A Boost to the Immune System

So I woke up yesterday morning and my symptoms from my terrible sickness from the other week were coming back! My tonsils were extremely red and swollen and my energy level was super low. I went to the doctor this morning and told them I NEED to get better because I have a half marathon on Sunday. They gave me some medicine and I am going to pray it works because I am running in this race no matter what. I can't just train for 12 weeks and then not run the race. That would be awful.

I went on my last training run this morning after the doctors appointment, and it was not good. I only had to run 2 miles, and afterwards my body felt like I had just run 20. So I decided that I was going to spend the next two days completely resting and eating lots of dark leafy greens and citrus fruits that are high in Vitamin C.

I got out the blender and made a huge green smoothie. I filled an entire Nalgene bottle (32 oz) and I even had a cup left over that I drank immediately. My plan is to drink this immune boosting drink intermittently throughout today and tomorrow in hopes of restoring my sick little body in time for my race.

"Boost Your Immune System" Smoothie:

1 Frozen Banana

6 Strawberries

3/4 c. Unsweet Almond Milk

2 Huge Handfuls of Baby Kale

1 Handful of Baby Spinach

Juice of 1/2 of a lemon

Juice of 1/2 of a lime

This will make a large smoothie, but don't fear, it won't make as much as I did. I doubled this recipe and was very generous on the portions. This will serve 2 regular people or one extremely hungry, post-workout person. ;)

I need to heal!!!! Only 3 days till race day!

Avocado Egg Salad

As of today, I have not run for a solid week. I have been sick and I just didn't feel 100% today, so I didn't want to push myself and make it worse. Hopefully Thursday I can really go hard and try to conquer a 10 miler. I feel like I should since I wasn't able to participate in my 10 mile race on Saturday.

For lunch today I made a delicious avocado egg salad! It is good to eat plain, on a piece of toast, or on a bed of raw spinach.

I got the recipe from a website called Skinny Taste. The recipe can be found here. The only thing I changed was instead of chives I chopped up a little bit of red onion and some fresh cilantro. I highly recommend using less salt than the recipe calls for, and I added quite a bit of pepper.

Definitely a recipe I'll be making again.

Yesterday's workout was SO enjoyable. I have missed lifting! It had been a week since I had lifted and I was so ready to feel sore again. Here it is:


The "I'm Done Being Sick So I'm Going To Make Myself Sore" Workout:
DB Chest Press x10,9,8,7
Squat on Smith Machine x10,9,8,7
Barbell Dead Lift to Bicep Curl x10,9,8,7
Reverse Pushup x10,9,8,7
Overhead DB Tricep Press x10,9,8,7
Plank with Feet on Stability Ball 3x20 knee tucks
Plank Hold 3x30 sec

Now it's time to buckle down for exams and then it's SUMMER!

Setting My Sights Straight

"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:8

The past couple days I have been unable to run or exercise, and I have felt so miserable. I feel as if I am worthless because I haven't had a heavy lift or a challenging run. This verse reminded me that exercise isn't where I should ultimately place my value. Instead, I need to "fix my eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and focus on what really matters in life!

Beat by the Heat

Yesterday I completed a 5 mile run in 85 degree weather and it was quite the challenge. When I finally finished I was exhausted and felt overheated. This made me really impressed with all the people who completed the Boston Marathon yesterday in the record-breaking heat!

After my run, I took a cold shower and refueled with a delicious ProBar.

These bars are so good, but I recommend not eating them unless they are a meal replacement or for pre/post workout fuel. My reasoning behind this? They contain around 400 calories...

I have heard a lot of good things about Lauren Fleshman's Picky Bars and so I bought a couple this week to try. They are pretty pricey, but extremely delicious. I thought I'd like the Smooth Caffeinator the best, but I actually liked the All in Almond flavor far better.

I wish Lauren Fleshman would just sponsor me to run really crappy half marathons so that I could eat these bars for free... haha I guess that's not going to happen. People generally get sponsors for being particularly good at something, not particularly mediocre. 

This makes Day 3 of the Stretch for Seven Challenge. I still have this one annoying knot in my left quad that is causing me a great deal of pain when I foam roll. So annoying.

Today ended up being an unintentional rest day due to the fact I have an exam tonight (what am I doing blogging and not studying?!) and because I feel a little sick. I'm pretty sure Lillie and Lola may be the culprits... That's okay though, I forgive them because of their immense cuteness.

Have a good Wednesday evening and keep up the stretching!

Sick and Sore

When I woke up this morning I realized that there is something worse than being so sore you can barely function: being sick AND sore.

I felt so awful that my sweet roommate had to help me get ready for class this morning. I would have skipped, but considering I had an exam I thought I should just man up and get it over with. And that I did, but I'm pretty sure my grade suffered as much as my body did that hour... It did not go well at all.

The amount of exercising I did today was walking to and from class. Sadly, this was probably harder than all the cardio and weights I did yesterday.

The only productive thing that I did today was spend like 5 hours on Pinterest. I wish I was exaggerating.

While on Pinterest I saw this:

Okay so this is completely ridiculous. I understand getting past your mental state of "I can't do this," but this is just insanity. I'm pretty sure no workout is beneficial if you die afterwards... just saying.