I apologize about the delay in postings, but here's the second and final part of the post:
On Saturday morning, my aunt and I woke up bright and early to head into town for our 5K run/walk at 8am. I didn't want to have much a breakfast, but at the same time I didn't want to risk running on an empty stomach, so I grabbed a banana as we headed out the door. (The ultimate runner's fuel!)
I'm going to be flat-out honest: I'm not a runner
whatsoever. I throw discus in track and field and swim competitively, but swimming endurance and running endurance are two seperate things. Yes, I had to run a 5K in 8th grade for a wellness class I was taking, but that was with over 9 weeks of training, but this time around I would be running another over 2 years later with
zero training. Surprisingly, I only walked through the water break stops.
I clearly remember running the last 200 yards and seeing the time flashing before me. I told myself that I refused to finish in more than 30 minutes, so when I saw that the clock read 29:50 at the last 100 yards or less, I dashed down the hill past the finish and completed the race in 30 minutes flat. Speaking from a general standpoint, 30 minutes for a 5K isn't fast at all (roughly 10 min/mile) but keep in mind that I didn't train and I never run more than maybe a lap for warmups for track or less for swimming drylands. Even when I did train for 5K, it took me 33:30 to complete the race.
PLANT STRONG, FTW! :D (yes, that was totally necessary)
After we were done with our 5K, we drove to
Twin Sisters Bakery to have a substansial breakfast. My aunt and I both went for the oatmeal; I ordered mine with apples and walnuts and my aunt had hers with raisins and walnuts. To wash it all down, I had a small glass of soymilk and plenty of ice-cold water.
The rest of our day consisted of lunch at Kona Grill (they even have a vegan menu now!) and shopping at the Shops at La Cantera well into the late afternoon. I ended up spending the majority of my spending money on some plantstrong "summer reading" books (
Blissful Bites; Keep it Simple, Keep it Whole; The China Study; The Starch Solution and Neal Barnard's book for Reversing Diabetes [[which actually was my dad's father's day present but I ended up reading it before giving the book to him]]) and the remainder on some cute clothes from American Eagle and Forever 21. Once we returned home, we were more than ready for dinner and started to prepare homemade veggie pizzas. (We used the whole wheat pizza dough recipe from happyherbivore.com) Additionally, I prepared a simple raw kale salad made with dinosaur kale, lemon juice, avocado and a bit of sea salt to go along with the pizza.
Everything came together beautifully and we each enjoyed our salad and pizza while we watched the San Antonio Spurs take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. (To be honest, I'm not a fan of basketball, whether it is college or professional, but felt it was necessary to support the "hometown" team) I also enjoyed a cup of Amande almond milk yogurt I had bought the night before at Whole Foods (picture was in the last post)
Sunday was slow-paced in comparison to the rest of the weekend, but I still enjoyed the quality time spent with my aunt. We woke up and went to a farmer's market down the street a little ways with her Australian Shepard, Chica and purchased more local/organic vegetables and fruits then we knew what to do with. Fortunately, we were able corporate most of the produce we had purchased into our dinner that evening, and whatever we were not able to use went home in my carry-on. (Fredericksburg peaches are
HEAVEN ON EARTH. Forget Georgia peaches, Texas Hill Country is where it's at!)
Anyways....
To close off our weekend together, me and my aunt sat down and watched my Forks Over Knives DVD. I had seen the film at least 3 times already before sitting down and watching it with my aunt, but let's face it, it doesn't ever get old. By the time the movie had concluded, my aunt seemed convinced and had told me that she was interested in trying out a plantstrong diet. I was estatic that I had finally convinced someone in my family to eat more plants, since my parents have been quite hesistant.
It was great getting away from home to spend time with my aunt in the beautiful city of San Antonio. I can't wait to go back in the near future to continue our plant-strong adventures together! :)
Here's a picture of our plant-strong dinner creation (not all of my dinner is in the picture because I kept taking bites of a little bit of everything so we wouldnt' be late getting to the airport):
P.S. I promise I will do my best to post on a more regular basis (once a week or every 2 weeks at the minimum, if not more often) since I currently don't have to worry about completing SAT's for homework every week.
