Food to Run For: Long Run Before Work... No problem!

There is supposed to be a lot of rain this weekend. Lots and lots of rain. Running in the rain in warm weather= fun. Running in the rain when it is 30 degrees out = not so fun. So last night, I decided Nancy and I should do our long run this morning. Before work. At 5:30AM. It was fun to see the sunrise and I felt pretty good on this run, but we were not fast. We were actually pretty damn slow. But we got through it and we did 15 miles before 8:30am. I wanted to do 17 but time was not on my side and plus I'm running a 5K Sunday so I think I'll be okay. Next weekend I'll do 17-18 and the following week I will get in my first (EVER) 20 miler! I looked up this route we went on at 5am and didn't exactly memorize the road names. So... we got lost. We also went in some really rocky and root(y) trails so that slowed us down quite a bit. But overall it was a good solid run. 15 Miles is 2:30.42. Avg slow ~ 10 Minutes. Mile 4 was like 12 minutes because of the trail and mile 5 was like 10:30. But you know what, when you sleep run for the first 4 miles, it doesn't really matter about the pace. I'm just happy it's done with and I have the weekend to enjoy myself! But I am tired. 4:30 in the morning in REALLY early to wake up.

Okay, moving on. Here are the rest of the weeks workouts:
Monday: 3 Miles
Tuesday: 6 Miles
Wednesday: Physical Therapy
Thursday: 6 Mile Tempo Run, 53:15 min. 15 min at 6.2MPH, 5 min at 7.5MPH, 5 min at 6.2MPH, 7.5MPH-8.0MPH, 5 min at 6.2MPH, 7.5MPH-8.0MPH, 5 min at 6.2MPH, 7.5MPH-8.0MPH, 5ish minutes at 6.2MPH, Stretching
Friday: 15 Miles in 2:30ish
Saturday (planned): off
Sunday (planned): 5K!
Total Mileage for the Week: 33

And food! Wednesday night I made Bulgar Wheat Two Ways. Have you tried Bulgar Wheat? I loved it! The first Bulgar Recipe I made was:

Bulgar Wheat with Corn and Shrimp inspired by Epicurious

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup bulgur wheat
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces fresh or frozen (thawed) raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 limes (1 juiced, 1 cut into wedges)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Directions:

Heat 3 cups of water. Once it comes to a boil, add in bulgar and reduce heat. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add shrimp. Cook, stirring constantly, until it turns pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Add corn, bell pepper, juice from 1 lime and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until corn and pepper are warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes. Add half of bulgar into mixture and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

In addition, I also made a tabbouleh (kinda). I combined the Bulgar with chopped roma tomatoes, chickpeas, lemon juice, golden raisins, arugula and parsley and lots of salt and pepper.

I definitely liked the warm bulgar much better but in general Bulgar Wheat was another delicious grain! Read here to find out the health benefits of bulgar.

Last night we went to a party so I didn't cook. Lots of delicious food! Tonight, I went to Trader Joe's straight from work and got my grocery shopping out of the way. I picked up a few things for tonights dinner: Garlic and Herb Pizza Dough, Shrimp, Peach Salsa and Shredded Multi-Blend Cheese.

I decided to make pizza tonight with these ingredients. I rolled out the dough, added the peach salsa as the "tomato sauce" then I added the cheese, then the shrimp, red pepper flakes, red peppers and salt and pepper. That was one half of the pizza. The other half I used tomato sauce, cheese, 1 chicken sausage link, and various peppers. I served this pizza with a salad.