17 miles on the 17th

Spring Break just started for me, and before I leave for the beach tomorrow I decided to get in one of the long runs that I had been unable to run while my stress fracture was healing. So in St. Patrick's Day fashion I ran 17 miles on the 17th. Many of the miles were hills, especially between miles four through ten, and my legs felt really good on them so even with my one month long break from running, my cross-training routine was very effective.

I needed this long run to figure out what nutrition on the run worked for me. (My wonderful boyfriend drove to specific points and had water and gels for me, plus words of encouragement!) I ate about every 5 miles, and drank water more often than that. I had tried clif shot blocks before but this time I tried a different brand of organic energy chews by Honey Stinger and I liked them a lot. Plus I had a bite or two of a more dense Larabar at about 10 miles when I was feeling a little on the hungry side.

My times weren't like I wanted them to be when I started out training, but since the injury I'm pretty happy with them and I don't want to push it with a month left. During spring break I have an awesome opportunity to do some running and conditioning on the beach plus swimming, oh and relaxing...

After break I will have to start on the nitty gritty things like cutting out drinking and keep up a more vegan diet. After break will also be when I start my taper when I'll be running less weekly mileage and run with less intensity. Until then, I hope to have a fantastic, relaxing and safe Spring Break!

Oh I also now have my official team uniform!

Optimism and a zesty salad!

My optimism stems from the fact that last weekend I was running 3-4 miles per run and this morning I had a very fun and pain free 10 mile run! The run was out and back from the end of the marathon course so I got practice on running the last five miles of the course (although the next time I run it I won't have to stop for all the traffic lights!) I only ran half the distance as some of my fellow runners, but considering I was on crutches just a month ago, I am feeling really good. This is actually the first time I don't feel like I'm having to 'fake' it when I tell people I am training for the Boston Marathon, now I know I am back in form and will be running the Boston Marathon 35 days from now!

I am attributing my recovery to diligence and serious patience in my recovery. If I had started to run when I wanted to instead of listening to my trainer and coach, I really think I would have made the stress fracture a lot worse. But now, with full recovery, I've gone from a 4 mile run to a 10 mile run in a week, I think I rested and recovered for just the right amount of time.

And now for the recipe:
My superfood recipe of the week is a zesty salad with avocado and salsa, (extremely happy avocados are so delicious right now!) I ate this for lunch three days of last week and it takes very little time to put together.

Ingredients:
Kale or a mixture of Kale and spring mix
1/2 avocado diced
lemon or lime juice
favorite flavorful salsa
olive oil
pepper
A whole wheat tortilla toasted on the side

Wash, de-stem, and break the kale into small pieces and mix with spring mix if desired. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the leaves, add the diced avocados and sprinkle lime or lemon juice over it, then add a quarter cup of salsa and some pepper. Easy, vegan, and super delicious!