It?s Never Too Early

Hi, guys!

I’m putting in a couple of extra hours at NuVal today and tomorrow, so I prepared this afternoon’s lunch post right after eating breakfast this morning. It was sort of weird blogging about lunch just minutes after finishing my breakfast post, but I guess it’s never too early to start thinking about your next meal!

Once again, I tried to pack another well-rounded lunch that covered the nutritional bases. I’m probably a little low in the protein department, but I think I did well everywhere else.

Carrots and Oikos Greek yogurt + Uncle Sam’s cereal.

A Gala apple and FruityNut bar.

And now for a guest post…

Hello Carrots ?N? Cake readers! I?m grateful for the opportunity to write a guest post here on Tina?s blog to share the story of my first marathon experience.

I?d always dreamed of completing a marathon someday. But I only dreamed, until one day 7 months ago, when I did something crazy. On a whim, I entered my name into the lottery for the New York City Marathon. When I clicked ?submit? I assured myself that I wouldn?t get in, because after all, I have never known anyone to get in through the lottery. Well, imagine my surprise a month later when I got an e-mail saying: ?Congratulations! You?ve been accepted into the 2009 New York City Marathon!? After reading the e-mail, I was slightly in shock, but quickly decided to get up and moving and begin the journey of training for a marathon.

Since I began training for this marathon, many people have said to me, ?I could never run a marathon.? Well, I?m here to tell you that if I can do it, anyone can. It?s not easy, but it is an attainable goal. I?ll never forget the first time I attempted to run a mile – I only made it about 3 minutes before having to walk the rest of the way. I slowly built up my endurance and completed a 5K. I then moved on to a 10K and then a couple of half-marathons before deciding I wanted to attempt a full marathon. I?ve never been a fast runner and my goal with each race I enter is to simply finish. I encourage anyone with a dream of completing a marathon to give it a try. Your body will surprise you with what it is capable of doing.

While creating my training schedule I questioned how I would stay motivated during this time, considering I would be tackling this alone. At this point, I decided to begin writing a blog, runningtails.wordpress.com, to hold myself accountable and allow my family and friends to be updated on my training. It was the best decision I made during the training process. Blogging about the trials and tribulations of marathon training not only held me accountable to my running schedule, but also gave me an outlet to share my accomplishments and frustrations.

Running the New York City Marathon was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Although I had been warned it was a challenging course, I knew that this was the marathon I wanted to be my first. The crowds and bands along the way were loud and encouraging. The views of the Manhattan Skyline were breathtaking as I crossed the various bridges throughout the course. By far, the best view along the course came just after re-entering Central Park and seeing the finish line ahead, lined with crowded bleachers that were filled with cheering fans. I definitely hit ?the wall? at mile 20 and struggled to make it to the end, but crossing that finish line was one of the proudest moments of my life. I had become a marathoner. Something I had only dreamed of for so long.

So if you have always had that dream of running a marathon, go for it! Start slow, start a blog, and start chasing that dream.

Check out the giveaway on Trading Up Downtown!

Did you know that some beans score a 100 on the NuVal scale? Check out Melissa’s recent post: The Beans that Scored 100.

Yale researcher?s nutrition system promotes health

For those of you on board for Lose the Dough, what type of information do you want me to include as part of my game plan?