sidebar | life and training 1.5 – 1.11

Why does one little thing zap the positivity of a whole day?

One thing in therapy that I’ve been extra attentive to lately is my propensity to let one inconvenience or warped plan destroy even the best day I might be having. I self-sabotage quite frequently; it’s exhausting, not to mention unhelpful when I’m trying to enjoy a day out with J or another event that’s few and far between in my schedule.

Saturday, after a brilliant 18 miler and a solid morning of recipe development, we tried to visit a cafe in Seminole en route to a park we had on our radar. The shop was so crowded there was nowhere to sit, so I opted out of ordering and sort of declined from there. Granted, in hindsight I don’t think it helped that I was tired from my run and hadn’t had coffee yet that day (I guess I do have a need for that morning mug!).

Case in point, we visited the park – George McGough Park – and my brain was so fuzzed up that I didn’t quite observe with the clarity I hoped to, and kind of meandered around in a silent fog. I thankfully took some photos and now can look back at how tranquil and neat the place was. They have a small raptor sanctuary where you can observe some rescued birds, and the Great Horned Owls were my favorite. One of them peered at the passersby with such loud fucking judgment that even in my compromised headspace I sort of giggled at his antics.

Behind sheep, I think owls are my second favorite creature in the animal kingdom. They’re so sassy, smart, and just neat birds to watch.

I did recover a little bit by trying a Wawa smoothie for the first time. Chocolate banana. I was impressed! The ingredients were pretty good, I think, and I got the protein version for a little heft since I was starving and needed some extra nutrition.

After some good conversations I think I in part concluded that, because I’m so often disappointed with the human side of outings (in my view, folks not being very involved in the recent past on the rare instance that I’ve organized events) that the logistical side takes a foothold, even at the expense of good company. Realizing this might help me shift my mindset. Also, having a plan b and even a plan c could help calm that part of me that will always thrive on having an agenda.

So, even in 2026 and at 32 years old, I’ve lots of work to be done in the noggen.

We had some strange weather this week, tons of fog on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Like, visibility was 0, likely no more than 200m. On Wednesday I scheduled a workout, as I do, and during my warmup knew that proceeding to my normal path with my plan was not going to happen. I had a strong sense of danger that I couldn’t and wouldn’t ignore. So, I took my speed session to the treadmill and adjusted my original goal from 8 x 1k at threshold to 6 x mile at half marathon pace. It went really nicely and I actually had fun! In THIS instance I was really proud of my flexibility and adjustment. Proves that I can do so sometimes.

Thursday morning was much of the same, except I ran 9 miles on my treadmill at an easy clip. Indoor running really isn’t too bad in my view and knowing that I can plug in some faster segments will help over the summer during my 5k cycles.

I managed one little coffee outing this week with Littles Miss Ba, a trip to Shortwave for a peppermint white mocha. It was tasty, but I’m always a bit let down when the barista can’t do latte art (or doesn’t do it). Fun fact: I’m actually pretty good at it at points!

Lots of fun meals and snacks this week! I’ve been making bear waffles or bear toast quite a lot, as it adds a little whimsy to my afternoons and a little nip of nutrition. Lots of comforting hot cocoa and meals with bread since we had three types of artisan loaves in the house at one point: baked eggs in tomato sauce for pre-long run carb loading, boiled eggs and avocado, and this phenomenal salmon and broccoli omelet I made with my leftover coffee rubbed salmon. I also made a chopped salad with artichokes, chickpeas, vegetarian sausage, and ham, since J had an assload of ham leftover from making potato leek soup. Delish.

And, on Sunday when I visited mom, we made frozen hot chocolates! So fun.

That’s all I’ve got for now, kids. I’m in peak week now for my marathon and today hammered out 11 miles at my goal pace, 15 miles total. It was challenging but ultimately very rewarding. I’ll talk more about it later.

Cheers and enjoy the week, friends!

The Fuck We Cooking This Week?

…CAKE POPS!

…A cozy baked pasta.

…A sweet strawberry cocktail for you and your sweetheart.

A Few Things I’m Digging

National days…Okay, I’m really getting into the goofy national food days this year. I’m marking the fun ones on my calendar and trying to make sure I enjoy whatever it is on that given day. For example, this past Monday was National Whipped Cream Day, so I had a hot cocoa with lots of whip at home. I find it very whimsical!

Frozen hot chocolate…Mom and I made these cute little treats (there’s a pic in my narrative above) on Sunday for National Milk Day, and I forgot that they’re quite delightful! You can check out my recipe for Frozen Coffee Hot Chocolate if you need some inspiration. Definitely going to be in the warm weather rotation this year.

This Week’s Menu

Meatless Monday…Baked French Onion Chickpea Meatballs

Tuesday…One Skillet Chili Cheese Frito Pie

Wednesday…Sheet Pan Coffee Rubbed Salmon and Butter Potatoes

Thursday…Beer Cheese Broccoli Noodle Soup

Friday Cozy Hour…Red Velvet Cake Hot Chocolate

Saturday Baking…S’mores Cupcakes

Gameday Snack…Chipotle BBQ Sweet Potato Nachos

Shops & Wish List

Home

Michaels…Pining after this heart-shaped serving board for a concept I’ve got in mind…

Fashion

Target…Loving this ruched waist romper (probably black) and this pink flutter sleeve dress.

Week in Training

Monday, 1.5: 14.5 miles, 9:19 pace + 13 minute lift

Great workout this morning! My legs felt really odd, like I was running drunk or something? I most certainly wasn’t though. Protocol was 2 x 8k (about 5 miles) at marathon pace, and I nailed it! It was cool and very humid, about 57 with wind one on the return trip, but the air movement didn’t really bother me all that much. I averaged 8:37 and 8:35 for the intervals, which is a tiny bit faster than I expect is realistic for my race. The first interval my reps were 8:39, 8:36, 8:40, 8:36, and 8:39, and then the second, after 75 second recovery, at 8:31, 8:43, 8:37, 8:34, and 8:32. Took a Maurten around mile 4 and an Untapped at mile 8ish, and stopped for water a few times. So pleased!

Strength:

• 3 x 10 sumo squat 60#
• 3 x 10 ea. single leg press 100#
• 3 x 8 ea. sit squat 15#

Tuesday, 1.6: 7.5 miles, 11:17 pace + core work

Really annoyed with my watch lately, as it’s been cadence locking out of nowhere on my runs and skewing my heart rate data. Said I averaged 150 bpm on this run but I was solidly in the mid-low 140s so I’m guessing I was probably in the ballpark of 144-145. So dumb. Regardless, a good, slow, easy trot after lots of hard work yesterday!

Wednesday, 1.7: 10.3 miles, 9:13 pace + 5.1 miles, 10:53 pace

I am so proud of my self for how I adjusted this workout. When I started the fog was starting to roll in but wasn’t much worse than last week’s workout. However, about 5 minutes into my warmup my vision was so obscured that I couldn’t see more than 200m ahead of me, and I knew it would be very unwise to run intervals outdoors. I took it inside and adjusted my intervals to account for my lack of confidence on the treadmill, and ended up with a great workout! I ran 6 x mile at half marathon effort, descending from 8:20 to 8:13 the first 5 reps and finishing with a mile near threshold (8:06), on 1:10 recovery. I ran my warmup and cooldown outside, just circling my neighborhood. I am not the best at switching up on the fly, but I think it helped that I had a heads up that the fog could be bad the prior day, and I also don’t really fuck with personal safety.

Afternoon miles were wonderful, 147 bpm, and just felt really good.

Thursday, 1.8: 9 miles, 11:02 pace + 10 minute lift

The fog was somehow WORSE today than yesterday! I looked out my window when I got up, immediately knew I wasn’t in for an outdoor run, and headed to the treadmill for a nice easy trot. I toggled between 5.4 mph (11:06 pace) and 5.5 mph (10:54 pace) and felt pretty chill the whole time, with a 144 bpm heart rate average.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 incline press 20#
• 3 x 10 triceps extension 25#
• 3 x 10 runner’s press 10#

Friday, 1.9: 5.05 miles, 11:25 pace + core work

Really nice, slow recovery run, 142 bpm heart rate.

Saturday, 1.10: 18 miles, 10:47 pace

INCREDIBLE long run. Absolutely wonderful. I felt great once I got past mile 1 and just entered my flow state easily. Took my gels, as usual, at miles 4, 7, 11, and 14, and except the last mile I felt strong and in control of my legs. This is the first significant run that I’ve ever averaged under 150 for my heart rate (149, to be exact) which sounds like a weird milestone but means that my body has become really efficient over this training cycle. I am so impressed with myself, and feel ready for peak week next week.

Sunday, 1.11: 25 minute elliptical

Total running mileage: 69.5