Pre-Race Day Detox

So I'm crazy...for some reason after I ran my first 5K I thought it was so much fun and "easy" that another 5K just wouldn't cut it. I thought I needed to step it up a notch. So what did I do? Sign up for a half-marathon? No no no, I'm not that crazy. But I did sign up for an 8K, which up until a week ago, I thought was only 4 miles... I thought to myself "I can do 4 miles, that's just one extra mile, no big deal"; then I found out the truth - it's 4.97 (so basically 5 miles!). That .97 is pretty important in this case! Now I have to do 2 more miles than I am used to, and on top of that - I haven't trained at all. Oh, and you want to know the best part? THIS RACE IS ON SATURDAY!!!


So to say the least, I've been a little nervous and frazzled. I mean, I have been running on the treadmill and elliptical and lifting weights, but none of that amounts to 5 whole miles at one time. And beyond working out, I've been eating pretty unhealthily. Sometimes I tell myself that if I'm working out, then it's okay to have those couple of cookies for dessert or it's okay to have that hamburger and fries for dinner. I think I have a serious food addiction...I have THE HARDEST time saying "no" to food - even when I'm not hungry. Everything just looks so good, and even if it's not that good...I still eat it. Why? Because I don't want to waste it. This is a serious problem I have - Cue in Detox!


I've been wanting to do a Detox for a long time, but it just always seems way too hard and I would have to buy random stuff at the grocery store (like ginger root, and spinach, and fresh parsley - definitely not things I have on hand on a normal basis). So I've just always given up on my idea of doing a detox and continued to eat my hamburgers. :) Not this time! Have you ever felt like super sluggish and fat and bloated? And just walking up the stairs seems hard and strenuous on your legs? I've never felt that bad before, and that's when I decided I HAD to follow through with my detox this time. Now I didn't go all crazy and drink lemonade, cayenne pepper, maple syrup nastiness - I still wanted to be HEALTHY afterwards. So I just searched for some Detox drinks that I could do for a few days in preparation for my race. And there are a ton out there, and you don't even have to have a juicer to make them. I made all of my drinks in my blender.


Day 1: I made my drinks the night before so that I didn't have to worry about it in the morning (very good idea, by the way). I had a fruity one for the morning and a veggie one for lunch and dinner. But then I froze the fruity one and it wasn't thawed by breakfast time, so I had to drink the veggie one...it was LITERALLY the grossest thing I've drank. Not just because of the taste (the taste wasn't actually that bad), it was more the texture of it - so thick and frothy and leafy (because I had both spinach and romaine lettuce mixed in). So I kept adding water to thin it out, and that obviously made MORE of drink. I seriously gagged at least 3 times (and I don't gag with food or drink - I usually have a good stomach for that, I guess). By lunchtime, my fruit one was more thawed so I ate that, and it wasn't too bad, very ginger-y which I wasn't a big fan of. But I really felt pretty full after drinking them. I played in 2 softball games later that night and  I was feeling pretty good and full of energy. I was afraid I'd be starving, but I was still getting some really good nutrients.


Day 2: My smoothies for Day 2 were sooo much better! I had learned my lesson that veggie drinks are not that great, but you can make them better by adding pineapple! :) So I had a mango-pineapple smoothie for lunch and a watermelon-lime-peach for breakfast. They were delicious! I don't think they filled me up as much, but at least they tasted good. That's all I cared about. I had a veggie one that I chugged down real quick for dinner...it seemed to curb my hunger for a few hours, but at this point I was feeling a little hungry and my cravings were starting to kick in. Andy decided that he wanted Captain Crunch for dinner and that cereal has never looked so good. Haha! But I resisted and drank my nasty veggie-drink. 


Conclusion: I had read a bunch about detoxing before I did it and everywhere mentioned how you might get grumpy and you won't feel very good...but I didn't really experience that (and part of that is probably because I only did it for 2 days - but I didn't really want to do it for longer because I have my race on Saturday). I wasn't grumpy, I didn't feel like crap, and I really think it helped my body feel less sluggish. So my conclusion is that it was helpful, but I think I needed to do it for a longer period of time to feel the full effects. Has anyone out there done a detox before? I think it was just a good cleanse for my body to wash out all the crap I'd been eating and to start fresh on a new "diet" (really just trying to eat healthier, not any particular diet).


Anyway, this post has gotten longer than I expected it too, but I realized I hadn't updated on anything for a while. After my race on Saturday, I'll post some pictures and news of how I did. I just hope that I can run the whole time and keep my time under an hour...we'll see. 


Let's see - what else is going on in our lives? I mentioned above that I played in 2 softball games. Yep, Andy and I joined a city softball league with some friends. We've had 2 practices and our first game was this last Tuesday. Apparently every time we play, it's a double-header, which I'm not too excited about because our 2nd game was no bueno (we're talking, 22-2 was the final score and the mercy rule was put into effect, meaning they called the game at the 5th inning because we were down by so many runs). BUT... we WON our 1st game! I can't remember the score, I think we won by 1 run or something. I was playing 2nd base and I wasn't that great, but it was still fun. I kept getting confused with all of the little things I had to pay attention to. I've never really played organized team sports before, so I think it makes it hard for me to focus on every little thing. Like, sometimes I wouldn't even remember if there was someone on first base, I would only think about the batter...and there was another time where I ran through 3rd base...ya, not supposed to do that. Haha! Oh well, we'll get better I think. And if not...we'll still have fun. But I really like that it gets Andy and I out of the house and doing something active. Hmm...what else? I'm still YW Secretary, even though we got a new President and 2nd Counselor. It's been interesting, but fun at the same time, getting to work with someone new. Andy's job is going really well, they seem to love him and say he's a "keeper". :) Yay! I'm so proud of him. We are coming to visit Utah at the end of May (we'll be there May 30-June 4). So excited to see everyone (except my little Lindsley and family...still sad about that) - but at least we'll have time to see everyone else. Well I think that's a good enough update for now...I'll keep you posted how my race goes! Wish me luck!