Ok, so no one said running was easy, or pretty. Sometimes the things you have to deal with are down right disgusting. Blisters anyone? Bleeding nipples? <– Ok, I’ve only had a couple of my guy friends experience this horrible issue, but it is one of the more disheartening aspects of this sport) Being hit by a snot rocket during a run? (um, yeah – that totally happened to me last spring!) There are lots of things that are not pretty and you just sort of grin and bear it.

The last couple of days I have been dealing with one of these ‘issues’ and since this is a blog where I discuss running, training and so on, I figured why not put it out there? So – a few weeks ago (maybe a month ago..?) I stubbed my toe very badly. I was lucky not to break it (looking on the bright side) and the last time I went for my monthly pedicure, we noticed that the nail had a crack in it. So I decided to put nail polish over the nail and hope things would just stay put. This totally worked for weeks until Sunday. After my seven mile run, something happened and I totally almost lost the nail, sort of. I freaked out. I used a band aid to put everything back in place, and yesterday I used NAIL GLUE to glue the broken part back to where it was. Then tonight I put clear nail polish over it to secure it again. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this works.

Tonight I ran four miles and only put a band aid over my big toe while I ran. I felt fine. I am hoping that by drinking milk (??? where do I get these ideas???) my nails will be strong and grow quickly… Seriously? These are the things that stress me out. Along with avoiding another case of runners knee and shin splints. Yikes. As one of my fellow running friends said to me a few weeks ago when we were both dealing with yet another issue, “Runners are special. Runners are not normal people.” I have to agree.

Fellow runners out there -if you have any suggestions on this issue, please feel free to email me or leave a comment. Do you think this method will work??

Anyhow. Back to more nitty gritty details of training.

On Sunday night I stayed up very late watching football. Of course I was thrilled by the Patriots win and I am very excited that we are going back to the Super Bowl. I was heart broken when the 49ers lost. That’s all I am going to say. (Oh, and I ♥ Jim Harbaugh) That’s all.

On Monday, I was exhausted. Most likely from staying up way too late and then not being able to go right to sleep after the excitement and heartbreak. So, I was tired. There was a breakfast meeting at work which meant that there were a lot of snacks around the entire building. Everywhere I went there were things to snack on.

Point being – is it just me, or do you find that when you are exhausted you snack more? I find that I snack more, and because I am exhausted it is a lot harder for me to think about what I am eating and make healthy choices. I want sugar when I am tired, I guess. So I had three munchkins in the morning and later in the day two brownies. Thankfully the brownies were cut into small pieces – which is why I had two 🙂

So, Monday was a bit of a disaster in the eating department – but I decided not to stress about it and just start over on Tuesday. To really drive this point home, I had a hamburger and a few french fries for dinner on Monday night. A real hamburger. Not a turkey burger. Not a veggie burger. Seriously.

Monday night was kind of fun and relaxing for me. I decided to take the night off from EVERYTHING. No training (thankfully I had the seven miles under my belt from Sunday!) No cooking. No cleaning. No chores. Nothing on the agenda. I watched part of a movie, and I read my book. I also spent time on the phone with friends and family, which was very nice.

After having a day off from pretty much everything yesterday, Tuesday was a day to get back on the wagon! I woke up closer to my normal early time. I try to wake up at 5:30 every day. Today I did actually get up at 5:40 which I felt was an accomplishment. I was out the door by 6:20 and I was at my desk at work by 7:20AM. An earlier start to my work day means an earlier start to the rest of my day (training, etc.) so this was a good thing.

Breakfast was at 9:20 this morning. A Luna bar:

(It just happened to be my birthday bar from the Luna Bar company that I had this morning! It was lovely!)

I had a lunch meeting this afternoon and sandwiches, chips and cookies were provided. Exciting. I had half of a turkey sandwich (I removed the cheese and wished there was lettuce and tomato on it!) and half of a fresh tomato, mozzarella and basil sandwich – this is my favorite sandwich of all time at work. I had a cookie and a few reduced fat potato chips. Along with lots of water. (I drank a lot of water today to make up for my unhealthy eating yesterday)

After the meeting I went for a quick walk with a colleague because it was nearly SIXTY degrees and sunny today. We could not stay inside all day long. It was a wonderful walk. (Although once again – Climate Change is freaking me out.)

After work I drove right to the gym. I ran 4.2 miles and then left. I should maybe have done weights, or something else – but from the moment I walked into the gym I had just wanted to leave. But I am really glad that I forced myself to exercise 🙂 As one of my friends always says, “You never regret a workout!” I agree.

Once I was finished with the treadmill, I walked over to East Side Market to pick up some healthy food! I figured if I stocked the fridge it would be easier to stick with the plan. I spent $39 total and walked out with enough stuff to last me the rest of the week, I think.

6 Greek yogurts (they were on sale!)

3 apples

1 red pepper

2 tomatoes

1 bag of mixed greens

1 package of Dr Praeger’s veggie burgers

Arnold’s sandwich thins

2 Amy’s light and lean meals (I’m not usually a fan of these things, but I like to get them when they are on sale for the end of the week when I lose my energy to prep lunches)

2 Olga’s pizza shells. (Yum!! Homemade pizza tomorrow night?)

For dinner I had the second to last serving of the turkey chili. I garnished it with Cabot cheese, low fat sour cream, cilantro, and green onions. It was really great and the garnishes made it taste really fresh:

I just love green onions and cilantro!! They are two of my favorite garnishes. One thing that I liked about having turkey chili over the last couple of days is that I was able to use all of the same toppings from the black bean soup. I did not have to buy any new garnishes for the chili. Yay for saving money, I guess!

Ok, I am now paying attention to the State of the Union, so I’m going to wrap things up. On to bigger and better things tomorrow. Hope you are all having a great week so far! See you tomorrow.