Soooo about that half marathon. It’s tomorrow. Let’s talk for a minute about my training. Back in July and August, it was going pretty well. I hadn’t done any runs over 10k yet, but I was working on speed and even doing some horrific hill training workouts. And everything was feeling pretty good. Then, after that 10k race I did back about 6 weeks ago, it wasn’t really feeling good anymore.
More than two years ago, I suffered a stress fracture in my 4th/5th metatarsal (that’s your toe bone). Stress fractures are pretty annoying because the only thing you can really do for them is rest them, and my entire life basically requires me to be on my feet. And I’m a busy body, so there’s also that. I took about 4 months off running, and then ran the Scotiabank half that fall. I hadn’t trained properly, because I was scared of re-injuring my foot, so I went into it pretty much cold. It was painful. I could feel myself adjusting my stride to compensate for my sore foot, which in turn really hurt my hip. The race went RIGHT past my front door at about mile 6, and I remember telling myself I should just walk into my apartment and give up. But, being as stubborn as I am, I didn’t and proceeded to finish the race. In less than 2:30, only just over 30 mins longer than my best times. (I probably should not consider this a victory of any sort, but I somehow still do.)
Fast forward to today, and Dr Google tells me that the nagging pain I’m experiencing on the ball of my foot is metatarsalgia, and probably a direct result of this “never-quite-healed” stress fracture. So about 4 weeks ago, I was faced with a decision: keep training and hope that it doesn’t continue getting worse (but knowing it probably would), drop out of the race, or do the race “cold”, but on fresh feet, and hope for the best.
I chose option 3.
Is it smart? No. Am I going to be hurting? Most likely. Am I doing it anyway? Yes.
I got some new shoes that are way more supportive (read: heavy and clunky and I feel like I have bricks strapped to my feet and I hate them) in a last-ditch effort to help.
One day I’ll learn to stop being stubborn. But that day is not today. (Or tomorrow.)
So today I’m enjoying all the perks of knowing I’m running a race tomorrow. Buying copious amounts of expensive coconut water. Lazing around. Eating all.the.carbs. That’s where the blondies come in.
I came across this recipe for chocolate chip chickpea blondies on Chocolate Covered Katie‘s blog a few years ago. I had just recently discovered the amazingness that is black bean brownies and was eager to try these. I made them for my coworkers and everyone went bananas for them. They’re my go-to when I’m trying to convince someone that you can sneak healthy ingredients into your desserts and still have them rock your world. Today I decided to give them a fall twist by subbing most of the peanut butter with pumpkin puree (I kept 1 tbsp pb) and adding fresh ginger, lots of cinnamon and some nutmeg. I left out the chocolate chips (although I think white chocolate would have been AMAZING in here) and went for icing instead. Apparently this is a completely stolen recipe, because I used (a different) Katie’s toasted coconut frosting to top them.
I’ve eaten a third of the pan. I need to go deliver these to someone. STAT.
choose happiness 