1. Fun with chia seeds… It’s been a while since I posted here — I’ve been busy training and fund-raising ;) — but I’m back! For a pre-run snack today (had 6 miles on the schedule), I had my usual PB/toast combo and decided to make some chia fresca. Yes, the chia fresca looks disgusting, admittedly. I first read about it in the book Born to Run, which, in a nutshell, chronicles the journey of a few crazy American distance runners as they attempt to keep up with Mexico’s native Tarahumara Indians. The Tarahumara regularly run distances equivalent to ultramarathons, often fueled largely by a cornmeal mixture and this drink, which they make with chia seeds, lime juice, and sugar. I mixed it up based on a few different recipes I found online. The taste was fine — not sweet, although the texture would have weirded me out if I was more squeamish or picky. The seeds soak up water quickly and develop a gummy texture, and kinda float to the bottom of the water so they look like amphibian eggs, quite frankly. Yesterday, when I planned to run at least 6 miles, I bonked really hard at the 5.5-mile mark, even after eating some caffeinated Shot Bloks around my usual 4ish mile point. Today, I ate my usual toast/peanut butter snack, and drank the chia fresca and felt AWESOME. I didn’t have to eat the Shot Bloks and felt super great all the way through the end of 6 miles. I could have kept going if I had re-fueled at that point, but I forgot to take anything besides water with me. It could be the placebo effect, the fact that I got more sleep today, or the fact that I did my training run in the evening when I naturally have more energy. Either way, I’ll take it, and I’m going to keep experimenting with all these variables as I continue my half-marathon training. Other great news: I am more than 70% of my way towards my fundraising goal!! I only need to raise $320 to hit my target. I am reading more and more good news about research on blood cancers, and a friend of mine who was diagnosed earlier this year just got a cancer-free scan after several chemo sessions! And, running is getting easier and easier every day… So, I am pumped to continue this journey. If you’d like to kindly support my huffing and puffing through a half-marathon, and the fight against cancer, please visit my Team in Training donation page here.

    Fun with chia seeds…

    It’s been a while since I posted here — I’ve been busy training and fund-raising ;) — but I’m back!

    For a pre-run snack today (had 6 miles on the schedule), I had my usual PB/toast combo and decided to make some chia fresca.

    Yes, the chia fresca looks disgusting, admittedly. I first read about it in the book Born to Run, which, in a nutshell, chronicles the journey of a few crazy American distance runners as they attempt to keep up with Mexico’s native Tarahumara Indians.

    The Tarahumara regularly run distances equivalent to ultramarathons, often fueled largely by a cornmeal mixture and this drink, which they make with chia seeds, lime juice, and sugar.

    I mixed it up based on a few different recipes I found online. The taste was fine — not sweet, although the texture would have weirded me out if I was more squeamish or picky. The seeds soak up water quickly and develop a gummy texture, and kinda float to the bottom of the water so they look like amphibian eggs, quite frankly.

    Yesterday, when I planned to run at least 6 miles, I bonked really hard at the 5.5-mile mark, even after eating some caffeinated Shot Bloks around my usual 4ish mile point. Today, I ate my usual toast/peanut butter snack, and drank the chia fresca and felt AWESOME. I didn’t have to eat the Shot Bloks and felt super great all the way through the end of 6 miles. I could have kept going if I had re-fueled at that point, but I forgot to take anything besides water with me.

    It could be the placebo effect, the fact that I got more sleep today, or the fact that I did my training run in the evening when I naturally have more energy. Either way, I’ll take it, and I’m going to keep experimenting with all these variables as I continue my half-marathon training.

    Other great news: I am more than 70% of my way towards my fundraising goal!! I only need to raise $320 to hit my target. I am reading more and more good news about research on blood cancers, and a friend of mine who was diagnosed earlier this year just got a cancer-free scan after several chemo sessions! And, running is getting easier and easier every day… So, I am pumped to continue this journey.

    If you’d like to kindly support my huffing and puffing through a half-marathon, and the fight against cancer, please visit my Team in Training donation page here.

About me

My name is Arielle, I'm a 27-year-old freelance writer from Miami, Florida and I've just undertaken one of the biggest challenges of my life -- I'm running a half-marathon with Team in Training to help beat leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood cancers.

Click here to read more about why I'm doing this and to skip right to my donation page!

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If you're wondering more about me, I'm around the web elsewhere at these places:


Official-ish web site: ariellecastillo.com
Twitter: @ariellec
Personal Tumblr: ariellec.tumblr.com
Completely unrelated Tumblr about vintage ska, reggae, and soul (nerd alert): sweetsoulfulsounds.tumblr.com