When I first moved from Tallahassee to Orlando a couple of years ago, I was jobless and homeless. Luckily my loving parents were willing to take me in rent free. (or you know I sort of moved in without asking. But hey, what are parents for?)
I lived at home for about a month before I found my current job. I couldn’t wait to start, but unfortunately the apartment that I fell in love with – and still live in today – wasn’t available until two weeks after my official start date. Booo…
Not being able to move into my new place meant I had two glorious weeks of fighting rush hour traffic on my way to and from work. Without traffic it probably takes 45 minutes to travel from my parents house to my office, but with rush hour thrown in the mix I was spending 1.5 hours each way stuck in traffic. That’s 3 hours a day in my car – 15 hours a week!
I was not a happy camper those two weeks!
Since then I’ve learned my lesson for when ever I decide to stay at my parents on a work night – leave early!
I was up at 5:00 am this morning, out the door around 5:20 am, and back at my apartment just after 6:00 am. I didn’t hit a wink of traffic and still had plenty of time to pack for the weekend and make a yummy breakfast once I arrived home. Sure I was up before both of my parents, but it was worth is. 🙂
Being able to enjoy breakfast at my own apartment was extra exciting this morning because it meant I was finally able to sample the Chocolate Oikos.
There was a layer of chocolate on the bottom that I swirled in with the yogurt.
After experiencing the extreme sweetness of the caramel flavoring the other day I was expecting something along the same lines, but that simply was not the case. This yogurt was more tart than sweet and the chocolate mix-in reminded me of Hershey’s syrup I used to top ice cream with as a kid. I tried two bites straight from the container and really enjoyed it. The combination reminded me of melted chocolate ice cream.
I also found this yogurt was a little thinner than other oikos I’ve sampled in the past. Not sure why that was.
After my two bites, I dumped the rest onto a bowl of cereal with other fun mix-ins.
- 1/2 cup Shredded Wheat
- 1/2 cup Peanut Butter Puffins
- 1/4 cup Granola
- Strawberries
- Chocolate Oikos
This whole contained three of my favorite flavor components mixed into one – Strawberry, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter. Yum!
In less than 24 hours I will be at the starting line of my very first 50k!
Part of me is very nervous, but the other much larger part is really excited to achieve a new goal! I’I haven’t felt any fear yet, but I think the fact that I ran the 15 mile version of this race last year and know what to expect helps out with that.
Do you feel more relaxed running courses you are already familiar with or does knowing what’s to come bring more fear?
For some reason, I’ve never enjoyed cocoa powder in my yogurt, it just doesn’t taste right.
And that’s a good q–I never thought about it. But I’m running the providence half marathon in 4 weekends, and since I live here I assumed it’d be a good thing to run the course a few weekends in advance
I can’t imagine having to travel so long in traffic. I would likely go insane. I don’t know how people do it. You’d have to really love your job, I guess.
I like the sound of that yogurt 🙂 I wish we had Okios in England!
I like running courses I don’t know – I think that’s LESS scary cos I won’t be worrying about the big hill coming up or anything, and the scenery change is always welcome. Unknown all the way 🙂
You must be so excited about the race! Can’t wait to hear about it 🙂 Have a good day!
all I can say is getting lost in unfamiliar neighborhoods or taking a turn down the wrong street is not fun. Have you ever done that?
Good luck on your race! I’m sure you’ll do great!
I think it’s way easier to know what’s coming. Otherwise I’m always wondering how long is this hill, how long is it till the turn around, etc.
Good Luck tomorrow! You will do awesome, can’t wait to hear about it!
I always find that I’m much more relaxed running courses I’ve already done because I know what is coming! Can’t wait to read all about how hard you ROCK this race Meghann!
GO GIRL! You will be an ultra marathoner after this weekend!
I really running new courses. It make it more exciting 🙂
I like familiar courses. Good luck with the race. You will rock it, girl.
I tried that Chobani for kids (I won it in a contest from Anne P) and found the same thing; it was much thinner than regular greek yogurt.
I can’t imagine that commute! Wow!
It depends on how bad the course is. 😉
I think usually I like a familiar course. I do most of my long runs along an ocean route and several races follow that same route. Although that may have to do more with the scenery…. the runs there don’t seem as long for some reason, having the ocean there makes it more enjoyable.
Man….I’ve always lived in pretty small towns, and I think it would drive me CRAZY if I ever had to move to somewhere with bad traffic! Sounds like you’re pretty good with dealing with it though.
good luck tomorrow meghann! I can’t wait to read the re-cap!! 😀
That yogurt looks amazing, I may have to hunt some down. Good luck this weekend!
I’m not really a fan of chocolate Oikos. I wanted to like it so badly and I loved the caramel flavor but the chocolate just didn’t do it for me. But I think your breakfast would be awesome with the caramel, i may have to try that!
Girl, you are going to ROCK that race!
oh my you rock Meghann-a 50 K-holy moly! good luck and i look forward to hearing about it 🙂
yes running races or courses that i have run before is much less intimidating…..than new ones.
good luck you will do great!
Good luck with the 50K tomorrow!!
I don’t know if I would enjoy that flavor of yogurt because I have a major sweet tooth and don’t enjoy tart flavors. However, that breakfast combo sounds divine!
You are going to rock the 50K this weekend. I can’t wait to read the recap!
I usually feel better running routes I already do on a regular basis. It helps me with my time. If I pass by a landmark, I look at my time to see how my pace is. Every once in awhile I really want to mix things up, so I will do a random route.
In less than 24 hours, I’ll be running a race that is further than I’ve ever raced before too! (8 miles)
I did a practice run through the route of my first race and I was TERRIFIED because of how difficult the practice run was! The route was pretty hilly and it was a long distance for me back then (5k! lol). I ended up doing a lot better than I expected though!
Good luck on tomorrow’s race!!
Hi, I’ve never commented before but good luck on your first 50K. I’m planning to run one hopefully at the end of the year. I can’t wait. I know that you’ve run marathons how did training for a 50K differ for you? I’ve run two marathons and Boston will be my third. After my second marathon I had to scale back my training because I totally over trained for my second. I know that training for a 50K would require more running. What did you do different for a 50K? I hope you don’t mind me asking.
I hear ya! I commute 1.5 hours each way each day so 15 hours a week just like you were doing. I’ve been doing it for 3 years and it’s no fun. It’s really hard to find time to work out! I at least try to get a walk in during the workday if I have time.
Good luck on the race!!!
Hi Meghann,
Just discovered your blog! Very nice! I *just* started training for a 5K (hey- you gotta start somewhere!), and I know you will be a huge inspiration for me as I motivate myself to run longer distances in the future.
Best of luck on your 50K!
-Heba
best of luck tomorrow! cant wait to hear how it goes for you…
Not really a fan of chocolate yogurt myself! Have a great easter.
I get nervous at new distances. I’m running my first 10K race tomorrow and I’m a bit nervous. But I know I’ll finish and then I can only improve my time from there.
Ah good luck! So intense, cannot wait for the recap!
Sara
I had that same time-consuming commute the first time I got a job – so brutal!
Hope you don’t mind if I link to this in my post!
I definitely enjoy races more when I know what to expect…especially hills!
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