Happy Saturday morning to ya! Hope you had a great start to your weekend last night. Mac and I hit the sack early and slept for a little more than 8 hours! It’s so nice to wake up without an alarm.

We rolled out of bed at 7 AM feeling refreshed and ready to hit the pavement. I checked the weather to find that is was 48 degrees outside! Nippy!! I pulled on some running tights and  a long-sleeve Lululemon top that I bought just for mornings like this and set off to accomplish something I’ve never done before: 6.2 miles.

Obviously Mac had to sit this one out. Like I’ve mentioned in the past, anything over 1.5 miles makes his ‘tiny dog syndrome’ kick in, and I have to drag and/or carry him the rest of the way if I want to keep running.

The run was fairly easy for me today, and my running pace was immediately faster than normal. I’m going to chalk this up to the cooler temps.

I made it in record time! Well, according to my records at least. 🙂 It felt great to run that final stretch down my street and have my Runkeeper app tell me I was over my goal of 6.2 miles. I’m so ready for my 10K on October 12th! I was most worried about making the distance without stopping, but now that I know I can do it, I only need to focus on maintaining my endurance and possibly increasing my time.

So you’re wondering why I called this post the Mac & Cheese Long Run? Well because it was exactly that…

This is the Kraft Factory that I run by each time I mention going on longer runs. Yes, Kraft as in the Macaroni and Cheese that we all know and love. Most days, the parking lot is full, and I can see smoke coming out of those pipes. But today was slightly different. I got right next to the building (on the sidewalk of course), and I could smell Kraft’s macaroni and cheese just like there was a big bowl sitting right in front of my face!

Umm YUM!! I continued to smell the delicious cheesy stuff for about another mile. I even changed my breathing from my mouth to my nose (which I don’t like doing) so I could get a good whiff of it!

The craziest thing to me is how Kraft’s mac and cheese has such a distinct smell and taste compared to a homemade mac and cheese. It’s very distinguishable! And when you’re about 4 miles into your run, it makes it hard to focus when all you want is a big bowl of carbs to dig into. But I got quite a kick out of it. People driving by probably thought I was crazy as the whole thing had me laughing out loud at myself. So lesson learned: keep your nose ready for some cheesy goodness if you’re ever running down Bennett street in Springfield!

Breakfast

I made it home from my run and stretched well while sipping some water to rehydrate. I was then ready for coffee and FOOD! I brewed my Candy Corn flavored coffee this morning from Target and immediately poured myself a big mug full along with a splash of Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer. It hit the spot after being chilly during my run! I wanted the warmth to continue. So I toasted some bread while I microwaved 2 eggs with a splash of almond milk.

A little raspberry jelly perfected this sandwich with the awesome combo of salty and sweet. My eggs got extra nice and poofy in the microwave making my sandwich extra filling!

Mmmmmmmm eggy goodness. This hefty sandwich left me super satisfied, but I also had a small cup of Greek yogurt on the side for extra protein.

And now I’m very full but still sipping on the coffee. I can’t get enough of the Fall-flavored coffees. But tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF FALL!!! So my obsession is finally legitimate.

The rest of today will be spent teaching a Jazzercise class (yes, I’m crazy, I know) and doing some Fall decorating with a tiny and extremely whiny dog.

For some reason, every time Nick leaves for a longer amount of time, Mac goes into this annoying & whiny mode until he returns. I may have to go to Hobby Lobby to A) Look at all the Fall decor that is 40% off today! and B) Get away from my annoying furry baby for a bit. I love him, but momma can only handle so much.

Have a great Saturday! Get out there and carve some pumpkins or something!