Am I turning a corner in my world of running?
Happy Monday, friends! Saturday I ran a near-effortless feeling 10 mile long run, which wasn’t what I planned to do. I programmed my usual weekend sprint workout, but woke up feeling less than excited about putting my speed shoes on. I had the inkling that maybe I just wanted to run freely and see how distance felt after a fairly long hiatus.
My pace was snail-like at 11:53, but I felt great. Took my gel around mile 1.5 and just cruised through the rest of the minutes. I filmed my splits and analysis on Instagram if you’d like to watch that rambly reel.
The session was encouraging, so today I embarked on an introductory stamina session aimed at reaching 10k effort. 20 x 400m, I averaged 7:47 and I think the difficulty was in the duration of the workout rather than the speeds themselves. And the fucking stickiness. I’m very encouraged, though, considering I ran 10 x 400m not too long ago and struggled wildly at a similar pace.
What does this mean? Perhaps I’ll traverse through a couple weeks of 10k goal training to see how I progress, and if all goes well, I’ll sign up for the November 10K I really like. Granted, it is the same drive as the one I took in June when I got in the car accident, so there may be some modifications to that commute (staying overnight, namely). I’ll make my choice in a couple weeks!
Wow, I’m sitting here nodding off while I type, so I better make the rest of these musings brief.
Aaaand I nodded off, oops.
Very busy workweek so not much leisure time, and when I did have moments to spare I plopped myself down on the couch and read more often than not. My most recent completion was My Last Continent by Midge Raymond. This was actually a pretty heartbreaking, well-written story, set along the backdrop of the desolate and wild Antarctic landscape. I never think much about Antarctica but the purity and solitude drawn out in this novel fascinated the heck out of me – so naturally I fell into more than one rabbit hole.
Now I’m working on Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen. I love this satirical voice and the ridiculous characters he writes. Apparently this novel was made into a TV series? I’ll have to investigate.
Little Miss Ba and I did wander over to the pool last week for a little splashing, and Saturday I also got a midmorning swim in as well.
Good eats…Continuing with my Trader Joes menus this week! Chicken sausage with pan roasted potatoes and green bean casserole (part of my Thanksgiving menu, can’t wait!); ginger glazed pork chops with mushroom risotto and broccolini; “Elvis toast” with tofu bacon; BBQ chicken thighs with creamy slaw and my Loaded Cheddar Ranch Twice Baked Potatoes; chimichurri steak sandwiches with jus; Greek yogurt waffles; and a pumpkin affogato!
That’s all for today, folks. Hope all is well!
The Fuck We Cooking This Week?
…A decadent stuffed salmon.
…A fun and cozy banana cocktail!
…Pumpkin cupcakes because WHY NOT.
A Few Things I’m Digging
“Elvis toast”…For breakfast the other day I tried the infamous peanut butter-bacon-banana combo, with tofu bacon. So good! I drizzled my slices with maple syrup and sprinkled with a dash of Maldon salt. Delish.
Pumpkin ice cream…I caved and bought a tub of Publix’s Pumpkin Pie ice cream. One of the best I’ve found yet since it doesn’t taste like a mouthful of nutmeg!
“How To Do Fall in Florida (Or Any Other Seasonless, Hot Place”…Love the little tips in this article as I always struggle with being wistful that Florida sucks and I can’t experience true autumn. I’ll be breaking out the decor soon and drinking ALL the PSLs!
Notable Food Holidays
Monday, August 24: National Waffle Day (not a waffle, but why not kick fall off early with a batch of Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes? Try them out in your waffle maker!)
Tuesday, August 25: National Banana Split Day (Go bananas for a Banana Hammock Margarita!)
Sunday, August 30: National Toasted Marshmallow Day (I’m thinking some S’mores Cupcakes sound like a plan!)
This Week’s Menu
Meatless Monday…Tomato, Peach, and Cucumber Feta Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
Tostada Tuesday…Quick and Easy Sesame Ahi Tuna Tostadas
Wednesday…Ginger Maple Salmon Rice Bowls
Thursday…Hot Honey Pomodoro Pizza
Friday Patio Hour…Iced Apple Cinnamon Sweet Tea
Saturday Baking…Country Apple Pie
Gameday Snack…Loaded Cheddar Ranch Twice Baked Potatoes
Early Fall Style Edit
Five For Taco Tuesday
1. Crispy Buffalo Ranch Shrimp Tacos
2. Adobo Mushroom Carnitas Tacos
4. Barbacoa Jackfruit Tacos with Garlic Lime Crema
5. Crispy Jerk Shrimp Tacos with Coconut Pineapple Salsa
Week in Training
Monday, 8.17: 6 miles, 11:52 pace + 27 minute legs
My head was decidedly not in the game this morning. I woke up and just did not want to face the day, let alone slog about in the godforsaken heat. This workout was mediocre and I figured I’d just do what I could, which wasn’t much. 3 x 300m with 5 minute rest – 6:31, 6:24, 6:17 paces, 2 x 200 at 6:25 pace for both, then 1 x 500 at 6:18 pace, which was supposed to be more like 5:55-6:05. Flop.
Strength:
- 3 x 8 ea. split squat 15#
- 3 x 6 depth jump
- 3 x 6 ea. leg extension 70#
- 3 x 12 diamond squat 50#
- 3 x 6 jump squat 50#
- 3 x 10 runner’s press 15#
- :65 wall sit
- 22 alt. tick tock lunge
- 7 minute stretch
Tuesday, 8.18: 3.25 miles, 12:19 pace + 20 minute back & bis
Hill workout, nice and short but speedy! Ran 8 x 50m up a bridge near my house, topped out at a 4:45 speed and felt pretty good during the reps! I did accidentally start running a 9th though because I lost count, oops. Finished with 2 x 100m at 5:28 and 5:14 – very surprised by those – but scrapped the last two reps because I just wasn’t feeling it.
Strength:
- 1 x 5/2 x 10 biceps curl 25/20#
- 3 x 8 lat pulldown 60#
- 3 x 12 hammer curl 15#
- 4 x 8 narrow seated pull down 62#
- 2 x 15 ea. banded lunge hydrant
- 2 x 15 ea. lunge matrix
- 50 crunches
- 5 minute stretch
Wednesday, 8.19: 4.25 miles, 11:43 pace + 20 minute legs
Very sleepy legs this morning, but a fun workout despite it not going perfectly. 3 x 300m at 75% straight into 100m aiming for 95%, which I did not hit probably. Ran the 300s at a 6:48, 6:49, and 6:46 pace, and the 100s at 6:25, 6:14, and 6:24.
Strength:
- 3 x 20 walking lunge 10#
- 2 x 10 ea. single leg deadlift 50#
- 3 x 8 deadlift 90#
- 4 x 10 hip thrust 60#
- 55 a-skips + lateral hops
- :65 plank
- 5 minute stretch
Thursday, 8.20: 4.25 miles, 12:29 pace + 23 minute chest & tris
Average pace be damned – these were quick intervals and I’m super happy with the result! 5 x 150m with 2 minutes recovery: 32.8, 32.8, 32.9, 32.3, 32.9, with 2 minute recoveries (all those range from 5:46-5:52 average). 5 minute recovery, then 3 x 150m with 3 minutes recovery: 30.8, 31, 30.5 (5:30, 5:33, 5:27). Those long breaks kill my rhythm and are REALLY boring, but necessary.
Strength:
- 4 x 8 shoulder press 20#
- 3 x 8 triceps pressdown 37#
- 3 x 12 machine chest press 50#
- 2 x 10 triceps kickback 15#
- 2 x 8/1 x 10 Svend press 25/20#
- :35 ea. Copenhagen
- 2 x 15 ea. single leg bridge
- :65 plank
- 6 minute stretch
Friday, 8.21: 3.5 miles, 12:28 pace + 18 minute mobility
Nice little recovery sesh this morning. Ran 7 x 20m build with 60m submaximal, focusing on smooth form and acceleration. Topped out at a 5:19 pace and averaged in the 6:2x-6:5x.
Saturday, 8.22: 10 miles, 11:53 pace
Welp, dunno where that came from. I didn’t really want to run fast this morning so I basically just kept my workout programmed on “warmup” for the duration…Which ended up being double digits. Took a gel at mile 2.5 and just felt really at peace with the distance. Maybe a turning point? We’ll see.
Total running mileage: 31.2
