One More Day to Go

     It's almost here! The Georgia Publix Half Marathon (formally known as the Georgia ING Half Marathon) is this Sunday. This will be my third half and my second time running this particular half. 

     The Expo was held in the same place as last years: the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta. When I got there I experienced an acute feeling of deja vu. It felt like it was just yesterday I was at the Expo last year, picking up my packet, so nervous because it was going to be my first race, and it was all so new. 

 I came out in my full "lifestyle advertising" get up: Vibram Five Fingers, "Go Fruit Yourself" 30 Bananas a Day T-shirt, and my Tree of Life Pendant. Yup, I was a walking stereotype. . . hehe. =P

   Things weren't exactly the same though this time. Since Publix is now the primary sponsor of the race since ING stepped down, the color scheme, the layout, and some of the booths were different this year. One of the changes I liked best, was the addition of a fruit stand. While their selection was very basic (apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemon, and limes) it's a step in the right direction. =)

     The Expo also had added a booth to sell Vibram Five Fingers. Go Vibrams! Unfortunately, it was the one thing I forgot to take picture of (bad Amanda! LOL).

    In order to be reduce stress and get as much sleep as possible the night before the race, my race day cheerleader/photographer mom and I will be staying at a Holiday Inn that is right next to the starting line in Centennial Olympic Park. Last year I had to wake up at 4am to get to the race in plenty of time, not something I want to do again. I'm hoping that decrease in stress and increase in sleeping hours will improve my overall running performance so I can set a new PR.

     Stay tuned!

Spring is Coming, Spring is Coming!

     Today was my first day back from Spring Break, and what a beautiful day it was indeed. Classes kept me indoors for the first half of the day. However, this afternoon I was able to go for a short 4 mile trail run at Turner Lake Park. Turner Lake is probably my most favorite place to run because it's only 5 minutes away from my house, and the only other trail runs are 30+ minutes away. Today was perfect running weather: 72 degrees, a slight breeze, clear skies, and trails bursting with fresh spring flowers and greenery!

   Turner Lake's trails are a perfect place to work on increasing my running speed, strength, and endurance.  Today I chose to hilly route and aimed "power through" the hills, pushing to go as fast as I can up them, instead of slowing down (which is what my legs and lungs wanted me to do, but I told them no and kept going. LOL),

   After I got home and took a shower I had just enough time to grab a dozen dates before accompanying my mom to the grocery store. I had promised her that I was going to make her a special raw vegan dinner, and we were out of a couple ingredients that I needed. When we got back my mom was famished, so I quickly set to work on preparing some Jicama Nori Rolls.

   This delicious meal is salt free and 100% raw vegan, and best of all, my mom adored it! It's hard for me to come up with savory raw dishes that she likes, mostly because her taste and mine are so different. I was just so happy that I was able to concoct a recipe that was tasty, healthy, satisfying, and raw.

My mom is camera shy when it comes to putting her face on the internet.

 However she did allow me take a photo of her chopsticks, 

getting ready to tuck into her meal.

   This recipe will be featured in my our upcoming health & lifestyle/recipe book, as well as my LFRV recipe book. So stay tuned to find out the secret ingredients to my special Jicama pate! =)

   Now, once my mom was settled into her food, I wasted no time in whipping up a fruity green pudding smoothie.

Kiwi, Mango, and Spinach (a dinner that Popeye would love)

   The rest of my evening was filled with homework, returning emails, and working on my recipe book. It was only just a few moments ago that I realized how late it is; this time change had really thrown my internal body clock off. It's amazing what a difference just one our can make isn't it? Oh well, hopefully by the end of the week I'll be back "in tune" so to speak.

Training Log #3

Only six more days until my next race, the Georgia Publix Half Marathon! =D

I'm Playing the Field. . . of Dates

     I was going to wait until tonight to right up this post but I'm to excited, so I've got to share. About a week ago I ordered a 15 lb. pkg. of Organic Khadrawy, Halawy Honey, and Deglet Noor dates from the Bautista Family Organic Date Ranch in California. Today, the package arrived. The box was slightly damaged, but fortunately it may have affected how some of the dates looked, but it definitely didn't have any affect on how they tasted. OMG they are out of this world! Where have these dates been all my life? The only dates I've ever had before this were Deglet Noor and Medjool dates from Israel; man have I been missing out. I'm never buying any other dates from anyone but the Bautista Family from this day forward.

Deglet Noor

 Khadrawy

 Halawy

Honey

My mid-morning snack for today. Best ever!

This was on the package of dates. 

I love knowing that my dates are fresh, organic, and NOT irradiated.

     You too can treat yourself to some of these luscious dates at www.7hotdates.com! =D

Must have sleep!

     Hey guys! Sorry I didn't post last weekend, I was sick. Last week both my mom and brother were sick, and much to my dismay, they passed it onto me. I normally have a very strong immune system and don't get sick. However, with my training, homework, chores, and taking care of sick family members I wasn't getting nearly enough sleep. With my weakened immune system "the bug" was able to infiltrate my body, and it was NOT fun. It just goes to show you that you are only as strong as your weakness. This time my health weakness was sleep, and I payed for it. I was only sick for three days but that put me behind school, so I've been scrambling to catch up this week, leaving me little time for any sort of training let alone blogging. Thankfully today I have finally caught up on all my work and have started training again. 

     Just because I was out for the count last week doesn't mean that I wasn't able to snap some pictures here and there. The following pics cover my two week gap between posts. Enjoy!

Lunch from Whole Foods

     I've read articles from professionals who say that eating too much fruit is bad for you because it can cause high blood pressure. I found this highly unlikely. Fruit is an unrefined sugar (carb) that our bodies were designed to easily assimilate. Still, I decided to see for myself using the blood pressure machine at a   local pharmacy.

Blood pressure 30 min. after a 2 hr. workout (5 hours since last fruit meal)

Blood pressure 10 min. after an 8 banana & 6 date smoothie.

As you can see, there isn't a very significant difference. Fruit rocks!

When I was sick my mom made this lovely Get Well Strawberry Banana "Ice Cream"

     My latest fruit bounty:

Honeydew

40 lbs. of Organic Bananas

 Nothing is as beautiful as a fruit filled refrigerator!

 Fuyu Persimmons

Chocolate Sapote, Pineapple, & Spinach

Watermelon & Mangos

 Tangerines, Strawberries, & Blueberries

Heirloom Tomatoes

     Not pictured was 2more boxes of Mango, 2 more packages of Persimmons, and a liter of fresh Coconut Water. I hit the fruit jackpot for sure this time around!

 Training Update: 2/6 - 2/20

Peace!

Training Log #1

Yummy Eats and Bikila Vibrams

     Hello my lovely readers! I'm so glad that I finally have some time to post. January was crazy! Trying to get my computer fixed, trying to get my refrigerator fixed, homework, training, working on my book, and finding time to spend with my family. . . yeah that's a lot to juggle. LOL. Somehow though, by the end of the month, everything that needed to get done was done, so I'm happy. So what's new with me? Well let's see. . .

     I've been really enjoying a wide variety of fruit, as always. This month alone I've gotten to have Mangos, Papaya, Chocolate Sapote, Ice Cream (Blue Java) Bananas, Cavendish Bananas, Persimmons, Pineapple, Heirloom Tomatoes, Blood Oranges, Clementines, Medjool dates, Pomegranates, Honeycrisp Apples, Strawberries, and Engilsh Cucumber. This of course meant that I had to spend time with my beloved Vitmamix to create colossal amount of smoothies.

Bananas, Strawberries, & Cherries

A Berry Blast!

Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Banana

Papaya, Banana, and Mango

Pineapple, Mango, Blood Oranges, & Spinach

My mom has been enjoying a lot of fruit as well. 

This was her breakfast a couple days ago. 

It looked so pretty that I had to take a picture to show you guys.

     Since this year I plan on doing a lot of running, and I'm already starting to wear out my Vibrams, I thought it best to invest in another pair of Vibrams exclusively for when I run. So I forked out the dough and bought the new and improved running Vibram, the Bikila! Now I'm not usually one to wear pink, in fact I don't own a single item that is pink, until now that is. I went for these hot shoes is because I want these babies to get noticed. If people see people will ask, and if people ask they might just go get a pair themselves. I am determined to raise awareness about the benefits of going barefoot. . . well almost barefoot anyway. =)

     I aslo decided that if I was going to be running these races for all to see, that I should raise awareness about the benefits of a raw plant based lifestyle. Having recently becoming a member of Organic Athletes, I purchased this running shirt to wear on my race days.

                            Front                                                                             Back

      As to recording my training, I've decided to not post my workouts daily. I want to remain consistent in updating you guys on my progress, so every Saturday evening I'll be doing a special post to list all my workouts for the week. This way I can still post about my fruit and adventures whenever I have time. However, when I don't have the time, I can at least be confident that my training posts will be posted consistently. And during the days before my Saturday post, you guys are more then welcome to hop onto daily mile. It's an online site where you can log in your running, cycling, and swimming mileage. My profile is here: http://www.dailymile.com/people/AmandaJ_B#ref=tophd.

      Until next time,
Run fast and eat fruit!