The Long Post: Eats and Running

Yum, yum, yum. Valentine's Day is tomorrow and I have a sweet-filled post planned (actually, mostly chocolate). I can't wait!


Lately I've been eating a lot of hummus and carrots; who knew what a delicious combination that is! My eats have been a little random, but have been including:


Sweet potatoes


Kale and hummus


Chocolate ;-)


Raw trail mix


Bananas and carob (this is seriously one of my favorite things to eat...I just slice up a banana and dip it in some carob powder; soooo delicious!)


However, when the dining hall had some dried cranberries, I snagged a few for a kale salad. I attempted to recreate a salad they have at Whole Foods, which I ate liberally during break. It's super simple, comprised of kale, olive oil, lemon juice, dried cranberries, chopped tomatoes, and pine nuts. I had to forgo the pine nuts and tomatoes (I just wasn't feeling sunflower seeds in place of the pine nuts), but I came up with this:

I was pretty pleased with the taste, though the pine nuts would have made it even more delicious!


I also bought myself a German Chocolate Cake jocolat Larabar. The ingredients: dates, pecans, almonds, unsweetened chocolate, unsweetened coconut, extra virgin coconut oil, cocoa powder. Sounds delicious, right?


The verdict: not that great. I was expecting something with a bit more pizazz, and this just tasted like the chocolate coconut version they have. I think I'll stick with my Lemon Larabar flavor.


On the exercise side of things, I made a resolution this year to get back into running. I ran cross country freshman year of high school, and then things got hectic, so I only ran sporadic 5ks. Once I got to college, I occasionally ran, but towards the end of last year, I did something to my knee and couldn't run on it. All last semester I basically did the elliptical (which is excellent if you want to study and work out at the same time...call me a nerd, I know!). But after reading so many blogs where running seems to be a mainstay, I vowed to get back into it. I started out running 20 minutes, and now depending on how I feel, I can go up to 45. The distance I cover at the speed I'm going at is nowhere near how fast I used to be in high school (which is a real bummer), but I'm going to try to get it there. Seven minute miles, here I come! I'll be working abroad in Lake Como, Italy this summer, so I figured I'd run before work in the morning, which I am very excited to do. So far I haven't had too many "bad days," which really keeps me motivated.


I also don't run with an ipod. I have one, but I prefer to use it on flights or whatnot. When I run outside I just like listening to what's going on around me, and when I'm inside, I just concentrate on the thoughts inside my head. Running is kind of therapeutic, so I don't want to tune out my thoughts with music.


I'm not really a fan of my current running shoes, though. They look awesome: black with pink swooshes, but I really, really like my old cross country shoes. I still have them (I know, I know...time to throw them out), but they're so comfortable! Unfortunately, they've been discontinued, so I'm still on a quest to find better shoes.


There are tons of giveaways to enter...these are two non-food related ones:


1. This is my favorite...make someone's day with a random act of kindness!


2. What are your simple pleasures?


Have a wonderful day and stay tuned for some delicious Valentine's Day love!