Rainy runs and Sun(ny) Chlorella.

What a rainy weekend! Fortunately, there were pockets of clear skies so Saturday morning's soccer game was a go, as was Friday evening's easy run, a nice 4.5-miler.

Saturday's run, however, was a different story. We had the soccer game in the morning and then a birthday party and my plan was to go for a fast 5-miler in the afternoon. But it was rainy and I have a treadmill so I wimped out and headed down to the basement to run on the 'mill. I know, ridiculous.

Bad idea.

I ran for a bit, not really finding any sort of groove, and then Conal came down and started to play soccer. He was kicking the ball around and I was running when there was a loud SQUACK-type of noise and the treadmill abruptly stopped. I grabbed on to the safety bar, probably screamed a little, and didn't know what was going on.

And then I looked down and saw the soccer ball. It was lodged in between the treadmill belt and the motor. Great. Suffice it to say that I don't have the treadmill at my disposal anymore, at least not until we spend a little time trying to fix it. Ugh.

Since I had only run 1.75 miles when the 'mill stopped, I ran outside in the drizzly rain for another 3 miles, but never got up to the speed that my plan called for. For Sunday, then, I decided to go a little faster than usual. The rain, this time, worked to my advantage. I had 6 miles on the schedule and it is 6.6 miles to my parents' house so I decided to run there, since we were going over for dinner. It was only sprinkling out when I started my run but about a mile in to the run it was pouring.

Yikes. I was soaked and chilly, which made me speed up. Never-mind that the route to my parents' house is really hilly, I ran strong averaging an 8:45 pace for the 6.6 miles. Thanks, rain!


Overall, and poor treadmill aside, three good runs!


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On the less rainy side of things, I've been trying out Sun Chlorella recently. I had first heard about chlorella from Ironman Brendan Brazier, either in his book Thrive (check it out here)or in an interview, not sure. Anyway, I was interested in it so when I was contacted to review Sun Chlorella I was happy to.

Here is some information on chlorella. It's a green algae that lives in fresh water as a single-celled plant. It's dubbed a "super-food" because it is nutrient dense (full of vitamin C, beta-carotene, chlorophyll, lutein, vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, niacin, folic acid, biotin, choline, lipoic acid, calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron and chlorella growth factor, among others) and because it detoxifies your body. According to the material from Sun Chlorella, their chlorella granules can absorb pesticides in the food that you consume, helping to make what you eat healthier. The chlorella growth factor is "a nucleotide-peptide complex of substances found only in chlorella." It "may help to enhance your body's natural defense system activity, help to remove the multitude of impurities in your body, and renew cellular strength and integrity."

Yeah, sign me up for that!

Now, I have to confess that, at first, I was nervous to try the Sun Chlorella granules. Call me weird but I was a little apprehensive about eating algae. I first drank it in water, with my dinner and it was OK. But only so.

The next day I tried it in my smoothie (plain yogurt, frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries, chia seeds and, now, chlorella granules). It didn't change the look of my smoothie:

And the taste wasn't bad! In fact it tasted good, more or less like my regular smoothie. So that's how I've been having the granules, in my smoothies. My 3-year-old drinks a small cup of smoothie every day with me and he enjoys the ones made with chlorella just as much as the ones without. A win there, for sure.

Now, here's the question: Have a noticed any difference in my energy or overall health? Tough to say. Unfortunately, I think it is hard to judge how well supplements work, especially for someone like me. I'm still breastfeeding my 7-month old and I haven't had a full, uninterrupted night's sleep in I don't know how long.

I do know that I've been running well, even with so little sleep, and I've been recovering well from my workouts, even at my -- ahem -- advanced age. Could chlorella have something to do with those things? Maybe. People swear by it and the health claims are strong. I like it and haven't noticed any downside so I'm going to continue consuming it. 

My goal now is to find some new and different recipes and ways to use chlorella. Smoothies are great but it would be nice to eat it in other ways. I'm thinking that it might be good to add to salad dressing, for starters. I'll have to let you know how that works out!

You can learn a lot more about Sun Chlorella on their web site.

Have you tried chlorella? Do you have any good recipes to share? 

Review disclosure: I was sent samples of Sun Chlorella for review. I was not otherwise compensated and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.


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I hope you all had a great weekend! Don't forget to enter my Running on Empty giveaway. AND! If you like my little blog, please vote for me on Circle of Moms! Thank you!

Have a good week.

~ Felice