anywaaaaaay..." -- That's what Grandfather Gill used to say.

Time to invent a treadmill with surround video screens which give the illusion of progressing through a real environment.