Heather Daniel: Run with It

Since joining the local running club I’ve made it my mission to show up for their track practice every Tuesday night (I’ve done 3 or 4 so far). Speed work and I have a love/hate relationship. I hate to run it, but enjoy it immensely once it’s over.

The one hitch with track practice is the time commitment. I go straight to practice after work, I warm up, run the workout, chatter with friends afterwards, and then walk the 30-odd blocks back to my house, where invariably I have nothing to eat, and then must locate enough energy to walk to the store, decide what to eat and then ingest it. Frankly, it takes a lot of time. Last night I didn’t get home until 8:30 – way past my traditional dinnertime. I had run somewhere around 7.5 or 8 miles and knew I needed SOMETHING in my belly. Something turned out to be sliced watermelon, water, tea, a handful of almonds, and spoonful of almond butter. Balanced? Not so much. But I was too tired to care.

This morning it was beautifully blue outside so I couldn’t pass on a 5-miler before work. Track and the pre-work run on an empty stomach could only mean one thing: I needed to eat a Breakfast of Unusual Size (B.o.U.S)

So, today I’ve eaten: A handful of almonds on the way to work. Then I got the day started right with a salad, but not just any salad. A Super Breakfast Salad topped with watermelon, filberts, nearly a third of a pound of sliced turkey, drizzled with walnut oil, accented with mustard and pepper and accompanied by dried apples, a handful of almonds, another handful of filberts, 2 glasses of water and a cup of coffee. Later I polished off the remaining turkey and ate about a cup of sliced watermelon.

Forget Wheaties, this is the breakfast of champions

Update: It’s now 12:15 and that can only mean one thing: Lunch!