New trail and protein powder

After my bout of knee problems yesterday, I decided to cut my 5 mile run today by a bit and transfer to flat ground. In fact, I finally tried a new trail! I've been running the 2.1 mile loop by my apartment and it was getting pretty boring. In addition, there are parts with no sidewalk and some serious hills so that was definitely not going to help my knee. Due to some great searching by my mom, I went on a 15 minute drive out of town to try out the Brentwood Breezeway. It was a fantastic find! The loop around is about 6 miles I think, but I only did a portion of it due to time, light, and knee. I do hope to head back there for some of my long runs though. It is a whole lot more visually interesting than my current loop... AND FLAT! (Nashville is a pretty hilly place for those not familiar with the area.) I'm actually not even sure how far I ran as I left my watch at home (amazing how dependent I am on that thing now) but I'd estimate about 3 miles or so. I was pretty careful about my knee and walked whenever it started to fight me.

But really, isn't this trail just gorgeous? I kept taking pictures with my phone, probably to the annoyance of other runners on the trail...


Besides my run out there, I had a pretty low key day. I did manage to pick up a new protein powder. I'm definitely lagging on protein intake (only managed a measly 40 grams today) so I'm trying to squeeze some more in through this method as well as with low fat dairy and beans. First to try is GNC's be-BUFF Vanilla Bean Protein and Fiber Complete Mix. I bought it basically because I liked the new ads... I'm such a sucker for packaging and advertising. Today I had an OK shake with the powder and just water, but I'm hoping that adding a frozen banana will make it more palatable for me. This summer at Gold's Gym, I had an amaaaazing protein shake with some kind of chai tea powder, but I can't seem to replicate the flavor on my own yet. Anyone have suggestions for how to make protein shakes more tasty and fun?

Besides that, my school work is stressing me out a bit more than I'd like it to and I am hoping that I can start getting to bed earlier than my current 1:30am schedule, but we'll see how it goes. I know the work is only going to pile on as we head more into the semester. Speaking of heading into the semester, Happy Fall! I love this season and already made myself oatmeal with pumpkin butter and walnuts for breakfast tomorrow morning. Of course it won't be cool and autumny here for a bit, but I'm all ready to dive into fall foods. Butternut squash soup, apple cider, white bean chili... Mmm. Starved just thinking about it.