Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Finally! A run! And some more muffins.

Now that the weather is finally nice out, I had no more excuses. I had to start running today, and last night, as I shoveled chips and homemade guacamole into my mouth (at 11pm, no less), I swore to Phil that today would be the day.

Cut to this morning, and I really didn't want to. I started to make the same old excuses, but none of them cut it. It was now or never, and I'm sick of playing this game.

And you know what? It wasn't that bad. Sure, it wasn't as nice as my runs last summer, but it was a start. I mapped out a run, first, using MapRunner and I planned a 1.63 mile run, thinking I'd barely be able to do that. I mean, my only exercise is 3 miles to work and 3 miles back on bike, which really isn't much. When Phil's older brother, Sean, was here visiting, I had told him that everytime I started running again, no matter how long it's been between runs, I can do 2 miles. But as I started this run I suddenly felt so heavy, so out of shape, and so hopeless, that I immediately regretted announcing that out loud.

Gradually, however, I began to feel moe in my element, and I added 4 blocks to my run to push it to 2 miles. I definitely could have done more, but I do still have to bike to work, so I decided to go easy on myself on the first day. Whew! This winter I am getting a gym membership-- I can't let myself get so out of shape again!

Anyways, muffins. I made these last week and I wasn't going to share them because at first I thought they were a little bland. But as I've been eating them, I've still enjoyed them (heated up in the oven more five minutes or so) so I thought I'd share the idea of them, and not the recipe. And that idea is having a little surprise inside. So take your favorite, basic muffin recipe and try doing this with a little sweet treat, be it fresh fruit (some tart cherries would be great), chocolate chips, or carob chips, which is what I used.

Start by filling your muffin cups up 3/4 of the way. Then sprinkle your treat into the middle.

Cover with more batter to fill to the top!

I like to finish my muffins off with a little yummy, decorative touch:

Enjoy!

7 comments:

SueWho said...

the muffins remind me of some little sugar cookies (vegan,of course)that I made at the holidays last year - they had similar little surprises in them. Yum - your muffins look delicious!
And congrats on your running achievement - keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Those look so yummy!!

Alicia said...

As German say, you won the battle to your inner pig! congratulations! And the muffins look great! I would pick those chocolate chips and eat them alone!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

MMM the muffins look perfect!

And yay for warm, running weather :o)

VEGAN TICKLES said...

Just remember this:
"No one ever said they'd wish they hadn't exercised."
Cudos for you and your run.

zebeckras said...

I should not have read this entry while I am this hungry. Mmm.

Good on you for the run! I felt similarly on Tuesday since I'd taken a break on running for a few weeks (recurrent knee problems, boo). Feels sooooo good once you finish, like "Hey! I could keep going for miles!"

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM