The two days of silence were wonderful! I started each day with a morning run and fruit and veggie smoothie of my choosing out of a cookbook that I haven’t had time to experiment with much. Fun! And then I sat. Sat on the couch and read my Bible, prayed in my journal. Sat and read books and magazines. Sat in the bright sunshine and soaked up lots of vitamin D. Sat on the porch and listened to the south Texas doves cooing. See? It was glorious!
Now Robert is back home, and we are about to pack our bags and drive to Galveston, TX. We haven’t been there since our honeymoon almost 20 years ago. Sunday morning we’ll get up early in order to run their half-marathon. Galveston is on the Gulf Coast, so we figured it would be nice and flat ~ an easy training run for the upcoming Austin half-marathon which will NOT be flat! (We drove part of it the other day, and discovered that places in miles 11-13 are scarily inclined. Yikes!)
Yes, Galveston should be nice and flat, but I’m not sure about how “easy” it will be considering the current weather forecast ~ 100% humidity, rain, 50 degrees, and 30 mph wind gusts. Oh my. It sounds much worse than the first half-marathon we ever did in Lowell, MA where the rain turned into snow by the end of the race!
Our last long run was at Town Lake last week. After strategically parking the car near one of our favorite breakfast restaurants, we ran 10 miles around the lake, and then enjoyed a big yummy breakfast. An added treat was turning around to see one of my oldest friends sitting with his mom in the booth behind us! Mike was my arch enemy in 5th grade, and then my prom date my senior year of high school. It was so nice to see his mom, too! We’ve all kept in touch through the years, but this unexpected sighting was so much fun.
Later that afternoon, I made this “recovery smoothie.” It’s sort of a combination of all of the running recovery foods suggested in various running magazines and websites. Nothing green about this one ~ it’s pure comfort and deliciousness, but also a good way to replenish the body after a good long run.
Running Recovery Smoothie
1 frozen banana
1 cup plain yogurt (I used coconut milk)
1 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup brewed coffee, cooled (optional)
1 Tbsp flax meal (or 1 tsp flaxseed oil)
granola and sliced bananas
Place first 6 ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape sides of blender if needed. Top with a few tablespoons of granola and some sliced bananas.
OK ~ pray for strength and endurance if you think of it! And prayers for a reversal of the weather forecast would be greatly appreciated, too! ☺
The smoothie looks so yummy! Have a wonderful time in Galveston!