After eating out, my parents were good sports and climbed up the "M" (i.e. the world's largest M painted on a hillside that is located at the edge of the town I live in):
When you get to the top, you are rewarded with a great view of SW Wisconsin:
And your mom makes you pose for photos:
As you can see, it was very windy! My feet were blown out from under me quite a few times!
And your mom makes you pose for photos:
Moving along, my half training has been going pretty well and I walked a 12.1-miler yesterday in 2 hours, 39 mins, 17 seconds. I have 6 weeks until my Half so I would say that I'm in pretty good shape! :)
I purposely trained early for several reasons. First, I wanted the extra time in case I got sick or injured. Second, I wanted the extra time in case it took a little longer for me personally to work up to the distance. Third, I wanted to be confident that I could complete the distance relatively easily. And finally, fourth, this spring is absolutely insane. There's no other way to put it. It's crazy.
I can't disclose all the details yet (hopefully soon!), but let's just say that I don't want to worry about intense training when I stressed to the max. Some things I can share are: the week before my half, I am moving. The night of my half, I am flying to Denver to join in on teaching a field course that will already be 2 days underway. A few days after my half, I have every plan to hike a good distance at Arches NP, Zion NP, and then down and then back up the Grand Canyon. This will be followed up by many hikes throughout the nearly three weeks of the field course. Oh yes, I will do it! Hopefully. :)
Needless to say, building endurance, sleep, and proper nutrition will be needed over the next 6 weeks which is why I'm so grateful to be this far along in my half training!
While earlier today, thanks to having the stomach flu this weekend (or dehydration followed by water logging - still not sure which), I didn't feel like cooking. I am feeling much better tonight and decided to work on the nutrition part! First, I made Super Granola to help me fuel up! I have a tendency to take the easy way out and just eat raw oatmeal on my yogurt in the morning (try it - it is so good! Just don't use instant or steel-cut oats). However, I like the benefits that the quinoa, flax, and chias provide.
I also thought I'd try my hand at homemade Lara Bars! I enjoy these bars but to be honest, they are pretty pricey and many of them are made with almonds (I'm allergic). I found this recipe that helped me get a good idea of where to start. I decided to make a few small changes - including swapping out cashews for the almonds. As this is my first time making these, I went with the banana bread flavor first and then decided to make the chocolate coconut chew! I have found a huge amount of recipes (just Google 'homemade larabars' and you'll see what I mean) that I am itching to try. Should have boughten more dates...
Homemade Mini-Banana Larabars
Makes 8 bars, 98 calories each
Ingredients:
1 banana, sliced and dehydrated or baked for 2 hours on 200F in the oven, flipping half way through*
6 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup raw cashews
Cinnamon
Combine banana chips, dates, and cinnamon in a food processor and grind until finely chopped. Remove and empty into a bowl. Add cashews to food processor and grind until finely chopped. Add to the date mixture. Mix thoroughly and press into bars. Wrap individually and refrigerate.
*As per the recipe I based this off of, make sure you place the bananas on parchment paper or at least spray the pan before baking to avoid major sticking!
Homemade Mini-Chocolate Coconut Larabar
Makes 10 balls, 95 calories each
Ingredients:
5 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup raw cashews
Combine dates, coconut, and cocoa powder in a food processor and process until finely ground. Empty into a bowl. Add the cashews to the food processor and process until finely chopped. Add to the date mixture. Stir well and press into 10 balls. Wrap and refrigerate.
__
Note - these are not the cutest of foods but both had an intensely amazing flavor! On the downside, they are very high in calories and I made a colossal mess out of my kitchen making the chocolate-coconut ones (I think I needed more dates to hold the coconut and cocoa powder together better and/or a regular sized food processor - not the baby one that I got for $7 at Target - thus why these are balls instead of bars). The chocolate ones will be headed to the freezer to eat on special occasions or chocolate cravings! The banana mini's are headed to the fridge for after work/preworkout snacks.
I purposely trained early for several reasons. First, I wanted the extra time in case I got sick or injured. Second, I wanted the extra time in case it took a little longer for me personally to work up to the distance. Third, I wanted to be confident that I could complete the distance relatively easily. And finally, fourth, this spring is absolutely insane. There's no other way to put it. It's crazy.
I can't disclose all the details yet (hopefully soon!), but let's just say that I don't want to worry about intense training when I stressed to the max. Some things I can share are: the week before my half, I am moving. The night of my half, I am flying to Denver to join in on teaching a field course that will already be 2 days underway. A few days after my half, I have every plan to hike a good distance at Arches NP, Zion NP, and then down and then back up the Grand Canyon. This will be followed up by many hikes throughout the nearly three weeks of the field course. Oh yes, I will do it! Hopefully. :)
Needless to say, building endurance, sleep, and proper nutrition will be needed over the next 6 weeks which is why I'm so grateful to be this far along in my half training!
While earlier today, thanks to having the stomach flu this weekend (or dehydration followed by water logging - still not sure which), I didn't feel like cooking. I am feeling much better tonight and decided to work on the nutrition part! First, I made Super Granola to help me fuel up! I have a tendency to take the easy way out and just eat raw oatmeal on my yogurt in the morning (try it - it is so good! Just don't use instant or steel-cut oats). However, I like the benefits that the quinoa, flax, and chias provide.
I also thought I'd try my hand at homemade Lara Bars! I enjoy these bars but to be honest, they are pretty pricey and many of them are made with almonds (I'm allergic). I found this recipe that helped me get a good idea of where to start. I decided to make a few small changes - including swapping out cashews for the almonds. As this is my first time making these, I went with the banana bread flavor first and then decided to make the chocolate coconut chew! I have found a huge amount of recipes (just Google 'homemade larabars' and you'll see what I mean) that I am itching to try. Should have boughten more dates...
Homemade Mini-Banana Larabars
Makes 8 bars, 98 calories each
Ingredients:
1 banana, sliced and dehydrated or baked for 2 hours on 200F in the oven, flipping half way through*
6 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup raw cashews
Cinnamon
Combine banana chips, dates, and cinnamon in a food processor and grind until finely chopped. Remove and empty into a bowl. Add cashews to food processor and grind until finely chopped. Add to the date mixture. Mix thoroughly and press into bars. Wrap individually and refrigerate.
*As per the recipe I based this off of, make sure you place the bananas on parchment paper or at least spray the pan before baking to avoid major sticking!
Homemade Mini-Chocolate Coconut Larabar
Ingredients:
5 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup raw cashews
Combine dates, coconut, and cocoa powder in a food processor and process until finely ground. Empty into a bowl. Add the cashews to the food processor and process until finely chopped. Add to the date mixture. Stir well and press into 10 balls. Wrap and refrigerate.
__
Note - these are not the cutest of foods but both had an intensely amazing flavor! On the downside, they are very high in calories and I made a colossal mess out of my kitchen making the chocolate-coconut ones (I think I needed more dates to hold the coconut and cocoa powder together better and/or a regular sized food processor - not the baby one that I got for $7 at Target - thus why these are balls instead of bars). The chocolate ones will be headed to the freezer to eat on special occasions or chocolate cravings! The banana mini's are headed to the fridge for after work/preworkout snacks.
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