Monday, April 23, 2012

Week #17 Coming Up... and Sweet Potato Smoothies and Muffins

Week #17 of our half marathon training started today with a 5 mile run this morning.  It is our last full week before starting our taper next week.  On Saturday we ran 11 miles and I want to do that again this Saturday... just to get a bit more confidence built up for being able to complete the full 13.1 miles on race day.

We ran and out and back today... the first 2.5 miles was pretty speedy for me.  We covered it in 28 minutes.  At the turn we drank some water and then started running again... took 30 minutes, with about a half minute stop at a traffic light, to complete the second half... I was pretty tired coming up that hill buy I was determined to beat it into the ground today so I kicked it up a notch and really charged up it... huffing and puffing all the way.  But it felt great!

W3 R58 W4
stretch - sporadic today, about 10 minutes

My after-run smoothie today had half a cooked sweet potato mixed into it with some cinnamon. I used some GNC protein powder cause it is a bit sweet, and darn it was good!  I must have sweet potatoes on the brain lately cause I just made some sweet potato muffins, too.

Beth, from Running Around My Kitchen blogged about them recently, and that is where I first saw them... it is a Runners World magazine recipe, and I put yet another twist on it... substituted some applesauce for the butter they call for and added some cinnamon.  Just delicious and filling, too. 

Give them a try....  Here is the recipe as I made them.


I am going to do some Arms n' Abs April work tonight, too.  Sure looking forward to doing more strength training after this race is over with in a few more weeks.  It just tires me out too much to do any leg work right now, in addition to all the running. 


Do you like sweet potatoes?

Have any new ways for me to use them?


15 comments:

  1. I think I might try those muffins. I have a sweet potato in my fridge that I just don't seem to have anything to do with!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I do love sweet potatoes too. I think I like them best baked with a little butter and nutmeg on them. Those muffins sound really good. I am going to book mark this so when I have some time I can try them out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great run! Thanks for the recipe. My kids will love these:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're running so well! :)

    I love sweet potato and put in quite a few recipes - most recently it was in my red curry. I also like to cut them into chips and drizzle with olive oil (and a sprinkling of salt and pepper). They are yummy after about 25mins in the oven.

    ReplyDelete
  5. so exciting!!! The race is so close - you and the Captain seem ready as ever, and those refueling options look amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats on the training! Sweet potato smoothies are one of my go-tos. I had one last night with extra ginger and some almond extract that was delish. Have you tried them with butternut squash? That's really good too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice run! Love sweet potatoes - never tried them in a smoothie...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds delicious! Good for you. Sounds like you are ready!

    ReplyDelete
  9. yummmmmyyyyy. ahhhhh. the muffins made me wish i could have one RIGHT NOW! can you believe it is just about time to taper!?! so exciting! lately my sweet potato obsession is sweet potato fries :) cant get enough of them :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats on your training! Great idea to substitute the applesauce….and seeing them here makes me crave them, I'm going to have to make them again soon!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sweet potato muffins?! Sounds delicious! I love sweet potatoes! I must give these at try sometime! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I left the recipe behind at Brian's when I left the Cape on Sunday. He's getting The Phoenix ready for the summer too, and you know how I feel about THAT! Ha! Ha! Guess I'll be sailing this summer because he said he'd make the muffins!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Those muffins look Yummy!!! I need to try that. I love sweet potatoes. I love pumpkin bread! I bet it's similar? I usually just eat my sweet potatoes baked with a bit of butter and salt.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love to put sweet potatoes into my pasta sauces or the filling for enchiladas...yum!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sounds like you are ready for your half! Very exciting! Those muffins look amazing! I wasn't a sweet potato fan growing up cuz we only had them all loaded up with brown sugar at Thanksgiving. I love them now pretty much any way.

    ReplyDelete

Love it when you leave me a comment!