Truth be told…this morning, I just wasn’t that into running.
The alarm went off signaling that the BOY and I should become awake, and Cooper who has learned this sound, took the opportunity to raise his own alarm from the other side of our bedroom door. I let him in for a 7 minute snooze/cuddle before he began demanding his breakfast. The boy (kitten…there are two in the house now, so I am out numbered) is cute, but recently he has had a lot to say (when he is not getting himself into trouble…then he is rather quiet).
It was already 70 degrees and although I had a short 5 mile run scheduled, I just wasn’t feeling it. I ate some breakfast, read some emails, considered if I should go run indoors on the track instead of in the heat outside, read a few blogs (I still have a ton to catch up on after my weekend away), and finally climbed the stairs to change for my run.
Surprisingly, the weather was not too bad and I found a nice breeze on the way back. I decided to let my body pick the pace and not worry at all about time. My miles hovered right around 9:20 for the first 4 with a slower (9:37) last mile back to my house. My legs were tired throughout, so I figured that’s not too bad. I’d be thrilled to crank out some 9:20 miles during the last 5 miles of the race on marathon day.
Mostly this week, I am feeling tired. I have taken naps the past few weekends and although I sleep 8-9 hours a night, my body just wants more sleep. I had forgotten just how much sleep your body needs to log in long miles week after week. It brought me back to this fun post I wrote while training for my first marathon, titled Lessons Learned in Marathon Training. If you haven’t read it, you should definitely check it out my training words of wisdom : )
In honor of training season, I picked up some dark chocolate almond milk at the grocery store this weekend. There is some research to support that chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks out there and I just find it to be tasty and refreshing. The perfect treat during these tough, high mileage weeks.
After this morning’s run, I decided to turn my chocolate milk into a smoothie. I had tons of good ideas, but my problem was that Cooper kept photo bombing my smoothie photo!
I wanted to add some spinach for the extra greens and nutrients and kept my smoothie pretty simple. You could definitely add in flax, chia seeds, or some nut butter for more protein.
Or fresh berries and more ice cubes. This smoothie was the tastiest thing EVER. I love me some dark chocolate almond milk and can’t wait to create more smoothie combinations!
Chocolate Covered Berry
Green Purple Smoothie
Ingredients
1 cup chocolate milk of your choice (I used almond milk)
1 large handful of spinach
1 cup frozen mixed berries
4-6 ice cubes
Directions
Combine milk and spinach in blender and chop.
Add in mixed berries and ice cubes.
Blend on high until smooth.
Do you drink chocolate milk?
Luv What You Do 
I haven’t tried it. I always buy original almond milk. But my son is dying to try it. I was going to buy it but it was about to expire. i’ll be sure to pick it up next time I go to buy groceries, I will also try your smoothie. thanks.
This is my first time trying it and it’s really good! I like that it’s not too sweet. I think it would also make a great almond butter and banana smoothie. That might be up next! Thanks for the comment!
Way to get that run in! I know how that goes. Whenever I’m done, I think “what was the big deal? That was amazing!” I try to remember that feeling the next time I have no motivation. It works… Sometimes 🙂 You cranked out some speedy miles to well worth getting out of bed. Awesome job!
Thank you! I too try to remember the post run feeling when I don’t want to run. It works for me too, sometimes : ) I think I just wanted to sleep. Another few hours and I would have been happy to be out pounding the pavement!
Cooper is a real camera hog isn’t he. It’s fun to have something with personality to have around . Our monster crate-destroying goof-ball dog is a riot to hang out with. Virtually ANYTHING can become a toy to his little doggie brain.
I ran early this am (6ish) and really enjoyed the breeze especially since it was already 75! Good for you in pushing on!
Cooper is a hoot AND a ham with the camera! I love him but was less than pleased to come home to see that whatever he made his toy while I was at work caused some bent blinds and a huge mess on the counter. Ahh!
Are you training for any races this fall?
Yes I use chocolate milk as my recovery drink!! Plus it tastes AMAZING!! Love it!!
For sure! This was a great excuse to buy the dark chocolate almond milk I’ve been eyeing : )
Sometimes it’s all about getting in the miles, regardless of how unmotivated… good work for getting out there 🙂 LOVE chocolate milk post workout! We went through many gallons during IM training!
Thanks Erin! Tonight I decided to drink wine instead of going to bed early. Maybe not the best decision but a happy one! The miles will get done no matter what!!!
That milk sounds really good. Do they have it in milk chocolate instead of dark? I am not a big lover of dark chocolate stuff. I would love to try it though. I have heard the same thing about it being good for recovery!
I don’t think it tastes that dark so give it a try! But they may have it in regular chocolate. It’s delish!!!