sidebar | life and training 6.9 – 6.15

Race #1 of summer = done!

Watermelon 5K, June edition. I signed up for the entire three-race series with my friend after he sort of coerced me with the monetary practicality: each race was $25, but all three is $50. Kind of a no brainer there.

Friday I drove up to Lakeland for packet pickup, but not before Little Miss Ba and I stopped over at one of my all-time favorite coffee shops, Concord. I’ve visited this place multiple times over six or seven years and the espresso is always incredible. Never a mediocre mug. I tried to tell the baristas this but think I came off weirdly aggressive in my complimenting. Sorry ladies! Not my best exhibit of social skills. I got a toffee chocolate chip cookie as well to enjoy with my cappuccino.

Drove over to packet pickup and snagged my bib, then came home for a traditional spaghetti and meatballs supper. Always my go-to, pre race meal.

Saturday morning I jolted up at 3:45 to get myself prepped for departure. I strolled for short of 2 miles to wake up, then sat down to coffee, a stroopwafel, and a little quiet time with Ba before getting dressed and moseying over to Lake Hollingsworth. The drive was easy and uneventful and I found parking with no hitch (except the tree was dripping rain and dirt or some shit from earlier and the brown splotches smacked all over Roly Poly. Rude).

My pal and I found each other pretty quickly, ran a warmup mile, and generally hung out around the start line until they called for us to fill our corrals. The day was sweltering, still, and swampy: no breeze, 100% humidity, perfect choking conditions.

We started on time, setting off on our loop around the lake. My first two miles were pretty alright, cloking 7:25 and 7:29, but then I fell completely off the ladder and ran a 7:42 for the third mile. I was most worried about mile 2 since that’s usually where I lose willpower, but I only sputtered during that span and felt overall okay considering. The last mile, though, I remember feeling like it lasted a fucking hour. Some dude ahead kept screaming shit like “1200 METERS LEFT”, “HALF MILE LEFT” and I honestly wanted to kick him in the balls at that point.

I was breathing recklessly during the final kilometer or so, to the point where I had no shame and was just wheezing out loud. The final 200m I let loose and tried to get some turnover in for a strong finish, but only slipped down to a 7:20 pace.

23:37, 7:35 official average. Tied my PR. What the hell.

I do think I gave this race all I had, though, considering the intensity of my finish line photos. THOSE I am not ready to show the world – they’re appalling, but they do embody how strenuous the 5K distance is. And I figure if the heat were less I’d be in sub-23 minute shape. The extremes of our weather make speed difficult, though.

I left Lakeland after our cooldown run and a little more time catching up, and passed most of the day until evening making brownies (recipe soon!) and generally spacing out on the couch. In the evening J and I went to Crooked Thumb Brewery for a casual evening out. We got lobster rolls and lobster fries from the food truck, Lobstah Daze – SO DAMN GOOD – and tapped our toes to some bluegrass when the band took the stage.

Sunday was J and I’s seven year anniversary, so we planned an afternoon in St. Pete. I honestly felt a little wrecked from Saturday’s race and I walked around at approximately .5 mph. Ah well. We got tickets to the Dali Museum and checked out their mural exhibit, then dinner at Juno and the Peacock on Beach Drive. The selections were amazing – I was impressed with everything we enjoyed. Started off with Monica’s Cornbread, which was lightly sweet with a kick of pepper, smeared with homemade honey butter; and the frito misto. Then, the Creole Caesar, and our entrees: seafood scampi for me, snapper over herbed rice and some other shit for him. Great dining experience and a unique but not weird menu. Would go back.

Finally, ice cream at Mayday. I got the Parent Trap, a peanut butter Oreo fixture, in a waffle cone. Ba was intrigued by the melty treat, but she was a bit afraid to get it in her wool so she only had a tiny bit.

A few meals from this week: freezer burritos, sheet pan pollock with baby potatoes and green beans, and another round of fries and Caesar salad.

A pretty interesting seven days here! Much fuller than usual. This week looks a little more chore oriented, but hopefully, as always, there’ll be a little room for adventure.

Until next time. Have a good week, friends!

The Fuck We Cooking This Week?

…A light but cozy summer chili for those rainy afternoons.

…ADORABLE and utterly fun cupcakes.

A Few Things I’m Digging

Breweries…Definitely been in a biergarten mood lately. Good food, crisp brews, and good company are a delightful summer trio I can get on board with. A few of my favorite local spots: Crooked Thumb, Tampa Bay Brewing, and Grand Central Brewhouse.

Cereal…A few weeks ago I bought Trader Joes’ Honey Os (you can guess what those are a knockoff of) and have enjoyed portions in yogurt or with lots of fruit for breakfast. I go through these cereal kicks every quarter it seems and that is my latest victim.

This Week’s Menu

Meatless Monday…Stove Top Buffalo Cheddar Mac n’ Cheese

Tuesday…Crispy Greek Tofu Pita Bowls with Garlic Feta Sauce

Wednesday…One Pan Baked Tomato Feta Shrimp

Thursday…Sesame Crusted Salmon Salad Bowls

Friday Happy Hour…Fresh Watermelon Lemonade

Saturday Baking…Giant Cowboy Monster Cookies

Sunday BBQ…Tomato Basil BLAT Crostini

Shops & Wish List

Fashion

Target…LOVE all their floral bikinis. Specifically: this daisy detail (top AND it’s reversible!), pink and green high waisted (top), and this side ruched multifloral pattern (top). This cherry tank is adorable (perfect with denim),

Week in Training

Monday, 6.9: 7 miles, 9:59 pace + 32 minute legs

Total flop and failure of a workout. Goal was 3k at 5k effort (about 1.8 miles) which hopefully amounts to 7:20-7:30 pace. Managed 1.48 miles – maybe a bit less since I stopped and started briefly – at 7:33 pace and did not feel controlled at all. It was SO hot at 81 degrees and my allergies felt like they were flaring, which didn’t help, but I ultimately blamed my lack of willpower for mangling my workout. Mile 2 is always hard when it comes to holding onto a pace, and this workout just proved that I have work to do still on the mental game.

Strength:

• 3 x 8 deadlift 90#
• 3 x 10 ea. split squat 50#
• 3 x 8 front squat 60#
• 3 x 18 ea. single leg bridge 25#
• 3 x 20 walking lunge 40#
• 3 x 15 single leg jumps
• 3 x 8 ea. split squat jumps

Tuesday, 6.10: 4.25 miles, 11:27 pace + 31 minute upper body

Big ole grump lump this morning. Heart rate was way higher for the pace I ran than I was happy with, but it might be cumulative stress from yesterday’s workout and maybe also from being in a mood.

Strength:

• 3 x 8/1 x 5 chest press 70#
• 2 x 20 T-raise 10#
• 3 x 8/1 x 5 narrow lat pulldown 60/70#
• 3 x 20 alt curl 15#
• 2 x 10/1 x 15 skullcrusher 20/15#
• 3 x 10 ea. diagonal single leg squat deadlift thing idk
• 3 x 10 ea. sit squat
• 3 x 20 Russian twist 20#

Wednesday, 6.11: 6.21 miles, 10:06 pace + 26 minutes core + legs

Final race pace sesh before Saturday’s foray! 4 x 600m with 75 seconds rest, then 3 x 200m with 60 seconds rest. Ran 7:22, 7:22, 7:23, and 7:20 pace for the 600s and 6:30, 6:30, and 6:26 for the 200s. Legs felt a little sleepy but overall this wasn’t bad and helped my confidence a tad. I think 7:28-7:30 is a realistic race pace if I have a good day Saturday.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 ea. bodyweight SLDL
• 3 x 10 squat jump BW
• 3 x 8 ea. eccentric step down BW
• 3 x 10 step out squat jump BW
• 3 x 12 ea. single leg squat BW
• 2 x 18 ea. single leg dumbbell pass 10#
• 3 x 6 ea. sit squat jump
• Foam rolling

Thursday, 6.12: 2.27 miles, 11:01 pace

Easy and relaxed afternoon treadmill miles.

Friday, 6.13: 4 miles, 10:43 pace

5 x 150m strides at race pace. Hard to hit a specific range at this short a distance and “lesser” intensity but the important part was getting the leggies spinning. My allergies are currently causing havoc in my sinuses and I’m not pleased about the timing of this – might be the Saharan dust or grass pollen, hard to say.

Saturday, 6.14: *WATERMELON 5K* 3.14 miles, 7:32 pace

Officially a 7:35 pace, 23:37. I am STUCK at that time, the last three races I have clocked that exact split and it really annoys me. Although, I must say that I’m confident my sub-23 fitness is there: this race was in much worse weather than I ran in November and December, so I know I can clock a 7:2x split if I’m consistent these next several months and refine my training to ensure I don’t die at the end of my race. Which I did here. My first two miles were great but I fell off during mile 3: 7:25, 7:29, then 7:42 with a 7:20 finisher. I think I gave it all I could and am looking forward to continuing my training even though the July and August races will be SO MUCH HOTTER.

Jeff and I also ran a 1.25 mile warmup and 1.5 cooldown so I totaled just under 6 for the day.

Sunday, 6.15: 2.5 mile walk (39:12)

Total running mileage: 29.6