Good morning! How are you guys doing? I hope your weekend is off to a good start!
My weekend began with the final long run of my half marathon training plan. I initially had 12 miles on the agenda for today, but decided to scale today’s run back to 9 miles.
After reviewing my half marathon training plans from my previous four half marathons earlier this week, I realized I generally dropped my mileage a little bit during the week before the race. The week before the Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon I ran 8 miles and achieved my personal record on race day, so hopefully adopting a similar strategy this time will be beneficial. The good news is that I finished my 9 mile run feeling strong. I think I needed that emotional boost!
I planned for my running route to end at the gym where Ryan was working out so I could run around a new area and catch a ride home with him. Before making our way back home, we headed into Publix because I needed a few things for a crock pot dinner I have planned for tonight. I also bought a box of Wheat Thins that were on sale and dug into them in the car on the drive back to our house.
Clearly my body wanted the salty carbs because my hand kept going back for more. The Wheat Thins called to me!
I knew I needed to get some protein into my body as well and made myself a smoothie right when we walked through the door.
This smoothie included a scoop of chocolate protein powder, cocoa powder, 1.5 frozen bananas, two spoonfuls of peanut butter, almond milk and fresh spinach.
Paired with a handful of yogurt-covered almonds!
Now it’s time to do some food prep for tonight’s crock pot dinner! 
I’m using a new-to-me spice in tonight’s meal and can’t wait to try it out.
See ya later!
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That’s an Indian food spice, isn’t it?
Yes! On the back of the spice it says that it “delivers warm, exotic flavors essential to traditional Indian cooking.”
I love Indian food, especially Chicken Tikka Masala, but I have never made it at home. I do enjoy Amy’s Organic Indian meals for lunch sometimes. They have great flavor and are pretty low in calories. Can’t wait to see what you’re making tonight! By they way, the recipe for Garam Masala has cumin, coriander, cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in it. Spicy!
I love wheat thins, they remind me of my childhood! I would always dip them in garlic herb cheese spread.
i actually hated them as a child which is the weirdest thing. i re-discovered them in college!
Your smoothie looks delicious! I’ve been craving them lately which is weird for this time of year, but in Wisconsin it’s in the 40’s today so looks like a smoothie will be made in my future! 🙂
Sticking with what works for you is definitely the best idea. Wheat thins are my obsession!
Nice job on the run! I haven’t had Wheat Thins in forever — they remind me of being a kid. I no doubt can finish a box of those in one day, delish!
I’ve been considering signing up for a half-marathon in April. I’ve never ran one before so I’m kind of intimidated, but I know I just need to sign up! Your smoothie sounds delicious too 🙂
Your long runs have been so strong! Hope you have a great race!!!
I have never cooked with Indian spices before. I really want to try and make some Indian food for my family, I think it would be a really fun change!
Good luck on your half marathon! I think that is AWESOME!!! 🙂
Oh great, now I really want some yogurt covered almonds. Those look mouth watering.
Good job on your long run! I’m supposed to do 13 miles tomorrow, but with this gross weather in central alabama, I’m not too sure yet!
Can’t wait to see your crockpot turnout! Yum!
Congrats on your last long run! That smoothie looks amazing. Enjoy your weekend!
Can’t wait for the crockpot recipe! I know it will be a good one. And yay for the strong run!!!
Awesome run time! Good luck with your half!
ohh!! i hope you’ll be sharing your recipe 🙂
if it turns out well, i definitely will! it’s already smelling great!
great!! it’s pretty hard for something to NOT come out amazing from the crock pot, so i’m excited to hopefully get a new recipe!
wow what a full morning, but a great and refreshing one I bet. And great job on the 9 miles! I got tired just seeing the numbers on your Forerunner 🙂 And I love that garam masala! or just anything garam in general, hehe. Let me guess~are you making the African peanut stew?!
I used to eat wheat thins like it was my life! lol.. I havent ran 9 miles in a long time..Its so nice out today though so maybe ill go for a short and I mean short run 🙂
Can’t wait to see the crock pot recipe you are cooking up. All the ingredients look like they’ll make something yummy for sure!
Great run! Do you eat anything before you run in the morning? I can never decide. I’m always slightly hungry when I wake up, but if I eat too much I get a side stitch. Any tips?
Wow this post is making me HUNGRY. I see you’re starting the challenge 😉 Your last long run though!! So exciting, this half is right around the corner 🙂 Never heard of that spice… I need to eat more Indian food
I have such a serious relationship with wheat thins! Especially after a workout. They are perfect squares of salty, crunchy goodness….I love to dip them in hummus too:-)
I think the tapering was a good call!!
You train hard and have experience running this distance. My advice will be taking race day as one more training day and the most important part… Believe in yourself!!. If its humid and hot you will need extra mental strenght to finish strong!
Keep away of too much protein the night before and your hydration should increase all next week.
You are doing awesome!!
Those yogurt covered almonds look insanely delicious to me! Num! Great job on the run! It’s so nice to get that boost of confidence from a good run. You are goin to have a great time running the half!
Hi Julie! I’m running my first half in march. Did 6.5 miles today and it felt great. Not up to the super long runs yet, but they are very soon in my future. I was curious if you were doing any fueling during your run or if you are eating before your runs. For me this is the hardest part to figure out. At what mileage do you need to fuel during a run, and if you do first thing in the morning runs, do you need to eat before?
I can eat the heck out of some Wheat Thins too! That and Special K crackers. 🙂
I want to start running again and my ultimate goal is to run a half marathon. The farthest I have ever run is 5 miles when I was training for a half marathon a few years ago. I had to quit because I got a really painful stress fracture. It seems the biggest barrier for me is the soreness I get from running. I am curious as to what stretches you do before and/or after running. I’ve always struggled with stretching (or not stretching) and I know that it’s important. I would like to know what stretches, how many times, how long…i need details. Tell me what to do! 🙂 Hope you can write a post about this soon. I read your blog everyday and you are truely an inspiration for me. 🙂
Gahhh, every time a Southern blogger talks about Publix, I get sooo jealous. My brother and his wife live in Jacksonville, and they love Publix–and it is SO CHEAP compared to here up north. I always stock up on stuff whenever I visit!
I know what you mean! Love Publix when I visit Florida!
Wheat thins are the best! They actually are pretty filling too! I’m excited to see tonight’s crockpot recipe!
Mmmm… your smoothie made my tummy start rumbling. Looks delicious!
Hm, based on the ingredients, I’m intriuged!
Garam masala is amazing! Great addition to anything sort of Moroccan like a tagine or great in curries! Well done on the run, you must be getting excited now!!!
Great job on the run!! I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for the crock-pot. I was actually thinking of coming up with something for the crockpot too. Have a wonderful weekend!
Running question! For your half marathon trainings in the past, do you typically end up running 13 miles ever? Or what is the longest run before the actual race?
I’m in the process of picking a half for summer.:)
It’s so interesting to me all the different training strategies there are out there! I wish you luck!! 🙂 I loooove wheat thins. I had some yesterday with pesto. It was awesome. Can’t wait to see how the crockpot meal turns out. Have a great weekend!
Wheat Thins are so simple and delicious…I haven’t had them in ages, though! 🙁
I LOVE cooking with garam masala. It is used in a lot of Indian-inspired cooking and tastes absolutely delicious. I am sure that you will love it. I can’t wait to see what you are cooking up in your Crock Pot tonight! 🙂
Those yogurt-covered almonds are so addicting. I think the white shell is actually made of another white powdery substance that is not sugar hahaha
I’m sure you’ll be fine for the half marathon if you scale back! It’s amazing how much you can push through a long run just by adrenaline and the excitement of the race!
What’s for dinner?! Whatever it is it looks fab! Hope it come out yummy so we can get a recipe! 🙂 having beef stroganoff over here! New recipe hope it come out yummy too!
I always crave salty foods after a long run!
That smoothie sounds really good! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I always try to eat something healthy after a long workout, otherwise I know that I will go overboard later.
What thins are so addicting! I’m so glad you had such a great run!
Congrats on finishing your last long run! I have my first long run for my dc rock n roll half tomorrow and am on the fence about if I will enjoy it! 10 miles seems daunting after the week of work outs I have had!
My nutritionist today added smoothies into my diet. I might have to try that one out. It sounds tasty!
Cant wait to see how the recipe turns out!
Masala is very good with cumin and curry powder. =) I keep meaning to buy some myself, but I don’t see it in stores in my area so good luck experimenting! I love new spices.
That’s the good thing about being a vegan from Happy Herbivore, u learn all kinds of new spices, Garam Masala is great but one of my favorites is Ground Cumin! 🙂
I have never heard of that spice before! I am intrigued!
Ooo I love garam masala. I bought some a while back when I made tikka masala. Anything in a crockpot made with garam masala is bound to be good!
I look forward to the recipe!
The Kidless Kronicles
That smoothie looks SO good! 🙂
I’m starting training for my first 1/2 marathon and my last “long” run is 10 miles so I’m hoping that will prove to be a good distance while still giving me enough confidence to run 13 miles… 😉
I got in my last long run for Zooma today too. It felt great to finally get that last long run under my belt. I’m hoping the weather cools down by next weekend. It was a little too warm today for me.
That smoothie looks great – my post run recovery meal included chips and queso and shrimp tacos…not quite as healthy as a smoothie. ha!
Great run! 🙂
There’s sooo many different flavours of wheat thins these days, I love it!
I’ve seen quite a few recipes that used this spice, but never made any of them. Hope you let us know if you like it or not!