Happy Monday!

It felt wonderful to sleep eight hours last night, in my own bed, and know that I won’t have to sleep in a hotel bed or step foot on an airplane for until Thanksgiving holiday!

                       I AM SO EXCITED TO STAY IN NEW YORK CITY FOR THE 38 DAYS!

This morning I woke up, in my own bed, bright and early for a short recovery run. My legs definitely were still tight and not very happy with me. The run was a steady run on the treadmill and I spent ten minutes on the foam roller afterwards trying to loosen some of the knots in my quadriceps and calf.

After my workout, I did something I haven’t done in months: pack my lunch! Saturday, during our 20 mile run, I told Meghann that I wanted to focus on my nutrition the three weeks leading up to the marathon. I did this for the National Half Marathon due to Lent’s timing and have never felt better. This time around, I’m not going to insane, but just trying to focus on small improvements:

• Bringing my breakfast and lunch to work 3-4 days per week.
• Swapping out afternoon sweets for dried cherries, more details below.
• Swapping diet soda for water, Crystal Light Pure, and coconut water

Today’s lunch, though lacking photographs, included plenty of snacks to keep me fueled throughout the day and aid in avoiding the multiple Halloween candy bowls which have graced my co-workers’ desks.

• Jif natural peanut butter and orange marmalade on Arnold sandwich thin
• 2 dill pickles
• Chobani Peach yogurt with 1/8 cup of Uncle Sam’s cereal
• String Cheese
• Adora Calcium disk
• Single serving of dried cherries

While this may seem like a lot of food to some, keep in mind that I am at the office from 7:30am until 7:30pm most days. Therefore, this, along with my banana oatmeal, was 12 hours worth of food.

In other news, today’s dried cherries and my nutritional swap, is due in part to a new partnership I have with Choose Cherries and their Powered by Red initiative. Cherries, as you may know, are natural anti-inflammatory due to anthocyanins, the same compound which gives them their red color.  Choose Cherries is sponsoring me for the ING NYC Marathon this year! In exchange, I will integrate cherries into my life for the next three weeks to see if they help with training. I’ll also be providing some delicious recipe ideas and an opportunity for you all to participate in an interview with Leslie Boncie, the author of Run Your Butt Off by submitting your questions!

Have a great evening! I’m off to enjoy Gossip Girl with my compression sock covered legs elevated!