Hello there!
Well, my first sleep-in on a Saturday since June was just as good as I hoped it would be! I got home last night around 11pm and my head promptly hit the pillow until 8:30am this morning. I was actually wide awake around 8ish, but I just stayed under the comfy sheets for a while and read some Eat Pray Love– something I haven’t had time for all week. It was wonderful. I am almost finished the book. Has anyone read the second book Committed and is it any good?
What else does a gal do on a lovely Saturday morning? She eats a cookie of course! ;)
I enjoyed a Pumpkin Pie Banana Chunk Oatmeal Cookie for a little pre-run fuel. Love, love, love these. They are very muffin like and so tasty.
I also downed a couple cuppas of Japanese Sencha Green Tea!
While I love this mug from Urban Outfitters, I really think it should say ‘My CUPPA tea’ ;) Or maybe that is just the Irish influence I have from Eric’s family!
Then I hit the road for my long run of the week. I decided to get my long run out of the way so I had the whole weekend free and open. The weather was also PERFECT for running- just 15C and sunny! I had shivers until mile 1.5, but I loved it. Even by the end of the run, I was barely sweating. A nice change from the humidity!
Long Run:
- Distance: 9.01 miles
- Time: 1 hour 20 minutes 10 secs.
- Avg pace: 8:53 min/mile
- Avg heart rate: 151 bpm
- Max heart rate: 171 bpm (sprinting at end)
At mile 6 and mile 7 I had a medjool date for fuel. I think medjool dates are my favourite thing to bring with me on long runs as they pack SO many carbs into a tiny portion. I noticed my energy pick up almost immediately and they taste so good. I still plan on trying coconut water soon too and I will do a comparison and tell you what I think.
I also ran the last 4 miles without music and it was really nice for a change! I just listened to my breathing and the sounds of nature around me. It was almost like meditation in a strange way.
Racing Updates:
I am eying the Oakville Half Marathon on Labour Day, which is exactly 1 month away and allows me to get up to a practice long run of 12 miles and then taper the last week. I really want to set a new half PR as I think my speed has improved since May. I also want to run my first 5k!
As for doing another try-a-tri with Eric, we have decided to post-pone another one this summer because we have had no time to train properly for it. The rest of our weekends are booked up for the rest of the summer, so we decided it won’t be in the cards for us. We will continue to train ‘for fun’ here and there though. Eric is really enjoying the biking, swimming, and occasional running and he said he wants to keep at it. :) I will do whatever makes him happy!
I came home a hungry monster and devoured this amazing new twist on Vegan Overnight Oats that I whipped up before I left for my run. You gotta try this one, I am in love with it!
Pumpkin Pie Vegan Overnight Oats
Ingredients:
- 1/3-1/2 cup oats
- 1.5 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8th tsp nutmeg, 1/8th tsp ginger)
- 3/4 cup Almond Milk
- 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
- Walnuts (topping)
- 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup (topping)
- Raisins (topping)
Directions: Mix the oats, chia seeds, and spices in a small bowl. Now add the Almond milk and maple syrup and whisk until mixed. Add in the pumpkin and whisk again until fully incorporated. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight. Top with raisins, walnuts, and maple syrup and enjoy your creamy pumpkin pie oats!
Look how creamy they are!
I topped the Pumpkin Pie with walnuts, raisins, coconut, and pure maple syrup!
I LOVED these! Tasted like a creamy pumpkin pie!
I can definitely see myself making these frequently during the fall season. :)
I also had a huge Yellow Delicious apple on the side as the hunger monsta was still growling from the run.
And now for the winner of the Operation Beautiful book…
Congrats to Whitney!
“My happy weight is no weight at all. It is me feeling confident, fit and alive. It is me taking control of my confidence, not needing to get it from anywhere else. I think this is very true: No one thinks about you or worries as much as YOU DO. I am happy to be going strongly towards my happy weight and happy place in general.
Thank you for your post. I would love the book.
Thank you to everyone who entered the contest and left such beautiful comments. Whitney please email me (angela [at] ohsheglows.com] with your mailing address.
We have no idea what we are up to today…and I LOVE that! Enjoy your day and I will see you tonight. :)
Aah you’ve just provided me with a bit of inspo – I’ve got a 9mile run tomorrow too :) Are you planning on a long run at the HLS?
Looove that breakfast too :)
Have a great day!
YES! I def want to get in a long run. Email me if you do :)
I ended up changing my schedule after seeing the Chicago weather forecast- 35degrees and humid!! Pathetic english woman not used to that….but I want to get in 6 or so if you’re up for it? :) It’d be great to run with you! I think we have very similar speeds (8.15-8.50 ish) :D
That’s a fantastic run!
Congrats!
I’ve read the second book, and while it is good it is not quite as good as the first. It’s all about her struggles with commitment and immigration laws. I am going through the exact same scenario myself and thought it would be interesting to hear the authors emotional struggles, but it’s more of a research boo. It talks a lot about marriage and love in different parts of the world. Still very interesting. Just not what I expected.
I can’t wait to try those cookies!!! Dang girl!
xoxo
Had an 8-mile this morning – we might have been out at the same time :) I cannot recommend running sans music highly enough. I stopped 4 years ago as I read that at USTAF sanctioned events, competitors are not allowed to wear headphones. I was a total newbie and didn’t want to get disqualified from my 10K so I just ran w/out music on the day and finished. Of course every USTAF sanctioned event I run now has people ignoring that rule (which isn’t a big deal), but the no headphones kind of stuck with me, especially after some encouragement from my mum. :) I now hear the funniest conversations and am more alert to what’s going on around me, appreciating where I am running. However I also know the power of music, so whatever motivates people to exercise – do it! :)
Knocking 9 miles out…good for you! Bet that feels nicer than being sorta stuck at the market all day. Enjoy your “day off”!
Those oats look so good! I still can’t find pumpkin here. Pumpkin oats are my favorite!!! I am curios about that book. I need a good read.
I had no idea that there was a second book!
YUM! I love anything with pumpkin.
I am looking forward to sleeping in on Saturdays soon.
i just finished committed two days ago. it was pretty different from eat pray love, and although i didn’t like it at first, it got better and better and by the end, i thought it was pretty awesome. i learned a lot.
I need to make those cookies, I made some of you carrot cake scuffins and they were amazing!
That tea cup is just adorable!! I really need to get some extra canned pumpkin when it is in season so that I can make all these delicious pumpkin things in the summer!
That looks deliciousss!!! I must try that.
I just finished Eat Pray Love today, and wow. I’m fairly certain it changed my life. I had started reading it a few years ago and stopped– I don’t think I could understand it. But I couldn’t put it down this time. :) Wonderful.
I haven’t heard anything about the second book, but I’m curious!
Wow, great run! And good for you for finally getting a chance to sleep in. You work so heard that you definitely deserve it.
I’m almost finished India, and am really excited to read Committed as well. One of my friends and I were chatting about EPL the other day and she said she found the last part (Bali) really cliche and disappointing, which disappointed me because I’m not there yet and I love it so far! What do you think?
Your tea cup is beyond cute!!!
I absolutely LOVED EPL and was super excited to read Committed as well. I bought the book when it first came out and was very sadly disappointed. :( It was so completely different in comparison to ELP and read too much like a text book for my liking. I actually never even finished it.
Still super excited to catch the EPL movie when it comes out though! :)
EPL is on my top 5 list of fav books of all time, so when Committed came out, I picked it up asap. I got about 25% of the way through it and just couldn’t finish. It’s completely different from EPL – there really is no story at all. What she has to say is interesting, but I was too bored with it :(
Pumpkin VOO is my favorite fall time breakfast but I haven’t had it in months! I usually mix in half a banana too for sweetness. Those cookies look fabulous… I see some pumpkin in my future ;)
I just LOVE pumpkin anything….it’s one of my very favorite flavors! I will have to try this recipe of yours….thank you!
I have not yet read Eat Pray Love but I think the author is from Marin County, where I live. I need to pick it up and read it before seeing the movie.
Have a great weekend!
I read Committed. It’s not bad. I finished the whole book in a timely fashion so that’s saying something but the whole time I was reading, I felt like she even realized that she couldn’t live up to her first book. It kind of felt like she was trying too hard.
At the same time, I read it while engaged so it was pretty relevant to my situation and I related to a lot of the topics. Since you’re already married, I would say it’s not worth the read when there are SO many other great books out there.
Just my two cents!
I also didn’t know there was a second book. Hmm. I’m curious, but I often feel like I’m uttering blasphemy when I say that I wasn’t the biggest fan of EPL.
Pumpkin pie for breakfast, however, is something I can get behind. Pumpkin was my nickname as a child (red hair, alas) and so I”m naturally obsessed with it as a food.
Mmmm I was just thinking about pumpkin flavors… I can’t wait until Fall!
Yay for sleeping in! That feels so wonderful now and then ;)
I have also read the second book and personally, though it’s ‘good’, it doesn’t hold a candle to the first….
*Craves pumpkin pie*
Seriously, pumpkin pie/muffins/bread is one of the reasons that fall is my favorite season. Bring on the cool temps :)
Hi! I have followed your blog for a while now. I love your recipies and postive attitude towards health. I have a beauty blog that I was hoping you could take a look at and hopefully would follow me as well. I am just starting to do contests and have one up today. http://lovelo.wordpress.com/wp-admin/
Hope you don’t mind me posting a link.
Love,
Lauren
I know it doesn’t have to be fall to enjoy pumpkin but that’s when i prefer to eat it. I can’t wait to dig into my HUGE stack of pumpkin recipes! Those cookies and oats look delicious though! =D
Oh those oats look delicious!
And I love that you used an orange spoon to eat your pumpkin pie oats ;)
Have a great day, just go with the flow and do what you want. Those are my perfect kind of days!
this made me REALLY excited about fall and all the canned pumpkin to be had!
mm, that oatmeal looks good!
All of this pumpkin is making me excited for fall! Well, we don’t get fall in San Diego :( so I will have to compensate with lots of fall food. I don’t mind at all! :) MMMm, persimmons!
Oh my goodness girl, you are amazing. I don’t know HOW you can do those runs… I would literally die. I’m definitely not a runner. Did it take you a while to work up to that, or did it just come naturally?
It did not come naturally AT ALL (long distance anyways) I used to do sprinting distance only in school for a bit on track team. It was hard work, but I love it. See my running story on my races page ‘from 1 min to 10 miles’
This post makes me realize even more how much I cannote wait for Fall. Last Thanksgiving we gave your Vegan Pumpkin Pie a try and LOVED it!! :)
Oh man I cannot wait to get my hands on some pumpkin. I have been eating VOO just about every morning and I love them (and so does my BF)! Pumpkin in VOO… now that sounds amazing. I’m glad you had a good run! I’m looking forward to one this evening :)
Angela,
I have a quick question. I noticed you use chia seeds in oats a lot, I just picked up some chia seeds the other day and was wondering if you have any other creative uses for them?
Thanks,
Erika
I gotta get my hands on that book! I’m all for female empowerment :D
So excited ! Thank you so much :)
I have read Committed, and while it was really good, it was not as meaningful or quoatable to me at Eat, Pray, Love. It just has a different tone and style to it. While I can pick up Eat, Pray, Love about once a year, read it, and get something new out of it each time, I just borrowed Committed from the Library, and am content to have read it once. It is a good book–just different.
You will love the coconut water! They can be pricey, but you can find good deals on amazon.com if you order in bulk. You may want to try a few different brands and flavors first, because everybody has their own preference. I find that all of the electrolytes in coconut water really helps when is it “that time of the month,” with bloating and cravings.
Yea for a Saturday off, eh! Enjoy! Bet there will be a lovely sunset tonight!
I just wanted to go back to Friday’s post on “happy weight,” and thank everyone who contributed such upifting comments – I’ve been reading through them, and I so appreciate the sharing that went on…it’s really powerful. So, thank you, each of you! :)
Oh my, just seeing those pumpkin oats made me giddy with excitement for fall! Yay for the fact that fall will be here soon!
Hi! I just found your blog and love it! Am so excited to find another great blog to read. Your oats look awesome and I can’t wait to try them!
I read “Committed” after loving “Eat, Pray Love” and I had a similar reaction to some of the other comments – much more research based about marriage/commitment, and I felt like I didn’t connect to it as much.
I also love your suggestion to eat dates on long runs – I am training for a marathon and am just starting to get into my longest runs yet and trying to figure out what to eat and drink on runs. Do you run with water?
I use a 1.5 litre camelbak! :) Its AWESOME!
All your “Eat, Pray, Love” posts have made me want to watch the movie! I read the book last year, during a tough time and it not only helped me through that but it has also given me the travel bug. Besides, I love Julia Roberts and she seems like the perfect person for the role!
Glad you had a Saturday off! Hope you had a good day! :)
I’m almost finished with Committed. It is much different from Eat, Pray, Love but I’ve still really enjoyed it! But it’s definitely a different kind of read.
Great run! I have a question for you… a plea for advice, actually. I just started the Couch to 5K plan (link here if you don’t know it: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml) and it states that you run 3 days a week with recovery days in between, and a rest day per week. I thought that recovery days just meant that you don’t run on those days, so I strength trained in between… with my 30 Day Shred video. (the full workout.) It’s Sunday morning and I’m supposed to be running today, but I just feel so sore all over; is doing the 30 Day Shred on recovery days wrong? Am I burning out? I feel like it’s a bit like chickening out because I consider myself a little more fit than before since I do the 30 Day Shred everyday for exercise when I’m not active enough. Sorry for the uber-long comment!
Wei-Wei
Sorry! Here’s the link again:
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml
I’d be grateful if any other readers gave advice. :) Thank you!
Wei-Wei
Above any training plan, always listen to your body. I find that most training plans with running are too much for me. Adapt it to how you feel best!
first of all – I just found your blog recently and I really love reading along. I am inspired by your positive attitude and your very healthy behaviors!
I wanted to comment to say that I did read Committed. I didn’t love it as much as I did EPL, but I had no problem reading it. It was much more of a presentation on the history of marriage and some other stats than it was a personal account the way EPL was. Still very good, but worth checking out from the library rather than having your own copy. :)
I absolutely love putting pumpkin in my oats. It tastes almost like a treat and is packed with lots of nutrition from the pumpkin.
And those cookies sound divine, I’m definitely bookmarking the recipe and will be trying them soon. I’d try them right now if I wasn’t out of spelt flour! :)
Pumpkin in oats is probably my favourite blog world discovery. I don’t know how I lived without this breakfast before! :D
OK, I looked high and low today for some canned pumpkin and NO ONE had it!! AARGH! I so wanted to try the cookies from yesterday, but I guess I’m going to have to wait until fall when they start carrying it around here. I am stocking up for sure this year!!!
Every single one of your VOO recipes looks SO good! And I love pumpkin, so I will definitely be trying out your cookies.
I spent a lot of time on your blog last night, looking through the hidden treasures I haven’t found before (I am an avid reader of your blog) and I noticed some posts you had written about guilt and exercise, family’s reaction to blogging, etc. and I just felt so much…better. I had been feeling guilty about not being able to run 8 miles at once, but reading the responses that you quoted in your blog were so inspiring and uplifting that now I just want to run my own distance and pace and know that I never have to feel bad about running only 3 miles because I know that that may be what is right for my body that day.
Thank you so much for your blog, and God bless!
I haven’t ever commented, but I just wanted to let you know I love your page – I check it for recipes all of the time!! I love everything you write about, and I really appreciate every recipe. You’re great – keep it up! Thanks :)
Mmmmm…I seriously could have a love affair with pumpkin. I haven’t eaten any just yet though! Maybe once September hits. Although, you sure are putting me in the mood! Your oats sound perfect. The cookies look awesome and you ROCKed your run, girl!! I completely love using Coconut water to stay hydrated and help fuel my workouts. My favorite brand is VitaCoco [and I’ve tried a lot]. I like a few of their flavors, like a guava one and some other tropical flavor. If I get the plain, I always squeeze lemon or lime into it. Also, I always mix it 1/2 coco water 1/2 regular water, b/c that stuff is pretty pricey and I don’t love the taste of it on it’s own. I would say for long runs, you’ll still need a few of those dates to get you through, but the coco water definitely helps! I have a hard time drinking plain water during my workouts now. So glad you’re getting in some good r+r!!! xo