So I have a bunch of updates for you, so please pardon the randomness of this post!
First up – RUNNING! Last Friday I ran 12 miles (longest run yet) by myself! My time was 2 hours and 12 minutes. I felt great about the accomplishment! However, Saturday I noticed the top of my left foot was not feeling too hot (the ligament that bends my big toe). Then Saturday I had to work 10 hours on the busiest night of the year at the steakhouse – was on my feet hustling the entire time. Sunday I also had to work, luckily, it was a slow night and less running around was required. Finally Monday I could rest my foot! The discomfort went down considerably. Although my foot is not in “pain,” I can tell that there is still some discomfort going on with my foot. So this week I’m crossing training!
I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in several weeks (I run outside). It was SO BORING! I never thought I’d prefer running outside in all types of weather over the comfort of the gym! Anyways, I tried out the elliptical and the bike to see what worked best for my foot. I found the bike was more comfortable (this surprised me because pre-running-Dana ONLY did the elliptical) and it felt more like running to me. It was a very light workout. My foot doesn’t feel any worse or any better from cross training. So I’m taking that as a green light for biking my miles in this week. I am hoping to be able to run next week…
The other curveball to my training – I’ve been under the weather since Tuesday. Yuck! My energy level has been quite low and I’ve been coughing and such. But I’m fighting back with devouring Ricolas all day, having the humidifier going, and Colby by my side for moral support.
I also fell short of eating healthy last night when I chose one of my favorite foods for dinner…

My darling boyfriend prepared my spaghettios just the way I like them. Still in the can, unheated. Delicious! Don’t judge.
On a completely different note (hey, I warned you this was going to be a random post!)… my friend Zeneda sent me this recipe because she knows I love trying out quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”) recipes. I hadn’t had much luck with finding a quinoa recipe that I liked that was sweeter in taste/included fruit… but since it had been a while since I had tried a new one, so I decided to give it a shot! I ended up changing a few of the ingredients…
Here’s what I used (measurements stayed the same, unless specified on here):
Almond milk (instead of regular milk)
OJ (instead of apple juice)
NO raisons
Small handfull Craisins
One single serving container of fage (instead of yogurt)
10 Finely chopped almonds
Quinoa
A dash or two Cinnamon
3/4 slices of Frozen Peaches that I thawed out in the microwave
Sprinkling of Blueberry flaxseed (it was in the pantry)
Boil the milk and OJ. Cook the quinoa in it. Add the cinnamin. Add the craisins to plump them up for a few. Stack quinoa first, then fage, then peaches, then almond/flax crumbles. As you can see.. I’m a very technical chef.
Side note -I sure wish there was a font for sarcasm!
When I was finished making it – it looked like a fancy schmancy parfait!

It tasted… well.. ok… ish. I guess the grainy nature of the quinoa in conjunction with the sweetness of the peaches tasted a little odd. Overall, I think I just prefer quinoa to be served with veggies and meat.
If I were to try this kind of recipe again… I’d proportion it differently so that it was 50% fruit (next time I’d try blueberries since they have such a strong flavor), 30% quinoa, 20% yogurt (I’d go with vanilla yogurt to add some sweetness)… But at least it looked good!
I just finished reading The Kite Runner – I can’t wait to do a review!
Happy Thursday! My question to you – Have any of you ever dealt with a setback during training for a race? If so, what did you do to cross train? And how did you bounce back?