sidebar | life and training 11.17 – 11.23

Happy Thanksgiving Week to most of ya’ll, and happy race week to the psychos amongst us!

Thanksgiving Day means Turkey Trot day for me, and I’m racing the 5K that morning before all the eating, drinking, and merrymaking can occur between mom and me. I’m three weeks deep in my marathon training cycle, and this week, aside from Thursday’s effort, will be a down week. For me that’s not a massive cut to my normal mileage, but after hitting 62 last week I’ll be closer to 50 to give my body a little extra time to recover before we really get into the long, marathon-specific workouts.

I’m feeling really good lately, and that’s a relief. Even this morning with nigh on 100% humidity and some dense (and quite spooky) fog, I ran a strong 2 x 3200 at 10K, averaging around 7:55 between the segments. I for some reason really prefer tracking workouts in meters or kilometers rather than miles. It just feels more natural to look at those numbers. Can’t explain why.

This last week was wildly busy, and this week will be more of the same. On Monday J and I ducked over to Chill Bros for a midday ice cream treat, since they’ve released their holiday flavors. The apple pie was stellar.

My routine was stunted due to a switch in my work schedule – temporary, but weird – so I ran my long run on Wednesday. This was a tad rough on my legs since I’d done my last long run the Saturday prior and a quality session on Monday. A lot crammed together. But the sunrise was absolutely beautiful!

On Friday I had a little extra time, so I visited Shortwave for a pumpkin hazelnut latte with Little Miss Ba. I’m curious about their holiday flavors once fall phases out, but I really enjoyed their lineup and it was nice to squeeze in a final taste.

I worked on Saturday morning, which was unusual, so I ran my double and then J and I drove out to Leon’s Lobstah Shack for dinner. This nook is unassuming and situated by the water at a sprawling park, which I run by most Saturdays now. They make a damn good lobster roll. We’d planned to go to a food truck at a brewery for rolls but they cancelled that event, but Leon’s ended up being a fabulous alternative. Their seasoned fries are killer, too.

We also saw all four cruise ships float away from the port and onto their next adventure. It was pretty cool: the first one departed while still bright out, and the succeeding ones were brighter and brighter as the darkness rolled in and the lights on the ship more copious and visible.

Enjoyed some “steak and eggs” and my Cranberry Braised Salmon for meals this week. The latter is one of my favorite recipes from way back when, I make it at least twice during this season.

I’m really stoked for the holiday, but this week will be laborious to get through. Long workdays, and stressful ones since I’m training (not my favorite thing), so it’ll be a challenge to squeeze in the extraneous prep and activities. Today I’m grocery shopping, prepping a few dishes, and getting laundry done. Hopefully another ice cream date will be possible, but we’ll see.

Be well, all! And if you’re in a panic, don’t be: my 2025 Thanksgiving Menu & Guide is there to soothe your nerves and help give you direction. My Instagram inbox is always open, too, if you have questions or concerns. I’m here for you, pals

The Fuck We Cooking This Week?

…A perfect last-minute Thankgiving appetizer (that’s great for the whole season, really!)

…A boozy and fun Christmas punch.

…A gorgeous addition to your holiday cookie boxes.

A Few Things I’m Digging

Hot cocoa-themed snacks…I bought the marshmallow hot cocoa popcorn and the peppermint cocoa granola from Target and I adore them both. I downed half the bag of the former in two days and love pairing the latter with coffee or vanilla yogurt, banana, and berries.

Bread…I swear I buy at least two loaves of Publix French bread every week now. The quantity of soup I’m consuming is borderline inappropriate lately, and I just need a crusty loaf to go with it.

This Week’s Menu

Meatless Monday…Tuscan White Bean Bacon Soup

Tuesday…Sheet Pan Sticky Pomegranate Salmon

Wednesday…Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Chickpea Caesar Salad

Thursday…HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 2025 FMG Thanksgiving Menu

Friday Happy Hour…Sleighride Cranberry Paloma

Saturday Baking…Salted Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sunday Brunch…Gooey Fluffy Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls

Shops & Wish List

Amazon cart…Grabbing another box of Untapped gels, and these adorable cookie tins for this year’s cookie box. I’m also nearing the time to buy another pair of Saucony Kinvara 16 since I’m wearing my current one down fast with my mileage.

Fashion

Target…Big fan of this burgundy skort, this mockneck cable sweater, and this holiday crewneck sweater.

Home

Crate & Barrel…Loving their Christmas edit. These pine tree candles or similar embossed pillar candles both would look beautiful atop a mantle with their ceramic LED houses…Really like these candy cane striped ornaments…These Christmas tree taper holders are stunning for a living room centerpiece…

Week in Training

Monday, 11.17: 11.5 miles, 9:15 pace + 21 minute full body

Fun workout today! Protocol was 7 x 1600 (mile) at half marathon effort. I initially planned to do some 400s in preparation of next week’s Turkey Trot but decided to switch to a longer session since I have more time today. So thrilled with how this went. I averaged 8:14 for the 7 miles of work, which broke down to these splits: 8:18, 8:17, 8:15, 8:15, 8:12, 8:12, and 8:11, each on 75 second recovery. I think these paces may be a bit too fast for a realistic HMP goal – I think I can do 8:18-8:20 on my current fitness – but it was a good confidence boost to feel so strong at the lower splits.

Strength:

• 4 x 10 deadlift 80#
• 4 x 8 ea. single leg squat 25#
• 1 x 8/3 x 10 triceps pressdown 32/27#
• 3 x 10 face pull 41#
• 20/15/10 lunge/squat/jump squat

Tuesday, 11.18: 6.2 miles, 11:16 pace + core work

Lovely miles this morning. Ramping up the easy days to get my weekly mileage up to where I want it for this cycle (around 60). Felt good but definitely sore from strength the other day.

Wednesday, 11.19: 16 miles, 10:47 pace

Schedule switch this week meant a Wednesday long run. I do not like them Sam I am. However, I do what I must and this really wasn’t bad, though my legs are certainly extra tired from long run Saturday-> session Monday -> long run today. Took my three gels as usually and a few SaltSticks. Not much to report otherwise, I largely enjoyed myself but look forward to getting back to my regular Saturday LSRs.

Thursday, 11.20: 8.45 miles, 11:03 pace + 15 minute strength

An oddly FANTASTIC run! I was really expecting to feel stiff and tired but perhaps the CBD ointment I used and some good sleep did wonders for my energy levels. 149 heart rate and grooved easily through these miles, though I did scrap the hill reps I planned since a simple easy run seemed more appropriate.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 lunge with biceps curl 15#
• 3 x 10 ea. side raise 15#
• 3 x 12 ea. leaning abduction
• 2 x 10/2 x 8 triceps extension 25/30#

Friday, 11.21: 5.2 miles, 11:18 pace + 6 minute core

Pleasant run, nice low 145 heartrate but my legs were definitely heavy! Strength training the day prior probably contributed.

Saturday, 11.22: 10.2 miles, 9:38 pace + 4.55 miles, 10:38 pace

16 x 400m at 5K effort! Haven’t done short fast bits for awhile aside from hill strides and I was really surprised how smooth this workout felt. Averaged 7:21 for the intervals and definitely held back – maybe with any luck I can pull off a sub-23 during the Turkey Trot next Thursday!

Beautiful afternoon for a chill double run.

Sunday, 11.23: 25 minute elliptical

Total running mileage: 62.1