Lemons

Yup, thats the motto of my day.  Lemons.

After a crazy night of tooth pain that involved hydrocodone, amoxocillin, salt water, foam rollers, dental floss and pink blood (yup, all those were part of the game).....we woke up rather sluggish this morning.  In the spirit of full disclosure, the pain was my hubby's, but by extension of yelling, screaming writhing on the floor proximity (him, not me), I was included in on the party.  He contends that people on the internet verify that this pre-root canal pain is worse than natural childbirth.  While I feel extreme sympathy for my other half,  I somehow doubt this factoid and between bouts I did assure him if he pulled this one out of his you know where when I was 10 centimeters dialated in the delivery room, I would give him a solid neutering pre-baby.  Seriously.

Anyways....a good solid cup o joe  (or 2) woke me up, and I set about prepping my pre-long run brekkie-17 miles on the agenda today= time for some banana oats!!  I know they might be a bit fibrous for some, but Ive found that a nice bowl of oat bran with chopped naners, cinnamon, almonds and a bit of maple syrup sit really well for long, slow runs.
Here's what you need for success:

 Serves one: Oat Bran (1/2 c.), cinnamon (healthy shake!), banana (slightly overripe for sweetness), almond (6-7, crushed...I have a nut grinder, but you can always resort to the baggie/rolling pin method), swirl of maple syrup.






First, you want to scoop out your oats
and cinnamon, shake them into a pot,
and fill with 2 cups water (or so...less if you like thicker oats).
Set the stove to medium high.
Chop up your naner and throw it in the pot.    

Let the oats simmer for a good 5-7 minutes,
stirring every once in awhile.

Ad the chopped nuts to the top, and swirl on some syrup :-)


                         


Mange!!  Oh holy yum, these oats were good.
Fortified and ready to run, I charged up my ipod and then had the nerve to check out the weather.  Um....9 degrees with a windchill of negative 10?  Thats not good!!  I decided on the spot to do the run (again) in loops, and to be content with either a 17 miler (on my plan), 13 miler (next weeks long run), 10 miler (Monday tempo) or the good ole run another day and spend some time on the saddle (biking!)
I stepped outside into the frozen world, and immediatly wanted to turn back...but I'm a tough cookie, so I kept on!  The run was a total lemon....but when life hands you lemons...make lemonade!!  After 5 miles, I know this would be a tempo run because...A) I was going way too fast to last for 17 miles (too friggin cold to stop!) B) My water bottle, 45 minutes earlier filled with boiling water, was now over half ice, and C) My bra froze.  Not cool!!   However, I finished the run strong, nailing my tempo pace, and ran inside for some hot herbal tea and a shower :-)

Lesson learned.  Follow your plan when possible, tweak it when you need to.
Workout:
10 miles, tempo
Time: 1:27:44
Pace: 8:46

Or maybe I missed the ball entirely and should have had chinese for breakfast.

 Lemon chicken, perhaps? :-)