Hi! Is everyone excited it’s Thursday? Or are you just stressed that it’s almost the weekend, which means it’s almost your marathon, which means you are one day closer to hours and hours of running when you still don’t feel 100% and somehow managed to tweak your neck last night?
No? Just me?
Darn.
I mentioned going a little crazy with the cereal yesterday so I tried to keep dinner high on nutrients and low on crap. I made green beans and ground turkey with a marinara sauce and had a small scoop of cheesy pasta I made for Ben. It was still steaming when I took the picture…
We spent the evening sipping hot chocolate and watching House Hunters. I consider that an ideal evening 
This morning I was all confused. First, I woke up from a dream where I swam super deep into the ocean to see dolphins. Then, something hurt my toe so I swam up and was on land. I grabbed down toward my foot and removed an entire HUGE JELLY FISH that I placed on our hotel bed. What?
Maybe I’m scared to do any ocean swimming on our upcoming Panama trip because of last year’s jelly fish sting?! I gotta get over that 
Oh – back to why I was confused… I can’t run today because it’s taper, so I didn’t know what to do. I should go into work early and do a strength session. Yeah, I’ll do that and take a little walk to calm myself.
No run means plenty of time for a pancake breakfast!
I use my same recipe each time and they usually make 4 small pancakes. Today it made 3 small ones and a BIG one!
Pancake Recipe (cause I get asked every time): 1/2c egg beaters, 1/4c pumpkin, 1/3c ww pastry flour, dash of each: salt, pumpkin pie spice, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Blend. Cook. Eat.
Today I cooked a banana into them because it’s getting a little mushy and needed to be consumed. I also sprinkle chia seeds straight into the batter once it’s cooking.
Now I’m sipping on some juice and organizing my week. 
Question: What’s your #2 favorite workout or exercise?
After running it’s KB or Zumba, but I am pretty partial to strength lately!
Hey Monica! I’m running my first half-marathon this Sunday in Victoria, BC – Canada. I’m shakin’ in my boots, but reading your posts sure helps!!! 🙂
I am running my first Half in November (Women’s Half Marathon – St Petersburg FL), and then I am coming to your house for pancakes!
: )
I’ll bring you DD (dunkin, we call it “double D”) iced coffee : )
No matter that we live on opposite sides of the country!
I wish we could make that happen 🙂
My second favorite is elliptical-ing…I’m a cardio queen. The 30 day shred was too hard on my knees (somehow harder than running) and lifting weights makes me eat everything in sight…I know I should strength train more though.
I have to combine a lot of different ones, b/c otherwise I get a bit bored. I usually do 15-20 min of the elliptical, stairmaster, treadmill, and stationary bike. If I run/walk outside I usually can go longer, b/c it seems more interesting to me!
Monica,
I love your blog and really appreciate that I’m not the only one down with something the week of her marathon. (My first marathon). I swear that we were following the same program because when I was running 20, you were running 20. I hope you feel better! My mantra when I run is – well Oprah did it, P.Diddy did it, I can do it! You can do it too and reach your goal time 🙂
Thanks Tina! You will rock your race 🙂
My #1 is RUNNING! My #2 is swinging my kettlebell, such an awesome cardio and strength training workout. My #3 is swimming. 🙂
#1 is anything I can do while reading, so I guess #2 is anything I have to do with just music 😉
Depending on my mood, I either go with strength or spin. I finally ordered some spin shorts so my butt won’t go numb.
I’m feeling lost too! I am running the Chicago marathon on Sunday. Right now I’m feeling like something’s missing with taper week. Maybe tonight I will do 2 more miles just to keep myself lose? Thoughts?
I’m running Chicago too! Good Luck!!!
Good luck to both of you!!!
My #2 favorite is BodyPump…makes me feel all strong without sweating too much 🙂
(My #1 is dance…pretty much any kind)
sidenote: you have inspired me to try to run…working on getting through 4 miles with as few walking breaks as possible…started out with 7 breaks, now down to 3 🙂
Omg..that cartoon made my skin shiver. That’s such a gross thought to think about!
I’ve had to take off running for the past week due to an injury and the only thing I’ve been able to do is yoga. But as for my second favorite, that’d be Zumba. By far!
My back-up exercise is always jumping rope or Tae Bo. I’ve read both are great for runners because they’re explosive and help increase muscle endurance and strength. Bonus!
hilly trail hikes, pool swimming, weight lifting,kayaking, paddle boarding, intense all night dancing, soft sand walking, bike riding, mostly anything outside in nature is the best.
Ah, the mushy-banana challenge. Always such a good moment when you realize you’re in a time crunch to turn that dying banana into something delicious!
2nd favorite workout? Probably just walking. My workouts are usually sweat-inducing cardio (elliptical/running/stairclimber) + strength training, but sometimes it’s just nice to go on a long walk, especially with a buddy to chat with.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of walking! I love that!!
My second fav workout after running and lifting is ellipticalling.
OMG….my husband got stung by a jelly fish on our honeymoon last month! He still has all this red marks from where the jelly fish got him!
Rest up for Sunday! I hope you run it under 4 hours!
Ahh! That sucks for your guy 🙁 At least it wasn’t you?
Crossfit! I’m also trying to learn to love the rowing machine. People walk around my gym barefoot and it skeeves me out so much!
My #1 favorite exercise is swimming, running would be second, cycling third. Although this past year with the running injury cycling became #2.
If I don’t feel like running I’ll hit the gym and do weights, the elliptical and stair climber.
Nice action adding the sliced banana in the pancake. Wise! My X-training has been all about the Nike Training Club App on my iPhone. It is seriously like having a trainer in my house! Hope the pre-marathon nerves are staying at bay! SO many of us are running races this weekend!
Strength & Kickboxing are my #1 favorite… so if it’s not one of them, then my #2 would be the other! 🙂
My #2 is swimming- soothing and easy on the joints, just kind of a pain because I can’t walk out the door and immediately start swimming… hopefully!
My #2 workout is boxing. It is so fun and gratifying to punch, kick, jump, and fight like a madwoman for an hour. And it’s HARD! I am still sore from my class on Monday.