Eau Claire Half Marathon Training – Week 6 & 7

Yea, I missed my weekly recap last week, so let me get you caught up.

I’m halfway through Whole 30! I can’t call it easy, but it’s not as hard as I thought it would be. I’ve found some new recipes to try and am eating some good food.

This taco salad was a nice change to my usual weekday lunch.

I had book club during week 1 of Whole 30, so I made these prosciutto wrapped pears, and they were really good! I was glad I could contribute something compliant that wasn’t just raw veggies. Though our book club host was amazing and made a compliant meal because a couple of us are actually doing Whole 30 right now! Support from family and friends is REALLY nice when doing something like this.

I’ve been making egg bake for easy breakfasts during the week. This is the egg back from week 1, but I actually made an even better one for week 2. It’s a trial and error process with new recipes.

The Whole 30 plan calls for a pre-workout and post-workout snack to help fuel your workout and recover. Took me a little bit to find things that worked well, but I think I’ve got a routine now.

As far as running goes, I’m still chugging along with the training plan. This plan is kind of high mileage, so I have a longer weekday run and my other runs are slowly getting longer, too. I can kind of feel the mileage in my body now. I may end up taking an extra rest day from time to time, or cut a run a tad short as I get ready for all of my upcoming April/May races.

Partially because I don’t remember (whoops) and partially because this is getting long, I’ll keep the workout updates short.

Week 6

Monday – rest

Tuesday – 4 miles (9:40/mile)

Wednesday – 6.06 miles (9:27/mile)

Thursday – rest

Friday – 4.03 miles (9:36/mile)

Saturday – 3.1 miles (8:33/mile)

My “long run” for this wee was a 5K race. I didn’t actually sign up for a 5K race, so I just headed out and planned to run fast. And that’s what I did!

Sunday – Alchemy private class

Got in a great cross-training workout at Alchemy. My friend won a free private class, so she invited a bunch of friends to come do a workout. My legs were a little sore from all of the running during the week and my fast 5K. I was happy to hear the class was going to focus on upper body stuff. And man, were my arms/shoulders feeling it the next day!

Week 7

Monday – rest

Tuesday – 4.79 miles (9:25/mile)

Wednesday – 3.3 miles (9:24/mile)

Thursday – 7.35 miles (9:32/mile)

Friday – rest

Saturday – 9.19 miles (9:49/mile)

It snowed overnight. Yeah…Minnesota. I waited this late morning to do my run so the snow would have a chance to melt a little on the path as the sun came out. I did a loop along the river. I started out and the mile was fine, but when I crossed the river the path was only semi-clear. This meant the first 4.5 miles were somewhat slow. When I crossed back over the river for the second half, the paths were great and I was able to pick up my pace a little.

These 9 miles actually flew by. I just sort of zoned out and before I knew it I was done!

After my run, I did some meal prep in the afternoon. Then my sister and I headed to a roller derby! A friend of ours has been doing roller derby for several years, but it was her last bout, so we had to go cheer her on. It’s a super entertaining sport and those women are tough!

Sunday – rest 

My sister and I headed to Wisconsin to spend Easter with our grandmother. We ate our Easter meal, played a card game, watched an egg toss at her senior living facility (super cute watching the residents participate and have fun!), and chatted for a little bit before heading home. I did a little more food prep in the evening and was exhausted, so skipped any kind of workout.

I’m gearing up for the second half of Whole 30 and getting ready for my spring races to start. Maybe one day soon the snow will stop falling and it will actually feel like spring!

Eau Claire Half Marathon – Week 5

The week started out pretty busy with the end of my San Diego trip and some evening plans a couple of nights. I was also continuing to prepare for a new 30 day journey: Whole 30.

When I first heard about Whole 30 a few years ago, I never thought it would be something I’d try. Cutting out sugar, grains, alcohol, processed food, and lots of other things just didn’t sound that appealing to me. I started to come around to the idea of trying it as I heard more and more friends have positive things to say when they did it. It wasn’t just weight loss benefits, it was things like better sleep and having more energy. That sounded appealing to me.

A big part of Whole 30 is also learning how certain foods affect you. I know what my “normal” feels like, but I also have a feeling that I don’t know what I don’t know and could probably feel even better. I’ve never felt like my diet affects my ulcerative colitis, but given my recent flare, it couldn’t hurt to see what changes might make me feel better overall. So, I’m giving it a shot. It’s 30 days. I’ve found a lot of good recipes that I’m actually excited to try, and I have several friends doing Whole 30 at the same time, so lots of social support. So important!!

And half marathon training continues. Here’s how week 5 went.

Monday – 6.02 miles (9:27/mile)

After two busy days of exploring the zoo and safari park, my sister and I slept in a little and then headed out for workouts about 9 a.m. I had 7 miles on my plan for my long run for week 4 that I had pushed to Monday. I wasn’t really sure how far I’d make it and had resolved to just do whatever I could.

The weather was perfect: low 60’s and sunshine. I was enjoying exploring some of the parks and paths along the water and before I knew it I was closing in on 6 miles. It felt really good, but my sis and I wanted to do a few more things before our flight, so I called it good at that point.

Here are some highlights from the run.

Tuesday – 3.27 miles (9:10/mile)

I had Flight Club with the Oiselle Volee team. We met at Lake Calhoun and did a loop around the lake before dinner. It was nice to run in daylight after the time change!

Wednesday – rest

Took the night off from working out and attended a networking event/panel discussion. Felt good to take a little bit of a break after several days of activity. My body needed it.

Thursday – 6.04 miles (9:25/mile)

I started out on this run thinking I might add in the “big hill” that I ran last week, but a couple of miles in I decided my legs just weren’t up for it. I still had a good run without it and had some small hills on my route.

Friday – 4.00 miles (9:26/mile)

Legs were feeling tired and heavy for this whole run. Normally I wouldn’t care that much, but I was a little nervous knowing I needed to do an 8 mile run the next morning.

After running, I kicked back to watch some March Madness and dug into Whole 30 meal planning for week 1.

Saturday – 8.00 miles

The weather was basically perfect for this long run – mid 40s and pure sunshine. I decided to do a loop around the river crossing a couple of bridges and admiring the blue sky above and blue water below.

As I got started, I could feel the tiredness in my legs. It was that way for the first 3 miles or so. Then it seemed like they finally warmed up, but around mile 5 I could feel the tiredness again. It stuck around until I was done, but it felt good to be getting into the higher mileage long runs.

Sunday – HIIT

A friend was able to get a group of us into a free workout class at her gym. It was a high intensity interval workout. The variety was nice, but it was definitely a hard workout that my body felt for a couple of days after.

We headed out to brunch after to consume all of the calories we burned. 🙂 I was also in a mode of savoring my last tastes of certain food before Whole 30 started the next day.

In the afternoon, I hit the grocery store and did a LOT of meal prep for week 1:

• Slow cooker sweet potato chili
• Turkey & egg breakfast casserole
• Baked chicken
• Hard boiled eggs
• Cut strawberries

Should set me up for a successful first week!

Eau Claire Half Marathon Training – Week 4

It’s not always easy to fit in training runs when you’ve got work, friends, travel and more going on. That’s how last week felt with figuring out workouts during a busy week, but I managed to get it done! It helps me to be flexible while also keeping running as a priority when I’m adding things to my calendar. Sometimes you have to get up a little earlier or move runs around throughout the week to fit everything in.

Totally worth it this past week as it meant I got to hang out with friends and take a fun trip with my sister!

Monday – 3.5 miles (9:31/mile)

Days like this one are why I bought a treadmill. We got a lovely snowstorm that started in the afternoon, so I didn’t feel like braving the path and slipping and sliding all over the place. I turned on some music and cranked out my 3.5 miles while watching the snowflakes fall.

Tuesday – rest

I happily took a rest day to meet up with a group of friends to have dinner at Hai Hai in Minneapolis. They serve “Southeast Asian street food” and it is 100% delicious! I ordered a couple of dishes and got to taste a couple of things that friends ordered. I need to go back and try just about everything else on the menu!

   

Wednesday – 5.32 miles (9:25/mile)

By Wednesday the temps had warmed up enough that the paths were clear. I headed out for my longer weekday run. I was feeling ambitious, so I decided to add a big a$$ hill to my route. It fairly steep and is .25 miles long. I wanted to do a big  hill because Goldy’s 10 mile always has some hills on the course, so I want my legs to be ready. I made my way down the hill first, ran on flat pavement for a minute, and then started my assent. It was slow and steady, but I ran up the whole hill. The legs were burning a little near the top, but I kept going and continued running at the top to finish up this 5+ mile run.

Thursday – A10 workout with Alchemy

I met up with Hyedi for a cross training workout to celebrate Alchemy’s 3rd birthday. The workout was held at an event space rather than one of their studios. We brought our own yoga mats and they put us through and A10 workout. It starts with some warm up that incorporates stretching, yoga and practice doing the moves that make up the main part of the workout. Then, they put 10 minutes on the clock and you do a high intensity interval workout trying to do as many rounds as you can in 10 minutes. This workout was all body weight exercises (e.g., squats, sit ups, shoulder taps). It also included burpies (which I HATE), but I survived. Then you do a cool down with some more stretching and yoga moves.

We were sweaty, but still smiling at the end. Since it was a birthday celebration, there were snacks and drinks following the workout.

Friday – 3.5 miles (9:40/mile)

I did a morning treadmill run because my sis and I were off to San Diego in the afternoon!

Saturday – Walk, walk, walk (San Diego Zoo)

We got up fairly early to make our way to the San Diego Zoo by 8:30 a.m. We decided to do a special panda tour where you get into the zoo before it opens to the general public and get some dedicated time in the panda exhibit as well as some behind-the-scenes looks at other exhibits in the zoo.

Anyone who knows me knows I LOOOOVE pandas! I have since I was born. I’ve seen a panda in the National Zoo years ago, but only for a few minutes. This tour allowed us to hang out in the panda exhibit for awhile in a smaller group, so we weren’t rushed through. It was so cool to be that close to the gorgeous creatures!

The tour took us around the zoo on a cart, but when that was over we spent about 5 more hours exploring the rest of the zoo. I think we covered every inch of it! Needless to say, it was a lot of walking and my legs were feeling it by the end.

I took a ton of pictures, but I’ll just share a few more here.

Polar bear nap time

Baby giraffe

Aren’t tasmanian devils kinda cute?

After the zoo, we headed back to the hotel to chill out for awhile and then went to Juniper & Ivy for dinner. I was sooo excited to try this restaurant, and it did not disappoint! Absolutely delicious meal!

Sunday – More walking (San Diego Safari Park)

We spent most of Sunday at the San Diego Safari Park, so it was another full day of walking. We got there when it opened, so beat some of the crowds to see the butterfly exhibit. There were hundreds of butterflies just flying free around you.

We hopped on the “Africa Tram” to do a 25 minute tour around some of the park.

Then we spent time visiting all of the other exhibits. We saw some of the same animals as the zoo, but the feel of the Safari Park is a bit different with some of the wide open spaces they have for the animals.

King of the jungle

These gorillas deserve a special shoutout. They were so entertaining to watch! They were really active running around, teasing each other, and even wrestling from time to time.

On our way back from the Safari Park, we stopped in Old Town for some Mexican food and margaritas to cap off the day!

I was exhausted after two busy days and slept really well before our last day of vacation. I did get in a run around San Diego, but more on that in next week’s recap since it happened on Monday!

Have you ever been to San Diego? How do you fit in runs with a busy schedule?

Eau Claire Half Marathon Training – Week 1

I’m officially back in training mode! It feels good, but I can also tell I’m not quite at the level I’d like to be. I’m not too far off, but I’m hoping getting back into the regular routine and following a training plan will get me back up to where I’d like to be soon.

As I was planning my spring races last fall, I knew I wanted to do a half marathon. This was the perfect year to give the Eau Claire Half a try. It is in my hometown, after all!

I’m following the same training plan that I did last spring to train for the Divas Half Marathon where I broke 2 hours. I’m not really sure yet what my goals are for this year’s half, but running strong and feeling good are a good place to start.

Here’s how week 1 of training went.

Monday – rest

I was technically supposed to do 30 minutes of cross training, but after the tough Pettit Marathon Relay on Saturday, I decided one more rest day would be ok.

Tuesday – 3.22 miles (9:30/mile)

I met up with some of the Oiselle Volee team for a group run and dinner. We ran along the river on the St. Paul side and then had some Pho at a Vietnamese restaurant to warm up.

Wednesday – 4.01 miles (9:37/mile)

Sometimes getting out of the house for a run after work is tough. I was a bit tired after the day, so started out telling myself I could do 3 or 3.5 miles if I wanted. I got going and started to feel good, so I settled in and made it the full 4 miles to hit my full training run for that day.

Thursday – 3.04 miles (9:34/mile)

An uneventful 3 mile run, and those are totally ok with me!

Friday – rest

I met my sister and a couple of friends for dinner and a Gopher hockey game!

The Gophers beat Ohio State 2-1! The game started at 8 p.m. — a little later than normal. By the time I got home and got to bed, it was about midnight.

Saturday – 3.15 miles (9:34/mile)

I let myself sleep in a little bit after a later bedtime and got a few things done around the house in the morning. Around 11:30, I headed out for a quick run.

After that, it was a quick shower and lunch before heading to help out a friend at a fundraising event. We were bagging groceries for donations.

On my way home, I got some gas and a car wash since the weather was finally warm enough. I had to grab a little coffee at the gas station knowing that I had one more outing for the day.

I headed to a girls’ night out/birthday dinner for a friend.

We made a stop for another drink after dinner, so it was another late night with a 1 a.m. bedtime. So yea, I know I’m getting old when a midnight and 1 a.m. bedtime for a Friday and Saturday night are “late.” 😛

Sunday – 4.23 miles (9:30/mile)

This was my long run for the week. Feels a little weird to call 4 miles a long run, but also felt nice not to have a daunting distance ahead of me as I get back into training. It was a good run and I’m looking forward to building up the long-run mileage over the next 11 weeks.

I got a couple of other errands done during the day and then met up with a friend for dinner. It was Restaurant Week, so we feasted on a 3-course meal. We split the mac & cheese and pot pie, which was a really good decision because both were amazing! A true comfort food meal.

I did a lot of eating out over the weekend. While it was fun and really good food, I’m hoping to get back on track this week.

Divas Half Marathon Training – Week 8

I spent the week gearing up for Goldy’s 10 mile on Sunday. I still got in some good miles, but I took an extra rest day and did light cross training so my legs would hopefully be fresh to race.

Monday – rest

My legs definitely needed a rest after the spin, run, yoga stuff I had going on the weekend before.

Tuesday – 4.08 miles (9:26/mile)

I met up with a friend and her running group to do a 4 mile run. It was a beautiful spring day for running. So nice to check out a different running route and have some people to chat with a long the way!

Wednesday – 7 miles (9:26/mile)

I debated shortening this run to save my legs, but once I got going it was just easier to do the full 7 miles that were on my plan.

Thursday – 1.97 mile walk

I had to run an errand after work, so it was a good day to just take an easy walk in the evening.

Friday – 4.15 miles (9:39/mile)

Friday was the perfect opportunity to escape the office for lunch with a friend! This also kicked off a pretty epic weekend of good food. 🙂

My plan had 4.5 miles on it, but I ended up just doing a 40 minute easy run.

Saturday – rest

After a relaxing morning and a few house chores, I met a friend for lunch at Young Joni. We shared a pizza and the Brussels sprouts. Both were fantastic!

I ran a few errands and then met up with my sister and a friend for dinner. Our plan was to sit on a patio to enjoy the spring weather. Only problem was it wasn’t as nice and sunny as they had predicted. But, we didn’t let that stop us! We found a cute patio at an Italian restaurant, which was perfect for some carbo-loading.

We hit one more patio after dinner for drinks. I stuck to water and club soda for this patio tour, but I look forward to the next one when I can enjoy a cocktail (or 2)!

Sunday – 10 miles (9:12/mile)

Race day! Stay tuned for the full race recap, but overall it was a great race!

In the afternoon, I kicked back and relaxed. I also may have fallen asleep on my coach for about a half hour. Nothing like a post-long run nap. 🙂

My epic food weekend ended with a home cooked meal. I used some veggies I got from a friend’s CSA to make dinner. I had a roasted beet salad with goat cheese, spinach and a honey, balsamic vinaigrette. This salad is so delicious! You can put goat cheese on just about anything and I’ll love it.

I also roasted sweet potato, turnips, and parsnips. Then I cooked some chicken on my little George Foreman grill to round out the meal.

Did you get out to enjoy the spring weather this past weekend?

Vancouver Half Training – Week 8

October is right around the corner and that means race day is getting closer and closer! I’m really excited for this race – not only because it will be the culmination of another training cycle but because it will be an awesome way to explore a new city.

Here’s how the last week of training went. It was good for running. I didn’t get all of the strength training in that I wanted, but I guess something is better than nothing!

Monday – rest day

I headed to happy hour with some friends right after work. We sat outside, sipped beer and chatted. I kept my eating under control after having pizza for lunch by ordering the market salad. It was tomato, watermelon, ground cherries, feta and a watermelon vinaigrette – so fresh and delicious!

Tuesday – 4.57 miles (9:29/mile)

I met up with Hyedi and a few of her local Oiselle teammates for a group run. We ventured out around St. Paul and one of the girls showed us a trail not far from downtown. Great views and fun to go “off-roading” for a change.

After the run, we grabbed a beer and a snack.

Wednesday – 7.09 miles (9:27/mile)

Got in my longer weekday run after work. There was some rain in the forecast. The wind picked up a bit in mile 4 and I thought the storm was starting for sure, but I managed to beat it and not get wet.

Thursday – rest day

I got invited to a sneak peek event for Herbie’s on the Park, a new restaurant in downtown St. Paul.

My coworker and I headed over there right at 5 p.m. We looked around the beautiful old building and grabbed a drink. Then we hit up the food – there was a great spread of things to taste. This pic doesn’t even do it justice! I tried the house salad, deviled egg (which had candied bacon as a garnish), mini burger, and mini lobster roll. For dessert I had a mini creme brulee, and it was amazing!

After checking out Herbie’s, I headed to a going away party for a friend setting out on an amazing adventure. Sad to say good-bye (luckily only for a short time), but excited for the opportunity she has.

Friday – 5 miles (9:40/mile)

It was raining after work, so I stuck to the treadmill for my run. I felt remarkably good on the treadmill for 5 miles. I did some strength training after and then enjoyed relaxing for the rest of the night.

Saturday – 4.01 miles (9:31/mile)

I got up on Saturday morning and headed out for a short, easy run. I had missed this run during the week, but I didn’t want to overdo it because my long run was coming on Sunday. My legs felt pretty good on this run — I was expecting them to be more tired.

I managed to get in an arm and back workout after my run.

Sunday – 10.13 miles (9:22/mile)

I was up early to head to the Women Run the Cities 10 mile for my long run. A race recap is coming, but overall it was a great run!

I hadn’t done this race before, so it was nice to try something new and it was a great way to get in my 10 mile run. I’ve got one more race coming, a 10K, before the half.

Here’s to another good week!

Day off in pictures

After several busy weeks at work, I took a much needed day off on Thursday to relax and have some “me” time.

I started the day with coffee in my favorite mug.

Then headed out for a run and did an ab workout.

For lunch, I made a fish taco bowl.

I pampered myself with a haircut in the afternoon.

And picked up a sweet treat.

I enjoyed my caffeine and chocolate while working on some spin4 stuff for our upcoming event (I’m on the planning committee).

Later, I met a friend for dinner at Parlour. We had to have the burger – so good!

  

All in all, a lovely day off!

What would you do on a day off?

Garry Bjorklund Half Training – Week 10

We’re just under 2 weeks from race day! Feeling good except the Achilles has reared its ugly head again this past week. It had gotten better and has flared up again. Not sure why, but I might have to take a little extra rest the next couple of weeks to make sure it’s good when I get to the start line.

Monday – rest

Tuesday – 5.07 miles (9:31/mile)

Run with Kate and Hyedi. It was a good run, but this is when I started to feel my Achilles again. I don’t remember stepping wrong or anything, but I was feeling it on and off for most of the run. Some of the soreness/pain was creeping up my calf, too. Not what I wanted so close to the race.

Wednesday – 1.75 miles (9:58/mile)

I could feel the soreness in my calf most of the next day, but it was National Running Day (and beautiful out), so I headed out  to see how my Achilles/calf would do on a run. I was still feeling the soreness, so I cut the run short to be safe.

Thursday – rest

This was my planned rest day. I had a meeting with some folks at CCFA to help with planning an event in the fall. Then I headed over to Heirloom for dinner. It was a fantastic meal!

Ricotta gnocchi, interesting vegetables, meat pie, carrot cake

Friday – rest

I decided to take an extra rest day this week. I think one of the reasons my Achilles has acted up recently is that it’s time for new shoes. I picked some up after work and am starting to break them in. I went with my usual Brooks Glycerin (neutral shoe).

Love the color!

Saturday – 3.23 miles (11:39/mile)

Saturday morning was the Girls on the Run 5K! I got to the race about 8:15 and waited in a little bit of traffic to get into the parking log. I headed over to pick up my bib and t-shirt. The line was a bit long and I found myself getting a little impatient, but then I looked around and saw how excited all of the girls were and reminded myself to relax and have a good time.

I found the school I had been assigned to for being a running buddy. A few of their girls ended up not being able to make it, so they didn’t need another girl or I to run with someone. She and I started chatting before the race and it turned out she was training for Garry Bjorklund too! It will be her first half marathon. We ran the 5K together at a nice, leisurely pace to support the girls and talked about running and life.

There were so many people at the race! It definitely seemed bigger than the fall 5K. They had a beautiful day for the race — the sun was actually pretty warm. There was a lot of energy at the start and finish with all of the family/friends hanging out to cheer on the girls. This program just continues to grow!

I wore my new shoes and the Achilles/calf did ok. I did some good stretching when I got home and was hopeful it would be ok for a long run on Sunday.

Sunday – 11.02 miles (9:28/mile) and 1.05 mile walk

I met Hyedi for our long run around Lake Harriet, Calhoun, and Isles. We started out and after a few miles I could feel the tightness in my calf. I was wearing my old shoes because I was hesitant to wear the new ones on such a long run without breaking them in a little more.

We continued to make our way around all 3 lakes. I contemplated cutting it short, but it never got worse, so I kept going for the full 11 miles. Of course by the end of the run I wasn’t feeling the soreness anymore.

I got home and stretched, showered and relaxed for a couple of hours before heading to the Take Steps Walk for CCFA. I was volunteering at the walk, so I got there at 2 p.m. to help with some set up.

Handing out t-shirts and other incentives to people who met their fundraising goals was like my second workout of the day.

Then it was time for the actual walk to start. There were a lot of #IBDHeroes out there on a gorgeous afternoon to support finding cures for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Balloon arch over the start line

After the walk (my third workout of the day), it was time to tear down. I got home around 7:30 and was physically exhausted, but had such a good time!

Disclosure: I received a free race entry for the Girls on the Run 5K. All opinions are my own.

TC Marathon Training – Week 16

I’m officially two weeks away from the Twin Cities Marathon. Eeek! I can’t believe it’s so close. It’s nerve-racking, but I’ll also be glad when the day is finally here.

Many of last week’s workouts and training runs were done while I was on vacation. I didn’t get to run on the beach as much as I would’ve liked to because high tide was falling right at the time of the morning that I wanted to run. Hitting the streets wasn’t too bad though, and I got to relax on the beach after!

Monday – 14.51 miles (10:14/mile avg pace)

The weather was fantastic at the beach with lots of days in the low to mid 80s. The first couple of days that I was there were hotter and more humid, but the temps got a bit cooler by Monday, so I felt good about heading out for a 14 mile run.

I got up early to get the run in so I had plenty of beach time and to avoid lots of sun while running. Running in the neighborhoods provided some nice shade for most of the run. It took me a little bit to get warmed up, but I’m kind of used to that by now. Finally my legs woke up and carried me even a little farther than 14 miles when all was said and done. I took a few minutes to dip my tired feet in the pool after my run. 🙂

Tuesday – 4.13 mile walk

Took a nice, long walk with my family in the morning before heading back to the beach for the afternoon.

Wednesday – rest

Thursday – 5.09 mile run (10:03/mile avg pace)

I made myself get up to do one more run while on vacation. We had a few hours in the early afternoon to sit on the beach before having to get packed up and head to the airport. Sad to have to leave my Happy Place, but it was the perfect way to wrap up the summer. I think I’m ready for fall now.

Friday – 8.09 mile run (10:05/mile avg pace)

I got back late Thursday night, but still had Friday off of work, so I was able to do a mid-day run as the temps were definitely feeling like fall in the 60s.

Saturday – 35 minute elliptical and 1.3 mile walk

Doing my 20 mile and 14 mile runs on Mondays was kind of throwing off my training schedule. Not too bad, but I wanted to get it back on track for the last couple of weeks. I opted for some good cross-training instead of a 4 mile run on Saturday morning.

In the afternoon I met up with my sister and some friends to check out Street Pub with Deschutes Brewery. They closed down a couple blocks in downtown Minneapolis for this pop-up street pub with beer, food, and music. All of the proceeds get donated to Second Harvest Heartland. It was a gorgeous afternoon to be outside sipping a beer for a good cause!

Sunday – 12.18 mile run (10:01/mile avg pace)

When my alarm went off at 6:30 a.m., I knew I was not ready to get up yet. I reset it for 7 a.m. and went back to sleep. Luckily, it was a nice, cool morning so starting my run at 8:30 wasn’t a big deal.

I ventured over to Summit Ave. for this 12 mile run. Summit Ave. is the road the covers the last 5 miles of the marathon course. I parked near where the finish line will be and ran West on Summit until I hit East River Rd. I ran on East River Rd. for about a mile and then turned around. I did this on purpose. There’s an infamous hill on East River Rd. that leads the marathon course onto Summit Ave. It’s not a huge hill, but when any hill comes at mile 21 of a marathon, it’s a bad hill. I wanted to run that hill and then make my way back up Summit towards the finish line just to get a taste of it before the actual day.

Summit is a beautiful street full of trees and old homes. You pass the beautiful St. Paul Cathedral just before the finish line.

Overall, a pretty nice run to get ready for TCM!

I spent most of the afternoon relaxing, but then ran a few errands, and embraced the fall weather by cooking up a hot meal. I made this Spinach and mushroom quinoa recipe that I found on Pinterest and roasted some sweet potato. Doesn’t get more fall than that!

Are you ready for fall?

Goldy’s 10 Mile Training – Week 1

I signed up for Goldy’s 10 mile for the third year! I like the push it gives me to keep training in the colder Minnesota winter months.

With my sights set on the marathon this fall, I’m planning to take it easy in other races. So, I’m following a basic training plan (no speed work) that will just get me up to the mileage I need to be at. Here’s a recap of this week’s workouts.

Monday – 3 mile run (10:20/ mile pace)

I hit the treadmill after work for my first training run. Nothing big or special, just a solid training run.

Tuesday – rest

I headed to the MN Wild hockey game with a friend. It was a great game that the Wild won 3-0!

Wednesday – 30 minute elliptical

Thursday – rest

Friday – rest/Atlanta walking

My friend, Hyedi, and I traveled to Atlanta to visit friends and get away from the MN winter for a couple days. No “real” workout on Friday with an early flight, but did get in some walking in the airport and walking around town a little.

I can’t talk about the trip without talking about the food. After we got in, our friends picked us up at the airport and we headed to Flying Biscuit for brunch. I’d been dreaming of the biscuits and gravy there since we booked the trip.

We got to hang out and visit for awhile in the afternoon until it was time to check in to the hotel and get ready for dinner. We headed to The Spence. I’m a big Top Chef fan, and the executive chef there, Richard Blais, was on the show. I ordered the mahi mahi and it was delicious! Great spices and served with tomatillo sauce, blood orange, potatoes and rapini.

For dessert, I splurged! Blondie cake with coffee ice cream and frozen caramel. OMG – fantastic!

Saturday – 2 mile run (10:30/mile pace) and 3 mile walk

On Saturday morning, we hit the hotel gym for a quick workout. I got in the 2 mile run I hadn’t done earlier in the week.

We had an initial thought that there might not be enough treadmills, but as soon as we walked in we saw that wouldn’t be the case. The hotel gym was big – it’s actually a gym that you can join if you live in the area.

After getting cleaned up, it was off to brunch. We headed to South City Kitchen, just a short walk from the hotel.

Love palm trees!

Had to start the meal off right with fried green tomatoes (w/ pepper coulis and basil). I loved them.

For the main course, I had to get the chicken and waffle. I don’t think I’ve ever ordered it before at brunch, so I figured ATL was the place to do it and I was right. The fried chicken and waffle were great, and it was served with real maple syrup. A bite with everything gave you a fantastic salty/sweet combo.

 

After brunch, we met up with our friends again and went for a walk on the Atlanta BeltLine. It was a gorgeous day (60 and sunny). We walked to the Krog Street Market to explore some of the vendors and get some Jeni’s ice cream!

The total mileage for our walk to and from the market was about 3 miles.

Following that, we got ready for dinner and headed to Holeman and Finch. Apparently “The Burger” is a big thing on their menu. It used to only be available at certain times, but recently made it’s way to the main menu. Of course, we had to try it. It was really good! Nothing fancy – no special sauces or odd ingredients – just beef, cheese, pickles, and house made ketchup and mustard.

Sunday – 4 mile run (10:26/mile pace)

Before heading to the airport, we took a short walk to get bagel for breakfast, then it was time to say good-bye to Atlanta. All around, a really nice getaway.

I got home and unpacked, headed to the grocery, and headed outside for my long run for the week. It was in the 20’s and a little windy, so I bundled up but got in a great run.

What spring races are you training for? What do you do to escape the cold winter weather?