sidebar | life and training 8.4 – 8.10
Three cheers for being DONE with the 5k!
My summer 5k series wrapped up this past Saturday with a pretty disappointing result. Long story short, I paced the race poorly by starting out WAY too slow and having to play catchup by the end, which resulted in my worst time of my set of three this summer and the demoralizing thought that I’ll never reach my sub-23 goal.
I will say, though, and probably because I started so conservatively, I felt the best this race and recovered the most effectively. Sub-24 at not 100% is still better than I performed in any race last year, too. So, trying to grasp a few positives.
I also apparently placed 4th in my age group and the top 6 in the series receive an award. I hightailed it home after Jeff and I ran a 2 mile cooldown because I didn’t really feel like staying while they grappled with their technological farts. Supposedly they’ll be mailing things out, which is fun, since I have no idea what the prizes entail.
During the race I had a few cool moments. I was largely in my own running bubble and a few spectators called me out at random. One was walking her dog and yelled “GO 191!” (191 was my bib number) and I heard a few at the end yelling “GO KELLIE!” (my name is also on my bib). Those tiny encouragements mean a lot during an event even when I’m too focused and dying to acknowledge them.
What’s next for me? 10k training! I have two on my radar, one in September and one in November, both which I’ve run before and enjoyed. The 10k is my favorite race distance and one I don’t get to enjoy often since, oddly, 10ks are few and far between around here. I’m hoping to break 50 again in at least one of them, so we’ve got some work to do in the next several weeks.
FYI, if you’re chilling with me on Instagram, you might be noticing some running reels popping up every week. For some reason I really don’t love doing my recipes as reels, but the running ones are quite fun to create. A little more human and candid, and another side of me that I talk about in my Stories but don’t share a whole lot otherwise. Since IG is basically a shitshow of algorithmic failures, I figure I might as well post what I want and not give a rat’s ass, you know?
I took this week to get back into routine after our Savannah trip. Friday I drove up to packet pickup after getting my hair sawed off. No coffee break this time since waiting for my buzz took quite awhile and it would’ve been 4:30 by the time I reached the shop, which is a tad late for a caffeine jolt especially before waking up at 3:45 for the race.
Saturday post-race I enjoyed a quiet day, then Little Miss Ba demanded a cappuccino break before the rains swept in. So, we walked over to Shortwave for a quick sip. I had just baked cookies (recipe soon!) so we forewent a treat, but this pretty little cup boosted my spirits.
Sunday I finally got to wash and wax Roly Poly. Of course it poured later on, but at least there was a goods swath of time before the skies dumped so the coating could sink in properly. Although I grumble a lot about having to upkeep her exterior I actually really enjoy washing her once I get started, it’s kinda meditative and an easy way to be outside without too much strain.
Meals of the week: shrimp fajita bowls, an absolutely dope pasta salad, and above you’ll see my classic spaghetti and meatballs pre-race.
We have a BUSY week ahead here. I’m casually throwing down a few fall-friendly recipes mixed in with some more summer concepts (can’t say goodbye to peaches quite yet!). Friday is mom’s birthday and my sister is flying in for the weekend, so we’ll be theoretically cooking out Friday and Saturday I’m hanging out solo with my sis for a quasi-bachelorette dinner since I skipped out on her proper celebration. Intermingled is a doctor’s appointment and therapy. Yippee.
Good luck to the kids starting school this week!
Talk to ya’ll next Monday!
The Fuck We Cooking This Week?
…A beautiful end-of-summer fruit salad!
…A decadent layer cake.
…A cozy lasagna to preview fall!
A Few Things I’m Digging
Honey…For some reason I bought a lot of honey while I was in Savannah, it’s such a lovely souvenir. I’ve been spreading some frosted chocolate honey on my toast for breakfast/snacks and it’s proven a delightful treat. Highly recommend Capital Bee Co. if you’re in town!
Pasta salad…A combo I just made that I love: black beans, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, feta, all tossed with pesto aioli. So good. I like to add tuna or boiled eggs for protein.
This Week’s Menu
Meatless Monday…Tomato Bacon Caprese Pizza
Taco Tuesday…Crispy Salsa Verde Jackfruit Tacos
Wednesday…Crispy Sesame Salmon Bowls
Thursday…30 Minute Spicy Black Pepper Mushrooms
Friday Happy Hour…Tomato Basil Martini
Saturday Baking…Blueberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Sunday BBQ…Whipped Goat Cheese Dip with Chili Marinated Tomatoes
Shops & Wish List
Kitchen & Dining
Pottery Barn…Digging their plaid collection – think that’s the theme I’ll be going for for Thanksgiving! These napkins + matching runner are on my wishlist. Adore these gourd salad plates…Need this pumpkin icon pitcher, it’d look so cute with the autumn drinks I’ve got in mind!
Week in Training
Monday, 8.4: 8 miles, 9:43 pace + 30 minute legs
Don’t think I’m gonna taper as much for my 5K this Saturday so keeping a good amount of intensity and a similar amount of effort. This workout went really well despite the horrid temps! 2K @ threshold (7:59), 4 x 400m strong (7:20, 7:16, 7:14, 7:17), 2k @ threshold (7:54), all with 75 seconds recovery. Good stuff!
Strength:
- 3 x 12 squat to reverse lunge 40#
- 4 x 8 wide leg press 180#
- 3 x 16 curtsy lunge 60#
- 3 x 10 ea. sit squat 10#
- 3 x 12 hip thrust 65#
- 3 x 8 ea. eccentric step down 15#
- 2 x 15 calf press 180#
- :30 Copenhagen
Tuesday, 8.5: 4.25 miles, 11:32 pace + 16 minute core
Is Florida teasing us with a taste of fall? Not in the traditional sense, it was 80 degrees when I started, but the dew point was only 71 and that felt like HEAVEN after these 76+ dew point mornings of late. Heart rate only averaged 149!
Wednesday, 8.6: 8.5 miles, 10:00 pace + 4.1 miles, 10:57 pace
Double day! Ran a workout in the morning and easy miles in the afternoon on the treadmill. For my quality session: 4 x (3 x 400m) with 75 seconds rest between intervals and an extra 75 seconds between sets. Goal was to descend in pace and increase effort as the sets moved along: I was a little janky but did well overall! Ran 7:27, 7:22, 7:24, 7:24, 7:25, 7:21, 7:15, 7:14, 7:15, 7:12, 7:12, and 7:07.
Thursday, 8.7: 7 miles, 10:29 pace
Me in EXTREMELY rare form today with a hot, sweaty midday run. I could not get myself up in the morning so opted for more sleep and a sunny jaunt at 2pm. I drank two tablets of electrolytes at work and honestly think those made this run go really smoothly! Yes, my heart rate was very high but my effort level and pace were quite consistent (and not purposely in the 10:2x range). Hopefully, though, I’ll be able to get myself up tomorrow morning with my regular routine.
Friday, 8.8: 4 miles, 11:19 pace + 17 minute upper body
Nice little run, and the breeze had a coolish tint? Who’d have thought! Wanted to get in a little upper body since I hadn’t this week, and this was good enough for me.
Strength:
- 3 x 8 chest press 60#
- 1 x 6/2 x 8 narrow lat pulldown 70/60#
- 3 x 10 shoulder press 15#
- 3 x 10 triceps pressdown 28#
- 3 x 12 biceps curl 15#
Saturday, 8.9: *WATERMELON 5K* 3.13 miles, 7:42 pace
Unofficially a 7:39 pace, 23:55 official time. Basically a replica of last month’s except my pacing was way different – and more annoying, in my view. My legs haven’t been turning well these past couple weeks, so while my lungs were pretty much okay, I didn’t find my pace until the last mile and thus ran severe negative splits. I’m trying to remind myself that a sub-24 is faster than I did in any race last year, and I did it at less than 100% effort, so I’m clearly in better shape now. Still, it’s demoralizing to be stuck in such a plateau and hard not to compare to people who seem to improve starkly every time. Maybe they’re all on amphetamines, who knows. 2 mile warmup and 2 mile cooldown got me to 7 for the day.
Sunday, 8.10: 2.5 mile walk (38:07)
Total running mileage: 43
