I spent the entire day (literally until 4pm) thinking that yesterday was Thursday. Can you imagine how heart broken I was when I [finally] realized that it was only Wednesday?? Two more days until the weekend. Not one.  Obviously I was quite mixed up yesterday. But still, I made the best of it…

Breakfast yesterday was yet another smoothie. Greek yogurt, banana, blueberries, protein powder, PB2, chia & flax seeds, ice and water. You know the drill by now. I cannot say enough about how amazing these smoothies are for breakfast. On most days they provide me with about 20 grams of protein, and they last me from 7 in the morning until 12 noon [aka lunch time]. Consuming enough protein is always a struggle for me since I do not eat meat all that often, so getting a start on my day with a bit of Greek yogurt and some extra protein powder does help. I should be consuming at least 60 grams of protein a day. On most days I do not even come close.

I switched it up a bit for lunch yesterday – mostly because when I got home from work and a post-work dinner, it was 10:30 at night and I just did not have the energy to start chopping up a salad. So I opted to bring Ratatouille and whole wheat pasta instead. I love having healthy dishes that are already prepared (thanks to my long day of Sunday prep – it is still paying off!) It makes the goal of healthy eating so much more obtainable – at least for me.

I do not know about you, but I cannot eat the same thing day in and out for lunch. I usually switch up the salad for something else at least once a week – but usually it is on Friday when I am either out of fresh produce or out of energy to prepare something… the ratatouille was a great option for Wednesday’s lunch:

30 minutes of my lunch time was spent with my friend Nichole. We talked about running most of the time. Our schedules for running, our diets and our upcoming goals. Nichole is training for the Philadelphia Marathon which is in November and she is also running the Amica Newport Half Marathon in October, which is what I am currently training for.  Just thinking about the upcoming half marathon is enough to make me nervous…

For lunch Nichole had a tuna sandwich on a whole wheat sandwich thin with some beautiful lettuce, and pickles on the side. It looked like a fantastic meal:

I am pretty sure that Nichole’s meal had a lot more protein than mine. 😦 But later in the afternoon I did have a container of Greek yogurt for an added 15 grams of protein to my daily total.

During our lunch we discussed Nancy Clark’s Food Guide For Marathoners .  Nichole and I both love this book. I picked it up at the Boston Marathon Expo this year along with another one of Nancy’s book. I had been meaning to get her books after years of my friend Caroline telling me what an amazing sports nutritionist her aunt was. Caroline was definitely correct – I am loving both of the books that I have and I am finding them very helpful when it comes to tailoring my means and nutrition needs especially on days when I have a long run scheduled.

I was feeling a little run down and [slightly] grumpy by the end of the day. I am sure it had a lot to do with the fact that I had been thinking it was Thursday the entire day. I also knew that I had a very long day coming up at work, so I was a bit apprehensive. However, I made it to the gym… once I was in the gym parking lot I [seriously] stayed in the car for ten minutes and just closed my eyes. A power / cat nap in the car??? So weird. But it worked. I ended up having a wonderful 35 minute training session with my trainer and then I did another 35 minutes on the elliptical to fulfill my “strength and cross training” requirement in my half marathon training program.

It had been a long day, but it ended on a great note. My mom is finally home from her annual summer trip to the South and she brought along Gail and Tim – two of our oldest and dearest friends (well, they are basically family).  They called at 8 o’clock last night to let me know that they had not stopped for dinner – instead they had a late ice cream on the road in New York. So, I did what any proper hostess would do – I called and ordered pizza. What a welcome home dinner! But do not worry – I made up for it on Thursday night.

I hope you are all having a great week so far. See you soon!