WIAW Returns! {Long Run Eats}

hi guys! i haven't participated in WIAW in awhile (mainly because i've been lazy and haven't captured a full day's eats in quite some time!) but i'm excited to be back this week!!

these meals/snacks are all from monday, when i did my long run of the week for my half marathon training plan.

before i left the house, i had my usual pre-run breakfast of toast with almond butter and coffee. i let it digest for an hour or so while reading blogs and then started to get ready to go. i couldn't find my usual sour jelly beans that i've been using as fuel on long runs, so i stole one of my dad's cappucino hammer gel packets (he bikes a LOT so we have lots of fuel-type things around the house!).

i set out not sure what to expect on my run. i just recently spent 3 days at college orientation and didn't work out any of those days, and i had done BodyPump the day before (i originally hadn't been intending on doing my long run on monday, but that's just the way my schedule worked out).

but, despite my doubts, i had a great run! i did a big loop starting at my house with a few water stops planned out along the way. around mile 6, i took the gel and drank a bottle of water. i honestly was expecting it to taste disgusting, despite my love of coffee, but i LOVED it! it tasted kind of like a mocha frosting or something, and didn't mess with my stomach one bit. new favorite running fuel!

(the overall run was at 9:07 min/mile, i just finished with a pace of 8:44, in case you were wondering!)

i finished my run feeling on top of the world, and like i could've added those 3.1 miles without too much more trouble. i'm feeling really confident and i think i'm going to do my solo half marathon sometime in the next week! WOOHOO!

yep, i'm a crazie. :)

when i got back, the first thing i did was blend up a green monster. (i think i need a shirt that says 'will run for green monsters' because it's SO true!) in the mix was a few fresh strawberries, a cup of plain greek yogurt, a cup of frozen mixed berries, ~1/2 cup frozen spinach, and almond milk.

i also had one of my mom's homemade bran muffins, warmed up with some almond butter. YUM!

then we got to work on making my brother's and my tshirt quilts! ever since we were little my mom started saving tshirts from important stuff once we stopped wearing them, and i've been adding to the pile of favorite tshirts ever since. the plan was to make my brother Jay and I tshirt quilts for college, and i'm SO excited that it's finally actually happening. i spent most of the afternoon picking which shirts i wanted, helping my mom cut them, and laying them out.

here's what my quilt/blanket is {hopefully} going to look like!

i love all of the color and happy memories all of those shirts hold, so i can't wait for it to be finished! (also, my mom is the BEST! i got home from work today and she was already starting to sew my quilt!)

while we were cutting the shirts, i had an unpictured bowl of cookie dough ice cream as an afternoon treat. then, we headed to target and whole foods for some fun shopping! i got sheets, pillowcases, and a mattress pad for my dorm room (more on that later, i'm planning on doing a big post with everything i'm bringing next year further in the future!), in addition to lots of fun foodie goodies! while we were walking around i got one of the new starbucks refreshers berry drinks. it was pretty good!

here's the {food} loot from both target and whole foods:

• peanut butter panda puffs
• 2 jars of Barney Butter
• a box of truvia packets (new love!)
• a big container of vanilla chobani
• coconut m&ms (guilty pleasure)
• a few luna bars, a balance bar, and a PureFit bar (new whole foods find - so good!)
• 3 bars of dark chocolate

so yeah, basically just lots of fun treats! i was one happy camper :) 

i had a bowl of the vanilla greek yogurt with almond meal and sprinkles when we got home (major long run munchies kicking in!) to hold off my hunger until dinnertime.

we had whole foods hot bar for dinner - i got fried rice with tofu, a few roasted potatoes (underneath), and a sesame noodle salad thing. it was all delicious!

dinner was enjoyed while having a family movie night watching the dark knight! i'm super excited for the new batman movie to come out on friday!!

dessert was a bowl of coconut and pretzel m&ms, and a LOT of unpictured kettle korn.

*random tangent* looking back, i probably could've had a few healthier things to refuel, but lately i've been trying to not worry so much about whether something's healthy and just enjoy it if i'm craving it. i'm trying to 'let go' a little bit, i guess you could say, and just relax and ENJOY myself more. so what if i have a little extra sugar one day? everything balances out in the end. i know that overall i have a VERY healthy diet in comparison to many people my age, and splurging every once in awhile (as long as it is making me happy) is a good thing. *tangent over* haha :)

and then i faceplanted in bed. twas a good day.
what's your preferred long run fuel? 
favorite thing from the whole foods hot bar?