Toenails are overrated

So I feel like an official runner - the toenails on both big toes are seriously bruised. I took a picture, but they look gross even to me so I will spare you and not post. You're welcome. When I mentioned that I was afraid to take off my toenail polish to Emily, she asked if my shoes were big enough. I said of course, but now I'm not so sure. I am holding off buying new shoes till after the race since I have logged so many training miles on these guys, and I was unsure about buying new so close to race time. Both Em and Alex thought the "break in" time would be sufficient, but Alex recommended waiting because I just might not like my new shoes. And to be honest, my feet don't hurt nearly so much since I cut the nails really short.

I did do my longest training walk last Friday - 13.2 miles! I have to tell you, I am pretty proud of that! The weather was absolutely horrible when I started out, and wasn't much better when I ended. Several of the parking lots at Zorinsky had no cars in them, and that NEVER happens. And I was out there for over three hours. Let me tell you who I saw: one cyclist, two runners, and the guys repairing the bridges. I passed the guys three times, and I know they were wondering who the crazy lady was who kept walking in circles over and over again. In bad weather. That would be me.

This is a lie. There was no sun. All morning long.

My other days of exercise were only three miles; I felt a little guilty about so few miles this week. And I felt a little anxious on the days I didn't run - who would have thought I'd miss it? My long run this week was scheduled to be 8 miles. I was going to do it tomorrow morning, but the forecast is for storms, with rain and hail. I can handle the rain, but I'm not a fan of storms - or hail. So I did it today, and it was the best long run/walk EVER!!!!! I think my body was just flooded with endorphins! I wasn't pooped at the end; I could have gone around again. I wore thicker, warmer socks today and it hardly bothered me that they gave me a big blister on the bottom of my left foot. (I had this whole thing figured out. Why do I keep changing parameters? Seriously.) I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in ages about 0.2 miles from the end of the walk - I don't know how she recognized me, but I think she may have regretted stopping me.  As I said, I was in such a good mood that after we caught up on the husbands and kids, I kept jabbering about the Des Moines Half and how she should sign up for the Lincoln Half next spring and we could do it together and we could do our long runs on Saturdays and wouldn't that be fun and I'm thinking I'll do the Galloway run-walk method and ..... You get the idea. Poor Mindy; I'm sure she was thinking "Please don't call or email. Do not follow up on this". But outwardly she just smiled and nodded. Shut up Cathy.

My training for next week is just two two-milers. I'm planning on doing three, each two miles, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And then what? Oh - have I mentioned that I'm doing the Des Moines Half?! Race numbers have been assigned, and just call me #2440. Jeanie and Tom are driving over from Chicago, and while Jeanie and I are competing, the guys will I'm sure be having a wonderful breakfast somewhere, after seeing us off and stopping a few points along the route to cheer us on. I am looking forward to uninterrupted time with my sister!

 I don't have much in the food department. How many pictures of candy corn do you want? I figure I have one more week of burning an insane number of calories without gaining weight, so I have been taking advantage of it. One recipe I did invent (by seeing what we had in the fridge) that I love is an egg scramble involving mushrooms sauteed in about a teaspoon of coconut oil, 1/2 cup cooked quinoa, two eggs, and an ounce of goat cheese. Top the whole thing with some salsa and it's a meal that took maybe five minutes to make. It kept me full for hours! I've made this twice for lunch in the past week, and will make it again.

I did make Joy Bauer's buffalo chicken chili last week. It was particularly cold and fall-like one day, and it just seemed like chili weather. I've made the recipe before, and remembered that we liked it. And we did again. Just look at how many veggies are in this thing:

 The serving size is HUGE - 1 3/4 cup. That was even a little too big for dinner, and one cup was certainly fine for lunch. I served it with the recommended blue cheese sauce: equal parts nonfat plain Greek yogurt and blue cheese crumbles.

This will be a fun weekend - after stopping to have lunch with Emily in Des Moines, we're headed to Knoxville tomorrow to see Erin and Tim and to meet his parents, Erin's in-laws-to-be. She loves them and knows we will too; after all, there is a certain affinity for wine that we share! (Plus, they raised such a good child that I know they will be wonderful).

Everyone have a good weekend!
#2440