Tapering, Protein Shakes, and Running Books

Those are the three things I'm loving this week. 

1. Tapering. I know I whined and complained about it in this post, but I ended up really enjoying it! It was really nice to take a guilt-free break from getting really sweaty everyday. I even did my make-up on of the days when I took B to an art playgroup. :) 

Here he is with all his masterpieces. I love how colorful our fridge is right now. 

I'm feeling recovered and excited for my race tomorrow, although it looks like it's going to be COLD and WINDY. I'm hoping the wind will be to my back, but I probably won't get that lucky. 25K is kind of a weird distance to set a time goal for, so I'm not exactly sure what my goals are. I ran this race last year (<--my blog post about it), so it would be awesome to get a PR, but we'll find out tomorrow if that's realistic or not. (I just looked up my time from last year and it was 1:54 (7:20 mile average.) So, A PR from last year will be my I feel great and everything went perfect goal. My next goal will be to finish under 8:00 minute/mile average, and my I feel awful and everything went wrong goal will be to finish feeling like I got a good workout in. :) Whatever happens, It'll be a good day because I have a $10 fro yo giftcard that I'm planning to use post-race. :) 

2. Protein Shakes. After I read this advice in Kara Goucher's book (It's towards the bottom of the post), I got a few protein samples and then ended up buying my first container of whey protein a few days later. 

I really have noticed a difference in how I feel. Why did I wait so long to start drinking recovery shakes? After I did my whopping workout of 2 miles this morning, I came home and made myself a super hearty and delicious protein shake so I could make sure my legs will be nice and recovered tomorrow morning. 

Here's the recipe for today's shake:

1 C. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

1/2 Frozen Banana

1 T. Peanut Butter

1 tsp. Chia Seeds

2 T. Oats

It was so good! Go try it. 

3. Reading Running Books. I went from not reading at all last year to having too many books I want to read this year. I made a New Year's Resolution to read one book a month, but I think it's going to turn into a lot more than that. I finished Kara Goucher's Running For Women in about a week, and now I'm reading two books at once. My avid reader sister will be proud. :) (<--Check out her reading blog if you like to read.) 

I've been taking B to Library time once a week for the past year and a half, and I always come home with a stack of books for him, but I never picked any up for me. I used the excuse that it was too hard to look for my books when he was running around the library like crazy, but now I just get online and figure out what book I want before I get there. Then I can reserve them and pick them up. Technology is great. I definitely recommend these two books! Mile Markers is a short, easy, light read, and Running on Empty has me in suspense about what's going to happen next. Who knew a running book could be suspenseful? 

What's something you're loving this week?