Happy Friday! I’m trying to be super productive today because my mom needs some help on Monday so look at me go!
RUN
This morning I met up with Jen from Jen’s Best Life for a 6 mile run. She is visiting SoCal from NYC and it was great to have a running partner in crime to chat with!
EAT
Back in the early days of RER I used to post my boring, poorly photographed eats all day. My approach to this site has changed a bit lot, but I still get a lot of requests for that, so I’m posting a whole day of eats once or twice a week. This is what I’ve been eating this week:
Pre-run: A banana or some type of fruit. Sometimes I’ll do toast. It’s whatever I feel like. Alert the media. Thanks.
Breakfast is eggs and toast 80% of the time. The other 20% is protein pancakes. 
Lunch is mostly random salads with leftovers from dinner or food from my mom’s. I swear there is lettuce under there somewhere. (Plastic table cloth optional.)
Snacks: I made a second batch of the cranberry protein bread. Recipe coming soon.
Dinner: I’ve been eating green bean fries with everything – eggs, hamburgers, sandwiches. Seriously. I bought a big pack from Costco and can’t get enough slathered in ketchup.
Green Bean Fries Recipe:
Ingredients: Fresh green beans, TJ’s 21 seasoning salute, salt, olive oil
Coat skillet with oil. Heat. Add green beans to hot skillet. Season beans and toss to coat thoroughly. Cook for 5-7 minutes until beans are not raw, but still have a ‘bite’ like a crispy frie. Slaw with ketchup. Eat.
Dessert: I have some kind of dark chocolate situation every night. It’s for the best.
Repeat New Business:
I bought a Groupon for Acupuncture a while back and finally went yesterday. There is really nothing wrong with me (except for those voices in my head that tell me to share my life on the internet) so the doctor just worked on some tightness in my ankle.
Anyway, he thinks I run too much and should slowly back away because running long distances like marathons cause more harm than good. I agree, but am on a mission to completely burn myself out this year so I’m working on that approach. He also said I should drink more coconut water. Noted. I am totally making more of my delicious Watermelon Coconut drink asap!
Feet on the Street
Reader Brianna ran her first half marathon and shared a picture! Congrats!
Reader Laura is running a half marathon blindfolded to raise money for Run to the Light.
“On November 16, I’ll voluntarily run Charlotte’s Thunder Road Half Marathon blind to honor my younger sister Taylor, build awareness of a fatal childhood disorder called Batten disease and raise money for gene therapy research at the University of North Carolina. Taylor, 14, ran two 5K races in 2008-09 as part of the Girls on the Run program despite being blind. I’m running Thunder Road blindfolded to honor the five-year anniversary of her first 5K. I write a blog about Taylor’s story and Taylor’s Tale, the non-profit organization I co-founded in 2007 to fight Batten disease and other rare diseases; I publish a new post after every training run. Run to the Light tells more about my quest to run a half marathon blindfolded and why I’m doing it.”
And the final set of feet on the street belong to Lacross Coach Alanna Waters – she is a mentor and coach who teaches and remaining balanced while pushing yourself to be the best.
Question: What are you doing this weekend?
I need to run, eat and relax.
I ran the Parkersburg News & Sentinel Half Marathon in West Virginia on Saturday. It was one of the most well organized, locally crowd-supported half marathon I’ve ever done. And even though it was in WV, it wasn’t too crazy hilly (says this girl from the middle of FLAT indiana). I would highly recommend it!
Hope to have my blog review up within the next couple of days.
Kudos to Laura for bringing attention to her cause, and to her sister Taylor’s disease. Best wishes to her for a successful race!
We are heading home from one of the most fun weddings and receptions we’ve ever attended! It was SO. MUCH. FUN!!!
Thank you so much, Debbie! That means the world to me. Tomorrow is Taylor’s birthday. I’m going to squeeze in a run before I celebrate with her! Glad you had fun at the wedding. My weekend didn’t include that kind of excitement, but sometimes, I like it that way! 🙂 Again, thanks for your support and for reading. Happy running!
I just found your blog and can’t wait to follow your journey!
Thanks and welcome!
I make my green bean fries the same way except I bake them. And 21 seasoning salute is the ish. I put it on EVERYTHING.
Wow I love the green beens. How inspiring about the 5K done blind
Wow I love the green beens. How inspiring about the 5K done blind
Love the alternative for french fries! How was the acupuncturist? I would be a little scared!
Do you put leftover green beans in your fridge? Eat them cold or reheat after? Do you count calories or macros? And how would your eats differ if only a casual walker and basic activities of daily living? Thks!! great site.
I recognize that trail head! Major props to Brianna for running a half marathon in the south Texas heat!
I added TJ’s 21 seasoning salute to my shopping list.
I am going to get new running shoes in just a little bit so I am super excited!! 🙂 Those green bean fries look awesome; I need to try those!
have you heard about the watermelon festival at the rose bowl this weekend? i’m going tomorrow! 🙂
Just relaxing this weekend and oh yeah hockey playoffs continue. Nothing nearly as exciting or adventurous as a blindfolded half marathon, that is amazing.
Thanks, Tom! I’m relaxing this weekend, too. I had my first crash landing during training for the blindfolded half Thursday night. I guess it was bound to happen eventually. Luckily the race is three months away, and I’m hoping I got my one fall out of my system. Have fun watching the playoffs!
Doing the same things you’ll be doing this weekend: running (16 miles long run Tomorrow), eating (a lot), relaxing (as much as possible). AKA: the perfect weekend!!!
dark chocolate is always for the best ha! I’m on a ‘rest’ week for training so I have a short long run today and then packing all my stuff up to go back to school! sooooo exciting!
Why are you trying to burn yourself on running?! You seem to love it and I love reading your race recaps!
I ran for the first time in 3 years tonight! It was a short run but really great. I did it after a hiit workout. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I won’t wake up with sore knees tomorrow. This weekend I am planning on getting some serious cleaning and organizing done in my apartment. Yay for productivity!
Celebrating my sis’ birthday with a Chocolate Dream Cake (hey that’s what they call it at the bakery!).
Mmm the guacamole looks so good. I have been craving avocados non stop lately.
Lol, why are you purposely trying to burn yourself out?
So next year I can maybe focus on different things 🙂 *maybe
Like babies? You can still run while pregnant, and with kids. 😉
Area 13.1 in Roswell, GA. I’m ready for the invasion! 🙂
Good luck!
LOVE acupuncture. Nothing beats a needle nap when you need some relief 😉
Oh man I am so jealous of all at guac
Banana is my pre-run food as well. I also take one spoon honey to boost my energy.
I am curious about running while blindfolded. Must take a lot of self-confidence and practice.
Gaby, it takes practice and a lot of confidence in my sighted guide. I don’t have the internal radar of someone who’s really blind and operates in a dark world all the time, so I need Andrew’s guidance to know when to turn and when to expect speed bumps, cars and other obstacles. Thursday night, I fell for the first time when my shoe just caught the curb. My knees and hands look like I lost a fight, and I tweaked my ankle, but we managed to go another 2.8 miles after I bandaged myself up. I knew Taylor would have kept going after a fall, so that’s what we did! You can follow my training at http://www.writethehappyending.com. Thanks for your interest!
p.s. Bananas and honey are great pre-run foods. Have you ever tried frozen bananas? If I’m doing packaged foods, I also like Stinger waffles.
Hi Laura,
I haven’t tried frozen bananas yet. Might as well try that. Thanks for the ideas.
I am actually sipping on some chocolate coconut water now because I haven’t been able to hydrate myself before long runs. Add chocolate, and I’m much more likely to down it! I figured it’s worth a shot.
I agree with everyone. Those green bean fries look awesome. Also, I will totally let the media know about your inconsistent prerun snacks. lol.
sleeping, running, driving kids around….
Hmm…I will have to try making green bean fries…my garden is producing green beans like crazy….and WOW. What a great inspirational story. I can’t imagine running 13.1 miles blindfolded.
Long run with training group tomorrow morning, and that’s about all that’s planned. So I guess some relaxing!! Maybe kayaking…
I’m running or ellipticalizing tomorrow 🙂
Chores, family time, walks and relaxin’ and eatin’ of course.
I have a relaxing weekend on the books. Movies tonight and a pedicure tomorrow!
Yum all your food looks delicious!! I have a 14 mile run tomorrow and then a 10k on Sunday – lots of running on the schedule for this weekend!
Those green bean fries look fab!
Tomorrow, I’m running my third race in 12 days: my village’s first ever 10k, the TT10K!
I’ve registered, collected my bib, and had a warm up run in the sunshine. The forecast is fr torrential rain & high winds. Should be fun!!
it’s birthday party weekend. My dear friend’s surprise 40th tomorrow (she definitely doesn’t run OR read blogs so I know i didn’t just ruin the surprise. LOL). And then my other friend is having an epic 38th birthday. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at 36 and is currently healthy and almost completely “reconstructed”. She decided EVERY birthday is a big one to celebrate. I’ve got a 15 mile long run to conquer on Sunday morning. Probably going solo due to time restraints not giving me enough cushion to meet my running group. I’m actually excited to listen to my music and the boardwalk here on Staten Island is finally fully re-opened after Hurricane Sandy almost a year ago. It’s 5 miles round trip so i’ll prob, end up doing it 3X.
WOW… running it blind folded.. that’s dedication right there… I love that!!
your post has me hungry now…. & wanting to try those green bean fries!
Thanks, Rebecca Jo! It takes dedication for sure…after every training run, I think about how lucky I am to have my vision and how incredible my sister is. She’s taught me so much! I’m also really grateful that my sighted guide, Andrew, has sacrificed so much to make this blindfolded run possible. I couldn’t do it alone! Speaking of those green bean fries…it’s almost dinnertime on the East Coast. 🙂 I might have to try those!
Ah! Love the story about Laura. I’m in CLT and had wanted to do that one but decided on the Richmond marathon instead. So wish I could be there to cheer her on! What an inspiration!
Thank you, Hayley! Hate that I’ll miss you at Thunder Road, but I hope to see you at other CLT area races! I’m running another half a few weeks after Thunder Road. Best of luck to you in Richmond! p.s. I’m trying to turn the course purple for Taylor’s Tale on race day, but there are a couple of other ways you can cheer on Andrew (my sighted guide) and me virtually. Be on the lookout for details on my blog at http://www.writethehappyending.com. Best of luck to you in Richmond!
Thank you, Hayley! Hate that I’ll miss you at Thunder Road, but I hope to see you at other CLT area races! I’m running another half a few weeks after Thunder Road. Best of luck to you in Richmond! p.s. I’m trying to turn the course purple for Taylor’s Tale on race day, but there are a couple of other ways you can cheer on Andrew (my sighted guide) and me virtually. Be on the lookout for details on my blog at http://www.writethehappyending.com.
WOW. A blindfolded race?! that’s seriously impressive!
Thanks so much, Karen! It’s been an incredible experience. I couldn’t do it without the support of my sighted guide, Andrew, and Taylor’s courage lifting me up every step of the way. I figure that while running a race blindfolded is pretty cool, it still doesn’t match what Taylor faces every day, because I get to take off the blindfold at the end of the run (and I don’t have to deal with all of the other effects of Batten disease). The race is three months from today. I hope you’ll follow my training, Taylor’s story and our efforts on behalf of millions of people fighting a rare disease at http://www.writethehappyending.com.