Today I have made:

- Edamame Guacamole (For tonight’s meal at my in-law’s.)

- 3 Grain Chewy Energy Bars (For myself.)

- Rhubarb Crisp (For my in-laws, as a thank you for letting me steal their rhubarb.)

- Whole Grain Glory Muffins (For a breakfast potluck tomorrow morning.)

It is fun taking close-up shots.

Workout

Craig and I ran 4 miles together this morning in 40 minutes. Craig had been running 3, so pushing himself to 4 took some encouragement from me, but he was determined and finished strong!

One of the tactics I used for him came from Dean Karnazes’ book 50/50 (50 marathons, in 50 states, in 50 consecutive days) that I’ve been reading–and love by the way! The section I read last night before bed talked about taking “baby steps”–breaking down each run or goal into smaller steps.

So for the run this morning, Craig knew he could run 3 miles, so it was the last mile where he needed some extra motivation. When we got to 20 minutes–and were only half done–it became a little daunting because usually by this point we only have 10 minutes left. Twenty-five minutes into the run, I told him, let’s focus on getting to 30 minutes first.

We chatted a little bit and soon we had reached 30 minutes. Yeah! First “baby step” accomplished. Now only 10 minutes to go. ”Alright,” I told him, “we are going to focus on running to that stop sign.” And when we got there, we made another short-term (“baby step”) goal. With 5 minutes to go, we planned out the remainder of the route so we mentally knew where the “finish line” was and before we knew it, 4 miles had been accomplished! Success!

A lot of water was consumed afterwards.

Breakfast

I am somewhat ashamed to say I bought this Special K cereal that has an ingredients list a mile long, but it sure is good!! (Plus how could I pass up a good sale and coupon. )

So crunchy and sweet!

Instead of regular milk, I enjoyed my cereal with some Original Silk Soymilk.

I rarely drink soymilk plain, but I do like it on my cold cereal!

I also had a piece of Oat Flax Walnut Bread with Trader Joe’s Almond Butter with Roasted Flaxseed spread on it.

A short while later, I needed some protein and knew exactly what I wanted–strawberry flavored Chobani.

Lunch

Lunch was a full plate of veggies. (I feel like I have been lacking in this department lately.)

- red pepper

- celery

- hummus

- carrots

- celery

- cucumber

- arugula with glazed pecans and poppy seed dressing

And a piece of toast with peanut butter and blueberry jam.

Now that my baking extravaganza is over, it is time to relax a bit–especially for my long run tomorrow morning!