I woke up super early Sunday morning to beat the heat with a 7 mile run. It was overcast and only about 70 degrees when I headed out at 6:30 a.m. but the clouds quickly cleared and the sun beamed down.

For the first time in two weeks my legs didn’t feel heavy or tired. I guess my sleepfest must have helped with muscle recovery. I felt like I was putting in less effort than I did on my weekday runs but was moving much faster. I started hitting 7:30 min/miles and was overjoyed, I was starting to worry that I’d never regain my pre-injury speed (I know this is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous but I’m being completely honest here- I was concerned).

Around mile 6 it started to get really hot. I had been running for a while and didn’t have any water. I looked ahead at the mile stretch to my street and saw very little shade. I started to panic. I tried not to slow my pace but breathing became difficult. The crazy thing is that I wasn’t overheating, I was panicking about the heat! I’ve told myself for years that I just cannot run in the heat- no exceptions, and when faced with the challenge, instead of stepping up to the plate, I overreacted.

I slowed to a walk and thought about the situation. I realized just how ridiculous I was being and decided that I need to safely acclimate myself to the heat rather than avoid it at all costs. I’ve already had to run one marathon in extremely warm conditions (talk about a crash and burn) and chances are I will have to again. Plus, my tri is in the evening so it may be quite warm. Anyway, I sucked up my panic and completed the mile home at a nice 7:25 clip.

In total I ran 7.01 miles at an average pace of 7:36 min/mile.

I was a sweaty mess when I finished (best picture I could get) and when Ian woke up (shortly after I took this picture) he was surprised by how flushed I looked. No big deal, I just ran 7 miles in almost 80 degree heat.

Running in the heat takes it all out of me, including my appetite, so I chugged some water and then tried the Fitmixer Aminos that I won from doing Janetha‘s Move More in May challenge.

I really liked it and the fruit punch flavor was refreshing without being too sweet to drink right after running. I’m hoping to start drinking some before my runs. I’m finding that I don’t drink enough before I head out in the mornings.

It took me about 30 minutes to stop sweating and then I showered and made some breakfast. The doctor I’m seeing for my stomach issues asked me to limit my dairy intake until we get my blood work back (I’m assuming an elimination diet is impending) but I couldn’t go another week without cottage cheese and hhaaad to pick some up at TJs on Saturday. It was just what I needed to make strawberry cottage cheese oatmeal (recipe here just don’t add couscous and increase amount of oats).

It was perfect topped with 1 T of sunflower butter.

I spent my morning applying for jobs and catching up on e-mails and blog stuff. My current position ends at the end of July so I’m trying to be proactive and line something up early.

I broke for lunch around noon and threw together open-faced tuna melts. I mixed one can of tuna with 2 T of TJs greek yogurt & kale dip, 1 tsp of carmelized onion mustard, and 1 T relish and layered it on top of Udi’s bread. I then sprinkled about 1 T of shredded mozzarella cheese on top and stuck the pieces in the toaster oven for a few minutes.

The sandwiches made a wonderful lunch. I also had a mini cup of cereal because I was craving something sweet and crunchy.

I was ony my own yesterday and decided to do some errands on foot to get out of the apartment. Unfortunately the heat was pretty unbearable, I made it to Marshalls, Michaels, and Target and then called it a day.

I also took care of some things around the apartment and did a little baking snacking. By the time dinner rolled around I wasn’t super hungry.

I made sweet potato fries and served them with a side of fiddleheads. Pretty cool right? I found them at Trader Joe’s and they basically taste like asparagus. I just threw them in boiling water for 10 minutes and then coated them in lemon juice + nutritional yeast.

Dessert was the last of the hemp ice cream. I was sad to see it go.

After dinner, I worked on the blog a bit. I created a favorite posts page (in the top bar) that includes links to posts that are meaningful to me. I also figured that new readers might find it useful to catch up on some of the bigger events that have taken place in the past 7 months. Enjoy!

Originally Ian and I had planned to spend today on Lake Michigan but Ian was out working on his car until late last night and we decided today would be better spent relaxing in Chicago.

We also decided that a Memorial Day brunch at Yolk was in order.

I ordred the Iron Man omelet (egg-white with sliced mushrooms, avocado, tomato, onions, & green pepper) that came with salsa, potatoes, and fruit (subbed for toast).

It was pretty good but I didn’t care for the salsa. I was all about the hot sauce

I also didn’t love how the fruit plate was really a plate full of tiny grapes. If you’re going to feed me a ton of grapes at least make them good ones.

We also stopped at Starbucks on our walk home and Ian tried the new Mocha Cookie Frap. I’m pretty sure we ended up going halfsies on it. It. was. so. good.

I’m off to watch Mad Men and be a lounge lizard for a couple of hours. Happy Memorial Day!