Baby Shower and Long Run With The Running Nazi

Saturday morning I got up extremely early to run 10 miles with the Running Nazi.  I haven't seen her in over two weeks, which means I haven't done a long run in over two weeks.  Easter weekend and the trip to the beach temporarily screwed up my running schedule.  I'm not even going to discuss my biking and swim training.  Right now it's more like "what swim training?"  I bike on the exercise bike at the gym about 4 times a week.  Does that count as bike training?  The Running Nazi even missed her long run on Easter which is very unusual for her.  I hope I'm not a bad influence for her.

The plan was to run 10 miles on Saturday and then 12 to 13 on Sunday.  In between, we went to a baby shower for M one of our fellow running friends.  Her son and daughter in law are expecting a baby boy.  It's M's first grandchild.  I loved the colors they are using, blue and brown.  It was a total coincidence that I got a gift bag in that color combination.  I am really in tuned to color combos these days with all the wedding planning I have been doing.

About to leave for the shower.  The Murph likes the angled shots.
See Cadence behind me - My furry four-legged shadow.

I made the 10 miler on Saturday, but my knee was hurting and felt bruised so I had to pass on the Sunday run.  I'm going to have to build back up slowly now.  I am so scared of getting injured and having to cut back or stop running.  I have never stopped running entirely so it takes a very long time for me to recover if I get injured.  I had achilles tendonitis on both feet for a year one time after I started training for my first marathon.  It was very painful, but I kept on running.  I never want to get that again.  I finally got slower, cut back on running mileage, started stretching more (downward dog yoga pose) and it eventually healed.

For the baby shower I bought a couple of baby board books, a stuffed animal and a swaddle blanket.  My favorite book to read to The Boy when he was little was "Goodnight Moon".  We read it every night.  He also liked "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".  I still have all his old books.

My favorite book to read to the Boy at night

The food was delicious at the shower.   My favorite was the chicken salad croissants, a really awesome assorted cheese tray with crackers and white chocolate covered strawberries.  I love really good cheeses and white chocolate not dark (dark chocolate is a migraine trigger for me).  I don't care how many calories cheese has it's a good source of calcium so I can eat it.  I just keep telling myself it's good for me.

I had my camera in my purse and would have taken pictures of food but I didn't know the hostesses of the party and I thought it might be a little rude if I whipped out the camera and started taking pictures. Besides they might not want to be blogged about.  The only people I knew at the shower was M and the Nazi and three other runners who are friends of M as well.  It's funny how the camera always comes with now just in case there's a good photo op.

Prosecco

I have been searching for a replacement drink for my usual margaritas.  I am trying to cut back on hard liquor.  A lot people I know stay away from tequila because they don't want to end up dancing on tables stripping their clothing off.  I never had this problem with tequila.  I handle it extremely well.  Really...  I do.  My other drink of choice when I'm not drinking a margarita is Riesling.  

Lately however, I have been drinking prosecco, an Italian sparkling white wine similar to champagne.   It is very light and works perfectly with cranberry and pomegranate juice.  I don't even miss the tequila. Last night the Murph and I met some friends at Satterfield's.  I decided to stick with a prosecco cocktail and got a drink called Strawberry Splash.  It had strawberries, balsamic, vanilla syrup, tarragon extract and prosecco.  Delicious!    My usual Satterfield cocktail is called The Royal Flirt and has vodka, fruit juice and prosecco.  It's not as sweet, but still very good.

I have cut back on alcohol and processed foods and snacks overall in an attempt to eat healthier.  We'll see how long it lasts.  At the grocery store today I told the Murph that I wasn't eating meat anymore.  He totally ignored me as he was picking out steaks and chicken and other dead animals in the meat department.  Then as I'm in mid sentence explaining why I've suddenly decided to become a vegetarian, he looks at me and says...

Murph:  "Are you ok on sandwich meats?"

Me:  "You're just totally not listening to me!"

Murph:  "No I'm not."  as he's tossing a big fat dead chicken in the cart

Me:  "I just said I'm not eating dead animals anymore."

Murph:  "We'll see how long that lasts." followed by a snort and some more bloody meat in the cart

The problem is he's right.  Becoming a vegetarian and not eating meat is about as tough as following a gluten free diet.  I tried gluten free once when the Boy had just been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.  I read a book on gluten free diets for children with Austism or Aspergers and became inspired.  I spent a small fortune on "gluten free" items at the grocery store that ended up tasting like cardboard.  The Boy ate most of it without complaining too much and I tried to eat it because I felt if he had to go gluten free than I should too.  We went gluten free for less than a month before I broke down and ordered a pizza.  It's just tough. And I'm weak when it comes to food.  I ended up buying drinkable yogurt and giving the Boy one every day.  That seemed to help most of his stomach issues.  We didn't have to go lactose free.  Thank god for that.

As far as not eating meat, I've done pretty good so far.  Last night for dinner I had a cheese tray with some apple slices and bread at Satterfields.   No meat.  Today I had cereal for breakfast and for lunch the Murph "saved" me from eating meat by stealing the Arby's beef and cheddar sandwich that I had tucked away in the fridge.  He apologized and said he thought it was his sandwich.  All he left for me were the soggy curly fries.