My Evening Ritual

For the past several weeks, I’ve been having the same evening snack.  I really think it plays a big part in the quality of my run the next morning.  I say this because I skipped the ritual several times in the last week, and my runs have been mediocre.  Last night, I returned to this ritual and I had a great run this morning.  Here’s what the ritual entails:

About 1 1/2 hours before I go to bed, I take a small handful of frozen blueberries and place them in a large coffee mug.  A take a large handful of frozen raspberries and place them in a bowl.  I let both defrost for about an hour.  Then, I pour Kashi 7 whole grain nugget cereal (think organic grape nuts) over the blueberries with some milk and eat that.  Once I’m done, I pack the defrosted raspberries in my juicer and juice them on low speed.  I then pour organic apple juice into the juicer.  This cleans the remaining thick raspberry juice from the juicer and thins the juice cocktail.  I consume a glass of this raspberry/apple juice cocktail.

Then, I retire for the evening.  No matter how stressful the day has been, this juice cocktail puts me right to sleep.  It’s usually a very deep, dream filled sleep.  I almost never toss and turn when I’ve had this cocktail before bed.  The cereal gives me the extra calories that I need for a strong performance in the morning.  It may sound crazy, but it works.

Planned workout

8 minutes warmup

4 miles at 9:15 pace

5 minutes cool down

Actual workout

9 minutes warmup

4 miles at 9:06

10 minutes cool down

This morning, it was cool and humid.  There was a breeze and rain was threatening.  I ran the first two miles at about 10:00 minute pace.  The third mile was about 8:45 pace, and the final mile was even faster.  I took no walk breaks and I cruised through the last half mile at almost 7:30 pace.  I felt like I had another mile in me too.  It was a great feeling after Monday’s mediocre run.  I wonder if the difference was the evening ritual.  Sunday night, I didn’t have the cereal or the juice cocktail.  Monday night I had both.

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Categorized as Food

6 comments

  1. You’re making me hungry. Bastert. 🙂

    I’m actually starting to carry something in the car or my purse, for nights when I’m stuck on the bridge! I’m a big believer in eating within the 1st half hour after a run, and it’s frustrating to be stuck in traffic. Last night, I had a Kashi bar that someone had given me, and it was heaven. If I’d had it Friday, when I was stuck for 1.5 hours in traffic, I would have been *much* happier. 🙂

  2. Don’t think less of me but adding a little Cap Morgan to that would also do the trick, probably about two shots would do. run long

  3. Do you use any nutritional supplements ?
    I have been taking a multivitamin for a while but am curious if there are any that are worth while to help me get stronger and give me more endurance too.

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